[[Enjoy the story while listening to this heartfelt music.]]

The rays of the Sun shone proudly upon the small village, despite the occasional drizzle that fell from time to time. The air was in the process of yet, warming up again, from those small shifts. And that alone, had brought a small smile to creep its way onto her muzzle.

“It's nice to feel the cold wind, and the warm Sun at the same time,” she thought to herself. It was a silly thing to think, but nonetheless, one that she appreciated.

She continued to trot onward, uncaring of the passer-bys who sought to take shelter from the light pour, for the bakery, the restaurants, or other shops and merchant tents nearby. She could have waved at a few galloping ponies, or greet some others with a quick salutation. But that idea was rejected as soon as it came. She had some place important she needed to be, and she refused to let herself getting distracted, even by the people surrounding her.

After a few minutes of enjoying her journey, she had finally reached her destination. The neighbouring houses were somehow ill maintained. but not to the point of needing serious renovation. Some of them had their hinges missing from their windowpanes. Others lacked the gracious wall paintings, similar to that of the town centre.

One house in particular, even had one of its windows broken; patched-up by a piece of cardboard and rubber tapes. However, that was not the target of her gaze.

In front of her was a single storey house. The wood that made its walls, had very recently gained their first inhabitants of termi-vores (termite-eating insects). That fact was obvious, judging by the small white dots on the ground near the wood. Each one (if any were to take a closer look), an individual termite head, thorax or abdomen.

At that, an expression of fear and worry crossed her face. She had learned that every single insects had their natural predators and preys, as well as other creatures (sentient or not). That was a fact. Nevertheless, learning about the cycle of life, and actually seeing it with her own eyes was something she couldn't get herself used to.

Averting her sight from that particular scene, she instead focused on what she had learned so far about these small creatures. She remembered that, wood eating insects, no matter how much, would cause a significant amount of damage to any building's structural integrity. And with the term damage added in her train of thought, reparation and cost were the passengers that would inevitably come, in one form or another.

However, before her concerns could turn themselves into sadness, she was somehow able to pull herself together. Reminded that she was awkwardly standing in front of a door for more than a few minutes. She shook her head to dispel those sad thoughts, and tried to prepare herself as best as she could, for the near support that she would no doubt have to provide; to the fullest of her abilities.

She took a moment, and closed her eyes to collect her emotions while at the front door. She deeply inhaled the morning fresh air, then, and slowly, exhaled with a smile as genuine as one would offer a close relative. Then she knocked on the door.

While waiting, she felt relaxed; at peace. In a state of mind that would always be hers, and hers alone. No matter how much she denied, or praised it's existence. It was her treasure, her curse,... her ability.

“You know, sometimes, I always ask myself if you don't have a clock in that little head of yours," greeted an elder masculine voice, while the door was being opened. "Don't know how you do it though, but you always knock at exactly eight thirty in the morning.”

She cleared her vision to meet the taller individual before her, and immediately offered a hoof for a shake, as their usual greeting. While they shook their hooves, the smaller one took that as her cue to respond. “Good morning Mr. Thunderlane. Is your brother ready as always?” she questioned, switching her expression to that of a mischievous smile.

“You wish!” laughed the adult male in a mocking reply. “Come on in” – he beckoned her inside – “I bet he'll need your help, as always.” She followed him afterwards, then the stallion closed the door behind her.

Thunderlane turned, and immediately yelled at the other side of the house, “Yo! Bro! You've got company. So I'll see you tonight, OK ?”

“... Ok T, and thanks for last night. And I love you too,” yelled another small voice from another room inside the house; this one, belonging to a different pony. A colt.

She hadn't flinched at the change of their tone, nor their volume. If anything, it made her feel as if she belonged. As if she too, had a big brother, or a little brother, or both. She then watched the stallion go about, with his dark grey coat, amber eyes and blue-silver mane, navigate through the small living room with his strong wings to collect various items, which she couldn't name most.

“Sorry kido, we know that I'm used to offer you a glass of apple-juice. But we only have cool water at the moment, is that alright with you?” said the stallion, with a smile that almost looked pained, while he maintained a glass of said water with both of his fore-hooves.

It always amazed her, to see how fast this pegasus could produce a glass of cold water, while she hadn't noticed him opening the fridge, or even went to the kitchen. Did this mean that the glass was prepared before she even entered the residence?

She took it without objection, sat on her haunches and drank it with greed.

“Ah! Thanks Mr. Thunderlane. I sure needed that,” she said with relief in her voice.

Perplexed and worried by her relieved expression, the dark grey male paused then asked about: “Is everything going OK with you and your mother?”

Confused about the true meaning of his question, she could only respond with honesty. “Nah-hah! I've had apple-pie, apple-fritter, apple-juice, apple-cake, and everything-apple related that you can name... besides apple-cider of course” – She saw him relax, if only a little, and resume his search to fill a saddle-bag she saw near the front door. – “So it's great to not have apple-juice from time to time, that's all,” she concluded, only now realising too late that she might have said something rude.

“Well, if I had known that you weren't pleased with me filling you up with more apples” – he trailed-off for a moment with a nostalgic look – “Never mind that. Just, know that I won't be angry at you if you ever refuse anything from us. Is that alright with you as well?” She blushed in embarrassment, but lowered her blonde maned head, and accepted the offer with a gesture of apology.

“Alright kid! Then I guess it's time for me to hit the hay.” He placed the now stuffed saddle-bag on his back, quickly reached for the door, then paused at the entrance without turning, nor looking behind him. “And thanks for watching over Bro for me,” he spoke in earnest. The filly was about to say that it wasn't a problem at all, when the stallion cut her to it.

“Really, if it weren't for you and your mother, I don't know what I would have done, or even how.” He paused for a short amount of time without moving from his position, then resumed.

“You're a very mature little filly you know that? Maybe more clever than most adults here give you credit for, and that has nothing to do with me being nice. I mean it.” He then turned his head, so that one of his eyes would meet both of that of the filly. “If you ever need anything, no matter how crazy it is, know that I'll always support you and Mrs. Ditzy.”

He turned to focus his eyes on the now clear sky, spread his wings then hovered a little, after delivering one final message. “You truly are a gift of Faust, Dinky Doo.”

And with that, Thunderlane closed the door, then flew upwards in the direction of his new job.

~~~ [[ . . . ]] ~~~

“Rumble, tell me what happened with your tail! And I'm not taking your bad jokes for an answer, do you hear me ?!” ordered the glare of damnation that would doom the poor colt if he ever breathed the wrong word.

With a sigh of defeat, he truly, only had one option left. And that was to tell the truth. So after closing the house front door, and locking it up with a key that was later on placed in a small saddle-bag, he started trotting alongside Dinky, who was still waiting for an explanation.

“Remember that peach and strawberry scented candle we bought to celebrate my brother's new relationship with his marefriend?” Dinky's eyes widened at that mention.

“You tried to light it up? Bu-but, I thought we agreed that you would offer it to Thunder after it was wrapped-up!”

“I know,” cut off Rumble. “And I did pack it like you showed me.” He then turned his head away from her, embarrassed about his next reveal. “It was after I presented the gift to him. I was so excited that he found himself that new job, and new mare. I just wanted to do extra on the celebration, and light it up by myself.”

Dinky had no words to berate him at this point, what he did might have been dangerous, but in truth, she could have easily imagined herself doing the same for her mother. She closed her eyes while they were still trotting on a familiar path. Inhaled. Exhaled. Then opened them again.

“Then, I guess it's alright.” The colt was a little bit surprised, and took this moment to examine her face with a quizzical look. “I guess,” Dinky continued – “As long as you weren't badly hurt, then I can expect that you'll keep our promise, right?" she said at last.

“But aren't you going to ask me how I lit up that candle, or how it got my tail ?" questioned the bluish grey coated colt, with a double toned dark grey mane and tail.

After a few moment of silence, Dinky stopped in her tracks, signalling her partner to do the same, in order for her to respond. “I'll trust you, like I trust Mommy: which means Always!” – Rumble’s eyes widened in disbelief at Dinky’s words – “So I don't have to force you to tell me everything about you. Also, Mommy told me that friends can learn about one another every time. That means, forcing you to talk when you don’t want to is not OK. I’ll just have to wait when you’re ready,” concluded the little filly with a beaming smile plastered on her face. A genuine smile of trust and understanding.

Rumble’s eyes started to get moist. After all those weeks of knowing Dinky, going out with her to play games, or even study together, he truly felt happy to know that the filly beside her was his friend.

“So you're telling me that,” – the colt tried saying while restraining his tears – “that if I want to tell you anything, then I can. But if I don't want to tell you, then I can keep quiet, and we'll still be friends ?” Now a confusing smile was threatening to look like a headache on the poor colt's face.

“Yeah! Even if it's painfu — meanie. Even if it's meanie, I won't question you because we're friends,” she concluded at last, then frowned at herself for the slip of her tongue.

“Right…”, affirmed Rumble with a sad smile. “painful...”

They stayed where they stood on their path. Immobile. Silent as statues. They both closed their eyes, listening to the morning breeze, and the gentle swaying of the trees nearby. The singing of the birds on their mating season was an euphoric symphony for the ears. The small stream, connected to the pond nearby added an effect of angelic relief. Without a word, without a signal, Dinky leaned herself to her right, while Rumble did the same on his left. Opposing their body weight next to one another for support, they stayed there for much longer than they would care to know...

“I think I felt that”, whispered Rumble to his companion.

“Felt what?” murmured Dinky in reply, already expecting the answer from the colt.

“Your heartbeat, I think I felt that for just a moment,” he paused in concentration, then resumed. “And I think, that both of our hearts were beating at the same time.”

“Is that so?” she said, narrowing her eyes and speaking very carefully, as if ready to attack a prey.

Rumble, for his part, knew what she was about to do. She would no doubt assault him with tickles, probably using a feather from her mother's wings, in order to do so. And force him to agree to whatever ridiculous plans she might have in her mind for the day.

However, they both knew that he would not—or more precisely could not, be rendered helpless in a fit of unstoppable laughter. Never have been, and probably never will be. But that didn't mean he would not be subjected to a series of uncontrollable sneezing. So if his guess were to be true, and she would indeed try to get her way on what they would be doing for the day, then by all means, he had to try and worm himself out of this sneezy situation.

“What? You want us to play doctor to find out?” questioned the now nervous colt.

"Huh!" uttered the filly with surprise in her voice, silently removing her hoof from her small saddle bag, but failing to keep a long grey feather from touching the ground without her noticing. “Doctors don't look if ponies’ heart beat together; they take care of them when they are sick. Or if they have a very serious bo-bo,” she corrected him.

“Yeah! That was probably lame anyways,” he replied, noticing the evil feathery instrument beside Dinky, and doing his best to not give his expression of dread away. “T. told me, he played doctor a lot when he was little, with a friend of his every time they met at her house. Maybe they didn't have them back when he was my age?” he said in a very nervous manner.

“HUH!” now Dinky had to stop twisting her neck in surprise, lest she break something important. “How'd you come to that conclusion anyway?” she demanded with another one of her glares. Rumble now knew that Dinky wouldn’t force him to speak if he didn’t want to. Sure, it might get her confused, and that was clearly the intent, but he just didn’t want to see her like this, even if a small part of himself liked to see her cute and angry face.

“You know those other foals who T. forbid me to play with?”

The filly nodded in agreement, remembering the names of those three fillies who she had always envied, before having met Rumble. She then nodded for her friend to resume.

“Well, they pretty much search for cutie-marks that have never existed before : manticore-hunting-cutie-mark, fire-breathing-pony cutie-mark, cake-spinning-rock-star-cutie-mark. Wait, that last one was probably rock-cake-spinnin— You name it, and if they do it, then that job probably doesn't exists, yet.”

For Dinky, that explanation was quite valid in itself. And while she wasn't a fan of their little club anymore, she could imagine why they would choose to attempt to transform their childish imagination, into a living reality. She just might have done the same, if she were invited by one of them. “Well I still don't think that's how things wor—.”

Her ears stood at attention, searching for a foreign sound in the background that seemed to be getting stronger. Her partner, also noticing her change of attitude, stood up on all four of his legs and waited for her to do the same.

“The trot of multiple hooves on the ground, the sound of multiple ponies talking at the same time, so probably, it’s just a bunch of adults mares,” thought Dinky to herself. It made sense in a way, the colourful birds, the vibrant trees, the proximity to the pond... Who could blame a few ponies, for wanting to enjoy the peace that the town park would offer, on a bright morning weekend no less?

She got herself up as well, and smiled at her friend who looked impatient enough to trot away. “Come on,” he said. “We should find a quiet place to talk.”

However, before Dinky could agree and follow alongside him, they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of a flying pony with a cyan coat and wings, as well as a multi-coloured mane.

A pegasus she wished to not have any interaction with, at least, during this day. "Hey squirts," said the mare. “I thought you were all in Carterlot with Ms Cherilee and Blossomforth,” she said, landing near both foals. “Oh wait! Is that the smell of somepony skipping a school trip?” she said with a winning smirk, as if she had caught a criminal in the act.

Dinky and Rumble however, were both unfazed from her arrival. Sure, they kept their gaze at her while she started hovering a few centimetres off the ground to confront them. But aside from that, nothing else. They both looked at the adult mare as if she wasn't that big of a deal. That her attempt was unnecessary, useless even.

And that action in of itself made the mare back away, if only slightly. Uncertainty crossing her features as the mare once again, touched the ground beneath her. But she wasn't ready to let those foals even suspect that she would be intimidated by their neutral expressions. “Do you have a problem answering what I just asked you?”

Both foals simultaneously glanced at one another, raised an eyebrow in a silent argument to decide who would return the adult's questions, then returned to look at the cyan pegasus without a syllable spoken.

“H-hey?! I asked you a question,” stammered the mare, who started getting nervous. “So you better answer before I get your folks to teach you a lesson” she threatened while stomping her hoof in order to declare, and maintain her authority.

Dinky was about to answer, but yet again was interrupted as a group of five other mares approached in on the trio.

“Hey Dash, what are you doing with those two foals?” asked a pink pony with a dark pink mane. She was bouncing uncontrollably, as if gravity meant nothing to her. “Oh! I know who you are. Let’s see: Brumble? Nah! Crumble? Ouh! That sounds tasty! Drumble, like the drums of—.” At this point on, the four remaining ponies who arrived, ignored the pretty pink peppered pink pony.

“Pinkie, you're ruining the mood here. I'm trying to get answers from those two ditchers.” said Rainbow Dash, while glaring at the little ones once more.

“Oh! Darling, don't be this way. You might start getting wrinkles before you even hit your prime” said a white unicorn with a dark purple mane. "I'm sure they have a very good explanation for not going with all of their little classmate friends" she continued, eyeing both foals with precision, as if to detect some sort of flaws in their actions.

Dinky, on the other hoof, was more cautious of this unicorn, rather than the pink earthen or the cyan pegasus. Not that her abilities in the realm of magic would make her more dangerous than the others. But simply because most (if not all) of the town's grapevines are known to have originated... from this mare’s muzzle.

“Girls!” shouted another voice. “Are we really going to bother this filly and her friend? Weren't we heading for the hill to have ourselves our usual morning picnic?" stepped another unicorn. This one had a lavender fur, and her mane was coloured in different hues of purple.

Next to her, an orange earthen with a stetson hat, and another pegasus, this one yellow, with a pink mane came to view. But they chose to remain silent and see how this situation was going to untangle itself.

“So,” Rainbow Dash cleared her throat to resume the interrogation. “What do you have to say for your defence.” And she really had to make it clear that they were in some sort of public trial.

“Doctor's order” came the instantaneous reply from Rumble, who made all eyes go wide, safe his companion Dinky, who didn't look very pleased by his initiative. She would also swear to all those that she cared for, that she literally saw gears turning, and wires sparking with electricity in the eyes of the alabaster unicorn. “I'm also not allowed to do straining physical activities either. Or attempt to fly without any adult supervis—.” At this, the filly next to Rumble had to stop him by placing a hoof on his shoulder, and shaking her own head in disapproval for him to continue.

“H-how ?!” came the soft and horrified voice of the yellow buttered pegasus and pink mane, who all managed to hear. The pink furred pony on her part, stopped her rambling on the word ‘Qrumble’, had also stopped bouncing, and part of her mane seemed to have been deflated.

There was a very good reason why these ponies weren't told anything about Rumble. And it was so obvious for Dinky that she looked at all the mares with threatening eyes. The one with the stetson hat however, raised an eyebrow of her own at the display.

“The reason why is because of family matter,” slowly interjected Dinky. "And since I was put in charge of him, then that also explains why I'm not in Canterlot as well." She motioned for Rumble to follow her, then started walking away from the group. "We’re also busy," – she lied – "so excuse us if we have to go."

If it were anypony, Dinky wouldn't have been as harsh and dry as she was acting. But the fact remained that she didn't want these particular mares to know about her friend's condition; especially the white unicorn. She did not want them to start pitying the colt, feeling guilty for her first friend. And start showering him with special attention. The same special attention that brought a great deal of suffering for someone else who she loves deeply, more so than herself.

“And where do you think we'll let you go after telling us what you just did ?” interrupted Rainbow Dash, who now blocked the path of the two foals from trotting away. “It's clear to me that you've been lying to us, right Applejack? You can confirm that, right?” asked the cyan pegasus to the hat wearing orange earthen, who remained silent even as of now.

Rainbow Dash frowned, feeling that her friend's silence was probably hiding something important. Her four remaining friends weren't oblivious the the exchange as well. And a small part of the pegasus was starting to feel bad for playing the mean and authoritative pony from the get-go.

She wished she didn't have to confront them like she did. But she also couldn't let them trot away scot-free, while one of them revealed he was probably ill from some kind of sickness that prevented him from going on a field-trip. And that wasn’t just any field-trip, if one might wonder. It was a full day at the freaking Canterlot castle for crying out loud. So, if anypony were sick enough to not go on that trip, but find the time to enjoy the park's relaxing atmosphere, then she would get to the bottom of this no matter what.

Dinky however, just trotted around the mare to resume her path. "Rarity. Twilight. would you back me up in here?", asked Rainbow Dash who was now on the verge of pleading for moral support. The cyan mare instinctively held onto one of Rumble's wing. But the colt himself hadn't noticed her grip in order to prevent him from getting away, most likely by using his ability of flight. That would be one of her mistakes that she would soon regret ever doing in her life.

What followed, was the sound of breaking wood and tissue, as if somepony had tried ripping off their dress and managed to succeed while using dead and dry tree branches. It was sudden, and without warning, but Rumble knew that something wasn't quite right after that. There was this itch on the back of his mind that was silently screaming at him.

It felt strange, and familiar at the same time. He knew that something was wrong. Even the ponies around him seemed to be struck by some sort of paralysis spell. So, he slowly turned around, and to his surprise, found that Dinky was as well flabbergasted as everypony else.

“Dinky, is everything OK?” he asked with concern enveloping his every words,... Not noticing the broken and bloodied wing on his side.

Author's Note

~ 29/07/2017
Ok everyone, this is chapter 1 of "True Friendship", my second story.
The first one is being revised, because I came up with so many ideas that it became too complicated to write and keep track.

So, from now on, I'll just go slow and steady.

I hope you guys will love it.

~ 09/09/2017
Made a few updates on this first chapter: word correction, and shortened a few very long sentences. Also, added a few words in italic to empathise them.

~ 26/03/2018
I haven't been here for quite some time. So I figured for myself that I would update this chapter by rectifying a few spelling mistakes. Or logic in the wordings...
My English is getting better by the time, so I want to make my best in applying what I know to my stories.
Hope you stay faithful to the story of "True Friendship", because the only way for this story to remain incomplete forever, would be if I died then and there. <3

~ 03/11/2018
I've been thinking that no one cares what happens to me. Been thinking that I would just be a number in the countless sea of people living on earth. So, in order to be remembered, I'll do my best to create. And create. And create. So that some day, maybe, in the years beyond 2020, people still remember me.

Also, if you see a mistake in the writing PLEASE COMMENT ME ABOUT IT.
I want those chapters to be as clear (in the reading) as possible.

Thanks for your support, and make sure to follow me for more.
~Dark-Aii

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