It was the middle of March now, the thirteenth, a wonderful time to be outside. The sun was finally starting to shine, the birds were coming out to sing, and the clouds were generally clear in the crisp, cool sky. Farm work was just starting to become relevant again, and Ryan couldn’t wait. On Monday, just the day after the next, he might be able to talk to Applejack about that.

When he got up that morning, he felt bright and ready to face the day. He felt like going for a run early, like he used to, so he threw on some shorts and a short-sleeved shirt from the summer when he arrived and hopped outside. Still, being March, the morning was cold, so he hopped back inside and convinced himself that it simply wasn’t worth it.

Now that he was totally awake and his hairs were standing on end, he did a quick workout to prepare for his day. While he pushed himself up from the floor and let himself go back down, he thought about what he had been doing lately. He had visited the cave a couple of times, and now, he actually had some respectable furniture. It was, of course, of questionable integrity, and took him a while to build.

It was getting to be a place where a person could live comfortably. Not the regular kind of first-world person, though; this kind of living required a grit not commonly possessed by them. Grit that he had discovered within himself a long time ago.

He hadn’t thought about that part of his life much lately, and slowed down his workout as it permeated his thoughts. Where had it gone, all that time from when he arrived here? He hadn’t even been here a year, not even three full seasons. So much was happening so fast that Ryan ceased to keep any real track of time.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt like slowing down and just laying on the ground. As such, he figured it would be a good idea to just let it lay where it was and not think about it. Take the Ostrich’s strategy.

He went back to the basement and out on some casual clothes and his usual getup, then returned to the upstairs area to eat breakfast. The comfortable feel of his necklace against his neck, the cold silver of the Shen pendant, stabbed into him, with its little edges as he shifted his weight in the awkwardly shaped chair to eat. While he fussed with that, scraping it all over the floor and making an ungodly amount of wretched noise, hoofsteps sounded out from the staircase.

Sweetie Belle walked in and watched Ryan with tired eyes as he finally finished with his chair and sat down. He didn’t notice her as she walked up to him and climbed up onto the table to see what he was eating. When he did notice her, he felt his heart jump a little at the sudden introduction of the little pony.

“What’re you doing up?” Ryan asked, moving his bowl away.

Sweetie Belle yawned. “I woke up form the noise you were making with the chair you built,” she replied, earning an apologetic smile from Ryan. “You know what you should do?”

“What?” Ryan asked, thinking this would be a harebrained scheme to get cutie marks.

“Not build more furniture,” Sweetie Belle said. It was like a slap in the face; Sweetie was her name, so what the hay was that harshness about?

“Duly noted,” Ryan replied, understanding. He had taken CADD classes in his freshman and sophomore year, not woodshop. No wonder he couldn’t build anything.

They then sat there in silence for a time, Ryan eating his cereal and Sweetie Belle sitting next to it, doing nothing helpful. Eventually, Ryan reached up and ruffled her mane and scratched her ear, which she seemed to enjoy. Having hooves couldn’t possibly be anything but a detriment to those who have a serious itch. In fact, hands beat out hooves in almost every way, from Ryan’s perspective.

When he finished, he cleaned off the utensils and silverware and such that he used and set them back where they ought to be. And, with nothing to do on a cool Saturday morning, he thought about what he could go out and do. There was the gym, of course, and he hadn’t been there in about a week, so he should try to do that. He had all the explosives he could need for the cave and they were stored very well, nice and safe for the time being.

He elected to go for the gym later, see what he would do there. For now, though, at half pasts six, he could just sit around like a lump, or a Rainbow Dash. Sweetie Belle fell asleep again on the table, though, so Ryan would have to carry her up to her room before doing anything else. A filly falling off the table on his watch would end poorly for him.

He carried her up to her room, an easy feat since she was so light, and tucked her back in. Gingerly, he shut the door behind him as he exited and tiptoed down the hall. He glanced into Rarity’s room for a moment, but when he immediately saw nothing, he thought better of it and kept on going No reason to spy on a lady who wasn’t human.

When he made it back downstairs, he saw that the door to the basement was opened a little wider than he had left it. Tentatively, he put his hand on the door and pushed. It opened silently, like a perfectly oiled cog in a machine, and he advanced down.

At the base of the stairs, he spotted the intruder; it was Rarity. She was looking around her basement, the room she was lending to Ryan, tiredly judging his sense of fashion and lack of decorative vision. She seemed to know when Ryan hit the bottom and gently looked back, mane frazzled and eyes droopy.

“Good morning Ryan,” she said with a yawn.

“Morning,” Ryan replied.

Rarity shook her head. “I haven’t the slightest idea how you get up early and do things,” she said. “Very few ponies anywhere in Equestria have to deal with that, and those who do, do it for a job. You just do it.”

“Meh,” Ryan said. “My job is to be that guy that people look at and say, ‘That is a standard that I can meet and surpass,’ and then they meet me and are better. I’m always improving, too, though, so they have to keep getting better.”

“Well said,” Rarity complimented.

“So what brings you to my humble corner of your not-so-humble abode?” Ryan asked.

Rarity shrugged. “Oh, I just thought I’d see what you’ve done with the place. I can see that you have done nothing with it.”

“Meh,” Ryan said again. “It’s livable.” Truth be told, it was a tad bland, but Ryan only slept here, really. He wasn’t one of those hermit millennials that spent all his time in his room, on the computer or otherwise failing to communicate. If he weren’t doing something, he would go insane.

Rarity sighed and shook her head. “You are a simple boy, Ryan,” she said. She turned and went back up the stairs.

“Is that a bad thing?” Ryan replied in a normal voice, unsure of whether or not he was heard. It didn’t matter though; Rarity knew he wasn’t so simple.

That was his encounter for the morning, so he loaded himself up with his workout clothes and his usual outfit and waited a short time to go to the gym. It opened up at eight, so he had some time to kill. He went through his drawers, checked himself in the mirror, and tested the springs and mechanisms in his gun; the normal things. Once the time had passed, he was off to the gym.

The walk was pleasant, warmer than most of the days of the receding winter. There was no snow on the ground any longer, and the winds were calming down. When the sun came out, it made it feel warm again, almost to the point where one could walk around without protection. But then the wind inevitably kicked up, and the icy breeze cut through you like a powerful laser through paper.

When he arrived at the gym, he was surprised to look through the window and see so many ponies already inside. Bulk was in there, as usual, getting yuked, as he would say. He had spoken to him a little, but avoided him for the fear of a roid rage. Thunderlane was there occasionally, and he was there this morning, but he was normal. There were no other regular stallions.

The regular mares did so much cardio that they could probably outrun a flying Thunderlane. It was seriously ridiculous; and there was always that one guy, that ONE GUY, doing cardio with them, trying to talk to them. He typically went ignored or drowned out by music. Some pegasi would be on the equivalent of a flying treadmill, but there weren’t many.

Ryan walked in and waded through a stench that would have made a lesser man cry to get to the changing room. Given their society, there really didn’t seem to be any reason at all for such a thing, but Ryan wasn’t one to complain. It was more useful to him than if he had to strip naked and change.

He changed and came back out and walked over to the matted area to start with push-ups. He cranked them out until he couldn’t do any more, then moved onto sit-ups, and then moved to a pull-up bar and went through that. Once he was done, he felt warmed up enough to move to the free weights.

None of the guys at the gym ever really spoke, because they weren’t there to do that. They silently acknowledged each other and nodded, but there was really nothing for them to discuss. Ryan went through his weight training and moved onto some cardio.

At the treadmills, he saw a sight he hadn’t been expecting; Rainbow Dash, running with her wings tied, wearing a funny-looking sweatband on her head. She was breathing heavily and sweating hard, running at about fourteen miles per hour. For the ponies, it wasn’t fast, but they could still beat him at speed any time. He just hoped that he could go for longer.

Ryan moved to the treadmill two down from Rainbow and started it up. Rainbow didn’t notice him nearby as he started running. Once he was really running, at about nine and a half miles per hour, able to zone out of anything, that was when Rainbow noticed him.

“Hey- huff- Ryan,” she said between breaths.

Ryan frowned, his focus broken. “Hey Rainbow,” he said quickly. “That brings- you here?”

Rainbow hopped off her track and onto the sides of the treadmill, letting the track slide past underneath. She took a short moment to check her pulse, setting her hoof against her neck and then ripped off her sweatband. After turning the treadmill off, she hopped off of it and walked over to Ryan.

“I’m trying to get better at running,” she said. “Twilight let me read some books on exercise science or something, and it said that you have to cross train to get as strong as possible and healthy. So I’m running now.”

Ryan nodded, and then took his feet off the treadmill. If he was to talk, he wasn’t going to run.

“You should swim, too, once you get the chance,” he said. “That’s a good workout, too.”

Rainbow nodded, looking thoughtful. “Alright, that sounds like a good idea,” she said.

“I think I’m probably about done for the day,” Ryan said. Cardio could wait until another day. “Wanna hit the bath?” The bath in the gym was co-ed because the ponies rarely wore clothes anyway. Ryan brought his swim trunks so he could clean himself off after his workout.

“Sure,” Rainbow said.

They separated for the time being so Ryan could get his trunks and get to the bath. It didn’t take long for Ryan to change, so Rainbow waited and they waded in together. It was a good-sized bath, magically heated and cooled in various areas. If you walked from one area into another without knowing what to expect, it was a really unpleasant surprise.

The duo entered into the warmer area and relaxed in their spot. Feeling a little to hot, though, they quickly moved to a cooler area to lower their body temperatures so that they wouldn’t sweat while they were in the bath. Once they were in the perfect spot, they laid back and relaxed.

“I never thought I would see you in a gym,” Ryan commented.

Rainbow shrugged, eyes closed gently and body floppy and relaxed. “I never thought I would come to one,” she replied. “But this is what the books said to do to maximize my performance, so here I am.”

“I imagine flying is great, but not the best for certain muscle groups,” Ryan said. “That was why I ran and swam when I could back home. Gotta get everything, y’know?”

Rainbow laughed. “Oh, I know,” she said. “I’m gonna try out for the Wonderbolts, so I need to be the best I can be.”

Ryan nodded. He knew what it meant to want to be the best. At the very least, you had to be the best you could be, even if that wasn’t the best that anyone could be. Failure to do that was the deepest kind of failure.

“What’s it like to be a Pegasus?” Ryan asked randomly. It just kind of popped into his head.

Rainbow opened her eyes and made a face, looking at the ceiling. It was a contemplative face, with her lips puckered toward the side of her face and her eyes half-closed. She took her time trying to word out a response.

“Well,” she said without continuing. Ryan waited. “I guess you know what it’s like to fly, sort of. You said you went skydiving once, so you know what that’s like. But those aren’t the same. To blast through the air, speeding away, on your own power… It’s something else.”

Ryan chuckled. “Can’t describe it, huh?” Ryan said. Rainbow nodded and sighed. “I get it. There’s no context or comparison. It would be like me trying to explain to you what it’s like to swim through a wrecked ship a hundred feet underwater. Ain’t nothing like it.”

Rainbow nodded, then froze. Her face betrayed the cogs and gears now shifting in her head, solving some puzzle. Ryan let her go, opting not to interfere in her mind’s rare attempt at solving a problem not related to flying, exercise, or napping. When she finally spoke again, the words that came from her maw surprised the human.

“You should totally come with me and Fluttershy to Cloudsdale!” Rainbow announced.

Ryan blinked a couple of times, taken by surprise. The thought of walking on clouds had never occurred to him, not even once. It wouldn’t occur to any normal man. What was he supposed to do up there? Probably the usual city stuff, just with a flying style. And how was he supposed to get there?

“Uh, I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Ryan began, turning around to point at his back. “But I don’t have any way to fly.” Rainbow Dash cringed at his back. None of the ponies were used to seeing it yet, and probably never would be. Some things just never seem normal.

“Twilight has a spell for that,” Rainbow said, averting her eyes. Ryan turned back around.

“And I can’t walk on clouds either,” Ryan said.

Rainbow looked oddly at him. “Well, that’s what the spell corrects,” she said. “We fly you up there with a balloon and then you get off onto clouds. Twilight can take care of it, both balloon and walking.”

Ryan thought about it for a moment. The prospect was uniquely terrifying, walking on a cloud. He would swear that his weight should carry him through, so the first step would be difficult. For the ponies, of course; they would be the ones to make him do it. Then there was the issue of balloon travel, unless it was pulled by Rainbow.

“That sounds great,” Ryan said. “But if it’s you and Fluttershy, I imagine you’ll be having girl talk.” Ryan chuckled as Rainbow made a ‘Bleh’ face at the suggestion. “I’d love to go some time, but if you two are going to be conversing about things that mares converse about, I wouldn’t want to overhear.”

“No, nothing like that!” Rainbow said, splashing Ryan. “We’re going to see an airshow, an amateur league for non-professional fliers. I think you might enjoy it.” Ryan looked unconvinced. “Fluttershy will probably invite Mac along, so you won’t be the only guy there.”

Ryan felt a little bit relieved at that. His bets friend would be there, and that was always a comforting thing. Back in Asia, Ryan wouldn’t want to have anyone but Harris by his side. It was him that kept Ryan sane for as long as he was, and the presence of a friend is enough to make any guy want to outmatch his friend. Even if that means stepping on clouds.

“Alright, sounds cool,” Ryan said. “When are we doing this?”

“Tomorrow!” Rainbow proclaimed loudly.

Ryan nodded. “I suppose that I won’t need long to prepare?” he asked. Rainbow confirmed his thought. “I guess we’ll head up tomorrow, then.”

Rainbow shot out of the water. “Awesome, see you tomorrow! Meet us at Twilight’s as soon as you get up, we want to spend as much time up there as possible.” With that, the rainbow mare was out like a flash of lightning, as if the gym had nothing else for her.

It begged the question; was that the purpose of her visit? She couldn’t have known Ryan would be there. Unless she saw him go in while she was going about her morning routine and thought to take care of it now. It was all very suspect, but Ryan let it fall under the rug and left it there. It would be best not to be thinking about it the next day.

He stepped out of the bath and changed into his normal clothes, then went back to the boutique to see if he had any clothes that would be good for high altitude exposure.

Ryan sat in one of Twilight’s chairs, foot tapping and fingers rising and falling. Rainbow had told him to come here as soon as he was up. She must not have accounted for him being an early riser.

No one answered when he knocked, so he had to go in through a window. Instead of trying to crawl through the puny windows on the ground, he climbed up the tree onto the balcony and snuck in through the unlocked door there. Not great security; easy to climb, and any Pegasus or unicorn could easily get in. It spoke volumes about the town.

He snuck past Twilight and Spike and went to the library area to read some books. With all the crapping on his carpentry skills lately, he looked for a book on the subject. It was exceedingly complicated; there was a huge amount of math to go into it. A lot of it looked like Calculus, the next math up form what he had taken. He put it away and looked for something more useful.

He found a book on Cloudsdale and its culture and decided to take a look. The pegasi, especially from the semi-Roman Cloudsdale, had a male-dominant society. It had receded a lot over the years, but the macho, strong pony stuff remained in a few ponies, Rainbow Dash being one of them. Ryan wondered what her father must be like to have raised her to be a hardheaded, yet, to other ponies, pretty mare. Ponies and their culture are odd indeed.

Ryan concluded from his reading that the pegasi were a hardy race, not easy to impress. Their food came mostly from the ground, and because of that, in the early days, they had to resort to extremely strong defenses to protect their food supply from Diamond Dog raids. They also lived high up, in the cold, thin air, so their lungs were more efficient. They were, however, smaller than the other ponies, so they lacked in physical mass. They couldn’t produce the same energy for attacks, and that was their one weakness.

Ryan kept on reading as he heard the first noises of Twilight Sparkle coming down the steps. She didn’t see him in the relative dark as she walked by, so when she was in the kitchen, Ryan slipped the book back and hid next to the archway. When Twilight came back through, Ryan snuck up behind her.

He stayed right behind her until she sat down at a small table next to where Ryan had been sitting. She was carrying a cup of coffee and some eggs in her magic and set them down on the table, loosing a loud yawn as she did so.

“Time to start the day,” she said tiredly. She went to scratch just behind her ear with her hoof.

Ryan took the initiative and scratched the spot for her. Twilight arched out her neck, pleased with the sudden relief, and let out a happy grunt. Ryan proceeded further and scratched her spine just under her neck, and Twilight rose up like a cat.

Suddenly, she gasped. “What the-?!”

Her hind legs shot out and caught Ryan square in the groin, sending him back several feet and sprawling onto the floor with a noiseless scream. The pain in his groin was incomprehensible, like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his beautiful silverware. On the ground, he rolled around silently, barely breathing as Twilight prepared to continue her assault.

She charged her horn and saw that it was Ryan, no longer concealed by the dark. With yet another gasp, she lit opened the blinds on the windows and let natural light start to fill the room. Then, she walked over to Ryan.

“I’m not going to help you up,” she said. Ryan groaned in response. “You earned that, and you know it.”

Ryan chuckled. “You… ugh,” he couldn’t continue.

“I..?” Twilight asked.

“You’ve been waiting to buck me,” Ryan said.

Twilight groaned and put her hoof to her face. “You’re a goon,” she said.

“And you are a shrew mistress,” Ryan replied.

Twilight used her magic to help him get up and guided him back to his chair. Once he was sitting down, she went back to the kitchen and brought back some food. Once Ryan was eating and comfortable, she started eating her own food.

“So, you’re heading to Cloudsdale with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Big Mac?” she asked.

“That’s right,” Ryan said, the soreness seeping into his voice.

“Just try to relax as you go up,” Twilight said. “It’s not so bad, being that high up. If you fall, some Pegasus will DEFINITELY catch you. And my spell will keep you up there for however long you plan to be there.”

“This spell wears off?” Ryan asked, suddenly alarmed.

Twilight looked at him like he was crazy. “Yeah, there are no spells that I can do that last forever,” she said. “I can give you a max of twenty-four hours up there. It’ll take a lot out of me to do the sixteen you’re gonna get, so be grateful!”

“Always,” Ryan said, though his sincerity may have been harder to see behind his physical discomfort.

They waited a short time for the others to arrive. Mac was first, greeting Ryan silently as he walked in and took a seat nearby. The early risers fidgeted about while they waited for the pegasi to show up, checking books and investigating the grooves in the floor. Soon after, Fluttershy arrived, and went straight up to Mac.

“Hey,” Mac greeted softly, leaning forward and nuzzling his lady affectionately. “How you doing?” He seemed to emphasize his southern drawl a little more than normal.

“Oh, the usual,” Fluttershy replied, nuzzling back. “Playing with my little animals, waiting for the chance to play with my big one.” She giggled at her little joke, and Mac chuckled.

Ryan moved further away to provide them with some level of privacy, but he couldn’t prevent himself from overhearing some of it. Most of it was sweet nothings, of course, as loving couples do. Some of it was a little less so. Ryan had to cover his ears for most of it as they waited for Rainbow Dash to arrive.

She finally showed up about half an hour later, shooting in through a window and landing on Fluttershy’s back, getting a ferocious blush from the Pegasus as her talk with her coltfriend was interrupted unexpectedly. Rainbow hopped off after figuring out what had been going on and walked over to Ryan, pretending it had never happened.

“So you ready for this?” she asked Ryan, nudging his side.

“I sure hope so,” Ryan replied with a gulp.

Twilight signaled for him and Mac to stand in the center of the room, in the middle of a circle made of white chalk. Once they were in position, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash moved off to the side to avoid getting in the way. Twilight charged up her horn, and just before she shot out a bolt of magic at the males, they both looked at each other as if it would be the last time.

The magic shot forth, and after a brief flash of light, all was silent. The guys opened their eyes and looked around for a moment, then to each other again. They were alive; that was good. But they felt no different.

“Did it work?” Ryan asked trepidatiously.

Twilight fell back onto her rump and didn’t respond. Her mane was haggard, her eyes half shut. She was sweating profusely, exhausted and about ready to sleep.

Mac stepped forward. “Well, Miss Twilight?” he asked slowly. Twilight, as slowly as Mac had spoke, nodded her head and yawned.

“Yes,” she said. “You guys can walk on clouds now.”

“You’re sure?” Ryan asked.

Twilight continued to nod. “Yes, I’m sure.” She turned to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “Can you guys help me upstairs? I don’t think I’ll make it on my own.” The ladies nodded and got under either side of Twilight to support her.

“We got ya, Twi,” Rainbow assured her friend. “And we’ll take the balloon up to Cloudsdale. We’ll bring it back in one piece.”

Twilight yawned again. “Thanks.” With that, she promptly nodded off while she was carried upstairs.

That left the two guys alone downstairs while they waited for the mares to return, and they stood in conversational silence. Neither of them felt comfortable with this, as neither had ever walked on clouds before. They were both substantially heavier than the mares, which, without Pegasus magic, they were convinced would work against them. Without a word, they agreed that they hated the idea.

Ryan looked to Mac. I feel like I’m gonna fall and die.

Mac shrugged. Rainbow can catch you, probably. They’ll have to work together to get me.

And where does that leave me if we both fall? Ryan frowned at his friend. I’ll be totally and utterly screwed to fall to my death.

Mac shrugged. “Eeyup,” he said, shooting Ryan a coy smile.

“It’s good to have friends,” Ryan said, shaking his head as he turned away.

The mares returned from upstairs and walked over to the guys. Fluttershy cozied herself into to Mac’s chest, supplementing his puny amount of courage in this endeavor with the desire to impress his lady. Rainbow stuck her tongue out at the pair in disgust, and Ryan just felt lonely.

“Let’s go,” Rainbow said, pushing the couple out the door. Ryan followed along.

The balloon had to be moored outside the town because it was too big and unsafe to land in the town. When they arrived, Ryan was even less sure about this whole thing. The basket might fit three of them, and it would barely get Ryan and Mac together. Fluttershy and Dash would probably pull it, what with the rope hanging off the front, but it didn’t do much to help Ryan with dealing with the fear of falling.

“Get inside, boyos!” Rainbow said, flying over and picking up a rein. “We have an Airshow to get to!”

Ryan and Mac exchanged one last look and made their way into the basket, uncomfortable shifting their weight and scrunching body parts to fit in. Once they were in, Fluttershy fluttered over and rested on Mac’s back.

“Let’s get this show on the road!” Rainbow yelled. As she dragged them into the air, Ryan shut his eyes for a few minutes and tried to think about that time he went skydiving in Mexico. It couldn’t be scarier than that.

It was worse. Much worse. Balloon rides are terrifying. The basket felt like it would be torn off the balloon at any moment, especially with how fast Rainbow was dragging it. Ryan clenched the sides until he had white knuckles.

Mac didn’t fare any better; he was so pale, one would say he turned pink during the ride. Fluttershy tried to get him better, but when nothing worked, she leaned in close to his ear and said something that brought his complexion right back.

They arrived at the city, and what a city it was. There were pegasi everywhere, flying about, doing their work. Most were interacting with the clouds in some way, shape, or form, but others were doing other things. There were restaurants, shops, and homes that pegasi went in and out of. Most of the buildings were made of pillars the style you would see in Greece or the White House.

Fluttershy jumped out and walked over to Rainbow, who was removing her reins as fast and ungracefully as possible. Once she was free of her restraints, she shot up into the air and took in a deep breath of the thin air.

“Nothing like that Cloudsdale air!” she shouted. She landed back on the clouds and turned to lead the way into the city. “Let’s go!” Rainbow Dash marched forward excitedly, unaware of the trouble behind her.

“Umm… Rainbow?” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah, Flutters?” Rainbow replied.

“I think we need to help the guys out of the balloon,” Fluttershy said sheepishly.

“Oh, come on, they don’t need-“ Rainbow turned to see Ryan and Mac, frozen in place, staring at the clouds in front of them. They looked catatonic, like they were staring at dead bodies. Their dead bodies.

Rainbow groaned and flew over to them. “Oh, come on, guys!” she said, though going unnoticed. “It isn’t that hard! We’re right here to catch you.”

Ryan took in a deep breath. “Okay,” he said slowly, trying to stay calm. “It’s just like jumping from a Cessna, just without a parachute.”

“Ah don’t like this,” Mac said, eyes wide like a spooked cat. “Ah don’t like this one bit.”

“Oh, come on, Macky,” Fluttershy called. “You can do it!”

Mac was stuck now; his mare was calling to him. He looked once at Ryan, and Ryan met his gaze.

We go together? Mac asked.

On three. Ryan replied.

The guys put their jumping legs on the edge of the balloon and took in three deep breaths. One… Two… Three!

They leaped forward, taking Rainbow by surprise, and she dove out of the way of the large living projectiles. They went pretty far, Mac getting ten feet and Ryan getting six, before they reached cloud level. They started to go through the clouds, and it appeared that the spell failed-

WHUMP

They both hit the clouds like a memory foam mattress, only instead of sinking in, it just felt cold. Ryan slid forward on his face for a second, since he hadn’t kept his hands out to catch himself, and came to a painful stop after about a foot. He lay where he stopped and groaned in pain.

“Good news; it worked,” Mac said, getting up.

“Thanks for informing me,” Ryan said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Rainbow could be heard in absolute hysterics nearby. Ryan stood up and rubbed his face. It felt like it had been scraped with an icy cheese grater, but after rubbing his hands together to get warm, and putting them on his face, he felt better. After Rainbow received a look from Ryan to get her to stop laughing, she coughed twice and calmed herself.

“Let’s go,” she said.

The group got walking toward a massive cloud stadium that strongly resembled the coliseum in Rome. Ryan could see it form the moment they arrived; it was massive, hard to miss. Pegasi swarmed around it, some flying with intense speed from inside, going up, then down, then through the arches and rings that made up the exterior of the building.

Ryan glanced at his watch as they walked; it was about half past nine now. He would have sworn that Rainbow said that the show would start at noon, but he could have been mistaken. Of course, he could very easily be right about the time, and Rainbow could just be an eager beaver to get to the show.

Ryan whistled to get her attention. When she turned around, he asked, “What time does the show start?”

“Noon,” Rainbow answered excitedly. So Ryan was right.

“Why are we going to the stadium this early, then?” Ryan asked, getting a confused look from Rainbow. “They won’t want us lining up, and being there three hours early as opposed to one or one and a half isn’t going to do much.”

Rainbow looked scandalized at Ryan’s words. “Wha- are you kidding?” she asked. “We have to get there early to get good seats!”

“Ryan does have a point, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said from atop Mac’s back. “And the way the seats are arranged, and given that they assign seats to tickets, we wont miss anything. And from what you said, our seats are good…”

“Hay yea, they are!” Rainbow replied. “Front row!”

“Then we don’t need to be there this absurdly early,” Ryan concluded. “Don’t you want to show me and Mac Cloudsdale, since at least I won’t be back any time soon, probably?”

Rainbow looked hard at Ryan, then conceded and let her expression soften. With a defeated sigh, she turned around and away form the stadium.

“Yeah, that does sound like a nice idea,” she said. Suddenly, her expression became very excited. “You guys should totally see the Cloud Factory!”

“Cloud Factory?” Ryan asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, it’s where we make the clouds for places outside the Everfree Forest and similar places!” Rainbow replied. Ryan was more surprised at the fact that there were places like the Everfree Forest that weren’t the Everfree Forest.

Ryan thought it sounded like a fine idea, and so did Mac and Fluttershy, so they went along and followed Rainbow to the factory. True to her word, when they got there after about half an hour of walking, it was shooting clouds out of its cloud doors like a cannon.

Rainbow explained the differences between the clouds briefly. There were several different types that went out into the population. Storm clouds brought train to places that needed it. White clouds provided breaks from sunlight, especially during the summer. Gray overcast clouds were for more solemn occasions. And lightning clouds were to release Nitrogen into the air to help plants to thrive.

She took them on a tour inside the factory, which was only allowed because she had once worked in the factory, and was now the head of the weather team for Ponyville. There were large machines, made of wood and, almost shockingly, more clouds, pumping water around and mystifying it to make the many different clouds. Pegasi wore helmets when they worked, which only confused Ryan, as the clouds weren’t THAT hard. But no one ever said tha the ponies made sense more than a third of the time.

After the tour, Fluttershy brought the group to the Rainbow Factory. Ryan couldn’t explain it, but the name of that building just put shivers up and down his spine. They took another half hour to get there, so this was their last stop before heading to the show. When they arrived, Fluttershy looked at the building like it was a flower shop with cute little animals and squee’d hard. Mac nearly had a heart attack from it.

“This is where I worked very briefly, during the Rainbow Peril a few years ago,” she explained. “They needed pegasi to work on making beautiful rainbows so Equestria could keep peace, so I volunteered.”

Rainbow put her hoof to her chin in contemplation. “I remember that,” she said thoughtfully. “That was a serious problem.”

Ryan and Mac deadpanned at each other. There was no way that a crisis of Rainbows had proven catastrophic to the safety of a nation. Neither of them was about to believe it, but, being males, they had no choice but to accept the females’ vie won it. Especially Mac; one thing that a guy learns when he gets a lady friend is that, more often than not, she’s right, even if she’s wrong.

They entered the factory, and Mac and Ryan’s mouths fell agape with breathless gasps at the sight. Everything was gold; the machines, the equipment, the outfits, even the clouds. Rainbow liquids were being brewed in golden pans and poured out into molds, then dropped form a hole in the ground to the world below.

“Oh, my, this is new,” Fluttershy commented.

“How in the living hell did they make golden clouds?” Ryan asked, tapping the cloud below him. It was solid metal.

“How in the hay should we know?” Rainbow asked. “We didn’t build it.”

“Well, I guess I can still show you around,” Fluttershy said.

She led them around the area and explained everything to them. The only explanation for all the gold was that Rainbows had the fewest chemical reactions or some such nonsense with gold. It made sense, then, to make everything in the building gold to minimize loss of product.

The rainbows, it turned out, were key for the safety of Equestria. The rainbows had a certain magic to them that pacified other groups; specifically the dragons to the west; and kept them from attacking Equestria. Ryan couldn’t figure out why it pacified them, but hey, if it works, don’t try to fix it.

The process, it turned out, was much more complex than any development of an Rx drug back home. There were around four dozen materials that went into rainbows, and if anything at all wasn’t perfect, the rainbow would come out brown and looking, literally, like feces. That would be bad, obviously.

They concluded their tour with Ryan and Mac sneaking a taste of the Rainbows. It was a stupid idea; it burned like a volcano erupted in their mouths. They were the firs tones of the building because they needed a water-based cloud to cool off their tongues. Rainbow and Fluttershy were, naturally, laughing at the foolishness of the guys, though Fluttershy offered some boo-boo kisses to her coltfriend afterwards. Problem was; they were in his mouth.

Ryan and Rainbow looked away and in the direction of the stadium. Pegasi were just starting to arrive there for the next show, the noon one, so time was important now.

“Alright, love bird and love hound, let’s go!” Ryan shouted, trying to put an end to his and Rainbow’s feelings of awkwardness.

“Feel better?” Ryan heard Fluttershy ask her coltfriend

“Eeeeeyup,” Mac replied.

They made their way to the stadium as fast as Rainbow could make Ryan go. He felt like dead weight to the group, being the slowest runner and also unable to fly. Rainbow kept throwing him impatient looks as they ran, which Ryan would return with apologetic looks that also told her that he was doing his best. Meanwhile, Mac and Fluttershy were next to each other, trying not to bump into each other, but staying nice and close.

When they arrived at the stadium, there was already something of a line there. Rainbow started to complain about having to wait, but Fluttershy managed to keep her whining to a quiet groan. Pegasi gave them curious looks as Ryan and Mac stood next to the ladies in line, wondering what on earth an Earth Pony and a weird human were doing on the clouds.

The line moved fairly quickly, contrary to what Rainbow was whining about, and they were in the stadium in no time. They stopped at a concession stand before heading to their seats to get some traditional Pegasus cuisine. It consisted mostly of wheat and barley, with some oats and few veggies. There was a large number of select fruits, like grapes and apples, but there was little else. Ryan stuck to the wheat, barley, and oats.

They waded through the massive, flowing crowd of pegasi to their seats and sat down. For whatever reason, the seats were substantially softer than the clouds they had been walking on. Ryan accredited it to the cloud factory making so many different types of clouds.

He sat back in his seat and leaned on his elbows. “So, what should we expect from this airshow?” Ryan asked.

Rainbow took up her large drink and took a loud sip. “Ahh,” she said. “What? Oh, we’ll probably see a lot of amateurs showing their stuff, trying to get recruited by the fliers in the stands.”

Ryan looked around. He spotted a few pegasi who wore official looking uniforms, but none he could recognize. There was only one he could recognize anyway, the Wonderbolts, but still. That just meant the others weren’t famous enough for him to have heard about them.

“So they’ll be doing some impressive routines?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, it should be interesting,” Rainbow said. “I can do most of their routines, since I’m so awesome, but the only way these guys will advance up in the private sector of flying is to start from these teams.”

“Private sector?” Ryan asked.

Rainbow nodded. “The Wonderbolts are public; they’re funded and paid for by the princesses. Unlike these other teams, or even other public flying teams, the Wonderbolts are also military, the stunt team of the Air Guard. They don’t get called on much, but they can be called on to battle.”

Ryan smiled. “Good luck to you, then,” Ryan said. “It seems like it’ll fit you pretty well.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow said, giving Ryan a genuine smile. A horn blew off on the other side of the stadium. “Ooh, it’s starting!”

The first few fliers shot out of an archway at the base of the stadium wall, and Ryan leaned back forward to get a good view of the action that was to ensue.

The show was really something. A lot of highly talented fliers made their marks, and Ryan even saw each recruiter write down a pretty significant number of names on some clipboards. A lot of the flying was difficult maneuvers that didn’t include speed, which was really one of the only things that made Rainbow that much better. Rainbow could do the same thing, but faster, and with some more control. She also had a bit more spirit, but that was all.

The stadium began to empty the moment the three hour airshow was finished. Ryan and Mac recommended that they wait for a time so that the crowds will be smaller as they tried to get out so that they wouldn’t be separated. Should that occur, panic would surely permeate Ryan and Mac’s minds.

When they finally did leave, they were able to do so unhindered. They didn’t stop at any concession stands or gift shops on their way out, instead deciding that they would continue their tour of the city. They walked out of the stadium and Ryan took in a deep breath of fresh, thin air.

“So, where to next?” Ryan asked. “Any thoughts? Anyone?”

Rainbow thought. “Hmmm… There’s a bunch of places we could go. I say we-“

“HEEEYY!” a stallion somewhere in the distance shouted.

The group turned to see where the voice came from. When Ryan laid eye son the source, he instantly knew who it was. He didn’t know his name, and he had never seen him before. But the rainbow mane on his head and the older look of the stallion told him all he needed to know. Rainbow’s eyes exploded wide in excitement and she ran forward.

“DAD!” she shouted, tackling her father at max speed. The guy was a tank; he didn’t flinch, and he didn’t move when he was hit. “Ohmigosh, I didn’t know you would be here!”

Her father laughed. “I wasn’t expecting to see you, either,” he said. “I know you’re going for the Wonderbolts, after all.”

“I wanted to show my friends here what Cloudsdale is like,” Rainbow said.

Rainbows father looked past her and stopped at Ryan and Mac. It was odd, he thought, that an earth pony was here, and even more odd that this other thing was around. He had heard things about some new guy in Ponyville where his daughter lived, but he hadn’t expected anything like this.

He walked past Rainbow and extended a hoof. “Hey there, I believe I have heard of you,” he said to both guys in front of him.

They both nodded and Ryan responded, “I’m not surprised. Seems like the brother of an element and a human would be pretty well-known.”

The stallion laughed. “I suppose so.”

“I had a feeling you were Rainbow’s dad,” Ryan said. “The mane is what really gave it away.”

“I imagine,” Rainbow’s father replied. He looked back at his daughter, who was unexpectedly right behind him. After a bit of a start, he turned back to the guys with a smile only a dad can give. “So…” He looked at Ryan.

“Ryan,” Ryan said.

“Ryan,” Rainbow’s father repeated. “Are you the one my daughter is after?”

Rainbow’s face turned bright red. “Dad, what?” she shouted. Ryan started laughing, earning a glare from the prismatic mare. “He’s not the one I told you about!”

Ryan jumped in. “Now, Rainbow, no need to hide it!” he said, glancing at Rainbow’s father to ensure him it was just him joking. “I know how sexy confidence is.”

“No, he isn’t the one!” Rainbow shouted. “I’m looking at-“

A huge gust of wind came out of nowhere and drowned out any noise being made around them. Rainbow didn’t notice and kept yelling, probably barely able to hear herself, until she calmed down and the wind went away. Ryan, however, was able to read her lips and knew whom she said.

“Okay?” she asked, exhausted from her yelling.

“Okay,” Ryan and her father said simultaneously.

Rainbow looked at the two of them, huffed, and went to talk to Fluttershy and Mac. While she was over with them, ignoring the trolls behind her, Ryan and her father chatted with each other.

“So, how’s life living in the same town as my daughter?” Rainbow’s father asked.

“It certainly never gets boring, I can say that, Mr..?” Ryan trailed off as he spoke.

“You can call me Mr. Dash,” he said.

“Mr. Dash,” Ryan repeated. “I bet it was interesting, raising her.”

“Ha!” Mr. Dash shouted, just getting Rainbow to look over for a second. “You don’t know the half of it. She used to be obsessed with wearing nice dresses and being a proper lady.”

“Bullshit,” Ryan said. “There is no way she was ever like that.”

“It’s true,” Mr. Dash said. “And when she decided to go sports, that was the best day of my life. I just wish her mother had been there to see her daughter grow so strong…”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Ryan said. “I’m sure she was really something, to have a daughter so loyal.”

Mr. Dash chuckled. “Yeah…” They stood there for another moment in silence, respecting the deceased.

Rainbow Dash walked over, sensing the mood. “Hey, so it was great seeing you, dad,” she said. “But Mac wants to go meet Fluttershy’s dad. We’re gonna head on over that way.”

“Okay, you guys have fun,” Mr. Dash said. He turned to Ryan and extended a hoof. “It was good to meet you.”

‘Likewise,” Ryan said, shaking the hoof.

They parted ways, and Mr. Dash flew home alone. Rainbow looked after him sadly, knowing what he was thinking about, but let it drop so that they could go see Fluttershy’s father.

The trip was short, and the whole time, Ryan felt like something was off. There was something nagging at him about going to see Fluttershy’s father. The feeling was only enhanced when Ryan looked over at Fluttershy; she was looking nervously at Mac, like she was worried about him.

When they arrived, Fluttershy was barely able to put on a brave face. Whatever her concerns, she hadn’t voiced them to Mac, as he looked completely oblivious to the entire thing. Rainbow failed to notice as well, and when they walked up to the door and knocked, Fluttershy almost seemed to put herself in front of Mac like he might get hurt.

Hen the door opened, the guy standing there wasn’t what Ryan was expecting. He had been expecting a slender, happy, easy Pegasus stallion in the doorway. What he got was a very muscular, angry-looking, and judgmental Pegasus with an attitude problem. When he saw his daughter in the group, his expression remained unchanged.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

Mac stepped up. “Hello, Ah’m Macintosh Apple, of Ponyville,” he said. “Ah thought it would be right to introduce mahself to mah marefriend’s father.”

The stallion’s eyes widened and he looked at his daughter with an extremely brief, barely seeable look of contempt, then switched back to his stern and assholish look.

“Hm,” he said, scrutinizing Mac. “I suppose you can come in.”

Fluttershy’s father left the doorway and let them enter the cloud house, though everyone entered with caution. It was obvious that this wasn’t the nicest guy on the block, but now that they were here, they had an unspoken obligation to at least stay for a bit. So when they entered, they entered fully prepared to haul ass outta there.

The stallion led them to a living room, where there was a small Pegasus mare sitting in the middle of the room. When she saw Fluttershy, her eyes brightened up immensely and she rushed over to hug her.

“Oh, my baby, you’re visiting!” she said. “I can’t believe it, what’s it been, three years?” Three years? That was an awfully long time to not visit.

“Yes, just about,” Fluttershy said, reciprocating the hug. “I’ve just been… busy.” She threw a microsecond of a glance at her father, who was turned around. Everyone noticed.

“Yes… busy,” her mother said.

Ryan stepped forward to reduce the feelings of the situation. “I’m sorry, but I do not know your name,” he said.

Fluttershy’s mother turned and gasped in surprise. “Oh! I’m sorry, you startled me. I am Summer Wind, and my husband is Flanker.”

Ryan gave her a small bow. “Thank you for having us,” he said.

“Yeah,” Flanker interjected, walking back into the room from wherever he had gone. “What exactly brought you here?”

mac answered that one. “Thought it would be right for me to meet Fluttershy’s parents,” he said.

Flanker narrowed his gaze at Mac. “Well, you can go back to Earth now,” he said. “You met us.”

Mac flinched at the harshness of his tone. “Sir, if Ah’ve offended you-“

“Not you,” Flanker said. Fluttershy and Summer had their heads down, and Rainbow was off to the side, looking shaken. "What you represent. I don’t like it being near anything affiliated with me.” He added extra poison to those last words, emphasizing his inexplicable hatred for Mac. Ryan just watched it unfold at first, gauging the reactions, then jumped in.

“Well, I can assure you, Mac is a good guy,” he said.

Flanker snorted. “We’ll see,” he said. With that, Flanker left the room.

Ryan and Mac exchanged a look. It was clear that this was trouble, and it could easily become more trouble in the future. It would be unfitting, though, and probably ineffective, for Mac to handle this the way it needed to be handled. Ryan jerked his head towards Fluttershy and Summer, and Mac took the hint with a nod and walked over to them to talk. Ryan started toward the room where Flanker was.

Rainbow, though, got in his way. “What’re you doing?” she asked. Ryan put his hand on her left side and pushed her to his right, out of his way.

“I’m gonna have a chat with Flanker,” he said.

Ryan walked into the room without further interruption and spotted Flanker, standing in front of the fridge, pulling out foods. He didn’t seem to notice Ryan as he walked in, to focused on getting his food and sitting at his table. When he set the food down, though, he turned and looked right at Ryan.

“I don’t like them,” he said.

“I had a feeling,” Ryan said. “But they’re your family and their friends, so it sucks to suck.”

Flanker shook his head. “No. Earth ponies. And anything else tied to land.” Ryan raised an eyebrow as Flanker kept on talking. “They aren’t worthy of anything that flies. They are dirt ponies, at best. They can do nothing but serve those of us with true power, magic or flying. They are servants, and deserve nothing form us. And they will get nothing form us.”

“They took ’re jerbs ‘n shteal ‘re women!” Ryan parodied, receiving a confused look. “Boo-fucking-hoo. That isn’t how it is, and there’s a reason for it. And what do you mean, ‘won’t get anything from you’?”

“Exactly what you said, you arrogant little shit,” Flanker said, getting closer to Ryan. “My daughter will not be with some worthless, sweaty, farming, pathetic earth pony. I won’t allow it.”

Ryan narrowed his gaze at Flanker and stepped forward. “So what, you’ll make sure it doesn’t work out?” Flanker nodded.

“I can’t allow our blood to be contaminated,” he said.

Ryan took in a deep breath and leaned forward. “Listen here, you goddam shit-kicking Nazi,” he said, getting up in Flanker’s face. “Mac is my best friend, and Fluttershy is pretty damn close to the same place. Their happiness is my top priority, unlike you, who cares for nothing but the easily lost blood in his veins.

You are everything that is wrong with life in general. You’re hate-filled ways cause unnecessary suffering. You’re anger is dangerous to those around you. You have no love to give, you only suck in what people try to give you and shit it back out later. You’re a drain.

So here’s what I have to say to you; you will NEVER go near Mac. You will NEVER go near Fluttershy. You will leave this household and you will never come back. Everyone would be better off without you.”

“And what if I don’t?” Flanker said, standing up to meet Ryan’s eyes.

Ryan snarled at him and they touched foreheads. “If you ever… hurt my friends…” he put his finger to Flanker’s chest and ran it up to his jaw. “I will take this jaw from you-“ He gripped it hard. “-And I will wear it as my new necklace.”

Flanker looked into the human’s eyes and froze. He could see the deadly seriousness, the icy tundra that was the rage Ryan felt toward him. That was where he would go if he didn’t do exactly as he was told. He felt his knees begin to tremble as his resolve started to give, the foundations of his power going from being chipped away to crushed with a wrecking ball. He stepped back and tripped on the table, making a loud noise.

“You better run, little man,” Ryan said, moving toward him. “Because if I ever find you near them again, if I ever hear you came by, if I ever even think you broke my rule-“ he rushed forward and gripped the jaw again. “You know what’s coming.”

Flanker’s resolve fell apart, and he flew out of the room like a peregrine falcon on a dive. Ryan watched him go, the adrenaline fading, and a strange feeling of pride taking its place. He felt like he did something good.

He returned to the room to see Mac comforting the mares, all of them, on the couch. As Ryan walked in, they all looked up at him, expecting him to have someone with him. When he didn’t, Summer spoke up.

“Where did Flanker go?” she asked, a glimmer of what sounded like hope in her voice.

Ryan looked back to the room, then back to Summer, and shrugged. “No idea,” he said. “Must have headed out. For the sunset.”

Everyone got it, and the feeling of tension in the room dissipated into nothingness as they sat together and started to share stories in the new safety of Fluttershy’s childhood home.