It’s nice when your only neighbor is the prairie grass. Anyone who comes looking for me can only find my house when they’re lost. I even had to get a P.O. Box because the mailman kept missing my mailbox, or he was too lazy to come out this way. I live on the corner of two dusty roads and they only go two places, Lost and Nowhere. The house was inherited from my Grandma Dorothy, a two-story farmhouse, upgraded with modern comforts. It was my favorite place to come as a child; I always loved listening to Grandma Dorothy’s stories about journeys to faraway lands and meeting mythical beings. I moved in a few years ago and helped her after she got sick, taking care of the house and cooking. Even though she isn’t here anymore, I still fulfill my chores for her.
When I’m not working at a small general store, I spend my time on my porch, basking in the warm breeze of the Great Plains. Other times I watch my favorite shows and listen to my music. Today, as I get ready to go into town to get my monthly supply of provisions; I’m plopped on the sofa, tying my shoes, and watching one of my favorite programs. Don’t laugh; it’s My Little Pony.
The ‘average’ person would tell you something like; ‘Aren’t you too old to watch children’s shows?’ Maybe so, but in today’s world; where countries are at war, families are losing their homes, and it’s getting harder to just get by, the ‘average’ person wouldn’t mind trying to holding on to what’s left of their childhood and to hold off reality for just one more day.
Anyway, one of my favorite episodes of MLP is on, Hurricane Fluttershy. Here, the meek and timid Fluttershy saves the day by helping the Pegasus ponies send water to Cloudsdale using a tornado. I play with my keys as Fluttershy is racing around, unaware that she has succeeded, when a newsflash scrolls across my television screen.
“The National Weather Service in Oklahoma City has issued a Tornado Watch for the following Counties…” the robotic voice ran through a laundry list of counties in the area. Most of the locations mentioned were well to the west of here, so I wasn’t worried. I turned off the television as the credits for My Little Pony roll, go downstairs through the storm shelter to the garage, and get to the car. There hasn’t been a major storm here in a while so I turned it into a game room. There was a 52” television with plenty of video games across from a sofa. There is also a recliner, a table with a couple chairs a mini-fridge and a small microwave. Out in the garage is a big generator. I bought it after that big storm system that sent a tornado into Joplin. Next to the generator is my car, an old blue sedan. Not really ideal for driving on a dirt road, but gas is expensive and that little car can stretch out a tank.
It takes me about an hour to get to the nearest grocery store, so I only go when there’s nothing but hopes and dreams in my refrigerator. It was busier than average today, probably because the tornado watch scared everyone into thinking the End of Days is upon us. I grabbed a cart and started weaving up and down the aisles, dropping items in as I squeeze in between the soccer moms, retirees, and broke young people. Another hour later, with a receipt announcing that I just blew $254.91 (with coupons!) and shopping cart full with my monthly supply, I load up the car and head back home. The checkout lines were awful. Sigh.
The drive home wasn’t as pleasant as it was earlier. The sky grew darker and more ominous; the wind was picking up, the swaying prairie grass turned into a choppy amber sea. A storm is definitely coming. I speed up a little bit on the dirt road; it’s probably just a thunderstorm. I finally make it home, and start unloading my bounty from the store. I turned the television back on; another episode of My Little Pony was airing. This time it was Wonderbolt Academy. I finished putting all my groceries away when it started raining. Hard. The view outside was a watercolor painting of what a sunny day would normally reveal. I could hardly see the mailbox from my front door; it was like the house was going through a car wash.
Tink. Tink.
I heard a tapping on the roof.
Tink. Tink. Tink.
It was hail.
Pea-sized ice stones began tapping against the house, bouncing off the porch and the mailbox. The hail stones got larger, some the size of golf balls. They were barraging the house like a paintball machine gun. Then, everything became still. No rain, no hail, just a dark sky.
Then, one of the most frightening sounds anyone can hear. The Wail.
“IT’S A TWISTER!” Bellowed Apple Jack as a massive tornado sucked her and the other four ponies into the vortex, the rest of the girls screaming in terror as they were tossed around.
The tornado sirens were screaming here too. I ran to the back door.
Maybe 10 miles away, the clouds in the sky began to swirl. I didn’t wait, I ran through the house, grabbing as many valuables as I could, photos, my favorite music and movies, important papers. I could see the funnel cloud reach to the ground; the wind was starting to howl. I hurried down into the tornado shelter. I turned on the radio, the emergency warning system was screeching, warning everyone to seek shelter.
I could hear a rumbling up above, growing louder. The lights began to flicker and the howling increased. The freight train was coming, the locomotive plowing through anything in its way. Louder and louder, a 747 engine was getting ready for takeoff, increasing speed on the runway. It was deafening, it was a nightmare where I could not wake, the monster I could not escape. It was coming, it wanted to devour me. One thousand lions were roaring above me, I could hear the twisting metal, splintering wood, and shattering glass. The house that had been in my family for over one hundred years was being ripped apart like it was made of paper. It was tearing the house apart looking for me. I’ve been hiding down here for what feels like a millennium, hoping that it could just go away.
I emerged from my sanctuary; my dazed stagger sent my bumping into furniture and the walls. The electricity went out during the tornado, leaving the shelter pitch black. I felt my way around the room, looking for a flashlight. Once I found one, I opened the door to the garage. Thankfully the car was still there, so was everything else. I opened the door to the outside world, the bright light blinding me, not wanting me to see what had become of my home. After my vision became clear, I wish I would be blinded again. My home was gone. The foundation was scraped clean, like a mean kid came along and knocked over my sandcastle. Debris littered the ground around me, piles of twisted metal and broken wood scattered the yard.
The only thing that survived was what I had managed to rescue to my shelter. I was overcome with disbelief seeing the pieces of my house crumbled up and spread around like birdseed. I walked around, surveying the wreckage, trying to step over sharp debris. I walked over to a giant oak tree where my mattress lay propped against along with piles of wood from what was probably my bedroom. I leaned against the mattress and slid down, despondent looking at the concrete slab that bore the foundation of the place I have lived in for the last 19 years. It was overwhelming. How do I rebuild? Where will I go? Why is the mattress moaning?
At first I thought it was me and my despair. But the more I listened, the more I realized that there was something under the mattress. Did someone get sucked into the tornado? I turned around and tossed the mattress out of the way. I could see something, but I could tell what it was. I moved some wood out of the way; I could feel splinters piercing my hands. I could see something. It was blue. It had wings. It was Rainbow Dash? I must me hallucinating, it’s impossible; my mental state is compromised by the destruction. There’s no possible way that a cartoon character could be real, outside of television and toys. I cleared more debris out of the way and there she was. Her rainbow colored mane, her cutie mark, it was her! She was hurt, where ever she came from, the twister got her good. I slowly reached out to touch her. Did I get hit by my stove? This can’t be real. My fingers got closer to Rainbow Dash’s belly. I was actually touching her. She was warm, and breathing. I’m dreaming, there is no other explanation. Then, dangling from a branch above me, the alarm clock that used to sit on the nightstand next to my bed fell from the tree and landed square on my head.
“OW!” I barked, massaging my head with my other hand. Rainbow moaned faintly. That really hurt. Wait, then I’m not dreaming. This is real! She is real! I need to get her inside.
As quickly and gently as I could, I scooped up the injured Rainbow Dash and rushed her into the tornado shelter where I could attend to her wounds. I cantered as fast as I could back to the shelter, trying to avoid the microwave, the dining table, and all the other unrecognizable mess that lay around.
The next hour or so I spent bandaging her injuries, I tossed a bunch of junk off the table and laid Rainbow Dash on it. I had no idea how to mend any kind of animal, let alone a cartoon character, so the Internet had to give me a crash course on equine health. I used what I had from a first aid kit I stashed down here. She had quite a few cuts and bruises on her most were surprisingly minor. I couldn’t tell if she had any broken bones, if not, it would be a miracle.
She began to stir. What should I do? Should I throw some kind of Pinkie Pie party? I started to panic; I didn’t plan for when Rainbow Dash began to wake up. I nervously tried to bandage the last cut on her front leg. I reached for the bandage when I looked up and saw a pinkish-purple eye staring down at me.
Rainbow Dash rocketed up, knocking me into a shelf behind me. She was panicked, I was panicked too. She scrambled around the room, looking for the exit, sprinting from one in, flying to the other.
“WHERE AM I? WHAT HAPPENED? HOW DO I GET OUT OF HERE?!” She yelled as she flew around the storm shelter banging into the walls.
“Rainbow Dash!” I called out to her. She was backed into a corner next to the television.
“HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME? WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME? WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS?” She bellowed. There was a mix of fear and anger in her expressions.
“Rainbow Dash, there was a tornado, I don’t know how, but you’re in my world.” I tried to explain. How do you explain to an animated character that they are in an alternate world? I had no idea.
“YOUR world? What do you mean, YOUR world?” Rainbow Dash snarled. “And HOW do you know MY name?”
“Because I watch you all the time.” I replied.
“You’ve been WATCHING me?! Why are you watching me? Is this why I’m here? You’re keeping me prisoner aren’t you?” She fired back, clearly confused and definitely ready to go on the attack.
“NO! I’m not keeping you prisoner! You landed here!” I tried to assure and explain to her. I slowly crossed the room to get to my laptop where I pulled up an episode of My Little Pony on YouTube. It happened to be Sonic Rainboom. I turned the computer toward Rainbow Dash where she watched as the blue mare tired to attempt the Sonic Rainboom, Fluttershy looking on.
“You ARE watching me!” Dash yelled. Just then, she spotted the door to the garage and the outside world before I could stop her. I was thrown into the recliner as she bolted through the doors, knocking them off their hinges, her rainbow trail streaking behind. I sprinted after her, stumbling over the junk that got tossed on the floor. I followed her outside where Rainbow Dash galloped in one direction, then the next, unsure of where to go looking wildly around. She spotted me and screamed “GET AWAY FROM ME!” Launching herself into the air like a missile, she rose into the air to hover over the scarred landscape. She looked down at the wreckage below, then the endless amber plains surrounding the house. She was lost; the fear was evident in her face, even from 100 feet in the air.
She raced down from the sky and hovered eye-level with me, nose to nose.
“Where am I?” Rainbow Dash snarled again.
“K—Kansas.” I said nervously.
“Kansas? How did you get me to Kansas?”
“I did NOT take you here, you ended up here! How did YOU get to Kansas?” I replied hotly.
“The only thing I remember was that I was trying to save my friends from getting demolished by a tornado! The next thing I know I’m in somepony’s strange lab or something, probably being experimented on!”
“First of all Rainbow Dash; that is not a ‘lab’, it is a tornado shelter! Secondly, I was not experimenting on you; I was cleaning up your injuries after you fell from the sky!” She certainly lived up to her feisty attitude.
“WHATEVER! How do I get out of this dump? I need to get back to my friends!” She barked.
“I don’t know.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON’T KNOW?”
“It means that I don’t know! The only thing I know is that a tornado wiped my house off the face of the Earth and you just happened to be under a mattress under that tree over there!” I pointed to the oak tree where I found the wounded mare, still littered with the remains of the house, just like everything else around here. It was insulting that she referred to the ruins of my home as a ‘dump’. I let out a deep sigh as I surveyed the damage; it was too much to take. I turned away from the pony and headed back into the bunker, head hung low, stepping over pieces of lumber and ruined furniture. Rainbow Dash lowered herself back to the ground, also looking at the ruins.
I approached the ramp to the garage when she called to me again.
“You live here?” She asked, her tone wasn’t accusatory, but confused.
“Yes.” I said woefully.
“A tornado did all this?” She asked again. I could hear her getting closer to me.
“Mm-hmm”
“But why didn’t the Weather Ponies stop it?”
“We don’t have ‘Weather Ponies’.” I said as I walked toward the shelter.
“Then who controls the weather around here?” She was right behind me.
“No one.” I said, entering the garage.
“That doesn’t name any sense!” She said confused.
“Welcome to my world.”
For the longest time there was nothing but silence, only the loud hum of the generator keeping the lights on in the basement. I winced as I used tweezers to pull slivers of wood from my hands. The television was on, with nothing but coverage of the massive storms that rolled through earlier.
“Southern Kansas was battered by a series of devastating tornadoes that were spawned from a massive storm front that plowed through the state.” Said the female news reporter. “One powerful super cell is blamed for a tornado that destroyed a large swath of Hutchinson. Several other tornadoes were spotted northeast of Wichita and the surrounding area. The Governor has declared a State of Emergency for all of Southern Kansas…” Images of the disaster were broadcasted across the television as reporters interviewed the survivors.
“So… am I even in Equestria?” Asked Rainbow Dash, walking up next to me.
“No, somehow, you managed to get transported from Equestria, here.” I said.
“Then how do I get home?”
“I wish I knew, I want to help you, but I don’t know how.”
There was more silence. How do I comfort a pony who is in a completely different world? Separated from her friends?
“So… you watch me and my friends? Huh?” She asked scratching her mane, looking at me shyly.
“Oh yes, there is a show that is totally about you all.” I replied. “We call it My Little Pony”
“Really? Is that how you know my name?”
“Yep.”
“Since you know my name, what’s yours?” Asked the pony.
“I’m Billy.” I said to her.
“Billy? Well, uhh, nice to meet you Billy.” She said stubbornly.
“Nice to meet you too, Rainbow Dash.”
“I guess I should thank you for fixing me up.” She looked down at her bandages.
“It’s okay; I never expected to be taking care of a character from My Little Pony.” I said with a meek laugh.
“Well… thanks.” She said shyly.
“You’re welcome.”
“What are you going to do about your house?” Asked Rainbow Dash.
“I don’t know, rebuild, I guess, this house has been in my family for generations, I can’t see myself living anywhere else.” I said to her.
“Well, I’m sorry for calling this place a dump, Billy.”
I shrugged it off, I resented the comment, but I wasn’t going to hold it against her. I probably would have done the same.
“I’m sorry that your house is gone.” She added.
“It’s okay, Dash. I think we both lost something today.”
Then, she did something I never expected Rainbow Dash to do; she leapt into my arms and hugged me. The magnitude of today sank in. The house I’ve lived in for almost two decades was erased, the home of my favorite grandmother… gone. To have someone there today hugging me was the most comforting thing I have ever felt, I couldn’t help but let out a tear or two. I think Rainbow Dash was feeling the same way, because I felt drops on my sleeve. She jumped off quickly and hid her face, most likely to compose herself. I rubbed my face too, removing any moisture from my cheeks.
“So… do you mind if I crash here for a while until we find a way for me to get home?” She asked, coughing and sniffling.
“Absolutely, I think this is the best place for you now.” I said, clearing my throat.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because anyone else would probably experiment on you.” I said, chuckling slightly. Dash blushed. “Well, there is a recliner over there,” I pointed to the chair next to the radio. “This sofa folds out too if you want to sleep with me.”
Rainbow Dash climbed up on the recliner, and gave it a feel, then hopped to the sofa.
“I don’t mind sleeping on the sofa, as long as you don’t snore. You don’t snore, do you?” She interrogated.
“No, I don’t snore. Do you?” I replied in kind.
“Who, me? I have never snored a night in my life!” She said defiantly.
“Okay, well, let me fix up the bed real quick.”
We both got up; I moved the cushions off the sofa and pulled out the hide-a-bed. Then, I went over to a trunk and pulled out a couple sheets, a blanket and two pillows. I always hated those fitted sheets, once you get them stretched out on one side, they pop off the other. After a few minutes putting the bed together, I crawled in and got comfortable. I patted the other side, inviting Rainbow Dash back up. She stretched her legs and laid down. It was still fairly early, 8 or 9 o’clock. I grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels, seeing nothing but tornado coverage was getting old fast.
“What is that thing?” Rainbow Dash pointed at the television.
“It’s a television.” I replied.
“What does it do?”
“Well, it’s like a cross between a newspaper and a play.” I explained. “When you want to know what is going on in the world around you, you can watch the news. When you want to be entertained, you watch cartoons or some other show.”
“Oh. That’s cool.”
“What about that that?” She pointed at the laptop.
“That is a computer; it has everything I would want to know on it, it’s also serves to entertain too. I wouldn’t recommend you use it, there is some strange stuff on the computer.”
“What about that?” Pointing at the radio.
“A radio, it plays music.”
“Those?”
“CDs, you put them into the radio to play music.”
“Those?”
“Video games, you put them into the console to play games on the television.”
“You have a lot of neat stuff, Billy, none of this exists back home.” Rainbow Dash said, marveling at all the devices around the room.
“I’ve noticed.”
“So tell me more about My Little Pony.” She asked.
“Well, basically, it’s a show about you and your friends, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Apple Jack and Rarity and all the stuff that happens around Ponyville and Equestria.” I replied. “I was actually watching the part where you got accepted into the Wonderbolt Academy when the tornado came through.”
“The Wonderbolt Academy is sooo awesome! I totally knew I would get in! It’s about time they recognized my talent, they should have made me a Wonderbolt when I set my hooves down!” She bragged.
“How did you like working with Lightening Dust?” I asked her.
“She was good, not as good as me, of course! She was too reckless. She crossed the line when she let loose that twister that almost got my friends.” Suddenly, a light went off in her head.
“Didn’t you say you were watching me when the tornado came through here?” She asked, thinking.
“Yeah, the balloon carrying your friends was getting tossed around when I saw the funnel cloud forming outside.” I replied, I think we were thinking the same thing.
“The last thing I remember was that I sprung a cloud, launching them back up to where the other cadets were waiting, and then I felt something pulling me, the next thing I know, I’m here.” She explained, tapping her chin with her hoof. Then a light bulb went off. “What if that tornado that Lightening Dust generated was the same one that hit here? What if I got sucked into that tornado and was transported here?”
“You know, oddly enough, that makes sense! Not much, but still!”
“So, all I need to do is generate a tornado here that will send me back home!” She was excited.
“That sounds like a good idea, but I don’t think you can create a tornado here.” I replied.
“Why not? I’m the fastest, best, most amazing flyer in all of Equestria! If I can create a tornado there, I can do the same here!”
“I don’t think that’s possible.” I said.
“Sure it is! Don’t challenge my awesomeness!” She insisted.
“If you say so, but I think it’s a little late now.” The clock read 11:31 PM.
“You’re right! I’m going to need plenty of sleep!”
“I’m getting tired too. I think we can call it a night.” I grabbed the remote and turned off the television and grabbed my flashlight to turn off the lights. I climbed back into the hide-a-bed, and tried to get comfortable on the thin padding.
“Goodnight Rainbow Dash.” I said to the rainbow maned mare.
“’Night Billy, you better not snore!” She said, rolling over.
I finally got into a comfy position and was feeling myself drifting off to dreamland when I heard a noise. My eyes opened into the blackness and turned behind me.
Rainbow Dash is a lair, she does snore.
My cell phone told me it was 9:37 when I opened my eyes in the morning. I wasn’t comfortable, but I didn’t want to move either. I rolled onto my back and spread my limbs and stretched, it was something I wish I hadn’t done because then I felt a twinge in my neck. I must have slept awkwardly on that thin bed. I looked over to where that blue, rainbow maned mare was just a few hours ago, it was empty.
Had I been dreaming? Was the tornado, Rainbow Dash, the destruction, was all of that a weird, convoluted dream slash nightmare?
I groaned while I rubbed my face with my hand and pulled myself upright. It was pretty dark so I turned on the flashlight and looked at my reflection on my phone screen. I looked like Albert Einstein with a bad perm.
I turned and put my feet on the cold floor and tried to tame my bed-head and stood up. There was a little bit of light coming from the garage door and the outside world. I shuffled my way through the dark storm cellar; there was a mess of stuff that got knocked off the shelves so I stepped lightly to avoid stepping on anything. I got closer to the light and pulled on the first door. I surveyed the garage, the car was still there, and so was the generator and everything else. I put my hand on the car to ballast myself as I walked closer to the other door. As I got closer to the door, I heard a faint voice.
“C’MON!” I heard the raspy voice from through the door. It was the same voice I heard the night before.
“UAAARRRGGGG!” It bellowed.
I climbed up the ramp and was disappointed at the fact that I wasn’t dreaming, everything was gone. I turned towards the dirt roads and looked up in the sky. A rainbow streak was spinning around and around midair; the strong breeze from its wake blew over my face.
“WHY IS THIS NOT WORKING?” Griped the rainbow ring in the sky.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
The ring stopped, revealing the Pegasus as she hovered over me, panting.
“I’m trying to create a tornado to send me back home!”
“I don’t think that’s going to work.”
“What do you mean it’s not going to work? Watch me!” She demanded as she resumed her circular route. She was going really fast, but no tornado.
“What is wrong with this place?” She griped again.
“We can’t control our weather here; I doubt you’ll be able to.” I advised.
“I’m the best Weather Pony in Equestria! I can control the weather with my eyes shut!” She said defiantly.
“But you’re not in Equestria.” I told her. “It would be impossible to just do cloud busting here.”
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash found a small cumulus cloud and raced toward it in a flash. She grew faster as she closed in on the cloud. Dash stopped and looked down. She had gone straight through the lazily moving cloud.
She rushed back down, passing through it again. She stomped, kicked, chewed, and punched, but nothing happened. She hovered down and was able to land on the cloud.
“What is wrong with this thing?”
“Not even we can manipulate the weather here.” I said.
“That’s so lame! How do you make sure it rains when you need it and all that stuff?”
“It happens on its own, nothing we can do about it, matter of luck pretty much.”
“Then how am I supposed to get home?” Asked Rainbow Dash.
“I think the only thing to do is to wait for the next storm to roll through.” I replied.
“And how long will that take?” She asked again, flying back down to Earth.
“I don’t know, a month, two months, a year? I can’t say for sure.” I said uncertainly.
“You mean I’m going to be stuck here possibly FOREVER?!” She stared at me.
“Probably not forever, but I just don’t know when.” I said, trying to comfort the mare.
“I can’t stay here! My friends need me! Ponyville needs me!” She whimpered.
“I know, I wish—I wish there were something I could do.” I reached over and rubbed her shoulder. “I have to make a few phone calls, do you want to come inside and watch television?”
She sighed. “I guess so.” She walked with her head limp.
“The good thing is that Kansas is in what we call ‘Tornado Alley’.” I assured her.
“Why is it called that?”
“Because tornadoes are a frequent thing around this area.”
“No ma’am, I’m fine, I just need a couple days to try and get the insurance and other stuff taken care of.” I said to the person at the other end of the line.
“Yes ma’am, I will, you take care too.”
“—Mmm, bye.”
“What is that?” Asked Rainbow Dash, looking at the cell phone.
“This? It’s a cell phone; we use it to talk to other people who are far away.” I replied.
“Who were you talking to?” She asked again.
“My boss at the general store, I let her know my situation and things like that.”
“What do you do there?”
“Right now, I work up front at the cash register; I do a little bit of cleaning here and there too.”
I walked over to a folder and fingered through it.
“What are you doing now?”
“I’m lookin’ for my insurance information.”
“What is that?”
“Basically, if something bad happens to my car or the house, they, hopefully, will be able to help me repair the damage and help me replace what I lost.”
“Oh.” She said. She went back to the television screen, using a pen to change the channels on the remote.
I found the papers I was searching for and dialed the number, it rang a few times.
“Thank you for calling, currently our representatives are busy assisting other customers, please stay on the line and one of our customer service representatives will be with you shortly.”
I paced around the room, listening to the elevator jazz version of California Gurls and a medley of pop hits. I heard something familiar on from the television.
“Go back home, and try again tomorrow?” Asked a resistant Fluttershy.
“No! When somepony tries to block, show them that you rock!” Demanded Iron Will.
Rainbow Dash was transfixed on the television screen, watching Fluttershy taking assertiveness lessons from the Minotaur. Her bottom lip quivered slightly as her friends were walking around in front of her, not noticing she was there.
“Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?” I asked her, turning the phone away from my mouth.
“Yeah. I’m fine!” She replied, coughing slightly.
Finally, after about 30 minutes on hold, I was able to get someone from the insurance company.
“Hello, my name is Billy Gale, a tornado came through my house yesterday and I need to file a claim.” I told the person.
“Yes, my policy number is 3759-12-1512.”
“566542 County Road 73, Merriwether, Kansas, 67072.”
“My house was completely destroyed.”
“When should I expect an agent to come by?”
“Okay, thank you.”
“—Mmmm, bye.”
“Well, that was helpful” I said sarcastically.
“Why?” Asked Rainbow Dash.
“They said that they wouldn’t start a claim until an agent came and surveyed the damage, but there is such a backlog, they can’t guarantee when someone would be out here.”
“Is that bad? What does that mean?” She asked.
“It means that it’s going to take longer for me to rebuild this place.” I sighed in dismay.
I walked over to the mini-fridge and got a bottle of water.
“Are you hungry, Dash?”
“Sure, what ya got?” She flew up and landed next to me, looking into the small refrigerator.
“Ooh! Carrot sticks!” I pulled the bag out of the refrigerator; it was zip-sealed so she could just open it with her hooves. I bought a few bags of carrot sticks at the grocery store, so I pulled out a bag of my own with some ranch dressing. I sat down on the couch/bed next to Dash and we ate carrot sticks. The television happened to be showing a soap opera that was on.
“Awesome! Dressing!” She said, eyeing the bottle.
“Want to share?” I asked.
“Sure!”
We shared the dressing, Rainbow Dash dipping the sticks into the bottle cap.
“This is SO lame! How could anypony watch this?” Griped Dash waving her hooves at the television.
“I have no idea, they are all the same, first people like each other, then they hate each other, it’s just an endless cycle of dumbness.”
Two female characters on the soap opera had gotten into a fistfight because one thought the other was their boyfriend/husband/whatever’s mistress/baby momma/secret wife/ or something like that. I grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels, it was the afternoon, and nothing was on but soap operas, infomercials and game shows. We were skipping through the channels when we came across another news report on the tornadoes.
“The President and the Governor will both be in Hutchinson, Kansas touring the town which has suffered catastrophic damage from what is reported to be an EF 5 tornado. They will also meet with city leaders, first responders, and survivors of the disaster. The Director of FEMA has announced that within the next two weeks, disaster assistance centers at Colonel James Jabara Airport, northeast of Wichita and the airport in Hutchinson will open that will disperse supplies and help those who have lost homes.” The news reporter said. “It is estimated that 450,000 people are still without power in Kansas and parts of Oklahoma and Missouri, power companies have been working around the clock to restore power to the area.”
“Looks like I may be able to get some help in Wichita.” I said to myself aloud.
“Why?” Asked Rainbow Dash.
“They might be getting people into temporary trailers.”
“Trailer?”
“—House on wheels. They did that when Hurricane Katrina did its number.”
“You mean this kind of stuff happens all the time?” She looked at me, kind of shocked.
“Not all the time, but hurricanes, tornados, blizzards, earthquakes, all that stuff happens. We can’t control it here; we just have to be prepared.” I explained.
“The only things we can’t control in Equestria are earthquakes and volcanoes.”
“It would be nice if we could control the weather here, but the best we can do is a 14 day forecast.”
Rainbow Dash shook her head in disappointment as I changed the channel away from the news.
“I’m probably going to have to go back to work either Monday or Tuesday, do you think you’ll be okay being here by yourself?” I asked her.
“Sure! Just bring back some food, I don’t know what that ‘ham’ stuff is, but by the look of it, I don’t like it.” She insisted.
“Fine, and if anybody should come by, hide. I don’t want anyone else knowing you’re here.”
“How should I know if it’s safe?” Asked Dash.
“You’ll hear my voice.”
The next couple days were uneventful, when I wasn’t trying to clean up the area around the slab of the house; I was on the phone with the insurance company getting updates on the claim. Always the same ‘someone will be with you shortly’. I didn’t believe them. Rainbow Dash was a champ helping be clean up the debris, the stuff we couldn’t move were the heavy stuff like the oven, shower stall, and stuff like that. Her cuts and bruises all healed fast, must be cartoon logic. She looked great for just traveling between worlds. I’ve been able to cope with her snoring; I’d have to say that’s the one thing I don’t like from her.
Life without a shower has been, by far, one of the hardest parts of this ordeal. I regret not grabbing the deodorant, because the sweaty green onions growing under my arms are getting noxious. Don’t even ask about my hair. Rainbow Dash has the same sentiment; her mane is starting to look like Pinkie Pie.
Rainbow Dash has been getting stir crazy staying in the storm shelter, when I come home from work; I often see her trail streaking across the sky as she does laps in the air. She has come accustomed to life in my world. Dash got bored with the television real fast, one day she found my collection of Pony-music on the computer, which seems to reminds her of Vinyl Scratch. She has been using the same pen to type on the computer, getting quite fast, too. She likes watching episodes of My Little Pony; I think it helps her stay close to the rest of the Mane 6. I noticed she cringed during Mysterious Mare Do Well.
“Where are you going?” She asked while watching Cutie Mark Chronicles.
“I need to get gas for the car and the generator.” I told her, jingling my keys.
“Can I come? I’m so bored here.”
“Sure, but when we get close to other people, I’m going to have to hide you.” I told her, I didn’t know what would happen, but I wanted to make sure Dash would be safe from people who would want to capitalize on her. I pulled the blanket she slept with off the bed.
“When we get near the gas station, could you hide under this for like 10 minutes?”
Rainbow Dash groaned, she obviously didn’t want to. “Fine, but you better not keep me under there forever!” She demanded.
“Not at all, just when other people are around, c’mon.” I beckoned her to the car.
I went to the pull up the garage door for the car, and then went to unlock the driver’s side. With my door open, I push the button to unlock the other doors. I got into the driver’s seat and threw the blanket in the back.
“You’re getting in on that side.” I pointed to the front passenger’s side. She walked over and fumbled with the door handle, trying to open it with her hoof. After a few minutes of frustration, Dash discovered that she could open the door with her wing; she opened the door a little too hard though. It made a mild thud against the concrete.
“Oops.” She said embarrassed as the door hit the wall.
“That’s okay.” I assured her, after cringing slightly. “I should probably help you with the seatbelt.”
“The what?” She asked.
I reached over and grabbed the buckle and pulled it across her body and secured it to the latch.
“What is this for?”
“Well, in the event of a crash, it keeps you from flying out of your seat.” I explained.
“Oh, like on the dizzitron.” She said.
“Yep.”
We both got comfortable in our seats as I started the car. Dash was exploring all the things inside. She was particularly amazed at the power windows. I backed out of the garage and weaved my way through the piles of junk we had piled across the field. I pulled out on the dirt road and started the long drive to the gas station. During the ride, she played with everything she could get her hooves on, from the radio, to the glove box, the locks and the air conditioning.
“How fast does this thing go?” She asked.
“Well, the speedometer says it can go up to 160 miles per hour.” I replied.
“Is that fast?”
“Very.”
“Have you gone that fast?”
“Nope.”
“How fast have you gone?”
“75.”
“Can’t you go any faster?” She griped, looking at the needle hovering at 60.
“I can’t, the speed limit is 55 on these roads.” I told her.
“But that needle thingy says 60!”
“I can go 5 miles over the speed limit, but any more and I might get a ticket.”
“From who?” She asked, throwing her hooves at the expansive emptiness. She had a point, if a cop was out here; they
are obviously looking for me. Rainbow Dash grunted and groaned for the remainder of the drive to the gas station.
“Here, put this over you.” I told her as we neared the gas station.
Rainbow Dash gave me an annoyed look as I held the blanket out to her. She grunted again as she threw it over her. I was surprised at how there were only a few cars there.
It took less time than I expected to get gas, after I put the gas cans in the trunk I pulled away from the station and headed back home.
“You can come out now!” I told Dash.
She threw the blanket off her.
“Took you long enough.” She complained.
I smirked and let that go.
“C’mon! This is taking forever! There is no pony out here!” Rainbow Dash griped, flailing her arms out toward the long stretch of two-lane highway.
“Dash, I can’t, the speed limit is 55, if I go any faster, I could get a ticket.” I explained.
“From WHO?” She directed her hooves to the desolate road. “Is somepony going to jump out of the weeds?”
“You never know.” I said.
“GAHHHH! This is dreadful! I can fly from Ponyville to Gallopolis and back faster!” Dash squirmed in dismay.
I let out a deep sigh as I neared the turn onto my dirt road. Dash continued to complain about my snail paced driving, calling me a law-abiding egghead like Twilight and saying even Granny Smith would do laps around me. She had a point though; no one ever comes down this dirt road.
“Go faster!” She demanded.
I felt myself giving into her demands, my foot got heavier on the gas pedal. The needle on the speedometer was moving higher, 60, 65, 70, 80. The scenery was flying past, turning into a yellowish-brown blur. In the rearview, a trail of dust marked my path down the road. Rainbow Dash cheered from the passenger’s seat.
“Now that’s more like it!” She praised.
As we neared home, I saw something different. It was a silver sedan, someone was at the house.
“Rainbow Dash, put the blanket on.” I said nervously watching the car in the yard as I got closer.
“Why?” She asked.
I pointed to the car, and she begrudgingly did so. I pulled up into the yard, not going to the garage. I rolled down the windows before I got out of my car. In the other car, a professional looking woman was sitting in her car, looking at her phone or something. She must be from the insurance company.
“Stay in the car and try not to make noise.” I whispered to Rainbow as I got out on the car.
In the other car, the woman shuffled some papers as she emerged from her car.
“Hello, are you Billy Gale?” She asked.
“Yes ma’am.” I said, reaching out to shake her hand. She was wearing a grey pin-striped jacket and skirt, not exactly something you’d wear on a hot day like today. She looked young, early 30s maybe? Her auburn hair was in a loose bun.
“Hi, I’m Nicole Ross; I’m from the insurance company to survey your claim.” She said very formally.
“Oh, great!” I said. “Well, there really isn’t anything to look at really.”
“I got all the information from the site, I just need to go over some paperwork real quick and we’ll get the claim processed right away.”
“Oh, that’s great! Thank you!” I said.
She explained to me what I was covered for and a bunch other insurance mumbo-jumbo. I signed a few papers and the meeting was finished.
“If there is anything you need, give us a call.” She said.
“Is there a way I can get a temporary bathroom setup out here?” I asked.
“I don’t know off hand, I’ll make a few contacts and let you know.” She replied.
“Okay, thank you.”
She got in her car and left. I went over and checked on Rainbow Dash.
“You okay?” I asked her.
“I feel like I’ve been here forever!” She thrust the blanket off.
“It was only like 15 minutes, quit complaining.” I said to her, getting back in the car and pulling into the garage.
“How fast were you going anyway?” She asked.
“I dunno, I think almost 90.”
“Sweet! I knew you could do it!” Dash said kind of smugly.
Rainbow Dash and I seem to have something in common, going fast! When I’m in the car, I find myself going faster down the dirt road. I’ve made it as high as 105. The other day I took the turn in front of my house too fast and put the car in a slide, it was terrifying and exciting at the same time! I’ve been doing that more, getting better at it too!
It has been nearly three weeks since the tornado, nothing has changed since. Dash and I managed to build a makeshift outhouse in the corner of the lot. Bathing is still a challenge; it basically consists of a bucket full of water, some soap, and just washing the essential parts. I really miss having a hot shower.
Rainbow Dash has been getting stir-crazy at the house when I’m at work. I managed to get more hours doing night stock at the general store. Rainbow Dash was reluctant to go the first few nights, but shortly she grew to enjoy it. There are no security cameras and we are usually out before the morning shift comes in. Dash’s main task there is pushing the pallets around. She tried to help with the stocking part, but we decided it was best she didn’t after she knocked over a shelf full of pickles. Not the greatest mess to clean up. Dash also lends a hoof pushing the broom around.
My grocery bill has gone up since Rainbow Dash’s crash landing and a turn for the vegetarian. Carrots are the biggest buys nowadays. One day I came home with fast food, she got a salad, I got a chicken sandwich. After she asked me what it was, she gagged a little when I told her.
Today is Wednesday and I’m headed to the FEMA disaster relief center in Wichita. I haven’t heard anything from the insurance company yet, despite numerous phone calls. It’s a very cloudy day today, so I figured it will be okay if Rainbow Dash flies along with me instead of hiding under a blanket or some other kind of disguise. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some kind of assistance.
“You know what my car looks like, right?” I asked Rainbow Dash.
“Yep! No prob!” She replied.
“Awesome, when we get into the city there are going to be a lot more cars and people, you sure you’re going to be able to spot me?”
“As long as you wear something I can pick out easy.”
I found a bright orange shirt I had and put it on.
“Does this work?” I asked her.
“Oh yeah, that’s perfect!” She said.
I went out to the car and pulled out on the road. Rainbow Dash flew right next to me as we raced down the road. When we got closer to the main highway, she shot up, disappearing behind the clouds. I slowed down as I approached the stop sign and turned left onto Route 400. It was a very long drive, little traffic on the road, getting closer to Wichita saw in increase in traffic, obviously. Getting around the city was harder; a few traffic lights were still out and some debris still littered the city.
I looked up to try and spot Dash, but I couldn’t because of the cloud cover. I got closer to the airport where FEMA had set up their assistance center. There were a lot more people there than I thought; I sat on the road for what felt like an hour before I got parked. It looks like the airport got hit by a tornado too. A huge scar defaced the runway and chunks of the fence were missing, so were many windows of the main building. Once inside, I looked for the housing assistance station, it was very confusing, and the crowds weren’t helping. I felt like Twilight when she was trying to get a clear aim for the counter-spell on Smartypants.
I shuffled out of the airport building a couple hours later, head hung low, grumbling lowly. I weaved through the rows of parked cars to try and find my own. I found my car and got settled in the driver’s seat.
“psssst” I heard a whisper from the backseat. I jumped, startled that that someone, or somepony could be in the car with me.
“Rainbow Dash? Is that you?” I hissed back as I turned around and saw a mass under a blanket.
“No, it’s Trixie. Who do you think?” She lifted the blanket and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
“What are you doing in here?” I hissed again softly.
“My wings got tired, and I got hot so I came down here.” She said, blanket still raised. “By the way, it was the worst idea ever.” A bead of sweat dripped off the tip of her mane.
“How did you even get in here? Did anyone see you?”
“The window was open. Yes, I made sure that the coast was clear, I’m not brainless! Hurry up and get some cold air going!
I’m melting back here!” She insisted.
“Sure, sure.” I cranked the car up and turned the A/C on full blast and pulled out of the parking area and headed back to the freeway.
“Soooo, was this place any help?” Said the blanket.
I sighed. “I might as well have stayed home.” I said glumly.
“Why?” Asked Dash.
“Because they said that due to the volume of people asking for assistance, they can’t take any more applicants. Which is dumb because shy are you going to have a disaster relief center if they aren’t going to do anything?”
“It can’t be that bad. What about that insurance whatcha-ma-call-it?”
“I don’t know, that reminds me, I got to check my mailbox.”
We got to the post office in the village of Latham, Kansas. Rainbow Dash got back under the blanket, there are a lot more eyes in small towns. The post office is about the same size as an apartment pantry. I don’t come here but every few days, because what’s the point of driving all this way for an empty mailbox, right? I opened the box with the number 61 and pulled out a nice wad of envelopes. I flipped through a few letters on the way back to the car.
“Get anything good?” Asked Rainbow Dash behind me.
“Looks like a couple bills, credit card apps, love letters from politicians, doesn’t look like anything special.” I said as I backed out onto the street.
“You got politicians writing to you?” She said puzzled.
“Well, they like me so much they want me to vote for them so they can be an overpaid, spoiled, bratty 15 year old girl.”
“Bitter much?” Said the sarcastic blanket.
“Nah, not really.” I screwed up my face with half my upper lip trying to move closer to the nose.
We got away from Latham and Dash got out from under the blanket and looked at the amber waves of grain passing us by.
“I’ll race ya.” She challenged.
“Wait, what?” I asked.
“To the house, I’ll race you there!”
“Nah, I don’t want to race.” I said.
“You’re just scared of me winning.” Dash puffed out her chest.
“Not at all.”
“Prove it.” Rainbow Dash leapt out of the window in the backseat and flew next to my window. She then rocketed off, leaving her rainbow trail behind her.
“I’ll show her.” I put the gas pedal down as hard as I could. The car roared up to 70, 80, 90. I was gaining on her. 95, 100, 110. The speedometer was climbing to heights it had never seen before. I reached 120 miles per hour; I was right on her tail. I moved to the right and passed the Pegasus, sticking my tongue out as she looked at me dumbfounded. I overtook her doing 135 miles per hour down that dirt road. She was eating my dust, literally! But, just as I was relishing my glory, a rainbow bullet shot past me, nearly taking out my driver’s side mirror. I almost put my foot through the floor trying to catch Dash; I finally got parallel to her. I looked at the needle; it was tapping frantically at 160. I was going top speed, nose to nose with the cyan, rainbow maned pony as we raced down the dusty road. Just then, I saw the driveway to the house coming up on the right, I was going to blow right past it if I didn’t stop. I slammed on the brakes and the car went into a slide. The back end of the car drifted to the left, so I turned the steering wheel into the skid, like they taught you in driver’s ed. The car started to turn the other way, but I wasn’t fast enough to turn the wheel in the other direction. The car went into an uncontrollable spin, my feet clamped tight on the brakes as rocks ricocheted off the chassis and the tires dug into the dirt. The nose of my car came within two inches of my mailbox when it came to rest. I panted heavily in relief as the car stopped moving. When the dust cleared, standing in front of me was Rainbow Dash, gloating at me, she won.
“Looks like I win!” She called out to me as the cloud of dust I had generated blew across the car.
“Yeah, yeah, go ahead and boast.” I brushed it off as I backed the car away from the mailbox and into the driveway.
“See! I knew I was the best flyer in Equestria, now I know I’m the best in Kansas too!” Dash continued to stroke her ego.
“But don’t feel bad, Billy, not everyone is as good as me!” She trotted alongside the car as I drove it to the garage.
“Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t.” I replied.
“Uhhh, obviously I am.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure sure. Maybe you should join the Air Force” I brushed her off as the car descended into the subterranean garage.
Rainbow Dash and I walked into the shelter together as I thumbed through the mail I had received. Most of it was junk, but there was one that caught my attention. I put the other letters aside and tore open the envelope. After unfolding the letter, I threw it aside and went to the couch. Dash walked over and skimmed through the letter.
“What does this mean?” She said, looking at the letter.
“It means I’m not getting any money to rebuild.” I said solemnly as Dash read the word ‘DENIED’ stamped on the letter.
Every minute passed by an hour long in the bunker, it was like being a refugee, but unable to leave. The yard had finally been cleaned up, what couldn’t be salvaged was carted to the dump, wood was kept to burn. After a while, all that was left was the concrete slab where the pony and I burrowed under, like moles.
Rainbow Dash has found a photo album I had saved from the tornado. We sat on the couch and flipped through the pages.
“This house looked a lot like Applejack’s.” She said.
“Yeah, I guess it does.” I said, not realizing the comparison before. We continued to thumb through the book, looking at pictures of family here and gone. We got to a group picture of Grandma Dorothy, Great Aunt Em, Great Uncle Henry, and Hunk, Hickory and Zeke, honorary family.
“Who is the baby?” Asked Dash.
“Me, I believe.” I replied.
“Where are your parents?” She asked.
“I don’t know, they never spoke of them to me.” I said confused.
Our attention turned to the the afternoon news; the weatherman announced that a strong line of severe storms were headed toward this area.
“A major storm system that has dumped severe weather everywhere from eastern Colorado to Lubbock, Texas is marching its way east, several tornadoes were spotted including one that was caught on tape a few miles northwest of Amarillo, Texas.” Said the weatherman.
“Rainbow Dash, this might be it!” I called to her.
“What do you mean?” She asked.
“There is a storm system between Pratt and Kingman headed this way that might be able to get you back home, we have to leave now!”
“Let’s do this!”
Dash and I rushed to the car and got out onto the dirt road, flying towards Route 400. On the radio, it was announced that a tornado warning was issued for the city of Wichita and surrounding areas, and we were headed directly to it. Reporters announced that the storm was traveling east at 30 to 40 miles per hour, there were reports of tornado sightings near Cheney State Park and Andale.
We approached the stop sign for Route 400, I cut the steering wheel to the left and skidded onto the highway, a couple pick-up trucks screeched to avoid the blue sedan that jumped out on the road, blasting their horns and waving a finger at me. But I slammed on the gas and lunged forward. Up ahead, the sky was a deep, dark blue gray, clouds towering miles into the atmosphere.
“Ladies and gentleman, we are receiving numerous, unconfirmed reports of a tornadoes being sighted all across the Wichita area, this is a very dangerous situation, and we ask that everyone take shelter immediately.” The deejay said over the radio. We were a little over 20 miles away from Wichita; we were underneath the storm clouds now. To my right, a huge cloud formation was developing, so we raced onto Route 77 and went after it, swerving around other cars and trucks on the road, even going in the shoulder.
I rolled down the window on Dash’s side of the car.
“Dash, if a tornado forms, jump out and go into it!” I shouted above the wind blowing into the car at 105 miles per hour.
“Got it! What about you? Is this going to be risky for you?” She hollered back.
“As long as the tornado doesn’t change direction, I’ll be fine!”
“Billy!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “I just want to say thank you for all that you’ve done! You’re a good friend!”
“And thank you Rainbow Dash! Without you, the last four months would have been unbearable.”
At that moment, racing down the four-lane highway, we hugged, my eyes focused on keeping the car from going into the ditch.
“Look!” She pointed out the driver’s side window. A massive funnel cloud was developing about a mile from the roadway.
The wind started roaring as it touched down to earth.
“This is it! Go Dash!” I yelled.
She bolted out of the window and soared to the twister, my chin quivered as she reached the tornado, and vanishing into the clouds. I was glad she was headed home, but sad that she had to leave. I looked back at the road and jolted the car left into the median to avoid a minivan stopped in the right lane and swerved the car back onto the highway. My heart was pounding as I clutched the steering wheel, and glanced between the road and the tornado. Then it dawned on me, the tornado was moving toward the road, about a half a mile and getting closer. I felt the wind pulling me left as I tried to keep the car to the right. I was going too fast to turn around, if I slowed down, I might get pulled in. I mashed the gas pedal down and tried to surge forward. The tires started chirping as the twister got closer to the road, pulling the car in. My hands strained as forced the car to stay on the ground.
Then, a massive gust pushed the blue sedan into the median of the highway, the right side tires lifted and I was airborne. My eyes were shut and my hands were clamped on the steering wheel as I spun around in the air. I could hear the wind howling and debris hitting the car. Then, my stomach started doing cartwheels as I felt the car being spat out. I braced my hands on the roof as I screamed in terror as my eyes opened, watching the ground get bigger and bigger.
She rocketed out of the tornado at lightening fast speed, close to creating another sonic rainboom in her wake. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and saw Equestria again, she was home! She flew against a cliff when it hit here, where are her friends? Rainbow Dash surged up against the cliff face to see her friends lowered safely at the Wonderbolt Academy.
“Are you guys okay?” She asked.
“Uh-huh” Moaned Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Applejack.
“Pinkie Pie!” Dash jumped when she saw her lying on the ground.
The pink pony looked up and quivered “You… remember me!” She wept as she wrapped her arms around Rainbow Dash’s neck.
Everything was back to the way it was, it was like a dream she just had. Rainbow Dash spent the last five months with some complete stranger, but she was only gone from a few seconds here. It didn’t make sense to her, maybe she was dreaming?
Later that evening, after a wild and exhausting day at the Wonderbolt Academy, saving her friends, receiving praise from Spitfire, and having some weird dream about some place called ‘Kansas’, Rainbow Dash was saying her goodbyes to her friends as they got ready to depart for Ponyville. The sun lowered over the horizon, making it difficult to see out to the west.
Some of the Pegasi offered to shuttle Dash’s friends back home in a cart used to haul supplies, the balloon was in countless pieces around the Academy. The Mane 6 chatted on the edge of the cliff when a glare of something hit Rainbow Dash in the eye.
“What is that in my face” She said as she shielded her eyes.
“I think it’s coming from down there.” Replied Twilight as she pointed to a shiny object on the cliff face.
Dash swooped down to investigate. When she got to the shiny object, she saw that it had some numbers stamped into it. She picked it up and read 677 TBQ on the bent-up light blue metal thing, with KANSAS printed boldly on the top.
“Kansas?” She said quietly to herself. She wasn’t sure if she was dreaming about Billy, the tornado shelter, or everything else anymore. Dash hovered with the piece of metal in her hooves.
“WHAT IS IT?” Hollered Twilight Sparkle from the top of the cliff, jolting Rainbow out of her trance. She looked around some more and found something else, something flapping in the wind. It was a blanket, the same blanket that was in Billy’s car, the same one Rainbow Dash hid under. Dash wasn’t dreaming at all, it was all real. She spun around again and found what looked like a wheel and tire way down at the bottom of the cliff.
“BILLY!” Cried a shocked Rainbow Dash. “We have to get back to Ponyville!” Said an out of breath Rainbow Dash.
“We? What do you mean, we?” Replied a confused Twilight.
“I’ll explain on the way, but we have to go… NOW!” Dash said frantically, grabbing the blanket as she shot up the cliff face.
“Rainbow Dash! What are you talking about?!?” Asked a surprised and confused Twilight Sparkle, the others watched Dash in pure bewilderment.
“Its okay boys, I got this.” Said an out-of-breath Rainbow Dash as she harnessed herself onto the cart. “COME ON! LET’S GO!” She hollered to her friends.
“For Heaven’s sake R. D., what’s got your mane in a tangle?” Applejack complained, climbing into the cart.
“There’s no time, we’ve got to go… NOW!” Dash groaned as Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity reluctantly got into the cart.
“Raindow, darling. What on Earth has got you in such a state?” Asked Rarity as she got to the inside of the cart, leaning toward Dash.
“Yeah… it’s like you watched somepony get sucked in a tornado or something.” Added Pinkie Pie.
“I hope that’s not what happened.” Replied a worried Rainbow Dash. “Is everypony ready?” She called to her friends. All five nodded and Dash took off like one of those airplanes back in Kansas. Fluttershy was even thrown to the back of the cart as their pilot rocketed into the evening sky. Along the journey, Dash told the seemingly unbelievable story if waking up in some dark room with some creature she had never seen before tending to her wounds. She talked of how her and this creature named Billy would watch television and how she would have to hide every time they rode around in the car, going to the general store, Wichita, speeding down the dirt roads, and making the most of two people with almost nothing left to their names.
They touched down in Ponyville after two hours, a record time. When they landed, Rainbow Dash unharnessed herself and shot off, the others following behind. Twilight and the rest of the gang followed Dash to the library.
“Twilight, what’s going on? Rainbow Dash just barged in here and went downstairs.” Asked Spike, with a mop bucket on his head, picking himself up off the floor.
“I dunno, Spike.” Replied a breathless Twilight as they all galloped down to the basement where Rainbow Dash was tossing the place upside-down.
“Rainbow Dash, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Bellowed Twilight as she watched her friend ransack her lab.
“I’m looking for a television, a radio, something that I can use to see what happened to Billy!” Said a frantic Rainbow Dash, tossing beakers, papers, and other stuff around.
“The only thing you haven’t torn apart is that box Princess Celestia gave me!” Replied Twilight Sparkle, and before she could finish her sentence, Dash had the box ripped open.
“A-HA!” Cried Rainbow Dash as she pulled a small, old television out of the box. “Twilight, can you make this thing work?” Dash asked.
“I don’t know how, Rainbow Dash.” Replied a concerned Twilight.
“What about that Come to Life Spell you used in that plow during Winter Wrap-Up?” Asked Spike.
“I can try, but I can’t promise that it will do what you think it will do.” She said tentatively. Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes and her horn glowed as she aimed it at the television, which soon glowed as well. Nothing happened.
“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash.” Said a defeated Twilight Sparkle, just as Twilight was about to end the spell, the television flickered a bit. Rainbow Dash and the others gasped as this seemingly useless box flickered and made noise, it sounded like rain. Rainbow tried to turn the dial on the old television.
“Spike! A little help.” Asked Dash. Spike saluted and rushed over and turned the dial with his claw. It clicked, once, twice, and thrice, but nothing but that rain sound, then, on the fifth click, a moving picture popped up on the screen. Everypony let out a shocked gasp as they saw a picture move before their eyes.
“Good evening, Sydney celebrated the opening of the city’s largest park this afternoon…” Said the Australian news anchor.
“Whoa….” Said everypony in awe of the strange creatures they were seeing on the box. Rainbow Dash looked frustrated.
“Turn it again, Spike.” She said, and he did so. Every time he clicked, all they saw was Australian people.
“No, no NO!” Dash grunted. Then, a hanger fell on to the box and the image changed, this time it was an animated show in Japanese. A light bulb went off in Dash’s head. “Spike! Keep moving that hanger!” As the dragon moved the hanger, the image changed, various images flashed across the screen, everywhere from Japan to Brazil, England, Russia, and South Africa. Spike managed to pick up a news channel in Denver.
“Ok, Spike, just move it real easy now!” Rainbow Dash could feel like they were getting warmer, then… bingo!
“Wichita and surrounding areas are reeling from another set of violent tornadoes that tore through south Kansas, coming just months after the region is starting to recover from a massive system that left much of southern Kansas paralyzed.” Said the news anchor as familiar scenes of tornado damage stared at the ponies, who were watching agape. “We have shocking video of a car being pulled into a massive tornado that touched down northeast of the city…” the reporter stopped talking as they rolled the video.
“Oh my gosh, Maggie, would you look at that!” Said a male voice, the camera pointed at the tornado roaring nearby.
“Frank! Let’s get out of here!” Replied a panicked female voice. Just then, she shrieked as a blue sedan shot past them, swerving back onto the highway, tires screeching. “What is that guy thinking?!?!” She cried, watching the car drive straight into the path of the monster tornado. The girls gasped as the car flew past. Then, they watched the car get closer to the tornado, the car struggled to stay in its lane as the clouds started to surround the little car.
“NOOOOO!” Screamed Rainbow Dash as the car was sucked into the twister. Everypony, and the people recording the scene gasped in horror as they all watched that car spinning around hundreds of feet above. Then, the car was launched in the air and went into a stomach-turning dive back to Earth. It hit the opposite side of the highway with a sickening crunch and rolled at least a dozen times, pieces of the car flew off as the vehicle tumbled on the pavement, coming to rest upside-down, taillights flickering dimly. Everypony was taken aback; Applejack removed her hat and bowed her head. The female in the video whimpered as she watched the car. “Should we go help them?”
The Mane 6 stood there in shock for what felt like hours, they all looked over at Rainbow Dash who had tears streaming down her face. Her mouth lay ajar as she mustered for something to say, but all she could do was collapse on the floor with her hooves over her face. Everypony, including Spike, huddled around her as their brave, fearless Rainbow Dash sobbed on the basement of the library. She looked up at her Ponyville friends and tried to say something, but all she could do was clench her teeth and continue weeping.
“He… did that… for me…” wept Raindow Dash with her eyes covered.
“I’m so sorry…” comforted Twilight Sparkle as they hugged their rainbow friend.
“If it wasn’t for me, none of that would have happened.” Dash said, looking up at the lifeless television through tear-soaked eyes.
“But if it wasn’t for Billy, you wouldn’t have been able to come home.” Replied Fluttershy.
“Yes, dear, he must have known the danger he was getting into. He took that risk to bring you home, darling. We all owe him a great debt.” Added Rarity, looking at the others.
“Rarity’s right, we need to do something for him!” Said Twilight.
“Oh…oh! I know! Send HIM a care package!” Exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
“Yeah, just like the one we came to the Academy to give you!” Said Applejack.
“But what would we give him, and how?” Asked Twilight Sparkle.
“Well, after the first tornado, he needed money to rebuild his house.” Said Rainbow Dash, thinking.
“Okay! Well, how do we get it to him?” Asked Twilight Sparkle.
After about six months in the hospital, I was finally discharged and allowed to go back home. “You are lucky to be alive.” Said the nurse, pushing my wheelchair to a waiting taxi. “Most of us know storm chasers are just suicidal.” I shrugged, I had no memory of why I was in traction for two months, and physical therapy for the other four. We got to the curb and I lifted myself up slowly, and stumbling to get back on my feet, I shuffled to the cab.
“But… I don’t have any money for the cab fare.” I said to the nurse as I got into the car.
“That’s okay, we’ve got it covered.” She reassured.
“Oh, okay, thank you.”
“Just stay away from the tornadoes, okay?” She closed the door for me and pushed the wheelchair back into the hospital.
“So, where can I take you?” Asked the cab driver. I gave him the directions to my house, or what’s left of it. On the drive home, we stopped at a junkyard where they told me my car was taken. We pulled in and I got out looking for the car. I almost didn’t recognize the mangled mess of twisted metal as my car. The driver’s side door was ripped open, probably by the firefighters. Pieces of the car were missing, like one of the wheels; I peered inside the remains of the car and saw a light-blue feather in the backseat. I picked it up and gazed at it longingly, remembering Rainbow Dash and the time we had. I took it with me and got back into the taxicab and we continued home, stopping by the mailbox to pick up the wad of letters waiting for me. After bouncing on the dirt road for a few minutes, we arrived at the slab where my home once stood.
“Are you sure this is the place?” Said the cabbie.
“Yup, this is it.” I said; as I popped open the door. I set a foot out of the car and extended a telescopic cane into the dirt which propped myself up. I closed the door and tapped the roof of the car and the taxicab turned around and headed back to civilization. I hobbled slowly across the overgrown yard. It’s been over a year since the house was destroyed, and Mother Nature was trying to reclaim what was hers.
Most of the wreckage was cleared away, save for the makeshift outhouse that sat in the back corner if the yard. I made it to the ramp into the tornado shelter and saw a box. I looked around curiously focused on the package that lay square in the middle of the concrete ramp. I got close to it and read the label that was taped to the top.
TO: Billy Gale
FROM: R. D.
“Rainbow Dash?” I said quietly. I tried picking up the package, but it was too heavy for me to lift. I began pushing it with my feet into the garage where my car used to be. I pulled open the box and found a piece of paper inside.
‘Dear Billy,
I cannot thank you enough for taking care of me for the time that I was in Kansas. I don’t believe that I would have lasted as long without you. The girls and I just wanted to express our gratitude for you after risking your flank to get me home. I know this doesn’t seem like much, but hopefully it can help you rebuild your home. Maybe, if I figure this out, I may try seeing you again, if… you know, no one gets hurt next time.
Take care,
Your Friend,
Rainbow Dash
P.S. - Don’t tell Rarity where these came from.’
The letter was signed by Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack as well. I looked down at the box and was greeted by loads of shiny jewels. Opals, rubies, emeralds, gems of all kinds, I stood in awe, speechless, also in the box was some confetti, a hoof-made birds nest, apple jam, a book on home repair, and a hoof-made frame with a photograph of all the ponies together. I glowed from the inside out, I almost felt like floating away.
“HEY, SLACKER!” I heard a voice from behind. I jumped clean out of my skin, dropping the picture. Just before it hit the ground, a rainbow streaked blur swooped under me, grabbing the picture frame. The creature landed firmly on the ground, the picture safely in its hoof.
“Did you miss me?” Smirked the light blue pony.
“RAINBOW DASH!” I cried as we embraced once again. “But, how… where… why did you…” I stumbled for the words that I could not find.
“Calm your jets big guy, it’s a long story. By the way, we need to keep an eye on the weather; I need to catch the next hurricane back home.” She said as we walked back into the garage, talking, laughing, and enjoying the magic of friendship.
“Ugggh! Why do you have to be so cheesy?” Grimaced Rainbow Dash.
