Second Place

Chapters

Ch.0 a warm place
Ch.1 where it's dark
ch.2 Home
ch.3
ch.4
ch. 5
ch.6

Ch.0 a warm place

ch. 0 A warm place

"I h-have to w-win. I-I-I just-t need-d to w-win!" the quivering Pegasus mutters as Big Macintosh laid a warm, wool blanket on her. The fire's passion welcomed the cold mare, the wool really trapping the pulsating heat.

"Thi-is is Th-the only way t-to--Hachoo!" the mare sneezes, her germs visibly spraying through the air. She sniffs as Big Mac pats her back.

"Eeyup." he says, setting a box of tissue next to her before leaving the room. The Mare grips the blanket and pulls it closer. A lock of her blue mane falls in front of her eyes, still wet and cold. She pushes it aside with a hoof, only to have it fall back. She was leaning on a stool as she lade there, watching the fire. The fire pops, sending small ashes drifting about. The fire, though wild and strong, was contained safely in the Apple family fireplace. Her damp gear was lying near the fireplace, spread out to dry. Her Velcro boots and Bell boots where quite dry compared to the navy blue Scarf that seemed to form a puddle on the small round carpet. Picture frames were spotted around the small living room, the ones above the fireplace catching her eye. Wooded frames housed frozen memories of Macintosh and his family, the still life sending an aura of warmth to anypony whose gaze reached them. Even in such a warm setting, she still felt... Sad, in some way.

"...Hachoo!"

The cup clicks as Big Mac sets it on the floor, sliding it carefully to the mare. Steam rises up from the cup, her nostrils filling with the sugary sent. Three white orbs of goo flout around in the chocolaty mixture, the swirls of brown and white attracted her attention.

"Hot coco, drink it." Big Mac said, setting four cups for himself.

"Oh, th-thanks..." she murmurs, staring at the drifting white puffs. She brings it close to her snout, the heat radiating like the fire. She takes a taster sip, it was good, but stung her tongue a little. It wasn't as sweet as Pinkiepie's, but it warmed her up as the warm fluid traveled down her throat. She plays with a white orb, now melted, on her tongue. The substance made her lips sticky, licking them for the sweet taste. She looks back at Big Mac, knowing he was trying to persuade her to stay inside. It would have worked, but her passion to beat Rainbowdash was greater than staying comfortable and warm. "... But I don't need to s-stay here."

With a sigh, "Eyup." he takes a seat near the fire and lays there with the cups next to him, pretending not to care about her. Big Macintosh was a big stallion, not fat, but muscular. Though never saying much, he was literally the strongest stallion in ponyville. Being big and brawny, he could probably get any mare he wanted, but he seems to know better than to go out with just anypony. Lightning Bolt would have liked Big Mac, too, but she has different views on this "Relationship" topic. One thing she does like, though, was his freckles. They made him look cute with his red coat and green eyes.

"Hay, I mean it. I-I can't be lazing around--Hachoo!" with another sneeze, she finally uses the tissue box.

Macintosh looks at her with a neutral glare, "Crashing into ah frozen lake tells me otherwise." he grabs one of the cups with his jaw and drinks it with a single gulp.

"I crashed, ok!" she shivers at the memory of drilling through a layer of ice and diving into freezing water. Even the part when she was stuck under the ice still chilled her now. She normally wouldn’t be able to break through a foot of ice, but she was trying out a new trick called the “Lightning clap.” The trick was meant to mimic RD’s sonic rain boom so she could surpass her. Well, she miss fired. Good thing Big Mac just so happened to be there or that place could have been her grave, a 12 inch grave. Here lies a no pony.

"I was per-perfecting my "Lightning Clap." I'll never reach Rainbowdash's speed unless I practice."

"Just drink the coco." he said, downing another cup.

"Don't ignore me!" she responded, taking another gulp from her cup. Her wings send a sharp pain in her spine, cringing at the headache feeling.

Big Mac shook his head, "Not in your condition..."

"Don’t tell me what I-I can't do."

"But biting off more than you can chew is just what I'm afraid of."

"I-it's nothing, I can do anything..."

"Eyup."

"Shut up."

Big Mac sighs at her stubbornness, she's like his sister. "Lightning Bolt," he said, "Think logical. RD and my sister are in Canterlot, do’en that play thing-ma-jig. They won't be back for a while."

"That's why I must---" she pauses as another sneeze creeps up. She sneezes into the blanket, "all the more reason to do it."

"... Fine... Try ta leave, see how far ya get."

Seeing this as a challenge, as most pegasi would, she jumps to her hoofs, the wool blanket falling onto a stool nearby. "Ok, fine! Try to-to stop me! Hit me with your best shot!"

Macintosh looks away, "Already have." the Mare tries to make a leap, her hoofs stumbling on the rung. She couldn't move, or when she did, she couldn't stand straight. She tried to dash for him, but her hoofs where unresponsive, like it was three hundred pounds. Her eye sight began to fussy up, her balance completely haywire as her flank bumped a lamp. What could be the meaning of this? Wait, this feels like...

She curses as she falls to one hoof. "What did you put in that drink?"

"Sorry, Lightning," Macintosh confesses, "I knew ya won't listen, so I had to."

"You... Jack..." she tries desperately get up, her body feeling drowsy and numb. "You Suck... Balls." and just like that, she falls over, knocking over the stool and letting the blanket fall onto her drugged body.
~~~
Big Mac sighs and drinks his third cup, "Your welcome." the Mare was out cold, her breath slowing and showing a light snore. He sighs again, not at her but the whole situation of things. "What am I going to do with ya." he says to himself. That stubborn plot is going to be chasing Rainbowdash all her life. He glances over at his passed out friend, her white coat glowed in the fire. She moans and curls up with the blanket, she still looked cold.

Big Mac rests his head on his forehoofs, starring into the dancing fire. His mind combing out his thoughts, "Lightning Bolt... Rainbowdash's shadow." he whispers into the quiet home. His eye began to droop, the ware of the day weighing thick on his body. Feeling as if he was alone, he closed his eye to let sleep take over.

Clop

A hoof step. Even when he was half asleep, he could recognize the small, light tread. "Applebloom..." silence...

"Applebloom." Lifting his head, he turns over to the stairs, the little filly squeaking as their eyes meet.

"What are you doing up, it's late."

"But I’m not tired..." the filly stops as Macintosh motioned her to come close. She was cautious at first, but the site of a sleeping Lightning Bolt and hot coco calmed her nerves. Besides, Macintosh wasn't as strict as her older sister. Stepping off the stairs, she places her plot next to Big Mac, his coat feeling nice and warm from the fire.

As Applebloom cuddles into her brother’s coat, she reaches for his last cup. The small filly lies quietly on the stallion, her small frame looking so small next to him. They don't say anything at first, either feeling awkward or just too sleepy to talk. The fire was beginning to fade to ashes, the room growing darker and darker with time. The faint, burgundy tattoos on the wood glow vibrantly in to flames. It was late in the night and the big stallion really wanted to call it a day. Just when he thought he was about to fall asleep, his small sister pops a question.

"umm, Big Mac...I have a question." she look into the mug, the marshmallows could no longer be identified. "Umm, why do ya talk to Lightning Bolt so much, big brother?" he groans from weariness, but he replies.

"Why ya ask?"

"I don't know. It's just y'all only talk when nopony's around." she goes silent, taking the most smallest of sips. Macintosh's mind takes a step back; the stallion kind of surprised how much the filly was paying attention to him. Most ponies don’t.

"umm, well, it's nothin' you should be worrying about." he said, trying to evade the topic. Applebloom licks her lips and drinks down half the cup. Only to pause with another question.

"But what about RainbowDash? Miss Lightning Bolts always talk'en about her, is she jealous or some'um?"

"What? Wait, how did ya-"

"No offense, big bro," she cuts in, setting the cup down. "But for a quiet pony, you’re a loud mouth."

Macintosh, slightly dumbfounded, was stumped but her comment. He never really considered himself a loud mouth... Lightning is more of a loud mouth than he was. I wonder if Applebloom is being nosy, or just being innocently curious. But then again, AppleBloom's always curious about everything. How long was the filly spying on him? It must have been for a while if she heard about Rainbow. Well, she did figure out one thing. Lightning Bolt was indeed, envious of Rainbowdash. According to what Lightning told Big Mac, the rivalry started all the way back to when they were just fillies.

Lightning Bolt and Rainbowdash both attended flight school together. Before, Lightning Bolt was the fastest flyer in her grade; it was only until RD discovered her cutie mark did thing start heading down hill. Rainbowdash soon replaced Lightning Bolt as the fastest flyer. Popularity arose for cyan Pegasus, sending her to new heights. Rainbowdash was becoming widely known throughout Equestria, and with her new installment of "the element of loyalty" she becomes a star Pegasus. No matter how many times she tried, RD was always there, ready steel the blue ribbon. No matter what Lightning did, Rainbowdash would always be a few feet ahead. According to records, Lightning has never won a single blue ribbon due to Rainbow. No matter what she did, she always ended up in second place.

There was also something else about Lightningbolt's dilemma, but the stallion wasn't going to explain "Fillyfooling" to his sister. He looks at the filly, not sure if he should say something. She was already done with the cup by then, waiting patiently for a response.

"Ummm, ya don't wanta know."

"what? Ya I do! I want to know now!" she shouts. Macintosh tries to hush her, but she kept at it. "I won't till you tell me!"

Why does she have to be so rebellious? Big Mac thinks to himself, rubbing his temple. I bet she gets it off of Sweetiebell or Scootaloo…... most likely Scootaloo. Sounds of slurping cut his train of thought, looking up to find Applebloom sipping out of another cup. At first glance, he thought of it as nothing, but with his fourth, empty cup sitting in front of her...

"Applebloom, where did you get that?"

"Oh, Miss Lightning didn't finish her cup. So I’m gonna drink it for her!" she takes a deep gulp.

"b-but-"

"No worries, I can drink the whole thing. Applejack told me never to waste food, so I'm doin' just that!"

He sighs, letting his head fall onto his hoofs. Saved by the coco... Just hope she wakes up. Macintosh did use a powerful drug...

"See, an't I a good pony?" she said, the last drop leaving the cup.

"Eeyup...."

~~~~

just to tell you, I don't know when I will be able to make the next ch. just be really patient, ok! Hope you’re interested and will follow.

Ch.1 where it's dark

Ch.1 where it’s dark

“The magic of First love is our ignorance that it can never end.” ~Benjamin Disraeli

My gut was telling me to leave, just to run and get out of here, but I couldn’t. It was hot, stuffy and hard to breath. My body shuddered with every loud thunderous beat. The colors where bright, shifting through ominous shadows that told me I was unwelcomed. I tried to scream through the mass, but my voice was only but a whisper. I felt so cold, so alone…

I awoke suddenly, my throat dry and my stomach aching. I was hot, warm as my heart felt like it was about to burst from stress. I place my hoofs to my moist cheeks, breathing heavily and trying hard to slow it down. I felt a little sick, but maybe it will change when I eat something. My mane clung to my sweating body, making me feel like dirt. I wiped my face with the rugged, brown blanket, which didn’t really help much, but even then I didn’t care. Maybe I should turn on a fan… After a moment of heavy breathing and silent composure, I look up to capture my surroundings. As I should have guessed, I wasn’t in any foreign place. A cheap nightstand with a half broken clock, a closet with a cracked frame, a questionably unstable window and the smell of something rotting in the kitchen… yup, me and my lousy apartment.

Rubbing my temples, I curse to myself and everything around me. Sometimes I wished that I was still dreaming, that this petty excuse for a life was just some stupid story in my head. Alas, nothing is ever in my control, and thus, I live this pitiful life. Kicking off my blanked, I remove my flank from the olive green couch, knocking over piles of trash here and there. I should probably clean the place, but I’m the only one that lives here so frankly, I don’t care. I searched around the living room, the location of my cow mug still eluding me. It could be in the kitchen, but when is anything ever in the right spot. It was hard to see much, the natural gray of my apartment being blinded by the clear light that pierced through the shades. I felt miserable, tired and just plan dirty. I thought about taking a shower as my hoof got stuck in the clump I call a mane, but a short, shrill ring rocked through my head. It came again, but it was only till the fifth or sixth ring did I realize what it was.

“Hold your damn horses!” I shouted, tripping over an umbrella. Stumbling past my bathroom and to the doorway, I pull off the locks from the door. Without even a glance through the peep hole, I swing the door wide. As the hall filled with light, the pony at my door spoke out.

“Delivery!” a bubbly, perky and unmistakably familiar voice said. “Delivery for… Lighting!” the Pegasus squeals at the site of her degraded friend, her voice cutting my brain into ribbons. Holding my head, I tried to hush her down, for me and my neighbors.

“Aye, Good to see you too. Now shut up.”

“Oh my goodness, I never knew you live here. You should have told me!” the Pegasus said, completely ignoring my comment.

“This is, like, the third time you’ve been here! J-just get in.” I said with a hiss. Literally pulling her by the skin of her neck, I shoved her into the apartment, shutting the door before I could see any of my neighbors. The Pegasus, while dodging the litter on the floor, was staring at me with her abnormal eyes. She had a bag slung over, her hoof fishing around for the parcel. My head was ringing, I need water, maybe the pill. The Pegasus was saying something, but I didn’t care to listen. As her muffled murmur was being filtered through my head, I stormed past her and entered my bathroom. As you would have guessed, my home isn’t the cleanest one, but when it came down to the bathroom, it was spotless. I don’t quite know why, but I believe that bathrooms must, at all times, be clean. I’m not really a picky pony, but an unclean bathroom bugs the hell out of me. The bathroom its self wasn’t anything special either, shower on one side and sink and toilet on the other. It’s just… just keeps me sane, I guess.

I approached the sink, where I kept my pills and toothbrush. I pulled open the cabinet underneath, grabbing a glass and the orange bottle. After struggling to get the cap off and the glass filled, I downed the pill, looming over the sink. The fossett continued to flow with water, the sound of the water drowning out the sound of the world. The pill was taking it’s time to take effect, my heavy head throbbing with each beat of my heart. I remembered looking up, staring into the eyes of the pony presented before me.

It was always different every time I looked at the mare in the frame. She would sometimes look so lovely, her coat, her mane, in perfect sync. Her eyes would be like an untouched aqua sapphire, the dazzling array of blues making me aw in amazement. Her mane, as if it was the wind itself, rolled into flawless, light blue waves that were like no other. The soft, fine coat of snow making her radiate with a brilliant cyan burn. Her lips of silk would comfort me, with words of sweet and right. She would be beautiful, she would be someone, she would be important.

But then…there are the other days, when she appears as just a pony. Her coat of ivory and mane of rain, she would stare back at me, with eyes of pain. Her hair a mess and her coat astray, she would hide her face from my curious gaze. The mare before me was nothing to me, like everypony els that passes by me. As I stared at the pony with no Purpose to be, I honestly wished that she wasn’t me.

I slammed my hoof on the fossett, a short spray of warm water splashing against my arm. I could only stare at the small droplets of water in the sink as I had no will to move.

“I guess today is one of those ‘other days.’” I sigh.

“lighting?” my friend said as she approached me with her abnormal gaze.

“What is it…”

“your Mane’s all messy.”

“You don’t say… hay, wait, what are you-?” she pushed up against me, reaching around as if searching for something. I could feel her skin, it was cold from the outside air. Next thing she had a comb in her hoof.

“Wait, you don’t need-” it was irrelevant, she already made up her mind.

“I’ll make the mane pretty for a pretty pony.” she said as she made the first stroke. It hurt, that’s for sure. My headache began to crawl back again with each brush, my mind telling me to bear with it. I could recognize her act of kindness and I wasn’t about to shove it away. I don’t really deserve this kindness, but…

I looked up, back at the frame, but this time I wasn’t looking at the blue and white mare, I was looking at her kind friend who was brushing her mane. The mare behind her as an average Pegasus with a gray coat. Her mane, slightly messy and oily, was a bright blond that glowed like the sun. She was nothing to special, but some could consider her “special.” The mare is a little… light headed. Not only that, but she has a “condition” where her eyes don’t look straight. Because of this, a lot of Pegasus tease her and bully her.

She looks up at me, a smile making me feel so warm. I can’t tell if its ignorance or will, but she never seemed bothered by the constant teasing and braiding of insults. I sighed, if only I was like that So innocent and… we have known each other since we were little fillies, and since then… I couldn’t really get her off my back. Even with my crappy self and selfish ways… we still managed to stay friends… somehow…

“umm… Thanks… Ditzy doo…” I said, after a moment of fixing my mane. The mare smiles back at me, actually making me feel a bit embarrassed.

“aww, it’s nothing.” She said, “If there is anything I can do to help, I’ll do it!”

“umm…ya, you go do that.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ch.2 Home

ch.2

Watching the puffs of warm air weaving out of his mouth, Big Macintosh waits eagerly for his little sister to come home. Accompanied by Applebloom and one of AJ’s male friends, the three wait patiently at the train station. The air was dry on this cold day, but felt refreshing and clean in the lungs. Big Mac turns his head from side to side, relieving the stress on his neck; the popping sounds making Applebloom cringe a little. The wooden bench was cold and wet, but with Big Mac’s coat, it felt like nothing. Of course, this wasn’t the case for everypony. With either a long coat or a thick scarf, everypony was fit for the freezing winter weather. The harsher part of the winter was already over and Winter Wrap-up was only a few days away. With spring on their minds, Everypony waits eagerly for winter’s end.

“Bloody aye, it’s already been, like, 20 minutes.” Pacing up and down the length of the station, AJ’s friend glances at his watch, “I really don’t have time for this…” though the Colt keeps complaining about it, he would never leave the station till they got back. The stallion is kind of an odd fellow, but he puts friendships and relationships in high regards. Stopping in front of Big Mac and Applebloom, he checks his bag for a memo pad to jot something down. The stallion was about one hand taller than AJ, his form built more like a race horse than a labor horse. His coat was an Ivory white, being only a hint darker than Rarity’s. With a spiky black mane and tail, he keeps himself relatively groomed. He has golden hazel eyes, somewhat close to Ditzy Doo’s. His cutie mark was a paint pallet, a paint brush and the three primary colors splatted on it. He was currently wearing a gray Newsboy hat, a gray scarf, and a pair of gray, heavy-duty boots. In truth, he appears as a normal, average earth pony, but there was one thing that stuck out for him. He had a Mare’s snout, which was the main reason he became friends with Mac’s sister and the others.

You see, the six mares never really had any Stallion friends in there little friendship circle, and they weren’t looking for any either. He stumbled into the group when Pinkiepie mistook him for a lonely Mare, introducing him to her friends. It took a few days for them to realize their mistake, but by then he was already good friends with Twilight and Fluttershy. They never really decided to tell him though, Pinkie pie saying how much of a real friend he was. It took them a while, but they finally accepted him, though RainbowDash is still a little put off by it.

“Maybe, it’s the snow. It was snow’en mighty hard, yesterday.” Applebloom states, wiggling awkwardly in her large snow coat. The coat was previously owned by Applejack, so it was slightly big on her. The Coat was a burgundy color with a fur lining; she was like a burrito in that thing.

“well, hopefully they get here soon.” He replied, continuing his robotic pacing. Applebloom, now cuddling close to her brother, was sapping away the heat from his body. Letting Applebloom snuggle up to him, he turns towards the train tracks, towards the direction the train was supposed to come from.

The tracks where bare, the vast expanse of the snowy fields showed no sign that the train was near. Looking up at the milky sky, Macintosh could only imagine how Lightning is stressing herself. She is such nuisance, but Macintosh was always the tolerant type. Besides, for as long as he has known her, he couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy… only a little.

After five minutes or so, Applebloom fell asleep and AJ’s friend finally stopped and sat his plot down. At this time, it began to snow and it was getting gradually harder to stare at the sky. The flakes fall slow and soft, no wind to command where they should rest. It was soundless, only the crunching of snow could be heard from other ponies at the station. While the peace was enjoyable, time was lagging on. Lightningbolt began to crawl back in his mind again, though he wish she wouldn’t. She’s a grown pony, but she still acts like a Foal. That mare… in an effort to block her out, he closed his eyes, trying to think of anything els but lightning…

It only felt like he closed his eyes for a small moment, when he suddenly heard the sounds of train crawling into the station.

The sudden screech, the ear piercing sound of scraping steel was met by another loud deeper roar. The rearing sound shook Big mac, opening his eyes to see the train fall into the station. The snow swirled through the air as the machine decelerated. The heartbeat of the engine slowed as it hissed to a stop. Three loud toots awoke Applebloom instantly as the Station began to stir up with commotion. The train stood still, the doors to the carts swinging open. Like a fountain, streams of ponies left the iron beast, shouting and pushing each other to get their belongings.

“Hay, the train here!” Applebloom said, leaping off the bench and dashing into the crowd.

“Wait, AppleBloom!” Macintosh said, stumbling off as he pulls his limbs from under him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wull hurry it up, RD, I ain’t waiting for your flank.”

“Why you telling me? Rarity’s the one with all the junk.”

“For one, Rainbowdash, These cloths are NOT “junk”. Secondly, at least I have the decency to put my belongings in another Boxcart.”

“Well, you can’t trust those Colts, those sneaky little-” Rearing up, she strikes her luggage as it was jammed between the narrow doorway.

“ya sure you got it, sugarcube?”
“ya, ya, just a minute.” With another buck, the bag flies out, almost hitting someone as it clunked nosily on the station floor. “Presto! See, who need them!” with a hop and a skip, she jumps out and takes off. She couldn’t stand waiting any longer in that train, her wings aching for another flight. It was snowing fairly hard in the station, the marvelous snow dancing between everypony. The air was a refreshing glass of water, washing over her and making her feel rejuvenated. She breathed in, the cold outside air contrasting with her warm body, making her smile. The air felt natural under wing, her wings in command. She was only in the air for a short time, but it reminded her why she loved flying.

“Hay, hotrod, ya missen’ a wheel.” Her friend picked up her bag and pulls it to the side, out of the way of the growing crowd that was at the station.

“I umm, It was like that…” she fibbed, her friend picking up on her “I’m not guilty” face. After a short moment, she touched down and joined her friends still getting off the train. Trotting over, she retrieves her luggage from her earth pony friend.

“Ya shouldn’t be so careless about your things,” Her friend said, “Money don’t grow on trees.” Rainbow huffs to herself, she was the last pony to be told that. At least AJ was financially wealthy with the farm, she doesn’t have to adapt to a range of ever-shifting jobs. In fact, Aj’s money pretty much grows on trees! Rainbow turns away from her friend, twirling her suitcase by the one wheel.

“Yes, Ms. Applejack, I’ll do that, Ms. Applejack.” She said mockingly, getting her mind off money.

“Oh, knock it off, Surgarcube.” Aj said, jabbing her shoulder. Applejack was Dash’s best and closest friend, being kind, hardy and mindful of everypony. She lives with her siblings, Applebloom and Big Macintosh, and her granny, Miss Granny Smith. She also has a pet dog, but she keeps forgetting its name. Though she’s not as carefree and wild as RD, she’s makes up for it by being calm, honest, and reasonable. Because of AJ’s personality and morals, a lot of ponies consider her the “Rainbowdash tranquilizer.” Like a dog on a leash, she pretty much keeps her in check. From her temper to simple moral choices, she always has a way keep thing sane. Though the two have many differences between them, those differences are the things that keep them together.

“We’re finally back, girls, home sweet home” Closing a book and stuffing it away, a Purple unicorn smiles as she approached Dash and AJ “I can’t wait to study that plant Zecora gave me. If my calculations are correct, there should be exactly 3.827 liquid ounces of sap waiting for me.” Twilight squeals, even though nopony really cares. I don’t know about you, but Rainbow would rather be dead bored than do some research project.

“About time, trains take too long…” Spike, Twilight Sparkle’s dragon assistant, said with grogginess in his voice.

“ha ha, then why didn’t you sleep, silly… here, you can sleep on my back.”

“They had free food…” he whispers as he clawed his way to Twilight. Both Rainbow and AJ understood Spikes exhausted status, as they just got back from doing a play in Canterlot. Spike was playing as the narrator, and even though he didn’t need to act, it was just nerve racking. Rainbowdash and her friends were the main stars in a Play on Hearth's Warming Eve, reenacting the founding of Equestria. Rainbow had to use everything she got to play her role, and not just any role, but the role of the epic Commander Hurricane. Acting is one thing, but this was a COMPLETELY different story. Commander Hurricane is a great Pegasus Icon, and though RD flunked history, she still felt honored to play such a great role in pony history.

Spike began to snore noisily atop of Twilight, sleeping like a rock. Twilight smiles at her little dragon, using her telekinesis to move her suitcase out of the way of passing ponies. Shortly after, her other friends left the train. Rarity, with a lush fur coat, walked off with only a small purse, the rest of her thing in another cart. Fluttershy, saying nothing upon exiting, moved to the side and whispered sorry to every pony that passed. Pinkiepie, on the other hand, was talking up a storm as she hoped out. Not a single word was processed through Rainbow’s brain, her speed and “sugary” talk leaving most ponies bewildered of what she could be saying. Luckily, the conversation was not aimed at Rainbow, but to her sisters who trailed behind her, Inkie and Blinkie Pie. Inkie and Blinkie where visiting Pinkie Pie for the winter, and thus, attended the play in Canterlot. Their reason for their stay was not really clear, but nothing that Rainbow was interested in.

“So what about you, Rainbowdash?” The purple unicorn spoke, “Do you have anything planed this evening?” Rainbow, not putting any though, replied.

“ummm… nah, I’ll just sleep at home.” She said, dropping the first thing that came to her.

“What about you, Applejack?”

“Tellen’ the truth, I’m not quite sure what ta do. Maybe I’ll just go home. I recken’ Granny smith and my siblings are probably worrying about me.” Applejack shrugs, her plan not being any better than Rainbow’s. Rainbow sighs with boredom, puffing small clouds of warm air into Aj’s ear. Her ears twitch, tolerating it as she continued talking to Twi. Maybe I should walk Aj home, she thought to herself. What els could she possibly do?... but before she could say a thing, a filly rushed under her, making her jump.

“Hay” she shouted, only realizing a second later that it was Aj’s little sister, Applebloom.

“AppleJack!” the filly shouts, doing a full on tackle.

“Applebloom!” AJ said, catching her and falling onto the wet station floor.

“whoa, hay there, sugar-cube. What are ya doing here? I thought-” Aj said, brushing the snow off her little head. “I missed you, big sister, why wouldn’t I!” Applebloom glimmers with a smile as she hugged her, squeezing her tight like a pillow. Aj’s hat fell off her head within their embrace, some of her other friends walking over to also greet Applebloom.

Rainbow steps away, watching from a distance as they began to laugh about something her ears didn’t pick up. She made no effort to acknowledge little Applebloom, not a simple “Hi” or “what’s up?” She grunts to herself, staring at the two, grunting something to herself.

Her body reacts faster than her mind could process, Jumping at the sound of Big mac’s voice. She takes a moment, glancing at the big red stud.

“Big Mac!” she said, almost in a surprised manner. She should have known better, though, if Applebloom was here, why wouldn’t he? She raised her hoof,

“Hay, how’ve you been?” her hoof splotches against his shoulder, snowy slush hugging his coat as it left Rainbow’s hoof. “opps…” Big mac stared at it for a bit, shrugging it off.

“Fine...” He says quietly…

...

“…ok…” she grunts, “so, umm… did you do anything interesting?” she pauses, “Maybe got busy with some mare?” she tries a more joking tone, which didn’t work.

“Nope.” He said in his monotone. “Just worked on the farm.”

...

She grunts again, this was the only difficulty she had with Macintosh. Every attempted to start a conversation with the big colt always ended up at a dead end. It’s not him, she tells herself, it’s probably her. She exhales deeply, her mind empty of ideas. At the sight of Macintosh turning his attention to his sisters, she stepped forward, putting one hoof in front of him. He pulls his head back, awaiting some response or question from the Rainbow mare.

She fell frozen, what is she doing? She couldn’t think of anything to say, so why get in the way? Impulse, she blamed. Why else would she have done it?... Maybe… she takes a quick glance behind her, her friends unaware of the two of them.

“umm…is there-?” he stops in mid-sentence. His deep green eyes looked down at Rainbow, her body useless as snow drifted in front of them. Say something, you idiot!, she told herself, but what? She can’t think of anything to say, what can she possibly talk about? They don’t have anything inco-

“Lightning.” The name left her mouth, “L-lightning Bolt, What about her? Is she ok?” Big mac’s expression goes unchanged, but his voice had a little bit of amazement in it, as if he was surprised she would bring up Lightning Bolt. She wondered that too, why her name left her lips.

“well, umm, she’s fine…” his eyes leave her face, “But…She’s eager to see you, again…”

“oh.” That’s all she could think of. Applejack noticed her brother seconds later, the stud leaft her and wondered off to greet his sister. She evaded the incident, but her mind was itching with thoughts of Lightning Bolt. It’s bewildering her why that very pony would come to mind. She was just a distant thought, but… she just wondered why she would mention her to Big Mac. “I doesn’t think he knows her, but he did answer the question…so why…”

She stops herself, too much things to think about. She shakes her head, the snow flying off her mane. Just too much to think about right now… she looks back up at the sky, the snow growing thicker. She felt sick inside, but just had to ignore it. “stupid idiot.” She tells herself. That conversation with Big Mac could have gone better, way better. But, aw well, she had to start somewhere…

As she reviewed the steps in her mind, she huffs another cloud of warm air, “step one: get to know each other."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ch.3

Ch.3

Though there wasn’t any snow at this altitude, it was damn near freezing up here. I mean, yes it’s always cold this high up, but the wind and cold air just goes right through your cloths. It’s a lot warmer down under, but that’s where every pony goes, and if you didn’t figure it out, I was never good with other ponies. I was pacing back and forth between the cloud’s edge and the door to my apartment, waiting for Ditzy Doo to hurry up. Ugh, I hate the cold!

“Damn it, how long does it take to take a Sh*t?” I ask myself, my hoofs shaking. I also hate the cold because I have to put on these annoyingly thick cloths. This jacket has always feet me awkwardly and always made me feel like a burrito. It doesn’t help that this thing doesn’t help, I’m still freezing. I might as well be sitting in a freezer. After a moment of bickering to myself wither I should just leave her, I sat my plot on a lone cloud that was drifting by. It was terribly cold but I stopped caring after a bit.

“…What the buck is taking her so long?” I mumble to myself, “I didn’t think she was THAT slow” I respond… well, I guess she’s not really slow, maybe ditzy or derpy but…I sigh, trying to forget about her… eventually, Rainbow Dash crossed my mind.

“She’s coming back to ponyville today, right?” I ask myself, “Unless Big Mac was lying…” I replied, adjusting the blue scarf around me. “maybe I’ll see her today…that would be nice…” Rainbow has been out of town for the last few weeks. She, along with five or six of her friends, was invited by the Princess herself to recite some play about Hearth’s warming eve. I would have loved to see rainbow up on stage… but as you know, I don’t have that kind of money… now that I think about it, where in Equestra does Rainbow Dash work? I don’t remember the last time I saw her working… maybe she just-

There was a freezing chill that ran down my neck; it made me yelp as it slid down my scarf. I could feel some pony pulling at me, pressing icy tuffs of clouds against my hair and down my coat. I yelled as I tried to pull her talons away from me, her laughter making me boil. I had to break free by removing my blue scarf, strafing away as I listened to her stupid laugh.

“The hell, Gilda!” I shout, my body reacting awkwardly to the chilled cloud. “Ah, You Prick!” this only made her laugh more, her stupid little laugh ticking me off.

“Haha, come on, I was only joking around!” she says, holding my scarf in her claws. I glare at her, watching as she tosses the scarf around her stupid, white neck, giving an irritating smile on her stupid, fat beak.

“What the hell do you want?” I ask, already knowing she came to bother me. I put my hoof around my neck, my exposed neck getting really cold. “oh, just checking how the lamest pony in Cloudsdale is doing. Finally coming out of your little cave?” she circles me, keeping her stupid golden eyes on me. I just wanted to poke them out!

“Buzz off! Go bother some other pony!”

“Oh, don’t be like that to a friend… oh wait, you don’t have any friends.” She dashes at me, pushing me to the side. I beat my wings faster, my teeth hurting from how hard I was scowling. She starts to circle me again, like some bird of prey. I tried to move away, trying to ignore her, but she would intercept me. She was so damn annoying, as if I didn’t have enough problems on my hoofs. She shoves me again, spewing her insults, my tolerance draining out of me. I would have just yelled and screamed at her but I could see Ditzy Doo finally coming out of the building. I push her aside; I didn’t want to stay any longer.

“Ditzy, what took you!” I said, my frustration showing in my voice. She seemed oblivious as she closed the door behind her, but as soon as Gilda flew down, I could see Ditzy getting tense.

“oh, if it isn’t Derpy Hoofs! Hanging with the looser I see.” Even Ditzy pushes past her, not wanting her crap either.

“why do you have to bother us? Your being mean!” she says, closing her jacket and slinging her mail bag over her. She just laughs, “come on, don’t be sore, it’s just some meaningless fun.” This rattled me. We all know this wasn’t some joke, she does this all the damn time, and though I can take most of the insults, Ditzy wasn’t as strong. At this point, I just wanted to leave for Ditzy’s sake.

“I hear Rainbow dash is back, but I guess you already know that. Doesn’t that gets you wet thinking about it, aye Lightning?” She scoffs at me. She knew I liked Rainbow Dash, I don’t know how she found out, but now she won’t shut up about it.

“Come on, Ditzy, let’s get out of here.” Trying my best to ignore her, I grabbed Ditzy’s hoof and hurried off the cloud. I open my wings and start to glide down, being mindful of Ditzy.

“But it’s not like that’s going to change anything.” She follows us like a fly, “at the end of the day, your still going back to that body pillow!” she starts to mock me, “oh, Rainbowdash! Harder!” ditzy looks over at me, “Body pillow?” god, I just wanted to smack her!

“Fuck off Gilda!” I shout my face red. I took up a drifting cloud, rounding it out like a snowball and chucking it at her. She didn’t even move, my aim completely off. She laughs, “Haha, by far, your worst throw ever. I’ve seen foals throw better than you!”

“Go away, Gilda! Stop making fun of us!” Ditzy says. “Sorry, Derpy, I didn’t know you where so close to Lighting.” She scoffs, an insult aimed at me.

“It’s Ditzy! Not Derpy!” I yell at her, drawing attention to myself as I just noticed a few pegasi flying by.

“haha, whatever lame-oh, it was nice teasing you fools!” she says, starting to fly up and away.

“Jackass! I’m not done with you!” I Shout, my rage getting to me. I was about to pursue her but, ditzy managed to catch me tail. “no!...let’s just go, please.” I look down at her, about to pull my tail away, but I could see Ditzy was serious, both eyes on me. “…fine.” I say, my wings still beating hard with frustration…

~~~~~~~~~~

As I flew down with her, we passed by the first layers of clouds, snow already drifting on us. We passed by a few other pegasi going up, some of them giving us looks or whispering. Well, they may have just been talking to each other, but hell would I know… as I flew down, the snow drifted onto my black jacket, appearing brightly on it while it vanished on my white coat. I feel Ditzy’s hoof on my shoulder, making me stop.

“Your scarf…she took it!” Ditzy says, reminding me. I pretty much forgot about that thing.

“oh… um, it’s ok. I wouldn’t want it back anyways…” actually, I did… it was an expensive scarf.

“B-but your neck will be cold.” As she says this, my body starts to shiver, my neck cold. “Ditzy, I’ll be fine…” I turn away from her, trying to move on… as I flew, I noticed Ditzy wisent saying a thing, I struck this as odd till a yellow cloth rapped its self around my neck. It made me jump.

“There! Nice and warm.” As I turn around, she fits the scarf around me, a sweet smile on her face. Her neck was bare. “?...Oh, but this is yours. You’re going to get cold.” The yellow scarf was warm, it felt really nice… and it smelled like her.

“oh, it’s ok, lightning. If there’s anything I can do to help-“
“you’ll do it.” I finish her sentence. She smiles kindly as she hugged me. She felt so warm… I think I was blushing. I hugged her back, loving the warmth she emitted. I’m gifted to have a friend like her… I released her as another pony was passing by.

“um… let’s get going.” I say, not wanting anypony to think anything. As we both flew down, i began to see the lights of the small village under. The small little place called ponyville.

Author's Note

Deepest apologies! i'm sorry for the lack of story lately... i've lost my USB stick witch had all my stories on it, i also broke my computer so i wasent able to type for a long while ^^;; i also kinda went into a depressing stage becasue of that, so much stories! TT~TT.... i've also been busy with a perfect somepony, if you want to call it that -///-... I'm deeply sorry and i wish i could have done better... thank you to those who stayed on this story, i'll get back to it as soon as possible!

ch.4

Ch.4

It was slowly getting later and later in the day. The evening sun was slowly drifting down, the orange glow reflecting on the untouched snow and hitting my eyes. It was like a winter beach sunset, the snow sparkling like moving water. I swallow the bite of my daisy sandwich, picking a petal out of my teeth. I glance over to Ditzy, who was shoving another muffin in her mouth. I laugh softly as I watched the many ponies under me. We were sitting on top of Ponyville’s clock tower, watching the town bellow. I’ve been hunting for Rainbow dash for a while, so I thought it would be a good time to take a break. With the two of us hungry, went to Ponyville’s bakery to get some food. The owners of the shop must have known Ditzy, because they already had a batch of muffins for her. I tried to buy my own things, but Ditzy insisted to pay for everything, which was smart because she was getting a discount. I got myself some donuts, a daisy sandwich and some bread with this jelly in it. Cherry, I think. As I finished up with the last bite of my sandwich, I leaning back, listening to the gears as they moved in the tower. The loud clicks of the gears going into place, the echoing boom of the hands moving.

“This is great!” Ditzy says, holding up another muffin as if she was talking to it. I glance over at her, “What, the muffin?” she looks at me with her eyes.

“no, silly! Hanging out with you.” She makes a qwarky smile. I huff, letting out a little grin as I puffed out clouds of hot air. We don’t get to hang out much, do we, Ditzy? Most of the time, Ditzy’s job requires her services, being a mail pegasi and all… and half the time, when she is free, I have work. I place my hoof on her head, ruffling her mane, she giggles as she lightly swats my hoof away.

A few minutes passed, maybe thirty or so. Ditzy was saving her last muffin and I pretty much finished everything I had. We were just sitting there, talking mostly. Chatting about anything that came to mind. Work, money, how our lives are doing... things we wanted to do or see… that kind of stuff. She even talked about some animal she saw the other day. But after a while, we simply ran out of things to say. I was staring at my hoofs when Ditzy asked, “Lightning… do you like anypony?”

I remember just keeping my head down, not looking at her. I never told her I was a fillyfooler, and it just never felt right to tell her. She was my best friend, but I could never… I guess I just don’t want her to think I’m … I make a fake laugh, “Ha, you kidding me?” I keep my eye away. “what makes you think that?...” she sits quiet for a little. I take a quick glance at her, she was looking down too.

“…I don’t know…just asking.” She looks up again, puffing out smoke. I shrug, I wonder where that came from…She holds her muffin, rotating it and examining it.

“Hay, lightning, can I have my scarf back?” Ditzy asks, “it’s kinda cold.”

“oh, ya sure.” I take the scarf off slowly, the chill running down my neck. I forgot how cold it was today. As I fold it once, I held it out to her.

“Thanks, light-” As she reached out and took it, a gust of wind blows by, picking the scarf right from her hoofs. “opps…” she watches as the scarf drifts down. I sigh, “Ditzy…” she looks back at me with dotty eyes. “I’m sorry…”

I chuckle, “come on, let’s get that scarf.” I carefully opened my wings, the wind pushing me off the tower and lifting me in the air. Ditzy stumbles a bit, regaining balance as she floats down. I follow her down, stepping onto a roof. Ditzy flies above the lanes, scanning the cobblestone streets.

“hay, Why aren’t you looking on the roof?” I move, the clumps of snow sliding off the roof and falling into the streets.

“it fell over here…” she says as she flies ahead of me, going down to the streets and looking on the ground. She moves to an intersection, turning in circles, her eyes going this way and that. As I watched her trot around, I had a random thought… I wonder if Ditzy can see more with eyes like that… just think, she can look at two things at once… maybe that’s why I can’t play splitscreen video games with her…

“Peanut!” Ditzy dashes off around a corner, out of my line of site. Peanut? What kind of name is that? I move across the roof till I was looking over the ally she ran too. I could see her standing next to somepony, the two talking to each other. The pony’s coat was an Ivory white, the snow barely visible on his coat. The pony’s tail and mane was thick and black, a gray Newsboy hat sitting on his head. The cold had golden hazel eyes, somewhat close to Ditzy Doo’s. His cutie mark had some painting thing and a brush that had red, yellow, and blue on it. He had a gray, plaid scarf around him and wore some thick boots. In the colt’s hoofs was Ditzy’s yellow scarf. I flew down, interrupting them. The snow splashes as slush stuck wet on my coat.

“-I kind of figured it was yours, it smelled like a muffin.” The colt says, handing it back to her. “But it smelled a little…” he looks over at me, stopping and staring at me with his yellow eyes. I grunt at him, intimidating him so he looks away.

Ditzy rubs her scarf on her muzzle, her cheeks rosy. “Thank you, Peanut!” she giggles to herself. The colt nods his head,

“um…No problem, Ditzy…” he looks over at me again. “What?” I respond. He takes a step back, but Ditzy cuts in.

“oh, Peanut, This is my best friend, Lightning Bolt.” She points to me, “Lightning, this is Peanut.” I stare at the colt, who felt uneasy.
“um… so your lightning bolt,” he lifts his hoof. “it’s nice to meet you… Ditzy talks about you.” I stare at him, not wanting to touch him. He retracts his handshake, not making it easy on him. “….o-k.”

“Is it really Peanut? Because it would be a dumb name.” I state, not interested in being friendly. “It’s just a nick name Ditzy gave me, I’m Pecan Pallet.” He adjusts his hat. Ditzy jumps up and hugs the both of us with her hoofs, bringing us awkwardly close. “yay, best friends together!” she exclaims as we both beg her to let go. I tried to pull her hoofs away, but she had a strong grip. After a moment, she released us both.

“wow, *cough* you’r a lot stronger than you look, Ditzy.” Pecan says, adjusting his scarf. Ditzy giggles to herself as she gentally took out the muffin she was saving, “I saved this for you!” she holds it out for the colt. He looks at it, but shakes his head and pushes it away.

“Oh, thanks, but no thanks. I had some food already.” He says, adjusting his hat again. “I had an apple fritter earlier when I was at AJ’s place.”

“aaaaw…” she looks down, making the colt sigh. “But I can still take it, thanks.” Ditzy smiles again, her ears perking up again. I chuckle a little, “softie.”

“Um… what’s an AJ?’ Ditzy Doo tilts her head, her eyes rolling like a marble.

“oh, you know … AppleJack… she has that funny round hat,” the colt moves his hoofs to mimic the size of it, “…um… she lives in a barn…she’s Rainbow Dash’s friend, the one with the orange coat and yellow mane.” My lungs jump out of my throat for a second. Did he say Rainbow Dash?

“oh, ya! Big Mac’s sister! ” Ditzy says, puffing her cheeks. That’s right, Big mac’s sister is Applejack, and she’s friends with Rainbow Dash. That’s it! She must be at Big Mac’s place! The colt nods his head,

“Correct… I was just following them for a bit.” The colt looks past Ditzy, “Hay… where’s your friend going?” by the time she turned around, I was already taking off into the sky.
~~~~

“Ditzy… Is lightning always that… um… unfriendly?” Pecan Pallet asks her as they walked the snowy streets. Ditzy floats beside him, paddling the air like a dog. “What do you mean?” Pallet sighs,

“…Nothing Ditzy… I guess I was just uncomfortable.” Pecan trots along the cold ground, bringing up the muffin and taking a small bit. “Mmm, blueberry…”

Author's Note

FIMfiction has been derping alot so i wasent able to post this the other day. i've also had two essays and a prodject to do. also, i'm not seeing my Special somepony anymore... so i'll be able to type better ^^; but it's kind of depressing because Hearts and hooves is right around the corner...... so ya. i'm also thinking of another story, one thats a little more grim, but i still dont know if i want to do it... i'l have the next chapter next week. all the characters are on the playing field and it's time to get things started.

ch. 5

Ch.5

My face was cold to the touch, the snow unrelenting as it fell to the ground. A big flake lands on my nose, the chill making me brush my nose out of discomfort. The road to the apple farm was caked in snow, the few tracks quickly disappearing into the white blanket. I flew alongside the rows of trees along the path. They were bare, but the snow rested on them like sugar. As I flew, I truly hoped that Rainbow Dash was still there. All I needed was a glimpse of her Beautiful skin, her flowing locks of rainbow hair and her crystal eyes. Even if I don’t get to talk to her, or even challenger her to a race, I’d be content in just seeing her.

I could see the hills and fences as I got closer and closer to the home. The Apple plantation was wide and vast, spanning many archers. The trees traversed in long rows, climbing up the hills that dipped and dived all throughout the orchard. This always provided a really good place to practice my flying skills. As you know, there was a small river and a little pond that ran through the plantation, the same pond I fell in a few days prior. Somewhere in the forest of apple trees, there was an old tree house, I believed it now belongs to Big Mac’s little sister. But in the heart of it all was the recognizable red barn of the Apple family, where Big Macintosh and his family lived.

I could see the home now, the lush red paint and the glow from candle lights inside contrasted with the white world around. The sun was disappearing beyond the horizon and the snow was beginning to let up. I slow and descend beside the small yellow fence that lead up to the home. My breath chilled as I stood there. I could feel my blood pumping, I felt confident. I trot quickly to the home, my wings spread as i stepped up to the door. It was engraved with perfect precision, etchings of vibrant apple trees with an apple doorknocker. I lift my hoof, feeling the smooth craftsmanship of the knocker. I lift it, it moving smoothly. But then I pause, all I needed was one single motion, but I couldn’t do it. What if Macintosh’s family opens the door? I don’t really know them and they don’t know me… I try to brush away the thought, but I started to wonder if Rainbow opened the door. What will I say? What will I do? I could be lucky and get Big Mac, but…

I slowly let the handle rest back on the door, backing up. I never think things through, do I? it’s such a simple thing, but I hate interaction. I didn’t even like talking to that one colt; the one Ditzy introduced me to not so long ago. I wonder who he is anyways… I heard a sound, not sure what but something. It sounded as if it came around the house. I move down, looking to the side of the house. I stop. One pair of hoof prints. They diverged from my print, circling around the house. The pony must have come from inside. I start to follow it, maybe it was Macintosh. As I turn the corner of the house, I could see the prints walking off to the red barn that sat behind the home. The doors where pushed open, a basket laying on the ground as apples doted the snow. A cyan pony flies down, rushing to pick them up off the ground. My lungs drop, my heart stops and my wings snapped back to my body. I trip as I pushed the snow, backing myself behind the house wall. I clung to it, the pony out of my line of site.

Rainbow Dash

My heart rate shoots out of the roof, my confidence drifting with the wind. I tried to swallow but I felt so choked up. Damn it, why does it always end up this way. I hate the feeling of my heart beating so fast…but, it always felt warmer when I see her… though I felt uneasy, I look around the corner. She was still there, her beautiful rainbow Mane flowing in the air. She must have not seen me because she was still gathering the apples.

Even from this distance, I couldn’t deny the beauty of Rainbow Dash. I wasn’t much for rainbows, but something about her… it just looked so perfect on her. I watched her clean an apple on her lushes coat, my mind wondering how soft it was. She takes a bite, eating it as I stared at her rose-colored eyes that sparkled against the sun. her wings where neatly preened, her feathers glowing. It kind of made me look back at myself, a dull, uncombed coat with semi-tangled mane. Ugh, I look like a mess…

I pear around the corner again, she was placing the apples back in the basket when I saw the barn door open up. The Big colt walks out, his mouth moving but I was too far to hear. Rainbow starts to talk back to him, Big Mac nods. What are they talking about? I wondered. Macintosh huffs, looking up… at me.

Instinctively, I hid myself again, only realizing that I look even weirder by hiding. I inhaled and exhaled. “I don’t need to be nervous. It’s just Macintosh and some pony.” I lie to myself. I don’t know why I would lie to myself, maybe I was hoping that I would just pretend like it was nothing. After a short second, I forced myself in to the open, only to find myself stumped as Macintosh was the only one there, smiling as he carried with two baskets.

“What? Where is she?” I said in confusion, Macintosh’s grin still on his face. “What are you smiling about?” almost on cue, I felt two cold snowballs simultaneously slap each side of my flank, making me jump and nay loadly. As I stumbled I could hear the sound of Big Mac’s low chuckle and Rainbow Dash’s lighter laughter. My eyes hide in the shadow of my hair, my face hot. I didn’t know who to confront first, to stare embarrassed at Rainbow or glare annoyed at Big Mac.

“Haha, gatcha!” Rainbow Dash manages to say in her laugh. My face flushes red, rubbing snow off me. “R-Rainbow!” I shouted, that’s all I could say at the moment. Rainbow floats down at eye level, her teasing grin wide as looked at me.

“I was getting worried about you.” Rainbow says, her words shocking me for a moment. “I haven’t seen my stalker all week, I though you died!” she jokes, my heart drops. “Well, except Scootaloo…” she looks away for a moment than back at me. My eyes stare down at the snow, staring at her hoofs.

“I’m not your stalker!” I said, my voice a bit shaky. Rainbow lifts her hoof, brushing her mane to the side as she snickers. “Then maybe you should talk to your friend over there.” I spin around, Macintosh looking away with a smile.

“Macintosh! What did you do?!” I cuff a hoof full of snow, quickly slushing it together and chucking it at him. The snow separates as it arks in the air, reducing into powder as it made contact. “You better not have said a thing!”

“Like what, Lightning?” Rainbow whispers into my ear as she got close. Her breath was warm, sending a shiver that shook my body. My face is probably a rose now.

“That’s enough Rainbow.” Macintosh walking up to me, standing above me and smiling. I glare up at him. Rainbow Dash laughs again, patting my closed wings.

“ya, fine.” She walks off to the house with a smile. I felt so hot and my heart was siting uncomfortably in my chest… well, at least I made her smile and laugh. Macintosh moves past me, my hooves trailing quickly next to him.

“That was so damn embarrassing. You better have not told her ANYTHING!” I said in a low growl.

“Nope.” He says in mono tone, “That’s your job.”

What? Me tell Rainbow that I like her? Bullshit! I could never! She will just blow me off! Besides if he keeps giving her hints, she will figure it out herself. I stare at Big Mac hard; I can’t believe he said that to me. He should know better than anypony that I could never tell Rainbow of my true feeling. That’s just so unthinkable.

He looks back at me, as if he knew what I wanted to say. “You’ll have to tell her one day.” he walks up to the door, pushing it open for Rainbow, and then for me. I hesitate to enter at first, sighing. “You’re a prick, Big Mac.”

“Eayup.” He follows me as I enter the home. I hear the door close and lock as I stepped on the soft rug. I could hear Macintosh’s sisters running around the house, Rainbow Dash entering the living room. I reluctantly moved into the living room, everything in the same spot as it was before. Rainbow flies over and sits herself near the fireplace, the wood nice and crispy in the fire. Macintosh walks past me, going off and delivering the basket of apples in the kitchen. I sigh silently to myself, sitting in the corner of the room. I quickly started to feel hot, the snow on my coat melting and making it feel like sweat. I remove my jacket, laying it on the floor to sit on. The warmth of the room made me uncomfortable, contrasting so much to the cold winter air outside. I watch Rainbow lazily lay on the rug, the fire place giving her that glow again. I watched her chest rise and fall, her eyes scanning the room from her angle. After a moment, I caught myself staring at the firm curvature of Dash’s flank. So groomed, so perfect, so …round. I sigh again, closing my eyes as I denied my own fantasies.

What chance do I have with her? Stop thinking such stupid and impossible things.
My mind tells me as I slouch. What chance do I have? She probably has more than one mare or colt around her hoof. I’m just a lousy slug compared to her… A shuffle of hoofs maked me look up, just in time to see Applebloom stop in mid-run, surprised to see me.

“lightning Bolt!” she says. I watch as I see Applebloom’s sister trip over her, full body slaming into the half dozed Pegasus. Dash coaughs and huffs from the unexpecting blow, the sister laughing a little.

“oops.” Little filly says to her older sister. I watch as Rainbow sputters a little. “Hay watch where you’re going next time, I was nearly sleeping.”

The older sister adjusts her hat on her head, still chuckling to herself. “Sorry about dat, Rainbow, I musta’ got carried away there.” She looks up at me, her green, earthpony eyes looking at the mare in the room.

“Um…howdy, you a guest?” she asks, not at me exactly, but eveypony here.

“This is Lightning Bolt.” Appleblooms chimes in, “She’s friends with Macintosh.” Her little body bouncing around. The sister raises a brow, “A friend?...” she looks me up and down.

“ya, we know each other, but I wouldent say friends.” Apon saying this, she seemed to loosen up.

“Well, I’m glad to meet ya’. The names AppleJack.” She says, but I already knew that. “same”

A moment later, Macintosh enters the room, calling AJ to help with some problem. As they left, the three of us sat awkwardly in the living room. The little filly started prodding me with questions, her energy unending. I try to keep up with her, but she just kept going. I felt uncomfortable around the little filly, I’m never good with kids and I never liked them either. Every time we did see eachother, she would normally be too busy with something or Big Mac would stop her questions. So with her older siblings gone she laid up the questions.

“What’s your favorite color?”
“Um…Blue…… I mean Cy-”
“Do you like apples? Bananas?”
“ya, I guess, but -“
“Where did you get that jacket? It smells.”
“Well, I… Wait, what?”

Rainbowdash laughs a little, minding her own business as she let me suffer. Jerk. Applebloom taps me on the leg, “Hay, Lightning?” she stares up at me. Here we go again…

“what cha’ doing here? Did you come to see my Big Brother?” I look down at the little filly.

“na, I came here for Rainbow.” Sometimes I wonder if I have a brain. I bit my tongue, my eyes darting to Dash. Lucky for me, she seemed preoccupied, gazing into the glowing fire that illuminated the room. I sigh in relief.

“oh, ya! She’s your friend too.” I look back down at the filly. Friends…

“ya…just friends.”

After a moment, Big Mac and his sister returned with a few apple slices, setting it down as AJ talked about her escapade with Rainbow. She talked about how it was so cool to go back to Canterlot, commenting about how beautiful it was in the winter. She talked about how she did in the play, Rainbow throwing a comment here and there. She even talked about how the crowd loved the performance and how much fun it was. All this talk astounded Applebloom, being greatly engrossed in her trip. I could care less, but I listened anyway. I listened as the four joked about whatever. I watched as they ate apple slices and messed around. I watched and listened as the sisters get all warm and cuddly. I watched and listened as I sat there, waiting.

Though everyone seemed fine, I felt… crummy… for lack of a better word. I just didn’t feel right. Maybe it was everypony around me… I felt…out of place. Watching this little happy family be together, enjoying one another’s company. Even Dash looked happy… while I sat here in the corner, watching like some outcast. I guess that was half on my part, as I’ve said nothing this whole time. But… damn I’m hopeless.

I slowly picked myself up, the others laughing about something. I quietly left the room, leaving them to their peace. As I walked down to the entrance, my mind filtered through my feelings. They probably won’t even notice my absence. Why should they anyways… right as I was about to open the front door, I freeze as I saw somepony looking at me. I sigh, it was just a mirror. I took a good look at myself, the pony staring back saying, “Lightning, what are you doing?” I stare into the black of my eyes, so dark and lost.

I turn away from her, pushing the door open. The air was still and it wasn’t so cold anymore. I step out from the door, stepping on the recoated snow. I listen to the crunching snow, gazing up at the sky. The clouds have cleared and the moon and stars where glimmering in the white dark. It was a quarter moon out today, the world still dim. I stretch out my wings, pushing down as the snow left my hooves. The air felt fresh on my coat. It was only after I passed the height of the trees did I look back, back at the little red house. The windows shined orange from the fireplace, a place of warmth.

Sometimes I wondered if I was just being dumb. I could have stayed longer, just watch Dash all night. Maybe they’ll think I’m just being a loner or something… I wonder what Rainbow thinks…

Well, at the end of the day, no matter how much I think about something or how much I wished I’ve done something, It ended with me all alone and another moonlit night before me.

Rainbow leans back, munching on the last apple slice. Her orange friend getting up, “I’m bet’n we need another batch.” She starts trotting back to the kitchenstaring at her flank as she left. As dash swallowed the last bit, she lays back on the floorboard, patting her stomach. “That will be mighty appreciated.” She makes her best impression. As she lay there, she looked around the room, gazing at all pictures that sat around. The fire crackled softly, warming her soft coat. She continues to look around, the antique furniture and styled wallpaper fitting the room. Rainbow Dash loved coming to the apple farm, not only for her friend, but for the family warmth that seemed to trickle out of this home, a warmth that was missing in her childhood. But as she looked around, she turns over, staring into the empty spot in the room. Her head spins around the room, searching. Where did she go?

As she lifts herself from the ground, she trots over to the spot. Lightning left her jacket on the floor. She picks it up with her hoofs, feeling the tightly sowed material. She peeks behind, Macintosh and Applebloom not noticing. She lifts it to her snout, taking a deep breath as the sent sifted through her nose. It smelled light and soft, but most of all, it smelled like her. As she pulls it away, Macintosh speaks, which made her jump.

“That’s Lightning’s.” he looks over her shoulder. “she must have left it.” Dash nods, “ya…”

With that she sets it on a stool, returning back to the warmth. She continued hanging out with AJ for the rest of the night, but every so often, she glances out the window, to the quarter moon that lite the night.

Author's Note

eayup...

ch.6

CH.6

“AH, my eyes!”

“Oh, bloody. Are you ok?” I watch Pecan Pallet rush to Ditzy, dropping his extra snowballs to assist her. I watch as she brushes the snow off her face. As the colt approached her, she spins around, slamming an ice ball into his face. I laugh a little, watching him stumble as Ditzy pelts him with snow.

“Hay, no fair!” he throws puffs of snow at her as she laughs. I chuckle, amused by Ditzy’s little ruse. It was Friday and Ditzy doesn’t work today. I had cloud duty today, but honestly, how can anypony know if there are clouds out today? It’s been snowing all day, so of course there are clouds. I decided to call this a free day for myself. I found Ditzy in the Bakery again, getting another batch of muffins. It was high noon when we ran into her little friend, Pallet. The two talked and stuff, nothing I really cared about. It wasn’t as cold today, so I didn’t need my jack... If I could find it in the first place. I must have thrown it somewhere in the pile of junk in my apartment.

I adjust myself better on the bench, the seat nice and warm from my presence. I sat soundlessly, observing my good friend as she raged war. She manages to pelts him with a snowball to the face... she’s a good shot. At least she was starting to gain some friends now, not like before. I hate anypony who single her out from everyone else, so it was kind of nice that she was getting along with another pony. After a moment, I dug through a bag Ditzy took with her. Shoving through a dozen muffins, I found my silver thermos, cranking it open as the warm steam hits me. The scent sent a warm chill through my nostrils, the sugary smell just right not to be over bearing. I kept my nose on the thermos basking in the chocolaty essence as the heat seeped through the top. I let it rest on my lap, the thing so nice and warm.

“Hay lightning, why don’t you join us?” Ditzy says, laughing as chunks of snow stuck to her. I stare up at her,

“Erm…no thinks.” I rather stay on my warm spot.

“aah, please? It will be fun!” she pleads, trying to use her Puppy eyes on me.

“Really, Ditzy, I don’t want too... and don’t use that on me.” I stare into her eyes. “um... Ditzy?”

“Come on, Ditzy, If she wants too, she’ll join us.” The Colt was removing his jacket , shuddering from the snow Ditzy shoved down his Jacket. “besides, You shouldn’t distract yourself!” He chucks another snowball, hitting her wing. She hovers off as they continued their fight.

I couldn't help but peek a smile, watching her scurry like a filly. This Friday felt really nice and relaxing, just me and my friend. I held up the warm thermos to my lips, the milky chocolate tasting nice and rich. It warms my mouth and throat, breathing out a large cloud of heat. The hot chocolate tasted sweet, having that strange, but lovable taste that only Ditzy can make. it had that smell and that taste only Ditzy could make, the taste that made everything she makes unique. It was nice of her to make this hot chocolate for me... too bad I can’t make anything in return.

I take another drink, enjoying the warm fluid as it slips down my throat. I lick my lips, savoring the taste and retrieving the few drops that dripped from my muzzle. I let out another satisfied huff of warm air, staring up into the sky. I love hot chocolate. Well, I like Ditzy’s more than Big Mac’s. I rub my head as memories from a few days ago resurfaced. I really do wonder what he put in my drink, he didn’t honestly have to do that!... but... maybe he did need too...

I place my thermos down, thoughts of Dash running back to me. I hated thinking about Rainbow Dash, because I always end up getting upset with myself. Like what I did the day she got back, I pretty much didn’t accomplish anything the other day...I was pretty much an awkward stick. I try to drown myself with the thermos, but the thoughts remained in my head. I didn’t even speak to her, just sat in the corner of the room. Damn it, I hate my brain.

I start chugging down the thermos in a useless effort to stop thinking. The hot chocolate burned a little as it went down. Before I was able to finish, somepony grabbed my sides. My ticklish body flutters out of my control, the drink rushing out of my nose. I cough as my wings spas out, dropping the thermos and bolting off the bench. Rubbing my snout and coughing stridently, the sound of laughter reached my ears.

“Damn, lightning, I don’t remember you being THAT ticklish.” Rainbow’s raspy voice instantly made my body feel fuzzy as I tried to breath. What is she doing here?

“I’m...*cough* I’m not ticklish.*huff*...You surprised me.” I clear my throat, wiping my muzzle. She rests her hoofs on the bench, trotting down like steps till she was a hoof away from me. she hits my back, which helped.

“I wash just joking, cool down, will ya.” I couldn't look at her, fear that I still had everything dripping from my snout. Why is she here?

“*cough*...T-thanks.” My nerves began to freeze up again, my chest feeling hot and cold. She walks around, looking so our eyes meet. I step away, her face being close to mine. My face was hot, I never get this close to her. I could see the individual streaks in her mane and the spots where her lips ended. My nose quivers, a new scent stimulating my brain. It was a fruit...kiwi...

Dash smirks when she stared into me. “Well, at least say hello.” I shook my head, about to turn away when something caught my eye.

“Um…wait, Hay, that’s my Jacket!” There it was, my black jacket resting on her shoulders. It puzzled me how she got my Jacket, did I leave it at Big Mac’s?

“Oh, you can have this back.” The jacket flaps limply in my hoofs, my mind a little bewildered. She couldn't have possible thought about me... right? Macintosh would have just taken care of that, but maybe she did think about me. but why?

“you left it back at Aj’s place. Honestly, you need to keep track of your things better.” She lightly shoves my shoulder, “I remember when you used to leave everything in my house.” My face felt hot again, I remembered those times...

“t-thanks...again.” I felt sick and uneasy, but this emotional feeling I’m getting felt so energizing.

“Oh, hay, Rainbow Dash. what brings you-“ Pallet was interrupted when Ditzy hits him with a snowball, freaking out as he brushed the slush from his ears. Dash’s attention was taken away from me, which gave me room to think and breath.

Rainbow must have been thinking of me, at some point in time she wanted to give this to me personally. I was on her mind! My stomach felt light and fluffy as my mind swam with this new awareness. I felt like I was worth her time, that I had value to her...right?... she must have, she wouldn’t have taken the time to give this to me otherwise... well, Big Mac could have asked her... but then again, he would have done it himself. Dash probably would have just refused the offer anyways, or maybe she did want to deliver it. Maybe Macintosh was the lazy one... no that doesn’t sound right... she wouldn’t have done it out of compassion, that’s not her flow...maybe sympathy..... but that’s not right either...I was still pondering if she did it out of kindness or she was actually thinking of me, when she poked me in the forehead.

“are you listening?” I stumble back, blinking blankly. What did she say? Air leaves he mouth with a sigh, her eyes quickly drifting to Pallet and Ditzy before looking back to me. “I’m guessing you don’t have any plans later today, ya.” I didn’t, “Me and some other ponies are going to be hanging out and stuff. If you want to stalk me, you can.”

What? Did she just...? I choke, only being able to nod my head “yes.”

“For real? Awesome!...um, I mean, ya that’s cool.” She looks away, but there was a grin on her face. She kicked up snow as she got back into the air, “eight o’clock, Town square. Don’t be late!”

She left after that, swiftly like she always does. Pallet and Ditzy asked me what she was doing here, but frankly I didn’t have a clear idea. Time seemed to fade away quickly, not that I cared much about it. Rainbow just asked me to hang out with her. This was so incredible, me and rainbow hanging out. This might as well be a dream but seeing how I wasn’t in her bedroom, I figured I was wide awake. I never thought she would ask that ever... it’s just been too long.

Now that I think about it... I wonder how long it’s been. I think it’s been ten years, ten heart wrenching years... damn, I’m pathetic. I just hope I’m not overthinking this......

Author's Note

sorry about last week, it was test week. what are you going to do. *shrugs* some one just shoot me -3- stupid chapter, damn humans... but ya i ended this one too quickly