"Hey there, Dashie!!" the ever-familiar, bubbly voice said ecstatically as Rainbow Dash opened her front door, to reveal Pinkie Pie with 3 helium balloons tied to her back, somehow managing to keep her up in the air. "Oh, hey Pinkie Pie! What's up?" Rainbow Dash replied excitedly to see her friend at her door. It'd been a couple of months since Rainbow had moved into her new place, and she hadn't seen any of her friends since, so Pinkie's unexpected visit was more than pleasant. "Oh, not much...JUST ME!" Pinkie said, looking down at her Pegasus friend from the air, and let out a chuckle at her own joke as she poked Rainbow on the nose. Rainbow rolled her eyes, still smiling and tilted her head in a way that implied that she was inviting Pinkie Pie in.
Pinkie smiled, and hugged her balloons until they were completely deflated and she landed softly on the fluffy cloud floor, and trotted inside. Shortly after Twilight became princess, she learned a new spell that made it possible for any of the non-pegasi ponies in Equestria to walk on clouds permanently, if they could find a way to reach them. This made a lot of the older pegasi angry, however, due to their being rather attached to 'the good old days' when everything was 'as it should be', along with the fact that a lot of teenage earth ponies and unicorns decided it would be fun to use this new feature to prank the ones they never could before. And because of this, Twilight was forced to undo the spell and simply give a select few ponies this ability. The few included, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, her BBBFF, a couple of others, and you guessed it -- Pinkie Pie! Yes, Pinkie could walk on clouds, giving her even more opportunities to throw parties, and even more ways to make ponies smile! It also made it possible for her to visit Rainbow Dash, which, of course, was what she was doing right that moment.
As Pinkie stepped inside, her eyes widened in awe at the iridescent --well--everything. Of course, she couldn't really expect anything less from her favorite blue pegasus. After all, she was, in fact, RAINBOW Dash. Rainbow looked around sheepishly, noticing what she thought Pinkie was staring at, and put her hoof behind her neck as her ears drooped back a bit. "Heh, sorry about the place...I wasn't exactly expecting anypony to come by.." she eyed the multiple stacks of Wonderbolt posters that she'd been signing, but left carelessly in the middle of the floor. "I've just been...kind of busy, is all. I'll pick 'em up real fast!" she started for the posters, but Pinkie stopped her with a hug. "Are you kidding?! This place is BEAUTIFUL, Dashie!!"
"Really? You think so?"
"Of course!! How could I NOT!?!"
"I don't know, I mean, it is sort of messy..!"
"Hadn't noticed!"
"Oh, that's great!" Rainbow sighed in relief and smiled again at Pinkie. "It's been awhile. How is everypony?"
"Oh, everypony's doing great!! The Apples are busy as ever, and CRAZY excited for cidar season; Fluttershy's started up an adoption agency for little lost animals, which has gotten REALLY successful;" Pinkie started, making Rainbow Dash feel a bit out of the loop, "Rarity's moved to Canterlot and makes ALL the dresses for EVERY royal party there is and ever will be, ALONG with still selling her dresses to ANYPONY who wants one, at her NEW Carousel Boutique shop that's now in Canterlot!" Rainbow faked a smile, trying to not make it obvious that she was hurt that she hadn't been told of any of this, and Pinkie continued, "And of COURSE you already know what's up with Twilight! I mean, it would be pretty much impossible NOT to!!... Spike's still with her, of course. He's the most besterest assistant EVER!!"
Rainbow nods and begins to speak, "That's grea--"
"Oh! And Cheese Sandwich and I, of course, just had our first foal!!" Pinkie squealed happily, hardly able to contain her excitement.
"Wait, WHAT!? You and Cheese Sandwich...?!"
Pinkie's ears drooped as she let out a nervous giggle. "Ohh....riiiight...totally forgot to tell you... Cheese Sandwich and I got...married!.."
Rainbow's mouth dropped and she jerked her head back a bit and frowned as she searched for the words to say to best express how she's feeling about this all. But all that came out was, "...What!?!!?"
Pinkie gulped audibly and smiled awkwardly at Rainbow, hoping that she wouldn't be too angry at her.
"When did this....?" Rainbow sulked a bit. "Why didn't you?..."
"13 months ago!..." Pinkie answered Rainbow's first question, leaving the second unanswered. "We threw an EPIC one year anniversary party!! It was the best!!" Pinkie began to get excited again, before remembering that Rainbow Dash, was in fact, not invited, and hadn't even known that they'd been married in the first place. "Gee, Dashie...I'm sorry.. It's just...you've been so busy with your stuff with the Wonderbolts, that...I don't know." Pinkie sighed and turned away from her friend.
"I quit." Rainbow Dash admitted.
"W-what?..."
"I quit the Wonderbolts."
Pinkie looked shocked. Her eyes wide, but the blue in them hardly visible, and her mouth partially opened. She clearly didn't know what to say, or how to respond to this.
"It just became too much." Rainbow sighed, closing her eyes, "All the performances, every night, never getting a break to fly the way I want to. It became tiring. I also missed my simple life, with my friends, Ponyville, and even my old weather job. It feels strange to say, but I actually had more freedom when it came to flying with that job, than with the Wonderbolts!..." Rainbow opened her eyes to see how Pinkie was taking all of this, but her face remained practically the same as before. "I moved back in this area in hopes that things could maybe go back to the way the were before...but I've been here for what, 2 months now, and not a SINGLE visitor up until today!! It's like I don't even exist to you guys anymore!" Rainbow's voice raised to a shout, then died back down to a whisper. "...you didn't even bother to tell me that you and Cheese got married..."
Pinkie Pie was crushed. All she ever wanted was to make everypony smile. But Rainbow wasn't smiling! Not even close!!
What have I done?...
Pinkie looked at her friend, with a face even more sad than the one that Rainbow wore, and put her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Look, Dashie..I'm sor--"
"No! Just...leave me alone, okay?" With that, she flew off, out of her house, leaving Pinkie Pie alone, feeling awful.
Why didn't she even bother to tell me??!
Author's Note
So, I kind of just got this idea for a fan-fiction and figured, hey, why not?
So here I am. Writing one.
I may or may not continue with this, so I'll decide based on whether it gets enough interest or not.
Just moments after taking off, Rainbow found herself sulking in a tree in Sweet Apple Acres. She got there quicker than usual, so either she'd gotten a lot faster since she was last in Ponyville, or her resentment towards Pinkie was really causing her to push her limits. Either way, there she was, back in her old napping spot. This was always one of Rainbow's favorite spots in all of Ponyville; she'd never tell anypony, but even the most daring pony in all of Equestria sometimes needed some time to just relax. It was always nice, peaceful, and quiet. And since it was directly in the middle of Sweet Apple Acres, she could usually go completely undisturbed! She liked that about it. But due to her situation with Pinkie, she was in no mood to relax. Instead, she just needed somewhere quiet so she could think.
Why didn't she tell me?... Am I just that unimportant to her now?? I mean, sure I've been busy...but what kind of excuse is that!? This is BIG.
Rainbow continued to think.
In fact....NOPONY has been telling me things!! What's up with THAT!? I've hardly heard a word from any of them since the last Wonderbolt show they went to, half a year ago! I mean, I suppose that's partially my fault, but...
She paused.
No. What am I saying?! I told them I was back, and they didn't even try to contact me at all up until now! And the only one who ever DID show up was Pinkie!! I have no reason to believe it was even slightly my fault! ...But, I could have visited them.
Rainbow was feeling very conflicted, and confused. Her mind was flooded. So flooded that her thoughts began to overflow, their escape point being her mouth.
"Uuugh! Why did I even come back here in the first place!?!?"
"Uhh...Rainbow, is that you?" Rainbow heard a familiar voice coming from the base of the tree.
Rainbow looked down to find a concerned Applejack looking up at her.
"Yes, yes it is." Rainbow said, a bit of attitude leaking from her voice.
"Oh, it IS you!" Applejack said with excitement, making it clear that she hadn't noticed Rainbow's light snap of tone. "Get down here and gimme a hug!"
Rainbow couldn't help but smile at that, and flew down to accept her offer.
"Care to come with me back to the barn? We've got some nice, hot apple pie just waitin' to be eaten!"
"Oh, uhh..sure!" Rainbow said, as she trotted beside Applejack, ready to eat some nice, hot apple pie.
* * *
"So, would that be one slice or two?" Applejack asked as Rainbow took a seat next to Applebloom, who was nearly a full-grown mare at this point.
"Two, thanks! I'm STARVING!"
"Heh, alright Rainbow! Would you like any, Applebloom?"
"Huh?" Applebloom said, looking up from the table her head had been resting on since who knows how long before they got to Applejack's.
"...Would ya like some apple pie?" Applejack said, a concerned look on her face.
"Ah, nah.. thanks, though. Not feelin' too hungry."
"That's what you've been saying for the past three days! You've gotta eat somethin'!"
"AH'M NOT HUNGRY, APPLEJACK!" Applebloom stormed out, and slammed her bedroom door, causing Applejack to flinch.
"What was THAT about?" Rainbow gave Applejack a curious look.
Applejack sighed, "Applebloom's been mighty upset lately, 'cause of some stuff between she and Scootaloo. Not really sure what it is, though.. She won't tell me."
"Aw, that's rough." Rainbow said, her mouth full of pie.
"Yeah, I just hope she and Scootaloo get things worked out soon." Applejack shook her head, "I don't know how much longer Applebloom can go without eating... or how long Ah can go, for that matter!.. But anyways, how have things been for you?"
"They've been alright. Pinkie visited me today."
"Oh? How'd that go?"
Rainbow began to think again about how nopony had visited her in all the time she'd been in Ponyville, and she grew rather bitter about it again.
"Eh."
"Eh?.. What the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack raised an eyebrow.
She was this close, THIS CLOSE to bringing it up. Bringing EVERYTHING up. But Applejack had been very nice to give her that pie, and she seemed to be having enough going on at home as it was. So instead, she just said,
"It just could have gone better. But hey, I've actually got to get going."
"Oh. Alright, Rainbow!.. Have a good one!"
And with that, she flew out the door.
Author's Note
Hey everypony! Sorry for taking so long to get this out!
Stuff happened and things.
