The Discovery of đđąđŠby SoaringChaptersđ»đđ€đđ đ§đđŁđȘđđŠđ„đ€đđđŁđ„đ€đđ„đ đđđĄđđđâđŠđ€đđ»đđ€đđ đ§đđŁđȘRainbow Dash had woken up on the wrong side of her cloud bed. Again. It was weird. One moment, Rainbow Dash had been sleeping well, snoring all the while. And then, suddenly, she had rooooollllled to the other side of the bed. Then, everything had changed. Feathers? Bent. Back? Screaming. Neck? Snapped like a twig. Rainbow Dash was unsure how it had happened. All she knew was that her future self needed to get Cloudchaser to help her⊠again. Agh. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. She was flying. Like, right now. An early morning flight; her usual Wonderbolts Approvedâą warmup. It was awesome, just like her, but also not awesome, which was not like her. She could barely see right now, and it wasnât because of some fog. It was that brain fog, because she couldnât sleep because she woke on the wrong side of her cloud bed. Again. Ugh. Thatâs it! She had it. She was not going to think about the bed again. It stinked, just like her altitude! It was too low. Thatâs it. Higher, higher, higher. She flapped her wings⊠and she kept going up because she was pointed up. She smiled. Thatâs the early morning flight routine she remembered! It was almost... what was the word that Twilight told her? Ewwphoric? Ehh... close enough. Awesome worked better anyway, and it was way cooler of a word. She chuckled as she felt the cool air hit her face. This. Was. The. Life! Ponies were going to be jealous of her!âwell, except the other girls... and Spike. Theyâre all awesome like her. Also the Wonderbolts⊠and Derpy. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes for a moment. It was like everything made sense. Wait, what was she doing? Oh, right! Flying. Early morning flight routine. Was she gliding or still pumping her wings? Why was she asking that? She knew what she was doing! With one final pump of her wings, Rainbow Dash started her glide. She dipped down below the clouds, being mindful of her headâshe didnât want to hit the harder part of the cloud, puffing it would get vapor everywhere. She could see the ground, how it was covered with a canopy of trees. There was also this huuuuge mountain that had grown over the edge of the horizon. She could also see this winding path that darted in-between the trees. It went further into the Everfree, even darting where this smoke plume was. It was really, really big, and it wasâwait. WAIT. Rainbow Dashâs eyes widened. âSm-oke?â she said, her voice cracking a bit. This was not normal. Not normal one bit. Sometimes it was normal, because Zecoraâs hut would smoke, but it wouldnât go this high up where she was, and she was pretty sure that Zecoraâs hut was not out this far, but she could be misremembering. She had a tendency to do that when she was this tired. If Zecoraâs hut was out this far, it still didnât seem like it was coming from her hut. This smoke was thick, dark, and spreading wide, mostly due to the gust up at this height. And the times that Zecoraâs hut did smoke, it was mostly due to the cauldron being really, really hot. Like burning hot. Scalding. A âuse of chemicals that you would not seekâ she would sayâRainbow Dash couldnât rhyme so it definitely was loosely said. So why was there smoke this far into the Everfree? And why was it this pronounced? Rainbow Dash was confused. So, she decided to stop being confused and flew straight into the direction of the smoke. It took her a few moments, mostly because she wasnât expecting to have to veer off course of her usual route. Her route was simple: home, the Everfree, Twilightâs Castle, Canterlot (if she was feeling it, but she skipped this most days because she really had no reason to fly all the way over there [except for practice with her fellow Wonderbolts, although thatâs an exception to the rule!]), Mayor Mareâs Office (taxes are so uncool, oh and by the way, she lived there too) and home, of course. Sometimes, she veered off that route to see Fluttershy if she was up, and sometimes she went to annoy Rarity on the way back home. Sometimes she also went to see AJ, but that was⊠how long ago? What day was it again? Wow, was it really this early? Oh, right, the smoke. Now that she has veered off course, she was going to need to fly more. Whatever. Better to⊠to sate her curiosity for now t-then to continue flying and w-worrying about her cloudsâAUGH. She growled at her stupid mind as she descended closer to the trees below. They were green and they were puffy. They were large too, and she was not happy that she had to find a spot to land with this many trees around. Timberwolves liked trees. Her wings didnât; getting leaves out of her feathers was not a pleasant experience. The only trees Rainbow Dash liked were the trees at AJâs farm. Those were cool. Great to sleep in. Good view. Nice wind. Awesome. These ones were wild and were just⊠smoking. Crazy. Not cool. Forest fires. Rainbow Dash continued flying. She descended lower, and spotted a nice clearing that she could land in. Perfect. Sheâll have to walk a bit to see where the smoke was poking out from, but it was better than landing right next to it where there were only trees. Branches, twigs, ack. Nope. Nope! Not one bit. Feathers being bent would be awful. Flying would be out of the question after that. Shivers. Her body shivered all over the place. She guided herself close to the ground. She did her little tappies, her little hops as she landed, before she stretched those wings and cracked her neck. She furled those speedy pups back to her sides and grinned. Another successful landing. âAwww yeah!â Puffing her chest out, Rainbow Dash walked into the forest. The light that guided her was made hidden by the canopy. The path in front of her was filled with roots, twigs, and dirt. The dirt printed her hooves as she took each step into the forest. What was she going to see? Whoever this pony was, theyâd better have a good reason to camp out here! It was wayyyyyy too early to be setting a campfire this big out here. Like, now that she had gotten closer to the smoke, this was definitely way past Zecoraâs hut. Like, how were theyâ She paused. The bush rustled, before growling at⊠something. Was that a timberwolf? Rainbow Dash stopped. She assumed the position. THE POSITION. That one, her wings unfurled, her legs bracing for impact, and her eyes scouring the brush. Rustling there. Rustling here. A bit of hoofsteps pattering against dirtâshe heard it all. Her brows furrowed. She continued to walk forward⊠sllllooooowwwly, while she kept her eyes peeled, just like her metaphorical bananas. And apples. Canât forget those, otherwise Pinkie would have her maimed (don't disrespect Applejack like that!)! She walked for a bit longer. She didnât know how long since she lost the stopwatch Spitfire gave her from the Wonderbolt Barracksâstupid watch malfunctioned! It wasnât her fault they werenât built to sustain a barrel roll into a wingtip corkscrewâRainbow Dash shook her head and knocked herself back into commission. She blinked away her tired mind and looked ahead. She squinted, trying to get a better view of the forest, but the windiness of the path, the lack of lighting, and the animals that were messing with the bushes were making this harder than she wanted it to be. Not to mention that she was still feeling the brain fog and it was making her see double the brush sometimes, but she sighed and pressed on. Sheâll stumble upon the pony soon, right? Then she could tell them off and get back to flying andâ Rainbow Dash froze again. Right in place. The smoke was close. She could smell the burning sensation. It burned her nostrils just smelling that smell. That smelly smell. Thankfully it didnât smell like a dead body, so at least thatâs some good news, but⊠it was intense. Could it beâŠ? She pressed on, keeping her gaze on the black smoke that filled the forest. It didnât take her long to find the scene of the crime: a large fire set in a circular ring. Rocks surrounded it, and wood stood in the center. It was burning, quite profusely. Yet⊠no ponies. Not one. Just a giant fire burning uncontrollably in a forest, yet controlled at the same time in the same forest, if the getup was anything to talk about. Yeah, there was no way somepony wasnât behind this. It was too well made, which definitely ruled out any animal in the area. Where was this pony? Were they hiding? Did they hear her before she stumbled upon it? That couldnât be. She was being quiet! She was channeling her inner Mare Do Well there, which was all her friends combined so she couldnât have messed it upâ CR-ACK! A loud branch snapped in two. It wasnât her. It was loud and it was nearby. Rainbow Dash, without any further consideration, dove head first into a nearby bush. The brush pinched her wings, her skin, her everything, and she was wincing as she tried to get further into it. It didnât matter if it hurt now, sheâd rather become a shish kebab skewered just right in a bush she called a temporary shelter than be found from whatever just snapped that branch in two! She yelped as a thorn poked her side as she thought all that. Stupid bush. All because she was trying to get her neck out a bit further, so she could get a better view! Also her tail felt cold. She hoped, no, begged Celestia that it wasnât sticking outâCelestia please make these things a bit easier to hide!âshe groaned. âWhat was that?â A voice that was not Rainbow Dashâs said. She could hear the thing move forward. She couldnât see it very well, mostly because a piece of the bush she was in was blocking her line of sight, but she could see something moving. It was wearing⊠something, and it was more lengthy than widthy. Egh. Was it deformed? Was it a Bighoof? Also why was it wearing clothes? Was this some weird Grand Galloping Gala noble trying to channel their outdoor survival skills while standing only on their hindlegs? What the⊠Rainbow Dash squirmed in her bush. She tried blowing the pesky branch out of her vision but that didnât work, so she mustered a bit of strength to move her foreleg to push it out of the way. There. Thatâs it. MOOOOVE. Snap. Snap. Gah! There. She could now seeeeeeeeeâ She couldnât believe her eyes: âMaybe it was a rabbit or somethingâŠâ IT muttered in Equestrian. IT was tall. IT was not a deformed ghost. IT was actually really happy to be burning all that wood IT found. IT was really tall. IT was white, pasty, and looking like a cream filled donut that Pinkie made back at the Sugarcube Cornerâwell, not exactly, IT was tall. IT had weird hoovesâwait, those were hands, and they looked like Discordâsâwow IT looked really strangeâRainbow Dash could imagine Discord being friends with ITâwait, why was she thinking that; oh wow IT was moving again with only two legs, the others were armsâRainbow Dash was not into anatomy, especially of creatures she didnât know. âYou know, I really donât understand why this part of the forest looks so different! I mean, this is only a few clicks from the campground but⊠for some reason, the forest looks off. Did I take my meds this morning or did that little twerp in 3C get into my bag again?â 3C? Twerp? Campground? What? Rainbow Dash quietly observed from her temporary shelter. IT was moving again, throwing another log onto the fire IT created. âI really need to stop talking to myself. Iâm the only guy in the group who does this! And Iâm all alone, out here making this spooky bonfire that Admin Daenery wanted me to make so the kids have something to do other than twiddle their thumbs and throw giant piles of shit at each other! That took so long to clean the latrines out last timeâeugh. My hands were smelling like the Charlotte Bobcats' entire history for weeks!â She was stunned. Her eyes were intently staring at the thingâs arms. IT was casually tossing logs into this bonfireâthatâs what IT called it right? She sighed. Well, IT sounded like a deep voiced type of guy, and IT sounded frustrated⊠Maybe she could help? Rainbow Dash evicted that thought out with only her dignity and one thousand bits to her name. Was she dumb? Stupid, even? Thereâs no way that IT was friendly! Not a châ âWish I had some help right now to get this all done. Maybe I can call Eric over my walkie-talkie to get some more help with this⊠Egh, maybe not. That dude NEVER moves out of the camp guide quarters! Swear, heâs only there to be on the staff sheet and screw that camp assistant from U of A. What a bum!â âWhoâs Ericââ Oh no. Oh no-no-no-no! NO. She spoke. Her brain spoke for her. Stupid brain fog. Sheâs going to die now. Sheâs going to DIE. And now IT was looking somewhere in her direction. IT nearly dropped the log on ITS leg. âWhoa! Is there someone out here? I swear if this is Eric and heâs about to rat me out to his father, I hope he does. The scumbag.â IT kept talking as IT approached the bushes. The ones that included hers. âMan, that guy is the worst. And his father is too. I wouldnât be surprised if they were taking camp funds all this time. Those children deserve a better experience than what theyâre getting! If I was part of the committee, Iâd toss those guys out and get some nice well-to-do people who understand this whole thing. The digs would actually be promising. People would rate us five stars on Yelp! It would be great andâŠâ IT was right over her bush. She could feel ITS presence. She was scared out of her mind. She closed her eyes, imagining herself back home, with her uncomfortable cloud bed, with her Wonderbolts memorabilia, with her⊠pictures of her friends. She was going to die here, wasnât she? Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. â...I hope Eric trips on a lego and gets stabbed by aââ âGET OUT OF MY WAY!â âHOLY SHIT!â She had screamed on the top of her lungs, and was now out of her bush. She could imagine her mane looked like it was full of thorns and probably a nest created by a bird, but she wasnât going to worry. Her flight back could take care of it, if only IT lets her live. Her heart was beating right out of her chest right now, and her wings were unfurled. She bent a bit low, growling at the thing. Meanwhile, IT was on the ground, looking up at her with ITS mouth wide open. Rainbow Dash could see ITS teeth, some were flat but some were sharp. Really sharp. Like a griffon. IT ate meat. âYouây-you talked?â IT stutteredâwait, stuttered? Rainbow Dash tilted her head. âOf course, I do! And⊠and you were about to eat me!â âUh⊠what?!â She growled and made herself look bigger (she thought so at least). âYou knew I was there the entire time, right?â âN-NoâŠ? What are you on about? I was just trying to make a bonfire and⊠wait. Was that you earlier? The one who was If you can talk, and youâre a horseââ âPony, buster. If youâre going to eat me, at leastââ âIâm not going to eat you! Horâerr, ponies are not something Iâd eat. Especially ones that talk.â It scratched the back of its head before shaking their head. âThis is crazy. Maybe I did take my meds, or maybe I took the wrong meds. My motherâs meds. How did I get her meds? Thereâs no wayââ âDude⊠relax. Iââ âRelax? How can I relax when I just got almost run over by a talking pony emerging from a bush?â âAnd how could I relax knowing that you are a deformed ghost that wanted to burn down the Everfree Forest for the sake of divine retributionââ âOkay, I do have a big nose and I do have two pinkie fingers on my right hand, but that does not mean Iâm deformed. I just got scammed by the gene pool!â it said, pointing its two small⊠fingers on its right hand directly at her. âAlso, burn down the Everfree? I thought this was a forest by my campground! Where in the blooming fuck am I?â âEquestria.â âEquâwhat? Iâve never heard of that.â âWhere are you from⊠uhhâŠâ It snorted and let out a little chuckle. âUm⊠sorry. Nameâs Brick. Brick Lancaster. Got it from my father who thought the name was funny. Not sure how he thought that was funny. His sense of humor was more submerged in a riverbed than most.â That sounded like a guyâs name. ItâŠerrâhe gave me his⊠hand. She slowly walked up to him and gave him her hoof. âR-Rainbow Dash. D-Donât wear it out.â âGotcha⊠R-Rainbow Dash.â She stared at Brick. Her heart was still beating fast. Now that she could see him moreâwow was she wide awake now!âh-he had this hair on his head. It was brown, and his arms were huge. More muscular than her legs! He was tall too, taller than most ponies. Maybe as tall as Celestia. Or Luna. Either or. His eyes were blue just like his leggingsâwhatever those wereâand his shirt was green. Oh, and it had this weird badge thing on it, and it had a large, bold, gold letter on it too. She didnât know what it was, but it was something. She⊠didnât know what else to say. Her mind was too fixated on discovering something that she never saw before to really make any thoughts connect. Just jumbled ones. Or ones that are short. Like her compared to him. It was⊠âSo... if you're not from Equestria, Brick, then where are you from?â Brick paused, before taking in a deep breath. "I'm from a little town out in South Dakota.â âSouth Dah-coat-ahhh?â âClose enough.â ... âWhereâs that at?â âOn a place called Earth.â âEarth?â "Yeah. Isn't that where we're at?" ... Rainbow Dashâs eyes widened as did Brickâs. âDid I discover an alien?!â Author's Note We are so back. đđŠđ„đ€đđđŁđ„đ€Rainbow Dash didnât know what to think. ⊠An alien. An actual alien. Right in front of her. In the flesh. She blinked. Itâer, his name was Brick. She wasnât going to call him by his full name because one, it was a mouthful in her eyes, and two, he probably wouldnât like it if she did that, right? She shook her head and took a step back to really get a good look at him. The pasty white alien had his hand cupping his jaw, while he tilted his head just enough to cr-ack his neck. Then, he turned his attention to the fire and sat down on a rather large log near it. He took a shaky breath and threw a nearby stick into it. It incinerated almost immediately. She sighed. Brick looked just as stressed as she was! Why was she standing here doing nothing but staring at him? Not only did she need to make sure he wasnât going to make the fire bigger, but also, if she left him alone, she didnât know what he was going to do! Even though he made it clear he didnât want to burn the forest down, he could just be saying that to play on her good side! Nopony was going to manipulate her. Not even a non-pony like him. Cautiously, Rainbow Dash tiptoed her way up to him. Each step felt coarse under her hooves but each step meant one step closer to ensuring a not-burnt-up Everfree Forest. The fiery aftermath clouded her vision, which made her tightly shut her eyes for a brief moment. She needed to get rid of this brain fog and fast. So what was she tiptoeing for? Mentally groaning, Rainbow Dash stopped and actually walked like normal, if her normal was still somewhat forced, her leg cramping as she took another step. With a tremendous amount of effort and her lip sucking in the pain, Rainbow Dash clip-clopped her way over to him, going behind him instead of in frontâgetting thwacked by a large stick was not a fun way to introduce a possible friendshipâand hopped over the log. âBrick?â He looked over at her and blinked. âYeah, Rainbow Dash?â âIs it cool if I sit here?â Her wings itched as she asked that question. Celestia, her flight or fight instinct was firing all at once and she was not having it right now. And neither was Brick as his nostrils flared and his brows furrowed andâ âSure. Itâs a free countrââ He stopped himself and snorted. âSorry, itâs a saying where Iâm from. Yeah, you can.â She was about to sit when she decided it would be best to lay down instead, so she carefully flopped onto the log and set her head on her forehooves. She then looked up at him and smiled (at least she hoped, her upper lip was about to fall off with how much it was twitching). âThanks.â He looked away from her. âY-Youâre welcome.â The two stayed silent for a bit, just watching as the fire raged on. Then, Rainbow Dash mustered up enough awesome to change that. âSo, what did you do back home?â She could feel his gaze on her. âWorking for the summer camp that you probably heard me ranting about.â âI heard some of it. Eric was really mean to you, huh?â Brick snorted. âHeâs like that with most people. His âMy fatherâs richer than yours!â attitude is about as insufferable as it gets.â He grabbed another stick from his pile beside him and rolled it in his hand. âAnd now that Iâm not there, Iâm hoping he doesnât screw up anything else for the camp.â âSounds like some pony I know.â âGuess trans-dimensional douchebaggery is consistent no matter where you are.â âThose were words?â Rainbow Dash asked, feeling her ears go numb all of a sudden. He laughed at her misery. âYeah. Just made them now. Look at me. I got teleported to another world and Iâm here teaching a pony, language.â He shook his head. âIf only my college professor who gave me a C in English 101 could see me now.â âHey, just because I didnât know what that meant doesnât mean Iâm dumb or something!â âYeah, I figured. Were you a linguistic wiz in your language class too?â She cleared her throat. She totally aced her Equestrian class! She didnât want to make Brick feel badâyeah, thatâs it. âOf course! Iâm the best at speaking Equestrian!â She could hear Applejack calling her a weaselly little liar in her head. âBe honest to him! He deserves that much.â And then Pinkie would jump in just to tell her sheâs not getting cupcakes for the next couple days (sheâs using them as weapons currently in their prank war anyway [a war named Sweet And Sour II: Party Harder for some reason], so Rainbow Dash would let that slide). Also Fluttershy would glare at her and say, âItâs not nice to lie to somepony!â While Rarity would just flip her mane at her and sheâdâ She was getting off topic now and Brick was looking at her like she grew a second head! Sheâll leave that friendship lesson for later. âRightâŠâ He threw another stick into the fire. âAnything else you want to talk about?â She nodded. âSo what are you?â âA human.â âA human?â âYep. Ever heard of them?â âNoâŠâ Her eyes widened. âAnd you said you were from a place called Earth?â âYep.â âYou really are an alien.â âGuess so,â Brick chuckled and continued, âNever thought Iâd be an actual alien to someone.â âReally?â He nodded. âWeâre the only species that can talk back where Iâm from. I think itâs a load of crap though. Dogs, cats, and even dolphins totally have their own secret languages, we just canât interpret them.â She laughed. âWe have pets here too, and they donât talk either.â She craned her head up to look at him. âSounds like Equestriaâs a bit like Earth, donât youâŠâ She paused as she watched him lift his hand up toward her head. His fingers stretched out almost as if he was going to reach for her, but then he stopped, his hand almost frozen in place. Without a second more to comprehend it, Brick pulled his arm back. His hand propped him back up, making him grunt. âSorry.â What was he going to do there? His hand was hovering over her head and then he took it away. âItâs okay.â She gulped and shakily moved her forehoof towards his hand. She could see how it flexed while his other one moved through his shaggy mane. âCrazy how Iâm having a casual conversation with a pony.â âItâs crazy that youâre not Bighoof, Brick.â He laughed. âBighoof? You thought I was a yeti?â She threw her forehooves into the air. âCan you really blame me? How else was I supposed to explain what I was seeing?â âLengthy pasty white thing frolics with fervor through the forest?â She glared at him. âNo. You werenât frolicking.â He facehoovedâpalmedâwhatever it was called and sighed. âYouâre right. Frolic is a terrible word for walking.â She chuckled. âTwilight would agree with you there.â âTwilight, you mean the movie?â Rainbow Dash tilted her head. âNoâŠ? I didnât know she got her own movie. She didnât tell me!â Brick raised a brow. âOkay, so who is this then? One of your friends?â She slowly nodded, but realized what she had just told Brick and waved her hooves out in front of her. âYou canât see her though!â âI canât⊠see her?â âY-Yeah!â ⊠âWhy?â She couldnât help but play with her forehooves. What was he going to tell him? Sorry, because youâre an alien Iâm afraid my friends would be allergic to you! Hmm⊠no, that wouldnât work. Maybe tell him that too many ponies could give him radiation? Nah⊠that wouldnât work either! She rubbed her chin before channeling The Egghead energy and grinning. This was going to be the best way to explain her hesitation away! And then heâll not ask that question again andâ âBecause you need a special pass!â âA pass?â âY-Yeah⊠A pony pass!â Brick was blinking like a strobe light at one of Vinyl and Octaviaâs raves. She just made him think he needed a pass to even talk to them. How did she come up with that? That wasnât what she was thinking of! All she had to say was âThey were on vacation and wonât be back until next week!â What was she going to say now? Rainbow Dash waited as Brickâs expression stayed frozen, unmoving. He was staring at her now, almost like he was trying to process what she said and instead, he wasnât. Her heart stirred and her feathers burned an itch more annoying than the pony she was referencing. âRainbow Dash, I have never in my life heard of someone needing a pass just to talk to someone else.â She nearly facehooved, but she decided to give herself a headache instead, and mentally facehoof instead. She grimaced, holding her head for a second, before looking at him. âAlright, you got me. Iâm just⊠worried about what theyâd say.â âWhy? Are they rude?â âNoâŠâ He hummed to himself. âAre they⊠too busy?â âI mean⊠it depends on the dayââ âAre they allergic to me?â âNo! Iâd be sneezing around you right now if that were true!â He nodded. âTrue, trueâŠâ A hum, again. What was he doing? Revving himself up or something? Suddenly, he frowned and sighed. âAre they opposed to other species?â Not only was that not true, but also opposed? Really? If somepony said that to her about⊠letâs say, Gilda, sheâd make sure theyâd hear her and then some! But here, it was an alien trying to understand Rainbow Dash and her friends. And eventually everypony else. All creatures. Her mind couldnât wrap itself around the whole thing. Gah! She just needed to make sure she wasnât leading him in the wrong direction again. Public speaking wasnât the coolest thing about her and thankfully the Wonderbolts didnât require her to do a whole lot of it. Unless it was media day. She hated that day. Sheâll just let her flying do the talking for her. Unfortunately, she canât let her flying talk her way out of this one. She needed to make her point clear. SSlloowwwly, she started talking, âNo⊠theyâre not going to be opposed to you. Theyâre just⊠sensitive. J-Just like everypony else!â She suddenly bit her tongue and scrunched her muzzle. âActually, scratch that. Only some ponies are like that. I mean, I almost came out of that bush and rammed you butââ âYeah⊠you almost did.â She snorted. âIâm just saying! My friends are justâŠâ She groaned. âI canât think of a really good way of saying this, Brick. Iâm sorry.â He slightly smiled. âI get it. Youâre just worried that theyâll do something that theyâd regret.â âKind of⊠I know them really well, but this is a whole different thing. Like, a whooollle different thing entirely! I donât want them to be too worried, yâknow?â âI guess. I mean, I donât know how Iâd be if you were put on Earth. The FBI probably would investigate or something.â âFBI?â Brick took a moment to think it over, at least, he was looking elsewhere, so she didnât get a great view of him, but it looked like he did that, if his brow twitching meant anything. âPolice but with way more funding⊠and a rather elastic history.â She blinked. âOoookaaaayyyâŠâ She frowned. âI donât think thatâll happen here, but I donât want to get you in any trouble. After all, itâs not normal to be making friends with an alienâ âA human, in this case.â ââwhatever! Being friends with a whole new species is just not normal soâŠâ She twiddled with her hooves again. Wow, the side of her hoof felt a bit sharp. Gotta be careful with this oneâwait, why was he humming to himself now? And why was he tossing another stick into the fire? CL-UNK! Her ears flicked up high after that toss. That was a loud one! âSorry, I had to get that big one out of the pile I collected. It was taking up room.â She rolled her eyes. âDonât be. Look, I think itâs best if we get you set up out here. Then, if you really want to meet my friends, I can get them to meet you one by one! Donât want to scare ponies off, yâknow?â He sighed. âAlright. Plus, it might help me with my mental health at the moment.â âGreatâwait, what do you mean by that?â Brick looked at her like she just said something so incredibly insane it was not even funny. What? Was asking a question a bad thing now? He didnât look angry at her, thatâs at least something going for her. He cleared his throat. âI⊠itâs nothing.â âItâs not nothing if youâre just casually mentioning it!â She flicked her wings out (although her one closest to the fire remained a bit more furled than unfurled. Charred feathers were not something she wanted right now!) before she continued, âI know I get in my moods some days butââ âItâs not a mood thing. Itâs justâŠâ He trailed off, his voice shaking like a leaf on a tree. She could see him visibly shiver. âIâm alone. Iâm just here. Like I said, casually talking to a pony isnât something youâd do unless you owned a stable and they were your pet or something.â That image alone made her wince. âI⊠I see what you mean butââ âAnd on top of that, Iâm stuck here for the foreseeable future.â He leaned down to pick up a couple sticks and toss them in the fire too. âI donât get it. Why me?â âNopony knows, Brick.â She brought one of her wings and gently laid them on his shoulder. He looked at her rather suddenly, which made her think she did something wrong, but then he looked back into the fire. âBut youâre wrong about being alone. Iâm here, right?â He sighed. âYouâre right. Itâs just⊠Iâm here, youâre here, and this is actually happening.â âYepâŠâ She pulled him closer with her wing and stayed there. She stayed there while his face did not change. And then he frowned again, just as she was thinking he was fine, and said the words that she dreaded to hear: âI hope Iâm not stuck here.â Suddenly, all that warmth disappeared. The fire was still burning, but none of it gave her warmth. She shivered as she held the distraught human. Maybe this was more than she could take on. Maybe this was just something that she needed her friends help with. Maybe she was not the pony to help him. Maybe she was notâ Gritting her teeth, she let out a growl that made Brick nearly jump out of her wingâs grasp. âWhoa, Rainbow Dash, did I say something wrong orââ âYeah, you did. You wonât be stuck here! And even if you are and we donât know it yet, Iâm not abandoning you.â âAbandoning? I didnât say anyââ âYou were thinking about it! I saw how your nose crooked up andâsee, youâre doing it now!â Brick uncrooked his nose and put his hands on his head. She let him have his moment, as he growled out whatever anxiousness was there. She would probably do the same thing if she was in his hoovesâer⊠feet. Right. Not a pony. âAm I really that easy to read?â Brick said as he peeled his hands off his head. âI donât know, it just looked like it was a tell.â She shook her head. âLook. No more brooding. We need to get your mind off this whole alien thing.â He tilted his head. âAnd how do you suppose we do that?â She scrunched her muzzle up for a brief moment, before relaxing and clopping her forehooves together. âWe got work to do.â âWork? On what?â âSetting up camp, duh! If youâre going to be living out here, you need a place to sleep! You were working for one, right?â âYeah, but setting up a camp is different than working at one, Rainbow Dash.â âOkay⊠so you know how to make one, right?â He nodded. âYeah butââ âThen letâs make one. You and me!â âBut we donât have the necessary equipment to make one!â Brick shot back, waving his arm around the site. It was true, they had nothing but a large fire pit, but everypony starts out with nothing too at one point in their life, right? âI left majority of my gear in South Dakota andââ She rolled her eyes. âCome oonnnn, dude! Thereâs a way to easily solve that problem! Iâll just get you some. What do ya need?â Brick began to rev up again, and it made sense to her this time! He tapped his chin with his hand. âSome rope⊠a knife⊠maybe some food to tide us over and some stuff we can use to sleep with?â âLike a blanket and a pillow or something?â He snapped his fingers and gave her a smile. âYeah, thatâll work!â She grinned and retracted her wing from his back. âEasy! Iâll get all that and some more stuff I just thought of faster than you can say XavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffX!â âWas that even a word?â Rainbow Dash wiped away her muzzle with a hoof. âSorry, I sneezed. What I meant to say was that I would get it faster than you could even use up the rest of the wood you got for the fire!â Brick laughed for a bit before calming himself down. âAlright, well Iâm glad it wasnât you choking on something. And, by the way, what did you mean by âmore stuff?ââ âItâll be a surprise, Brick! I canât tell you. Think of the other stuff as a welcome to Equestria gift!â âYouâre something else, you know that?â She just giggled in her hoof. âAwesome is the word youâre looking for.â âAlright there, awesome,â Brick said with a chuckle. He folded his arms together. âHow are you going to get everything here and back?â âFlying, duhhh.â She punctuated this by flexing her speedy pups on her back. They were itching to get some more flying in! âWhat do you think these puppies are used for?â He blinked. âI mean I havenât seen you really fly soâŠâ âWell, watch this!â Turning around from him and hopping off the log, Rainbow Dash landed on all fours. She craned her neck just to make sure he was watching (which he was) and smiled. âAre you ready?â She could feel her tail wag as he gave her a thumbs up. âReady as I can be!â With a little wiggle of her back, she popped off the ground and zipped through the nearby canopy of the trees. She did a little loop around the clearing where the smoke was emerging from, before zipping back down to land just a bit beside him. âSee! I can fly andâoof!â Brick picked her up and hugged her close. âThat was awesome, Rainbow Dash! Wow, I didnât know you could actually fly, let alone like that!â Hot. She felt hot. Really hot. In her cheeks. Was she blushing or did Princess Celestia just do a solar flare? No, no-no, not even Twilight could do that, and she knew a princess wouldnât just mess with the sun like that! She shook her head to get rid of the thought that just burned her. âAhhh yeah, I do that all the time. Professionally too!â âReally?â âY-Yep!â Stupid stutter. The burning sensation in her cheeks was so annoying! It wasnât going away! Ugh. âAnyway, Iâll come back in a few. You just need to stay here and keep that fire going!â âGotcha,â he said, before letting her go, setting her down on the ground again. She cracked her neck and stretched her legs. Phew! Brick could hug with a vice grip! âYou definitely did.â âToo strong?â âMy leg almost cramped up there.â âMy bad,â he muttered and snorted. âWell, you better be off. Weâre burning daylight, right?â She nodded. âYeah, probably. Iâll see you in a bit, okay?â âYep!â âDonât go wandering off. Donât need to find you getting in a fight with a bear or something!â He waved her off with his hand. âDonât worry, I donât plan on wrestling a bear. Not even once.â Thatâs not what she meant! She let out a brief blow. âAlright, see you!â âYep!â ⊠The two couldnât stop looking at each other. It was weird. It was awkward. It was definitely not his fault, it was totally hers. She snorted and turned around. It didnât take long to pop off the ground and flap her wings when she wasnât looking at him. Egh. This was going to be a whole thing, wasnât it? Author's Note Had to rewrite this one because it just wasn't flowing right the first time. Gotta love struggling with a narrator voice. Going to keep up the update grind with this one. Cheers for all the support! Written to yet another Thrown track on repeat for two hours. I think this is third one on three different fics. Are you really shocked though? đđ„đ đđđĄđđđRainbow Dash was now gliding in the air. Why? Well, she was tired of pushing herself so hard (if she ever said that out loud, Equestria would freeze over), so she needed a bit of time to just gllliiiiddeee and stretch her wings. But noooo, she needed to open her muzzle and make a rather awesome but silly bet with the first and only human sheâll ever meet. Gah! She frowned as her feathers were graced by the jetstream. She snorted through the sensation as the wind tickled her feathers. She dipped a bit further down, letting the air carry her back to Ponyvilleâor at least, she wanted that to be the case, but her wings flapped anyway. Gotta make sure she won that stupid bet and now she was remembering him again! Egh. Clop. It was unceremonious. She had stuck a rather simple landing in the midst of a few voices addressing her existence, but Rainbow Dash didnât care. She was too focused on her mission. An impossible one. One that set herself right in front of her first destination, the one that would compromise her if she wasnât too careful. A gasp. âDashie!â âHey, Pinkie.â Donât give off any sudden movements. Sheâll know. Sheâll know! âHow was work today?â She frowned. âNot many ponies came in. Carrot Top stopped by for her usual super-de-duper carrot cake, and Derpy and Dinky had one of the shakes I make for them every weekâoh! Twilight also stopped by with some of her guards and everypony left with something in their hooves.â Rainbow Dash felt a gentle breeze drift into her widened eyes. âTwilight has guards?â âDuhhh, sheâs a princess, Dashie! Why wouldnât she have guards?!â A giggle pierced Rainbow Dashâs eardrums. She was nearly drenched as she sweated in place, her eyes tracking Pinkie Pie while her friend paced behind the counter. âTwilight told me about how she detected some magical anomaly somewhere near Ponyville. From what she said, her magic radar do-hickey did this exaggerated BOOM and WHOOSH thing, and it was amazingââ She interrupted herself by nearly exploding into confetti. She hopped down from her sudden wormhole and continued, âAnyway, Twilight said she was going to send out some ponies to investigate, but decided instead to deploy a guard detail on herselfwhile she drafted a really well-thought-out plan for us to investigate instead!â Pinkie Pie giggle-snorted herself into a tizzy, her mane bouncing all the while. âDonât worry, Dashie! Itâs probably just another magic misfire. Either that or Discord ate some burritos and had a nasty case of gas!â Rainbow Dashâs eyes widened. âP-Pinkie!â âWhat?â Rainbow Dashâs stomach felt like it was doing three-sixties after hearing that, but she couldnât tell her dear friend that. It was like a cross between wanting to dry heave, and wanting to make sure she wasnât laughing. Discord having gas? Disgusting and funnyâbut the three sixties were mostly because, maybe, just maybe⊠Twilight did find Brick through whatever magic he gave off, what could Rainbow Dash do? Rainbow Dash didnât want Twilight even remotely close to him! And trying to get her friend to not dissect Brick was going to be a challenge⊠not that she couldnât do it, right? Rainbow Dash coughed as she tried to hold her breath, covering her muzzle with a hoof. She wiped her muzzle clean and smiled at Pinkie Pie, totally not hoping sheâd be smited where she stood. âDashie, keeping yourself from laughing might be the most unhealthiest thing Iâve ever seen!â She blinked out of existence for a second before blinking back right in front of Rainbow Dash, her face mostly covered by a book titled, How Stopping Natural Bodily Functions Can Make Somepony Very, Very Sick!! and crudely scribbled on it was Pinkie Pieâs full name, which made Rainbow Dash baffled that she self-published a book. Does Twilight even know about this? And why was the cover smeared in cake frosting? Wait, Pinkie Pie was talking! Featherbrain! Focus. â...and thatâs why itâs not-so-great to keep yourself from laughing!â Pinkie Pie finished, slamming the book shut. She flung it behind her, the book barrelling toward a random vase that shattered into several messy pieces. Rainbow Dash winced, while Pinkie Pie gasped rather loudly. âOh, shoot! I hope that wasnât the priceless vase I got from the Priceless Vases Conventionâą I was given a priceless invitation to!â She turned around and breathed heavily through her muzzle. âNo way! It was the vase I was thinking about. Thatâs not good!â She reared on her hindlegs and shoved her hooves towards Rainbow Dash. âSorry, Dashie! I gotta clean up before somepony walks in and sees the mess I made. Not a good impression if itâs somepony new!â She scrunched up her muzzle and began walking back behind the counter. âOh⊠I hope Mrs. Cake doesnât see thisââ âPinkie.â âYes?â Get her off the vase train. Fast. âThink once youâre done cleaning up, you can make me a cake?â âA cake?â Rainbow Dash nodded, humming as well. âWhat type of cake, Dashie?â That question made Rainbow Dash pause. What type of cake did she want to give to him? Heck, she didnât even know if he was able to eat cake! Stupid, stupid, stupid. She shouldâve asked, although that wouldâve ruined the surprise⊠Her muzzle scrunched up. âCould you make a white cake with vanilla frosting?â She looked up at Pinkie and saw that she was way too âstuck in placeâ for Rainbow Dashâs liking. She was about to unfurl a wing to possibly tap Pinkieâs muzzle with it, but opted not to as she noticed a muzzle twinge that was not-so-subtly making the mare shake. âUhh⊠Pinkie?â As if the magic words triggered something, Pinkie Pie hopped almost through the ceiling, but bounced right back down to the floor with a grin plastered on her face. It nearly made Rainbow Dash jump out of her skin when Pinkie landed, but she kept herself tall, if puffing her chest out while her hooves felt like they were going to fall out from underneath her was âtallâ enough. âI can totally do that for ya! Whatâs the occasion? Is it for another friend I know? OOooh is it for a friend I donât know yet? Or is it for that special somepony that I also donât know about yet! Orâeh, OR is it for somepony at the School of Friendship who just has a sweet tooth andâmmph?!â Rainbow Dash stuffed a hoof in Pinkieâs mouth and sighed. âPinkie, I canât tell you. Itâs⊠kinda a surprise.â âMmmph Mmff?â âYes.â âMmm?â âNo. Theyâre not into that.â âHmmâŠ. mmmph?â Rainbow Dash tilted her head. âUhhh? I donât know. Are you speaking in Prench now?â Pinkie Pie eyed the hoof that was still in her mouth. Oh, forgot to remove that from herâ Suddenly, Pinkie Pie gasped for air. âPhew, I was wondering when you were going to stop putting your hoof in my mouth. I was trying to breathe from my nose but then you were saying all this stuff and I forgot to breathe! Anyway, why vanilla?â âI donât know if theyâre allergic to chocolate,â Rainbow Dash stated lamely (donât tell anypony). She felt her ears splay against her head. âIâd rather them be alive and enjoy it, so Iâm playing it safe.â âSafe?â Pinkie Pie glowered her brows at Rainbow Dash, which made the latter feel like she was about to be questioned about her entire life. âSafe? Thatâs not a word you say often! And trust me, Iâve heard you talk waaaayyyy more than any other pony!â Rainbow Dashâs eyes glued themselves to the now muzzle-rubbing investigator, if her hat gracing her head was anything to go by. The monocled Pinkie Pie pursed her lips, shoving the lens closer to Rainbow Dashâs muzzle. âYouâre not hiding anything from me, Dashie⊠right?â âI-Iâm not hiding anything, Pinkie!â âAre you sureâŠ?â âP-Positive.â Rainbow Dashâs eyes widened as Pinkie Pie brought her muzzle close to hers. Did she figure it out? Did she give Pinkie Pie too much information or something? Rainbow Dash felt like scooting back, probably bumping her backside against a wall, but then sheâd have no place to go, and her heart started beating a bit more harshly, pelting her with a sense of panicked adrenaline. She winced, closing her eyes tightly. She needed to breathe. Itâll all be over soon. She would fail, Pinkie Pie would figure things out, Brick would be found, and heâll probably get put into a sugar coma or something. And it would be all her fault. âOkay!â Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, snapping to Pinkie Pie who had already stepped away from her with a smile on her face. Was Pinkie messing with her? âIâŠâ âWhen do you need the cake by?â Shuffling behind the counter told Rainbow Dash just to go with Pinkieâs antics. âThink you could have it for me in a couple hours?â âSure! I can get my instant rise mix out for this baby!â More shuffling, and a giant can of mix flew into the air. âNo⊠thatâs not it. Thatâs a cheese graterâŠâ Rainbow Dash shuddered before taking a deep breath. âW-Well, Iâm⊠glad you can get this done for me on such aâahemâsuch a short notice, P-Pinkie!â Pinkie Pie turned around in a flash, giving Dash a toothy grin. âIâm always happy to help a friend in need. Besides, I love making cakes. You know that!â âI definitely do,â Rainbow Dash replied rather cautiously, her eyes darting away from Pinkie for a moment. She looked back at her and smiled, sorta. More like smiling in hopes Pinkie didnât notice that she was about to jump out of her skin. âWell, see you later, Pinkie!â âSee ya later, Dashie!â Rainbow Dash didnât even spare a wave as she bolted out of there as quickly as possible. She had more things to get, and knowing Pinkie, getting this all sorted ahead of time will make getting the cake out of there without getting asked twenty questions all the more important. Now outside, she pumped her wings, before pushing off the ground and flying out of there, her flight path set square for her home in the sky. Home: itâs what she made of it. She walked inside into her rather expansive foyer, before realizing she was still timing herselfâstupid bet!âand flew straight up to her room. She had passed by Tank, who she caught wearing a frown. She knew sheâd need to feed him, but that wouldnât do by just giving him the standard amount. That wouldnât be cool enough in her Book of Awesome. She had Brick to deal with first though. With reckless abandon, Rainbow Dash flew in and around her room. She checked under her bed. Nothing. She checked her cabinets. Nothing but stuff. She even checked her wardrobe full of Wonderbolt attire. A boat load of blue and yellow lightning-strike-emblazoned suits. And a weird inflatable hoof with the phrase âGo Wonderbolts!â on it. Oh, and nothing she needed now. However, there was one thing she forgot she even had, and probably where she remembered all that junk she mentioned she had. By her bedside was a large mahogany chest recently crafted by her parentsâactually, she just misremembered. It was bought by her parents but was made by some really talented stallion up in Cloudsdale. He specialized in creating cloud-compliant furniture. It was cool, but⊠as her mother put it, she just needed a âchest big enough that it could fit an entire Wonderbolt fan collectionâ. Unfortunately for her, it would only fit about thirty percent of her collection, which is why this now fits all of the stuff she had to move to get more of her collection to fit in her deep closet. She sighed and flicked it open with her wing. Inside was exactly what she thought was in here. Junk. With her teeth, she flung out a coffee machine she got in Manhattan and placed it beside her. Somehow the machine was still broken from the last time she had used it! She really needed to take it into one of those repair shops, but she has not had the time nor the energy to deal with it. Oh well. No caffeine for her, then! She also scooped up a few smaller items: a compass, a large nail filer, and a comb she thought she tossed out the window at the mail pony last weekâwait what did she throw at him then?âshe set aside the comb and the large nail filer next to the machine, before bringing the compass more into the light. The thing still seemed to work (maybe, the red arrow was pointing somewhere), but it was definitely not what she expectedâan engraving on the side labeled DD told her it was definitely part of her Daring Do cosplay. That thing⊠Wait. That cosplay! She flung head first back into the chest. She fumbled around, nearly giving herself a black eye because something way heavier than she thought had hit her square in the nogginâegh, that was going to hurt later!âbut with a bit of gumption, she found what she was looking for. âOh my gosh, I found it!â In her hooves was a sharp short sword, the one that Daring Do âhypotheticallyâ used on one of her adventures. This wasnât a carbon copy, obviously, but she apparently used it to hacksaw through the vines of the jungle during one of her temple raids. It had a name though, and Rainbow Dash being so⊠scatterbrained made it hard to remember. But she knew this was a really important blade, one that⊠well, Brick could use, right? It could work if itâs sharp enough! Rainbow Dash hummed to herself and did a few quick swipes in the air. It sounded sharp, if that made any sense. Maybe she could thwack it on something, or see if it could cut through something thick! Yeahâexcept she probably should do it outside. Away from Tank. Away from herself, even. With a sheepish grin on her face, Rainbow Dash sheathed the sword back in its handle, and placed it gently next to the compass. Two items down. What else could she find in herâ âEgh?â She had in her mouth something that she couldnât quite see. She hopped out and brought it into the limelight. A butter knife that had some weird stains on it. She spat it out and gagged. âOh Celestia, what was on that knife?!â Tank, who had finally climbed up the stairs, watched as the knife sailed out the door and down the stairs. He began to raise a brow. Rainbow Dash saw that and threw her hooves in the air. âWhat? Donât judge me.â She could feel his glare, if it was even happening, that is. He probably was still raising his brow. Agh. She gritted her teeth and dove back in, her hindlegs doing imaginary hoof paddles to see if she could somehow go deeper into the chest. She managed to get a little bit further in, this time ensnaring more than one item in her maw. She hopped out and saw what she pulled. The first tingled her mouth, and in the light, she could see it, especially with the mirror she had sitting up in the corner. It was a long rope she had gotten from Applejack. The brown rope dangled onto the ground, and was barely touching the side of the chest. This would definitely help Brick out. The other item however? Ehh⊠She wouldnât mention it. It was way too⊠uhh⊠She gulped and shoved it right back into the chest. She threw all the other stuff that wasnât needed back in too, except the coffee machine. That thing was going in the trash, plus it was taking room that she could use to store more Daring Do stuff! Or maybe even Wonderbolts stuff. Sheâll figure that out later. Oh, and she needed to figure out what to do with the butter knife. She needed to wash that or burn it. Either one was acceptable. Rainbow Dash chuckled. All she needed now was some snacks, some pillows, and a blanket or two, right? She eyed her bed, but then realized that this stuff was going to be outside. She needed to think of something more appropriate. Like⊠hmm⊠âNow where did I put that tarpâŠâ Rainbow Dash hummed to herself as she exited her room, wondering if she was going to have to enter her pseudo basement to find what she was looking for. Flying with a bunch of goodies was one thing, but flying with a bunch of goodies while thinking about a cake Rainbow Dash had to pick up was⊠enlightening. Her stomach kept clawing at the idea of the cake, vanilla frosting and white cake. Simple, yet enticing. Mouthwatering. Slurrrrp. She licked her lips as she descended down from her house. She had found a tarp, sorta. It wasnât really a tarp. It was like a blanket, except it crinkled. And it was blue. And it was flashy. And it wasâ Rainbow Dash sighed. It was a tarp. She had somehow got it in her saddlebags, next to the blanket and pillows. In her other saddlebag, she had all the other things she needed to get him. She actually cleaned the butter knife and brought it too. She thought he needed something sharp, but hey, the butter knife could be useful⊠for butter. Rainbow Dash began to slow her descent, flapping her wings. With a few more flaps, and a sudden unceremonious furling, she landed on the ground with a smile. She trotted back into the Sugarcube Corner. Before, it was dead, with only her asking for some food. Now, she slowed her roll right past a couple sharing a milkshake, while another few fillies and colts laughed and cheeredâdid they have school today?âshe shook her head, hoping to rid that thought from her mind. Of course they were playing hooky! Duh. Who would be here in the afternoon at their age other than they were off the hook? No one. Just them. She sighed and walked up to the counter. Pinkie Pie, surprisingly, was nowhere to be found. Rainbow Dash started looking around, very subtly, darting her eyes to and fro like she was on a mission herselfâwait she was on a mission. The same mission impossible as before, just a different part of the same mission. She kept herself on her toes, attempting to find Pinkie âThe Snoopsâ Pie. She could also be Pinkie âThe Investigatorâ Pie, but Rainbow Dash doubted that. There wasnât a sense of a script being written by some absolute dundâ âDashie! Iâm so glad to see youââ âAghh? I mean, wow, d-didnât see you there, Pinkie Pie.â Pinkie âThe Snorts A Lotâ Pie giggled and then subsequently snorted, in that exact order. âGotta keep you on your toes! Wonderboltsâ protocol demands it.â âHow do you know Wonderââ âBecause in another world, similar to this one, I am a Wonderbolt! So I talked to that Pinkie Pie who knows another Pinkie Pie that was a clone from my dimension but also is a clone for her dimension and then I justââ âOkay, thatâs enough magic who-ha for one non-unicorn to say.â Rainbow Dash had also somewhat shoved her forehoof in Pinkie Pieâs face, making the mare stare right at her hoof like sheâs about to shoot something out of them. Rainbow Dash began drafting her willâ âAnyway, Rainbow Dash.â âHuh?â Pinkie Pie smiled. âYour cake is done!â A random ding noise sounded off behind her. She flicked her hind leg, opening a random oven door that she had, and then out came the cake, somehow frosted and all. Pinkie scooted the cake over to Rainbow Dash, all while keeping her smile the same. She blinked. âUhh⊠why was the cake in the oven when it was already frosted?â Pinkie Pie tilted her head. âWhat do you mean, Dashie? The frosting isnât on it.â Rainbow Dash blinked, and suddenly the frosting she saw was gone. She gasped. âW-Where did it go?â âThe frosting was a lie, silly!â Pinkie Pie exclaimed while hopping in a place. She squirted the frosting on the cake, squelching the piping with glee, and then gently smoothened it with a rather not sharp knife. Once she was done, she squeeâd and slid the cake over. âNow that puppy is done!â Rainbow Dash eyed it like it was radioactive, surveying it from every angle. It looks⊠edible. Sorta. Kinda. She licked her lips. Her stomach growled in response. âIâll take it!â Pinkie Pie smiled as a few bits were slammed on the table at lightspeed, and the cake was gone too just as fast, leaving a rainbow trail toward the door. Rainbow Dash didnât need to hear anything else. The cake was great, the sky was blue, and she was about to make Brickâs day all the better. Either that or she lost the bet and she was about to maim herself in more ways than one. Author's Note Aye lmaoo Imagine getting mindblocked by a silly Daring Do addition. âđŠđ€đWeight. It was something that Rainbow Dash felt, mostly on her back, but in her hooves carried the cake that she had just bought from Pinkie Pie, a cake that was mostly for Brick, but Rainbow Dash wasnât going to let him have all of it. A couple pieces, maybe. Or threeâsheâll decide when she got there to surprise him. She wanted to hide the cake from him, but the sheer size of it made it extremely difficult for her to hide in her saddlebags, even if one of them was magically enchanted to store anything. It was too wide for it. Everything else was able to be stored in her two different saddlebags. She brought two, because even though one had a magic enchantment to store anything, she didnât want anything that could be torn to shreds in it, since, well the sword and butter knife were in it. That left the second saddlebags, the one that could handle the âcould be torn to shredsâ items, filled to the brim. The contrast was obvious: one neatly strapped, while the other⊠wasnât. The severely bloated one hindered her ability to fly to the point that flying too fast made her nauseous. Knowing that, at any moment, those bags of hers could unfasten, and her mind, still burdened by the brain fog, would not even notice it, choosing to drift off about the smoke, about how hard it was for her to fly, all while still thinking about that stupid bet she made⊠everything was against her right now. She hinged on the smoke being her guide in her flight, a rush against herself forged by her dumb muzzle. The wind tickled her feathers. It sheared as it surrounded her. The wind was her. She flapped carefully, steady as can be. She glided when she needed to. She soared when the ground was too close. Not yet, not yet. She wasnât near the smoke trail. Her eyes flickered, noting the animals between the canopies. A few open areas too, a timberwolf track leading far from the trail, a fence torn from degradation over the years, and a few reeds in the brush. Rainbow Dash smiled. She began her descent, her wings getting enough lift (even with all the weight on her back) that she wasnât going to be stuck between the branches of the Everfree, but enough of a willingness to let go to glide into that same clearing, the one just below the smoke, the trail she knew was now due to a silly aliâhuman named Brick. Upon landing, her tip-tappies imprinted the dirt with her trot of excitement. Mid-tap, she cradled the cake box with a free wing, while she wiped her hooves off on the grass. She checked herself over momentarily, before traversing the forest further, being mindful of those who were around her, animals and ponies alikeâshe didnât know if she was followed! She gripped onto the cake box tighter, nestled closely against her side. It didnât take her too much longer to find the site. The circular stones still held the fire, and on that same log, the one where she laid near him, sat Brick, his big nose contrasting his rather small mouth. His lips rolled inward, while his face remained neutral against the orange flames that raged in front of him. He didnât even notice her approach, his eyes locked onto the inferno. Her hooves barely made a sound, only dispersing the grass that tickled them. Most of the sticks in the now bare camp had been tossed into the pit, and all that remained were a couple large ones, which stayed by Brickâs side, shrouded barely in the fireâs tantalizing glow. She assumed Brick had saved the larger ones for the camp they were needing to build, but maybe he hadnât gotten to them yet. She mentally shrugged her wings and strode to his side. âBrick?â The human jumped out of his skin, twitching toward her direction with wide deep blue eyes. His brown hair was the only thing kept in place, while his arms were caught mid-toss, his fingers now wrapped tightly against a sizable branch. Only those blue eyes moved, darting over Rainbow Dashâs haul, especially the cake box, which did not visibly show the surprise she had delicately tucked in her wing. âYou⊠got the things we needed?â he piped up, now holding the branch close. She flashed a grin toward him before looking toward her saddlebags. âDuh. Who would I be if I came back empty hooved? I got âem all in my saddlebags!â He raised a brow while he set the branch back in the pile. âThen whatâs in the box?â âOne of your surprises.â She sat the box down beside him. She urged him with a hoof, nudging his side. âCome on, open it up!â âAre you sure?â He asked, his hands hovering over it now. They twitched as they waited for her approval. âNever surer!â She chirped, before letting out a happy neigh. âTrust me, youâll like it. Itâs awesome!â She didnât know that. She didnât even know if he was allergic to cake. Or vanilla. But most ponies werenât. They were mostly allergic to chocolate⊠and nuts. She hoped Pinkie wasnât touching any nut butter before she made that cake. Or chocolate. Or anything radioactive. Rainbow Dash swore she saw one of Pinkieâs cakes glow in the dark once. Her muzzle wrinkled up at the memory, but it was replaced by Brickâs ecstatic gasp as he lifted the box and stared at the creation. White frosting stared back, that much she knew, but Brickâs smile was all she needed to see, his nearly from ear to ear. âThatâs what I think it is?â âYep!â She let both of her wings unfurl, stretching them as needed. âAh, finally I can stretch these puppiesâthatâs a cake one of my friends made. She makes way more than just cake, but I thought it would be a good idea to get one for you to welcome you toâoof!â Brick interrupted her by pulling her towards his chest. She squeaked into the embrace, her face now plastered against him. Thankfully, his grip wasnât too tight, which allowed her to squirm a bit out of his embrace, enough to look up at him while shivering in his grasp. âB-Brick?â âThank you! I⊠I donât think Iâve ever been given a cake before.â She pulled her head back to get a better look at his face. âH-How?â He swallowed back what she hoped was saliva and cleared his throat. âBirthdays were⊠difficult for my family.â He scratched the back of his head with a free hand, while the other remained around her barrel, much to her wings discomfort. âMoney was hard to come by when I was younger, and by the time we actually had money⊠letâs just say it wasnât used for that.â âThatâsâŠâ âShocking?â She shook her head and nuzzled into his chest. âTerrible. Pinkie Pie would be upset if she heard that.â He took a deep shaky breath. âThatâs not the half of it, but yeah⊠just know the cake means a lot.â âIâm glad,â she began, looking at him once more. She wiggled out of his embrace, much to his chagrin. His hands didnât know what to do, so one went to the back of his neck, while the other propped him up on the log. âI hope you donât have this strong of a reaction to the other things I got you.â âWhy? Donât tell me you made a weird shopping list!â She laughed and turned around to unlatch her saddlebags. âOutside what you asked for?â He nodded, which made her laugh even harder. âNo, I didnâtâeckâgo too out of bounds. Justâerghâgotta get these off me to show you!â Her hooves struggled to even unhook the saddlebags from her back, but she was lucky to have Brick, who, upon noticing her trying to reach for it, hopped off his log (she could hear him land on the ground). He probably walked toward her, his hoofâer, footsteps made that obvious. She wasnât looking at him though, so she didnât know which side he was going to appear from. Her peripherals, what little of that caught the blur of him, eventually brought him into focus, now on her right. She tried to smile, but his hands stopped the gesture entirely, his fingers rubbing against her bodyâs hair and the bag strap. She stifled a gasp and shivered, the sensation foreign yet familiar, dancing on the tips of her hair. It was a double negative she welcomed, even as the straps fell away. Brick grunted while he lifted both saddlebags off of her, setting them down in front of the log away from the fire. âWhew, these things are filled. How did you even get them on you?â A heat blossomed on her cheeks. âUhhh⊠luck. And I had Tank help me.â âTank?â Rainbow Dash giggled raspily. âHeâs my pet tortoise.â He blinked. âUhhhâŠâ She raised a brow. What was that reaction? âWhat?â âHow did he help you with all this?â He scratched his head while he asked her that. âLike, how fast is he?â A smirk wormed its way on her face. âHeâs the fastest tortoise in all of Equestria. Heâs pretty strong too.â She looked at the bags again. Thankfully he didnât place them in the dirt. That wouldnât have been coolâwashing saddlebags was painful!âbut, thankfully, Brick was cool⊠ish. âThat shell of his could totally lift a house up!â âW-What?â Brickâs voice faltering made Rainbow Dash reconsider his coolness, her brows narrowing. âYou think Iâm lying?â He shook his head rapidly and waved his hands out. âNo, no! I was⊠trying to wrap my mind around that. Tortoises are really slow on land soâŠâ He chuckled. âIâm surprised.â She joined him in the chuckling fanfare. âPfft! If thatâs what theyâre like on your planet, then Iâll be the first to tell you thatâŠâ She smiled and then let out an airy sigh. âYouâre right. Theyâre slow.â That brow he raised earlier? Well it was even higher now. âDo you have him hooked up to a ceiling fan or something?â âNo, but close.â âClose?!â She wrinkled her muzzle up momentarily, flicking a wing over at him. âHe can fly using a helicopter rotor and some cool spell Twilight made up on the spot!â She grinned. âIâll have to bring him down sometime.â âGuess so,â he said, before returning to the cake box. He gently slid the cover over the top of it, making sure it was in place. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, eyed the bags. She walked over to them, attempting to unlatch the one with the tarp first. She could feel Brickâs presence behind her, probably watching her as she took the strap in her teeth and pulled, hoping it would unlatch. Unfortunately for her, it put up a fight, making her pause to regain her balance. She grunted as she yanked it further, until she heard a click. She let go of it, nudging it with her muzzle. It flipped open after guiding it along, falling away from the fire with a light clack (she definitely needed to be careful next time). She turned to Brick and smiled as he was trying to look like he wasnât just looking at her. She knew she was that awesome. âWanna help me out?â He nodded curtly, taking the other, less filled one in his hands. He sat on the log and opened it up with much more ease than she could. Those hands of his were delicate, opening the latch with precise, small movements. When the click sounded, he peered inside. Rainbow Dash knew what he was going to see. âWow,â Brick started, leaning into the bag as his arm sank into its confines. He grabbed something, holding it and hoisting theâthere it is. The sword, its handle firmly in his handâs grasp. âHow did youâŠ?â âFit it in there?â He blinked. âWell, now that you mention that, yeah. But I didnât expect you to bring a sword of all things.â âI couldnât find you a good enough knife. Although, there is a butter knife in case we need it for the cake.â Brick raised a brow and peered in there to see what she knew was there. That butter knife⊠âNo kidding, there is one in there!â he exclaimed, holding it in his hand. He set it aside, next to the cake box. She smirked. âHad to make sure I got at least something we could useââ âDid you bring any forks or plates?â Rainbow Dashâs eyes widened. âUhhh, I think theyâre in thereâŠâ Brickâs laughter made that heat stick around her cheeks, something that made her ears even burn up. âItâs not that funny!â She saw him do some kicks of his own, while he clutched his stomach. The sword, which she thought he was still holding onto, had been tossed aside past the log, much further away from them than she would have liked, but her fight or flight instinct wasnât too glaring. Not yet. She didnât want to think about that. She was just happy Brick hadnât stabbed himself by accident. She let him have his moment, turning her attention to the bag she unlatched. She set the tarp down as best as she could (it was a pretty big tarp, now that she was really looking at it), followed by a couple pillows. She was about to unlatch the second part of her bag, where she knew she put all the blankets in (with a much smaller tarp too), when she heard Brickâs laughter fall silent. Rainbow Dash looked over at him. The dolt had propped himself back on the log, but the smile and little faint chuckles told her that he was still laughing at her confusion. Ugh. âSorry, donât know what came over me there.â Rainbow Dash looked away from him. âI donât know either,â she muttered, her gaze now to the sky. âYouâre one goofy human.â Since he hadnât added any sticks or logs into the fire, the smoke from it started to falter. The black haze still lingered overhead, among the canopy of the trees surrounding them. She turned back to him and smiled. âYou see everything else inâŠâ her voice trailed off when she noticed him pulling out more of the âessentialsâ. On the log were a couple of those bags of chips she brought. They were probably expired but there wasnât a date on them, so⊠If those are bad, she did bring some cookies to munch on. And they also had that cake of his. Thankfully she brought a butter knife because cutting a cake with a sword would be so awkwardâwait, how did the sword not pop open the bagsâ âHey, Rainbow Dash?â She shook her head as if she was blindsided by a pony. Instead, it was Brick, looking at her with a brow raised. âHmm?â âOne of the bags broke.â He waved the yellow chip bag in front of them. âGot most of them in a bowl you somehow brought with you. Iâm surprised half of these fit in here!â She laughed and threw a hoof over toward him. âPfft! Magically enchanted bags usually keep those things tight. I brought two because, well, even though theyâre enchanted, doesnât mean the stuff in the bag isnât going to break.â She frowned. âAs you sawâŠâ He nodded. âYeahâŠâ He looked at her bags, pointing with one of his fingers at them. âIs that one magically enchanted too?â âNope!â She used a wing of hers to open the second latch this time around. It flew open with surprising ease, letting a blanket escape the confines of its chamber known as her bag. âI only got one of those, and this oneâs⊠uhâŠâ She couldnât think of the word. âCompact?â âNot exactlyâŠâ Rainbow Dash tapped a hoof to the tip of her muzzle. âMore like filled to the brim. Didnât want anything getting torn by the sword.â âYeah,â Brick replied lamely. She glanced back over at him. He pulled out the rope that she knew he needed, which he eyeballed and inspected, holding it high above his head. The rope dangled down, which really put into perspective how long it was. âGuess I found the rope.â âGood,â she said with a giggle. âWas hoping that the rope would survive.â He snorted. âGuess it did.â He also set the rope to the side, which his eyes widened upon seeing it emerge uncoiled from the bag. âItâs unbelievable how much fits in there.â âMagic,â Rainbow Dash said as a matter-of-fact. She pulled out her pillow set and threw it on the tarp. Just had to get the blankets out too. âI donât know how it all works though, so donât even ask. Thatâs the Eggheadâs job.â âEgghead?â âTwilight,â she corrected. She spied a jug getting pulled out of the bag. âYou can set that on the ground.â He smiled. âGotcha.â The two pulled the rest of the items out in relative silence, save for Brick staring at the hat she brought him. She thought he needed it to protect him from the sun. She also got a comment from him when she started rolling up the pillows and blankets in the tarps. He was confused but hey, he at least had some spirit. âYou donât have too much fur, Brick.â He rolled his eyes. âThatâs because I donât have fur. I have hair.â His fingers brushed through his maneâhair, before tugging at his shirt. âClothes keep the body heat in andââ âIâll have to ask Rarity for help with that...â she muttered. âRarity?â Rainbow Dash waved him off with a forehoof. âNot importantâjust know sheâs a friend of mine.â He hummed in response, and looked upâ âSay, is it normal for the sun to just⊠stay in one place?â She laughed. âYeah. Twilightâs not going to move it all the time.â The brown haired alien of the day tilted his head at her. âSorry?â She mirrored him. âWhat?â âShe moves it herself?â âYeah.â He pointed up at the sky. âThe sun?â âIs that not normal?â she asked, her voice cracking on the word normal. The return she didn't ask for! âThe sun doesnât get controlled by someone where Iâm from,â Brick said. He put a finger of his to represent what she thinks is the sun, and then in his other hand, represented the planet he was from, which he moved around the former. âThe planet orbits the sun, see?â She did. And she was confused. âWhat? What about your moon?â âI donât have a third hand to represent it. Just know it orbits the planet. You know, gravitational pull and what not?â Rainbow Dashâs muzzle scrunched up. âSo youâre telling me everything, including the sun and the moon, all move on their own?â âBasically. I mean, your moon doesnât move without intervention?â âTwilight has to get Luna to help with it sometimes. She can get easily overwhelmed if she isnât too careful, and sometimes she canât handle the sun and the moon when sheâs too in her head about things,â Rainbow Dash nonchalantly waved a hoof at him, which made Brickâs mouth nearly fall to the floor. She threw her forehooves in the air. âWhat? Your nerves donât affect how you perform?â âWell, thatâs notâŠâ He groaned. âThis is so hard to wrap my head around. I get it, nerves can affect oneâs performance, but lifting a sun and the moon? I mean, I should even be freaking out about how your saddlebags are âmagically enchantedâ and can store an entire garage in there. Back where Iâm from, if women had purses that could store the entire universe, we wouldnât need garages anymore. Store all your stuff in a vacuum!â Brick paused to crack his neck, and from what it sounded like, he really cracked it. He rubbed the side of it with his one hand. âAnyway, can we pause on the earth-shattering revelations here? We can take a break to eat some cake and then weââ BOOM. To their left, a tree exploded in two. One part stayed hooked on another tree, making it lean to the right just a tad. The other part, splintered everything in its vicinity. Thankfully, where they were sitting, a tree had sheltered them (and the cake) from the blast. There were some shards of the tree jutting out from one of the tarpballs she made. Rainbow Dash leaned further down to see the damage, unfurling them gently. None of the pillows or blankets were damaged, but she would definitely want to make sure this one wasnât used for the roof for Brickâs hideaway. She looked up at Brick. âUhhh, looks like we need to get started on making that shelter instead.â Brick sighed. âYouâre rightâŠâ He looked over at the cake and made sure it was in its box, secure and sheltered from Equestria. Satisfied, he smiled and picked up the sword from the ground. He gripped it tightly in his hands andâ âYou know, this sword makes me look like a badass.â âA bad⊠ass?â Rainbow Dash said, tasting the words and wondering if sheâd go bald in the process. âYeah!â He exclaimed, walking over towards the other trees. âI donât think Iâll be able to use it on these thick ones though, would really need an ax to make a dent into any of theseââ He twunked the short sword against the tree, only to be shocked when it actually cut into the bark (barely). âOkay maybeââ âNo,â Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head. âDonât need you slashing at trees, Brick. Letâs just scavenge for some more useable wood. You already did without anything I gave you, right?â He nodded⊠slowly. âMost of it was in this area though.â She held a forehoof up a bit, before pointing it ahead of her, as if she was pointing down at the ground. âLike here?â âYep. This place wasnât really clear when I got here. Lots of twigs and what not. Had to go a ways away though for the bigger ones.â He smiled as he patted the couple he had nearby. âLeast we got something to start with. Going to need a bunch more to make a baseâŠâ She gave him a grin. âThen letâs do it. With more than one of us, weâll surely get this done in no time!â Even though Rainbow Dash was happy that they had a plan in motion, on the inside, she was totally trying not to jump out of her fur right now. If the Everfree was like it normally was, another lightning strike like that wasnât out of the question. And usually a strike meant a rainstorm was about to brew. And with everything else it had to offer⊠the storm was only the beginningâ Her eyes widened as her heart jumped nearly out of her chest. What was she thinking? She shouldnât be worrying over all this! She was hyping herself up over nothing⊠right? And clearly Brick noticed, his face of concern glaring at her. He was also much closer to her than he was before. âRainbow Dash?â âSorry, I'm just worrying myself over nothing.â She flicked her tail at him. âCome on, letâs go.â She muttered her excuse, hoping he bought it, and it sounded like it worked, his footsteps crunching on some twigs he left behind. This made her trot further ahead, knowing that Brick was right behind her. Rainbow Dash gulped. She really hoped she was right, that she was worrying over nothing, because nothing felt worse than an oncoming storm. A storm that she couldnât predict, a storm she would struggle to stop. A storm that could make them vulnerable. A shiver darted up her spine as she trudged on, through the thicket of the Everfree. Author's Note Babe. New Discovery of Him. Tell your friends. I love my melodic deathcore.
đ»đđ€đđ đ§đđŁđȘRainbow Dash had woken up on the wrong side of her cloud bed. Again. It was weird. One moment, Rainbow Dash had been sleeping well, snoring all the while. And then, suddenly, she had rooooollllled to the other side of the bed. Then, everything had changed. Feathers? Bent. Back? Screaming. Neck? Snapped like a twig. Rainbow Dash was unsure how it had happened. All she knew was that her future self needed to get Cloudchaser to help her⊠again. Agh. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. She was flying. Like, right now. An early morning flight; her usual Wonderbolts Approvedâą warmup. It was awesome, just like her, but also not awesome, which was not like her. She could barely see right now, and it wasnât because of some fog. It was that brain fog, because she couldnât sleep because she woke on the wrong side of her cloud bed. Again. Ugh. Thatâs it! She had it. She was not going to think about the bed again. It stinked, just like her altitude! It was too low. Thatâs it. Higher, higher, higher. She flapped her wings⊠and she kept going up because she was pointed up. She smiled. Thatâs the early morning flight routine she remembered! It was almost... what was the word that Twilight told her? Ewwphoric? Ehh... close enough. Awesome worked better anyway, and it was way cooler of a word. She chuckled as she felt the cool air hit her face. This. Was. The. Life! Ponies were going to be jealous of her!âwell, except the other girls... and Spike. Theyâre all awesome like her. Also the Wonderbolts⊠and Derpy. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes for a moment. It was like everything made sense. Wait, what was she doing? Oh, right! Flying. Early morning flight routine. Was she gliding or still pumping her wings? Why was she asking that? She knew what she was doing! With one final pump of her wings, Rainbow Dash started her glide. She dipped down below the clouds, being mindful of her headâshe didnât want to hit the harder part of the cloud, puffing it would get vapor everywhere. She could see the ground, how it was covered with a canopy of trees. There was also this huuuuge mountain that had grown over the edge of the horizon. She could also see this winding path that darted in-between the trees. It went further into the Everfree, even darting where this smoke plume was. It was really, really big, and it wasâwait. WAIT. Rainbow Dashâs eyes widened. âSm-oke?â she said, her voice cracking a bit. This was not normal. Not normal one bit. Sometimes it was normal, because Zecoraâs hut would smoke, but it wouldnât go this high up where she was, and she was pretty sure that Zecoraâs hut was not out this far, but she could be misremembering. She had a tendency to do that when she was this tired. If Zecoraâs hut was out this far, it still didnât seem like it was coming from her hut. This smoke was thick, dark, and spreading wide, mostly due to the gust up at this height. And the times that Zecoraâs hut did smoke, it was mostly due to the cauldron being really, really hot. Like burning hot. Scalding. A âuse of chemicals that you would not seekâ she would sayâRainbow Dash couldnât rhyme so it definitely was loosely said. So why was there smoke this far into the Everfree? And why was it this pronounced? Rainbow Dash was confused. So, she decided to stop being confused and flew straight into the direction of the smoke. It took her a few moments, mostly because she wasnât expecting to have to veer off course of her usual route. Her route was simple: home, the Everfree, Twilightâs Castle, Canterlot (if she was feeling it, but she skipped this most days because she really had no reason to fly all the way over there [except for practice with her fellow Wonderbolts, although thatâs an exception to the rule!]), Mayor Mareâs Office (taxes are so uncool, oh and by the way, she lived there too) and home, of course. Sometimes, she veered off that route to see Fluttershy if she was up, and sometimes she went to annoy Rarity on the way back home. Sometimes she also went to see AJ, but that was⊠how long ago? What day was it again? Wow, was it really this early? Oh, right, the smoke. Now that she has veered off course, she was going to need to fly more. Whatever. Better to⊠to sate her curiosity for now t-then to continue flying and w-worrying about her cloudsâAUGH. She growled at her stupid mind as she descended closer to the trees below. They were green and they were puffy. They were large too, and she was not happy that she had to find a spot to land with this many trees around. Timberwolves liked trees. Her wings didnât; getting leaves out of her feathers was not a pleasant experience. The only trees Rainbow Dash liked were the trees at AJâs farm. Those were cool. Great to sleep in. Good view. Nice wind. Awesome. These ones were wild and were just⊠smoking. Crazy. Not cool. Forest fires. Rainbow Dash continued flying. She descended lower, and spotted a nice clearing that she could land in. Perfect. Sheâll have to walk a bit to see where the smoke was poking out from, but it was better than landing right next to it where there were only trees. Branches, twigs, ack. Nope. Nope! Not one bit. Feathers being bent would be awful. Flying would be out of the question after that. Shivers. Her body shivered all over the place. She guided herself close to the ground. She did her little tappies, her little hops as she landed, before she stretched those wings and cracked her neck. She furled those speedy pups back to her sides and grinned. Another successful landing. âAwww yeah!â Puffing her chest out, Rainbow Dash walked into the forest. The light that guided her was made hidden by the canopy. The path in front of her was filled with roots, twigs, and dirt. The dirt printed her hooves as she took each step into the forest. What was she going to see? Whoever this pony was, theyâd better have a good reason to camp out here! It was wayyyyyy too early to be setting a campfire this big out here. Like, now that she had gotten closer to the smoke, this was definitely way past Zecoraâs hut. Like, how were theyâ She paused. The bush rustled, before growling at⊠something. Was that a timberwolf? Rainbow Dash stopped. She assumed the position. THE POSITION. That one, her wings unfurled, her legs bracing for impact, and her eyes scouring the brush. Rustling there. Rustling here. A bit of hoofsteps pattering against dirtâshe heard it all. Her brows furrowed. She continued to walk forward⊠sllllooooowwwly, while she kept her eyes peeled, just like her metaphorical bananas. And apples. Canât forget those, otherwise Pinkie would have her maimed (don't disrespect Applejack like that!)! She walked for a bit longer. She didnât know how long since she lost the stopwatch Spitfire gave her from the Wonderbolt Barracksâstupid watch malfunctioned! It wasnât her fault they werenât built to sustain a barrel roll into a wingtip corkscrewâRainbow Dash shook her head and knocked herself back into commission. She blinked away her tired mind and looked ahead. She squinted, trying to get a better view of the forest, but the windiness of the path, the lack of lighting, and the animals that were messing with the bushes were making this harder than she wanted it to be. Not to mention that she was still feeling the brain fog and it was making her see double the brush sometimes, but she sighed and pressed on. Sheâll stumble upon the pony soon, right? Then she could tell them off and get back to flying andâ Rainbow Dash froze again. Right in place. The smoke was close. She could smell the burning sensation. It burned her nostrils just smelling that smell. That smelly smell. Thankfully it didnât smell like a dead body, so at least thatâs some good news, but⊠it was intense. Could it beâŠ? She pressed on, keeping her gaze on the black smoke that filled the forest. It didnât take her long to find the scene of the crime: a large fire set in a circular ring. Rocks surrounded it, and wood stood in the center. It was burning, quite profusely. Yet⊠no ponies. Not one. Just a giant fire burning uncontrollably in a forest, yet controlled at the same time in the same forest, if the getup was anything to talk about. Yeah, there was no way somepony wasnât behind this. It was too well made, which definitely ruled out any animal in the area. Where was this pony? Were they hiding? Did they hear her before she stumbled upon it? That couldnât be. She was being quiet! She was channeling her inner Mare Do Well there, which was all her friends combined so she couldnât have messed it upâ CR-ACK! A loud branch snapped in two. It wasnât her. It was loud and it was nearby. Rainbow Dash, without any further consideration, dove head first into a nearby bush. The brush pinched her wings, her skin, her everything, and she was wincing as she tried to get further into it. It didnât matter if it hurt now, sheâd rather become a shish kebab skewered just right in a bush she called a temporary shelter than be found from whatever just snapped that branch in two! She yelped as a thorn poked her side as she thought all that. Stupid bush. All because she was trying to get her neck out a bit further, so she could get a better view! Also her tail felt cold. She hoped, no, begged Celestia that it wasnât sticking outâCelestia please make these things a bit easier to hide!âshe groaned. âWhat was that?â A voice that was not Rainbow Dashâs said. She could hear the thing move forward. She couldnât see it very well, mostly because a piece of the bush she was in was blocking her line of sight, but she could see something moving. It was wearing⊠something, and it was more lengthy than widthy. Egh. Was it deformed? Was it a Bighoof? Also why was it wearing clothes? Was this some weird Grand Galloping Gala noble trying to channel their outdoor survival skills while standing only on their hindlegs? What the⊠Rainbow Dash squirmed in her bush. She tried blowing the pesky branch out of her vision but that didnât work, so she mustered a bit of strength to move her foreleg to push it out of the way. There. Thatâs it. MOOOOVE. Snap. Snap. Gah! There. She could now seeeeeeeeeâ She couldnât believe her eyes: âMaybe it was a rabbit or somethingâŠâ IT muttered in Equestrian. IT was tall. IT was not a deformed ghost. IT was actually really happy to be burning all that wood IT found. IT was really tall. IT was white, pasty, and looking like a cream filled donut that Pinkie made back at the Sugarcube Cornerâwell, not exactly, IT was tall. IT had weird hoovesâwait, those were hands, and they looked like Discordâsâwow IT looked really strangeâRainbow Dash could imagine Discord being friends with ITâwait, why was she thinking that; oh wow IT was moving again with only two legs, the others were armsâRainbow Dash was not into anatomy, especially of creatures she didnât know. âYou know, I really donât understand why this part of the forest looks so different! I mean, this is only a few clicks from the campground but⊠for some reason, the forest looks off. Did I take my meds this morning or did that little twerp in 3C get into my bag again?â 3C? Twerp? Campground? What? Rainbow Dash quietly observed from her temporary shelter. IT was moving again, throwing another log onto the fire IT created. âI really need to stop talking to myself. Iâm the only guy in the group who does this! And Iâm all alone, out here making this spooky bonfire that Admin Daenery wanted me to make so the kids have something to do other than twiddle their thumbs and throw giant piles of shit at each other! That took so long to clean the latrines out last timeâeugh. My hands were smelling like the Charlotte Bobcats' entire history for weeks!â She was stunned. Her eyes were intently staring at the thingâs arms. IT was casually tossing logs into this bonfireâthatâs what IT called it right? She sighed. Well, IT sounded like a deep voiced type of guy, and IT sounded frustrated⊠Maybe she could help? Rainbow Dash evicted that thought out with only her dignity and one thousand bits to her name. Was she dumb? Stupid, even? Thereâs no way that IT was friendly! Not a châ âWish I had some help right now to get this all done. Maybe I can call Eric over my walkie-talkie to get some more help with this⊠Egh, maybe not. That dude NEVER moves out of the camp guide quarters! Swear, heâs only there to be on the staff sheet and screw that camp assistant from U of A. What a bum!â âWhoâs Ericââ Oh no. Oh no-no-no-no! NO. She spoke. Her brain spoke for her. Stupid brain fog. Sheâs going to die now. Sheâs going to DIE. And now IT was looking somewhere in her direction. IT nearly dropped the log on ITS leg. âWhoa! Is there someone out here? I swear if this is Eric and heâs about to rat me out to his father, I hope he does. The scumbag.â IT kept talking as IT approached the bushes. The ones that included hers. âMan, that guy is the worst. And his father is too. I wouldnât be surprised if they were taking camp funds all this time. Those children deserve a better experience than what theyâre getting! If I was part of the committee, Iâd toss those guys out and get some nice well-to-do people who understand this whole thing. The digs would actually be promising. People would rate us five stars on Yelp! It would be great andâŠâ IT was right over her bush. She could feel ITS presence. She was scared out of her mind. She closed her eyes, imagining herself back home, with her uncomfortable cloud bed, with her Wonderbolts memorabilia, with her⊠pictures of her friends. She was going to die here, wasnât she? Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. â...I hope Eric trips on a lego and gets stabbed by aââ âGET OUT OF MY WAY!â âHOLY SHIT!â She had screamed on the top of her lungs, and was now out of her bush. She could imagine her mane looked like it was full of thorns and probably a nest created by a bird, but she wasnât going to worry. Her flight back could take care of it, if only IT lets her live. Her heart was beating right out of her chest right now, and her wings were unfurled. She bent a bit low, growling at the thing. Meanwhile, IT was on the ground, looking up at her with ITS mouth wide open. Rainbow Dash could see ITS teeth, some were flat but some were sharp. Really sharp. Like a griffon. IT ate meat. âYouây-you talked?â IT stutteredâwait, stuttered? Rainbow Dash tilted her head. âOf course, I do! And⊠and you were about to eat me!â âUh⊠what?!â She growled and made herself look bigger (she thought so at least). âYou knew I was there the entire time, right?â âN-NoâŠ? What are you on about? I was just trying to make a bonfire and⊠wait. Was that you earlier? The one who was If you can talk, and youâre a horseââ âPony, buster. If youâre going to eat me, at leastââ âIâm not going to eat you! Horâerr, ponies are not something Iâd eat. Especially ones that talk.â It scratched the back of its head before shaking their head. âThis is crazy. Maybe I did take my meds, or maybe I took the wrong meds. My motherâs meds. How did I get her meds? Thereâs no wayââ âDude⊠relax. Iââ âRelax? How can I relax when I just got almost run over by a talking pony emerging from a bush?â âAnd how could I relax knowing that you are a deformed ghost that wanted to burn down the Everfree Forest for the sake of divine retributionââ âOkay, I do have a big nose and I do have two pinkie fingers on my right hand, but that does not mean Iâm deformed. I just got scammed by the gene pool!â it said, pointing its two small⊠fingers on its right hand directly at her. âAlso, burn down the Everfree? I thought this was a forest by my campground! Where in the blooming fuck am I?â âEquestria.â âEquâwhat? Iâve never heard of that.â âWhere are you from⊠uhhâŠâ It snorted and let out a little chuckle. âUm⊠sorry. Nameâs Brick. Brick Lancaster. Got it from my father who thought the name was funny. Not sure how he thought that was funny. His sense of humor was more submerged in a riverbed than most.â That sounded like a guyâs name. ItâŠerrâhe gave me his⊠hand. She slowly walked up to him and gave him her hoof. âR-Rainbow Dash. D-Donât wear it out.â âGotcha⊠R-Rainbow Dash.â She stared at Brick. Her heart was still beating fast. Now that she could see him moreâwow was she wide awake now!âh-he had this hair on his head. It was brown, and his arms were huge. More muscular than her legs! He was tall too, taller than most ponies. Maybe as tall as Celestia. Or Luna. Either or. His eyes were blue just like his leggingsâwhatever those wereâand his shirt was green. Oh, and it had this weird badge thing on it, and it had a large, bold, gold letter on it too. She didnât know what it was, but it was something. She⊠didnât know what else to say. Her mind was too fixated on discovering something that she never saw before to really make any thoughts connect. Just jumbled ones. Or ones that are short. Like her compared to him. It was⊠âSo... if you're not from Equestria, Brick, then where are you from?â Brick paused, before taking in a deep breath. "I'm from a little town out in South Dakota.â âSouth Dah-coat-ahhh?â âClose enough.â ... âWhereâs that at?â âOn a place called Earth.â âEarth?â "Yeah. Isn't that where we're at?" ... Rainbow Dashâs eyes widened as did Brickâs. âDid I discover an alien?!â Author's Note We are so back.
đđŠđ„đ€đđđŁđ„đ€Rainbow Dash didnât know what to think. ⊠An alien. An actual alien. Right in front of her. In the flesh. She blinked. Itâer, his name was Brick. She wasnât going to call him by his full name because one, it was a mouthful in her eyes, and two, he probably wouldnât like it if she did that, right? She shook her head and took a step back to really get a good look at him. The pasty white alien had his hand cupping his jaw, while he tilted his head just enough to cr-ack his neck. Then, he turned his attention to the fire and sat down on a rather large log near it. He took a shaky breath and threw a nearby stick into it. It incinerated almost immediately. She sighed. Brick looked just as stressed as she was! Why was she standing here doing nothing but staring at him? Not only did she need to make sure he wasnât going to make the fire bigger, but also, if she left him alone, she didnât know what he was going to do! Even though he made it clear he didnât want to burn the forest down, he could just be saying that to play on her good side! Nopony was going to manipulate her. Not even a non-pony like him. Cautiously, Rainbow Dash tiptoed her way up to him. Each step felt coarse under her hooves but each step meant one step closer to ensuring a not-burnt-up Everfree Forest. The fiery aftermath clouded her vision, which made her tightly shut her eyes for a brief moment. She needed to get rid of this brain fog and fast. So what was she tiptoeing for? Mentally groaning, Rainbow Dash stopped and actually walked like normal, if her normal was still somewhat forced, her leg cramping as she took another step. With a tremendous amount of effort and her lip sucking in the pain, Rainbow Dash clip-clopped her way over to him, going behind him instead of in frontâgetting thwacked by a large stick was not a fun way to introduce a possible friendshipâand hopped over the log. âBrick?â He looked over at her and blinked. âYeah, Rainbow Dash?â âIs it cool if I sit here?â Her wings itched as she asked that question. Celestia, her flight or fight instinct was firing all at once and she was not having it right now. And neither was Brick as his nostrils flared and his brows furrowed andâ âSure. Itâs a free countrââ He stopped himself and snorted. âSorry, itâs a saying where Iâm from. Yeah, you can.â She was about to sit when she decided it would be best to lay down instead, so she carefully flopped onto the log and set her head on her forehooves. She then looked up at him and smiled (at least she hoped, her upper lip was about to fall off with how much it was twitching). âThanks.â He looked away from her. âY-Youâre welcome.â The two stayed silent for a bit, just watching as the fire raged on. Then, Rainbow Dash mustered up enough awesome to change that. âSo, what did you do back home?â She could feel his gaze on her. âWorking for the summer camp that you probably heard me ranting about.â âI heard some of it. Eric was really mean to you, huh?â Brick snorted. âHeâs like that with most people. His âMy fatherâs richer than yours!â attitude is about as insufferable as it gets.â He grabbed another stick from his pile beside him and rolled it in his hand. âAnd now that Iâm not there, Iâm hoping he doesnât screw up anything else for the camp.â âSounds like some pony I know.â âGuess trans-dimensional douchebaggery is consistent no matter where you are.â âThose were words?â Rainbow Dash asked, feeling her ears go numb all of a sudden. He laughed at her misery. âYeah. Just made them now. Look at me. I got teleported to another world and Iâm here teaching a pony, language.â He shook his head. âIf only my college professor who gave me a C in English 101 could see me now.â âHey, just because I didnât know what that meant doesnât mean Iâm dumb or something!â âYeah, I figured. Were you a linguistic wiz in your language class too?â She cleared her throat. She totally aced her Equestrian class! She didnât want to make Brick feel badâyeah, thatâs it. âOf course! Iâm the best at speaking Equestrian!â She could hear Applejack calling her a weaselly little liar in her head. âBe honest to him! He deserves that much.â And then Pinkie would jump in just to tell her sheâs not getting cupcakes for the next couple days (sheâs using them as weapons currently in their prank war anyway [a war named Sweet And Sour II: Party Harder for some reason], so Rainbow Dash would let that slide). Also Fluttershy would glare at her and say, âItâs not nice to lie to somepony!â While Rarity would just flip her mane at her and sheâdâ She was getting off topic now and Brick was looking at her like she grew a second head! Sheâll leave that friendship lesson for later. âRightâŠâ He threw another stick into the fire. âAnything else you want to talk about?â She nodded. âSo what are you?â âA human.â âA human?â âYep. Ever heard of them?â âNoâŠâ Her eyes widened. âAnd you said you were from a place called Earth?â âYep.â âYou really are an alien.â âGuess so,â Brick chuckled and continued, âNever thought Iâd be an actual alien to someone.â âReally?â He nodded. âWeâre the only species that can talk back where Iâm from. I think itâs a load of crap though. Dogs, cats, and even dolphins totally have their own secret languages, we just canât interpret them.â She laughed. âWe have pets here too, and they donât talk either.â She craned her head up to look at him. âSounds like Equestriaâs a bit like Earth, donât youâŠâ She paused as she watched him lift his hand up toward her head. His fingers stretched out almost as if he was going to reach for her, but then he stopped, his hand almost frozen in place. Without a second more to comprehend it, Brick pulled his arm back. His hand propped him back up, making him grunt. âSorry.â What was he going to do there? His hand was hovering over her head and then he took it away. âItâs okay.â She gulped and shakily moved her forehoof towards his hand. She could see how it flexed while his other one moved through his shaggy mane. âCrazy how Iâm having a casual conversation with a pony.â âItâs crazy that youâre not Bighoof, Brick.â He laughed. âBighoof? You thought I was a yeti?â She threw her forehooves into the air. âCan you really blame me? How else was I supposed to explain what I was seeing?â âLengthy pasty white thing frolics with fervor through the forest?â She glared at him. âNo. You werenât frolicking.â He facehoovedâpalmedâwhatever it was called and sighed. âYouâre right. Frolic is a terrible word for walking.â She chuckled. âTwilight would agree with you there.â âTwilight, you mean the movie?â Rainbow Dash tilted her head. âNoâŠ? I didnât know she got her own movie. She didnât tell me!â Brick raised a brow. âOkay, so who is this then? One of your friends?â She slowly nodded, but realized what she had just told Brick and waved her hooves out in front of her. âYou canât see her though!â âI canât⊠see her?â âY-Yeah!â ⊠âWhy?â She couldnât help but play with her forehooves. What was he going to tell him? Sorry, because youâre an alien Iâm afraid my friends would be allergic to you! Hmm⊠no, that wouldnât work. Maybe tell him that too many ponies could give him radiation? Nah⊠that wouldnât work either! She rubbed her chin before channeling The Egghead energy and grinning. This was going to be the best way to explain her hesitation away! And then heâll not ask that question again andâ âBecause you need a special pass!â âA pass?â âY-Yeah⊠A pony pass!â Brick was blinking like a strobe light at one of Vinyl and Octaviaâs raves. She just made him think he needed a pass to even talk to them. How did she come up with that? That wasnât what she was thinking of! All she had to say was âThey were on vacation and wonât be back until next week!â What was she going to say now? Rainbow Dash waited as Brickâs expression stayed frozen, unmoving. He was staring at her now, almost like he was trying to process what she said and instead, he wasnât. Her heart stirred and her feathers burned an itch more annoying than the pony she was referencing. âRainbow Dash, I have never in my life heard of someone needing a pass just to talk to someone else.â She nearly facehooved, but she decided to give herself a headache instead, and mentally facehoof instead. She grimaced, holding her head for a second, before looking at him. âAlright, you got me. Iâm just⊠worried about what theyâd say.â âWhy? Are they rude?â âNoâŠâ He hummed to himself. âAre they⊠too busy?â âI mean⊠it depends on the dayââ âAre they allergic to me?â âNo! Iâd be sneezing around you right now if that were true!â He nodded. âTrue, trueâŠâ A hum, again. What was he doing? Revving himself up or something? Suddenly, he frowned and sighed. âAre they opposed to other species?â Not only was that not true, but also opposed? Really? If somepony said that to her about⊠letâs say, Gilda, sheâd make sure theyâd hear her and then some! But here, it was an alien trying to understand Rainbow Dash and her friends. And eventually everypony else. All creatures. Her mind couldnât wrap itself around the whole thing. Gah! She just needed to make sure she wasnât leading him in the wrong direction again. Public speaking wasnât the coolest thing about her and thankfully the Wonderbolts didnât require her to do a whole lot of it. Unless it was media day. She hated that day. Sheâll just let her flying do the talking for her. Unfortunately, she canât let her flying talk her way out of this one. She needed to make her point clear. SSlloowwwly, she started talking, âNo⊠theyâre not going to be opposed to you. Theyâre just⊠sensitive. J-Just like everypony else!â She suddenly bit her tongue and scrunched her muzzle. âActually, scratch that. Only some ponies are like that. I mean, I almost came out of that bush and rammed you butââ âYeah⊠you almost did.â She snorted. âIâm just saying! My friends are justâŠâ She groaned. âI canât think of a really good way of saying this, Brick. Iâm sorry.â He slightly smiled. âI get it. Youâre just worried that theyâll do something that theyâd regret.â âKind of⊠I know them really well, but this is a whole different thing. Like, a whooollle different thing entirely! I donât want them to be too worried, yâknow?â âI guess. I mean, I donât know how Iâd be if you were put on Earth. The FBI probably would investigate or something.â âFBI?â Brick took a moment to think it over, at least, he was looking elsewhere, so she didnât get a great view of him, but it looked like he did that, if his brow twitching meant anything. âPolice but with way more funding⊠and a rather elastic history.â She blinked. âOoookaaaayyyâŠâ She frowned. âI donât think thatâll happen here, but I donât want to get you in any trouble. After all, itâs not normal to be making friends with an alienâ âA human, in this case.â ââwhatever! Being friends with a whole new species is just not normal soâŠâ She twiddled with her hooves again. Wow, the side of her hoof felt a bit sharp. Gotta be careful with this oneâwait, why was he humming to himself now? And why was he tossing another stick into the fire? CL-UNK! Her ears flicked up high after that toss. That was a loud one! âSorry, I had to get that big one out of the pile I collected. It was taking up room.â She rolled her eyes. âDonât be. Look, I think itâs best if we get you set up out here. Then, if you really want to meet my friends, I can get them to meet you one by one! Donât want to scare ponies off, yâknow?â He sighed. âAlright. Plus, it might help me with my mental health at the moment.â âGreatâwait, what do you mean by that?â Brick looked at her like she just said something so incredibly insane it was not even funny. What? Was asking a question a bad thing now? He didnât look angry at her, thatâs at least something going for her. He cleared his throat. âI⊠itâs nothing.â âItâs not nothing if youâre just casually mentioning it!â She flicked her wings out (although her one closest to the fire remained a bit more furled than unfurled. Charred feathers were not something she wanted right now!) before she continued, âI know I get in my moods some days butââ âItâs not a mood thing. Itâs justâŠâ He trailed off, his voice shaking like a leaf on a tree. She could see him visibly shiver. âIâm alone. Iâm just here. Like I said, casually talking to a pony isnât something youâd do unless you owned a stable and they were your pet or something.â That image alone made her wince. âI⊠I see what you mean butââ âAnd on top of that, Iâm stuck here for the foreseeable future.â He leaned down to pick up a couple sticks and toss them in the fire too. âI donât get it. Why me?â âNopony knows, Brick.â She brought one of her wings and gently laid them on his shoulder. He looked at her rather suddenly, which made her think she did something wrong, but then he looked back into the fire. âBut youâre wrong about being alone. Iâm here, right?â He sighed. âYouâre right. Itâs just⊠Iâm here, youâre here, and this is actually happening.â âYepâŠâ She pulled him closer with her wing and stayed there. She stayed there while his face did not change. And then he frowned again, just as she was thinking he was fine, and said the words that she dreaded to hear: âI hope Iâm not stuck here.â Suddenly, all that warmth disappeared. The fire was still burning, but none of it gave her warmth. She shivered as she held the distraught human. Maybe this was more than she could take on. Maybe this was just something that she needed her friends help with. Maybe she was not the pony to help him. Maybe she was notâ Gritting her teeth, she let out a growl that made Brick nearly jump out of her wingâs grasp. âWhoa, Rainbow Dash, did I say something wrong orââ âYeah, you did. You wonât be stuck here! And even if you are and we donât know it yet, Iâm not abandoning you.â âAbandoning? I didnât say anyââ âYou were thinking about it! I saw how your nose crooked up andâsee, youâre doing it now!â Brick uncrooked his nose and put his hands on his head. She let him have his moment, as he growled out whatever anxiousness was there. She would probably do the same thing if she was in his hoovesâer⊠feet. Right. Not a pony. âAm I really that easy to read?â Brick said as he peeled his hands off his head. âI donât know, it just looked like it was a tell.â She shook her head. âLook. No more brooding. We need to get your mind off this whole alien thing.â He tilted his head. âAnd how do you suppose we do that?â She scrunched her muzzle up for a brief moment, before relaxing and clopping her forehooves together. âWe got work to do.â âWork? On what?â âSetting up camp, duh! If youâre going to be living out here, you need a place to sleep! You were working for one, right?â âYeah, but setting up a camp is different than working at one, Rainbow Dash.â âOkay⊠so you know how to make one, right?â He nodded. âYeah butââ âThen letâs make one. You and me!â âBut we donât have the necessary equipment to make one!â Brick shot back, waving his arm around the site. It was true, they had nothing but a large fire pit, but everypony starts out with nothing too at one point in their life, right? âI left majority of my gear in South Dakota andââ She rolled her eyes. âCome oonnnn, dude! Thereâs a way to easily solve that problem! Iâll just get you some. What do ya need?â Brick began to rev up again, and it made sense to her this time! He tapped his chin with his hand. âSome rope⊠a knife⊠maybe some food to tide us over and some stuff we can use to sleep with?â âLike a blanket and a pillow or something?â He snapped his fingers and gave her a smile. âYeah, thatâll work!â She grinned and retracted her wing from his back. âEasy! Iâll get all that and some more stuff I just thought of faster than you can say XavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffX!â âWas that even a word?â Rainbow Dash wiped away her muzzle with a hoof. âSorry, I sneezed. What I meant to say was that I would get it faster than you could even use up the rest of the wood you got for the fire!â Brick laughed for a bit before calming himself down. âAlright, well Iâm glad it wasnât you choking on something. And, by the way, what did you mean by âmore stuff?ââ âItâll be a surprise, Brick! I canât tell you. Think of the other stuff as a welcome to Equestria gift!â âYouâre something else, you know that?â She just giggled in her hoof. âAwesome is the word youâre looking for.â âAlright there, awesome,â Brick said with a chuckle. He folded his arms together. âHow are you going to get everything here and back?â âFlying, duhhh.â She punctuated this by flexing her speedy pups on her back. They were itching to get some more flying in! âWhat do you think these puppies are used for?â He blinked. âI mean I havenât seen you really fly soâŠâ âWell, watch this!â Turning around from him and hopping off the log, Rainbow Dash landed on all fours. She craned her neck just to make sure he was watching (which he was) and smiled. âAre you ready?â She could feel her tail wag as he gave her a thumbs up. âReady as I can be!â With a little wiggle of her back, she popped off the ground and zipped through the nearby canopy of the trees. She did a little loop around the clearing where the smoke was emerging from, before zipping back down to land just a bit beside him. âSee! I can fly andâoof!â Brick picked her up and hugged her close. âThat was awesome, Rainbow Dash! Wow, I didnât know you could actually fly, let alone like that!â Hot. She felt hot. Really hot. In her cheeks. Was she blushing or did Princess Celestia just do a solar flare? No, no-no, not even Twilight could do that, and she knew a princess wouldnât just mess with the sun like that! She shook her head to get rid of the thought that just burned her. âAhhh yeah, I do that all the time. Professionally too!â âReally?â âY-Yep!â Stupid stutter. The burning sensation in her cheeks was so annoying! It wasnât going away! Ugh. âAnyway, Iâll come back in a few. You just need to stay here and keep that fire going!â âGotcha,â he said, before letting her go, setting her down on the ground again. She cracked her neck and stretched her legs. Phew! Brick could hug with a vice grip! âYou definitely did.â âToo strong?â âMy leg almost cramped up there.â âMy bad,â he muttered and snorted. âWell, you better be off. Weâre burning daylight, right?â She nodded. âYeah, probably. Iâll see you in a bit, okay?â âYep!â âDonât go wandering off. Donât need to find you getting in a fight with a bear or something!â He waved her off with his hand. âDonât worry, I donât plan on wrestling a bear. Not even once.â Thatâs not what she meant! She let out a brief blow. âAlright, see you!â âYep!â ⊠The two couldnât stop looking at each other. It was weird. It was awkward. It was definitely not his fault, it was totally hers. She snorted and turned around. It didnât take long to pop off the ground and flap her wings when she wasnât looking at him. Egh. This was going to be a whole thing, wasnât it? Author's Note Had to rewrite this one because it just wasn't flowing right the first time. Gotta love struggling with a narrator voice. Going to keep up the update grind with this one. Cheers for all the support! Written to yet another Thrown track on repeat for two hours. I think this is third one on three different fics. Are you really shocked though?
đđ„đ đđđĄđđđRainbow Dash was now gliding in the air. Why? Well, she was tired of pushing herself so hard (if she ever said that out loud, Equestria would freeze over), so she needed a bit of time to just gllliiiiddeee and stretch her wings. But noooo, she needed to open her muzzle and make a rather awesome but silly bet with the first and only human sheâll ever meet. Gah! She frowned as her feathers were graced by the jetstream. She snorted through the sensation as the wind tickled her feathers. She dipped a bit further down, letting the air carry her back to Ponyvilleâor at least, she wanted that to be the case, but her wings flapped anyway. Gotta make sure she won that stupid bet and now she was remembering him again! Egh. Clop. It was unceremonious. She had stuck a rather simple landing in the midst of a few voices addressing her existence, but Rainbow Dash didnât care. She was too focused on her mission. An impossible one. One that set herself right in front of her first destination, the one that would compromise her if she wasnât too careful. A gasp. âDashie!â âHey, Pinkie.â Donât give off any sudden movements. Sheâll know. Sheâll know! âHow was work today?â She frowned. âNot many ponies came in. Carrot Top stopped by for her usual super-de-duper carrot cake, and Derpy and Dinky had one of the shakes I make for them every weekâoh! Twilight also stopped by with some of her guards and everypony left with something in their hooves.â Rainbow Dash felt a gentle breeze drift into her widened eyes. âTwilight has guards?â âDuhhh, sheâs a princess, Dashie! Why wouldnât she have guards?!â A giggle pierced Rainbow Dashâs eardrums. She was nearly drenched as she sweated in place, her eyes tracking Pinkie Pie while her friend paced behind the counter. âTwilight told me about how she detected some magical anomaly somewhere near Ponyville. From what she said, her magic radar do-hickey did this exaggerated BOOM and WHOOSH thing, and it was amazingââ She interrupted herself by nearly exploding into confetti. She hopped down from her sudden wormhole and continued, âAnyway, Twilight said she was going to send out some ponies to investigate, but decided instead to deploy a guard detail on herselfwhile she drafted a really well-thought-out plan for us to investigate instead!â Pinkie Pie giggle-snorted herself into a tizzy, her mane bouncing all the while. âDonât worry, Dashie! Itâs probably just another magic misfire. Either that or Discord ate some burritos and had a nasty case of gas!â Rainbow Dashâs eyes widened. âP-Pinkie!â âWhat?â Rainbow Dashâs stomach felt like it was doing three-sixties after hearing that, but she couldnât tell her dear friend that. It was like a cross between wanting to dry heave, and wanting to make sure she wasnât laughing. Discord having gas? Disgusting and funnyâbut the three sixties were mostly because, maybe, just maybe⊠Twilight did find Brick through whatever magic he gave off, what could Rainbow Dash do? Rainbow Dash didnât want Twilight even remotely close to him! And trying to get her friend to not dissect Brick was going to be a challenge⊠not that she couldnât do it, right? Rainbow Dash coughed as she tried to hold her breath, covering her muzzle with a hoof. She wiped her muzzle clean and smiled at Pinkie Pie, totally not hoping sheâd be smited where she stood. âDashie, keeping yourself from laughing might be the most unhealthiest thing Iâve ever seen!â She blinked out of existence for a second before blinking back right in front of Rainbow Dash, her face mostly covered by a book titled, How Stopping Natural Bodily Functions Can Make Somepony Very, Very Sick!! and crudely scribbled on it was Pinkie Pieâs full name, which made Rainbow Dash baffled that she self-published a book. Does Twilight even know about this? And why was the cover smeared in cake frosting? Wait, Pinkie Pie was talking! Featherbrain! Focus. â...and thatâs why itâs not-so-great to keep yourself from laughing!â Pinkie Pie finished, slamming the book shut. She flung it behind her, the book barrelling toward a random vase that shattered into several messy pieces. Rainbow Dash winced, while Pinkie Pie gasped rather loudly. âOh, shoot! I hope that wasnât the priceless vase I got from the Priceless Vases Conventionâą I was given a priceless invitation to!â She turned around and breathed heavily through her muzzle. âNo way! It was the vase I was thinking about. Thatâs not good!â She reared on her hindlegs and shoved her hooves towards Rainbow Dash. âSorry, Dashie! I gotta clean up before somepony walks in and sees the mess I made. Not a good impression if itâs somepony new!â She scrunched up her muzzle and began walking back behind the counter. âOh⊠I hope Mrs. Cake doesnât see thisââ âPinkie.â âYes?â Get her off the vase train. Fast. âThink once youâre done cleaning up, you can make me a cake?â âA cake?â Rainbow Dash nodded, humming as well. âWhat type of cake, Dashie?â That question made Rainbow Dash pause. What type of cake did she want to give to him? Heck, she didnât even know if he was able to eat cake! Stupid, stupid, stupid. She shouldâve asked, although that wouldâve ruined the surprise⊠Her muzzle scrunched up. âCould you make a white cake with vanilla frosting?â She looked up at Pinkie and saw that she was way too âstuck in placeâ for Rainbow Dashâs liking. She was about to unfurl a wing to possibly tap Pinkieâs muzzle with it, but opted not to as she noticed a muzzle twinge that was not-so-subtly making the mare shake. âUhh⊠Pinkie?â As if the magic words triggered something, Pinkie Pie hopped almost through the ceiling, but bounced right back down to the floor with a grin plastered on her face. It nearly made Rainbow Dash jump out of her skin when Pinkie landed, but she kept herself tall, if puffing her chest out while her hooves felt like they were going to fall out from underneath her was âtallâ enough. âI can totally do that for ya! Whatâs the occasion? Is it for another friend I know? OOooh is it for a friend I donât know yet? Or is it for that special somepony that I also donât know about yet! Orâeh, OR is it for somepony at the School of Friendship who just has a sweet tooth andâmmph?!â Rainbow Dash stuffed a hoof in Pinkieâs mouth and sighed. âPinkie, I canât tell you. Itâs⊠kinda a surprise.â âMmmph Mmff?â âYes.â âMmm?â âNo. Theyâre not into that.â âHmmâŠ. mmmph?â Rainbow Dash tilted her head. âUhhh? I donât know. Are you speaking in Prench now?â Pinkie Pie eyed the hoof that was still in her mouth. Oh, forgot to remove that from herâ Suddenly, Pinkie Pie gasped for air. âPhew, I was wondering when you were going to stop putting your hoof in my mouth. I was trying to breathe from my nose but then you were saying all this stuff and I forgot to breathe! Anyway, why vanilla?â âI donât know if theyâre allergic to chocolate,â Rainbow Dash stated lamely (donât tell anypony). She felt her ears splay against her head. âIâd rather them be alive and enjoy it, so Iâm playing it safe.â âSafe?â Pinkie Pie glowered her brows at Rainbow Dash, which made the latter feel like she was about to be questioned about her entire life. âSafe? Thatâs not a word you say often! And trust me, Iâve heard you talk waaaayyyy more than any other pony!â Rainbow Dashâs eyes glued themselves to the now muzzle-rubbing investigator, if her hat gracing her head was anything to go by. The monocled Pinkie Pie pursed her lips, shoving the lens closer to Rainbow Dashâs muzzle. âYouâre not hiding anything from me, Dashie⊠right?â âI-Iâm not hiding anything, Pinkie!â âAre you sureâŠ?â âP-Positive.â Rainbow Dashâs eyes widened as Pinkie Pie brought her muzzle close to hers. Did she figure it out? Did she give Pinkie Pie too much information or something? Rainbow Dash felt like scooting back, probably bumping her backside against a wall, but then sheâd have no place to go, and her heart started beating a bit more harshly, pelting her with a sense of panicked adrenaline. She winced, closing her eyes tightly. She needed to breathe. Itâll all be over soon. She would fail, Pinkie Pie would figure things out, Brick would be found, and heâll probably get put into a sugar coma or something. And it would be all her fault. âOkay!â Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, snapping to Pinkie Pie who had already stepped away from her with a smile on her face. Was Pinkie messing with her? âIâŠâ âWhen do you need the cake by?â Shuffling behind the counter told Rainbow Dash just to go with Pinkieâs antics. âThink you could have it for me in a couple hours?â âSure! I can get my instant rise mix out for this baby!â More shuffling, and a giant can of mix flew into the air. âNo⊠thatâs not it. Thatâs a cheese graterâŠâ Rainbow Dash shuddered before taking a deep breath. âW-Well, Iâm⊠glad you can get this done for me on such aâahemâsuch a short notice, P-Pinkie!â Pinkie Pie turned around in a flash, giving Dash a toothy grin. âIâm always happy to help a friend in need. Besides, I love making cakes. You know that!â âI definitely do,â Rainbow Dash replied rather cautiously, her eyes darting away from Pinkie for a moment. She looked back at her and smiled, sorta. More like smiling in hopes Pinkie didnât notice that she was about to jump out of her skin. âWell, see you later, Pinkie!â âSee ya later, Dashie!â Rainbow Dash didnât even spare a wave as she bolted out of there as quickly as possible. She had more things to get, and knowing Pinkie, getting this all sorted ahead of time will make getting the cake out of there without getting asked twenty questions all the more important. Now outside, she pumped her wings, before pushing off the ground and flying out of there, her flight path set square for her home in the sky. Home: itâs what she made of it. She walked inside into her rather expansive foyer, before realizing she was still timing herselfâstupid bet!âand flew straight up to her room. She had passed by Tank, who she caught wearing a frown. She knew sheâd need to feed him, but that wouldnât do by just giving him the standard amount. That wouldnât be cool enough in her Book of Awesome. She had Brick to deal with first though. With reckless abandon, Rainbow Dash flew in and around her room. She checked under her bed. Nothing. She checked her cabinets. Nothing but stuff. She even checked her wardrobe full of Wonderbolt attire. A boat load of blue and yellow lightning-strike-emblazoned suits. And a weird inflatable hoof with the phrase âGo Wonderbolts!â on it. Oh, and nothing she needed now. However, there was one thing she forgot she even had, and probably where she remembered all that junk she mentioned she had. By her bedside was a large mahogany chest recently crafted by her parentsâactually, she just misremembered. It was bought by her parents but was made by some really talented stallion up in Cloudsdale. He specialized in creating cloud-compliant furniture. It was cool, but⊠as her mother put it, she just needed a âchest big enough that it could fit an entire Wonderbolt fan collectionâ. Unfortunately for her, it would only fit about thirty percent of her collection, which is why this now fits all of the stuff she had to move to get more of her collection to fit in her deep closet. She sighed and flicked it open with her wing. Inside was exactly what she thought was in here. Junk. With her teeth, she flung out a coffee machine she got in Manhattan and placed it beside her. Somehow the machine was still broken from the last time she had used it! She really needed to take it into one of those repair shops, but she has not had the time nor the energy to deal with it. Oh well. No caffeine for her, then! She also scooped up a few smaller items: a compass, a large nail filer, and a comb she thought she tossed out the window at the mail pony last weekâwait what did she throw at him then?âshe set aside the comb and the large nail filer next to the machine, before bringing the compass more into the light. The thing still seemed to work (maybe, the red arrow was pointing somewhere), but it was definitely not what she expectedâan engraving on the side labeled DD told her it was definitely part of her Daring Do cosplay. That thing⊠Wait. That cosplay! She flung head first back into the chest. She fumbled around, nearly giving herself a black eye because something way heavier than she thought had hit her square in the nogginâegh, that was going to hurt later!âbut with a bit of gumption, she found what she was looking for. âOh my gosh, I found it!â In her hooves was a sharp short sword, the one that Daring Do âhypotheticallyâ used on one of her adventures. This wasnât a carbon copy, obviously, but she apparently used it to hacksaw through the vines of the jungle during one of her temple raids. It had a name though, and Rainbow Dash being so⊠scatterbrained made it hard to remember. But she knew this was a really important blade, one that⊠well, Brick could use, right? It could work if itâs sharp enough! Rainbow Dash hummed to herself and did a few quick swipes in the air. It sounded sharp, if that made any sense. Maybe she could thwack it on something, or see if it could cut through something thick! Yeahâexcept she probably should do it outside. Away from Tank. Away from herself, even. With a sheepish grin on her face, Rainbow Dash sheathed the sword back in its handle, and placed it gently next to the compass. Two items down. What else could she find in herâ âEgh?â She had in her mouth something that she couldnât quite see. She hopped out and brought it into the limelight. A butter knife that had some weird stains on it. She spat it out and gagged. âOh Celestia, what was on that knife?!â Tank, who had finally climbed up the stairs, watched as the knife sailed out the door and down the stairs. He began to raise a brow. Rainbow Dash saw that and threw her hooves in the air. âWhat? Donât judge me.â She could feel his glare, if it was even happening, that is. He probably was still raising his brow. Agh. She gritted her teeth and dove back in, her hindlegs doing imaginary hoof paddles to see if she could somehow go deeper into the chest. She managed to get a little bit further in, this time ensnaring more than one item in her maw. She hopped out and saw what she pulled. The first tingled her mouth, and in the light, she could see it, especially with the mirror she had sitting up in the corner. It was a long rope she had gotten from Applejack. The brown rope dangled onto the ground, and was barely touching the side of the chest. This would definitely help Brick out. The other item however? Ehh⊠She wouldnât mention it. It was way too⊠uhh⊠She gulped and shoved it right back into the chest. She threw all the other stuff that wasnât needed back in too, except the coffee machine. That thing was going in the trash, plus it was taking room that she could use to store more Daring Do stuff! Or maybe even Wonderbolts stuff. Sheâll figure that out later. Oh, and she needed to figure out what to do with the butter knife. She needed to wash that or burn it. Either one was acceptable. Rainbow Dash chuckled. All she needed now was some snacks, some pillows, and a blanket or two, right? She eyed her bed, but then realized that this stuff was going to be outside. She needed to think of something more appropriate. Like⊠hmm⊠âNow where did I put that tarpâŠâ Rainbow Dash hummed to herself as she exited her room, wondering if she was going to have to enter her pseudo basement to find what she was looking for. Flying with a bunch of goodies was one thing, but flying with a bunch of goodies while thinking about a cake Rainbow Dash had to pick up was⊠enlightening. Her stomach kept clawing at the idea of the cake, vanilla frosting and white cake. Simple, yet enticing. Mouthwatering. Slurrrrp. She licked her lips as she descended down from her house. She had found a tarp, sorta. It wasnât really a tarp. It was like a blanket, except it crinkled. And it was blue. And it was flashy. And it wasâ Rainbow Dash sighed. It was a tarp. She had somehow got it in her saddlebags, next to the blanket and pillows. In her other saddlebag, she had all the other things she needed to get him. She actually cleaned the butter knife and brought it too. She thought he needed something sharp, but hey, the butter knife could be useful⊠for butter. Rainbow Dash began to slow her descent, flapping her wings. With a few more flaps, and a sudden unceremonious furling, she landed on the ground with a smile. She trotted back into the Sugarcube Corner. Before, it was dead, with only her asking for some food. Now, she slowed her roll right past a couple sharing a milkshake, while another few fillies and colts laughed and cheeredâdid they have school today?âshe shook her head, hoping to rid that thought from her mind. Of course they were playing hooky! Duh. Who would be here in the afternoon at their age other than they were off the hook? No one. Just them. She sighed and walked up to the counter. Pinkie Pie, surprisingly, was nowhere to be found. Rainbow Dash started looking around, very subtly, darting her eyes to and fro like she was on a mission herselfâwait she was on a mission. The same mission impossible as before, just a different part of the same mission. She kept herself on her toes, attempting to find Pinkie âThe Snoopsâ Pie. She could also be Pinkie âThe Investigatorâ Pie, but Rainbow Dash doubted that. There wasnât a sense of a script being written by some absolute dundâ âDashie! Iâm so glad to see youââ âAghh? I mean, wow, d-didnât see you there, Pinkie Pie.â Pinkie âThe Snorts A Lotâ Pie giggled and then subsequently snorted, in that exact order. âGotta keep you on your toes! Wonderboltsâ protocol demands it.â âHow do you know Wonderââ âBecause in another world, similar to this one, I am a Wonderbolt! So I talked to that Pinkie Pie who knows another Pinkie Pie that was a clone from my dimension but also is a clone for her dimension and then I justââ âOkay, thatâs enough magic who-ha for one non-unicorn to say.â Rainbow Dash had also somewhat shoved her forehoof in Pinkie Pieâs face, making the mare stare right at her hoof like sheâs about to shoot something out of them. Rainbow Dash began drafting her willâ âAnyway, Rainbow Dash.â âHuh?â Pinkie Pie smiled. âYour cake is done!â A random ding noise sounded off behind her. She flicked her hind leg, opening a random oven door that she had, and then out came the cake, somehow frosted and all. Pinkie scooted the cake over to Rainbow Dash, all while keeping her smile the same. She blinked. âUhh⊠why was the cake in the oven when it was already frosted?â Pinkie Pie tilted her head. âWhat do you mean, Dashie? The frosting isnât on it.â Rainbow Dash blinked, and suddenly the frosting she saw was gone. She gasped. âW-Where did it go?â âThe frosting was a lie, silly!â Pinkie Pie exclaimed while hopping in a place. She squirted the frosting on the cake, squelching the piping with glee, and then gently smoothened it with a rather not sharp knife. Once she was done, she squeeâd and slid the cake over. âNow that puppy is done!â Rainbow Dash eyed it like it was radioactive, surveying it from every angle. It looks⊠edible. Sorta. Kinda. She licked her lips. Her stomach growled in response. âIâll take it!â Pinkie Pie smiled as a few bits were slammed on the table at lightspeed, and the cake was gone too just as fast, leaving a rainbow trail toward the door. Rainbow Dash didnât need to hear anything else. The cake was great, the sky was blue, and she was about to make Brickâs day all the better. Either that or she lost the bet and she was about to maim herself in more ways than one. Author's Note Aye lmaoo Imagine getting mindblocked by a silly Daring Do addition.
âđŠđ€đWeight. It was something that Rainbow Dash felt, mostly on her back, but in her hooves carried the cake that she had just bought from Pinkie Pie, a cake that was mostly for Brick, but Rainbow Dash wasnât going to let him have all of it. A couple pieces, maybe. Or threeâsheâll decide when she got there to surprise him. She wanted to hide the cake from him, but the sheer size of it made it extremely difficult for her to hide in her saddlebags, even if one of them was magically enchanted to store anything. It was too wide for it. Everything else was able to be stored in her two different saddlebags. She brought two, because even though one had a magic enchantment to store anything, she didnât want anything that could be torn to shreds in it, since, well the sword and butter knife were in it. That left the second saddlebags, the one that could handle the âcould be torn to shredsâ items, filled to the brim. The contrast was obvious: one neatly strapped, while the other⊠wasnât. The severely bloated one hindered her ability to fly to the point that flying too fast made her nauseous. Knowing that, at any moment, those bags of hers could unfasten, and her mind, still burdened by the brain fog, would not even notice it, choosing to drift off about the smoke, about how hard it was for her to fly, all while still thinking about that stupid bet she made⊠everything was against her right now. She hinged on the smoke being her guide in her flight, a rush against herself forged by her dumb muzzle. The wind tickled her feathers. It sheared as it surrounded her. The wind was her. She flapped carefully, steady as can be. She glided when she needed to. She soared when the ground was too close. Not yet, not yet. She wasnât near the smoke trail. Her eyes flickered, noting the animals between the canopies. A few open areas too, a timberwolf track leading far from the trail, a fence torn from degradation over the years, and a few reeds in the brush. Rainbow Dash smiled. She began her descent, her wings getting enough lift (even with all the weight on her back) that she wasnât going to be stuck between the branches of the Everfree, but enough of a willingness to let go to glide into that same clearing, the one just below the smoke, the trail she knew was now due to a silly aliâhuman named Brick. Upon landing, her tip-tappies imprinted the dirt with her trot of excitement. Mid-tap, she cradled the cake box with a free wing, while she wiped her hooves off on the grass. She checked herself over momentarily, before traversing the forest further, being mindful of those who were around her, animals and ponies alikeâshe didnât know if she was followed! She gripped onto the cake box tighter, nestled closely against her side. It didnât take her too much longer to find the site. The circular stones still held the fire, and on that same log, the one where she laid near him, sat Brick, his big nose contrasting his rather small mouth. His lips rolled inward, while his face remained neutral against the orange flames that raged in front of him. He didnât even notice her approach, his eyes locked onto the inferno. Her hooves barely made a sound, only dispersing the grass that tickled them. Most of the sticks in the now bare camp had been tossed into the pit, and all that remained were a couple large ones, which stayed by Brickâs side, shrouded barely in the fireâs tantalizing glow. She assumed Brick had saved the larger ones for the camp they were needing to build, but maybe he hadnât gotten to them yet. She mentally shrugged her wings and strode to his side. âBrick?â The human jumped out of his skin, twitching toward her direction with wide deep blue eyes. His brown hair was the only thing kept in place, while his arms were caught mid-toss, his fingers now wrapped tightly against a sizable branch. Only those blue eyes moved, darting over Rainbow Dashâs haul, especially the cake box, which did not visibly show the surprise she had delicately tucked in her wing. âYou⊠got the things we needed?â he piped up, now holding the branch close. She flashed a grin toward him before looking toward her saddlebags. âDuh. Who would I be if I came back empty hooved? I got âem all in my saddlebags!â He raised a brow while he set the branch back in the pile. âThen whatâs in the box?â âOne of your surprises.â She sat the box down beside him. She urged him with a hoof, nudging his side. âCome on, open it up!â âAre you sure?â He asked, his hands hovering over it now. They twitched as they waited for her approval. âNever surer!â She chirped, before letting out a happy neigh. âTrust me, youâll like it. Itâs awesome!â She didnât know that. She didnât even know if he was allergic to cake. Or vanilla. But most ponies werenât. They were mostly allergic to chocolate⊠and nuts. She hoped Pinkie wasnât touching any nut butter before she made that cake. Or chocolate. Or anything radioactive. Rainbow Dash swore she saw one of Pinkieâs cakes glow in the dark once. Her muzzle wrinkled up at the memory, but it was replaced by Brickâs ecstatic gasp as he lifted the box and stared at the creation. White frosting stared back, that much she knew, but Brickâs smile was all she needed to see, his nearly from ear to ear. âThatâs what I think it is?â âYep!â She let both of her wings unfurl, stretching them as needed. âAh, finally I can stretch these puppiesâthatâs a cake one of my friends made. She makes way more than just cake, but I thought it would be a good idea to get one for you to welcome you toâoof!â Brick interrupted her by pulling her towards his chest. She squeaked into the embrace, her face now plastered against him. Thankfully, his grip wasnât too tight, which allowed her to squirm a bit out of his embrace, enough to look up at him while shivering in his grasp. âB-Brick?â âThank you! I⊠I donât think Iâve ever been given a cake before.â She pulled her head back to get a better look at his face. âH-How?â He swallowed back what she hoped was saliva and cleared his throat. âBirthdays were⊠difficult for my family.â He scratched the back of his head with a free hand, while the other remained around her barrel, much to her wings discomfort. âMoney was hard to come by when I was younger, and by the time we actually had money⊠letâs just say it wasnât used for that.â âThatâsâŠâ âShocking?â She shook her head and nuzzled into his chest. âTerrible. Pinkie Pie would be upset if she heard that.â He took a deep shaky breath. âThatâs not the half of it, but yeah⊠just know the cake means a lot.â âIâm glad,â she began, looking at him once more. She wiggled out of his embrace, much to his chagrin. His hands didnât know what to do, so one went to the back of his neck, while the other propped him up on the log. âI hope you donât have this strong of a reaction to the other things I got you.â âWhy? Donât tell me you made a weird shopping list!â She laughed and turned around to unlatch her saddlebags. âOutside what you asked for?â He nodded, which made her laugh even harder. âNo, I didnâtâeckâgo too out of bounds. Justâerghâgotta get these off me to show you!â Her hooves struggled to even unhook the saddlebags from her back, but she was lucky to have Brick, who, upon noticing her trying to reach for it, hopped off his log (she could hear him land on the ground). He probably walked toward her, his hoofâer, footsteps made that obvious. She wasnât looking at him though, so she didnât know which side he was going to appear from. Her peripherals, what little of that caught the blur of him, eventually brought him into focus, now on her right. She tried to smile, but his hands stopped the gesture entirely, his fingers rubbing against her bodyâs hair and the bag strap. She stifled a gasp and shivered, the sensation foreign yet familiar, dancing on the tips of her hair. It was a double negative she welcomed, even as the straps fell away. Brick grunted while he lifted both saddlebags off of her, setting them down in front of the log away from the fire. âWhew, these things are filled. How did you even get them on you?â A heat blossomed on her cheeks. âUhhh⊠luck. And I had Tank help me.â âTank?â Rainbow Dash giggled raspily. âHeâs my pet tortoise.â He blinked. âUhhhâŠâ She raised a brow. What was that reaction? âWhat?â âHow did he help you with all this?â He scratched his head while he asked her that. âLike, how fast is he?â A smirk wormed its way on her face. âHeâs the fastest tortoise in all of Equestria. Heâs pretty strong too.â She looked at the bags again. Thankfully he didnât place them in the dirt. That wouldnât have been coolâwashing saddlebags was painful!âbut, thankfully, Brick was cool⊠ish. âThat shell of his could totally lift a house up!â âW-What?â Brickâs voice faltering made Rainbow Dash reconsider his coolness, her brows narrowing. âYou think Iâm lying?â He shook his head rapidly and waved his hands out. âNo, no! I was⊠trying to wrap my mind around that. Tortoises are really slow on land soâŠâ He chuckled. âIâm surprised.â She joined him in the chuckling fanfare. âPfft! If thatâs what theyâre like on your planet, then Iâll be the first to tell you thatâŠâ She smiled and then let out an airy sigh. âYouâre right. Theyâre slow.â That brow he raised earlier? Well it was even higher now. âDo you have him hooked up to a ceiling fan or something?â âNo, but close.â âClose?!â She wrinkled her muzzle up momentarily, flicking a wing over at him. âHe can fly using a helicopter rotor and some cool spell Twilight made up on the spot!â She grinned. âIâll have to bring him down sometime.â âGuess so,â he said, before returning to the cake box. He gently slid the cover over the top of it, making sure it was in place. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, eyed the bags. She walked over to them, attempting to unlatch the one with the tarp first. She could feel Brickâs presence behind her, probably watching her as she took the strap in her teeth and pulled, hoping it would unlatch. Unfortunately for her, it put up a fight, making her pause to regain her balance. She grunted as she yanked it further, until she heard a click. She let go of it, nudging it with her muzzle. It flipped open after guiding it along, falling away from the fire with a light clack (she definitely needed to be careful next time). She turned to Brick and smiled as he was trying to look like he wasnât just looking at her. She knew she was that awesome. âWanna help me out?â He nodded curtly, taking the other, less filled one in his hands. He sat on the log and opened it up with much more ease than she could. Those hands of his were delicate, opening the latch with precise, small movements. When the click sounded, he peered inside. Rainbow Dash knew what he was going to see. âWow,â Brick started, leaning into the bag as his arm sank into its confines. He grabbed something, holding it and hoisting theâthere it is. The sword, its handle firmly in his handâs grasp. âHow did youâŠ?â âFit it in there?â He blinked. âWell, now that you mention that, yeah. But I didnât expect you to bring a sword of all things.â âI couldnât find you a good enough knife. Although, there is a butter knife in case we need it for the cake.â Brick raised a brow and peered in there to see what she knew was there. That butter knife⊠âNo kidding, there is one in there!â he exclaimed, holding it in his hand. He set it aside, next to the cake box. She smirked. âHad to make sure I got at least something we could useââ âDid you bring any forks or plates?â Rainbow Dashâs eyes widened. âUhhh, I think theyâre in thereâŠâ Brickâs laughter made that heat stick around her cheeks, something that made her ears even burn up. âItâs not that funny!â She saw him do some kicks of his own, while he clutched his stomach. The sword, which she thought he was still holding onto, had been tossed aside past the log, much further away from them than she would have liked, but her fight or flight instinct wasnât too glaring. Not yet. She didnât want to think about that. She was just happy Brick hadnât stabbed himself by accident. She let him have his moment, turning her attention to the bag she unlatched. She set the tarp down as best as she could (it was a pretty big tarp, now that she was really looking at it), followed by a couple pillows. She was about to unlatch the second part of her bag, where she knew she put all the blankets in (with a much smaller tarp too), when she heard Brickâs laughter fall silent. Rainbow Dash looked over at him. The dolt had propped himself back on the log, but the smile and little faint chuckles told her that he was still laughing at her confusion. Ugh. âSorry, donât know what came over me there.â Rainbow Dash looked away from him. âI donât know either,â she muttered, her gaze now to the sky. âYouâre one goofy human.â Since he hadnât added any sticks or logs into the fire, the smoke from it started to falter. The black haze still lingered overhead, among the canopy of the trees surrounding them. She turned back to him and smiled. âYou see everything else inâŠâ her voice trailed off when she noticed him pulling out more of the âessentialsâ. On the log were a couple of those bags of chips she brought. They were probably expired but there wasnât a date on them, so⊠If those are bad, she did bring some cookies to munch on. And they also had that cake of his. Thankfully she brought a butter knife because cutting a cake with a sword would be so awkwardâwait, how did the sword not pop open the bagsâ âHey, Rainbow Dash?â She shook her head as if she was blindsided by a pony. Instead, it was Brick, looking at her with a brow raised. âHmm?â âOne of the bags broke.â He waved the yellow chip bag in front of them. âGot most of them in a bowl you somehow brought with you. Iâm surprised half of these fit in here!â She laughed and threw a hoof over toward him. âPfft! Magically enchanted bags usually keep those things tight. I brought two because, well, even though theyâre enchanted, doesnât mean the stuff in the bag isnât going to break.â She frowned. âAs you sawâŠâ He nodded. âYeahâŠâ He looked at her bags, pointing with one of his fingers at them. âIs that one magically enchanted too?â âNope!â She used a wing of hers to open the second latch this time around. It flew open with surprising ease, letting a blanket escape the confines of its chamber known as her bag. âI only got one of those, and this oneâs⊠uhâŠâ She couldnât think of the word. âCompact?â âNot exactlyâŠâ Rainbow Dash tapped a hoof to the tip of her muzzle. âMore like filled to the brim. Didnât want anything getting torn by the sword.â âYeah,â Brick replied lamely. She glanced back over at him. He pulled out the rope that she knew he needed, which he eyeballed and inspected, holding it high above his head. The rope dangled down, which really put into perspective how long it was. âGuess I found the rope.â âGood,â she said with a giggle. âWas hoping that the rope would survive.â He snorted. âGuess it did.â He also set the rope to the side, which his eyes widened upon seeing it emerge uncoiled from the bag. âItâs unbelievable how much fits in there.â âMagic,â Rainbow Dash said as a matter-of-fact. She pulled out her pillow set and threw it on the tarp. Just had to get the blankets out too. âI donât know how it all works though, so donât even ask. Thatâs the Eggheadâs job.â âEgghead?â âTwilight,â she corrected. She spied a jug getting pulled out of the bag. âYou can set that on the ground.â He smiled. âGotcha.â The two pulled the rest of the items out in relative silence, save for Brick staring at the hat she brought him. She thought he needed it to protect him from the sun. She also got a comment from him when she started rolling up the pillows and blankets in the tarps. He was confused but hey, he at least had some spirit. âYou donât have too much fur, Brick.â He rolled his eyes. âThatâs because I donât have fur. I have hair.â His fingers brushed through his maneâhair, before tugging at his shirt. âClothes keep the body heat in andââ âIâll have to ask Rarity for help with that...â she muttered. âRarity?â Rainbow Dash waved him off with a forehoof. âNot importantâjust know sheâs a friend of mine.â He hummed in response, and looked upâ âSay, is it normal for the sun to just⊠stay in one place?â She laughed. âYeah. Twilightâs not going to move it all the time.â The brown haired alien of the day tilted his head at her. âSorry?â She mirrored him. âWhat?â âShe moves it herself?â âYeah.â He pointed up at the sky. âThe sun?â âIs that not normal?â she asked, her voice cracking on the word normal. The return she didn't ask for! âThe sun doesnât get controlled by someone where Iâm from,â Brick said. He put a finger of his to represent what she thinks is the sun, and then in his other hand, represented the planet he was from, which he moved around the former. âThe planet orbits the sun, see?â She did. And she was confused. âWhat? What about your moon?â âI donât have a third hand to represent it. Just know it orbits the planet. You know, gravitational pull and what not?â Rainbow Dashâs muzzle scrunched up. âSo youâre telling me everything, including the sun and the moon, all move on their own?â âBasically. I mean, your moon doesnât move without intervention?â âTwilight has to get Luna to help with it sometimes. She can get easily overwhelmed if she isnât too careful, and sometimes she canât handle the sun and the moon when sheâs too in her head about things,â Rainbow Dash nonchalantly waved a hoof at him, which made Brickâs mouth nearly fall to the floor. She threw her forehooves in the air. âWhat? Your nerves donât affect how you perform?â âWell, thatâs notâŠâ He groaned. âThis is so hard to wrap my head around. I get it, nerves can affect oneâs performance, but lifting a sun and the moon? I mean, I should even be freaking out about how your saddlebags are âmagically enchantedâ and can store an entire garage in there. Back where Iâm from, if women had purses that could store the entire universe, we wouldnât need garages anymore. Store all your stuff in a vacuum!â Brick paused to crack his neck, and from what it sounded like, he really cracked it. He rubbed the side of it with his one hand. âAnyway, can we pause on the earth-shattering revelations here? We can take a break to eat some cake and then weââ BOOM. To their left, a tree exploded in two. One part stayed hooked on another tree, making it lean to the right just a tad. The other part, splintered everything in its vicinity. Thankfully, where they were sitting, a tree had sheltered them (and the cake) from the blast. There were some shards of the tree jutting out from one of the tarpballs she made. Rainbow Dash leaned further down to see the damage, unfurling them gently. None of the pillows or blankets were damaged, but she would definitely want to make sure this one wasnât used for the roof for Brickâs hideaway. She looked up at Brick. âUhhh, looks like we need to get started on making that shelter instead.â Brick sighed. âYouâre rightâŠâ He looked over at the cake and made sure it was in its box, secure and sheltered from Equestria. Satisfied, he smiled and picked up the sword from the ground. He gripped it tightly in his hands andâ âYou know, this sword makes me look like a badass.â âA bad⊠ass?â Rainbow Dash said, tasting the words and wondering if sheâd go bald in the process. âYeah!â He exclaimed, walking over towards the other trees. âI donât think Iâll be able to use it on these thick ones though, would really need an ax to make a dent into any of theseââ He twunked the short sword against the tree, only to be shocked when it actually cut into the bark (barely). âOkay maybeââ âNo,â Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head. âDonât need you slashing at trees, Brick. Letâs just scavenge for some more useable wood. You already did without anything I gave you, right?â He nodded⊠slowly. âMost of it was in this area though.â She held a forehoof up a bit, before pointing it ahead of her, as if she was pointing down at the ground. âLike here?â âYep. This place wasnât really clear when I got here. Lots of twigs and what not. Had to go a ways away though for the bigger ones.â He smiled as he patted the couple he had nearby. âLeast we got something to start with. Going to need a bunch more to make a baseâŠâ She gave him a grin. âThen letâs do it. With more than one of us, weâll surely get this done in no time!â Even though Rainbow Dash was happy that they had a plan in motion, on the inside, she was totally trying not to jump out of her fur right now. If the Everfree was like it normally was, another lightning strike like that wasnât out of the question. And usually a strike meant a rainstorm was about to brew. And with everything else it had to offer⊠the storm was only the beginningâ Her eyes widened as her heart jumped nearly out of her chest. What was she thinking? She shouldnât be worrying over all this! She was hyping herself up over nothing⊠right? And clearly Brick noticed, his face of concern glaring at her. He was also much closer to her than he was before. âRainbow Dash?â âSorry, I'm just worrying myself over nothing.â She flicked her tail at him. âCome on, letâs go.â She muttered her excuse, hoping he bought it, and it sounded like it worked, his footsteps crunching on some twigs he left behind. This made her trot further ahead, knowing that Brick was right behind her. Rainbow Dash gulped. She really hoped she was right, that she was worrying over nothing, because nothing felt worse than an oncoming storm. A storm that she couldnât predict, a storm she would struggle to stop. A storm that could make them vulnerable. A shiver darted up her spine as she trudged on, through the thicket of the Everfree. Author's Note Babe. New Discovery of Him. Tell your friends. I love my melodic deathcore.
