What Dreams Are

by MissytheAngle

Rating: everyone
Tags: Rainbow Dash, Comedy, Pinkie Pie, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 6075

Pinkie Pie dreams of flying and has Rainbow Dash help her accomplish it.

Pinkie Pie has always secretly dreamed of flying. Not even her friends know of this; she never really thought of mentioning it to them. But when the possibility of one of her best friends leaving to chase their own dreams comes to light, the party pony takes the opportunity to take on her own, all while having one last fun time to hang out with her best friend before the latter leaves for a tryouts for the Wonderbolts.

Summary sucks, criticism and comments appreciated, blah blah blah, you get the idea.

Published 2012-09-08 18:34:03 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-08 18:34:03 UTC

What Dreams Are

What Dreams Are

by Miss Dark Angel

One-Shot

Everypony has a secret, some secrets they don’t even tell their bestest friends. Even I haven’t let out mine, and ponies say I’m a real blabbermouth. Whether or not that’s true, well, what they don’t know…is that I, Pinkie Pie, have always wanted to fly.

I have no clue as to why, or how it came into my head. I mean, lots of earth ponies wouldn’t mind to have been born with magical gifts or the ability to fly, but for me, I feel I should have been a Pegasus. It sounds so weird, but…I’d have dreams of having wings, gliding peacefully across the sky, morning, day, and night. Most of this started after I received my Cutie Mark, and my fantasy dreams grew into actual dreams which I wanted to accomplish; ones that weren’t as simple as my old lifestyle of rock farming. I feel like it is my calling, flying, but I was born an earth pony.

Don’t get me wrong, being an earth pony is super great. But what earth pony hasn’t wished to sprout wings and fly at least once? For me, the saying “the sky’s the limit” was exactly what caught my attention. Just the sight of pegasi flying about was astounding. And then imagining me as one—the wind whipping at my mane and face, and the only thing in my way being the soft clouds. It’s all perfect!

…Oh, yeah, except I can’t fly.

I glance outside and enjoy how nice the scenery is; even the sunny weather seems to agree with the calming aura. Not a dark cloud in the sky. According to Rainbow Dash, they should be clear for another few days before a storm arrives.

Darn it. I was trying real hard to forget about her.

…I should probably explain what I mean by that.

I always had a feeling reality would step in front of us and separate my group of friends to start their own dreams and lives somewhere in the future. I had no idea it would come and threaten us so soon, though. Because tomorrow night, Rainbow Dash is taking a trip to Canterlot; to try out for the Wonderbolts.

That’s a big word here, though; tryout. We don’t even know if she’ll make it or not—but she should! After all, she’s the fastest and best flier in Equestria, and is the Element of Loyalty; only silly ponies wouldn’t see that after so long. So when Rainbow Dash first let me know that they finally gave her the opportunity to try out for their team, my first thought was, Took them long enough! Well, my first ACTUAL thought was, Fudge, and that was because I was baking fudge at the time, but that’s beside the point.

Seeing that smile brighten her face was the best thing about the morning. I can remember it like it was this morning—because it was. She zoomed into Sugarcube Corner and found me at the counter, baking goodies. Whatever else I was doing, I stopped doing when I saw her. She gave me all the information with the most fangirlish and delighted smile a mare could have. I couldn’t help but give her a great big hug and jump up and down with her.

I knew how to put two and two and two and…anyway. Despite how happy she saw, she appeared to get the idea, too. The possibility of leaving behind her friends to follow her dreams smacked down on both of us at the same time. My face fell, and she gave me a weak smile.

“Hey, it’s alright. Things are still cool. I don’t even know if I’m going or not,” she told me, wrapping a wing around my shoulder. But why should she worry about me? I’m not the one who has the chance to leave. That’s what I love about Dashie—even in moments where she is probably freaking out on the inside, in this case about the idea of being a part of the Wonderbolts, she still seems concerned to have an extra dash of loyalty to give out and give concern to other ponies.

Which is why I perked up instantly, my mane still as lively as ever as I said to her, “Don’t worry about me, Dashie. I’ll be okay. You just go and tell everypony. They’ll be so excited!” She had other stuff to do, no doubt, and dealing with me shouldn’t be one of them. We still had until tomorrow night at that point.

She nodded and gave me one final look I couldn’t distinguish. After a moment, she departed without another world. Meanwhile, I processed what happened in my brain and fell flat on my flank. When I can get up in who knows how many minutes, I ask permission to head to my room, rather than finish my work for the next hour or so. Thankfully, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were working around me and Dashie and, having heard our conversation, understood my dismayed expression. They allowed me to head upstairs and fall onto my head.

Before dropping onto the bed, I noticed that once again, my mane was straightened like when I thought my friends were ignoring me and my parties—it still is. And that was three and a half years ago; so much and so little has happened between the beginning and now. We are as close as ever, and I haven’t let my mane fall straight like this in all that time. They are my rock, my friends, the ponies that keeps Pinkie Pie…Pinkie Pie, the PFFs that will always be there for me.

And the idea of one of them leaving—just the idea alone—is the saddest thing next to it actually happening. And it hasn’t happened yet. Nothing has threatened to separate us until now. Everything has been fine, perfect, like a simple cycle of life. We each hang out in small groups, or often all together, having wonderful adventures and talking and laughing. And now…now I feel like soon, one-by-one, everypony else will leaving. It was bound to happen. It’s suddenly pushed down on me that I couldn’t take it and found myself in tears for a whole ten minutes. It felt like a whole year, though.

But being Pinkie Pie, I couldn’t allow myself to be down for so long. And after brushing the tears from my face, here I am, watching the clouds pass by breezily as I think about what has happened. I think for a second. Rainbow Dash may not be leaving, I remind myself. It’s only tryouts, and while she’s really good, that doesn’t mean she will definitely get in…right?

Oh, how could I think that?! Only a bad friend would think about that for her friend, when this is what she wanted to accomplish in life, and I don’t believe she’ll do it. No, that’s not it—I don’t want her to get in.

I’m suddenly not so sure anymore. As I pace around my room, my thoughts having abruptly shifted from flying to Dashie for the oddest reason, I decide I need more space to think. With that in mind, I disappear from the building and head around Ponyville—actually, out of it. A few hours pass and, after waving to anypony I see in Ponyville, I eventually head out of town to…elsewhere. Where? Wherever my hooves take me.

Eventually, exhaustion takes hold of me, and I find a place to sit for a while. I notice a cliff with a pretty view and sit my flank down.

Though nowhere near the Everfree Forest, I can say I’m pretty far from Ponyville, watching Celestia’s sun cascade gradually into the mountains for a nap for the night. I watch new colors mix in with the cyan blue and the whites of the clouds, now added in with oranges and even pinks. I try to clear my mind of all that is happening—or will be happening—and take away my sadness…but it’s not working.

I know I have a lot of think, but I shouldn’t. This isn’t my main problem; if anything at all, it’s Dashie’s. Surely, she feels nervous. Surely, she feels nervous about the evaluation, and I’m the one moping about the possibility of her going when she deserves it.

Only I can’t help it. I want to cry when I think of her leaving. And sometimes, I get confused as to why. Eventually it comes to me when I stare into—not just at—her face, that seeing her laugh makes me so happy, that I notice random details of her at random times.

I have a little crush on her. Actually, I’m not sure what kind of crush this is. Is it one of those school-filly crushes or something more? I’m not sure when this even started, my feelings for her. The small things, hanging out and pranking other ponies, built up to our friendship, and then one day, I could suddenly see us as a couple.

Except she doesn’t…I’m sure, anyway. My subtle hints at my crush for her, being so close to her at times and only wanting to hang with her for the day and not the others on random days, have so far remained unsuccessful. As great as Rainbow Dash is, she seems to rival me in being oblivious. She just seems to brush it off and find it to be friends being friends.  I often find myself groaning at the end of the day and wanting to give up, only I don’t. I don’t want to. I might as well get atop a large building, or even on the highest tower of Canterlot castle, with the hugest bullhorn ever made and shout into it to reveal to all of Ponyville and possibly Equestria, “RAINBOW DASH, I LIKE YOU AND WANT TO BE YOUR MAREFIEND AND GET MARRIED AND HAVE A HONEYMOON ON THE MOON!”

And as farfetched (and awesome) as that is, she might not even make sense of that; call it a prank. But I believe she’s not that vague.

I start drifting off again, and once again, I think about Rainbow Dash, but at the same time, I think about flying, since both things seem to be bothering me today. I never really thought about both things at once, but when I do…

A light bulb appears above my head and gives off a light of inspiration, and a huge smile stretches across my face.

I take the light bulb out of the air above me and toss it to the side. Wherever it disappeared to doesn’t matter to me, because I am now in search for Rainbow Dash.

Because I have the bestest idea ever!

***

It took a while and a long walk back to Ponyville, but once Ponyville is in view a few yards away, I am successful in finding her. I was mainly looking to the skies, because if Rainbow Dash isn’t with me or our other friends, she was in the sky, soaring through the cool embrace of the clouds. And sure enough, she was in one of them, about twenty feet above me. I choose not to call her name, and surprise her instead.

Gravity and I get along fine. It hardly bothers me as long as I don’t disrespect it entirely. With this, I can still jump up right at Rainbow Dash’s level and float there for two seconds before being forced down. When I see her face, I’m already smiling brilliantly.

And rather than doing anything at all, she is napping, snoring just a bit. Her mane is spread out around her face messily as her head and body lounge lazily against the warmth of the clouds. My thoughts are thrown away when I feel the air pull me back down. She looks so cute and peaceful while resting.

So I finally get another burst of energy through my legs, take a deep breath, and jump back into the air again, this time ready to use my lungs. Then I see her for a second time. With as much volume and noise I could muster through my tongue, I shout, “Wakie-wakie, Dashie!” just a few inches away from her ears. That probably woke her up…and shattered her eardrums.

The last thing I see before falling back down is her eyes opening wide. I hear her yell in surprise as my hooves plop right back on the dirt road, and she jumps a foot or so upward. She spins over and over to catch who rudely interrupted her sleeping time, and that is then that I shift my blank face with a more innocent one, with big, widened eyes and perked up ears—like anypony can resist a face like that!

Finally, she finds me and our eyes meet. The bad thing—sort of—is that the sunset is set up right behind her as she descends down to talk to me. I would have been lost in that sight of the partial sun reflecting her back and giving her a golden glow. Only thankfully, her irritated (but surprisingly patient) tone wakes me up:  “You know, a simple ‘Hey, Rainbow, wake up!’ would be perfectly fine.”

“What’s the fun in that?” I reply as I skip closer to her, breaking the distance between us.

My large smile makes her stare blankly, but she lets it go and says with a sigh, “So, what’s up? Shouldn’t you be throwing a party for somepony?”

What she says snaps my attention. “Who? Is someone new in Ponyville? Oh, oh, or is it somepony’s birthday?” I ask excitedly, jumping up and down at both ideas. Then another one comes to mind and I put in with even more enthusiasm, “OR is there a new pony living here whose birthday is today? Wouldn’t that count for TWO whole different parties, or would that just be a humungous party? I—”

“Pinkie Pie!” she shouts to snap my attention back to reality. She rolls her eyes at me. “I was only joking. Though, I guess wouldn’t be surprise if you did.”

Actually, now that I think about it, I am! It’s like she can read minds! I already have a party to set up—for Rainbow herself! The “Good Luck” party would be just before she leaves, with almost all of Ponyville invited. Everypony loves Rainbow Dash, so I’m hoping they all come, unless somepony is busy.  But one of the hugest problems of two possible outcomes when she leaves is that I won’t even know what kind of party to set up. I have no clue whether to throw a “you’re-awesome-you’ll-be-a-great-Wonderbolt-we’ll-miss-you-but-never-forget-you-Rainbow-Dash!” or a “You-did-your-best-but-there’s-always-next-time-and-your-still-awesome!” party! And while I rethink those names, I still have to get this idea out of my brain.

“Nothing, I just wanted to hang out with you, Dashie,” I answer simply.

“It’s almost getting dark out. What would you have in mind? Visit the moon?” Rainbow asks, rolling her eyes. Actually, that’s a fantastic idea! I’ll keep that in mind for if Rainbow Dash stays, as a sort of present for our condolences.

“How would we be able to do that?” I ask, playing along.

She shrugs. “I dunno, however Celestia got Luna on there. If you bug her enough, maybe she would send you there for a thousand years. But…you’re not serious about this, are ya?” she asks uncertainly.

“No…unless you want to prank Princess Celestia and we can see how it goes,” I say, though since pranks aren’t my top priority right now—I know, shocking, isn’t it—I half hope she denies this. Knowing her, perhaps she will.

Sure enough, she replies, “Uhhh, let’s not risk that, how ‘bout? Anything else you have in mind?” she says with a gentle smile.

Then I lean into her face, our noses touching. I ignore that warm feeling my nose gets when I do that with Dashie and squeal, “I have the greatest idea ever. I’m sure you’ll love it!”

Rainbow gives a short laugh, though she sounds more like she doesn’t buy what I’m saying. “Alright, then, what’cha have in mind?”

“…I have a secret,” I let her know, rather than immediately explaining, as I place my hoof in front of us, like we were talking conspiratorially.

“Really? What kind of secret?” This catches her attention. She raised a brow at me, and I can tell she is surprised. You think my talkative personality would reveal all there is to know about me. But obviously not.

“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, I also was thinking about you helping me fly. See, I’ve always wanted to fly like you and Fluttershy,” I say.

She doesn’t take long to think about it, compose of my sudden reveal of something I had never told any other pony, not even my sisters, but it’s not what I expect. “Well, doesn’t Twilight have a spell for that? She used it for Rarity for my Best Fliers Competition, didn’t she? I’m sure she can whip up one of those and we can fly together, if you want,” Rainbow answers, like what I am saying misses her by a mile.

I don’t mind, though. “Oh, I don’t want to bother Twilight right now,” I say, though it may have been a fine idea. While I would have loved to fly on my own, I have to guess that when it all ended, I would have been more disappointed in the end if I had gorgeous wings. “Besides, it’s not the same as what I had in mind.”

“Then what do you have in mind?” Rainbow Dash asks, giving me a weird look.

“And then I thought about…maybe you could let me take a ride on your back while you’re flying, and I can see what it’s like.

“Hunh?” While I know she heard me, it’s like she needs to hear it again to make sure she heard me correctly.

“I said-!” I start, but she places a hoof in my mouth to cease my talking.

“I heard ya, Pinkie. What I mean was that…I had no idea you wanted to fly, and now, just a day before I leave for tryouts, you want to hang out, and even want me to help you with that. Where is this coming from?”

I shrug nonchalantly. “I just thought about my dream…and then I thought about you suddenly, and then it came to me! Isn’t it great?” I give her a huge smile that shows my teeth and nearly touches the edge of my face.

She hesitates to answer, but that tentativeness makes me worried. She wouldn’t say no, would she? I’d feel terrible, and also disappointed. She turns away with her hooves over her chest. “Well, I…I don’t do rides! I’m not some riding horse, Pinkie. Not even if you pay me five bits?”

That doesn’t sound as bad of a reason for her not wanting to do it as I thought, at least. I almost thought she just didn’t want to hang out with me. After that epidemic with my birthday party, I should know better. I argue, “How ‘bout ten bits?” certain I can maybe win this.

She gives me a look that is something between “what the heck, Pinkie?” or “are you serious?” But I am being totally serious. She shakes her head. “You’re something, Pinkie Pie. …I’m still not sure…”

“Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaase, Dashie? How bad can it be?” I give her my innocent, huge eyes that usually get everypony. Besides, who can’t resist an adorable, pouty face? I even let out a squeak for extra measures.

She hesitates, her arms crossed in front of her once more. But I see the flash in her eyes, a weakening in her barrier of stubbornness, a sign that she’s caving in. Maybe if I start begging…

Finally, she groans loudly and hollers, “Oh, feathers, alright. But one. Time.” Good that she answered before I could get on my knees and beg—that’d be just weird! Then after breathing through her nose, she adds a bit more positively, though mumbling, “How bad can it be?” She doesn’t even note how “the rest of the day” is hardly a few extra hours. Maybe at exactly midnight, I could wake her up and ask to prank ponies in their sleep!

“YAY!” I shout, loud enough to make Fluttershy envious, and embrace Rainbow tightly. She pushes me off but I think nothing of it. I skip over to the edge, pulling her behind me. “C’mon, let’sgolet’sgo’let’sgo!”

She rolls her eyes for a second time and glides a few feet above me to the edge. She lands, stretches out her wings widely and says, “Hop on.”

I jump on, only doing so without much thinking, because Dashie is close to collapsing on the dirt. Her knees buckle, but she keeps her ground. “You’re heavier than you look,” she grunts, straightening quickly afterward, though.

“Where do you think all that candy I eat goes? Down a black hole? C’mon, Dashie, let’s fly!” I drop the subject and pump my hoof into the air with fervor.

She just rolls her eyes and turns her head up to glance at the clouds. “Hold on tight, ‘cause it’ll be a long fall if you don’t,” was her last words before she zoomed right off the ground and into the air. I hold my hooves around her neck to keep balance. There is a rush of adrenaline bursting through me and I have an urge to scream in glee. But I don’t; screaming in Dashie’s ear twice today might not be the best idea.

We head fifty, maybe sixty feet in the air (I left my measuring tape, so I can’t be entirely sure—in case of measuring emergencies—back at home. Of all the bad luck!), and I feel a burst of adrenaline in my blood. There’s a thousand things rolling into my mind, so many happy thoughts, the idea of my dream actually coming true, and can’t hold it in anymore.

“Weeeeeeeee! This is awesome, Dashie!” I cry out in excitement.

Luckily, it doesn’t disturb her. “Thought you’d think so,” she says with a victorious nod as she turns forward again to keep an eye on where we are going.

I spread my arms out and let my tongue stick out, the wind whipping my bouncy curls about. This feels so amazing. “I’m queen of the wor-owhoaaaaaaaaaaa!”

I’m interrupted when gravity makes the choice not to be friendly with me at the moment. It throws me off balance, and me whirling my arms around doesn’t do justice. I find myself fall on Dash’s back and soaring through the air—but not like how I wanted to.

I am about to scream but stop myself once I realize I am just…hovering now—actually, more like just not moving at all. I look up and see that Rainbow must’ve noticed me falling quickly enough to catch me within one and a half seconds.

“Or nawt,” she says through her teeth, which are ensnared in my tail, the reason I’m not falling tens of feet to my death. I squeak in embarrassment and toss her another innocent gaze, which she only laughs off, again being careful not to open her mouth. She hurls me upward, and before I could keep falling, she catches me, but this time, with her back. “Let’s try not to kill ourselves up here.”

“Good point. I still have to make that party for the new pony in town.”

She facehooves, but before I could ask, she says, “Right.” Then she thrusts her wings with a bit more force and points her body upward. We soar at a sharper angle with increased speed, and I can feel my face being pulled back like the air is pulling against it.

Suddenly, we are in the clouds, just gliding in a horizontal line. The first of the soft cotton candy like objects brushing into my face makes me feel light and peaceful. Sure, I have been able to jump onto clouds for a few minutes before being forced back down, and one time, I was able to walk on them with a spell Twilight conjured.

But flying on them? For some reason, it’s…different. But a good kind of different. They tickle my sides and I have to fight the urge to laugh, while Rainbow acts like it is nothing. Probably just use to it. I reach out a single hoof and let it flow through the mists that feel lighter than air.

I notice the clouds and how clear they are. For no reason, I ask, “You don’t have weather duty today, do you?” I’d hate to interrupt her work, even if this is a great time.

“There’s nothing to do today. We just made it a clear day with some clouds, but that’s it. Besides, once I told them of my audition for the Wonderbolts tomorrow, they totally let me off the hook. I’m close to a lot of Pegasus there, so it’s all good,” she answers breezily, obvious pleased to be free for the day to relax.

“Great; that means more time for me to fly with you.” I exclaim with a giggle. I’ve been very happy before—all the time!—but this is one of those times where I’m so excited, I could explode…twice! It’s then I get another light bulb…only not literally. “And prank other ponies! No one would catch us up here!”

“Oh, yeah, what do you have in mind?” she asks, and when she turns, there’s a look in her eye—a craving for some absolute fun. And that’s where I jump in.

“Well, I’m going to need twenty stuffed animals, a lamp, a plateful of cupcakes, an ostrich—” I explain, pointing at my hoof with each item on my list.

“An ostrich?” she repeats, cutting me off.

“Without it, it won’t be as fun! We need to find a-a zoo or something!” I say, but quite frankly, I haven’t even seen one around…ever. So maybe I’ll have to rethink that.

She once again rolls her eyes. She seems to do that a lot around me. Not like I find that annoying. She dives down a little, and my stomach flips just a little at the abrupt drop, but she straightens herself again as we escape from the clouds, and the scenery below is more noticeable. And for a second, I forget about my pranks (woah, imagine that; it’s like the day Applejack takes a break from bucking apples, or when Fluttershy steps on an ant intentionally and not giving it a sad, ant funeral) and take in the glorious view.

The sun is almost gone entirely, and now all that’s left is the light pinks and night dark shades of blue that paint the sky. We soar across it, and I can’t help but feel absolute elation at what is happening. Rather than mess with ponies immediately, I just want to take in this moment. I am flying…with Rainbow Dash.

I don’t need to play around like a childish filly all the time, when I can enjoy this. Because…

This is the best day…EVER!

But when I once again find myself thinking about tomorrow night, I realize this may be the last time I get to have so much fun with Rainbow Dash. It’s funny how tiny “ifs” can ruin somepony’s day, but I guess that’s what little crushes do to a mare.

I couldn’t help but feel like wanting to hold onto Dashie for a long, long time—as least as long as I want to before it’s time to go. I am really close to her face now, as I hug her closely by the neck. I can actually smell her mane; it’s like—

I feel her stiffen as I bury my face just a bit too close into her face, and I know I’m caught. I stop my thoughts altogether and back up as she slows herself down into a simple glide in the air. “Okay, Pinkie, what gives?” She sounds kinda irritated, but not too much to throw me off guard. She twists her head as much as she could and, through the corner of her rose colored eyes, meets mine. Her eyebrows are knitted downward. “You’re acting weirder than usual, and that’s saying something!”

“I’m going to miss you, Dashie, that’s all,” I tell her, hopefully not sound too dismayed.

“Hold up, Pinkie Pie,” Dash says with a chuckle, her irritation gone, stopping dead in her tracks, “I don’t even know if I’m going to get in tomorrow.”

“You should, though!” I tell her with confidence, because I feel like she doubts it. And she shouldn’t. “You’re one of the fastest fliers in Ponyville—in Equestria! They’d be silly-fillies not to have you on their team.”

This makes her blush, but she attempts to brush it off. “Thanks,” she mutters.  “I’ve just been…I mean, it’s not like…I’m nervous or anything but—”

“But you are.” It’s not a question. Though I may not be the smartest pony, I notice things, like the slight stutter in her voice. Though she is keeping her eyebrows narrowed with a straight face, there’s something about her that’s…off as to how she usually is. Right now, it’s like she’s trying to imitate Fluttershy, and she’s got it down. I give her a confused look that she can’t answer immediately.

After a few moments, she caves in with a low groan. She abruptly starts flying again, but I know she’s just trying to distract herself. “I don’t know, okay? I mean…it’s been my dream to be a part of that group, and…if-if I don’t get in I don’t know what I’ll feel.”

“Hey, you know my dream was to fly, and you helped me with that!” I gesture around, but then stop to catch myself around her neck before gravity forces me to fall down again. “You know me and everypony else will try to help you no matter what, right?”

“Yeah, well, you guys can’t exactly help me with getting into the Wonderbolts. The best you can do is be there for support, but…” Her voice drifts off, unable to let out anymore.

“Why don’t you want us to come, anyway?” I wonder aloud. We were all worried at one point about her rejecting our suggestions to go with her. She seemed pretty quick about making that point, too. While I doubted very much about her not wanting us there at all, somepony would wonder just what it was.

“Ah, Pinkie Pie,” she whispers, not making eye contact with me. “It’s not what you would think, honestly. I’m just…I don’t want you guys to be there if…if…” She struggles to get the words out, biting her lip. More nervousness.

“Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif….what?” I urge her to continue, my tone letting her know I really do want to know.

“If…I fail,” she hangs her head down and slows her flight almost to a complete stop minus a few flaps to let us remain airborne. A sad, concerned expression crosses my face as I try to find her eyes. Not easy when you have to be strapped down on her unless you want to fall down several dozen feet onto the ground hard. “I would disappoint everypony if I went there with a lot of confidence and didn’t even get in, and if all my friends were there, they’d just give sympathy for me. And I don’t want that. I want to make them proud and not have waste their time on nothing.”

I freeze and have trouble as to what to say. I never knew she felt like that, like she would disappoint us if she didn’t make it. I feel really bad and, to encourage her, say, “Oh, Dashie, you can be so crazy sometimes. If you let us go with you, we wouldn’t care what happens. We would all just want to be there to help you out somehow.  Besides, it’s not like we won’t talk to you anymore. In fact, it’ll mean we’ll have more time to hang out. If you do get in, you can follow your dreams. It’s win-win-win!”

“Three wins?”

“Yup!” I snicker and watch her face flash a look of confusion. A lot of ponies seem to do that when I talk randomly. It’s pretty funny sometimes. But I don’t think about getting too into it as I ask, “If you do get in, though?” knowing all too well that the two possibilities are too good. To me, they’re ninety percent to five. The other five didn’t give their votes yet.

“Then I’ll be leaving Ponyville and not coming around much,” she informs me, giving me a look. I nod in understanding. I try to remain stoic about it, and it’s hard, but I muddle though. “But that’s just if, Pinkie. We have no idea what’s going to happen.”

She is right on that. I nod in agreement.

“Yeah, we don’t know, and that’s the worst part. Remember when Twilight thought Celestia was going to send her back to Magic Kindergarten for being late with one of her letters? It makes your head all confused, and the fact you don’t know, it—it just drives ponies crazy!” I exclaim, waving my hooves around in an exaggerated gesture, only to put them back on her back when I stumble slightly. As I stare at her mane, I think, Wait, who am I talking to again? Dashie…or myself?

I can’t let her know. At least not yet. There is too much pressure on her shoulders as it is. I can’t add my love for her onto her stress list; especially if she can’t reply instantly and has to think about it. I would ruin her chance on getting in if I worry her too much. So many ‘ifs’…but sometimes, ponies do have to think ahead, I suppose. “But I guess in some cases, it makes sense,” I muse aloud.

“Hunh?” she asks; I said that so quietly, it was barely audible through her ears.

“Nothing. My point is, though,” I begin, “whatever happens, you can say you tried. And you can try and try and try and—”

“The point, Pinkie? You were about to get to it,” she interrupts with a cocked brow.

I blush with a bubbly beam. “My point is,” I repeat with more emphasis, “that if you worry too much about the future, it will affect what’s happening now. I almost thought we’d run right into a tree while you were talking before.”

“There aren’t any trees up this high,” she points out dryly.

“You never know!” I defend.

She burst into more laughter. “Alright, I hear ya. I get what you’re sayin’. Heh, who knew you could be really helpful with problems? If you weren’t a partier, maybe you could be a psychologist,” she says jokingly, though she sounded serious about me helping with her problems, which lifted my spirits slightly.

“Nah, that’d be too boring.” I waved a hoof in the air to dismiss the idea.

“Well, whatever happens, we’ll still be friends, right?”

Though I knew it was rhetorical, I still answer, “The best!” Even if she may or may not have the same feelings as I do, what matters is that we can always be the best of friends.

She flashes me a toothy smile. “Got that right.” She then turns away and adds, “Let’s head back to Ponyville. All this flying with you on my back is actually getting tiring. Never flew with a pony riding on my back before.” I agree, and she flips directions to fly back to Ponyville.

I have no clue where Rainbow Dash will be in a week, or even in two days. But right now, I don’t care, either. As we head back to Ponyville, with me hugging her neck, I decide to absorb the moment, not at all worrying whether or not in two days she will stay with me and my friends in Ponyville. No matter how many ponies we pranked for the rest of the day (seventeen—we showed no mercy!), all I cared about was showing Dashie a good time, getting her mind out of her tryouts. Sure, I got to fly, and that was super DUPER fun, but I think I got a plus with the fact I had the best time in a long time with my bestie.

~Dreams are the paths to life, the solutions for problems. Just open your mind and your questions will be answered.~

END