Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, but here's the 2nd chapter. If there's anything wrong with it, leave a comment down below and I'll try to make it better in the 3rd and final chapter, but anyways thank you for your support and your patience, and remember to stay tuned and brony on.

Bonding At The Mall

Another month had passed by after you talked things over with your mom. If it wasn't for your friend, Rainbow Dash and her words, your mom and you would be at each other's throats. You still kept working at your job at the burger joint at the mall, but you put in more effort into the busy hours you were given, but man, your boss has been hounding at you and the rest of your co-workers for who-knows-what.

You didn't ask him about it and you didn't care. It was his problem, not yours. During the time within the month, you also made plans to take your mom out for a few bites. Your mom and you became less distant with each other and talked about what you both have been up to recently.

As for your friend, Rainbow Dash, you hardly saw her that much. You didn't know why, but you weren't too worried about it and figured she was probably busy hanging out with her friends. The only time you did see her was during the time you were just chilling at the mall during your weekend brakes. You didn't see her in person, but she and her friends were on signs that displayed the Daring Do movie.

It made you a bit jealous that she was making a name for herself and her friends. But at the same time, you were happy for them all. She has her accomplishments and you got yours. But right now, it was the weekend and you had nothing better to do other than to stay at home and play video games. You kept your promise to keep working hard, but ever hard days work always deserves a hardcore playtime.

You were in your room, in the middle of a Call of Duty session with a few other players. Most of them were little kids, much to your annoyance. But it just meant more trolling time for you. As soon as the server started, you killed up to 7 players with just your knife, utterly humiliating them. It always felt good to hear them rage and talk crap about how they think they're better than you are at everything.

Over the mic, you tell them "Kiss my ass and dunked on. Real players take their losses like men/women so either stop being a sore loser or turn off your system." Of course, they just keep on hounding at you for "cheating" and killing them when their game was lagging. It goes on for about 5 minutes until those sore losers got suspended for a few months or so. You grew bored of your games later on afterwards and decided to go and see what was playing in the movie theatres.

You put on your thin black jacket and took your wallet and phone with you, along with your house keys. You exited your room and walked down the hall to where the front door was and exited out of your apartment before closing the door behind you and made your way to the mall. As usual you listened to your music on your phone on the way there.

Minutes later, you made it to the mall and went inside, strolling around the huge building and making your way the movie theatres, curious of what was playing. As expected, the Daring Do movie was sold out, not that it mattered all that much. You could always watch it another time. Or at least on the day when it comes out on blue-ray and DVD in the near future. But you checked the posters to see which movies were already playing and your eyes caught sight of the movie "IT."

Everyone kept talking about how the newer IT was a lot scarier than the 1990 version. And because you caught a glimpse of IT from the movie trailers, something told you that you were right. You wanted to see just how scary this movie would be first hand so you approached the ticket counter and purchased a ticket to IT before walking over to the snack counter. You purchased a large tub of popcorn and a large pepsi before heading over to the theater that showed was showing the movie.

Inside, a large crowd of people from your school was there, but none of them recognized you, except for one girl with very familiar rainbow-colored hair at the very top who was waving at you. You smiled at her and walked up to the top and sat next to her. That girl was none other than Rainbow Dash.

"Dude, I didn't know you liked scary movies!" she whispered.

"A guy's gotta have a good scare every once in a while." you replied.

"Well, you never know, this movie might actually do the trick, like it did for my friends, Pinkie Pie! She screamed so loud, she ended up peeing her panties!" Rainbow did her best not to laugh out loud. You could only imagine the humiliation her friend must have felt. "But thankfully, she enjoyed the movie. I told her not to spoil it for me when I went to watch it."

"So how come you're watching this and not the latest Daring Do movie?"

"I already watched it, as well as starred in it as a side character. Plus, even if I wanted to see it again it's too late since it's already sold out today and tomorrow."

"Oh, I see. I never saw it before, but I'm not too worried about it. Maybe when it comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray I'll think about buying it."

Rainbow chuckled. "Yeah." Moments later, the lights in the theater dimmed. "Ooh! Shh! Shh! This is it, the movie's about to start now!" she whispers. But then at that time, her stomach began to rumble. You looked and saw her face go red with her timid smile. Rainbow laughs nervously. "Uhh, I forgot, I only had enough money to purchase the movie ticket, but not enough for a few snacks."

"Well, if you want, we can share my popcorn and soda." you whisper to her. Her eyes glistened in the dark room with joy and her smile grew wide. You chuckled from that adorable reaction and gave Rainbow the tub of popcorn, which she happily accepted. She reaches into the tub and shoves a handful of popcorn into her mouth as the movie starts getting under way.

As the movie starts, Rainbow Dash kept her eyes locked on the screen, holding in her squeals. She wasn't afraid, but she was so excited, she felt goosebumps running down her spine. You had your eyes locked on the screen and felt your heart racing from the moment you saw those creepy eyes in the sewers. It's like staring into the eyes of the devil himself. You enjoyed feeling scared.

"Dude, that clown is creepy." Rainbow whispers.

"No kidding." you whisper back. You didn't take your eyes away from the screen but then your vision caught sight of the tub of popcorn in front of you. Out of curiousity, you looked at Rainbow Dash.

"Here, it's not right for me to eat it all." she whispers genuinely.

You smile and whisper, "I've got a better idea." And then you took the tub and put it on the arms rest in between yours and Rainbow's chair. "Now we can both enjoy it." you say. For the duration of the movie, you and Rainbow said nothing other than the usual jumping out of your seats from the jumpscares.

But the part with the bullies made you give out a bone-chilling death stare that no one has ever seen you make since back in high school. Not even Rainbow Dash has seen you make that face. You then feel your hand being touched by Rainbow's hand, which immediately made your death stare vanish. You look at Rainbow Dash who starts whispering at you.

"Hey, remember, this is just a movie. Even though I want to ring their necks out, too." she whispers. Your anger slightly went away and you sighed with a nod. The moment you looked back at the screen, Rainbow Dash surprises you with a little peck on the cheek. Your face heats up quickly as you start to blush. You could clearly hear Rainbow giggling quietly to herself.

After the movie had ended and your soda and popcorn were all gone, you got up out of your seat with Rainbow Dash and walked out of ther theater, tossing your empty cup and tub into the trash. You made your way back out into the movie lobby, now back in the mall, but for some reason, Rainbow Dash had followed you.

"Hey, thanks for the popcorn, man. You're a real lifesaver!" Rainbow says, patting you on the back.

"I couldn't let you go hungry. Oh, and I want to thank you, too." you reply.

"For what?"

"For those words of encouragement when I told you about my mom always hounding at me. You were right, she was just trying to look out for me. Even though I was a bit of a dick to her, she never stopped being a mom and kept on supporting me until I moved out of the house." you explain.

"Yeah. My parents can sometimes be too supportive and your mom is kinda strict, but there's one thing both our families have in common: they love us deeply." Rainbow replies. "I'm not gonna lie, my parents give me a headache, but I still love them deep down."

"No doubt about that. Well, I suppose I should get back home." But just before you walk away...

"Hey, hold on!" Rainbow calls out. "Can we at least get some pizza first? I'm still a bit hungry."

"Well, I guess we could have a little bite to eat. Popcorn only fills you up for so long. Alright then, let's go on and grab us some grub, shall we?"

"Sweet!"

You chuckle and walk down the mall over to the cafeteria area with Rainbow Dash close by you. Over there, you and Rainbow Dash order a large pizza and two drinks. Rainbow Dash ordered the orange soda and you ordered a Coca-Cola. You paid the cashier and waited at one of the tables. You took out your phone and put on your music, tapping your feet to the beat. Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"What are you listening to?" she asks, curious. You give her an ear bud and turn up the volume a bit. Rainbow Dash's gasps at the song she's hearing. "No way! You actually like Crush 40?!" she asks you with her beautiful glistening star-struck eyes.

"Yeah, I liked playing these different Sonic games and got hooked onto all of these other songs like "I am... All of me" and "What I'm Made Of."

"Awesome! Are there any other songs you listen to?"

"Hmm, there is one song that's kinda catchy. Here, I'll show it to you." You pause the music on your phone and type in the name of the song and the guy who sings it and search it up. That very song ends up at the top of the search list and you press play. Immediately as the song starts, Rainbow Dash looks at you even more surprised than when she heard your other song.

"No... freaking... way! You mean you actually watched that movie and even like Michael Bolton?!" she asks you again, her smiled even bigger.

"You could say he's even my singing idol, next to you and the Rainbooms." you reply casually. At that moment, you really made her day with that compliment. Rainbow Dash then catches you off-guard with a surprise kiss on the cheek, making you blush intensely.

"Dude, this is so... AWESOME!!!" Rainbow almost let out a squeal like a crazed fangirl. But you were too distracted at how she kissed you by surprise to notice how cute she was when she fangirled. You began to focus a bit and looked at Rainbow who was still looking like she was gonna fangirl again. She definitely knows how to combine her "awesomeness" with "cute" and make it lovable.

Soon the people behind the counter called you over to them. You and Rainbow got up and walked over to the counter and picked up your tray of food and take it with you back to your seats. You and Rainbow grab a couple of slices and bite into them, but Rainbow was eating her pizza like she's dying of hunger. In just 3 minutes, she devoured her two slices like they were nothing.

But for you, it takes you 6 minutes to devour your two slices. Most of the time it was because you were too distracted at by how cool and cute she was, stuffing her face. You took a sip of your drink, admiring Rainbow Dash's fierce appetite. You don't know why, but there's something about Rainbow Dash that makes you say she's your type of girl to go out with. Of course, acting all mushy with wasn't gonna do much good other than gross her out because of her tomboy attitude.

It was way too soon for you to ask Rainbow Dash out on a date, but that didn't mean you couldn't enjoy a little "friendly competition" with her. As soon as you and Rainbow finish your food and cleared the table, you both walk out of the pizza joint and address Rainbow.

"Hey, Rainbow." you say.

"Yo, what's up?" she asks.

"Are you up for a little last-minute game time at the arcade?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Is this suppose to be a date, or are you challenging me?" Rainbow asks, smirking.

"That depends... if you're up to the challenge?" you provoked playfully. Rainbow's eyes widened and her smirk turned into a sly grin and she chuckled.

"Oh, it's on, dude!" Rainbow says. Now that you got to her, you both went to the arcade on the 2nd floor of the mall and went over to the coin machine. You cash in what's left of your cash and give Rainbow Dash half of the coins before walking through the arcade. You scanned the whole arcade to see what kind of gam you could challenge Rainbow Dash in. Rainbow catches sight of a fighting game. "Hey, dude, how about we find out which one of us is the best at Street Fighters?"

"I say... get your game on!" you say with confidence. You run over to the game with Dash and insert your coins and choose your characters. Rainbow chooses Cammy while you choose Dudley. Round 1 began and already, you and Rainbow went at each other, landing blow after blow until you unleased your ultimate combo and brought Rainbow down with only half of your health left. "Gotcha there, Dashie."

"Whoa there, hot shot! Only my closest friends can call me "Dashie." Rainbow says with a confident smirk.

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it, "Dashie?" you provoked.

"Oh-ho! You're on!"

Round 2 started and this time, Rainbow landed more hits on you and won the 2nd round. You only managed to land 4 hits on her, but at you couldn't deny how tough she was.

"Hah! Gotcha there! Maybe now you'll learn to respect the awesome might of Rainbow Dash!" she says, gloating and flexing her guns.

"We'll see about that... in round 3, "Dashie!"

"Okay then! But if you lose, you can only call me Rainbow! Otherwise if you win, you're free to call me Dashie anytime you feel like it."

"AH YEAH!" Soon, Round 3 started. You and Rainbow Dash kicked it into high gear, landing and blocking blows on the game, not wanting to lose the fight. Rainbow tried to cheat her way into winning by sneaking in a few small pecks on your cheek. At first she almost gets you, but the other 2 times, she failed miserably and within a minute and a half, you landed a killer upppercut and finished off her character, winning the game and you pumped your fist in the air. You looked at Rainbow and said "That's game!"

Rainbow smiled at you and fist bumped you. "Hey, you did pretty good. I guess you've earned the right to call me Dashie, but I think it's time for another challenging game." she says, smirking.

"Ooh, and what might that be?" you ask.

"Three words: Guitar Hero 3!" she replies.

"Oh, hell yeah! You're on!"

She chuckles and grabs your hand, taking you with her around the arcade to find the game. Sure enough, you find it near the entrance. You both insert your coins and grab your guitars. Rainbow Dash scrolled down the list of songs and picked Through The Fire and Flames on Expert mode.

You braced yourself for the notes to show up and right on cue, you and Rainbow Dash were strumming and pressing on the frets, hitting the notes almost in perfect sync. You slightly mess up at first but you still hung on while Rainbow Dash just kept breezing through like it was nothing. She was definitely the lead singer and guitarist of the Rainbooms for a reason. She rocked out on the song, hitting every note and moved her body with the beat, making her long rainbow hair shake all around her.

By the time the song was over, Rainbow Dash got the highest score while you placed 2nd.

"WOOHOO, YES!!! The world champ!" she shouted with joy.

"Good... game, Dashie." you reply, panting.

"Same to you. I've never seen anyone who can rock out as hard as you. You know, you're actually pretty cool guy to hang out with."

"You're a lot of fun to hang out with, too. Maybe when we're not so busy, we can hang out some more."

"Hmm, you know, I think that might sound nice, but first, I'm in the mood for another game! Are you up for a little Dance Dance Revolution, hot shot?" she asks, challenging you.

"Oh, you're on! Lead the way, Dashie." you reply, smirking. If there was any other game you were good at other than the typical shooting, RPG, or racing games, it was dancing. Something tells you Rainbow is an accomplished dancer, too and she wasn't going to pull any punches.

You made your way to the dancing game and the two of you put in the last of your coins and picked the song Believe by Eddie J on the hardest level. You looked at Rainbow Dash with a confident smirk and vice versa, ready to get your boogie on. The game starts and at that moment, you take off, demonstrating your dancing skills thanks to that Fall Formal you went to back in high school. Though, it wasn't the most pleasant time you have ever experienced, due to Sunset becoming a power-crazy she-demon.

Nevertheless, you still picked up your brand new dancing skills and you took it to this amazing game. Rainbow Dash was doing pretty good herself, adding more sway to her hips as she's dancing, probably to try to turn you on in order to take the lead in the game. It was a good strategy, but you hung on with sheer willpower and danced until the song had finally come to an end. You and Rainbow Dash felt a little bit of sweat running down your foreheads from the amazing dance-off.

The score came up on the board and it displayed both you and Rainbow Dash scoring the same amount of points, resulting in a draw. You smiled and extended your hand at Rainbow.

"Good game, Dashie. You got some sweet moves." you compliment her.

"Heh, thanks. You're pretty groovy yourself, dude." she replies, shaking your hand. "Man, I think I'm gonna call it a day, that was pretty fun."

"Yeah, I need some time to recooperate after that dance. I'm glad I got to have some fun with you, Dash."

"Same here. I'll be sure to see you again sometimes." Rainbow Dash walks over to you and pulls you into a warm hug, patting you on the back. You blushed when she pulled you in like that. But you felt relaxed and gave her a hug in return. "I'll catch ya later." she says, letting go. She then walks out of the arcade and jogs over to the exit of the mall out of your sight.

You felt your heart beating faster and your smile felt brighter as you saw her leaving the building. "Yup, this definitely felt like the best day ever." you said to yourself. With nothing else to do, you walked out of the arcade and made your way to the exit to finally relax back at your apartment.