Rejectionby HawkysuChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3EpilogueChapter 1“Ok, Dash, you can do it. Brave face. Brave face girl, c’mon,” Rainbow Dash sighed at the mirror. “Well, maybe?” She looked down. Somewhere below, the love of her life was working. Ever since moving to Ponyville, one pony has consumed Rainbow Dashes mind. Rainbow couldn’t help it. She loved Applejack. -- For months she tried to convince herself otherwise. “I’m no Fillyfooler. I like boys,” she’d tell herself, as her mother had done so many times. “I wanna nice big stallion to come and....” She’d always stop there. She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. Even in her head. She loved girls. She was lesbian. ‘No!’ She’d think to herself. ‘I’m just.. I’m bi? Yea sure. That’s cool. I like colts as well... just not as much.’ At that point she’d sit down and mutter: “Or at all...” At that point she couldn’t help but revert back to her past. Up in Cloudburne, where she lived for years before getting shipped off to Junior Speedsters Boarding School, her mother would lecture for what seemed like hours on the evils of same-sex relationships. “Don’t you even think about it, Rainbow. Mares are meant to be with Stallions and Stallions are meant to be with Mares. That’s the way Celestia intended it, no matter what your father says, and that’s the way it’s going to be. Mares simply can not love other mares. Life doesn’t work that way.” “But mom,” Dash would argue, “what if a mare couldn’t help it. What if, in her heart, she really love fillies?” “Impossible! She’s simply trying to be rebellious. She’s trying to destroy the system. Mares can not love other mares. That’s the way Celestia intended it.” Typically, Rainbow Dash would just sulk off to her room. Eventually she learned to never discuss relationships with her mother. It just ended with tears for everyone. Today was different though. Usually Rainbow’s mind would split into two halves. One siding with her mother, saying that nopony, except those awful, queer, unicorn ponies, could love of the same gender. But then her other half would argue that there was nothing wrong with it, and that Rainbow should go with her heart. After an hour of arguing with herself, Rainbow Dash would eventually just give up and fall asleep. But today, her mother lost influence. Rainbow finally freed herself from her past. Those years of yelling just disappeared. Her mother’s tearful screams ceased to exist. Today, the constant conflict in Rainbow Dash’s mind disappeared. Today, her heart won. -- Applejack was working the southern end of her family’s farm. This suited Rainbow Dash just fine. It was far away from everypony, and she was still struggling to be brave. ‘C’mon Dash, you can do it. Just one simple question,’ she thought. Rainbow Dash swooped down behind AJ. She, although trying to resist the perversion, couldn’t help but admire Applejack’s butt. But admiring her friend’s ass is not what she came here to do, ‘though hopefully I will in the future,’ Rainbow Dash grinned to herself. “Hey Applejack?” Rainbow Dash called out. She was surprised at how weak her voice was. ‘C’mon, Rainbow, you can do it,’ she thought to herself. ‘What’s the worse she can do, say no? Ha! Not that she ever would. You’re Equestria’s best flyer. Unless... Maybe you aren’t? Maybe she’ll laugh at you. She’ll probably go off and tell everypony! It’ll be just like Jr. Speedsters! No!’ Rainbow shook the thought clear of her head. ‘AJ won’t do that. Nothing would be like Jr. Speedesters.’ The blue mare cleared her throat and spoke again: “Hey! Applejack!” Rainbow shouted. Her friend was busy kicking apple trees, as usual. It seemed that harvest season lasts forever on the farm. “Oh, hey there Rainbow. Nice of ya to stop by. What can I do ya for?” Applejack pushed her hat back and smiled at her friend. “Well, I... uh.” Rainbow Dash was tongue-tied. It took her an hour to convince herself to go and find AJ, and now she was tongue tied. “I was wondering if you wanted to maybe sometime...” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “hangoutbutlikemorethanweusuallydoinaspecialwaylikeadatemaybe?” Rainbow Dash took a step back and lowered her ears. Applejack was just staring at her. ‘Oh no! It is gonna be just like Junior Speedsters! She’s going to laugh at me. She’s going to laugh at me and tell Twilight and Pinkie and everypony else. I never should have asked her. Why did I do it?’ Rainbow backed up a little more and coward, bracing herself for impact. Her oldest friend was going to laugh in her face, she knew it. Applejack continued to stare. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do. She learned to expect a lot of things from Rainbow Dash, but she never expected this. This, to keep it simple, was different. ‘Oh, come on AJ. Ya can’t keep staring at her like that. Put on a smile at least.’ Applejack forced a half hearted smile. She tried to search for some sympathy, something to ease Rainbow’s pain. She couldn’t find it. Really, she was just confused. AJ sighed, casting her gaze down to Rainbow’s feet. “Aw, Rainbow. I... I’m sorry.” Rainbow Dash fought to hold back the tears. She expected it to happen, but she didn’t expect it to hurt as much. ‘Oh, I knew it! She doesn’t like me. It’s just like Harmony all over again. I’m sorry now, you fucking fillyfooler later.’ “Yea, whatever...” Rainbow said, defeated. Rainbow took a few more steps back. But Applejack put a foreleg around her shoulder, in sympathy. Rainbow Dash shrugged the sympathy gesture off. She didn’t want the sympathy. She really just wanted to go back in time and undo this. “I’m not offended,” Rainbow Dash retorted. ‘Just hurt,’ she thought to herself. Maybe her mother was right. Perhaps her father was just a freak, and he passed on his freak genes to his only biological daughter. Mares couldn’t love mares. Stallions couldn’t love stallions. That’s the way Celestia made it. “Sugercube, I can hear it in ya voice. I’m real sor-” Rainbow Dash didn’t let her finish. She spread her wings and flew off. “-ry...” Applejack finished to herself. “Colt, I sure do worry ‘bout that pony. I wouldn’t put it past her to go and do something stupid like. I better check on her later.” Applejack returned to work, vowing that she’d visit Rainbow Dash by day’s end. Right now, the blue filly just needed some alone time. But Rainbow, rash as she is, would need somepony to calm her down eventually. If Applejack couldn’t console her, she’d find somepony who could. But for now, the apples needed her attention. Chapter 2Applejack burst through the door to Twilight’s Library. “Twi! Please tell me you’ve seen Rainbow Dash!” The orange pony said frantically. “Not really. I haven’t actually seen her all day. Why?” “Well,” Applejack sucked in a huge breath, “She came to see me earlier today while I was harvesting some apples - cause ya know, harvest season never seems to end ‘round here, ‘cept in winter - and she asked me out, which musta been real hard on her seein’ as we’re old friends and both girls, and I said no - cause I ain’t gay - and she seemed real offended by it for some reason and now I can’t find her anywhere, Fluttershy and Derpy say she ain’t home, and I’m afraid she’s run off somewhere.” Twilight just blinked. She was pretty sure this was the most AJ had ever said in one breath. And probably ever. “Look, AJ,” Twilight slid up to the distressed pony, “it’s Rainbow Dash. She’ll be fine. She’s probably just training for the Wonder Whatevers.” “No Twi. Ya weren’t there. It’s different this time. She was real hurt for some reason.” Applejack backed out of the library. -- Rainbow Dash didn’t even bother to stop by her home. She didn’t have anything she truly wanted to keep. And carting stuff around would just slow her down. By this time tomorrow she would be in Los Arabias, and once again start over. ‘Third time’s the charm, right?’ Rainbow thought to herself. It was two days before winter break. Everypony would be sent off to visit home tomorrow. Going home wasn’t really that bad, but being separated from her friends was. For the first time in years, Dash felt like she had a place. “Hey R-dee, what’s up?” Harmony floated down to her blue friend. “Excited to be heading home?” “Not exactly, Harm.” “Awww, why not? You gonna miss me?” The white pegasus smiled, as if hiding a secret. “‘Course not,” Dash winked. Harmony gasped in mock hurt. Rainbow giggled. “Well, maybe just a little?” She admitted. The discussion turned to break itself and their plans for vacation. While Harmony was talking, Rainbow was gearing herself up to confess. “Hey Harmony,” Rainbow interrupted her friend’s monologue on some new band, “Can I ask you something?” “Of course!” “Well, I was wondering if you wanna go out or something.” “What?” “Do you wanna, like, uh, go out sometime? Or something...” Harmony was shocked. Of the many things she expected from Rainbow Dash, this was not one of them. But the white filly recovered quickly. She lowered her eyes and forced a small, sympathetic smile. “Sorry, sweetie, but this mare is the stallion-loving kind. But, hey,” Harmony punched her embarrassed friend softly, “your secret dies with me.” Before Dash could even reply, her friend had changed the topic back to music and hot new bands. The following day, Harmony appeared outside of Dash’s door to say goodbye. “I’m leaving in a couple minutes, but I was thinking about what you said yesterday and,” The white mare pressed her lips against Rainbow’s very gently. She quickly pulled away. “Just a thought.” Harmony trotted away. That thought kept Rainbow’s spirits up through the whole vacation. -- “Hey Mac! Ya seen my saddlebags anywhere?” Applejack burst into the shed, “I need them.” “Eeeyup,” the big, red workhorse said slowly. He kicked the bags over to his sister. “Thanks,” AJ swung her head down to snag the personalized bags. “I hate to run off again, but-” Hoof. Massive hoof. “Uh Mac? You’re standing on my bag.” “Eeeyup,” the stallion said. “And I’d hate to see ya run off again also. Especially when there’s work to do. You’re weeks behind on harvest.” It was true. Applejack had been neglecting her duty on the farm in order to go off on adventures with the group. And no matter how hard she worked, she could never make up for lost time. “Sorry, Mac, but I gotta go. Rainbow Dash ran away-” “No.” “What?” “No. Ya gotta put family first.” “She is family. She’s my best friend. And I am going to bring her back.” Applejack turned and stormed out the door of the shed. She knew she was being unreasonable. Rainbow was fully grown, she could take care of herself. And the farm really could use AJ’s help. They were struggling to break even this year, and the barn still needed repairs. But none of that mattered if Dash was gone. Nothing mattered if the arrogant blue pony was gone. -- “Hey Gaybow Dash.” These were the first words Rainbow heard when she got back from vacation. Vacation itself wasn’t too horrible. Her mother spent most of the time working, and Dash spent most of the time practicing. And thinking about Harmony’s farewell. But then she came back to this. It wasn’t really the name that hurt. Rainbow had suffered through worse before. But it was the way Harmony said it. And the way the other ponies giggled. As if they all knew some secret and could barely resist blurting it. As if they knew... Dash lowered her head and glared. “You didn’t.” “Didn’t what? Tell everyone that you forced me to kiss you? How you always act so friendly in the showers? Don’t deny it,” Harmony added as Dash attempted to protest. “Why?” Dash breathed through gritted teeth and tears. “Because, I don’t make nice with freaks. I can’t be friends with a fucking fillyfooler.” The group around them went silent. There were a couple chuckles, and a shout of ‘ooooo.’ “I told you that in secret.” “I don’t think that forcing a kiss on somepony counts as secret, especially if it’s in front of a camera.” “You were the one that kissed m- wait, ca-ca-camera?” Rainbow thought back to the kiss. They were mostly inside her room. There was no way somepony could have gotten a picture. Unless... The photograph fluttered to the ground. Her room was blurry, but the centerpiece, Rainbow Dash and Harmony, was amazingly clear. It was true, from this angle is seemed as if Rainbow was the one who forced the kiss. “Clicksy is a good shot.” Harmony smiled. Her old friend was shaking. Tears of rage glistened at the corners of Dash’s eyes. This was simply too much at once. Her best friend, her only friend, had betrayed her. -- Fluttershy finally managed to get her nerves under control. She wasn’t the breaking-into-your-friend’s-house type of pony. But Applejack had been so insistent. And Fluttershy was curious. She hadn’t seen her fellow pegasus since early that morning. And Rainbow hadn’t seemed exactly right. She was whispering to herself about unicorns, freaks, and something that sounded extremely harsh. Fluttershy didn’t really catch it all. She ducked through the window and listened for a beat. Nothing. She hoped Derpy was still watching outside, instead of chasing after muffins or whatever. Fluttershy stumbled in the dark. She realized that this first time she had ever actually been in Rainbow’s house. The yellow pegasus suddenly hoped that her counterpart wasn’t home. She was pretty sure that the blue mare would prefer it if the first time Fluttershy visited would be when she was invited to do so. Awwell, too late to turn back now. Fluttershy managed to find the light switch without an extreme amount of bumps. The pegasus was amazed by what she saw. The room lit up with an extensive array of color. Light reflected of mirrors and through prisms. The rainbows formed hid under a thin layer of cloud, creating a ‘dark rainbow.’ Fluttershy trotted through the house, distracted by Dash’s interior decorating skills. It seemed out of place with the blue mare’s personality. Even Rarity would be shocked at the amount of crystal. But despite the lavish decoration, the house was tactful. Nothing seemed too extreme. Fluttershy trotted down the hall, quietly calling Dash’s name. After five minutes, she decided that Rainbow wasn’t here. Choosing a door at random, she barged into Rainbow’s bedroom. After marching down the extremely beautiful hallway, Fluttershy was amazed at how misplaced this room was. It was darker, messier, and essentially fit Rainbow’s personality. Satisfied she had found the right room, Fluttershy set herself to the task of snooping. -- Dash’s roommate requested a transfer within a day of being back. ‘Conflict of Interests.’ The blue pegasus couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Dash was, honestly, glad. The two had never really got along, though they were a long ways from enemies, and Rainbow simply wanted solitude. Rainbow’s classmates got worse as the days got longer. Boys started asking if she would “do stuff,” with other girls for them. Girls refused to be around her. They’d move tables, skip showers, and some even went as far as to transfer classes. No one wanted to be near a fillyfooler. Rumours got worse and even the administration started to pick up a few. The school had arranged therapy sessions in order to analyze Rainbow’s “peeping problem.” After they got that all sorted out, she was forced to go at least once a week, for behavioral examination. Then came the talent show. Rainbow almost skipped it. She wasn’t sure if she could face the entire school. But she had been practicing for weeks. And maybe, just maybe, it would get ponies to like her again. She convinced herself to do it, planning on a short, five minute, routine of aerobatics. The stage wasn’t overly large, so she would have to focus more on grace than speed. But that was fine. She could do grace. She was scheduled to follow a very poorly done magic act. Half of the tricks failed, and the other half were too simple to be considered tricks. This greatly boost Rainbow’s morale. There was no way she could be worse than that. Dash took the stage and waited for the first few lines of her song to start. The cloud hoops lowered and the beat started. It took Rainbow a few seconds to recognize it. The song was Katy Pony’s new song, “I Kissed a Mare.” The room erupted with laughter. Rainbow didn’t wait around. She tore off the stage. This was one act too many. Harmony would pay. -- Fluttershy couldn’t resist a little spring cleaning. She knew that she was supposed to be looking for clues pertaining to Dash’s disappearance, but the yellow pegasus couldn’t help herself. She may not be as bad as Rarity when it comes to neatness, but Fluttershy simply could not tolerate such a mess. Besides, she might find something as she cleaned. Unfortunately for the pegasus’ sensitive eyes, she did. Hidden under a mess of sheets and, for some reason Fluttershy couldn’t fathom, underwear were a few copies of Rainbow’s special “romance” magazines. Fluttershy kicked the pile away instinctively. It crashed into one of the glass picture frames on Dash’s nightstand, knocking it over to the ground. The frame shattered. ‘Oh no! Ohnoohnoohnoohno,’ Fluttershy snapped out of her unwanted daydream. She fluttered over to the broken pile of glass and was once again shocked by her findings. There was a picture of the six of them. There was also a picture of a much younger Dash and some white pegasus. But not just any pegasus. -- “That’s the lead singer of Out of Harm’s Way!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I love that band.” Fluttershy nodded. “And look, she’s making out with Rainbow.” “Why didn’t Dash ever tell us she knew one of the members of O.H.W?” Pinkie jumped up and down. “Fluttershy, how did you recognize her?” Applejack asked, motioning toward the white filly. “Oh well, uh, O.H.W. is one of my favorite bands. I really like the songs Death Note and Broken Train...” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Right, well, Pinkie, do ya know where they’re touring?” “Of course silly! They’ll be in Los Arabias this weekend, and then they’re going to Fillydelphia, and-” “Great,” Applejack interrupted, “Go get Twilight and Rarity. We’re going to L.A.” Chapter 3Harmony strolled down the streets of L.A. It was nice to do, for once. Usually the band rolled in at dawn, and everypony slept until about three. Then, after setting up, they’d play until midnight, ignore the clamor for encore, and rush off to the next city. There never really was time to stop and look around. And even when she did go out, there was always a crowd of fifty following her. She could never be alone. But L.A. was different. The band was going to stay here the whole weekend, and the insane fans, most of them anyways, wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow. And the normal ponies in Hollyhoof were used to being around famous ones, so they didn’t make a big deal of it. Sure a few would ask her to sign something, or take a picture, but generally they left her alone. It was nice to be normal again. -- “Sorry ma’am, but the weather team’s doing just fine. I got a spot down in Smog Control if you want it.” The heavy pony’s voice grated on Rainbow’s ears. “I’ll take it.” It was the best the pony could get. Los Arabias had three weather teams, and not a single slot was opened. At least Dash had been able to find something. “Good,” Generic Smith responded, his voice slowly driving Rainbow mad, “Come in tomorrow at 6 sharp. I’ll get one of the team leaders to take you through basic training and get you all set.” “Thank you so much for the opportunity, sir, but now I really gotta go.” Rainbow dashed out of the room before he could reply. The blue Pegasus was making remarkably good time. She’d only been in L.A. for a few hours and she already had a job. Sure it wasn’t glamorous, or even decent, but was money and money is important. Her stomach rumbled. “Especially for lunch,” Rainbow thought to herself. “Ms. Dash? Could you please pay attention? This is important.” The fancy pony looked impatient. “What more do you want know? I’ve already said my side.” The fancy pony sighed, “Yes, yes. But it’s my job to find out the whole story. Now-“ “Tell me what she said.” “Alright. She said that you flew up to her, called her…” The fancy pony seemed uncomfortable, “a fucking bitch and then kicked her.” A silence fell upon the room. “You know, you could face jail time.” “For what?” Dash shouted. There was no way he was telling the truth. At least, she hoped he wasn’t. “For assault. You broke her wing, and, trust me, that makes a pretty convincing case.” Another silence. The fancy pony rustled through some papers. “I see that you’ve been seeing a therapist for a while. Behavioral issues. Care to explain?” “Stupid rumors spread by that dumbass bitch.” A short pause. “Sorry, ignorant filly.” The fancy pony cracked a small smile. “Tell me your side again.” Dash rolled her eyes. She knew how this went. He’d ask her to repeat her story a few times, looking for inconsistency. Then he’d question her about her life, things that have gone on, all that jazz. Rinse, repeat. Harmony would win this fight. She was the sympathy pony. She had a broken wing, she hadn’t been forced to see a therapist for behavioral reasons. Dash was unscathed, she’d been written up six times before the rumors started and a few since then. Rainbow knew she was facing expulsion. She just hoped that Harmony wouldn’t press charges. “Fine,” the blue mare sighed. Dash found a small sandwich place in Pasamino. So far, she wasn’t really excited about L.A. Everything was overpriced and there were far too many Starbits. Plus the city was just too crowded. Even in the air she was surrounded by hundreds of ponies. She’d heard that Los Arabias was massive, she just didn’t expect it to be this large. Pasamino alone was as large as Ponyville. Well, she came here to blend in, become invisible. It wouldn’t be too hard to do. -- “Can I… Can I touch your wing?” Harmony was momentarily surprised. Of all the weird requests she’d gotten from fans, this was the most, er, interesting. She tightened her wings against her side. She was pretty good with fans. But a few, well, far too many to be considered few, demands were creepy. This was one of them. “Sorry, er, no.” “Oh, all right…” the brown pony sighed. He trudged along down the street. Harmony rolled her eyes, and snorted quietly. Fans always did this when she denied their requests. ‘Oh woe is me. I didn’t get exactly what I want. Take pity?’ Harmony wasn’t one for pity. At least not undeserved pity. And a healthy, if sulky, college student did not deserve pity. Harmony turned and walked back to Hollyhoof. It was getting relatively late and Westwood meant college fans. College fans were weird. She was vaguely aware of a shadow. She could see it out of the corner of her eye. She wanted to move her head to see it directly, but the drugs were too strong. It took all of her energy just to stay awake. She tried to ask who it was, but her voice wouldn’t work. Whatever the nurse had given her essentially shut her body down. She was afraid to sleep. She knew she should, but, for some reason she couldn’t explain to herself, she was just too scared. The shadow moved. Harmony caught a glimpse the multi-colored mane and panicked. The blue bitch was here to finish what she started. She’d probably break Harmony’s other wing. Or worse. The white filly squeezed her eyes shut in preparation of the blow. As if waiting for this, her mind let go. And the pony slept. -- “Two thousand a month?” Rainbow Dash yelled, more in shock than anger. “Yup. That includes electricity. Take it or leave it.” Dash looked around the apartment. It wasn’t awful, just tiny. In fact, the rainbow-maned mare was pretty sure it wasn’t much larger than her bedroom back in Ponyville. “Take it,” the blue mare sighed. She signed the little sheet and officially became a resident of L.A. Her new life had begun. Yippee. “Expelled?” Her father roared. “For what?” “Behavioral issues. Multiple write-ups. Fighting. Inappropriate behavior. Unstable psyche. The list goes on. Would you like me to continue?” “No. That’s enough,” Lightning said, through gritted teeth. “I assume that there are no forms to fill out.” “Just take the filly and leave. The paperwork is taken care of.” The graying stallion watched the pair leave, smiling to himself. Just one less problem. “So,” Lightning started, “Behavioral issues?” He was almost too angry to speak. But the deathly silence and simple curiosity called for conversation. “Lies. I didn’t do anything. Everypony just hates me. Especially that bitch, Harmony.” Dash spat at the name. “Language, Dash. And I doubt that everypony hates you. So, seriously, what happened? They can’t kick somepony out of school just because they don’t like that pony.” Dash drifted lazily to a small cloud. She couldn’t look at her father, and she shrugged of his obligated sympathy. Taking a deep breath, she told him. Everything. -- “Applejack, how do you plan to even find her once we get there? L.A. is a huge city.” “That’s easy, Twilight. We’ll just wait for her at the concert.” “There will be hundreds of ponies there. And she might not even go! Then what?” Twilight was extremely frustrated. While waiting for Rarity to show up, the two ponies had gone through this whole argument three times. It wasn’t that Twilight wasn’t concerned for her friend, she was, but AJ wasn’t being pragmatic. The orange pony was letting her emotions run her, and Twilight knew exactly where that road led. “She’ll be there. We’ll find her. But if she ain’t, then ya will find her.” “How?” “Magic.” “You want me to do a locater spell in the middle of a city? Do you realize how impossible that’ll be? There are millions of ponies in L.A, there’s no way I can search through all-“ Twilight was interrupted by the appearance of Rarity and Fluttershy. “What’s the emergency? All Fluttershy told me was that something happened with Rainbow Dash and –” The white unicorn stared at the two glaring ponies, “- apparently you two are busy fighting. Would somepony be a dear and explain what’s going on?” “Rainbow Dash ran away. AJ thinks –“ “No, I know.” “That she went to L.A. She wants to go there and get Dash back, but she doesn’t… I lost you, didn’t I?” Twilight sighed. The other unicorn’s eyes were sparkling. “We’re going to L.A? To Hollyhoof?” Rarity asked in disbelief. “We ain’t takin a vacation. We’re goin’ to get Rainbow back.” “Oh, of course, darling.” Rarity responded, attempted to tone down her excitement. “How are we getting there? It’s much too far to walk.” “Pinkie said she had something that could carry us all,” Twilight responded for AJ. As if on cue, the pink pony bounded up to the group. “It’s ready,” she said, “To the Pinkiemobile!” -- The pain woke her up. She had rolled onto her broken wing during the night, and when the drugs wore off, the pain returned triple fold. The white Pegasus quickly rolled onto her other side. The pain subsided a bit. Before her, she saw a single yellow flower and a note. On it were two words: Sorry, bitch. Harmony stood in front of the mirror. She looked dead. She always did before a show. Every time, her fears would take over. Would she forget a song? Slip on stage? Perhaps she might crash during the flyover. These thoughts and countless others plagued her before every show. Fans were fickle. Should she mess up, she would never hear the end of it. Her following would diminish greatly, if not disappear altogether. She had spent years building up her popularity, but it was unstable at best. And her fans only respected her voice and her beauty. Should she lose either one, they’d turn. Some would claim she never produced anything good or original. Others would deny that she was ever popular. Most would simply say nothing, and turn away. She shook these thoughts away. The opening bands had started. In an hour, she’d be out there, singing her new songs and a few of the crowd’s favorites. Then the band would sign a few lucky copies of their new album and sleep. Tomorrow same thing, replacing sleep with flee. Yippee. -- “So,” Dash said, coughing, “what’s a pony,” coughing, “ to do for fun around here?” Her eyes were watering. Smog control was nothing like being a weather pony. It was dirty, painful, and downright boring. But a job was a job. “Lots! Especially tonight. I just so happen to have a spare ticket to O.H.W’s concert. Care to come?” Her mentor replied. He’d been assigned the task of showing her the basics of pollution control, not that there was much to it. But he really spent most the day flirting and showing off. He was definitely overly friendly, but nice enough. “O.H.W?” Dash asked. “Awesome band. They’re pretty much just metal with a couple of throws to the classics. It works very well. Tonight’s the start of their ‘Yellow Flower’ tour. You really should come.” “Well, it’s not like I’ve got plans.” “Great, I’ll stop by your place at six. Be sure to get you there nice and safe.” The flirty stallion smiled, spreading his wings slightly, before snapping them to his side. Dash flew off to her overpriced apartment. So far L.A. wasn’t too bad. Sure everything was super expensive, and her job sucked. And her only friend was her boss. But life would go on. L.A. could work. The remainder of the semester passed uneventfully. Dash went to the small public school back home, and essentially hid throughout the last two months. She graduated, barely, and immediately moved from Cloudsburne to Cloudsdale. The whole issue with Harmony and JSBS wasn’t discussed outside her mother’s angry sobs and father’s unwanted sympathy. The blue mare found a job as a waitress, although she dropped quite a lot, and cut herself off from her family and old life. Less than two years later, a familiar old stallion appeared at table six. Dash treated him the same as any other customer. Lighting treated her as he would any waitress. Except, her might have padded the tip, just a bit. “Sir!” Dash ran after him, envelope in her mouth, “You forgot this.” “Keep it, Rainbow. It’s your tip.” Her father walked on. “It’s customary to leave only cash.” Lightning ignored her. Rainbow carefully studied the envelope’s contents. Four hundred bits, a key, and a note. “Stop hiding,” it read, “the world’s best flyer in Cloudsdale all of Equestria should own the world, not be owned by it.” It ended with an address in Ponyville. -- “Why do we think Rainbow’s gone to L.A?” Rarity asked, leaning over the side of the basket. The balloon was extremely crowded. “Because, we found this and –” AJ held out the picture. “Who’s this? And are they kissing?” “I’d explain if ya would let me finish. It’s the lead singer of some band – Out of Harm’s Way, right?” Pinkie nodded to Applejack’s question, “And they’re starting their tour in L.A. and-” “Rainbow knows a famous pony? Why didn’t she ever tell us? Oh Celestia this will work wonders for m-” “Rarity, focus on the point.” “Right, right.” “We think Dash is gonna be at the concert. Ya’ll are gonna help me find her an-“ This time, Twilight cut the orange pony off. “Actually,” she said, “Rarity has a point. Why didn’t Dash ever tell us about Harmony? You’d think she’d brag about that as often as possible.” “I dunno, maybe she was jealous or something. Look, it ain’t important. I don’t care why she did or didn’t te-” “Look!” Pinkie exclaimed, cutting AJ off again, “There it is! We’re here!” The massive city loomed on the dark horizon. “Can a pony finish a sentence ‘round here?” AJ muttered. -- Dash sighed. It was refreshing to rid herself of all that grime and other-unnamed-things away. The pegasus looked around her dinky little apartment and sighed again. This time of sadness. She missed her glamorous house, her old job, the fresh clean air of Ponyville, and, above all else, her friends. Rainbow was tempted to abandon L.A. and return to Ponyville… ‘No,’ the blue mare though to herself, ‘what’s there to return to, save torment? It’s better here. I know it is.’ The buzzer buzzed to let her know that someone was at the door below. She hit the little talk button. “Come in, just drying off.” She hit the button to unlock the gate. She quickly patted herself dry and then shook out her mane. “I wasn’t expecting to get this wet. You sure know how to get a colt ready,” he said from the door, winking. Dash glared at him, but smiled softly. “Let’s go, I wanna beat the crowd.” They didn’t beat the crowd. Not in the least. Despite arriving two hours early, they still managed to get booted off to the back. Awwell, it was better than nothing. After an hour of nothingness and another of horrid opening bands, O.H.W. finally appeared. Four unicorns and a single white pegasus. Dash gasped as the memories she’d been trying to bury for the past two days came flooding back. Dash didn’t even say anything to her date. She just reacted. Once again, she fled from her past. -- The yellow flower wilted pretty quickly. Harmony didn’t care. It wasn’t the flower that mattered to her. It was the note. No, not even the note. The two words scrawled upon it. Sorry, bitch. Two words, that for some reason, made a huge impact on the white pony. Looking at her broken wing, Harmony sighed. She knew why Dash did this. She knew that on some level, ok, several levels, she deserved the six months as a cripple. She only had one question, for herself: Why did she turn on her friend? Six months later, she had no answer. “I want to press charges on that murderous bitch. She should go to jail. Attempted murder also. If my little Harmony wasn’t so strong, I shudder to think what would have happened. Assault, Attempted murder, hell, why not Attempted Rape either? I want to see that little dyke in jail for-” “No.” Harmony cut her father off. “Excuse me?” “We aren’t pressing charges on Rainbow.” “Honey, I know you’re scared, but don’t worry. The court will-” “I said no, Father.” “You don’t have a choice, dear. I’ll bring the case to court, whether you want me to or not.” “But how will you win if the victim denies everything? You won’t. You’ll be just an old stallion trying to steal money from a poor young filly. No, Dad,” Harmony turned to leave, “we are not pressing charges.” And she left. -- “Sold out? How can ya be sold out?” “Sorry ma’am. The band’s hot, and tickets are icecubes.” “Huh?” “Everything’s been gone since Friday.” “Horsefeathers!” Applejack turned to the group, “Now what are we gonna do?” As if in response, a streak of rainbow flew by. “Dash! Wait!” A colt’s voice called. He, too, flew past the group, only at a much slower rate. AJ didn’t miss a beat. “Fluttershy! Quick! Follow ‘em.” AJ called to her friend. This was her lucky night. It was highly unlikely that there were two rainbow streaks with the nickname ‘Dash’ in all of Equestria. Ok, not highly unlikely, but it was all she had. Fluttershy took off after the pair. The earth-bound ponies trotted along after them. “At least ya don’t need to try a locater thingy, Twi.” -- “Sorry about that,” Dash blushed, when her friend finally caught up. She was standing outside the gate to her complex. “I used to know that girl. We didn’t get along, to put it nicely… I kind of overreacted.” “Say no more!” A small pause. “All that speedy flying made me thirsty, mind if I come in?” “No, not at all,” Rainbow led him inside. “Make yourself comfortable,” she said, turning on the water.” “I already am,” he chuckled. Dash turned. His wings were spread very wide. Dash giggled a little, but she was cut short by him pressing his face into hers. She broke off the kiss immediately. “I’m sorry, but-” She was interrupted by him doing it again. This time she pushed him back. He glared down at her for a couple seconds, then slammed against her. The Pegasus lost her balance and slammed into a wall. She let out a small terrified squeak as he pressed his side against hers, wrapping his wings around her. She pushed against him, he pushed her against the wall and nuzzled her neck, working backwards. “Get your perverted hooves off her!” An angry voice shouted. Suddenly, Dash’s attacker collapsed, a dent in his head. He was quite unconscious. Dash pulled herself up off the ground to meet her savior face to face. “Hey, AJ.” -- “I could’ve taken him.” Her rainbow-maned friend said. “Of course ya could’ve, sugercube. ‘fore or after he raped ya?” AJ responded, glaring at the stallion’s body. Rainbow was silent. Twilight arrived with the police. There was a brief amount of questioning, then both Dash and AJ gave statements. After everything was properly recorded, they left with Dash’s boss, who was still unconscious, but cuffed. “How’d you manage to get in? The complex is gated all the way to the top.” “Some nice old mare let us in. And ya left your door unlocked. Ya really shouldn’t do that.” “Oh.” A silence passed between the two. “Sugercube,” Applejack started, “Why’d ya run away?” Dash looked away thoughtfully. Then she told her friend. Everything. -- Another silence. Dash watched her friend slowly take it all in. The orange pony slowly shook her head. “So ya thought I’d act like Harmony and turn all your friends against ya?” “Yeah…” Dash nodded sadly, “I was just so afraid tha-” “Sugercube,” AJ interrupted, “I love ya. Sure I don’t wanna get all cozy with ya, but that don’t change the fact I love ya. And the thought of living without ya just makes me –” The earth pony couldn’t finish. She just teared up. Dash offered a sympathy wing, AJ took it. After several hugs and a short, effusive sobfest, the two ponies worked everything out. “C’mon, let’s go home.” EpilogueHarmony slept as the band rolled into Ponyville. Usually they skipped such small towns, but all the recent attention Ponyville got from the press and the castle more or less forced it onto the band’s (and everypony else’s) radar. Besides, it was a perfect stop between Cloudsdale and Canterlot. Harmony didn’t mind. She liked small shows. More personal, more energetic. Plus she wouldn’t have to deal with those awful opening bands. But there was something else that attracted her to the town. She couldn’t quite decide what it was, but it was nice. Calming. Calm was something she hadn’t felt for a long time. A week earlier... “C’mon, let’s go home.” The two friends trudged slowly to the Pinkiemobile. Dash was half asleep, warn physically and emotionally from the day’s events. What had started as a bland, almost depressing, day turned into one of the most exciting, and worst, of her life. As the pair approached the balloon and friends, Dash grew anxious. She wasn’t sure if she could face her friends after what she put them through... after what they saw. Pinkie bounced up to the two. “Hey Dash! I can’t believe what that Meany McStupidface alm-” She cut herself off, a rare feat, due to AJ’s withering glare. Dash didn’t even bother to look up. She could feel the others watching her, their eyes boring into her skull, but she couldn’t meet their gaze. They pile into the basket in silence. It hit Harmony like a train. One of the new self-moving trains, that is. Nine months of guilt and repeatedly asking herself “why?” and an appropriate amount of self-pity, and she finally figured it out. It was stupid. Honestly, it wasn’t an excuse in any way, but it was true. It explained why she hungered for more after that first short kiss. Why she always felt a need to show off around her, ahem, ex friend. Why she would look at the picture that destroyed them for hours, wondering what could have been. The answer was stupidly simple, and it really shouldn’t have surprised her. But it did. Harmony was in love with Dash. “Fuck!” The trip home was mostly silent. Dash wasn’t in the mood to talk to anypony, and all other attempts, even Pinkie’s, just fell into an awkward silence. Eventually the six made it back to Ponyville. “Ya OK to fly home?” Applejack asked Dash. “Of course! You don’t need to coddle me.” The pegasus snapped back. AJ’s expression of concern melted into a little hurt and anger. She was about to snark in reply, but decide against it. In any case, Dash quickly changed from anger to guilt, “Sorry, “ she muttered, “it’s just been a really long weekend.” “I understand,” AJ said to the air. Dash had already taken off. “I wish she’d stop doing that.” “Stop doing what?” Twilight trotted up. “Takin’ off ‘fore I can finish my sentences. I hope she’s alright.” “Well, she did seem a little rude.” “Yea, but it ain’t nothing to worry about. I mean, she just needs her sleep. And ‘sides, she just had an, erm, tough experience.” “Uh-huh. AJ, not to be nosy,” Twilight shuffled her feet, “Ok, well to be a little nosy, what did she tell you back in L.A?” “Sorry, Twi. I can’t tell ya that. Dash will when she’s ready.” They stared off at Rainbow’s floating palace for a beat. “Not to, um, interrupt,” Fluttershy interrupted the silence, “but do you think she’ll notice that she’s still missing this?” The pegasus produced the photo of Dash and Harmony. The trio just exchanged a glance of mutual ‘Well, shit.’ -- Rainbow didn’t even make it to her room to notice how it had been disturbed. The blue filly managed to walk three steps into her living room and collapsed on the floor. -- Harmony was a good performer. The sudden rainbow streak at the start of her song only through her off a little. It could be any rainbow producing pegasus, it didn’t have to be Dash. It meant nothing. The white pegasus managed to remain undistracted for the rest of the show. But almost as soon as the last chord was struck, thoughts about the mare, quite literally of her dreams, returned. Was she really that close? Harmony spent years in regret of her cruelity. If she had just been honest, with herself, with Dash, with everyone else, maybe things would’ve turned out differently. Maybe she wouldn’t feel so empty. -- Dash had trouble sleeping that week. She’d come home, lay in bed, and just stare at the wall for hours. Sometimes, she’d fall asleep. As soon as dawn arrived she’d go about her work. The weather team didn’t seem to take any notice of her sudden return. They had grown used to Dash running off without notice by this point. Dash had to admit, the pink earth-pony really could throw a kick-flank party. Music was awesome, food delicious. Unfortunately, it was still awkward. The only ponies she even sorta knew were Fluttershy, who was cowering in a corner, and Pinkie Pie, who was busy giving a monologue on cupcake woes. Still, the pegasus mingled as best she could. About an hour into the part, Rainbow saw her. Pinkie and Fluttershy were talking to Dash, or in Pinke’s case, at Dash, about the political consequences of allowing bunnies to vote when the blue pegasus saw Applejack dancing (quite clumsily) with some bay colt. Instantly her wings flared out. “Whoa,” Dash said. Fluttershy blushed deeply for her fellow pegasus. “Who is she?” “Oh! That’s Applejack,” Pinkie followed her gaze, not bothered by the sudden topic change, “She runs Sweet Apple Acres with her brother. Applejack. Hey! Appljack!” Pinkie motioned for the work horse to come ove. AJ complied. “Hi AJ! This is Rainbow Dash. She just moved here from Cloudsdale. She’s staying at Lightning’s place.” The mention of her father brought Dash out of her slightly inappropriate daydream. She forced her wings back to her sides and noticed that AJ was holding out a hoof expectantly. Rainbow bumped it. “Hey! Dash! I need ya to bring a rain cloud over to the farm,” Applejack said seductively. “Huh? What?” Dash returned to reality. “I. Need. Ya. To. Bring. A. Raincloud. Over. To.The. Farm.” AJ repeated, stressing every word. “Well, geez. You don’t hafta be so rude about it.” “I asked ya three times,” AJ pointed out. “Look, Dash, I know you’ve been through a tough but,” she looked up to see she was talking to no-one. Again. “Ya just gotta run off and not let your friends finish their sentences.” The orange pony cantered off to catch up with her winged friend. -- Harmony paced around the hotel room. For the past week, Dash refused to leave her mind. The white pegasus went on a huge guilt trip and pulled no stops. She stretched her wings and felt a dull throb, a permanent reminder of her betrayal. But surely Rainbow couldn’t still be upset about that. If anything, the other pegasus had probably forgotten. It had been five years since they last saw each other. That is, if the mysterious rainbow streak at LA’s concert wasn’t her. Of course, Harm hadn’t forgiven herself, no reason Dash should’ve. Harmony kicked the wall. An old stress relief habit. She kicked it again, harder. A small thump responded. She felt like a true foal. Father was not a pony you simply walk away from. Especially when he was angry. Her mother and first step-mom had learned that lesson well. Harmony just left behind a fortune, guaranteed contracts in the music industry, and most importantly, as her last kick reminded her, decent health insurance. She limped around in circles for a minute, waiting for the pain to die down. Then she saw the flier. All her worries just drained away. She tore the address off the bottom of the sheet and attempted to race off. Failing that, she limped very quickly off. -- “Thank ya kindly, Dash. For all that hard work, I think ya earned yaself a glass of my special Apple Cider.” “Really?” Dash’s ears perked up. “That’s so cool, I-” Applejack cut her friend off, “Not the kind made with Buck Daniels. Ya still go a year to go ‘fore I can give ya that.” “Oh,” Dash resumed indifference, “Well I guess I can spare a few minutes.” “That’s the spirit!” AJ led her into the small kitchen and poured three glasses. “Now Rainbow, I wanted to have a serious chat with ya. I know you’ve been under a lot of stress lately, but it’s really starting to affect your friends.” “Yeah? How?” Dash asked, a little too defensively. “Snappy comments whenever somepony asks for a favor, random rainclouds migrating into the library, amongst other places. But above all else, just plain rudeness. Ya made Fluttershy cry yesterday.” AJ put extra emphasis on the last part. Rainbow’s features drooped. “Oh,” she said quietly. “Look, sugarcube, I ain’t tryin’ to be mean. Just honest. And to be frank, I think ya need to face your past a bit.” Rainbow wasn’t really paying attention to this last bit. Her attention was focused solely on the new arrival. “Uh, hey, R-D,” Harmony uttered meekly. -- Fame. Money. Everything she wanted. The band loved her, the crowds loved her, producers loved her. It took almost three years, but they made it. Their concerts went from crowds less than ten to leaving hundred of ponies stranded outside, whining for tickets. Her father never tried to contact her, which was fine. Dash, however, did. Not in reality, of course, but the blue pegasus would invade the other’s dreams. The former encouraged the latter to write songs about their shared experiences. Eventually, Harmony detailed her entire betrayal, and all of her feelings for Dash in musical form. The band liked the songs well enough and thus made the Yellow Flower album. But Dash didn’t leave her head. Almost every night the pony appeared in Harmony’s sleep. When she saw the rainbow streak, Harmony officially decided. She needed closure. Yet, now that she was here, Harmony couldn’t rid of herself of the stomach twisting fear. Fear confirmed by Dash’s reaction. “You!” Rainbow spat. The blue pegasus jumped from her seat, knocking over the stool she’d been awkwardly sitting on. Somehow the cider remained unspilled. Dash turned to Applejack, “What is she doing here?” “She an’ the band are for a concert. She stopped by the cart for a bite to eat. Anyways, we talked and whatnot an’ I think ya two got some stuff to sort out.” AJ took her cup and shuffled over to the door frame, more or less locking the group in the kitchen. There was a small awkward silence before Harmony spoke. “Dash, I’m... I’m sorry.” There was a very brief silence. Rainbow’s glare intensified. “I’m sorry? Really, Harm? That’s the best you can do? After five years, you just waltz in here and expect everything to be better just because you say you’re sorry? No. It doesn’t work that way. Do you realize how much your betrayal hurt? School was hell. I lost all my friends. Not because I was gay, only you and a few others cared about that. I lost my friends because of you. You turned me into a pervert, wanting to corrupt innocent little mares. I spent two months in therapy, trying to assess why I felt a compulsive need watch other mares shower, which, by the way,” Dash cast a glance at AJ, “I don’t. Look, Harm, ‘I’m sorry,’ just doesn’t cut it.” The white pegasus was crying softly, guilt hitting her harder than it ever had. “What... what do you want me to say?” “I want you to tell me why. And you better answer in more than two words.” “Because, I loved you, Dash, and-” “Dumbest excuse ever,” Rainbow muttered. “I was afraid. I was afraid of what everypony else would think. Especially my father. You don’t understand how homophobic he is. He-” “Ha! I don’t understand? Harmony, when I was five, my father left to be with another stallion. To make it worse, it was a unicorn-” “How does that make it wor-oh!” AJ interrupted with sudden realization. Dash continued, “My mother was wrecked. And then she turned vicious about it. Almost every day she’d tell me about the, er, wrongness of same gender relationships. So when I discovered I liked mares, I kept my mouth shut about it. I spent years telling myself I liked colts. But when I met you, I decided to face the truth. And then you, you..” Dash’s anger returned. She slapped the table, spilling the remains of her cider. Then she collapsed into sobs. At first the other two just stared, unsure what to do. Then they flanked her, forming an awkward three-way hug. “No, I’m fine, really.” Dash pushed them off, and shook the tears from her face. “Harmony, I know it probably took a lot of courage to come here and apologize, face to face. But it isn’t enough. I don’t think I can ever really forgive you.” Harmony wasn’t exactly shocked by this, but it did bring a new bout of tears. “But I can thank you. Not for being a bucking fitch, of course, but for being honest. And for letting me get that off my chest. At least I know that not everypony is a jerk. And, AJ, thanks for making me do this.” AJ and Harmony exchanged a glance, a little surprised by the mood swing. Dash didn’t even sound upset. She was almost too cheerful about this. Harmony opened her to speak but was intercepted by the town’s clock-tower. “Oh shit! I need to go help the band set up. Here,” Harmony produced a pair of tickets out of, seemingly, nowhere, “I don’t care if you forgive me or not, I want you at the concert tonight. It would mean a lot.” And with that Harmony flew off. -- “Well, sugarcube, I don’t got any plans tonight.” AJ picked up one of the tickets, “Ya should come along.” Dash grabbed the other ticket. “Course I will.” AJ had to admit, O.H.W. was a pretty good. Not her type of music, but good nonetheless. And Dash was certainly enjoying herself, headbanging and dancing like a foal. The orange pony couldn’t help but giggle at the pegasus’ outlandish style. “Well she seems to have finally let go,” a voice chuckled from behind her. AJ whirled around, “Princess Cel-” She recieved a hoof to her mouth. “Shhh, don’t make a big deal of it. I’m here incognito. Well, as much as I can be.” “What’re you doing here, er, ma’am?” “Oh, well, Out of Harm’s Way happens to be one of my favorite bands. And,” the princess giggled at AJ’s expression, “I’m here to get Twilight’s, well, really Rainbow Dash’s, friendship report.” The song ended with perfect timing. Dash trotted over to the pair, sweating like a pig. “This is awesome, AJ. I,” her eyes grew wide, “Princ-” Dash received a hoof to the mouth. “Yes, yes. I’m here. Me! What is with you ponies and making a big deal out of everything? Now, Dash, I understand you’ve had an interesting experience this past week. Did you learn anything from this?” “Well,” Dash glanced at Applejack, who nodded, “yes. I learned that you can’t just run away from your past and your problems. You’ll have to face them eventually. Basically, don’t let your past own you, own your past.” Rainbow paused and threw a forelimb around AJ’s neck. “Also, you gotta trust your friends. If they’re really your friends, they’ll understand.” Princess Celestia nodded at this. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash, that was very well done. Now if you’ll excuse me, they’re about to play my favorite song. Oh but before I forget, you’ll be happy to know that a certain L.A. weather pony is enjoying himself in one of my darkest dungeons.” Princess Celestia winked at the pair and then left them to enjoy the rest of the concert.
Chapter 1“Ok, Dash, you can do it. Brave face. Brave face girl, c’mon,” Rainbow Dash sighed at the mirror. “Well, maybe?” She looked down. Somewhere below, the love of her life was working. Ever since moving to Ponyville, one pony has consumed Rainbow Dashes mind. Rainbow couldn’t help it. She loved Applejack. -- For months she tried to convince herself otherwise. “I’m no Fillyfooler. I like boys,” she’d tell herself, as her mother had done so many times. “I wanna nice big stallion to come and....” She’d always stop there. She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. Even in her head. She loved girls. She was lesbian. ‘No!’ She’d think to herself. ‘I’m just.. I’m bi? Yea sure. That’s cool. I like colts as well... just not as much.’ At that point she’d sit down and mutter: “Or at all...” At that point she couldn’t help but revert back to her past. Up in Cloudburne, where she lived for years before getting shipped off to Junior Speedsters Boarding School, her mother would lecture for what seemed like hours on the evils of same-sex relationships. “Don’t you even think about it, Rainbow. Mares are meant to be with Stallions and Stallions are meant to be with Mares. That’s the way Celestia intended it, no matter what your father says, and that’s the way it’s going to be. Mares simply can not love other mares. Life doesn’t work that way.” “But mom,” Dash would argue, “what if a mare couldn’t help it. What if, in her heart, she really love fillies?” “Impossible! She’s simply trying to be rebellious. She’s trying to destroy the system. Mares can not love other mares. That’s the way Celestia intended it.” Typically, Rainbow Dash would just sulk off to her room. Eventually she learned to never discuss relationships with her mother. It just ended with tears for everyone. Today was different though. Usually Rainbow’s mind would split into two halves. One siding with her mother, saying that nopony, except those awful, queer, unicorn ponies, could love of the same gender. But then her other half would argue that there was nothing wrong with it, and that Rainbow should go with her heart. After an hour of arguing with herself, Rainbow Dash would eventually just give up and fall asleep. But today, her mother lost influence. Rainbow finally freed herself from her past. Those years of yelling just disappeared. Her mother’s tearful screams ceased to exist. Today, the constant conflict in Rainbow Dash’s mind disappeared. Today, her heart won. -- Applejack was working the southern end of her family’s farm. This suited Rainbow Dash just fine. It was far away from everypony, and she was still struggling to be brave. ‘C’mon Dash, you can do it. Just one simple question,’ she thought. Rainbow Dash swooped down behind AJ. She, although trying to resist the perversion, couldn’t help but admire Applejack’s butt. But admiring her friend’s ass is not what she came here to do, ‘though hopefully I will in the future,’ Rainbow Dash grinned to herself. “Hey Applejack?” Rainbow Dash called out. She was surprised at how weak her voice was. ‘C’mon, Rainbow, you can do it,’ she thought to herself. ‘What’s the worse she can do, say no? Ha! Not that she ever would. You’re Equestria’s best flyer. Unless... Maybe you aren’t? Maybe she’ll laugh at you. She’ll probably go off and tell everypony! It’ll be just like Jr. Speedsters! No!’ Rainbow shook the thought clear of her head. ‘AJ won’t do that. Nothing would be like Jr. Speedesters.’ The blue mare cleared her throat and spoke again: “Hey! Applejack!” Rainbow shouted. Her friend was busy kicking apple trees, as usual. It seemed that harvest season lasts forever on the farm. “Oh, hey there Rainbow. Nice of ya to stop by. What can I do ya for?” Applejack pushed her hat back and smiled at her friend. “Well, I... uh.” Rainbow Dash was tongue-tied. It took her an hour to convince herself to go and find AJ, and now she was tongue tied. “I was wondering if you wanted to maybe sometime...” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “hangoutbutlikemorethanweusuallydoinaspecialwaylikeadatemaybe?” Rainbow Dash took a step back and lowered her ears. Applejack was just staring at her. ‘Oh no! It is gonna be just like Junior Speedsters! She’s going to laugh at me. She’s going to laugh at me and tell Twilight and Pinkie and everypony else. I never should have asked her. Why did I do it?’ Rainbow backed up a little more and coward, bracing herself for impact. Her oldest friend was going to laugh in her face, she knew it. Applejack continued to stare. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do. She learned to expect a lot of things from Rainbow Dash, but she never expected this. This, to keep it simple, was different. ‘Oh, come on AJ. Ya can’t keep staring at her like that. Put on a smile at least.’ Applejack forced a half hearted smile. She tried to search for some sympathy, something to ease Rainbow’s pain. She couldn’t find it. Really, she was just confused. AJ sighed, casting her gaze down to Rainbow’s feet. “Aw, Rainbow. I... I’m sorry.” Rainbow Dash fought to hold back the tears. She expected it to happen, but she didn’t expect it to hurt as much. ‘Oh, I knew it! She doesn’t like me. It’s just like Harmony all over again. I’m sorry now, you fucking fillyfooler later.’ “Yea, whatever...” Rainbow said, defeated. Rainbow took a few more steps back. But Applejack put a foreleg around her shoulder, in sympathy. Rainbow Dash shrugged the sympathy gesture off. She didn’t want the sympathy. She really just wanted to go back in time and undo this. “I’m not offended,” Rainbow Dash retorted. ‘Just hurt,’ she thought to herself. Maybe her mother was right. Perhaps her father was just a freak, and he passed on his freak genes to his only biological daughter. Mares couldn’t love mares. Stallions couldn’t love stallions. That’s the way Celestia made it. “Sugercube, I can hear it in ya voice. I’m real sor-” Rainbow Dash didn’t let her finish. She spread her wings and flew off. “-ry...” Applejack finished to herself. “Colt, I sure do worry ‘bout that pony. I wouldn’t put it past her to go and do something stupid like. I better check on her later.” Applejack returned to work, vowing that she’d visit Rainbow Dash by day’s end. Right now, the blue filly just needed some alone time. But Rainbow, rash as she is, would need somepony to calm her down eventually. If Applejack couldn’t console her, she’d find somepony who could. But for now, the apples needed her attention.
Chapter 2Applejack burst through the door to Twilight’s Library. “Twi! Please tell me you’ve seen Rainbow Dash!” The orange pony said frantically. “Not really. I haven’t actually seen her all day. Why?” “Well,” Applejack sucked in a huge breath, “She came to see me earlier today while I was harvesting some apples - cause ya know, harvest season never seems to end ‘round here, ‘cept in winter - and she asked me out, which musta been real hard on her seein’ as we’re old friends and both girls, and I said no - cause I ain’t gay - and she seemed real offended by it for some reason and now I can’t find her anywhere, Fluttershy and Derpy say she ain’t home, and I’m afraid she’s run off somewhere.” Twilight just blinked. She was pretty sure this was the most AJ had ever said in one breath. And probably ever. “Look, AJ,” Twilight slid up to the distressed pony, “it’s Rainbow Dash. She’ll be fine. She’s probably just training for the Wonder Whatevers.” “No Twi. Ya weren’t there. It’s different this time. She was real hurt for some reason.” Applejack backed out of the library. -- Rainbow Dash didn’t even bother to stop by her home. She didn’t have anything she truly wanted to keep. And carting stuff around would just slow her down. By this time tomorrow she would be in Los Arabias, and once again start over. ‘Third time’s the charm, right?’ Rainbow thought to herself. It was two days before winter break. Everypony would be sent off to visit home tomorrow. Going home wasn’t really that bad, but being separated from her friends was. For the first time in years, Dash felt like she had a place. “Hey R-dee, what’s up?” Harmony floated down to her blue friend. “Excited to be heading home?” “Not exactly, Harm.” “Awww, why not? You gonna miss me?” The white pegasus smiled, as if hiding a secret. “‘Course not,” Dash winked. Harmony gasped in mock hurt. Rainbow giggled. “Well, maybe just a little?” She admitted. The discussion turned to break itself and their plans for vacation. While Harmony was talking, Rainbow was gearing herself up to confess. “Hey Harmony,” Rainbow interrupted her friend’s monologue on some new band, “Can I ask you something?” “Of course!” “Well, I was wondering if you wanna go out or something.” “What?” “Do you wanna, like, uh, go out sometime? Or something...” Harmony was shocked. Of the many things she expected from Rainbow Dash, this was not one of them. But the white filly recovered quickly. She lowered her eyes and forced a small, sympathetic smile. “Sorry, sweetie, but this mare is the stallion-loving kind. But, hey,” Harmony punched her embarrassed friend softly, “your secret dies with me.” Before Dash could even reply, her friend had changed the topic back to music and hot new bands. The following day, Harmony appeared outside of Dash’s door to say goodbye. “I’m leaving in a couple minutes, but I was thinking about what you said yesterday and,” The white mare pressed her lips against Rainbow’s very gently. She quickly pulled away. “Just a thought.” Harmony trotted away. That thought kept Rainbow’s spirits up through the whole vacation. -- “Hey Mac! Ya seen my saddlebags anywhere?” Applejack burst into the shed, “I need them.” “Eeeyup,” the big, red workhorse said slowly. He kicked the bags over to his sister. “Thanks,” AJ swung her head down to snag the personalized bags. “I hate to run off again, but-” Hoof. Massive hoof. “Uh Mac? You’re standing on my bag.” “Eeeyup,” the stallion said. “And I’d hate to see ya run off again also. Especially when there’s work to do. You’re weeks behind on harvest.” It was true. Applejack had been neglecting her duty on the farm in order to go off on adventures with the group. And no matter how hard she worked, she could never make up for lost time. “Sorry, Mac, but I gotta go. Rainbow Dash ran away-” “No.” “What?” “No. Ya gotta put family first.” “She is family. She’s my best friend. And I am going to bring her back.” Applejack turned and stormed out the door of the shed. She knew she was being unreasonable. Rainbow was fully grown, she could take care of herself. And the farm really could use AJ’s help. They were struggling to break even this year, and the barn still needed repairs. But none of that mattered if Dash was gone. Nothing mattered if the arrogant blue pony was gone. -- “Hey Gaybow Dash.” These were the first words Rainbow heard when she got back from vacation. Vacation itself wasn’t too horrible. Her mother spent most of the time working, and Dash spent most of the time practicing. And thinking about Harmony’s farewell. But then she came back to this. It wasn’t really the name that hurt. Rainbow had suffered through worse before. But it was the way Harmony said it. And the way the other ponies giggled. As if they all knew some secret and could barely resist blurting it. As if they knew... Dash lowered her head and glared. “You didn’t.” “Didn’t what? Tell everyone that you forced me to kiss you? How you always act so friendly in the showers? Don’t deny it,” Harmony added as Dash attempted to protest. “Why?” Dash breathed through gritted teeth and tears. “Because, I don’t make nice with freaks. I can’t be friends with a fucking fillyfooler.” The group around them went silent. There were a couple chuckles, and a shout of ‘ooooo.’ “I told you that in secret.” “I don’t think that forcing a kiss on somepony counts as secret, especially if it’s in front of a camera.” “You were the one that kissed m- wait, ca-ca-camera?” Rainbow thought back to the kiss. They were mostly inside her room. There was no way somepony could have gotten a picture. Unless... The photograph fluttered to the ground. Her room was blurry, but the centerpiece, Rainbow Dash and Harmony, was amazingly clear. It was true, from this angle is seemed as if Rainbow was the one who forced the kiss. “Clicksy is a good shot.” Harmony smiled. Her old friend was shaking. Tears of rage glistened at the corners of Dash’s eyes. This was simply too much at once. Her best friend, her only friend, had betrayed her. -- Fluttershy finally managed to get her nerves under control. She wasn’t the breaking-into-your-friend’s-house type of pony. But Applejack had been so insistent. And Fluttershy was curious. She hadn’t seen her fellow pegasus since early that morning. And Rainbow hadn’t seemed exactly right. She was whispering to herself about unicorns, freaks, and something that sounded extremely harsh. Fluttershy didn’t really catch it all. She ducked through the window and listened for a beat. Nothing. She hoped Derpy was still watching outside, instead of chasing after muffins or whatever. Fluttershy stumbled in the dark. She realized that this first time she had ever actually been in Rainbow’s house. The yellow pegasus suddenly hoped that her counterpart wasn’t home. She was pretty sure that the blue mare would prefer it if the first time Fluttershy visited would be when she was invited to do so. Awwell, too late to turn back now. Fluttershy managed to find the light switch without an extreme amount of bumps. The pegasus was amazed by what she saw. The room lit up with an extensive array of color. Light reflected of mirrors and through prisms. The rainbows formed hid under a thin layer of cloud, creating a ‘dark rainbow.’ Fluttershy trotted through the house, distracted by Dash’s interior decorating skills. It seemed out of place with the blue mare’s personality. Even Rarity would be shocked at the amount of crystal. But despite the lavish decoration, the house was tactful. Nothing seemed too extreme. Fluttershy trotted down the hall, quietly calling Dash’s name. After five minutes, she decided that Rainbow wasn’t here. Choosing a door at random, she barged into Rainbow’s bedroom. After marching down the extremely beautiful hallway, Fluttershy was amazed at how misplaced this room was. It was darker, messier, and essentially fit Rainbow’s personality. Satisfied she had found the right room, Fluttershy set herself to the task of snooping. -- Dash’s roommate requested a transfer within a day of being back. ‘Conflict of Interests.’ The blue pegasus couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Dash was, honestly, glad. The two had never really got along, though they were a long ways from enemies, and Rainbow simply wanted solitude. Rainbow’s classmates got worse as the days got longer. Boys started asking if she would “do stuff,” with other girls for them. Girls refused to be around her. They’d move tables, skip showers, and some even went as far as to transfer classes. No one wanted to be near a fillyfooler. Rumours got worse and even the administration started to pick up a few. The school had arranged therapy sessions in order to analyze Rainbow’s “peeping problem.” After they got that all sorted out, she was forced to go at least once a week, for behavioral examination. Then came the talent show. Rainbow almost skipped it. She wasn’t sure if she could face the entire school. But she had been practicing for weeks. And maybe, just maybe, it would get ponies to like her again. She convinced herself to do it, planning on a short, five minute, routine of aerobatics. The stage wasn’t overly large, so she would have to focus more on grace than speed. But that was fine. She could do grace. She was scheduled to follow a very poorly done magic act. Half of the tricks failed, and the other half were too simple to be considered tricks. This greatly boost Rainbow’s morale. There was no way she could be worse than that. Dash took the stage and waited for the first few lines of her song to start. The cloud hoops lowered and the beat started. It took Rainbow a few seconds to recognize it. The song was Katy Pony’s new song, “I Kissed a Mare.” The room erupted with laughter. Rainbow didn’t wait around. She tore off the stage. This was one act too many. Harmony would pay. -- Fluttershy couldn’t resist a little spring cleaning. She knew that she was supposed to be looking for clues pertaining to Dash’s disappearance, but the yellow pegasus couldn’t help herself. She may not be as bad as Rarity when it comes to neatness, but Fluttershy simply could not tolerate such a mess. Besides, she might find something as she cleaned. Unfortunately for the pegasus’ sensitive eyes, she did. Hidden under a mess of sheets and, for some reason Fluttershy couldn’t fathom, underwear were a few copies of Rainbow’s special “romance” magazines. Fluttershy kicked the pile away instinctively. It crashed into one of the glass picture frames on Dash’s nightstand, knocking it over to the ground. The frame shattered. ‘Oh no! Ohnoohnoohnoohno,’ Fluttershy snapped out of her unwanted daydream. She fluttered over to the broken pile of glass and was once again shocked by her findings. There was a picture of the six of them. There was also a picture of a much younger Dash and some white pegasus. But not just any pegasus. -- “That’s the lead singer of Out of Harm’s Way!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I love that band.” Fluttershy nodded. “And look, she’s making out with Rainbow.” “Why didn’t Dash ever tell us she knew one of the members of O.H.W?” Pinkie jumped up and down. “Fluttershy, how did you recognize her?” Applejack asked, motioning toward the white filly. “Oh well, uh, O.H.W. is one of my favorite bands. I really like the songs Death Note and Broken Train...” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Right, well, Pinkie, do ya know where they’re touring?” “Of course silly! They’ll be in Los Arabias this weekend, and then they’re going to Fillydelphia, and-” “Great,” Applejack interrupted, “Go get Twilight and Rarity. We’re going to L.A.”
Chapter 3Harmony strolled down the streets of L.A. It was nice to do, for once. Usually the band rolled in at dawn, and everypony slept until about three. Then, after setting up, they’d play until midnight, ignore the clamor for encore, and rush off to the next city. There never really was time to stop and look around. And even when she did go out, there was always a crowd of fifty following her. She could never be alone. But L.A. was different. The band was going to stay here the whole weekend, and the insane fans, most of them anyways, wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow. And the normal ponies in Hollyhoof were used to being around famous ones, so they didn’t make a big deal of it. Sure a few would ask her to sign something, or take a picture, but generally they left her alone. It was nice to be normal again. -- “Sorry ma’am, but the weather team’s doing just fine. I got a spot down in Smog Control if you want it.” The heavy pony’s voice grated on Rainbow’s ears. “I’ll take it.” It was the best the pony could get. Los Arabias had three weather teams, and not a single slot was opened. At least Dash had been able to find something. “Good,” Generic Smith responded, his voice slowly driving Rainbow mad, “Come in tomorrow at 6 sharp. I’ll get one of the team leaders to take you through basic training and get you all set.” “Thank you so much for the opportunity, sir, but now I really gotta go.” Rainbow dashed out of the room before he could reply. The blue Pegasus was making remarkably good time. She’d only been in L.A. for a few hours and she already had a job. Sure it wasn’t glamorous, or even decent, but was money and money is important. Her stomach rumbled. “Especially for lunch,” Rainbow thought to herself. “Ms. Dash? Could you please pay attention? This is important.” The fancy pony looked impatient. “What more do you want know? I’ve already said my side.” The fancy pony sighed, “Yes, yes. But it’s my job to find out the whole story. Now-“ “Tell me what she said.” “Alright. She said that you flew up to her, called her…” The fancy pony seemed uncomfortable, “a fucking bitch and then kicked her.” A silence fell upon the room. “You know, you could face jail time.” “For what?” Dash shouted. There was no way he was telling the truth. At least, she hoped he wasn’t. “For assault. You broke her wing, and, trust me, that makes a pretty convincing case.” Another silence. The fancy pony rustled through some papers. “I see that you’ve been seeing a therapist for a while. Behavioral issues. Care to explain?” “Stupid rumors spread by that dumbass bitch.” A short pause. “Sorry, ignorant filly.” The fancy pony cracked a small smile. “Tell me your side again.” Dash rolled her eyes. She knew how this went. He’d ask her to repeat her story a few times, looking for inconsistency. Then he’d question her about her life, things that have gone on, all that jazz. Rinse, repeat. Harmony would win this fight. She was the sympathy pony. She had a broken wing, she hadn’t been forced to see a therapist for behavioral reasons. Dash was unscathed, she’d been written up six times before the rumors started and a few since then. Rainbow knew she was facing expulsion. She just hoped that Harmony wouldn’t press charges. “Fine,” the blue mare sighed. Dash found a small sandwich place in Pasamino. So far, she wasn’t really excited about L.A. Everything was overpriced and there were far too many Starbits. Plus the city was just too crowded. Even in the air she was surrounded by hundreds of ponies. She’d heard that Los Arabias was massive, she just didn’t expect it to be this large. Pasamino alone was as large as Ponyville. Well, she came here to blend in, become invisible. It wouldn’t be too hard to do. -- “Can I… Can I touch your wing?” Harmony was momentarily surprised. Of all the weird requests she’d gotten from fans, this was the most, er, interesting. She tightened her wings against her side. She was pretty good with fans. But a few, well, far too many to be considered few, demands were creepy. This was one of them. “Sorry, er, no.” “Oh, all right…” the brown pony sighed. He trudged along down the street. Harmony rolled her eyes, and snorted quietly. Fans always did this when she denied their requests. ‘Oh woe is me. I didn’t get exactly what I want. Take pity?’ Harmony wasn’t one for pity. At least not undeserved pity. And a healthy, if sulky, college student did not deserve pity. Harmony turned and walked back to Hollyhoof. It was getting relatively late and Westwood meant college fans. College fans were weird. She was vaguely aware of a shadow. She could see it out of the corner of her eye. She wanted to move her head to see it directly, but the drugs were too strong. It took all of her energy just to stay awake. She tried to ask who it was, but her voice wouldn’t work. Whatever the nurse had given her essentially shut her body down. She was afraid to sleep. She knew she should, but, for some reason she couldn’t explain to herself, she was just too scared. The shadow moved. Harmony caught a glimpse the multi-colored mane and panicked. The blue bitch was here to finish what she started. She’d probably break Harmony’s other wing. Or worse. The white filly squeezed her eyes shut in preparation of the blow. As if waiting for this, her mind let go. And the pony slept. -- “Two thousand a month?” Rainbow Dash yelled, more in shock than anger. “Yup. That includes electricity. Take it or leave it.” Dash looked around the apartment. It wasn’t awful, just tiny. In fact, the rainbow-maned mare was pretty sure it wasn’t much larger than her bedroom back in Ponyville. “Take it,” the blue mare sighed. She signed the little sheet and officially became a resident of L.A. Her new life had begun. Yippee. “Expelled?” Her father roared. “For what?” “Behavioral issues. Multiple write-ups. Fighting. Inappropriate behavior. Unstable psyche. The list goes on. Would you like me to continue?” “No. That’s enough,” Lightning said, through gritted teeth. “I assume that there are no forms to fill out.” “Just take the filly and leave. The paperwork is taken care of.” The graying stallion watched the pair leave, smiling to himself. Just one less problem. “So,” Lightning started, “Behavioral issues?” He was almost too angry to speak. But the deathly silence and simple curiosity called for conversation. “Lies. I didn’t do anything. Everypony just hates me. Especially that bitch, Harmony.” Dash spat at the name. “Language, Dash. And I doubt that everypony hates you. So, seriously, what happened? They can’t kick somepony out of school just because they don’t like that pony.” Dash drifted lazily to a small cloud. She couldn’t look at her father, and she shrugged of his obligated sympathy. Taking a deep breath, she told him. Everything. -- “Applejack, how do you plan to even find her once we get there? L.A. is a huge city.” “That’s easy, Twilight. We’ll just wait for her at the concert.” “There will be hundreds of ponies there. And she might not even go! Then what?” Twilight was extremely frustrated. While waiting for Rarity to show up, the two ponies had gone through this whole argument three times. It wasn’t that Twilight wasn’t concerned for her friend, she was, but AJ wasn’t being pragmatic. The orange pony was letting her emotions run her, and Twilight knew exactly where that road led. “She’ll be there. We’ll find her. But if she ain’t, then ya will find her.” “How?” “Magic.” “You want me to do a locater spell in the middle of a city? Do you realize how impossible that’ll be? There are millions of ponies in L.A, there’s no way I can search through all-“ Twilight was interrupted by the appearance of Rarity and Fluttershy. “What’s the emergency? All Fluttershy told me was that something happened with Rainbow Dash and –” The white unicorn stared at the two glaring ponies, “- apparently you two are busy fighting. Would somepony be a dear and explain what’s going on?” “Rainbow Dash ran away. AJ thinks –“ “No, I know.” “That she went to L.A. She wants to go there and get Dash back, but she doesn’t… I lost you, didn’t I?” Twilight sighed. The other unicorn’s eyes were sparkling. “We’re going to L.A? To Hollyhoof?” Rarity asked in disbelief. “We ain’t takin a vacation. We’re goin’ to get Rainbow back.” “Oh, of course, darling.” Rarity responded, attempted to tone down her excitement. “How are we getting there? It’s much too far to walk.” “Pinkie said she had something that could carry us all,” Twilight responded for AJ. As if on cue, the pink pony bounded up to the group. “It’s ready,” she said, “To the Pinkiemobile!” -- The pain woke her up. She had rolled onto her broken wing during the night, and when the drugs wore off, the pain returned triple fold. The white Pegasus quickly rolled onto her other side. The pain subsided a bit. Before her, she saw a single yellow flower and a note. On it were two words: Sorry, bitch. Harmony stood in front of the mirror. She looked dead. She always did before a show. Every time, her fears would take over. Would she forget a song? Slip on stage? Perhaps she might crash during the flyover. These thoughts and countless others plagued her before every show. Fans were fickle. Should she mess up, she would never hear the end of it. Her following would diminish greatly, if not disappear altogether. She had spent years building up her popularity, but it was unstable at best. And her fans only respected her voice and her beauty. Should she lose either one, they’d turn. Some would claim she never produced anything good or original. Others would deny that she was ever popular. Most would simply say nothing, and turn away. She shook these thoughts away. The opening bands had started. In an hour, she’d be out there, singing her new songs and a few of the crowd’s favorites. Then the band would sign a few lucky copies of their new album and sleep. Tomorrow same thing, replacing sleep with flee. Yippee. -- “So,” Dash said, coughing, “what’s a pony,” coughing, “ to do for fun around here?” Her eyes were watering. Smog control was nothing like being a weather pony. It was dirty, painful, and downright boring. But a job was a job. “Lots! Especially tonight. I just so happen to have a spare ticket to O.H.W’s concert. Care to come?” Her mentor replied. He’d been assigned the task of showing her the basics of pollution control, not that there was much to it. But he really spent most the day flirting and showing off. He was definitely overly friendly, but nice enough. “O.H.W?” Dash asked. “Awesome band. They’re pretty much just metal with a couple of throws to the classics. It works very well. Tonight’s the start of their ‘Yellow Flower’ tour. You really should come.” “Well, it’s not like I’ve got plans.” “Great, I’ll stop by your place at six. Be sure to get you there nice and safe.” The flirty stallion smiled, spreading his wings slightly, before snapping them to his side. Dash flew off to her overpriced apartment. So far L.A. wasn’t too bad. Sure everything was super expensive, and her job sucked. And her only friend was her boss. But life would go on. L.A. could work. The remainder of the semester passed uneventfully. Dash went to the small public school back home, and essentially hid throughout the last two months. She graduated, barely, and immediately moved from Cloudsburne to Cloudsdale. The whole issue with Harmony and JSBS wasn’t discussed outside her mother’s angry sobs and father’s unwanted sympathy. The blue mare found a job as a waitress, although she dropped quite a lot, and cut herself off from her family and old life. Less than two years later, a familiar old stallion appeared at table six. Dash treated him the same as any other customer. Lighting treated her as he would any waitress. Except, her might have padded the tip, just a bit. “Sir!” Dash ran after him, envelope in her mouth, “You forgot this.” “Keep it, Rainbow. It’s your tip.” Her father walked on. “It’s customary to leave only cash.” Lightning ignored her. Rainbow carefully studied the envelope’s contents. Four hundred bits, a key, and a note. “Stop hiding,” it read, “the world’s best flyer in Cloudsdale all of Equestria should own the world, not be owned by it.” It ended with an address in Ponyville. -- “Why do we think Rainbow’s gone to L.A?” Rarity asked, leaning over the side of the basket. The balloon was extremely crowded. “Because, we found this and –” AJ held out the picture. “Who’s this? And are they kissing?” “I’d explain if ya would let me finish. It’s the lead singer of some band – Out of Harm’s Way, right?” Pinkie nodded to Applejack’s question, “And they’re starting their tour in L.A. and-” “Rainbow knows a famous pony? Why didn’t she ever tell us? Oh Celestia this will work wonders for m-” “Rarity, focus on the point.” “Right, right.” “We think Dash is gonna be at the concert. Ya’ll are gonna help me find her an-“ This time, Twilight cut the orange pony off. “Actually,” she said, “Rarity has a point. Why didn’t Dash ever tell us about Harmony? You’d think she’d brag about that as often as possible.” “I dunno, maybe she was jealous or something. Look, it ain’t important. I don’t care why she did or didn’t te-” “Look!” Pinkie exclaimed, cutting AJ off again, “There it is! We’re here!” The massive city loomed on the dark horizon. “Can a pony finish a sentence ‘round here?” AJ muttered. -- Dash sighed. It was refreshing to rid herself of all that grime and other-unnamed-things away. The pegasus looked around her dinky little apartment and sighed again. This time of sadness. She missed her glamorous house, her old job, the fresh clean air of Ponyville, and, above all else, her friends. Rainbow was tempted to abandon L.A. and return to Ponyville… ‘No,’ the blue mare though to herself, ‘what’s there to return to, save torment? It’s better here. I know it is.’ The buzzer buzzed to let her know that someone was at the door below. She hit the little talk button. “Come in, just drying off.” She hit the button to unlock the gate. She quickly patted herself dry and then shook out her mane. “I wasn’t expecting to get this wet. You sure know how to get a colt ready,” he said from the door, winking. Dash glared at him, but smiled softly. “Let’s go, I wanna beat the crowd.” They didn’t beat the crowd. Not in the least. Despite arriving two hours early, they still managed to get booted off to the back. Awwell, it was better than nothing. After an hour of nothingness and another of horrid opening bands, O.H.W. finally appeared. Four unicorns and a single white pegasus. Dash gasped as the memories she’d been trying to bury for the past two days came flooding back. Dash didn’t even say anything to her date. She just reacted. Once again, she fled from her past. -- The yellow flower wilted pretty quickly. Harmony didn’t care. It wasn’t the flower that mattered to her. It was the note. No, not even the note. The two words scrawled upon it. Sorry, bitch. Two words, that for some reason, made a huge impact on the white pony. Looking at her broken wing, Harmony sighed. She knew why Dash did this. She knew that on some level, ok, several levels, she deserved the six months as a cripple. She only had one question, for herself: Why did she turn on her friend? Six months later, she had no answer. “I want to press charges on that murderous bitch. She should go to jail. Attempted murder also. If my little Harmony wasn’t so strong, I shudder to think what would have happened. Assault, Attempted murder, hell, why not Attempted Rape either? I want to see that little dyke in jail for-” “No.” Harmony cut her father off. “Excuse me?” “We aren’t pressing charges on Rainbow.” “Honey, I know you’re scared, but don’t worry. The court will-” “I said no, Father.” “You don’t have a choice, dear. I’ll bring the case to court, whether you want me to or not.” “But how will you win if the victim denies everything? You won’t. You’ll be just an old stallion trying to steal money from a poor young filly. No, Dad,” Harmony turned to leave, “we are not pressing charges.” And she left. -- “Sold out? How can ya be sold out?” “Sorry ma’am. The band’s hot, and tickets are icecubes.” “Huh?” “Everything’s been gone since Friday.” “Horsefeathers!” Applejack turned to the group, “Now what are we gonna do?” As if in response, a streak of rainbow flew by. “Dash! Wait!” A colt’s voice called. He, too, flew past the group, only at a much slower rate. AJ didn’t miss a beat. “Fluttershy! Quick! Follow ‘em.” AJ called to her friend. This was her lucky night. It was highly unlikely that there were two rainbow streaks with the nickname ‘Dash’ in all of Equestria. Ok, not highly unlikely, but it was all she had. Fluttershy took off after the pair. The earth-bound ponies trotted along after them. “At least ya don’t need to try a locater thingy, Twi.” -- “Sorry about that,” Dash blushed, when her friend finally caught up. She was standing outside the gate to her complex. “I used to know that girl. We didn’t get along, to put it nicely… I kind of overreacted.” “Say no more!” A small pause. “All that speedy flying made me thirsty, mind if I come in?” “No, not at all,” Rainbow led him inside. “Make yourself comfortable,” she said, turning on the water.” “I already am,” he chuckled. Dash turned. His wings were spread very wide. Dash giggled a little, but she was cut short by him pressing his face into hers. She broke off the kiss immediately. “I’m sorry, but-” She was interrupted by him doing it again. This time she pushed him back. He glared down at her for a couple seconds, then slammed against her. The Pegasus lost her balance and slammed into a wall. She let out a small terrified squeak as he pressed his side against hers, wrapping his wings around her. She pushed against him, he pushed her against the wall and nuzzled her neck, working backwards. “Get your perverted hooves off her!” An angry voice shouted. Suddenly, Dash’s attacker collapsed, a dent in his head. He was quite unconscious. Dash pulled herself up off the ground to meet her savior face to face. “Hey, AJ.” -- “I could’ve taken him.” Her rainbow-maned friend said. “Of course ya could’ve, sugercube. ‘fore or after he raped ya?” AJ responded, glaring at the stallion’s body. Rainbow was silent. Twilight arrived with the police. There was a brief amount of questioning, then both Dash and AJ gave statements. After everything was properly recorded, they left with Dash’s boss, who was still unconscious, but cuffed. “How’d you manage to get in? The complex is gated all the way to the top.” “Some nice old mare let us in. And ya left your door unlocked. Ya really shouldn’t do that.” “Oh.” A silence passed between the two. “Sugercube,” Applejack started, “Why’d ya run away?” Dash looked away thoughtfully. Then she told her friend. Everything. -- Another silence. Dash watched her friend slowly take it all in. The orange pony slowly shook her head. “So ya thought I’d act like Harmony and turn all your friends against ya?” “Yeah…” Dash nodded sadly, “I was just so afraid tha-” “Sugercube,” AJ interrupted, “I love ya. Sure I don’t wanna get all cozy with ya, but that don’t change the fact I love ya. And the thought of living without ya just makes me –” The earth pony couldn’t finish. She just teared up. Dash offered a sympathy wing, AJ took it. After several hugs and a short, effusive sobfest, the two ponies worked everything out. “C’mon, let’s go home.”
EpilogueHarmony slept as the band rolled into Ponyville. Usually they skipped such small towns, but all the recent attention Ponyville got from the press and the castle more or less forced it onto the band’s (and everypony else’s) radar. Besides, it was a perfect stop between Cloudsdale and Canterlot. Harmony didn’t mind. She liked small shows. More personal, more energetic. Plus she wouldn’t have to deal with those awful opening bands. But there was something else that attracted her to the town. She couldn’t quite decide what it was, but it was nice. Calming. Calm was something she hadn’t felt for a long time. A week earlier... “C’mon, let’s go home.” The two friends trudged slowly to the Pinkiemobile. Dash was half asleep, warn physically and emotionally from the day’s events. What had started as a bland, almost depressing, day turned into one of the most exciting, and worst, of her life. As the pair approached the balloon and friends, Dash grew anxious. She wasn’t sure if she could face her friends after what she put them through... after what they saw. Pinkie bounced up to the two. “Hey Dash! I can’t believe what that Meany McStupidface alm-” She cut herself off, a rare feat, due to AJ’s withering glare. Dash didn’t even bother to look up. She could feel the others watching her, their eyes boring into her skull, but she couldn’t meet their gaze. They pile into the basket in silence. It hit Harmony like a train. One of the new self-moving trains, that is. Nine months of guilt and repeatedly asking herself “why?” and an appropriate amount of self-pity, and she finally figured it out. It was stupid. Honestly, it wasn’t an excuse in any way, but it was true. It explained why she hungered for more after that first short kiss. Why she always felt a need to show off around her, ahem, ex friend. Why she would look at the picture that destroyed them for hours, wondering what could have been. The answer was stupidly simple, and it really shouldn’t have surprised her. But it did. Harmony was in love with Dash. “Fuck!” The trip home was mostly silent. Dash wasn’t in the mood to talk to anypony, and all other attempts, even Pinkie’s, just fell into an awkward silence. Eventually the six made it back to Ponyville. “Ya OK to fly home?” Applejack asked Dash. “Of course! You don’t need to coddle me.” The pegasus snapped back. AJ’s expression of concern melted into a little hurt and anger. She was about to snark in reply, but decide against it. In any case, Dash quickly changed from anger to guilt, “Sorry, “ she muttered, “it’s just been a really long weekend.” “I understand,” AJ said to the air. Dash had already taken off. “I wish she’d stop doing that.” “Stop doing what?” Twilight trotted up. “Takin’ off ‘fore I can finish my sentences. I hope she’s alright.” “Well, she did seem a little rude.” “Yea, but it ain’t nothing to worry about. I mean, she just needs her sleep. And ‘sides, she just had an, erm, tough experience.” “Uh-huh. AJ, not to be nosy,” Twilight shuffled her feet, “Ok, well to be a little nosy, what did she tell you back in L.A?” “Sorry, Twi. I can’t tell ya that. Dash will when she’s ready.” They stared off at Rainbow’s floating palace for a beat. “Not to, um, interrupt,” Fluttershy interrupted the silence, “but do you think she’ll notice that she’s still missing this?” The pegasus produced the photo of Dash and Harmony. The trio just exchanged a glance of mutual ‘Well, shit.’ -- Rainbow didn’t even make it to her room to notice how it had been disturbed. The blue filly managed to walk three steps into her living room and collapsed on the floor. -- Harmony was a good performer. The sudden rainbow streak at the start of her song only through her off a little. It could be any rainbow producing pegasus, it didn’t have to be Dash. It meant nothing. The white pegasus managed to remain undistracted for the rest of the show. But almost as soon as the last chord was struck, thoughts about the mare, quite literally of her dreams, returned. Was she really that close? Harmony spent years in regret of her cruelity. If she had just been honest, with herself, with Dash, with everyone else, maybe things would’ve turned out differently. Maybe she wouldn’t feel so empty. -- Dash had trouble sleeping that week. She’d come home, lay in bed, and just stare at the wall for hours. Sometimes, she’d fall asleep. As soon as dawn arrived she’d go about her work. The weather team didn’t seem to take any notice of her sudden return. They had grown used to Dash running off without notice by this point. Dash had to admit, the pink earth-pony really could throw a kick-flank party. Music was awesome, food delicious. Unfortunately, it was still awkward. The only ponies she even sorta knew were Fluttershy, who was cowering in a corner, and Pinkie Pie, who was busy giving a monologue on cupcake woes. Still, the pegasus mingled as best she could. About an hour into the part, Rainbow saw her. Pinkie and Fluttershy were talking to Dash, or in Pinke’s case, at Dash, about the political consequences of allowing bunnies to vote when the blue pegasus saw Applejack dancing (quite clumsily) with some bay colt. Instantly her wings flared out. “Whoa,” Dash said. Fluttershy blushed deeply for her fellow pegasus. “Who is she?” “Oh! That’s Applejack,” Pinkie followed her gaze, not bothered by the sudden topic change, “She runs Sweet Apple Acres with her brother. Applejack. Hey! Appljack!” Pinkie motioned for the work horse to come ove. AJ complied. “Hi AJ! This is Rainbow Dash. She just moved here from Cloudsdale. She’s staying at Lightning’s place.” The mention of her father brought Dash out of her slightly inappropriate daydream. She forced her wings back to her sides and noticed that AJ was holding out a hoof expectantly. Rainbow bumped it. “Hey! Dash! I need ya to bring a rain cloud over to the farm,” Applejack said seductively. “Huh? What?” Dash returned to reality. “I. Need. Ya. To. Bring. A. Raincloud. Over. To.The. Farm.” AJ repeated, stressing every word. “Well, geez. You don’t hafta be so rude about it.” “I asked ya three times,” AJ pointed out. “Look, Dash, I know you’ve been through a tough but,” she looked up to see she was talking to no-one. Again. “Ya just gotta run off and not let your friends finish their sentences.” The orange pony cantered off to catch up with her winged friend. -- Harmony paced around the hotel room. For the past week, Dash refused to leave her mind. The white pegasus went on a huge guilt trip and pulled no stops. She stretched her wings and felt a dull throb, a permanent reminder of her betrayal. But surely Rainbow couldn’t still be upset about that. If anything, the other pegasus had probably forgotten. It had been five years since they last saw each other. That is, if the mysterious rainbow streak at LA’s concert wasn’t her. Of course, Harm hadn’t forgiven herself, no reason Dash should’ve. Harmony kicked the wall. An old stress relief habit. She kicked it again, harder. A small thump responded. She felt like a true foal. Father was not a pony you simply walk away from. Especially when he was angry. Her mother and first step-mom had learned that lesson well. Harmony just left behind a fortune, guaranteed contracts in the music industry, and most importantly, as her last kick reminded her, decent health insurance. She limped around in circles for a minute, waiting for the pain to die down. Then she saw the flier. All her worries just drained away. She tore the address off the bottom of the sheet and attempted to race off. Failing that, she limped very quickly off. -- “Thank ya kindly, Dash. For all that hard work, I think ya earned yaself a glass of my special Apple Cider.” “Really?” Dash’s ears perked up. “That’s so cool, I-” Applejack cut her friend off, “Not the kind made with Buck Daniels. Ya still go a year to go ‘fore I can give ya that.” “Oh,” Dash resumed indifference, “Well I guess I can spare a few minutes.” “That’s the spirit!” AJ led her into the small kitchen and poured three glasses. “Now Rainbow, I wanted to have a serious chat with ya. I know you’ve been under a lot of stress lately, but it’s really starting to affect your friends.” “Yeah? How?” Dash asked, a little too defensively. “Snappy comments whenever somepony asks for a favor, random rainclouds migrating into the library, amongst other places. But above all else, just plain rudeness. Ya made Fluttershy cry yesterday.” AJ put extra emphasis on the last part. Rainbow’s features drooped. “Oh,” she said quietly. “Look, sugarcube, I ain’t tryin’ to be mean. Just honest. And to be frank, I think ya need to face your past a bit.” Rainbow wasn’t really paying attention to this last bit. Her attention was focused solely on the new arrival. “Uh, hey, R-D,” Harmony uttered meekly. -- Fame. Money. Everything she wanted. The band loved her, the crowds loved her, producers loved her. It took almost three years, but they made it. Their concerts went from crowds less than ten to leaving hundred of ponies stranded outside, whining for tickets. Her father never tried to contact her, which was fine. Dash, however, did. Not in reality, of course, but the blue pegasus would invade the other’s dreams. The former encouraged the latter to write songs about their shared experiences. Eventually, Harmony detailed her entire betrayal, and all of her feelings for Dash in musical form. The band liked the songs well enough and thus made the Yellow Flower album. But Dash didn’t leave her head. Almost every night the pony appeared in Harmony’s sleep. When she saw the rainbow streak, Harmony officially decided. She needed closure. Yet, now that she was here, Harmony couldn’t rid of herself of the stomach twisting fear. Fear confirmed by Dash’s reaction. “You!” Rainbow spat. The blue pegasus jumped from her seat, knocking over the stool she’d been awkwardly sitting on. Somehow the cider remained unspilled. Dash turned to Applejack, “What is she doing here?” “She an’ the band are for a concert. She stopped by the cart for a bite to eat. Anyways, we talked and whatnot an’ I think ya two got some stuff to sort out.” AJ took her cup and shuffled over to the door frame, more or less locking the group in the kitchen. There was a small awkward silence before Harmony spoke. “Dash, I’m... I’m sorry.” There was a very brief silence. Rainbow’s glare intensified. “I’m sorry? Really, Harm? That’s the best you can do? After five years, you just waltz in here and expect everything to be better just because you say you’re sorry? No. It doesn’t work that way. Do you realize how much your betrayal hurt? School was hell. I lost all my friends. Not because I was gay, only you and a few others cared about that. I lost my friends because of you. You turned me into a pervert, wanting to corrupt innocent little mares. I spent two months in therapy, trying to assess why I felt a compulsive need watch other mares shower, which, by the way,” Dash cast a glance at AJ, “I don’t. Look, Harm, ‘I’m sorry,’ just doesn’t cut it.” The white pegasus was crying softly, guilt hitting her harder than it ever had. “What... what do you want me to say?” “I want you to tell me why. And you better answer in more than two words.” “Because, I loved you, Dash, and-” “Dumbest excuse ever,” Rainbow muttered. “I was afraid. I was afraid of what everypony else would think. Especially my father. You don’t understand how homophobic he is. He-” “Ha! I don’t understand? Harmony, when I was five, my father left to be with another stallion. To make it worse, it was a unicorn-” “How does that make it wor-oh!” AJ interrupted with sudden realization. Dash continued, “My mother was wrecked. And then she turned vicious about it. Almost every day she’d tell me about the, er, wrongness of same gender relationships. So when I discovered I liked mares, I kept my mouth shut about it. I spent years telling myself I liked colts. But when I met you, I decided to face the truth. And then you, you..” Dash’s anger returned. She slapped the table, spilling the remains of her cider. Then she collapsed into sobs. At first the other two just stared, unsure what to do. Then they flanked her, forming an awkward three-way hug. “No, I’m fine, really.” Dash pushed them off, and shook the tears from her face. “Harmony, I know it probably took a lot of courage to come here and apologize, face to face. But it isn’t enough. I don’t think I can ever really forgive you.” Harmony wasn’t exactly shocked by this, but it did bring a new bout of tears. “But I can thank you. Not for being a bucking fitch, of course, but for being honest. And for letting me get that off my chest. At least I know that not everypony is a jerk. And, AJ, thanks for making me do this.” AJ and Harmony exchanged a glance, a little surprised by the mood swing. Dash didn’t even sound upset. She was almost too cheerful about this. Harmony opened her to speak but was intercepted by the town’s clock-tower. “Oh shit! I need to go help the band set up. Here,” Harmony produced a pair of tickets out of, seemingly, nowhere, “I don’t care if you forgive me or not, I want you at the concert tonight. It would mean a lot.” And with that Harmony flew off. -- “Well, sugarcube, I don’t got any plans tonight.” AJ picked up one of the tickets, “Ya should come along.” Dash grabbed the other ticket. “Course I will.” AJ had to admit, O.H.W. was a pretty good. Not her type of music, but good nonetheless. And Dash was certainly enjoying herself, headbanging and dancing like a foal. The orange pony couldn’t help but giggle at the pegasus’ outlandish style. “Well she seems to have finally let go,” a voice chuckled from behind her. AJ whirled around, “Princess Cel-” She recieved a hoof to her mouth. “Shhh, don’t make a big deal of it. I’m here incognito. Well, as much as I can be.” “What’re you doing here, er, ma’am?” “Oh, well, Out of Harm’s Way happens to be one of my favorite bands. And,” the princess giggled at AJ’s expression, “I’m here to get Twilight’s, well, really Rainbow Dash’s, friendship report.” The song ended with perfect timing. Dash trotted over to the pair, sweating like a pig. “This is awesome, AJ. I,” her eyes grew wide, “Princ-” Dash received a hoof to the mouth. “Yes, yes. I’m here. Me! What is with you ponies and making a big deal out of everything? Now, Dash, I understand you’ve had an interesting experience this past week. Did you learn anything from this?” “Well,” Dash glanced at Applejack, who nodded, “yes. I learned that you can’t just run away from your past and your problems. You’ll have to face them eventually. Basically, don’t let your past own you, own your past.” Rainbow paused and threw a forelimb around AJ’s neck. “Also, you gotta trust your friends. If they’re really your friends, they’ll understand.” Princess Celestia nodded at this. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash, that was very well done. Now if you’ll excuse me, they’re about to play my favorite song. Oh but before I forget, you’ll be happy to know that a certain L.A. weather pony is enjoying himself in one of my darkest dungeons.” Princess Celestia winked at the pair and then left them to enjoy the rest of the concert.
