Only A Matter of Time

“How are you doing back there, Aaron?!” Rainbow Dash shouted back, as she flew over Ponyville’s landscape.

“Shit, I’m barely hanging on!” He yelled, trying to overpower the sound of the roaring wind rushing past his face. He was quickly losing grip on Rainbow Dash, and he was already whispering his final prayer to himself.

“For god’s sake Rainbow Dash, slow down!” He shouted, but unfortunately wasn't heard. Rainbow Dash seemed only to speed up, and he was slowly slipping off of her, it was only a matter of time before Aaron would fall off to his doom.  Suddenly, as if his prayer had been answered, Rainbow began to slow down, enough for Aaron to re-position himself on her back.

“We’re here!” Rainbow shouted happily as she landed softly on a cloud, no sign of fatigue escaping her voice from the rapid flight she had just finished. Aaron slowly got off of Rainbow’s back and tried to calm himself down before doing anything else.

“Hey, are you okay?” Rainbow asked him. She noticed that he was shaking a little and she could hear him taking in deep breaths, as if he were trying to calm himself down.

“Despite almost being flung off your back from the intense force of the wind and falling about two hundred meters to my death, I’m doing fine.” Aaron said with whatever composure he managed to keep.

“Well, why didn’t you just tell me to slow down? I would have easily gone slower for you, I mean you've flown at those speeds before, or so you said you had.” She responded back, placing a hoof on Aaron's back.

“I did but you couldn't hear me, and yes I have flown at those speeds before, but I was strapped into a seat with no gusty winds trying to force me off my plane. Anyways, this is where you live, in the clouds?” Aaron asked her as he scanned the horizon and saw nothing but clouds.

“My house is over here, just follow me.” Rainbow told him, as she began to walk towards her home. Aaron followed close behind her, and within a few footsteps, he could see a white cloud-like house that appeared to be at least two stories tall. Aaron couldn’t help but feel awestruck from the complexion on the cloud structure. The structure seemed to sway along with the wind in the sky, almost like a hot air balloon. Every time Aaron would take a step, he could feel the floor morph into his step, as if he had just stepped on really light puddle of mud.

“Welcome to my humble home. I shouldn't take long, so if you’d like, you can sit down on the couch over here in the living room.”  Rainbow spoke, as she opened the door and let Aaron inside the cloud house.

“Whoa, this place is amazing.” Aaron gasped, taking in all the things happening around him. Inside the house, the walls appeared more solid than those on the outside part of the house, decorated with vast majority of rainbow colored decorations and picture frames. Every single piece of furniture in the house matched the cloud like environment inside the house, even the bright cotton white color.

“Yeah, everyone who comes here to visit say’s that about the house. I had it custom built, thanks to the benefits of working in the weather factory over in Cloudsdale.” Aaron heard Rainbow’s voice respond to him as she began gathering her things.

He jerked his head in a silent laugh as he took a seat over at the couch Rainbow had told him about, and instantly felt like his body was placed on the world’s softest mattress. He felt absolutely relaxed and at rest. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back as he enjoyed the blissful seat he had taken.  After about three minutes of his enjoyment, Aaron reopened his eyes and looked at the variety of pictures hanging on the wall. They all were photos of Rainbow Dash; some even included all of her friends having a great time together. He especially liked one photo of Rainbow Dash flying in the air, a large rainbow trail chasing behind her as she zoomed passed in the bright blue sky.

“That was me in my young flyers competition.” Aaron heard Rainbow Dash’s voice say from behind him.

“Oh yeah, did you win the competition?” Aaron asked her as he turned to face her.

“Yeah, it was my first competition, and I was the youngest contestant to ever win the competition too.” She responded as she pointed wither her head where the trophy was.

“Wow you must have felt extremely accomplished winning that competition, Dash.” Aaron said.

“Yeah, it was actually the best day of my life; I also managed to complete my first sonic rainboom. I can still remember the cheers of the crowd; I loved every minute of it. Anyways, you ready to go?” Rainbow Dash asked him, smiling as she remembered the young flyers competition.

“Yeah, I can carry the things while you fly. By the way, what’s up with the cooler? I thought Applejack was bringing the drinks?” Aaron questioned, as he saw a few beach chairs, two towels, and a small red cooler next to dash.

“Yeah she is, but I thought I would bring a little something special, something that I have been saving up for this occasion.” Rainbow Dash answered.

Aaron shrugged his shoulders and didn’t bother to ask any other questions. He walked over to the things Dash had gathered and began to accommodate them on his body. He noticed that the beach chairs had body straps on them, so he placed the strap over his shoulders. Since the chairs weren't so bulky, he was able to carry the three chairs all on his back. He placed the two towels in between his right arm and then bent over to pick up the small cooler next to him.

“Alright, let’s go to lake.” Aaron smiled as he followed Rainbow Dash out through the front door.

“Okay Aaron just like last time, get on my back.” Rainbow Dash told him.

“Ok, just don’t speed off like you did coming here; remember I won’t be able to hold on to you as much, since I’m holding this stuff.” Aaron suggested, as he slowly placed himself on her back and made sure he was ready for the ride.

“Okay, I’m ready.” He said as he pulled himself forward, and wrapped his arms over Rainbow Dash’s shoulders, making it look like he was laying down on her, but ensuring him that he would be able to hang on to her.

“Great day at the lake, here we come!” Dash shouted as she soared off into the air, and Aaron smiled as he rode to the Pegasus to their destination.

“There you guys are! We were beginning to worry about the two of you!” Applejack greeted Aaron and Rainbow as they landed on the soft sandy shore at the lake.

“Sorry AJ, I had to slow down a bit so that Aaron wouldn't fall off of me.” Dash explained to her as she looked over towards the water.

“It’s alright, Dash. You’re here now, and that’s what counts!” AJ said as she helped Aaron and Dash set up the chairs.

Soon enough, they finished up setting up the chairs and the picnic table. Aaron stood as he looked over to the water, and saw Twilight walking near the water’s edge, alongside with Rarity. He let out a relaxed sigh as he stretched himself out and nodded his head in approval.

“Hey Twi, how’s the water?!” Aaron shouted out to her as he finished stretching.

“It’s great, not to warm, not to cold!” She responded back to him, and Aaron nodded yet again.

“Hey AJ and Dash, Are you guys getting in the water now?” He asked them.

“I am sure as hay going in the water!” AJ responded to him as she checked up on the apple tarts she had made for the picnic.

“Not me, I’m going to catch some rays before I go in. I don’t like getting wet right away.” Rainbow Dash responded as she lied down on one the beach chairs she had brought. Aaron looked over at Applejack with a “is she serious” look and she responded with a nod in her head. Aaron looked over at Rainbow Dash lying on the beach chair.

“Okay, but don’t you start feeling left out now. It’s going to be a lot of fun out there and we don’t want you to miss it.” Aaron tried to persuade her.

“That’s okay, I won’t feel left out. Plus, I’m way too cool for swimming anyways.” She responded back to him, clearly not planning to go out to the water with them. Aaron just nodded in disappointment and headed over to the others with Applejack.

“Rainbow Dash always does this when we go to the lake.” Applejack said to Aaron as they approached the others.

“Oh yeah, then let’s do something about that, Rainbow Dash is going swimming today, if she likes it or not.” Aaron said, a sinister smile painted his face, as he began to plot Rainbow Dash’s encounter with the water.

Once Aaron and Applejack reached the other two mares by the water’s edge, he kept the plan to himself but he had intensions of sharing his plan with the others.

“Why didn’t Rainbow Dash come with you, Aaron?” Twilight asked him as he stood next to her in the water.

“She said she’s too cool for swimming, and that she wants to catch some rays.” He responded back, enjoying the warm water flowing past his toes.

“Oh that Rainbow Dash sure does know how to be a mood killer, oh well that’s her fault.” Rarity said as Aaron finished his response.

“Never mind her, she’ll come over eventually, how’s about we head over to the dock?” Applejack quickly said, trying to change the topic to something more enjoyable.

“Sure in fact, let’s make it a race. First one to the dock and in the water wins!” Aaron shouted as he began running towards the dock which wasn't too far from where they were.

The other three mares agreed to the race and chased after Aaron, who had a surprising lead over them. While the others raced over to the dock, Rainbow Dash stared blankly in to the sky. She was trying to still make sense of the dreams she’s been having. Each time she thought about them, she would only find more questions without any answers. Why would she dream of one of her friends butchering her, or make food out of her. She couldn't help but feel a little worried about the dreams, and not to mention a little fear. Are they a vision of the future, would Pinkie Pie be crazy enough to kill someone, much less one of her friends. She had thought many times before if she should tell her friends about her dreams, but time after time she would talk herself out of that idea. She was sure that the dream was only a coincidence, and soon she would be back to her normal dreams.

“Ugh, I can’t believe I’m flipping out over a stupid dream.” She sighed in frustration.

She re-positioned herself on the beach chair so that she was facing the sandy ground. She passed her hoof on the surface of the sand and carved out a little crater on the ground, trying to distract her mind from the world of thoughts she was rushing through. As she continued to make the crater on the ground larger, sudden flashes of the dream began to appear right in front of her. The flashes contained the most gruesome and agonizing parts, and they began to overwhelm her. Each flash containing more gore and blood than the other.

“Stop, Please just stop! Leave me alone!” Rainbow panicked, as she began crying softly and curled herself into a ball.

“Umm, Dash, Who are you talking too?” she suddenly heard Aaron's voice call out. She reopened her eyes to see a soaking wet Aaron looking down at her.

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash moaned in confusion, as she woke up.  To her surprise, she was facing the sky.

“What’s going on?”  She asked as she still felt like she was sleeping.

“I just came over to ask you a question, when you suddenly began to flip out in your sleep.” Aaron responded.

“Oh, well what is it that you want?”

“Me the others were wondering if, you could go to the pier and join us for some sandwich’s Applejack made for us, and talk about stuff. Would you mind coming or not?” Aaron asked her as she shielded her eyes from the sun’s rays.

“Sure, I guess. I’m down for a sandwich.” Rainbow Responded, as she got up and stretched herself out.

“Great, so mind telling me what it was you were dreaming about?” Aaron asked curiously.

Rainbow Dash’s mind froze for a minute. She couldn't have asked for a better moment to tell one of her friends about her dreams, but she let her pride get in the way.