Relax

by James Pwyll

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash
Length: 1275

Rainbow enjoys a quiet moment in Manehattan

Though she had enjoyed her fair share of "chillax" moments in her life, Rainbow was nevertheless a mare of action, and she especially hated having to be stuck in one place too long. Sadly though, that's what she has to deal with now, having been caught in Manehattan during an especially terrible storm. Still, at least she's waiting someplace nice.

Published 2019-10-28 05:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-10-28 05:00:01 UTC

Relax

"Uuuuuuuuuuuugh! Stupid Storm! Stupid me! I could've been at that train in no time! But did I go there? No! I just had to stop at that Daring Do merch store and look at the goods just a little too long, didn't I? Ugh! Curse you and your awesomeness, Daring Do!" Rainbow kept on mumbling to herself like that for some time, only occasionally glancing out of the window to the side of her. As she expected, there was no change. It was raining before, and it was raining now, punctuated only by the occasional rumble of thunder. Manehattan, usually known as being one of the more impressive cities in Equestria, certainly wasn't showing it today, as it was totally engulfed in this wretched storm. So bad was it that, even when Rainbow squinted, she couldn't even see the other side of the street from the diner she was in. That was how dark it was and just how unrelenting the rain had been, which battered the windows furiously. But she knew there was nothing she could do about it, and so slid further down into her chair. "I should've made that train."

"Welcome to the club, kid," a second voice said to her. Rainbow turned, seeing that it was the waitress, a chestnut brown earth pony, who smiled to her before pouring her a second cup of coffee. "Missed your train? Yeah, happens to the best of us."

Rainbow chuckled, but only a little. "Well, I'm definitely the 'best', no question there."

The waitress rolled her eyes before talking again. "You know, if it makes you feel any better, getting caught in this storm while you were on the train probably would've been worse. You know how those things just grind to a halt in weather this bad."

Rainbow sighed, leaning her head back against her chair again. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Then the waitress squinted her eyes at her, tapping her chin briefly. "Say...ain't I seen you somewhere before?"

A small smirk came to Rainbow. "Maybe. Does the name 'Rainbow Dash' mean anything to you?"

The waitress looked away. "Rainbow Dash...Rainbow Dash...Oh! Yeah! I know you!"

Rainbow puffed out her chest with pride slightly. "Oh yeah?"

The waitress nodded. "Yeah! You're a friend of that Rarity lady! Oh, I remember going to her store once. Best clothes I ever bought!"

And just like that, Rainbow's smile vanished, replaced instead with a more annoyed look. "Er...yeah. They're pretty great, aren't they?"

The waitress gave her a tiny nudge on the side. "Hey, if you see her, let her know I love her work!"

Rainbow forced a smile. "Oh, I will." And she watched as the waitress moved off, ready to serve one or two other ponies that had been caught here when the storm began. Though the interaction had been pleasant enough, it nevertheless left Rainbow feeling somewhat dejected. "Ugh! I can't leave, I can't fly my way out of it, I have no adoring fans, how can this get worse?" As if to answer her, there was a sudden strike of lightning high in the sky, catching her off-guard. She practically jumped out of her seat over the shock of it, but managed to look composed before anypony else saw her. Clearing her throat, she looked out of the window again. "Honestly, what's the point in us pegasi controlling the weather if we still have to bring in stuff like this?"

She brought her coffee cup to her lips, taking a quick sip of it, all while never taking her eyes off the window. It was almost a pointless exercise when you got right down to it. There was nothing she could see through that window, at least not while this storm was going on. Yet after a time, she found herself paying more and more attention just to the simple sounds of the rain upon it. She'd heard rain plenty of times before of course, but in those instances there was always something else she could be paying attention to, or just otherwise doing to keep herself occupied. Here she had no such benefit, and so the sound was all she could focus on. After a while, she started to wonder if there were patters to those sounds. Maybe the rain fell on the window in a particular way? Like notes in music? She chortled at the thought. "Careful, Rainbow. Don't wanna get too philosophical while you're here."

Another sip of her coffee. And she took a moment to enjoy the taste of it, as she had to admit it was a very nice cup of coffee, while her ears started to pick up other sounds in the diner. The sound of the waitress walking from table to table. The sound of one of the other patrons flipping the page of their newspaper. The sound of the nearby coffee machine doing its thing. Even the sounds of the springs of the softer parts of her chair were making themselves known to her. They were little things, but they were also things that she just noticed, given how calm it was in here. Then again, noticing things was a big part of why she was a good flier, which was a thought that gave her cause to smirk, naturally.

Turning, she raised a hoof, and while nopony was looking, she started to trace lines in the condensation on the interior of her window. In time, she made faces. Small ones, but with enough detail to make it clear it was her six friends she was drawing. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Spike, all smiling to her. She smiled back, leaning in closer and whispering. "Hey, Rarity? The waitress here really likes your outfits." She looked to Pinkie afterwards. "Sorry, Pinkie, but I wasn't able to pick up a cake for you here in Manehattan. No, it wasn't because they were bad, they just weren't sugary enough for your tastes." She chuckled to her own comment. "Look at me, taking to my own drawings. How weird is that?"

"Pretty weird."

Rainbow's snicker was wiped from her face, and she turned to see the waitress again, who was giving her a knowing smile. Seeing that, Rainbow quickly turned to her drawings, then back to her. "Um...I was...er..."

But the waitress held up a hoof, stopping her. "Hey, I've been working in a Manehattan diner for about ten years now, Miss. Trust me, I've seen weirder." After an incredibly uncomfortable pause on the part of Rainbow, she eventually broke down and the two shared a laugh together. It was a nice moment, and when it ended the waitress held up the coffee jug again. Rainbow, understanding, nodded, holding up her cup for the waitress to pour into. As she did this, the waitress looked to her customer. "Let me guess. You're a real go-getter, right? Love running about and doing stuff? Not being cooped up?" Rainbow, after quickly blowing on her freshly-poured coffee, nodded, confirming that suspicion and leading the waitress to nodding. "Yeah, I know. It can get kinda boring just waiting around for stuff, right?"

Rainbow thought on that, looking down to her coffee. She considered it, feeling the comfortable chair she'd been in since she got here, the nice smell of the coffee, and even the sound of the rain, which had become unexpectedly pleasant to her. And then, after a time, she smiled. "Oh, I dunno...it has its moments."

Author's Note

Recently, we had some pretty heavy rain overnight, and I got to thinking just how relaxing it was when you stopped and listened to it :twilightsmile: