Being Homelessby HopeChaptersChapter 1.Chapter 2.Chapter 3.Chapter 1.Rainbow Dash chuckled as she put a hoof to Fluttershy’s shoulder. “That’s cool and all, but I’ve got some chores I need to do, ok? Just… Got a busy evening. But tomorrow I’ll stop by to help with your chores.” “You don’t have to help with chores,” Fluttershy said softly, but she smiled as she gave Rainbow a hug. “Yeah, I know I don’t have to. But it’s what I do. See you Shy.” Rainbow returned the embrace briefly before taking flight, and zipping off into the sky. Her home was nearby, and as she approached she noticed the sun setting just right behind it to light up the place, the white clouds glowing orange. She grinned, and landed on a balcony before stepping inside, only for Tank to fly towards her at top speed. Just barely catching him, Rainbow laughed. “Jeez buddy, you’ve got to slow down, might end up out above the forest or something.” She gave him a noogie, set him down on the floor, and then focused on her chores. Of course, when she said chores she really meant making a sandwich and falling asleep on the couch as the TV played the fiftieth rerun of some random cartoons. It was a simple life, but a good one. But just as she was starting to fall asleep, there was a rumble in the distance, and a soft boom. She frowned, and brushed her half eaten sandwich off her stomach to look out of the window. Clear skies, no rain or thunderstorms scheduled for tonight or even the rest of the week. It wasn’t even high static zoned, to where you could get dry lightning. Rainbow groaned, rubbed her eyes, and got off the sofa. She made it to the phone and picked it up to call in to the Weather Services, when there was a boom again, much much closer. That, Rainbow Dash knew, was not the sound of thunder. It was the sound of something coming out of a sonic rainboom. But before she could act on that news, something blasted through her house on a sharp diagonal, leaving gaping holes in the cloud structure and exposing the crystalline hover support beams, even cracking one in half and leaving some chunk of metal smoking on top of the beam, burning the clouds away around it. Then, a split second later, there was a much louder boom as the thing, whatever it was, impacted the meadow below and probably exploded. She stared at the smouldering wreckage in her living room. She looked up through the holes in the upper layers, to see the darkening sky, and she swallowed her fear before dialing emergency services instead. “ES, what is your emergency?” “Something… just broke my house,” Rainbow Dash said incredulously, still staring at the hole. “This is Rainbow Dash, Cloud house 4, Markley Meadow?” the mare on the line asked. “Yeah, Bright Siren, everypony knows where I live,” Rainbow said as she rolled her eyes. “Just… Can you send somepony? Maybe Twilight too? Ugh, I’ll get Twilight. But the meadow might be on fire.” “Of course, Ms. Dash,” Siren said, still in a very serious tone. Dash rolled her eyes and mouthed along with her, before hanging up. “Gah, so serious, it’s an emergency not, like, an emergency or something.” She then dialed Twilight’s number. “Rainbow! There may be a star falling in the region of Ponyville in the next hour or so!” Twilight said the moment she picked up the phone. Rainbow took the phone away from her ear and sighed, rubbing her eye with one hoof before dragging her cheek down in sheer exasperation. “Yeah. Yeah, Twi, it went through my house.” There was a long silence on the line, before Twilight finally spoke. “Can… Can I come look a--” “Yes! You can take the thing if you want, I don’t care, but it broke my house, Twi!” “Oh!” Twilight said cheerfully, and Rainbow could hear the smile on her voice. “Then you can come stay with me for a bit while we get it fixed, Dash! It’ll be ok, it’ll be fine. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Then she hung up, and left Rainbow staring at the phone in horror. “Live… With Twilight. In the castle, are you fff….. Are you KIDDING ME?!” she shouted as she looked around and found Tank cowering in the corner. She stared at him in his beady little eyes. “We are not living with Twi. I love her, she’s great, but she’s also the worst pony in the world to be lazy around. I’d be cleaning dishes every day for the rest of my life.” She put him in his cage before finally flying out and down into the meadow as a trio of police pegusi landed to inspect the crater. “Hey! Hey yeah you three!” Rainbow shouted as she landed with a heavy thud. “Twilight’s coming to look at that, what can you do about my house?!” she asked, wincing a bit at how her voice pitched up when she was angry. “We can take a statement,” one of them said hesitantly. “But we aren’t insurance or anything like that.” “Statement?!” Rainbow laughed. “Statement, you need a statement?! This thing crashed through my house! That’s the statement, that’s it.” “Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down,” one of the other officers said sternly. Rainbow looked between them, gaping. “You all know that I’m one of the elements of harmony, right? I’m kind of a big deal.” “Rainbow, we’re just doing our jobs,” the first officer sighed. “We just have to get a statement, and if that’s your statement, then that’s fine.” Rainbow huffed and turned away, crossing her arms and trying to let her anger evaporate until Twilight finally arrived. “We need a quarantine, one mile in every direction,” Twilight said immediately. “I’ve also contacted Celestia already, she’s sending a crew to help us, but for now we need to seal everything off.” “Twilight, I can’t live with you,” Rainbow said immediately. “Please.” Twilight paused and looked to Rainbow, confused. “I… Rainbow, what’s wrong? We can figure something out.” “What’s wrong? Twi, my house! Some… thing just punched a hole in my house.” Twilight stepped up to her and put her hooves on Rainbow’s shoulders. “Rainbow Dash. I know you’re upset. I know that you’re going through a lot so quickly. If you’re not comfortable staying with me, is there anyone you’d be comfortable staying with?” Rainbow’s steam evaporated. She couldn’t help it, Twilight always knew how to pull the rug out from under her when she was on a roll. “I think… AJ’s barn would be better. So I can just… be lazy when I want to be,” Rainbow sighed, rubbing her head. “Ok, then go ahead and talk to her, I’ll--” There was a sudden sharp loud noise from the crater that made everypony jump a bit and look. Then, a moment later, it beeped again, just as loud. “What in the world?!” Rainbow shouted. “What is that?” “It’s just… I don’t know, let’s move back,” Twilight said cautiously as she backed away. “No, I’m not going to let some freaky thing plow through my house and then threaten us!” Twilight reached out to grab Rainbow as she took off, but missed. Then, she reached out with her magic, but Rainbow managed to blow through it and hit the black hunk of metal in the middle of the crater, with a resounding thud. The beeping stopped, and Rainbow grinned. “See! I g--” The thing made a whining groaning noise, and then a pop, and some glowing white powder floated up from the object, drifting across Rainbow. She immediately started hopping around, trying to brush it off. “Ah, ah, ow, it’s hot!” “Stars and stones,” Twilight groaned, grimacing as she cast a spell which scrubbed across Rainbow’s body at high speed and removed everything down to her skin. “That was probably fuel. Some sort of caustic fuel, Rainbow. Please, we need to get you washed off, in case it’s poisonous.” It took half an hour, Rainbow knew because she was watching the clock the entire time as she was taken to the hospital, quarantined, and washed off with a sour smelling chemical bath, before finally being put in a hospital bed. The entire time, she scowled. It wasn’t fair, and she was really starting to get sick of this whole evening. But Twilight kept apologizing, which forced Rainbow to say it was fine, even though it wasn’t fine, and so she couldn’t blow up and yell at anypony. Then, surprisingly, Fluttershy showed up. “Rainbow, Rainbow, I got Tank. And some of your things, AJ said you were going to stay with her?” Rainbow Dash blushed and shrugged, now she really couldn’t be angry. Her friends were stepping up for her. “I… Yeah, Shy. I’m probably going to stay in AJ’s barn until I’ve got my house back. No way I’m cut out to live in the castle or, you know, anywhere else where ponies wake up at the crack of dawn.” Fluttershy paused and processed everything she’d said, before she cleared her throat. “Um… Rainbow, you know that AJ wakes up earlier than I do, right?” “Yeah, but they don’t live in their barn, they always joke about it too, were you raised in a barn?” she said in a mock southern accent. “But then they go outside and get things from the barn to do their work,” Fluttershy gently reminded her. Rainbow stared at the wall, as she got progressively more angry again. “But… Um, I usually don’t wake up until ten,” Fluttershy offered with a nervous smile. Rainbow looked to her meek friend and tilted her head a little. “Shy… you don’t want me in your house. Trust me.” “Why not?” she huffed, sitting down. “Dash, I think I can handle you being a little lazy, it’s fine. You’re dealing with a lot, and need a place to stay. It’s what friends do.” “And crumbs on the floor?” Rainbow asked with an arched brow. “My mice will eat them,” Fluttershy replied way too quickly. “And never doing my dishes?” Rainbow continued. “I’ve got an automatic dishwasher. There are some nice things about living on the ground.” “I snore.” “I sleep like a hibernating bear.” “I like to have the TV playing all the time.” “That’s fine, Angel will love it!” They were practically nose to nose, both breathing heavily, as AJ walked in and looked between them, clearly worried. “Y’all about to throw a few kicks? Ah can get security.” “No, AJ, Rainbow was just agreeing to stay at my place,” Fluttershy said decisively. “Sounds good,” AJ nodded, appearing completely untroubled. “Can sleep in a bit longer there, I reckon.” Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, exactly. I mean… Shy, I didn’t agree yet,” she said, remembering she was upset. “Are you going to get woken up at 7 every morning at the very latest when AJ comes into the barn to get her plow and seeds?” Fluttershy retorted, tilting her head down to give an extra incredulous look. Rainbow grumbled as she looked between Shy and AJ, and finally threw her hooves up in the air. “Fine, fine. I’ll stay with you, Shy. I just… I’ll need to get some stuff from my house.” “Ain’t happenin’ sugarcube,” AJ said calmly. “We got all we were allowed, jus’ about. The rest is contami… spoilt.” “Contaminated,” Fluttershy corrected. AJ nodded, smiling. Rainbow stared, and tried to imagine what it would be like to really punch AJ. Like really haul off and hit her. Would AJ even flinch? Probably not. She’d take it like a champ and then knock Rainbow on her rear so hard that she couldn’t walk straight for a week. “So… It’s gone. Everything I own is gone,” Rainbow clarified. “Eeyup,” AJ confirmed. Rainbow shot out of the bed, but Fluttershy had been ready and tackled her to the ground. “Rainbow stop!” “I’m gonna hit ya, AJ! Calm cool and collected my rainbow colored a--” She grunted as AJ sat on her back and pinned her wings to the floor. “Whatcher gonna do now, Dash?” AJ asked, still unwaveringly cool. “Gonna… Gonna…” It finally happened, her anger broke, and the scream of rage bottomed out in a deep sob, finally leaving her laying on the floor crying as AJ and Fluttershy held her. “I can’t… Why, why is all this happening now?” Rainbow whimpered. “Ain’t got a reason,” AJ said gently. “Just happened, and it ain’t right, but we’ll get ya back on yer hooves. It’ll be alright. It’ll be alright.” Rainbow didn’t believe her, but she let the comfort be, because she needed it so badly. Chapter 2.Rainbow Dash sat just on the safe side of the yellow caution tape, looking into the distance at her house. It had collapsed partly, the top layer had fallen into the middle floor, tilted at a concerning angle. Without a pegasus putting energy into it, the house would fall within a week. It would drift lower and lower, then give out and collapse. She knew, because she’d seen it happen to abandoned cloud houses before, where the best plan was to let it fall so that the objects inside could be collected more easily. Her home would suffer the same fate, if it wasn’t dissolved sooner. “Rainbow, you’ve barely got any sleep, let’s get back to my house, and you can settle in,” Fluttershy insisted. Rainbow nodded and turned away from Markley Meadow. It wouldn’t be her home for a while. She’d have to find another place to put her new house if she could even get one. “You have a… spare room?” “My entire second floor is storage,” Fluttershy chuckled. “You can have it for as long as you need.” Rainbow smiled a little. “No matter how messy it is?” “We might have to set up ground rules so I can put your things away if you don’t,” Fluttershy said with a nervous smile. Rainbow nodded as they passed through the outskirts of town, and past the road to Sweet Apple Acres, to reach Fluttershy’s road. It wasn’t even labeled, Rainbow finally noted after years of coming to her cottage. The birds that flew between the trees chirped, and the melody was surprisingly relaxing. Rainbow yawned a little, turning the corner to arrive at the cottage. Surprisingly large, the two story structure clearly had a tree as part of it's design but it wasn't until they got inside that Rainbow spotted the trunk, which had become the slanted staircase going up and part of the back wall. Of course Dash had been to Shys house countless times, but she'd never gone upstairs, which now struck her as a bit odd. She'd been all around the house, and inside. She'd probably crashed on the couch a few times as well. "Are you ok?" Rainbow blinked a few times and chuckled. She must really be tired, she thought, if Shy was catching her zoning out. "I don't think I ever realized that you had a second floor," Dash pointed out before following Fluttershy inside. The house somehow felt smaller on the inside than it looked like from the outside, thanks to several animal cubbies that covered the walls. But it was also clear to Dash that the place had been cleaned and tidied recently. There was barely any smell of wild animals. That, and the shelves were absolutely packed with things that must have been taken from upstairs. “I don’t think I’ve ever been up there,” Dash admitted as she started up the stairs, the four bags heavy on her back as Shy found Tank and brought him up alongside her. She’d expected empty, but instead she found home. The slanted walls and ceiling were draped in white fabric to give it the rough appearance of a cloud house, with her original signed Wonderbolts poster hung on one wall in it’s frame. A small stack of awards saved from her home. Not hers, but Scootaloo’s. A brand new TV, smaller than her old one but shiny and clearly fresh out of a box was set on a stand in one corner of the room, while in the opposite corner a new bed stood with freshly washed sheets. Rainbow sniffled, and leaned into Fluttershy’s offered hug. “How…” “Rarity had the cloth. Pinkie got lots of your things, she didn’t say how. Twilight had a spare TV, and AJ helped me clear out the room.” Rainbow trotted over to the bed and laid down before rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. Then Tank was set down next to her, and she chuckled through her tears. “It’s so much.” “We just want to help you,” Fluttershy reassured her. “And you need your friends. Go ahead and rest, get some sleep. I’ll wake you up for dinner.” Rainbow nodded and Fluttershy left, leaving her to yawn and look at Tank. She wanted to turn on the TV, but didn’t want to bother Fluttershy, until she heard the back door open and close. Shy was doing chores. Perfect. She found the remote, curled up on the new bed, and turned on the TV with the expectation that she would be able to quickly find some meaningless show to hum in the background as she drifted off to sleep. But the first thing she saw was the crater, with her house floating in the background. “The Markley meteorite is being reclassified as an Unidentified Crashed Object, as it appears not to be natural. The environmental damage done to the meadow is still unknown, but it is estimated to range into the thousands of bits and displace hundreds of local creatures. Back to you, Candle Light.” Rainbow was wide awake now, of course she was. She was livid. The poor mice might be displaced but no mention at all of her. No mention of her losing everything. She had to force herself to look at Tank. Not everything. She hadn’t lost everything. She hugged him close, and glared at the TV while they talked about the Summer Sun Celebration and the many new permits granted for temporary shops and pop-up restaurants in Vanhoover, where this year’s ceremony was being held. Finally they switched to weather, and the calmer explanation of the schedule lulled her to sleep. She dreamed of her house collapsing. Bit by bit, but the door never opening. The walls coming in on her, her shelves toppling and pouring her belongings across the floor. She dreamed of clinging to one of the support beams, sobbing, as it lashed around in a windstorm. The cloud walls always there, blocking her sight of the sky or ground. Finally, soaked in cold sweat and panting, she woke up. She couldn’t quite remember if she’d hit the ground in the last moments of her dream, but it felt like it, everything felt so awful, and she was so upset. But at least she felt a little more rested. She opened the window, and took off into the sky, focused on a low flying decorative cloud. It would do. Punching a hole through a cloud would get most pegusi in trouble if they didn’t check in with the weather crew first, but Dash was sort of allowed to do what she wanted, as long as she cleaned up after herself. Close up the holes, make sure the cloud didn’t dissipate, and she could lay on top of it as the fresh rainwater evaporated off her in the sun. “I just wanted things to stay how they were,” she muttered, watching a distant pegusi pushed a cloud a bit further into the wind current to get it on track towards the Southern tip of Ponyville. It was probably Cloud Kicker. She tended to pick up the evening shifts when all the heavy lifting was already done and attention to detail was needed. It’s what she was good at, and Rainbow appreciated that. She wondered what Cloud Kicker would do if her house was destroyed. Turn to her boyfriend? She had to have friends. Everypony in Ponyville had pretty much followed Pinkie’s example in finding a friend group, most of which included the pink pony. Rainbow sat up, frowning a bit. She hadn’t heard from Pinkie in days, and she hadn't come up more than once in conversation. Normally Pinks would stop by and be offering Rainbow a cupcake or two. Maybe she needed a friend to stop by. Spreading her wings and stepping off the cloud, Rainbow Dash dove to gain speed until finally she leveled out to zip just above the trees and towards Ponyville proper. It was a nice place to live, she admitted to herself. It was her home and any other town just felt a little off. The town hall was just big enough to create a nice updraft too, which Rainbow avoided this time to instead land in front of Sugarcube Corner. Whoever had named the cafe and confectionary combo sure had undersold it’s charm. Sugar cubes were bare minimum for the place, icing palace might be a better fit, she mused as she ducked inside and the bell over the door rang softly. “Dashie!” Pinkie cried out as she hopped over the counter and skidded to a stop on the tile just before running into the pegasus, putting her hooves to Rainbow’s cheeks. “Dashie I’m so sorry I haven’t delivered you your gifts yet!!! The cakes had an emergency and then AJ told me what happened, and then I had to cover three shifts here in a row which really just means a whole day and--” Rainbow, grinning, stuck a hoof in Pinkie’s mouth, knowing there was no way that she’d be able to just put them to Pinkie’s lips to stop her rant, since every time she tried, Pinkie ended up eating her hoof. “I’m fine Pinkie. I figured you were busy. I just woke up, actually, so you haven’t missed much.” She extracted her hoof with a pop and Pinkie giggled, offering her a towel to dry it off. “Not missed much?! Dashie, your house kinda got exploded. That’s a lot.” “Not exploded exactly,” Rainbow said as she shrugged. “That… thing just put a huge hole through it, and now it’s off limits because it’s too close to the impact or something. They got Scoot’s trophies and Tank though, so… at least there’s that.” Pinkie looked into Dash’s eyes, and Dash ducked her head slightly, though she didn’t break that gaze. There were moments when Pinkie just… knew too much, when she was too wise, and Dash didn’t like it. She liked when Pinkie and her were on the same playing field, when they were both the jokesters and impulsive ones. But sometimes Pinkie just wasn’t the same. “You’re not alright, right now,” Pinkie said gently as she finally guided Dash to sit down in a booth. “But you will be, ok Dashie? Here, sit.” A moment later, there was a cup of hot tea and a cupcake with a thin layer of lemon frosting sitting in front of her, as Pinkie sat down across from her and smiled. “Happy birthday.” Rainbow blinked several times, before tears started to come to her eyes, and she chuckled. “I forgot, you know. It felt like yesterday just… stretched out into today and took it over. I… Slept through most of my birthday.” “Sounds like a decent birthday,” Pinkie giggled. Dash laughed, and wiped her eyes dry before taking a nice big bite out of the cupcake. “Thansh Pinti,” she said around a mouthful of moist cake. “It’s like, gift one out of twelve,” Pinkie said with a happy sigh. “The more I felt bad about not seeing you, the more gifts I came up with. Still have to buy half of them.” Rainbow rolled her eyes but kept smiling as she polished off the cupcake and sipped a bit of tea to wash it down. “You really really don’t have to go buying stuff for me, Pinkie. I promise.” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Well duh. Of course I don’t have to. It’d be like… a bribe or something then, not a gift. Oop!” The door bell rang and Pinkie hopped up. “AJ!” The farm pony slid smoothly into the booth where Pinkie had been sitting, and laid down a package wrapped in brown paper and twine in front of Dash. “Can I get you anything?” Pinkie asked eagerly. “Sure, sure,” AJ looked her over with a chuckle. “Pear, ah’m feelin somethin’ pear.” Pinkie ran off to fulfill the vague request as Dash looked over the package and then looked up to AJ. “It’s yer gift,” AJ clarified. “Birthday an all that.” “I know what it is, Jack,” Dash said with a smirk. “Just… Trying to figure out what you’d get me, and also how you knew I was here.” “Done flew right over me as I got to Shy’s place,” AJ said, one corner of her mouth pulled up in an amused smile. “So, followed ya.” Rainbow tugged loose the twine bow with her teeth and unwrapped the package to reveal a carefully folded and preserved Wonderbolts uniform. Not the reserves, and not the new version with cost cutting measures either, an original, and by the crisp fold lines it had never even been worn. Rainbow gaped, looking up to AJ, then back down at the clear plastic box. “How. How? I’m in the wonderbolts and I don’t have one of these. Spitfire only has two, she told me!” AJ polished a hoof on her chest and shrugged, looking quite pleased with herself. “Ain’t no big thing. Just pulled a few strings.” “You’re a farmer,” Rainbow said flatly. “What strings do you have to pull that aren’t on your clothes?” AJ huffed, taking off her hat and setting it aside. “Now I know that you didn’t mean that, Dash. So I’ll let it slide. But ah’ll have ya know that’d be the second suit ever made. Got it from Celestia.” Rainbow resumed gaping, before regaining her bearings and nodding. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. Thank you. I don’t know how you got ahold of Celestia in a single day and got a priceless antique for my birthday but it’s awesome, thank you.” “Well, she was stayin’ over last night to share stories with Granny, and the subject came up in the mornin’ that you’d lost your uniforms an she had the solution.” Dash smirked, expecting a joke before looking up and seeing AJ serious. “AJ, I can get free uniforms for being in the reserves, and this… This is perfect and amazing and I’m never gonna take it out of its box ever.” AJ’s eyebrows raised slowly as she stared at Dash. “Then… What’s the gosh darned point, Rainbow?” A plate with a pear tart was put down between them, and before Pinkie could say anything, another pony walked in and she ran off to help them. “It’s… important! Like trophies, and collector’s items, AJ. This is so incredible, because it’s part of the Wonderbolts!” AJ nodded, and her smile slowly returned. “Alright. That’s fair, and… Well, I suppose it’s not a bad trophy at that.” “It’s a trophy from one of my best friends, that’s what it is,” Rainbow chuckled as she hugged the box to her chest. “Doesn’t hurt that isn’t super super awesome.” “Well I’ll leave ya to it then, got to get back to the farm, but stop by sometime fer dinner. Glad ya found someplace ‘sides our barn to sleep.” AJ stood and took her tart as she left, and Rainbow nodded, watching her go before looking at the uniform and grinning. Maybe she’d put it on… Just once. “You were going to live in AJ’s barn?” Pinkie asked as she finally sat down again. “Well yeah,” Rainbow nodded, smiling a little as she thought of it, a bed tucked in the hay loft, AJ opening the door to check on her. It was a shame that she would’ve been forced to wake up way too early every single day to do that. “Because you like her,” Pinkie concluded. Rainbow stared at Pinkie for a full minute, trying to process the words but failing, as Pinkie’s smile got bigger and bigger. “No, no! No, that’s not why,” Rainbow finally objected. “Then why?” “Because I wouldn't have had to clean up or anything!” Dash got up from the booth bench, still hugging the Wonderbolts suit. Pinkie giggled, standing up as well. “Well that’s not true at all, you would never leave a mess in AJ’s barn.” Rainbow chuckled nervously, then zipped out of the door and into the wide open sky, head a mess of confusion, but still holding onto that gift so tight. Chapter 3.A week, a bunch of gifts, and settling into a routine wasn’t enough to get the thought off Dash’s mind. Neither was Twilight’s adventure learning about an alien race, and establishing contact with them. She found herself more and more often taking her breaks to sit on clouds over Sweet Apple Acres, watching. She’d try to spot Big Mac or AJ, and the thought kept crawling into her head, what would it be like to have a big family like that? What would it be like to have a place that was really home? Because all she had was a cloud house back in Cloudsdale, full of memories she didn’t want, and parents she hadn’t even told about her situation yet, because she just couldn’t handle their energy. “Whatcher doin’ up there, Dash?” She nearly fell out of her cloud, before looking down and spotting the brown hat, tilted up just enough to show emerald eyes. “Ah, just… Just napping, that’s all, AJ,” Rainbow lied before flying down and landing in front of her. “You know, lazy as always.” “Mmmhm,” AJ hummed, smiling in that way that made Rainbow think she knew more than she was letting on. “Well, I got a proposition for ya. Come over for dinner tonight. Family’s got a bit more leftovers than we know what to do with.” Rainbow couldn’t help but smile. Apple Family cooking? Hanging out with AJ? The best possible evenings. “Of c--” “There’s a catch,” AJ interrupted, still smiling. Rainbow tilted her head, confused. “A catch?” “Eeyup, ya gotta come honest. If yer comin to dinner ta court me, you bring flowers.” Rainbow’s slack jawed and flustered blubbering must have been what AJ was looking for, because she chuckled in amusement and trotted off. “See ya at dinner, Rainbow!” “I didn’t… I was… Aaargh,” Rainbow groaned as AJ got out of sight. “Great, does everypony but me know this stuff? Come on!” She took off, and flew straight to Sugarcube corner, nearly running into Pinkie as she hopped out of the door. “Hey! What gives, did you tell AJ?” “Nope! I’d never betray a friend’s trust, that’s the quickest way to lose a friend f--” “Forever, yeah, I get it,” Rainbow huffed. “But she knows!” Pinkie stopped and giggled, looking up at Rainbow. “Aww, you mean your constant staring at her and blushing finally gave it away?” Rainbow glared, and Pinkie grinned, until finally Rainbow got to the point. “I… I think I need to buy her flowers.” “YES!” Pinkie cheered, jumping and spinning in midair before landing. “Ok, I’ve got the perfect bouquet lined up for you.” “Are you really sure you didn’t plan this?” Rainbow growled as she followed Pinkie down the street to the flower stall. “Hey, y’know that bouquet I’ve had on hold for like… five months?” Pinkie asked the Flower trio. Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “Oh, yes,” Lily nodded as she fetched the bundle of pink apple blossoms and dark blue Delphinium, hoofing it over to Rainbow before taking payment from Pinkie. “Five months, Pinkie?” she asked, holding her arms out wide and actually landing. “Five months, how long have you known?!” Pinkie paused her perfunctory pleasantries with Petunia and chuckled, putting a hoof to Rainbow’s shoulder. “I’ve known since the running of the leaves, Dashie. There was just something about you two, and the way that you wanted to prove to her that you were worth it!” Rainbow huffed and rolled her eyes. “I was trying to beat her, Pinks. Not prove to her that I was worth something.” “Exactly! You haven’t gotten that competitive with me, or Twilight, or Fluttershy, or Rarity, or anyone on the weather team! You only get competitive with ponies you like!” Rainbow stared at the flowers she was holding, then at Pinkie, then back at the flowers before sighing. “Ok.” “Ok?” “Ok, you gotta be right, Pinkie, because… Only stuff that’s real scares me this bad,” Rianbow admitted. “Just don’t trip and knock over an entire casserole dish,” Pinkie reminded her. Rainbow just shook her head and flew off, back to Fluttershy’s place, where she slipped in through the window to find Fluttershy making her bed. “Hey, hey, you don’t need to do that, it’s alright,” Rainbow said, cheeks red from embarrassment. Fluttershy was a great friend, but more neat and clean that Rainbow had first given her credit for. The bed making was just the most obvious thing. “Oh, I had the time,” Shy said softly as she spotted the flowers and chuckled. “Who gave you flowers, Rainbow?” “Pinkie, I mean… She helped buy them, for… For AJ,” Rainbow said as she laid the flowers down on her bedside table and turned around to see Fluttershy grinning. “What?!” “I knew that was why you wanted to live in her barn, you just wouldn’t admit it,” Fluttershy whispered urgently. “I knew it!” Rainbow’s cheeks felt so hot they might melt off, and when Fluttershy hugged her, she just shrunk a little. “Feels like everypony knew except me,” she admitted as she scuffed the wood floor with her hoof. “Like I’m just… I just don’t get it.” Fluttershy sighed and took Rainbow’s chin in one hoof to get her to look up. “Listen… Rainbow Dash, This is the first time you’ve been comfortable talking about these things, I think. At all. Last time you dated somepony, back in Flight School, I remember you didn’t even use the word Love, or Girlfriend. You just said she was ‘cool enough.’ So I think… I think this is important for you, and it’s ok that you haven’t thought about it much.” Rainbow nodded a little, tried not to cry, and hugged Fluttershy. Then she remembered she had to finish her work day, and zipped out of the window with a quick apology. Her mind wasn’t on it, distracted and constantly looking towards those distant apple trees, when they finally finished up for the day and she flew home, she was exhausted but absolutely determined. She took a shower, she brushed her mane and tail so the colors were all sorted, and then she put on the Wonderbolts costume. It was a little large for her, clearly tailored for one of the first Wonderbolts, but it was comfortable. Looking in the mirror though, it felt like too much. Too much for AJ. AJ didn’t need her on duty, didn’t need her looking fancy, she just said flowers. Nervously, she took the flowers and looked in the mirror again. Just her. Just her with some flowers, that was it. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, nodded, and left for Sweet Apple Acres. The house was lit up in warm golden light from the old lightbulbs inside, as the sun started to set behind it. Rainbow paused and took it all in, her heart racing. She felt unworthy and small and scared, but AJ had invited her, and given her a simple rule to follow. So she had flowers. Rainbow hovered up to the door, landed, and knocked. There was some laughter from inside, and some movement, and then the door opened to reveal AppleJack, silhouetted in the doorway, smile just barely visible in the shadows. “Hey there, Rainbow.” “H… Hey AJ,” Rainbow said, smiling a little as she held out the Bouquet. “I… Uh… Brought you flowers.” AJ chuckled softly, and stepped outside to take the flowers, and admire them. “Pinkie buy ‘em for ya?” Rainbow blushed and nodded. “Figured. C’mere.” Rainbow stepped forward, and AJ kissed her on the cheek. And Rainbow felt like she was home again.
Chapter 1.Rainbow Dash chuckled as she put a hoof to Fluttershy’s shoulder. “That’s cool and all, but I’ve got some chores I need to do, ok? Just… Got a busy evening. But tomorrow I’ll stop by to help with your chores.” “You don’t have to help with chores,” Fluttershy said softly, but she smiled as she gave Rainbow a hug. “Yeah, I know I don’t have to. But it’s what I do. See you Shy.” Rainbow returned the embrace briefly before taking flight, and zipping off into the sky. Her home was nearby, and as she approached she noticed the sun setting just right behind it to light up the place, the white clouds glowing orange. She grinned, and landed on a balcony before stepping inside, only for Tank to fly towards her at top speed. Just barely catching him, Rainbow laughed. “Jeez buddy, you’ve got to slow down, might end up out above the forest or something.” She gave him a noogie, set him down on the floor, and then focused on her chores. Of course, when she said chores she really meant making a sandwich and falling asleep on the couch as the TV played the fiftieth rerun of some random cartoons. It was a simple life, but a good one. But just as she was starting to fall asleep, there was a rumble in the distance, and a soft boom. She frowned, and brushed her half eaten sandwich off her stomach to look out of the window. Clear skies, no rain or thunderstorms scheduled for tonight or even the rest of the week. It wasn’t even high static zoned, to where you could get dry lightning. Rainbow groaned, rubbed her eyes, and got off the sofa. She made it to the phone and picked it up to call in to the Weather Services, when there was a boom again, much much closer. That, Rainbow Dash knew, was not the sound of thunder. It was the sound of something coming out of a sonic rainboom. But before she could act on that news, something blasted through her house on a sharp diagonal, leaving gaping holes in the cloud structure and exposing the crystalline hover support beams, even cracking one in half and leaving some chunk of metal smoking on top of the beam, burning the clouds away around it. Then, a split second later, there was a much louder boom as the thing, whatever it was, impacted the meadow below and probably exploded. She stared at the smouldering wreckage in her living room. She looked up through the holes in the upper layers, to see the darkening sky, and she swallowed her fear before dialing emergency services instead. “ES, what is your emergency?” “Something… just broke my house,” Rainbow Dash said incredulously, still staring at the hole. “This is Rainbow Dash, Cloud house 4, Markley Meadow?” the mare on the line asked. “Yeah, Bright Siren, everypony knows where I live,” Rainbow said as she rolled her eyes. “Just… Can you send somepony? Maybe Twilight too? Ugh, I’ll get Twilight. But the meadow might be on fire.” “Of course, Ms. Dash,” Siren said, still in a very serious tone. Dash rolled her eyes and mouthed along with her, before hanging up. “Gah, so serious, it’s an emergency not, like, an emergency or something.” She then dialed Twilight’s number. “Rainbow! There may be a star falling in the region of Ponyville in the next hour or so!” Twilight said the moment she picked up the phone. Rainbow took the phone away from her ear and sighed, rubbing her eye with one hoof before dragging her cheek down in sheer exasperation. “Yeah. Yeah, Twi, it went through my house.” There was a long silence on the line, before Twilight finally spoke. “Can… Can I come look a--” “Yes! You can take the thing if you want, I don’t care, but it broke my house, Twi!” “Oh!” Twilight said cheerfully, and Rainbow could hear the smile on her voice. “Then you can come stay with me for a bit while we get it fixed, Dash! It’ll be ok, it’ll be fine. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Then she hung up, and left Rainbow staring at the phone in horror. “Live… With Twilight. In the castle, are you fff….. Are you KIDDING ME?!” she shouted as she looked around and found Tank cowering in the corner. She stared at him in his beady little eyes. “We are not living with Twi. I love her, she’s great, but she’s also the worst pony in the world to be lazy around. I’d be cleaning dishes every day for the rest of my life.” She put him in his cage before finally flying out and down into the meadow as a trio of police pegusi landed to inspect the crater. “Hey! Hey yeah you three!” Rainbow shouted as she landed with a heavy thud. “Twilight’s coming to look at that, what can you do about my house?!” she asked, wincing a bit at how her voice pitched up when she was angry. “We can take a statement,” one of them said hesitantly. “But we aren’t insurance or anything like that.” “Statement?!” Rainbow laughed. “Statement, you need a statement?! This thing crashed through my house! That’s the statement, that’s it.” “Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down,” one of the other officers said sternly. Rainbow looked between them, gaping. “You all know that I’m one of the elements of harmony, right? I’m kind of a big deal.” “Rainbow, we’re just doing our jobs,” the first officer sighed. “We just have to get a statement, and if that’s your statement, then that’s fine.” Rainbow huffed and turned away, crossing her arms and trying to let her anger evaporate until Twilight finally arrived. “We need a quarantine, one mile in every direction,” Twilight said immediately. “I’ve also contacted Celestia already, she’s sending a crew to help us, but for now we need to seal everything off.” “Twilight, I can’t live with you,” Rainbow said immediately. “Please.” Twilight paused and looked to Rainbow, confused. “I… Rainbow, what’s wrong? We can figure something out.” “What’s wrong? Twi, my house! Some… thing just punched a hole in my house.” Twilight stepped up to her and put her hooves on Rainbow’s shoulders. “Rainbow Dash. I know you’re upset. I know that you’re going through a lot so quickly. If you’re not comfortable staying with me, is there anyone you’d be comfortable staying with?” Rainbow’s steam evaporated. She couldn’t help it, Twilight always knew how to pull the rug out from under her when she was on a roll. “I think… AJ’s barn would be better. So I can just… be lazy when I want to be,” Rainbow sighed, rubbing her head. “Ok, then go ahead and talk to her, I’ll--” There was a sudden sharp loud noise from the crater that made everypony jump a bit and look. Then, a moment later, it beeped again, just as loud. “What in the world?!” Rainbow shouted. “What is that?” “It’s just… I don’t know, let’s move back,” Twilight said cautiously as she backed away. “No, I’m not going to let some freaky thing plow through my house and then threaten us!” Twilight reached out to grab Rainbow as she took off, but missed. Then, she reached out with her magic, but Rainbow managed to blow through it and hit the black hunk of metal in the middle of the crater, with a resounding thud. The beeping stopped, and Rainbow grinned. “See! I g--” The thing made a whining groaning noise, and then a pop, and some glowing white powder floated up from the object, drifting across Rainbow. She immediately started hopping around, trying to brush it off. “Ah, ah, ow, it’s hot!” “Stars and stones,” Twilight groaned, grimacing as she cast a spell which scrubbed across Rainbow’s body at high speed and removed everything down to her skin. “That was probably fuel. Some sort of caustic fuel, Rainbow. Please, we need to get you washed off, in case it’s poisonous.” It took half an hour, Rainbow knew because she was watching the clock the entire time as she was taken to the hospital, quarantined, and washed off with a sour smelling chemical bath, before finally being put in a hospital bed. The entire time, she scowled. It wasn’t fair, and she was really starting to get sick of this whole evening. But Twilight kept apologizing, which forced Rainbow to say it was fine, even though it wasn’t fine, and so she couldn’t blow up and yell at anypony. Then, surprisingly, Fluttershy showed up. “Rainbow, Rainbow, I got Tank. And some of your things, AJ said you were going to stay with her?” Rainbow Dash blushed and shrugged, now she really couldn’t be angry. Her friends were stepping up for her. “I… Yeah, Shy. I’m probably going to stay in AJ’s barn until I’ve got my house back. No way I’m cut out to live in the castle or, you know, anywhere else where ponies wake up at the crack of dawn.” Fluttershy paused and processed everything she’d said, before she cleared her throat. “Um… Rainbow, you know that AJ wakes up earlier than I do, right?” “Yeah, but they don’t live in their barn, they always joke about it too, were you raised in a barn?” she said in a mock southern accent. “But then they go outside and get things from the barn to do their work,” Fluttershy gently reminded her. Rainbow stared at the wall, as she got progressively more angry again. “But… Um, I usually don’t wake up until ten,” Fluttershy offered with a nervous smile. Rainbow looked to her meek friend and tilted her head a little. “Shy… you don’t want me in your house. Trust me.” “Why not?” she huffed, sitting down. “Dash, I think I can handle you being a little lazy, it’s fine. You’re dealing with a lot, and need a place to stay. It’s what friends do.” “And crumbs on the floor?” Rainbow asked with an arched brow. “My mice will eat them,” Fluttershy replied way too quickly. “And never doing my dishes?” Rainbow continued. “I’ve got an automatic dishwasher. There are some nice things about living on the ground.” “I snore.” “I sleep like a hibernating bear.” “I like to have the TV playing all the time.” “That’s fine, Angel will love it!” They were practically nose to nose, both breathing heavily, as AJ walked in and looked between them, clearly worried. “Y’all about to throw a few kicks? Ah can get security.” “No, AJ, Rainbow was just agreeing to stay at my place,” Fluttershy said decisively. “Sounds good,” AJ nodded, appearing completely untroubled. “Can sleep in a bit longer there, I reckon.” Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, exactly. I mean… Shy, I didn’t agree yet,” she said, remembering she was upset. “Are you going to get woken up at 7 every morning at the very latest when AJ comes into the barn to get her plow and seeds?” Fluttershy retorted, tilting her head down to give an extra incredulous look. Rainbow grumbled as she looked between Shy and AJ, and finally threw her hooves up in the air. “Fine, fine. I’ll stay with you, Shy. I just… I’ll need to get some stuff from my house.” “Ain’t happenin’ sugarcube,” AJ said calmly. “We got all we were allowed, jus’ about. The rest is contami… spoilt.” “Contaminated,” Fluttershy corrected. AJ nodded, smiling. Rainbow stared, and tried to imagine what it would be like to really punch AJ. Like really haul off and hit her. Would AJ even flinch? Probably not. She’d take it like a champ and then knock Rainbow on her rear so hard that she couldn’t walk straight for a week. “So… It’s gone. Everything I own is gone,” Rainbow clarified. “Eeyup,” AJ confirmed. Rainbow shot out of the bed, but Fluttershy had been ready and tackled her to the ground. “Rainbow stop!” “I’m gonna hit ya, AJ! Calm cool and collected my rainbow colored a--” She grunted as AJ sat on her back and pinned her wings to the floor. “Whatcher gonna do now, Dash?” AJ asked, still unwaveringly cool. “Gonna… Gonna…” It finally happened, her anger broke, and the scream of rage bottomed out in a deep sob, finally leaving her laying on the floor crying as AJ and Fluttershy held her. “I can’t… Why, why is all this happening now?” Rainbow whimpered. “Ain’t got a reason,” AJ said gently. “Just happened, and it ain’t right, but we’ll get ya back on yer hooves. It’ll be alright. It’ll be alright.” Rainbow didn’t believe her, but she let the comfort be, because she needed it so badly.
Chapter 2.Rainbow Dash sat just on the safe side of the yellow caution tape, looking into the distance at her house. It had collapsed partly, the top layer had fallen into the middle floor, tilted at a concerning angle. Without a pegasus putting energy into it, the house would fall within a week. It would drift lower and lower, then give out and collapse. She knew, because she’d seen it happen to abandoned cloud houses before, where the best plan was to let it fall so that the objects inside could be collected more easily. Her home would suffer the same fate, if it wasn’t dissolved sooner. “Rainbow, you’ve barely got any sleep, let’s get back to my house, and you can settle in,” Fluttershy insisted. Rainbow nodded and turned away from Markley Meadow. It wouldn’t be her home for a while. She’d have to find another place to put her new house if she could even get one. “You have a… spare room?” “My entire second floor is storage,” Fluttershy chuckled. “You can have it for as long as you need.” Rainbow smiled a little. “No matter how messy it is?” “We might have to set up ground rules so I can put your things away if you don’t,” Fluttershy said with a nervous smile. Rainbow nodded as they passed through the outskirts of town, and past the road to Sweet Apple Acres, to reach Fluttershy’s road. It wasn’t even labeled, Rainbow finally noted after years of coming to her cottage. The birds that flew between the trees chirped, and the melody was surprisingly relaxing. Rainbow yawned a little, turning the corner to arrive at the cottage. Surprisingly large, the two story structure clearly had a tree as part of it's design but it wasn't until they got inside that Rainbow spotted the trunk, which had become the slanted staircase going up and part of the back wall. Of course Dash had been to Shys house countless times, but she'd never gone upstairs, which now struck her as a bit odd. She'd been all around the house, and inside. She'd probably crashed on the couch a few times as well. "Are you ok?" Rainbow blinked a few times and chuckled. She must really be tired, she thought, if Shy was catching her zoning out. "I don't think I ever realized that you had a second floor," Dash pointed out before following Fluttershy inside. The house somehow felt smaller on the inside than it looked like from the outside, thanks to several animal cubbies that covered the walls. But it was also clear to Dash that the place had been cleaned and tidied recently. There was barely any smell of wild animals. That, and the shelves were absolutely packed with things that must have been taken from upstairs. “I don’t think I’ve ever been up there,” Dash admitted as she started up the stairs, the four bags heavy on her back as Shy found Tank and brought him up alongside her. She’d expected empty, but instead she found home. The slanted walls and ceiling were draped in white fabric to give it the rough appearance of a cloud house, with her original signed Wonderbolts poster hung on one wall in it’s frame. A small stack of awards saved from her home. Not hers, but Scootaloo’s. A brand new TV, smaller than her old one but shiny and clearly fresh out of a box was set on a stand in one corner of the room, while in the opposite corner a new bed stood with freshly washed sheets. Rainbow sniffled, and leaned into Fluttershy’s offered hug. “How…” “Rarity had the cloth. Pinkie got lots of your things, she didn’t say how. Twilight had a spare TV, and AJ helped me clear out the room.” Rainbow trotted over to the bed and laid down before rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. Then Tank was set down next to her, and she chuckled through her tears. “It’s so much.” “We just want to help you,” Fluttershy reassured her. “And you need your friends. Go ahead and rest, get some sleep. I’ll wake you up for dinner.” Rainbow nodded and Fluttershy left, leaving her to yawn and look at Tank. She wanted to turn on the TV, but didn’t want to bother Fluttershy, until she heard the back door open and close. Shy was doing chores. Perfect. She found the remote, curled up on the new bed, and turned on the TV with the expectation that she would be able to quickly find some meaningless show to hum in the background as she drifted off to sleep. But the first thing she saw was the crater, with her house floating in the background. “The Markley meteorite is being reclassified as an Unidentified Crashed Object, as it appears not to be natural. The environmental damage done to the meadow is still unknown, but it is estimated to range into the thousands of bits and displace hundreds of local creatures. Back to you, Candle Light.” Rainbow was wide awake now, of course she was. She was livid. The poor mice might be displaced but no mention at all of her. No mention of her losing everything. She had to force herself to look at Tank. Not everything. She hadn’t lost everything. She hugged him close, and glared at the TV while they talked about the Summer Sun Celebration and the many new permits granted for temporary shops and pop-up restaurants in Vanhoover, where this year’s ceremony was being held. Finally they switched to weather, and the calmer explanation of the schedule lulled her to sleep. She dreamed of her house collapsing. Bit by bit, but the door never opening. The walls coming in on her, her shelves toppling and pouring her belongings across the floor. She dreamed of clinging to one of the support beams, sobbing, as it lashed around in a windstorm. The cloud walls always there, blocking her sight of the sky or ground. Finally, soaked in cold sweat and panting, she woke up. She couldn’t quite remember if she’d hit the ground in the last moments of her dream, but it felt like it, everything felt so awful, and she was so upset. But at least she felt a little more rested. She opened the window, and took off into the sky, focused on a low flying decorative cloud. It would do. Punching a hole through a cloud would get most pegusi in trouble if they didn’t check in with the weather crew first, but Dash was sort of allowed to do what she wanted, as long as she cleaned up after herself. Close up the holes, make sure the cloud didn’t dissipate, and she could lay on top of it as the fresh rainwater evaporated off her in the sun. “I just wanted things to stay how they were,” she muttered, watching a distant pegusi pushed a cloud a bit further into the wind current to get it on track towards the Southern tip of Ponyville. It was probably Cloud Kicker. She tended to pick up the evening shifts when all the heavy lifting was already done and attention to detail was needed. It’s what she was good at, and Rainbow appreciated that. She wondered what Cloud Kicker would do if her house was destroyed. Turn to her boyfriend? She had to have friends. Everypony in Ponyville had pretty much followed Pinkie’s example in finding a friend group, most of which included the pink pony. Rainbow sat up, frowning a bit. She hadn’t heard from Pinkie in days, and she hadn't come up more than once in conversation. Normally Pinks would stop by and be offering Rainbow a cupcake or two. Maybe she needed a friend to stop by. Spreading her wings and stepping off the cloud, Rainbow Dash dove to gain speed until finally she leveled out to zip just above the trees and towards Ponyville proper. It was a nice place to live, she admitted to herself. It was her home and any other town just felt a little off. The town hall was just big enough to create a nice updraft too, which Rainbow avoided this time to instead land in front of Sugarcube Corner. Whoever had named the cafe and confectionary combo sure had undersold it’s charm. Sugar cubes were bare minimum for the place, icing palace might be a better fit, she mused as she ducked inside and the bell over the door rang softly. “Dashie!” Pinkie cried out as she hopped over the counter and skidded to a stop on the tile just before running into the pegasus, putting her hooves to Rainbow’s cheeks. “Dashie I’m so sorry I haven’t delivered you your gifts yet!!! The cakes had an emergency and then AJ told me what happened, and then I had to cover three shifts here in a row which really just means a whole day and--” Rainbow, grinning, stuck a hoof in Pinkie’s mouth, knowing there was no way that she’d be able to just put them to Pinkie’s lips to stop her rant, since every time she tried, Pinkie ended up eating her hoof. “I’m fine Pinkie. I figured you were busy. I just woke up, actually, so you haven’t missed much.” She extracted her hoof with a pop and Pinkie giggled, offering her a towel to dry it off. “Not missed much?! Dashie, your house kinda got exploded. That’s a lot.” “Not exploded exactly,” Rainbow said as she shrugged. “That… thing just put a huge hole through it, and now it’s off limits because it’s too close to the impact or something. They got Scoot’s trophies and Tank though, so… at least there’s that.” Pinkie looked into Dash’s eyes, and Dash ducked her head slightly, though she didn’t break that gaze. There were moments when Pinkie just… knew too much, when she was too wise, and Dash didn’t like it. She liked when Pinkie and her were on the same playing field, when they were both the jokesters and impulsive ones. But sometimes Pinkie just wasn’t the same. “You’re not alright, right now,” Pinkie said gently as she finally guided Dash to sit down in a booth. “But you will be, ok Dashie? Here, sit.” A moment later, there was a cup of hot tea and a cupcake with a thin layer of lemon frosting sitting in front of her, as Pinkie sat down across from her and smiled. “Happy birthday.” Rainbow blinked several times, before tears started to come to her eyes, and she chuckled. “I forgot, you know. It felt like yesterday just… stretched out into today and took it over. I… Slept through most of my birthday.” “Sounds like a decent birthday,” Pinkie giggled. Dash laughed, and wiped her eyes dry before taking a nice big bite out of the cupcake. “Thansh Pinti,” she said around a mouthful of moist cake. “It’s like, gift one out of twelve,” Pinkie said with a happy sigh. “The more I felt bad about not seeing you, the more gifts I came up with. Still have to buy half of them.” Rainbow rolled her eyes but kept smiling as she polished off the cupcake and sipped a bit of tea to wash it down. “You really really don’t have to go buying stuff for me, Pinkie. I promise.” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Well duh. Of course I don’t have to. It’d be like… a bribe or something then, not a gift. Oop!” The door bell rang and Pinkie hopped up. “AJ!” The farm pony slid smoothly into the booth where Pinkie had been sitting, and laid down a package wrapped in brown paper and twine in front of Dash. “Can I get you anything?” Pinkie asked eagerly. “Sure, sure,” AJ looked her over with a chuckle. “Pear, ah’m feelin somethin’ pear.” Pinkie ran off to fulfill the vague request as Dash looked over the package and then looked up to AJ. “It’s yer gift,” AJ clarified. “Birthday an all that.” “I know what it is, Jack,” Dash said with a smirk. “Just… Trying to figure out what you’d get me, and also how you knew I was here.” “Done flew right over me as I got to Shy’s place,” AJ said, one corner of her mouth pulled up in an amused smile. “So, followed ya.” Rainbow tugged loose the twine bow with her teeth and unwrapped the package to reveal a carefully folded and preserved Wonderbolts uniform. Not the reserves, and not the new version with cost cutting measures either, an original, and by the crisp fold lines it had never even been worn. Rainbow gaped, looking up to AJ, then back down at the clear plastic box. “How. How? I’m in the wonderbolts and I don’t have one of these. Spitfire only has two, she told me!” AJ polished a hoof on her chest and shrugged, looking quite pleased with herself. “Ain’t no big thing. Just pulled a few strings.” “You’re a farmer,” Rainbow said flatly. “What strings do you have to pull that aren’t on your clothes?” AJ huffed, taking off her hat and setting it aside. “Now I know that you didn’t mean that, Dash. So I’ll let it slide. But ah’ll have ya know that’d be the second suit ever made. Got it from Celestia.” Rainbow resumed gaping, before regaining her bearings and nodding. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. Thank you. I don’t know how you got ahold of Celestia in a single day and got a priceless antique for my birthday but it’s awesome, thank you.” “Well, she was stayin’ over last night to share stories with Granny, and the subject came up in the mornin’ that you’d lost your uniforms an she had the solution.” Dash smirked, expecting a joke before looking up and seeing AJ serious. “AJ, I can get free uniforms for being in the reserves, and this… This is perfect and amazing and I’m never gonna take it out of its box ever.” AJ’s eyebrows raised slowly as she stared at Dash. “Then… What’s the gosh darned point, Rainbow?” A plate with a pear tart was put down between them, and before Pinkie could say anything, another pony walked in and she ran off to help them. “It’s… important! Like trophies, and collector’s items, AJ. This is so incredible, because it’s part of the Wonderbolts!” AJ nodded, and her smile slowly returned. “Alright. That’s fair, and… Well, I suppose it’s not a bad trophy at that.” “It’s a trophy from one of my best friends, that’s what it is,” Rainbow chuckled as she hugged the box to her chest. “Doesn’t hurt that isn’t super super awesome.” “Well I’ll leave ya to it then, got to get back to the farm, but stop by sometime fer dinner. Glad ya found someplace ‘sides our barn to sleep.” AJ stood and took her tart as she left, and Rainbow nodded, watching her go before looking at the uniform and grinning. Maybe she’d put it on… Just once. “You were going to live in AJ’s barn?” Pinkie asked as she finally sat down again. “Well yeah,” Rainbow nodded, smiling a little as she thought of it, a bed tucked in the hay loft, AJ opening the door to check on her. It was a shame that she would’ve been forced to wake up way too early every single day to do that. “Because you like her,” Pinkie concluded. Rainbow stared at Pinkie for a full minute, trying to process the words but failing, as Pinkie’s smile got bigger and bigger. “No, no! No, that’s not why,” Rainbow finally objected. “Then why?” “Because I wouldn't have had to clean up or anything!” Dash got up from the booth bench, still hugging the Wonderbolts suit. Pinkie giggled, standing up as well. “Well that’s not true at all, you would never leave a mess in AJ’s barn.” Rainbow chuckled nervously, then zipped out of the door and into the wide open sky, head a mess of confusion, but still holding onto that gift so tight.
Chapter 3.A week, a bunch of gifts, and settling into a routine wasn’t enough to get the thought off Dash’s mind. Neither was Twilight’s adventure learning about an alien race, and establishing contact with them. She found herself more and more often taking her breaks to sit on clouds over Sweet Apple Acres, watching. She’d try to spot Big Mac or AJ, and the thought kept crawling into her head, what would it be like to have a big family like that? What would it be like to have a place that was really home? Because all she had was a cloud house back in Cloudsdale, full of memories she didn’t want, and parents she hadn’t even told about her situation yet, because she just couldn’t handle their energy. “Whatcher doin’ up there, Dash?” She nearly fell out of her cloud, before looking down and spotting the brown hat, tilted up just enough to show emerald eyes. “Ah, just… Just napping, that’s all, AJ,” Rainbow lied before flying down and landing in front of her. “You know, lazy as always.” “Mmmhm,” AJ hummed, smiling in that way that made Rainbow think she knew more than she was letting on. “Well, I got a proposition for ya. Come over for dinner tonight. Family’s got a bit more leftovers than we know what to do with.” Rainbow couldn’t help but smile. Apple Family cooking? Hanging out with AJ? The best possible evenings. “Of c--” “There’s a catch,” AJ interrupted, still smiling. Rainbow tilted her head, confused. “A catch?” “Eeyup, ya gotta come honest. If yer comin to dinner ta court me, you bring flowers.” Rainbow’s slack jawed and flustered blubbering must have been what AJ was looking for, because she chuckled in amusement and trotted off. “See ya at dinner, Rainbow!” “I didn’t… I was… Aaargh,” Rainbow groaned as AJ got out of sight. “Great, does everypony but me know this stuff? Come on!” She took off, and flew straight to Sugarcube corner, nearly running into Pinkie as she hopped out of the door. “Hey! What gives, did you tell AJ?” “Nope! I’d never betray a friend’s trust, that’s the quickest way to lose a friend f--” “Forever, yeah, I get it,” Rainbow huffed. “But she knows!” Pinkie stopped and giggled, looking up at Rainbow. “Aww, you mean your constant staring at her and blushing finally gave it away?” Rainbow glared, and Pinkie grinned, until finally Rainbow got to the point. “I… I think I need to buy her flowers.” “YES!” Pinkie cheered, jumping and spinning in midair before landing. “Ok, I’ve got the perfect bouquet lined up for you.” “Are you really sure you didn’t plan this?” Rainbow growled as she followed Pinkie down the street to the flower stall. “Hey, y’know that bouquet I’ve had on hold for like… five months?” Pinkie asked the Flower trio. Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “Oh, yes,” Lily nodded as she fetched the bundle of pink apple blossoms and dark blue Delphinium, hoofing it over to Rainbow before taking payment from Pinkie. “Five months, Pinkie?” she asked, holding her arms out wide and actually landing. “Five months, how long have you known?!” Pinkie paused her perfunctory pleasantries with Petunia and chuckled, putting a hoof to Rainbow’s shoulder. “I’ve known since the running of the leaves, Dashie. There was just something about you two, and the way that you wanted to prove to her that you were worth it!” Rainbow huffed and rolled her eyes. “I was trying to beat her, Pinks. Not prove to her that I was worth something.” “Exactly! You haven’t gotten that competitive with me, or Twilight, or Fluttershy, or Rarity, or anyone on the weather team! You only get competitive with ponies you like!” Rainbow stared at the flowers she was holding, then at Pinkie, then back at the flowers before sighing. “Ok.” “Ok?” “Ok, you gotta be right, Pinkie, because… Only stuff that’s real scares me this bad,” Rianbow admitted. “Just don’t trip and knock over an entire casserole dish,” Pinkie reminded her. Rainbow just shook her head and flew off, back to Fluttershy’s place, where she slipped in through the window to find Fluttershy making her bed. “Hey, hey, you don’t need to do that, it’s alright,” Rainbow said, cheeks red from embarrassment. Fluttershy was a great friend, but more neat and clean that Rainbow had first given her credit for. The bed making was just the most obvious thing. “Oh, I had the time,” Shy said softly as she spotted the flowers and chuckled. “Who gave you flowers, Rainbow?” “Pinkie, I mean… She helped buy them, for… For AJ,” Rainbow said as she laid the flowers down on her bedside table and turned around to see Fluttershy grinning. “What?!” “I knew that was why you wanted to live in her barn, you just wouldn’t admit it,” Fluttershy whispered urgently. “I knew it!” Rainbow’s cheeks felt so hot they might melt off, and when Fluttershy hugged her, she just shrunk a little. “Feels like everypony knew except me,” she admitted as she scuffed the wood floor with her hoof. “Like I’m just… I just don’t get it.” Fluttershy sighed and took Rainbow’s chin in one hoof to get her to look up. “Listen… Rainbow Dash, This is the first time you’ve been comfortable talking about these things, I think. At all. Last time you dated somepony, back in Flight School, I remember you didn’t even use the word Love, or Girlfriend. You just said she was ‘cool enough.’ So I think… I think this is important for you, and it’s ok that you haven’t thought about it much.” Rainbow nodded a little, tried not to cry, and hugged Fluttershy. Then she remembered she had to finish her work day, and zipped out of the window with a quick apology. Her mind wasn’t on it, distracted and constantly looking towards those distant apple trees, when they finally finished up for the day and she flew home, she was exhausted but absolutely determined. She took a shower, she brushed her mane and tail so the colors were all sorted, and then she put on the Wonderbolts costume. It was a little large for her, clearly tailored for one of the first Wonderbolts, but it was comfortable. Looking in the mirror though, it felt like too much. Too much for AJ. AJ didn’t need her on duty, didn’t need her looking fancy, she just said flowers. Nervously, she took the flowers and looked in the mirror again. Just her. Just her with some flowers, that was it. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, nodded, and left for Sweet Apple Acres. The house was lit up in warm golden light from the old lightbulbs inside, as the sun started to set behind it. Rainbow paused and took it all in, her heart racing. She felt unworthy and small and scared, but AJ had invited her, and given her a simple rule to follow. So she had flowers. Rainbow hovered up to the door, landed, and knocked. There was some laughter from inside, and some movement, and then the door opened to reveal AppleJack, silhouetted in the doorway, smile just barely visible in the shadows. “Hey there, Rainbow.” “H… Hey AJ,” Rainbow said, smiling a little as she held out the Bouquet. “I… Uh… Brought you flowers.” AJ chuckled softly, and stepped outside to take the flowers, and admire them. “Pinkie buy ‘em for ya?” Rainbow blushed and nodded. “Figured. C’mere.” Rainbow stepped forward, and AJ kissed her on the cheek. And Rainbow felt like she was home again.
