The Mysterious Tale of the Man Who Didn't Do Much

Chapter 3: Just Like Me

So, I'm still sitting on the floor when Rainbow walks over. "Hi!" she says in the most trying-to-be-adorable voice in the world. "Hi." I say, laying down on my back. Rainbow lays down next to me on her stomach. "Alright," I say, "spill it." Rainbow looks confused. "What do you mean?"

"You've been lookin' at me all day, or at least for the time I've been here. You probably used your weather mojo to fix up the sky for a little bit, and you acted like it was a massive deal that you helped me out of the rain." I paused for a breath. "Now, think to yourself. How much of this is true?" Rainbow stared at the ground, in self pity. "Well, I have full confidence in saying that the rain stopping had nothing to do with me! And none of the other stuff.. is true." She half-smiled, and I shot her a glare before getting up. "Well, okay then. I believe you..." I walked away.

And she followed. "Bam. Gotcha. You're following me." I crossed my arms and said with a tone of joking disapproval. She stammered a few times but managed to put out a: "But.. I.. No fair!" She stared at the ground again, and sat in a chair. I next in another, next to her. "What's wrong?" I asked, sorry I had even tampered with her knowing... of.. my knowing... I suppose that's how you would say it. "A lot." she replied with a little anger. "Many, many, many things. But.. Meh. It doesn't get to me a whole bunch. Except now, for some reason." She spoke again softly, saddened by something... whatever it was. "You probably think I'm weird or something." She sniffed.

I looked at her. She had feelings too. I was being harsh. "Wanna talk about it?" She sniffled and looked up and told me everything. It started off slow, she was kinda hesitant to talk at first, but once she realized that I was listening, she opened up just like any other book in this library. I read- rather, heard everything she had to say. We shared a few laughs, and she certainly had quite the laugh. It was like a little squeak and then a literal "Bahaha!" that eventually faded off.

In the end, she turned to me, "Well, you've heard it all. I still can't shake the feeling of sadness. Sounds cheesy and lame, right?" I shook my head, signaling a no. "Rainbow Dash, look at me. Don't be sad. Things always get better at some point in everypony's life. You gotta believe it. Plus, it just doesn't fit you to be sad."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because... Even where I'm from... Rainbows are never gray." She tackled me to the ground in a hug. "Thank you. I needed to hear that." I just laid there. That's when it hit me. She's not just a pony, a mindless racing animal. The ones that are either abused or overly-praised animals that existed on Earth. She was a real thinking, caring, understanding creature that... As weird as it is... Was just like me. I needed a friend I could count on at this point in my life. She could be this friend. I patted her on the head. "Not a problem. I just hate when others are sad. I do what I can."

"Whatever you do, you do it well." She nudged my ribs with her elbow and got up. "Thanks," I replied, "Now, I don't know  about you, but I'm very tired." At first, I was just using that as an excuse to think about the day I just had calmly and to myself, but then I noticed... I was tired. I laid down and closed my eyes. I guess I was wrong. Tonight wasn't half bad... and for the first time in years... I had a friend.

As I drifted off to sleep, I felt pressure on my shoulder. "Hm?" I said to myself, yet out loud, and turned around. There, Rainbow had her arm on my shoulder. I'm speaking as a 16 year old now... That was, like, the cutest thing... Ever. I patted her arm and went back to sleep.