Newbie Dash (Alternative)

Twilight would be lying if she said that she wouldn’t be sore in the morning from having to push her currently flightless Pegasus friend all the way to Cloudsdale, and levitate Rainbow to other parts when one part of the Sky City ends.

The inaccessibility was beginning to get on both their nerves, especially when they still hadn’t found the ponies who are having the friendship problem.

It was now late afternoon and they are sat in one of Cloudsdale’s restaurants, Twilight eating her hay burger and Rainbow pointedly ignoring her own, choosing to instead look outside and watch the other Pegasus ponies flying effortlessly.

“Rainbow.” Twilight touches her shoulder, then points down to Dash’s untouched, very late, lunch.

Dash glares at her. “I had to drink that shake earlier, remember?”

“That was four hours ago. As a Pegasus, you should be eating every three.” The egghead points out.

“Yeah, if I had a fast metabolism.” Dash argues. “In case you forgot, I’m taking pills every day to slow it down, so I’m really not hungry right now. I’m making myself useful and look out for any friendship problems.”

Twilight keeps trying to get eye contact with her, but Dash only has eyes for the ponies outside the window.

“Rainbow, look at me.”

She’s ignored.

Twilight sighs. “That’s not the whole truth, is it?” She asks in a lowered voice. She has started to notice a while ago that Dash will sometimes lie about being hungry, and whenever she’s lying, she won’t look at Twilight, and tries to change the subject.

Rainbow sighs heavily. She discreetly looks at the other ponies dining at the restaurant, then finally looks at Twilight. “I feel like every pony here is secretly watching me.”

Twilight raises an eyebrow, looking around as well and finding not a single pony paying attention to them. “What are you talking about?”

“Ugh. I don’t want other ponies to think that…”

Twilight waits for more information, but Dash shakes her head. She then remembers that Celestia has mentioned something about not wanting to eat around others, or being seen eating by others. She had just assumed that this wasn’t an issue for Rainbow, since she’s been eating with Twilight every time so far.

Understanding fills the alicorn, and she realises that if she wants Rainbow to eat anything, they would need to find a secluded spot, out of sight of any pony else. Which… was easier said than done, when they’re in a city with flying ponies everywhere, surrounded by clouds, high up in the air.

They both startle when there’s suddenly loud arguing.

“Why are you always undermining me all. the. damn. TIME?!” A yellow Pegasus yells at her companion.

“Argh! Will you be quiet already?” The black coated Pegasus scolds, a deep frown on his face.

The yellow Pegasus stops dead in her tracks, looking like she’s boiling and about to burst.

“I’m so sick of this- I HATE YOU! SCREW YOU!” She shouts, storming out and flying away.

Rainbow immediately turns to Twilight. “You have to go after her! Fast!”

Twilight nods, doing just that.

Whilst Twilight catches up with the mare, Rainbow approaches the fuming stallion.

“Hey, what’s going on with you and your friend?” She asks.

“I fail to see how that’s any of your concern.” He replies snidely, stepping around her.

Rainbow follows him. “My name’s Rainbow Dash, and I was called here to solve a friendship problem.”

“Uhuh.” He ignores her and orders a hay burger with fries.

“Look. Your friend looks really mad, and you were ignoring her attempts to-”

“Can you not take a hint? I want you to leave me alone!” He snarls, and Rainbow backs off with her ears pinned.

They’re not supposed to judge other ponies, but Rainbow is getting really close to hating this guy. His friend deserves a lot better if this is how he treats ponies.

Rainbow goes back to her and Twilight’s table, looking at her still untouched burger, all appetite now gone for real. She sits down and looks outside longingly.

“I hope Twilight is more successful than me…”

Twilight finds the yellow Pegasus crying on a nearby cloud.

“Hello there.. my name is-”

“Oh Gosh, you’re Princess Twilight Sparkle.” She interrupts, wiping away her tears. She gasps. “Are you here because of my friendship problem?”

Twilight smiles, joining her on the cloud. “It looks like it. We.. kind of witnessed your argument at the burger place. What’s your name?”

“I’m Buttercream, and his name is Sky Scraper. I swear, he’s not usually like this. He’s just really stressed out, lately.”

“Do you know what’s stressing him so much?”

She shakes her head. “I keep asking, but he doesn’t want to talk to me about it. And I can accept that. Really. But for the past two weeks, he’s been acting like… like we’re not friends at all. He’s always ignoring me, and when I get angry or upset because of it, he gets really annoyed with me, and I don’t understand why.”

“Hmm.. that doesn’t sound right. Friends shouldn’t treat each other like that.” Twilight comments.

Buttercream sighs in relief. “I’m glad you think so. I was really starting to think that… well..”

“How about we go and talk to him about it?” Twilight suggests.

“Do you think that’s a good idea? He got really mad at me earlier..”

“Well, I always say: you won’t know unless you try.”

Reassured by her words and presence, Buttercream nods and they both fly back to the restaurant.

When they enter, Twilight immediately looks for Rainbow Dash. She spots her back at their table, and tells Buttercream that she’d be right with her again in a moment.

Rainbow is running the tip of her forehoof in circles on the table surface, eyes downcast. But Twilight also notices that her plate is empty. Happy to know that Rainbow has eaten her lunch after all, she throws an arm around her shoulders.

“Hey, I got Buttercream back. She said that Sky Scraper has been acting like this only recently, and he won’t tell her what’s been bothering him. You coming?”

Rainbow looks unsure, throwing a glance over to the ponies in question. “I-I’m not sure.. he’s made his point pretty clear that he doesn’t want to talk.”

Twilight is confused at her friend’s sudden lack of self esteem. “We’ll see about that.” She moves away from their table, then waits for Dash to follow her.

With a sigh, Rainbow joins her, and together they confront the ponies.