Living in Equestria

Rainbow Dash didn't waste any time. I guess it was in her nature to move fast and not wait around for others but I wish she had let me sleep. It was only yesterday that we had traveled from deep inside the Everfree forest, walking for hours on end to arrive just after dark tired and hungry from the days trek. Dash had offered to teach me how to fly during the hike and I had assumed she would wait a while before starting the lessons. But she had come, barging into my room at Sweet Apple Ares that morning just after dawn, hollering like a drill sergeant at the top of her lungs.

"Alright, stupid human! I want your flank outta bed and on the lawn in ten minutes! Training starts today and I want noooo excuses, you hear me! Anypony under my wing is gonna have to get used to the idea of having to move fast at any second!!" she stood in a wide stance in the door with narrow, focused eyes and an eager grin. Scootaloo moaned beside me, flipping the pillow over her head in an attempt to block it all out.

"Make it stop, Mason..." she protested thickly.

"Really, Dash...Jesus..." I propped up on my elbows, rubbing my eyes and feeling the crusty morning grit there rolling under my fingers.

"I don't know who Jesus is, but you better hope he doesn't come around to try and get you outta this, now move!" she jumped forward and snatched the blanket off the bed with her muzzle in a lightening fast whip of her head.

There was little I could do about the situation I found myself in except let it happen. Mornings around here came frequently with a stiff reminder that I was in a bed with a warm body next to me... and I had to pee.

"Bwah hahahah!" she laughed, dropping the blanket from her mouth and pointing with a hoof at my midsection. "What'd I tell ya! It DOES look like a white candle with a funny knob at the end!"

I sat there in misery listening to her laughing down the hall as she left.

_______________________________________________________

"Keep it up!!" Rainbow Dash encouraged me as I gained altitude once again to where she hovered in the air. The heavy bag in my arms dragging me down and rapidly tiring out a part of me that I never knew existed... or even had until a couple weeks ago.

The sun had climbed up into the clean azure sky a good distance since I'd left the soft comfort of the bed. It wasn't the ten minutes that Dash had demanded and she had made me fly in circles around the barn once for each minute I was late. She was infinitely worse than Mr Phelps, my old PE teacher back in the human world, but despite her tough and insistent demands... I didn't seem to mind it one bit. I knew she was trying to help me in the best way she knew how and I was grateful for it.

"Twenty!!" she called out, finally satisfied with how high I'd come. "Alright, that pack is about half of what Scoots weighs, so keep that in mind." she zipped over to me and took the heavy brown satchel from my arms easily, flinging it up and moving to catch it on her back between her wings with no visible effort.

"I... need to... rest..." I gulped for air. There was a burning sensation between my shoulder blades now along with an over all sense of exhaustion that throbbed between my ears. It was a long way down to the yard in front of the barn below us but I'd learned to trust my wings enough that my fear of heights wasn't as bothersome anymore.

"Not yet!" she smirked. "You touch that ground before I tell you and I'll make you sorry, stupid human! Now follow me!" she took off at what to me seemed like an incredible pace. I followed as best as I could, catching up to her as she hovered next to a small wisp of cloud just as she was depositing the bag on it's puffy surface.

"Alright, pokey. Ten times between this cloud..." she gave the soft cottony ball a small kick and the zoomed off into the distance near another and waved to signal where I was supposed to go, crossing her front legs expectantly while hovering upright.

I took off as fast as I could to reach her. Already I was out of breath and flagging before I even came near her but pushed myself to get the task done. After tagging the cloud by her side and turning around, she gave my butt a painful smack with a hoof.

"Get moving, human!" she yelled.

Each lap felt like an eternity... and that eternity got longer with each trip between the two puffy yet magically solid white blobs. I only managed eight trips before my wings gave out and my altitude started to drop. I struggled to regain the height but it was no use, my wings and whatever magic I had that allowed me to use them wouldn't respond.

Gliding down in a circle, I aimed to land near the edge of the trees under us. Dash was on me in a second, hovering near and eyeballing me with disappointment.

"Are you seriously giving up?!" she barked. "I thought you wanted to learn how to fly?!"

"Dash... I... Can't any...more... I'm sorry." I said. Somehow I was angry at myself for disappointing her.

I braced myself for the incoming assault of insults but she surprised me by softening her expression into a kind and sympathetic look.

She gave a sigh. "Well.. it is your first lesson..." Swooping behind me, she hooked her two front hooves under my arms. "Here.. just relax. I'll let you down."

I complied and sank into her supporting legs. She held me up with surprising ease and gently brought us to the soft grass next to a large apple tree with thick branches. My feet hit the ground and I sank to my butt, panting hard.

"You're gonna need lots a work, human." she said, sitting next to me and giving her wings a shake to straighten out her feathers.

"I know... Thanks for doing this, Dash..." I said.

"And don't forget to preen your feathers tonight. It's real important to maintain them. The more combed they are, the easier it is to fly... simple as that." Dash had resumed her sisterly lecturer role.

"Scootaloo did it for me last time. It was kinda nice, actually." I admitted. She had combed through them two days ago by the campfire we had made just before those shadow creatures took us. I also remembered the moment I'd had with Sweetie Belle shortly after.

"Oh yeah?." she gave me a chummy smack on the shoulder. "Preening somepony elses feathers is something you do just before some serious action!" she didn't have eyebrows, but she waggled her eyes in a meaningful way all the same. Dash had already proven herself to be a pony who was free and easy talking about my relationship with Scootaloo. She had grilled me in the Everfree forest about it.

"Actually it was just before we were caught by those shadow creatures..." I diverted.

"Sucks to be you, stupid human." she chuffed and turned her head to begin straightening her own feathers.

We sat together for a moment in silence, me catching my breath and Rainbow Dash going about preening. Suddenly, her head cocked up, ears twitching and rotating.

"What's Pinkie Pie doing here?" her confused face twisting up in a question mark.

"Huh?" I'd learned ponies could hear much better than I could long ago. "I dunno. Where's she -"

The sound reached me now. It was Pinkie Pie alright. I could hear her singing a nameless tune in the distance, her voice brought to me on the light breeze. Moments later, she bounced into view.

"La la la la la" she skipped towards us from around the next row of trees over, bouncing up and randomly snapping at the air with her muzzle as if she was capturing something in her mouth. After each one of these breaks in her singing, she would crane her head to the side to stick her mouth in a large bag hanging over her midsection. She didn't seem to notice us, only continued to sing her wordless song and occasionally depositing what looked like mouthfuls of air in her bag. When she came near, Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"Pinkie... what are you doing?" she asked as if expecting a completely nonsense answer.

"Hi Rainbow Dash! Hi Mason!" she said brightly, finally acknowledging us. "I'm catching dust mites... Duh!" she rolled her eyes as if it was perfectly obvious as to what she was doing.

"Dust mites?" I asked. Rainbow's expression matched my own of cautious curiosity. Pinkie was harmless... weird... but harmless.

"Yeah! Dust mites! Don't you know that dust mites grow up to be..." she crouched down into a mean and defensive stance "... Dust Bunnies!" she intoned gravely.

"Aaannnd what does that have to do with catching dust mites?" Dash took the words right out of my mouth.

"Why...If they don't grow up to be Dust Bunnies, then you never have to dust things... sheesh. Don't you know anything?" she asked with an expression of sympathetic wonder at our lack of understanding.

"Ok... well..." Rainbow Dash turned her eyes to mine, searching for some kind of reply. Clearly Pinkie was in a zone right now.

"I'm just gonna -" Pinkie Pie stopped mid sentence with an alarmed look on her face. Suddenly, her whole body stiffened up and her pink bushy tail stuck straight out behind her. A moment later, it twitched violently, like someone was shaking it right at the dock.

"Twitchy Tail! Twitchy Tail!" She cried in dismay and began to look up at the tree over head.

"What are you...." I began.

A loud crack from the tree interrupted me and twin voices of dismay cried out in unison. Leaves and apples began to rain down just before I saw a yellow and red blur land on Pinkie, squishing her into the ground. A moment later came a very familiar orange pony, dropping safely from the lowest branch.

"Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo cried, running to her friend who was sitting on top of a flattened Pinkie. " You OK?!"

Apple Bloom was a mess. Tree sap was all over her, gluing twigs, leaves and other dirt into her bright red mane and yellow coat in several places. The solid cast on her back leg, an injury she sustained from fleeing Scootaloo's crazed father, stuck out stiffly in the mass of pony bodies on the ground.

"I told ya climbin the tree was a bad idea, Scootaloo!" she wailed.

"What are you guys doing?!" I asked them. "What in heck were you doing up in the tree?"

Scootaloo gave a moment's more concern to her friend before she moved slowly to me. Sitting on the ground as I was, her eyes were barely above my own.

"I wanted to watch..." she said glumly. "I wanted to see what it was like to learn from Dash how to fly."

That simple admission hit me painfully. The poor young pegasus wasn't ever going to be able to fly... not with the wings she had. It had already caused her enough trouble with her family and she looked up to Rainbow Dash as a mentor, but would never be able to learn from her the one thing she truly wanted to do.

"Aww, Scoot..." I said, giving her neck a sympathetic stroke of my hand.

"No...it's alright, really." her eyes were downcast though. "I know you're gonna be able to fly better than me. I just... wanted to watch, that's all."

"Well next time tell me ya want to come along, Squirt! You know I can hold ya on my back any time!" Dash admonished.

"But Apple Bloom wanted to watch also... and we couldn't see from the ground very well!" she protested. "You can't fly both of us, Rainbow Dash!"

"What?" she turned, "Since when have you been interested in flying?!" The blue pegasus cocked her head in confusion, looking at Apple Bloom.

"I dunno... I jus... I just wanted to, that's all!" Apple Bloom was suddenly defensive. She had untangled herself from Pinkie and was getting to her feet.

"Hey... whatever combs your mane." Dash shrugged it off. "I think we're done for the day, Mason. Rest up and don't forget to preen those wings!"

"But..." Scoot looked at her, anxious to ask something.

"What's up, squirt?" Dash said.

"Can you take me flying?" her eyes were wide with eager excitement. "Just for a little!?"

"Ha! Since when do I do anything little? Climb up and let's go cruisin for a while!" she stretched her wings out, giving a place for Scootaloo to land when the small orange pony ran towards her, jumping with practiced ease onto her back.

"Back in a while, Mason!" Scootaloo said with glee as Dash launched herself off the ground, gaining altitude quickly and effortlessly despite the extra weight. I wondered if I'd ever be able to do that.

"La la la la la...." Pinkie Pie was already hopping away from us like nothing had ever happened, continuing her hunt for dust mites. The irrepressible party pony couldn't be flattened for long.

"Mah sister is gonna kill me!" Apple Bloom shook her head in misery. "When she finds out I been climbin trees with this here cast..."

I studied her. She was a frightful mess. Large patches of her mane and coat were matted and dark with sticky, gluey tree sap that had collected all manner of debris. Her red bow had come partially undone, one end hanging loose down her back. I moved beside her to kneel and attempted to pluck out a large brown stick from a matted, sticky patch on her side.

"Ow! Quit it!" she flinched and gave me a wounded look. "Don'tcha know ya gotta soak with Granny's bath salts first ta get this stuff off?"

"Well...Your sister will be gone for a while and I bet you can get cleaned up before she ever knows" I suggested.

"You won't tell er?" she looked at me with big hopeful eyes.

"Now why would I do something like that?" I gave her a secretive smile.

________________________________________________________________________

It had been along time since Rainbow Dash had Scootaloo on her back in the sky and she felt happy to be spending time with her adoptive sister again. Over the last few moon cycles it seemed like they haven't been as close as they used to be. Dash knew that she was growing up, changing in the ways that young mares do but felt clumsy and out of touch whenever she tried to approach her to talk.

When Scootaloo had her first estrus, it was her who she came to for help when the foreign urges were coursing through her body, lighting her privates on fire and causing colts and stallions to follow her around. Dash, who was normally the carefree and uninhibited type, suddenly found herself feeling awkward during that talk, something she wasn't accustomed to. Now that Scootaloo had found her first love in the human, a human that Dash liked quite a bit herself, she felt it was time to talk with her like like the young mare she was... and not the filly she had been.

She had flown them quite a distance from the farm where they'd left Mason and Apple Bloom. Far beyond the north reaches of Ponyville she had traveled with Scootaloo on her back, grinning from ear to ear. Even though she was a little older now, she still buzzed her wings furiously as she rode, mimicking the motions of Dash's own wings as best she could. It still melted Rainbow's heart when she saw her do it.

Finally she arced up high into the sky, looking for a suitable cloud to take a rest and maybe talk with her young friend for a while. She found one and gently brought Scootaloo around to rest partially on her front before flopping on her back in the soft support of the cloud's surface. It was a dance they had done many times for Scootaloo's benefit. She needed to be in contact with her in some way to stay up here with her otherwise she would sink slowly through the white surface and fall.

"Oh man! That was awesome, Dash!" Scootaloo smiled with joy at her. Tears had streamed back from the corners of her eyes, making a dark patch that spread out on her orange face like a mask.

"Yeah, that was pretty cool, huh. We haven't flown together in a while, squirt."

"I know! You've been busy, I guess." Scoot closed her eyes and relaxed against Dash's midsection. She was laying across her middle, her front legs dangling over one side and her rear over the other. It was they way they always had spent time together up here.

"Yeah.. I guess I have been. Sorry 'bout that..." she gave a ruffle of the short purple mane between Scootaloo's ears.

"Dash, do you think Mason will be able to fly me like you can?" her eyes opened and she looked at Dash with her big purple rimmed eyes.

"You know, that's just what I'm gonna teach him to do! I figured you'd probably like that."

"Yeah... It's nice being with him." she looked back down at the cloud on Rainbow's side, absently pushing against the yielding surface with a hoof.

"So what's the deal, anyways? You two kinda blew everypony away back there in the Everfree forest, ya know."

"I guess so... I dunno." she shrugged dismissively and continued to poke at the cloud.

"Huh? You don't sound very excited... That was way intense! Your guy's love totally smashed The Element of Hate!" Dash threw a hoof in the air to make her point.

"It's not that..." Scootaloo trailed off.

"Well then what is it?!"

"It's embarrassing..." now her cheeks began to glow red as she continued to stare at the cloud.

"Whatever... you know you can talk to me about anything, right? I mean come on! I'm your big sister!" she prodded the orange pony in the side gently. "What's on your mind, squirt?"

She didn't answer right away, only jabbed at the cloud a few more times before replying without looking at her. "I'm getting these weird feelings about Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. It's like I wanna help them feel what it's like to be with Mason... I feel really bad that they can't... you know... have the same fun as I'm having. It's like I'm leaving them out of it on purpose or something. I've heard other fillies and mares talk about herding before, buuut... I don't know if I'm supposed to be doing it or not."

Dash knew exactly where this was going now but let her continue uninterrupted.

"But I thought special someponies were special because they were yours. Part of me wants to let Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle be with Mason but another part is feeling weird about it now. It didn't at first... and now I'm all confused. I'm not even sure Mason really wants too..."

Dash decided to play dumb. "You mean you've talked to him already about it?"

"Kinda... Apple Bloom started it, really. She felt really left out whenever she would see us together. Sweetie Bell doesn't say much, but I can tell she wants to know what it's like too."

"So by being with Mason... you mean... you guys have..." Rainbow tried to ask the question without saying it, giving her a prompting look instead.

"Yeah... a couple times now." she looked down at the white surface below, her cheeks flushed again at the topic.

"Hey! Way to go!" Dash gave a small laugh and shot another poke at her side in congratulations. Scootaloo smiled and gave a little giggle of her own.

"Shut up, Dash... It's not funny." She sounded offended, but the smile on Scoot's face said otherwise.

"Pretty sweet, eh? Not even flying compares to that sometimes!"

Scootaloo gave another small laugh. "Yeah, it is pretty awesome. Especially when... Shut up! Never mind! You're not gonna get me to talk about it!" she protested when she realized where it was going.

Rainbow Dash laughed at her friend's discomfort. "Alright.. alright. I just wanted to make sure you're doing OK, squirt. Sounds like you are." She gave her a wink.

"But I don't know what to do about my friends... Is it really alright to share him like that?" she looked with a totally open and earnest need to know at Dash. "Nopony will think I'm weird?"

"Ya know, most mares go through life wishing to be with somepony they could get the herding urge from. It's a sign that you're with the pony you're meant to be with. It's just how it works! Stallions will feel it too... and understand that it's something magical that is supposed to happen when the time is right. Mason isn't a stallion.. but I think he loves you enough to recognize the magic when he feels it."

Scootaloo considered this for a while, processing her feelings against what Dash had told her. When Sweetie Belle offered her horn to Mason that night at the fire, she had felt a rush of exhilaration at her friend's obvious pleasure that scratched the mental itch she had about the whole situation. But there had been a lingering doubt that Mason really was OK with the whole thing, like he was just going along with it because she had asked him. In the end, Scootaloo decided she still wasn't quite sure. A part of her still felt like it would violate some aspect of their relationship if she did.

"Thanks Dash... I guess I just need to figure it out for myself... but it helped to talk to you about it." she slid around to lay along Dash's body to give her a hug. The two pegasi lay there embracing for a while, each one thinking about the other and how they've missed times like this. Other clouds drifted by, watched by them in the quiet calm on top of the small cloud's surface.

"You ready to go back down?" Dash asked after quite some time had passed without either of them talking.

"Yeah..." Scootaloo smiled up at her friend before planting a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks"

"Anytime, Scoots."