Only A Matter of Time

“So, Aaron what do you think about Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash asked him as they walked to their destination.

“It reminds me of a lot of things I would see at home, only twenty times nicer.” He recalled as he passed his right hand gently over the top of a bush filled with beautiful bright red roses.  While on their way to the diner Rainbow Dash had mentioned, she, Applejack and Aaron talked about their daily lives and enjoyed the beautiful cloudless day in Ponyville.

“Say, can you tell us about what you did back at your home?” Applejack asked him.

“Sure, back home, I was an Aerobatics pilot. I flew these machines called air planes, and did cool tricks in them in front of huge crowds of people.  I was pretty good too, I would get paid good amounts of money and gained lots of perks just because I could do things that no other person could do.” He said.

“Wow, so you were like a Wonderbolt! That’s so cool!” Rainbow said in pure awe. Aaron knew that Rainbow Dash had a dream of becoming the best acrobatic flyer in Equestria, and understood her feelings towards her dream.  That was exactly what he had done back at home in Earth. The friends continued their walk to the diner, and Aaron told them more about his life as an Aerobatics pilot.

“So how did you end up here, In Equestria?” Applejack asked him.

“I was practicing a flying routine I had made for an upcoming air show I was going to star in. the weather conditions weren’t really safe for flying, but at the time, I didn’t care if it were raining or snowing, I was going to practice my routine no matter what. Well, I got in my plane and started flying through the sky. The sky was filled with dark grey storm clouds, and I heard on my radio, that the area was prone to lightning strikes, but despite the warnings, I kept on flying. I was about to finish my routine with a awesome double barrel roll, when a bolt of lightning struck my plane, shocking everything inside and I blacked out. Next thing I know I wake up here and met you guys.” He explained to them as the continued walking.

Soon enough, the three friends arrived at the Diner Rainbow Dash had wanted to go to. It was a decent looking restaurant, the outside was painted a light pink and matching flowers decorated the window sills. It beamed its title with pride and dignity, “Sunrise Diner”, and the building was full of life.  Aaron, Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked into the waiting lobby, taking in the smell of delicious food and quiet chatter of the customers.

“Good afternoon and welcome to the Sunrise Diner, how many will you be dining with today?” a storm gray stallion waiter asked the group.

“Just three of…” Applejack started to say, before she felt someone touching her from behind.  She turned to see two familiar unicorns smiling at her. One unicorn had a nice purple coat, with different hues of purple on her mane and tale, and the other had a magnificent bright white coat, with one type of purple curled mane and tail.

“Hey Applejack, I didn’t expect seeing you over here so early in the afternoon, much less with Aaron and Rainbow Dash.” The purple coated one said.

“Oh yes, I didn’t either. We were thinking of inviting you for lunch but we thought you would still be working on the farm.” The white coated one said.

“Hey Twilight, Rarity, we just finished working not too long ago. Rainbow Dash wanted to go grab a bite, so we decided to go here.” Applejack greeted back to them as she returned back to the waiter.

“So will that be five seats ma’am?” the waiter asked politely.

“Yeah, it will be five of us.” Applejack responded back, as the waiter grabbed five menus and walked the party of five to their table.

“Oh that sounds wonderful, Aaron. I wish we could see the world you used to live in.” Twilight sighed as she finished her lunch and listened to Aaron's stories about his home.

“How are the cities? Are they huge and crowded or is everything calm and collected?” Rarity asked him curiously.

“Oh the cities are way too fast paced, and everybody does the same thing. Wake up, eat, walk, work, walk, eat and then sleep. I could never stand living such a boring old life. Plus people over in the cities are jerks and only care about themselves and their pockets.”  Aaron answered, placing the spoon that once contained some apple pie down.

He had to admit it, this diner had some of the best apple pies he had ever eaten, but none ever beat those made from Applejack and her family. He looked at the other plates and saw that mostly everything was gone from them. He would have had some other meal on the menu, but the fact that the food was mostly made from hay and wild flowers limited his options for lunch.

“Eeyup, that’s the city life for you. I always loved the peace and quiet life of the suburbs.  It makes me appreciate the little things in life that you can’t see in the city.” Applejack agreed along with Aaron, after chewing down the last remnants of a basket of hay fries she had ordered.

“Speaking of which, it has been rather quiet around Ponyville, hasn’t it? I haven’t heard a crazy wild noise yet! Does any pony know where Pinkie Pie has been lately?”  Rarity asked, wondering where Ponyville’s party pony could be.

The mention of Pinkie Pie’s name brought a certain thought to stir in Rainbow Dash’s head. A thought concerning the weird dream she had again for the third night in a row. The dream honestly freaked Rainbow out; she had never had a dream like that, where she was brutally butchered by one of her friends, and much less have it repeat for three nights in a row. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash felt a weird sensation in her arm, startling her and making her snap back to reality.

“Whoa Dash, are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.” Twilight asked her as she put her hoof on Rainbows arm and saw a worried expression on Rainbow Dash’s face.

“Yeah…sorry, I was thinking about something stupid. I haven’t seen pinkie pie at all today either.” Rainbow Dash responded. She tried her best to not let her friends see any sign of worry in her facial and body appearance.

“Alright then, if you say so. So, is anyone doing anything later today?” Aaron asked, not even thinking twice about Rainbow’s weird blackout.   Aaron saw each one of his friends nod their heads no, and a sudden idea popped inside his head.

"Who's up for a day at the lake?" Aaron asked, smiling at each one of his friends sitting at the table.

"Oh yes! Today is just absolutely wonderful for a day at the pond! In fact, we could even make it into a picnic of sorts, with Applejack bringing her signature apple tarts and beverages, count me in!" Rarity said.

"Yeah, we could all bring a little something' ya know, the more the merrier!" Applejack agreed

"Ok then it's settled, after we leave this place, we all gather up our things and spend a day at the lake." Twilight added, the idea of a relaxing spot on the pond under Celestia's warm sun began to excite her.

"Will this be separate or all together?" the waiter, carrying a tray of dirty dishes, asked as he passed by the table.

"Together!" Aaron responded, before anyone could say the opposite. The waiter nodded and left while Aaron began to fish out his wallet from his pocket.

“Now Aaron, you didn't have to pay for all our meals, surely the others didn't mind having to pay for their meals?" Twilight said, looking at the others for their approval. The others nodded their heads in agreement at Twilights statement.

"No, No, No. Lunch is my treat; I have more than enough bits left over anyways. So, Applejacks bringing the food, and some drinks, Rarity your bringing plates and napkins, Twilights bringing the cups and I'm helping Rainbow Dash with the chairs and stuff, is there anything else we need for the lake?" Aaron asked, as he reviewed what his friends had discussed with each other.

"Yeah that sounds about right, we should all meet up by the little dock once we have gathered everything  we need okay?” Twilight answered, and they all agreed to meeting up at the little dock.

“Okay Aaron,  are you ready to go?” Rainbow Dash asked him as they both waved off the other three friends, getting ready to prepare for their day at the lake.

“Yes I am, just lead the way.” Aaron said to her as he stretched himself out.

“Uh Aaron, you do know that the only way to get to my house is by flying, right?”

Aaron quickly stopped what he was doing and realized what Rainbow Dash was trying to tell him. He looked at her with a nervous expression and Rainbow could tell that Aaron was feeling a little uncomfortable.

“You mean, I have to ride you to get your place?” He asked her, trying hard not to let his face redden.

“Eeyup.” She responded back.