Back in One's Comfort Zone?by ThatOneWriterFromShefChaptersSurprises and Train RideArrival into FamiliarityConfrontation With The RainbowSurprises and Train Ride"It's been a while since I last wrote in this thing, but seeing as the move back to home is tomorrow, I might as well. Anyway, it's like I just said. Tomorrow, we head on back to Cloudsdale, leaving Sky Canyon behind. All the friends we've made over the last 4 years since we moved here, we're leaving behind. I can't help but feel guilty about it. I mean, I'll be happy seeing my old ones again, but the ones here we've made, even if it isn't that many, like four of them, we've grown really close to, almost like sibling closeness! Although Breezy Skies......I think she might like me. Not saying it's definite.....but she's kind of overprotective of me and always takes my side. It's weird, but she kind of reminds me of....no, Swift, you're not going there again. Anyway, tomorrow, is the move, and I hope this thing isn't too emotional......once I get started, I'm takes a lot for me to calm down. Anyway, I'm tired, and sleep is in order for me if I'm gonna not be grumpy in the morning." Swift, a cobalt blue coated pegasus, with a mane that's cyan at the top and yellow hanging downwards, same with the tail, stops writing. He's wearing a brown scarf that matches the shade of brown in his eyes, and his cutie mark is a tornado, surrounded by thunderbolts. He closes the journal, sits back and stretches his wings a bit, relaxing them. Most of his bags are already packed with his stuff, and he looks over at his last one. Which is full of his personal stuff. He picks up his journal and places it in, zipping the back up. "Well that's the last of the packing done at least. This place has had some good times." He trots over to the window and gazes out. "Whoa.....last time I'm gonna see the town like this. Kinda nice that the stars have come out. I know Princess Luna finally arrived back and the nights have done a lot better. No offense to Princess Celestia of course." "Talking to yourself still? Isn't that what your journal's for? Heard you writing in it a few minutes ago." Swift's friend, Beat Thunderwing chimes, leaning on the doorframe. He's a red pegasus, with a spiky mane of blue and light orange. He has red eyes and earphones as a cutie mark. "How much did you hear?" "Enough. Feeling a little guilty, huh?" Beat walks in and sits on a chair. "Same here. I mean we're pretty close with those guys now. We're practically ditching them to go back to our old ones, and that kinda makes me feel like utter crap." "But Beat, thinking like that also says that we ditched our old friends to make newer ones in a different town. Knowing that kinda bit me even more. It's like being a foal in a sweet shop. You've gotta make choices. Otherwise you end up with nothing." "Yeah true. Hey. Maybe she might be around. I mean she left five years ago, right? She could have moved back into the general area after graduating." "Beat, can we not bring her up? She moved on, she made it clear that the flight academy we were going to wasn't good enough and went to an exclusive boarding flight university....thing....where all the snobby up-their-own-ass pegasi go!" "So you're calling her up-her-own-ass?" Beat asks with a raised eyebrow. "No, I mean.......It just bites that she'd leave us behind like that....." "Dude, you act as if she didn't feel guilty about moving to Las Pegasus. While you were in your bedroom sulking, I actually went round to her house, and she was in tears!" "Seriously...?" Swift asks, stopping in his tracks. "Yeah! Her eyes were freaking red and everything!" "Oh.......now I feel like the biggest twit in the world." He states, slumping onto his bed. "Dude, I know it hurt. But if you keep on having these grudges, how're you gonna handle it when she does eventually come see you?" "I guess so....Well. I'd better turn in for the night. Got a long day tomorrow, and some friends to say goodbye to.....heh. Saying it like kinda makes me sound like a hypocrite." "Who knows?" Beat says with a grin. "Maybe they're gonna give us a big surprise tomorrow at the train station!" Swift chuckles at his friend. "What like? Them saying they're catching the same train as us and moving in the general area as us? Yeah right." "Good news! We're moving with you!!" ".....What." It's the next morning, and Swift and Beat's wings are arched, and their eyes widened, at the proclamation of their Sky Canyon friends. "Say what now?" Swift asks, just to make sure he heard right. "You heard us! We're moving to Ponyville with you! Isn't it great?" Sky Flash, a white pegasus with a yellow mane and cobalt eyes, with a thunderbolt cutie mark. Him and his twin sister, Twister, who's also got the same colour scheme as him, but with her mane a bit more flowing and long, are smiling brightly. "Unless you have a problem with that. Do you?" another pegasus mare, this one with a light pink coat and white mane pulled back into a ponytail, green eyes and a cutie mark with a white cloud and swirling wind lines. Breezy Skies, the one who Swift mentioned in his journal entry the previous night. "No, no, not at all!" Beat defends, waving his forelegs. "It's just...we kinda didn't expect it is all....." "So when do you guys move?" Swift asks, wanting to get straight to the point. "Um.....next month, I think." Breezy says. "To Ponyville." "Ponyville?" Beat asks in surprise. "Funny, that's where we're moving!" "Is it now?" Swift asks, raising an eyebrow. "You never told me that it was Ponyville we were moving to!" "Heh....must have slipped my mind." Beat nervously says, scratching the back of his head. "Oh look, the train's here! ....Where's Mist Flicker?" "Coming through!!" A charcoal grey pegasus with a jet black messy mane, and quite literally a white mist as his cutie mark crashes right in the center of the scene. "Ow." "Here he is." Swift states, deadpanning. "Train's here, you made it just in time." "I know, I slept in!" Mist cries, his face stinging from the pain of the crash. "You alright?" Breezy asks, pulling him up. "I'm fine.....ow, though." "Anyway......." He looks at the train, and back to their friends. "We'll see you in a month. Take care of yourselves till then, alright?" "We'll send you a postcard when we've settled in!" "According to you, we haven't settled into a house until your DJ stuff's set up." "Shut up." As the passengers of the train get off to see Sky Canyon, Swift and Beat board said train, and take their seats. Swift looks out of the window and waves to their friends, Beat just giving off a smirk and a salute. "Beat?" Swift asks his friend. "Uh?" "Have you already been to Ponyville to check out the house?" He asks. "Yeah, remember a few weeks ago when I said I couldn't hang with you and the others?" "Oh yeah.......you were in Ponyville then weren't you?" He asks with a sneer. "You know it." "So....what's Ponyville like? I've actually never been there. Ever." "It's.....pretty quiet." "Even quieter than Sky Canyon? Doubt it." Swift quips. "Trust me, dude. It was so busy and still it was somehow quiet." Beat states matter-of-factly, hovering his front hooves a small distance apart as if to somehow emphasize his point. "I dunno......it just feels too good to be true for some reason. I don't know why." He says, slumping down into his chair. "So I take it the train ride's gonna take a while, just like how long it took to get here?" "Yep. You might have to sleep this one out again." Beat replies, putting his earphones on and sitting back, bobbing his head slowly to his music. "Hmmmm....Ponyville...for some reason, I have a really good feeling about this town. Wait.....Fluttershy mentioned moving to Ponyville to be able to be in touch with animals and nature and stuff before me and Beat moved, didn't she? Maybe we might end up running into her later." Due to not getting much sleep last night, Swift feels himself drifting into a slumber. Relaxing his wings, he lies his head back and closes his eyes. "Wish I'd brought a blanket. Actually, I think I have one in my bag." He rummages through his saddlebag, and suddenly finds a light blue blanket buried in there. he smiles and pulls it out, and immediately wraps it around himself, sighing in content. "Ahhhhh.....comfort......" That's interrupted by his chair lurching forward for a moment. Followed by Beat's voice. "Sorry, dude! Couldn't help it! That was one heck of a drop....." Sighing, Swift gives himself a mental pat on the back, and lies down across the double seat, using his saddle bag as a pillow. Before he falls asleep for sure, the last thing he hears is Beat quietly singing "The boys are back in town..!" Arrival into Familiarity"We are arriving into Ponyville now! We hope you've enjoyed travelling the Ponyville Express!" Those are the words that wake Swift from his slumber. The next thing he hears is the screech of the train coming to a stop. And right after that.....is the feeling of his face meeting the train floor. "Ow." At that sound, Beat gets out of his seat. "Dude, you alright?" Only to be met with the muffled reply of "Do I look like it? Just got woken up by the train's flooring!" "Kinda your fault, Swift. The way you were lied, you pretty much set yourself up for that." "Oh.......well.....you suck." "Good to know. Now get up, we're here." He bluntly says. "Already? That was quick." "Time goes quickly when you sleep.....I think." "Yeah, it kinda does. Look at the clock one moment, see it's 7 in the morning, then look again, and it's 8." "Nice. Now come on, let's grab our bags and get off before we end up in Appleoosa." This brings Swift to his hooves. He quickly puts his blanket away in his saddlebag, and attaches it to himself. "Aye, aye!" A minute later, they depart the train, and are met with the train conductor giving them an "it's about time" look. Swift and Beat stare back for a minute before the catch on. "Hey, sorry we took like a minute of our time to grab our stuff, we're not in a rush, y'know!" Swift gets on the defensive. The conductor just rolls his eyes and trots off. So do Swift and Beat a few seconds later. "Some ponies......" "I can understand. He just needs to do is job. And if the train's falling behind, who are we to argue?" "I guess so.....I just get cranky when woken up." Swift states, before yawning. "Maybe a walk around town would do me some good." "Good idea." He smiles before adding. "Wanna grab a bite to eat?" "Yeah, that'll boost me right up!" Swift says, grinning. "Wotcha, Ponyville! We're in town and ain't no stopping us!" And with that, the two friends brohoof each other before trotting out of the station. "Wow, this place looks.....pretty peaceful. Definitely a quiet place, I'll give it that." Swift says with a smile and a nod. "The houses look pretty vintage as well." He remarks. "First place we find that sells food, we need to check out and try!" Beat shouts. "Why's that?" Swift asks, before both of their bellies grumble loudly, making them chuckle nervously. "On second thoughts.....amen to that." "Come on." Beat says. "Maybe we'll find somewhere easier if we look from the skies." "Alright!" Swift shouts before taking to the air. "Wow....he's as hungry as me." The red pegasus's stomach rumbles right after he says that. "Me and my big mouth..." He takes to the air right after. "Wait up!" "Are my eyes playing tricks on me, Beat? Or is that building there legit?" "Which building you talking about?" "Are you kidding me?! The one that stands out amongst the rest!!" "Ooooohhh.....yeah, the bakery. I think it's called Sugarcube Corner." Swift's stomach immediately growls. "A building made of cake and pastry and stuff?! Fillies and gentlecolts, breakfast is served!!" He darts down to the building, making Beat's eyes widen. "Wait, Swift! Don't! That isn't really-" "Don't try and stop me! My stomach's needing filling!!" ".....Eh, let him find out on his own." Beat sits on a nearby cloud. "Some popcorn would be handy right about now." Swift lands on the roof and lips his chops. "Open wide, mouth.....hear comes heaven....." He leans down to a corner of the building and immediately chomps down on it. "AAAAGHHHH!!" "Hahahaa..shouldn't let his stomach think for him." Beat thinks out loud as he flies down to Swift, who's lied on the floor, wings sprawled out, teary eyed and clutching his face. "Mmmmmmph!!" "I'm sorry what?" Beat asks, leaning down to him, a smug grin on his face. "I tried to warn ya, Swift, but you interrupted me before I could get a word in edgeways. Don't feel so smart now, do you?" Swift glares at Beat for that remark. "Ssssmmmmpphh...." "Come on. I'm gonna take ya to see the new house. I was feelin' hungry before, but this is keeping me going for a little longer. Haha! Priceless!" He takes off in a direction. "This is humiliating.....and freaking painful...." Swift gets up and takes off after him, still clutching his face. "Well Swift! Here we are! Our new home!" Beat states, enthusiastically. Swift, his mouth losing the pain it felt a little earlier, gapes at it in awe. He takes the hoof off of his mouth and smiles lightly. "Whoa....I have to admit, Beat, you've done a grand job at finding us a new gaff*!" "Yeah, I gave it a little bit of a makeover. Something to signify that this house is ours. Splodges of red and blue here and there, and look at the front door!" Swift lowers his head to look at the door, and what he sees makes him tilt his head. "Our cutie marks?" "Just to further make sure they know it's us." Beat says matter-of-factly with a smirk. "Ah." Swift puts simply. "Soooo....we gonna go in?" "If you want. I mean, it's our house right? Oh, and your parents want you to move the rest of your stuff out of your old room. Now that we're moving here, getting it from house to house won't be so hard." "Eh?! Just how do you know that?!" Swift shouts in shock. "Your ma was in town when I came here last, and when I told her what was happening, she said to come and visit.....and get the last of your stuff." He finishes with a snicker. "So basically you're telling me to get lost and go see my parents?" Swift deadpans. "Come on, Swift, it's been a while since you've seen them, and it'll be good for ya!" There's a pregnant pause between the two before Swift sighs heavily. "Screw it. I'll go. But don't go making promises for me in the future, ya hear me?" He almost demands to Beat with a glare, who only responds with a salute. "Later, bro!" He shouts as Swift takes off into the air, heading for what he thinks is Cloudsdale. "He's gonna get lost, I can tell." "B-beat?" Beat turns to his left at the voice to see a butter yellow pegasus with a long pink mane. Her cutie mark is three pink butterflies, and her eyes are cyan. "Fluttershy? Wow....it's been a while!" "Yeah....I mean....I saw your cutie marks on the door....and I have to admit, I was a little surprised.....so you're moving here now...?" She asks, pawing her hoof on the ground. "Yeah we are! Swift's gone to let his folks know he's back and get a bit more of his stuff to move here. So how've you been since we moved?" "Great! I mean...since I moved here, I've made loads of new friends, discovered lots of new little critters and animals and.....this town is so...amazing..." "Better than Cloudsdale, I presume then?" Beat asks with a snicker. "You have no idea, Beat. You'll love this town the more you get to know it. And I bet Swift'll feel the same way...I mean, once he comes back, of course." "Yeah, but it's been a while since we've been around here. So he's gonna probably get lost." "Oh dear.....should we go help him?" "Nah. He's resourceful. He'll find a way to get there eventually." "Okay." She agrees with a giggle. "Anyway, there's something you kind of need to know." "Oh?" "It's something concerning her." She says in a secretive manner. It takes a few moments for Beat to register before his eyes widen. "Oh!....What about her?" "Let's go inside. I'll tell you there." Beat agrees, opening the door a letting Fluttershy in first before he trots in after her. "This is ridiculous..." Swift just hovers around uselessly, looking around through the clouds. "How can I not know where Cloudsdale is?!" He flies in a random direction, frustrated at his inability to pinpoint where the cloud city is. "This is taking the piss. Cloudsdale is one elusive city when it wants to be....Hm?" At that point, he comes across a house made purely of clouds. Upon coming closer to this house, his eyes widen at the size of it. "This isn't a house....this is castle worthy!" The pegasus flies down to the "castle" and lands on what appears to be the end of the path leading to the front door. He looks around at the structure. Littering the house is rainbows. Rainbow rivers, rainbow waterfalls, rainbow ponds, even a rainbow spouting out from the top of the roof. Swift just gapes at the sight, then shakes his head, snapping him out of it. "Just need to knock, ask for directions, then once I have them, I fly off. Plain and simple. Okay....here we go." He trots up the path to the door, and when he's there, he looks up and down the house and is in awe at the sheer size. "Whoa, whoever lives here must be rich..." He goes hesitant for a few moments, and then knocks on the door. He waits for a few moments, then turns around, sitting down and looking at the sky. "Wow....it's been a while since I've been around here, I'll admit. This view is amazing. After being in Sky Canyon so long, you kinda tend to forget how nice things at home really are....." He stops talking when he hears the front door opening. Following that is a low gasp. This makes Swift slowly turn his head, and the next thing he sees is a cyan hoof meeting his face, followed by brief pain. Then everything goes black for him. Confrontation With The Rainbow"O-oowww...my face hurts." As Swift comes round, the first thing he sees is a white ceiling, made from what looks like clouds. Actually, as he looks around, the whole room looks like it. "Did the owner who punched me bring me in to let me recover? Okay then......a bit bass-ackwards if I'm honest, but it's better than leaving me outside to just get wet if it started raining..." At that point, a crackle of thunder from outside makes him jump from the sudden-ness. "....and it totally just started raining, didn't it?" He looks to the window, and sees the pouring rain. "Yup. Totally lucked out. Wonder who's house this is anyway?" Suddenly, his heart stops as a light humming can be heard getting closer, and hoofsteps can be heard coming down the stairs. Swift takes this as his cue to- "Frigging hide!!" ....Yeah that. He quietly but quickly gallops into the kitchen, and when he sees the kitchen table, he darts under it, hiding himself. "Whoever this is had no business punching me in the face....whoever gave me this black eye....if I have one...is getting a piece of my mind!" He sits and listens to whoever this house might belong to. Judging by the humming earlier, he guesses that the owner is a female. "Great....first getting punched now I'm gonna get the royal guard on my ass, thinking I'm a pervert." As he hears the mare trot into the room, he hears her grind to a halt, and give out a frustrated sigh, which confuses Swift. But it's when he hears her voice, is when Swift's head nearly hits the table. "Oh, no..was punching him the wrong way to go about it? Great. Now he's gone and flown into the stupid rain. Leave it to pour it down on my day off, and this to happen. Great first impression on his move back, Rainbow Dash." ....In fact, his head has just pretty much hit the table, making him quietly cry out in pain. But Rainbow still hears the outcry. "Okay, I know somepony's in there! So just do me a favour and show yourself! So I can hit shout at you, hit you, and throw you out! Because all of a sudden, I am NOT in the mood!" Swift sits there, completely quiet, even though he knows it's no use now. "Okay...that is legit Rainbow Dash anger right there." "I'm gonna come in there and give you what for if you don't come out!" Swift crumbles at this, and crawls out from between a few chairs slowly, hoping to find a way to escape Rainbow's undying wrath. He remembers just how hotheaded this mare can be. Eventually, he reaches the doorway, and sure, when he sees Rainbow Dash, he nearly stops and cringes, but there's one thing he notices. And as he does, his face starts to head up. She's holding a towel in her hoof, which tells him that she's just come out of the shower. But the towel isn't his first clue. His first clue is that her mane AND her fur are absolutely dripping wet, and he can see her wet fur sticking to her body. "Well....this was..unexpected?" Rainbow Dash herself? Well, her expression upon seeing Swift has certainly faltered into a mixture of mild surprise and relief. She visibly relaxes and just stands there, silence filling the air for both of them. The surprise of seeing Swift there lets Rainbow ignore the redness that's creeped onto the darker blue pegasus' face. One thing runs through their minds simultaneously. "Okay, what should I say?" Silence continues to fill the air as they stare at each other with different faces. Until one thing snaps them both out of it. POMF! This sound makes both of their eyes widen even further. One out of shock, the other out of pure embarrassment. It really doesn't take much of an imagination to figure out who the embarrassed one is. Swift's face reddens even further because of this, and he takes a few steps back, breathing quite quickly. "U-um..t-that..I.." But embarrassment turns to confusion as Rainbow's face turns to a smirk. Then a grin. And then she starts outright laughing at his reaction. "Oh." "Yeah, forgot this is Rainbow Dash I'm dealing with." She stands there, holding her stomach as she tries to calm herself down. "Oh...a wingboner..that is absolutely priceless! Pahahahaa!" Swift huffs, rolling his eyes and folding his forelegs. "Alright, it wasn't that funny.." "Are you kidding?! It was hilarious!" "Everypony gets wingboners once in a while!....Well, except earth ponies and unicorns, but that's beside the point!" This makes her laugh harder. "Yeah! When they see something or somepony that gets them "excited", you dolt!" "Hush up, you..." "And by the way, that black eye, really doesn't suit you." "Huh?" To make a point, Rainbow brings up a small mirror to his face, and once he sees, his eyes widen. "Whoa, that's a real shiner right there!" He goes to touch it, but it really makes him hurt. "O-ooww..." "Y'know, that kind of serves you right in the long run..." She says, folding her forelegs. "How does it serve ME right?!" He asks with a bit of a shout. Her earlier anger returning to her, she shouts back. "Because you never wrote to m-to us!! To let us know how you were doing! To let us know that you were still alive!! Last week, some punk called Tirek attacked us, stole all of our magic, there were rumours he'd gone so far as to kill some ponies for their magic and I didn't even know if you were okay through it all!!" "Rainbow-" "4 buckin' years, and not one letter, not a visit, nothing!! Why haven't you given us even a little bit of contact?! Just one?!" As she stops her shouting, she calms herself down and waits for an answer from him. What he says makes her regret her outburst. "...Midnight." At that moment, her ears droop and her face softens. "Swift...you can't keep letting that get to you.." "It hurt, Dash. It hurt so much. Me and Beat went to Sky Canyon to make a fresh start. No looking back." "And you used that as excuse ditch the rest of us and make new friends, is that it?" "..." "Kinda hypocritical of ya, Swift. Sorry, but it's true." "Big words now?" "Blame Twilight." "Who?" "I'll show you around Ponyville and my new friends later." "Alright, fair enough. Yeah I suppose it's my fault. Left my friends behind for a fresh start because of weird reasons......which I've basically gone and done again moving back here!" He states with a facehoof. All this does, is make Rainbow Dash sigh. Followed by a light giggle, which escalates and escalates into a full blown laugh, which in turn really confuses Swift. "How do you NOT get whiplash from changing moods to quickly?" At that point, he's tackled to the floor, and hugged tight by the rainbow maned pony. "It's so awesome seeing you again, Swift..." She then looks at him with a stern look. "And if you say anything about this, I'll deny it." Swift smirks at her words, and ruffles her mane. "Somehow, that does not surprise me, Rainbow."
Surprises and Train Ride"It's been a while since I last wrote in this thing, but seeing as the move back to home is tomorrow, I might as well. Anyway, it's like I just said. Tomorrow, we head on back to Cloudsdale, leaving Sky Canyon behind. All the friends we've made over the last 4 years since we moved here, we're leaving behind. I can't help but feel guilty about it. I mean, I'll be happy seeing my old ones again, but the ones here we've made, even if it isn't that many, like four of them, we've grown really close to, almost like sibling closeness! Although Breezy Skies......I think she might like me. Not saying it's definite.....but she's kind of overprotective of me and always takes my side. It's weird, but she kind of reminds me of....no, Swift, you're not going there again. Anyway, tomorrow, is the move, and I hope this thing isn't too emotional......once I get started, I'm takes a lot for me to calm down. Anyway, I'm tired, and sleep is in order for me if I'm gonna not be grumpy in the morning." Swift, a cobalt blue coated pegasus, with a mane that's cyan at the top and yellow hanging downwards, same with the tail, stops writing. He's wearing a brown scarf that matches the shade of brown in his eyes, and his cutie mark is a tornado, surrounded by thunderbolts. He closes the journal, sits back and stretches his wings a bit, relaxing them. Most of his bags are already packed with his stuff, and he looks over at his last one. Which is full of his personal stuff. He picks up his journal and places it in, zipping the back up. "Well that's the last of the packing done at least. This place has had some good times." He trots over to the window and gazes out. "Whoa.....last time I'm gonna see the town like this. Kinda nice that the stars have come out. I know Princess Luna finally arrived back and the nights have done a lot better. No offense to Princess Celestia of course." "Talking to yourself still? Isn't that what your journal's for? Heard you writing in it a few minutes ago." Swift's friend, Beat Thunderwing chimes, leaning on the doorframe. He's a red pegasus, with a spiky mane of blue and light orange. He has red eyes and earphones as a cutie mark. "How much did you hear?" "Enough. Feeling a little guilty, huh?" Beat walks in and sits on a chair. "Same here. I mean we're pretty close with those guys now. We're practically ditching them to go back to our old ones, and that kinda makes me feel like utter crap." "But Beat, thinking like that also says that we ditched our old friends to make newer ones in a different town. Knowing that kinda bit me even more. It's like being a foal in a sweet shop. You've gotta make choices. Otherwise you end up with nothing." "Yeah true. Hey. Maybe she might be around. I mean she left five years ago, right? She could have moved back into the general area after graduating." "Beat, can we not bring her up? She moved on, she made it clear that the flight academy we were going to wasn't good enough and went to an exclusive boarding flight university....thing....where all the snobby up-their-own-ass pegasi go!" "So you're calling her up-her-own-ass?" Beat asks with a raised eyebrow. "No, I mean.......It just bites that she'd leave us behind like that....." "Dude, you act as if she didn't feel guilty about moving to Las Pegasus. While you were in your bedroom sulking, I actually went round to her house, and she was in tears!" "Seriously...?" Swift asks, stopping in his tracks. "Yeah! Her eyes were freaking red and everything!" "Oh.......now I feel like the biggest twit in the world." He states, slumping onto his bed. "Dude, I know it hurt. But if you keep on having these grudges, how're you gonna handle it when she does eventually come see you?" "I guess so....Well. I'd better turn in for the night. Got a long day tomorrow, and some friends to say goodbye to.....heh. Saying it like kinda makes me sound like a hypocrite." "Who knows?" Beat says with a grin. "Maybe they're gonna give us a big surprise tomorrow at the train station!" Swift chuckles at his friend. "What like? Them saying they're catching the same train as us and moving in the general area as us? Yeah right." "Good news! We're moving with you!!" ".....What." It's the next morning, and Swift and Beat's wings are arched, and their eyes widened, at the proclamation of their Sky Canyon friends. "Say what now?" Swift asks, just to make sure he heard right. "You heard us! We're moving to Ponyville with you! Isn't it great?" Sky Flash, a white pegasus with a yellow mane and cobalt eyes, with a thunderbolt cutie mark. Him and his twin sister, Twister, who's also got the same colour scheme as him, but with her mane a bit more flowing and long, are smiling brightly. "Unless you have a problem with that. Do you?" another pegasus mare, this one with a light pink coat and white mane pulled back into a ponytail, green eyes and a cutie mark with a white cloud and swirling wind lines. Breezy Skies, the one who Swift mentioned in his journal entry the previous night. "No, no, not at all!" Beat defends, waving his forelegs. "It's just...we kinda didn't expect it is all....." "So when do you guys move?" Swift asks, wanting to get straight to the point. "Um.....next month, I think." Breezy says. "To Ponyville." "Ponyville?" Beat asks in surprise. "Funny, that's where we're moving!" "Is it now?" Swift asks, raising an eyebrow. "You never told me that it was Ponyville we were moving to!" "Heh....must have slipped my mind." Beat nervously says, scratching the back of his head. "Oh look, the train's here! ....Where's Mist Flicker?" "Coming through!!" A charcoal grey pegasus with a jet black messy mane, and quite literally a white mist as his cutie mark crashes right in the center of the scene. "Ow." "Here he is." Swift states, deadpanning. "Train's here, you made it just in time." "I know, I slept in!" Mist cries, his face stinging from the pain of the crash. "You alright?" Breezy asks, pulling him up. "I'm fine.....ow, though." "Anyway......." He looks at the train, and back to their friends. "We'll see you in a month. Take care of yourselves till then, alright?" "We'll send you a postcard when we've settled in!" "According to you, we haven't settled into a house until your DJ stuff's set up." "Shut up." As the passengers of the train get off to see Sky Canyon, Swift and Beat board said train, and take their seats. Swift looks out of the window and waves to their friends, Beat just giving off a smirk and a salute. "Beat?" Swift asks his friend. "Uh?" "Have you already been to Ponyville to check out the house?" He asks. "Yeah, remember a few weeks ago when I said I couldn't hang with you and the others?" "Oh yeah.......you were in Ponyville then weren't you?" He asks with a sneer. "You know it." "So....what's Ponyville like? I've actually never been there. Ever." "It's.....pretty quiet." "Even quieter than Sky Canyon? Doubt it." Swift quips. "Trust me, dude. It was so busy and still it was somehow quiet." Beat states matter-of-factly, hovering his front hooves a small distance apart as if to somehow emphasize his point. "I dunno......it just feels too good to be true for some reason. I don't know why." He says, slumping down into his chair. "So I take it the train ride's gonna take a while, just like how long it took to get here?" "Yep. You might have to sleep this one out again." Beat replies, putting his earphones on and sitting back, bobbing his head slowly to his music. "Hmmmm....Ponyville...for some reason, I have a really good feeling about this town. Wait.....Fluttershy mentioned moving to Ponyville to be able to be in touch with animals and nature and stuff before me and Beat moved, didn't she? Maybe we might end up running into her later." Due to not getting much sleep last night, Swift feels himself drifting into a slumber. Relaxing his wings, he lies his head back and closes his eyes. "Wish I'd brought a blanket. Actually, I think I have one in my bag." He rummages through his saddlebag, and suddenly finds a light blue blanket buried in there. he smiles and pulls it out, and immediately wraps it around himself, sighing in content. "Ahhhhh.....comfort......" That's interrupted by his chair lurching forward for a moment. Followed by Beat's voice. "Sorry, dude! Couldn't help it! That was one heck of a drop....." Sighing, Swift gives himself a mental pat on the back, and lies down across the double seat, using his saddle bag as a pillow. Before he falls asleep for sure, the last thing he hears is Beat quietly singing "The boys are back in town..!"
Arrival into Familiarity"We are arriving into Ponyville now! We hope you've enjoyed travelling the Ponyville Express!" Those are the words that wake Swift from his slumber. The next thing he hears is the screech of the train coming to a stop. And right after that.....is the feeling of his face meeting the train floor. "Ow." At that sound, Beat gets out of his seat. "Dude, you alright?" Only to be met with the muffled reply of "Do I look like it? Just got woken up by the train's flooring!" "Kinda your fault, Swift. The way you were lied, you pretty much set yourself up for that." "Oh.......well.....you suck." "Good to know. Now get up, we're here." He bluntly says. "Already? That was quick." "Time goes quickly when you sleep.....I think." "Yeah, it kinda does. Look at the clock one moment, see it's 7 in the morning, then look again, and it's 8." "Nice. Now come on, let's grab our bags and get off before we end up in Appleoosa." This brings Swift to his hooves. He quickly puts his blanket away in his saddlebag, and attaches it to himself. "Aye, aye!" A minute later, they depart the train, and are met with the train conductor giving them an "it's about time" look. Swift and Beat stare back for a minute before the catch on. "Hey, sorry we took like a minute of our time to grab our stuff, we're not in a rush, y'know!" Swift gets on the defensive. The conductor just rolls his eyes and trots off. So do Swift and Beat a few seconds later. "Some ponies......" "I can understand. He just needs to do is job. And if the train's falling behind, who are we to argue?" "I guess so.....I just get cranky when woken up." Swift states, before yawning. "Maybe a walk around town would do me some good." "Good idea." He smiles before adding. "Wanna grab a bite to eat?" "Yeah, that'll boost me right up!" Swift says, grinning. "Wotcha, Ponyville! We're in town and ain't no stopping us!" And with that, the two friends brohoof each other before trotting out of the station. "Wow, this place looks.....pretty peaceful. Definitely a quiet place, I'll give it that." Swift says with a smile and a nod. "The houses look pretty vintage as well." He remarks. "First place we find that sells food, we need to check out and try!" Beat shouts. "Why's that?" Swift asks, before both of their bellies grumble loudly, making them chuckle nervously. "On second thoughts.....amen to that." "Come on." Beat says. "Maybe we'll find somewhere easier if we look from the skies." "Alright!" Swift shouts before taking to the air. "Wow....he's as hungry as me." The red pegasus's stomach rumbles right after he says that. "Me and my big mouth..." He takes to the air right after. "Wait up!" "Are my eyes playing tricks on me, Beat? Or is that building there legit?" "Which building you talking about?" "Are you kidding me?! The one that stands out amongst the rest!!" "Ooooohhh.....yeah, the bakery. I think it's called Sugarcube Corner." Swift's stomach immediately growls. "A building made of cake and pastry and stuff?! Fillies and gentlecolts, breakfast is served!!" He darts down to the building, making Beat's eyes widen. "Wait, Swift! Don't! That isn't really-" "Don't try and stop me! My stomach's needing filling!!" ".....Eh, let him find out on his own." Beat sits on a nearby cloud. "Some popcorn would be handy right about now." Swift lands on the roof and lips his chops. "Open wide, mouth.....hear comes heaven....." He leans down to a corner of the building and immediately chomps down on it. "AAAAGHHHH!!" "Hahahaa..shouldn't let his stomach think for him." Beat thinks out loud as he flies down to Swift, who's lied on the floor, wings sprawled out, teary eyed and clutching his face. "Mmmmmmph!!" "I'm sorry what?" Beat asks, leaning down to him, a smug grin on his face. "I tried to warn ya, Swift, but you interrupted me before I could get a word in edgeways. Don't feel so smart now, do you?" Swift glares at Beat for that remark. "Ssssmmmmpphh...." "Come on. I'm gonna take ya to see the new house. I was feelin' hungry before, but this is keeping me going for a little longer. Haha! Priceless!" He takes off in a direction. "This is humiliating.....and freaking painful...." Swift gets up and takes off after him, still clutching his face. "Well Swift! Here we are! Our new home!" Beat states, enthusiastically. Swift, his mouth losing the pain it felt a little earlier, gapes at it in awe. He takes the hoof off of his mouth and smiles lightly. "Whoa....I have to admit, Beat, you've done a grand job at finding us a new gaff*!" "Yeah, I gave it a little bit of a makeover. Something to signify that this house is ours. Splodges of red and blue here and there, and look at the front door!" Swift lowers his head to look at the door, and what he sees makes him tilt his head. "Our cutie marks?" "Just to further make sure they know it's us." Beat says matter-of-factly with a smirk. "Ah." Swift puts simply. "Soooo....we gonna go in?" "If you want. I mean, it's our house right? Oh, and your parents want you to move the rest of your stuff out of your old room. Now that we're moving here, getting it from house to house won't be so hard." "Eh?! Just how do you know that?!" Swift shouts in shock. "Your ma was in town when I came here last, and when I told her what was happening, she said to come and visit.....and get the last of your stuff." He finishes with a snicker. "So basically you're telling me to get lost and go see my parents?" Swift deadpans. "Come on, Swift, it's been a while since you've seen them, and it'll be good for ya!" There's a pregnant pause between the two before Swift sighs heavily. "Screw it. I'll go. But don't go making promises for me in the future, ya hear me?" He almost demands to Beat with a glare, who only responds with a salute. "Later, bro!" He shouts as Swift takes off into the air, heading for what he thinks is Cloudsdale. "He's gonna get lost, I can tell." "B-beat?" Beat turns to his left at the voice to see a butter yellow pegasus with a long pink mane. Her cutie mark is three pink butterflies, and her eyes are cyan. "Fluttershy? Wow....it's been a while!" "Yeah....I mean....I saw your cutie marks on the door....and I have to admit, I was a little surprised.....so you're moving here now...?" She asks, pawing her hoof on the ground. "Yeah we are! Swift's gone to let his folks know he's back and get a bit more of his stuff to move here. So how've you been since we moved?" "Great! I mean...since I moved here, I've made loads of new friends, discovered lots of new little critters and animals and.....this town is so...amazing..." "Better than Cloudsdale, I presume then?" Beat asks with a snicker. "You have no idea, Beat. You'll love this town the more you get to know it. And I bet Swift'll feel the same way...I mean, once he comes back, of course." "Yeah, but it's been a while since we've been around here. So he's gonna probably get lost." "Oh dear.....should we go help him?" "Nah. He's resourceful. He'll find a way to get there eventually." "Okay." She agrees with a giggle. "Anyway, there's something you kind of need to know." "Oh?" "It's something concerning her." She says in a secretive manner. It takes a few moments for Beat to register before his eyes widen. "Oh!....What about her?" "Let's go inside. I'll tell you there." Beat agrees, opening the door a letting Fluttershy in first before he trots in after her. "This is ridiculous..." Swift just hovers around uselessly, looking around through the clouds. "How can I not know where Cloudsdale is?!" He flies in a random direction, frustrated at his inability to pinpoint where the cloud city is. "This is taking the piss. Cloudsdale is one elusive city when it wants to be....Hm?" At that point, he comes across a house made purely of clouds. Upon coming closer to this house, his eyes widen at the size of it. "This isn't a house....this is castle worthy!" The pegasus flies down to the "castle" and lands on what appears to be the end of the path leading to the front door. He looks around at the structure. Littering the house is rainbows. Rainbow rivers, rainbow waterfalls, rainbow ponds, even a rainbow spouting out from the top of the roof. Swift just gapes at the sight, then shakes his head, snapping him out of it. "Just need to knock, ask for directions, then once I have them, I fly off. Plain and simple. Okay....here we go." He trots up the path to the door, and when he's there, he looks up and down the house and is in awe at the sheer size. "Whoa, whoever lives here must be rich..." He goes hesitant for a few moments, and then knocks on the door. He waits for a few moments, then turns around, sitting down and looking at the sky. "Wow....it's been a while since I've been around here, I'll admit. This view is amazing. After being in Sky Canyon so long, you kinda tend to forget how nice things at home really are....." He stops talking when he hears the front door opening. Following that is a low gasp. This makes Swift slowly turn his head, and the next thing he sees is a cyan hoof meeting his face, followed by brief pain. Then everything goes black for him.
Confrontation With The Rainbow"O-oowww...my face hurts." As Swift comes round, the first thing he sees is a white ceiling, made from what looks like clouds. Actually, as he looks around, the whole room looks like it. "Did the owner who punched me bring me in to let me recover? Okay then......a bit bass-ackwards if I'm honest, but it's better than leaving me outside to just get wet if it started raining..." At that point, a crackle of thunder from outside makes him jump from the sudden-ness. "....and it totally just started raining, didn't it?" He looks to the window, and sees the pouring rain. "Yup. Totally lucked out. Wonder who's house this is anyway?" Suddenly, his heart stops as a light humming can be heard getting closer, and hoofsteps can be heard coming down the stairs. Swift takes this as his cue to- "Frigging hide!!" ....Yeah that. He quietly but quickly gallops into the kitchen, and when he sees the kitchen table, he darts under it, hiding himself. "Whoever this is had no business punching me in the face....whoever gave me this black eye....if I have one...is getting a piece of my mind!" He sits and listens to whoever this house might belong to. Judging by the humming earlier, he guesses that the owner is a female. "Great....first getting punched now I'm gonna get the royal guard on my ass, thinking I'm a pervert." As he hears the mare trot into the room, he hears her grind to a halt, and give out a frustrated sigh, which confuses Swift. But it's when he hears her voice, is when Swift's head nearly hits the table. "Oh, no..was punching him the wrong way to go about it? Great. Now he's gone and flown into the stupid rain. Leave it to pour it down on my day off, and this to happen. Great first impression on his move back, Rainbow Dash." ....In fact, his head has just pretty much hit the table, making him quietly cry out in pain. But Rainbow still hears the outcry. "Okay, I know somepony's in there! So just do me a favour and show yourself! So I can hit shout at you, hit you, and throw you out! Because all of a sudden, I am NOT in the mood!" Swift sits there, completely quiet, even though he knows it's no use now. "Okay...that is legit Rainbow Dash anger right there." "I'm gonna come in there and give you what for if you don't come out!" Swift crumbles at this, and crawls out from between a few chairs slowly, hoping to find a way to escape Rainbow's undying wrath. He remembers just how hotheaded this mare can be. Eventually, he reaches the doorway, and sure, when he sees Rainbow Dash, he nearly stops and cringes, but there's one thing he notices. And as he does, his face starts to head up. She's holding a towel in her hoof, which tells him that she's just come out of the shower. But the towel isn't his first clue. His first clue is that her mane AND her fur are absolutely dripping wet, and he can see her wet fur sticking to her body. "Well....this was..unexpected?" Rainbow Dash herself? Well, her expression upon seeing Swift has certainly faltered into a mixture of mild surprise and relief. She visibly relaxes and just stands there, silence filling the air for both of them. The surprise of seeing Swift there lets Rainbow ignore the redness that's creeped onto the darker blue pegasus' face. One thing runs through their minds simultaneously. "Okay, what should I say?" Silence continues to fill the air as they stare at each other with different faces. Until one thing snaps them both out of it. POMF! This sound makes both of their eyes widen even further. One out of shock, the other out of pure embarrassment. It really doesn't take much of an imagination to figure out who the embarrassed one is. Swift's face reddens even further because of this, and he takes a few steps back, breathing quite quickly. "U-um..t-that..I.." But embarrassment turns to confusion as Rainbow's face turns to a smirk. Then a grin. And then she starts outright laughing at his reaction. "Oh." "Yeah, forgot this is Rainbow Dash I'm dealing with." She stands there, holding her stomach as she tries to calm herself down. "Oh...a wingboner..that is absolutely priceless! Pahahahaa!" Swift huffs, rolling his eyes and folding his forelegs. "Alright, it wasn't that funny.." "Are you kidding?! It was hilarious!" "Everypony gets wingboners once in a while!....Well, except earth ponies and unicorns, but that's beside the point!" This makes her laugh harder. "Yeah! When they see something or somepony that gets them "excited", you dolt!" "Hush up, you..." "And by the way, that black eye, really doesn't suit you." "Huh?" To make a point, Rainbow brings up a small mirror to his face, and once he sees, his eyes widen. "Whoa, that's a real shiner right there!" He goes to touch it, but it really makes him hurt. "O-ooww..." "Y'know, that kind of serves you right in the long run..." She says, folding her forelegs. "How does it serve ME right?!" He asks with a bit of a shout. Her earlier anger returning to her, she shouts back. "Because you never wrote to m-to us!! To let us know how you were doing! To let us know that you were still alive!! Last week, some punk called Tirek attacked us, stole all of our magic, there were rumours he'd gone so far as to kill some ponies for their magic and I didn't even know if you were okay through it all!!" "Rainbow-" "4 buckin' years, and not one letter, not a visit, nothing!! Why haven't you given us even a little bit of contact?! Just one?!" As she stops her shouting, she calms herself down and waits for an answer from him. What he says makes her regret her outburst. "...Midnight." At that moment, her ears droop and her face softens. "Swift...you can't keep letting that get to you.." "It hurt, Dash. It hurt so much. Me and Beat went to Sky Canyon to make a fresh start. No looking back." "And you used that as excuse ditch the rest of us and make new friends, is that it?" "..." "Kinda hypocritical of ya, Swift. Sorry, but it's true." "Big words now?" "Blame Twilight." "Who?" "I'll show you around Ponyville and my new friends later." "Alright, fair enough. Yeah I suppose it's my fault. Left my friends behind for a fresh start because of weird reasons......which I've basically gone and done again moving back here!" He states with a facehoof. All this does, is make Rainbow Dash sigh. Followed by a light giggle, which escalates and escalates into a full blown laugh, which in turn really confuses Swift. "How do you NOT get whiplash from changing moods to quickly?" At that point, he's tackled to the floor, and hugged tight by the rainbow maned pony. "It's so awesome seeing you again, Swift..." She then looks at him with a stern look. "And if you say anything about this, I'll deny it." Swift smirks at her words, and ruffles her mane. "Somehow, that does not surprise me, Rainbow."
