It was Sunday...

Rainbow Dash had woken up 5 minutes ago, and stared at the ceiling as she remembered what had happened the day before. She met up with her friends, they talked for an hour, they talked about what had happened to each other during the time that Rainbow Dash was away, with everyone asking Rainbow Dash questions, and after that Applejack took Rainbow home, and before leaving she reminded her that the next day they would all meet at the mall.

"Wow, I really feel like this day is going to be stressful..." Rainbow Dash said to herself.

Rainbow Dash had been without her friends for almost half a year, and now that they were together again she should be super happy... so why did she still feel empty?

Rainbow Dash looked at Tank who was next to her bed "those are the days when you don't want to get out of bed, but unfortunately you have to get up"

Rainbow Dash got up, took her cell phone and saw the time, 10:00 am, she had 4 hours before the scheduled time, Rainbow sighed, she could feed Tank, eat something, do her daily training, go back home, take a shower, change clothes, and walk to the mall.

"ok, let's start the day" said Rainbow Dash.

1:45 pm

Rainbow Dash was heading to the mall, her cell phone received a notification, it was a message from Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie
"Hey Dashie! Are you arriving already? I'm already here, with Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity, we're just waiting for you and Applejack"

Then Rainbow Dash started typing a reply.

Rainbow Dash
"Yes, Pinkie, I'm almost there. Just wait a few more minutes."

Rainbow put her cell phone away and started walking again, but suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her body.

(Damn... this is getting stronger and more frequent...) Rainbow Dash thought as she continued to walk with difficulty.

It burns...

It burns...

It burns...

After a few seconds, the pain went away.

Rainbow sighed (I think I really overdid it with the training, but it does give results)

Rainbow Dash kept walking until she reached the mall and went to the food court, where it didn't take long to find her friends.

"Hi Dashie, we're here!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, jumping up and down. Pinkie Pie was wearing a white shirt with pink stripes, a denim jacket, black pants, and white sneakers with pink laces. "Pinkie, you don't have to yell, she's already seen us," Twilight said to calm Pinkie down, who was attracting too much attention. Twilight was wearing a light purple blouse, black pants, and purple shoes. "I'm glad you came," Fluttershy said, smiling. Fluttershy was wearing a white shirt, a yellow jacket, black pants, and yellow sneakers with laces and white soles. "Hi darling, I thought you were coming with Applejack," Rarity said. Rarity was wearing a black shirt, a purple scarf, black pants, and purple shoes. "Well... no, I came alone, why would I come with Applejack?" Rainbow asked, confused. Rainbow Dash was wearing a white t-shirt with a white cloud and rainbow lightning bolt pattern, a light blue jacket with black sleeves, black sweatpants (much to Rarity's dismay), and blue sneakers with white laces.

Rarity smiled, "Oh, it's nothing. I just thought that since you two seemed so close yesterday, I thought you might have come together."

Rainbow Dash was suspicious of the way Rarity had spoken, but before she could question it, someone else said something.

"I'm here, sorry I'm late."

Rainbow Dash looked back. In the last few months, Rainbow hadn't shown much emotion, and she wasn't very expressive anymore, but what she saw surprised her and made her eyes widen.

"I had to take care of some things at home," Applejack said.

Applejack was wearing a black shirt, an orange jacket with an apple print on the back, jeans, brown boots, she wasn't wearing her hat, her hair was down, and it looked like it had been well taken care of, Rainbow had seen Applejack without a hat a few times, but she rarely saw her with her hair down, and she seemed to be wearing perfume.

"Applejack, you look great with your hair down, and are you wearing that perfume I gave you?" Rarity asked excitedly.

"Oh, yeah, it's just... I thought I'd change up my look a little this time, what do you think?" Applejack asked nervously as she glanced discreetly at Rainbow Dash.

"It looks really good on you" Fluttershy said with a smile.

"It looks really pretty" said Twilight.

"You should look like that more often" said Pinkie Pie.

...

...

...

Rainbow Dash could tell the others were waiting for her to say something about Applejack.

"Okay, I guess..." said Rainbow Dash looking away.

After a few minutes the three decided to walk through the mall, where Rarity took them to a clothing store.

"I knew she would take us here, it was obvious, she suggested the mall" said Rainbow Dash.

"It's something quick Rainbow Dash, I just want to look at some clothes" said Rarity entering the store.

"That's what you always say, I'm not going in" said Rainbow Dash crossing her arms.

"I promise it will be quick" Rarity promised.

40 minutes later...

Rainbow was carrying Rarity with one arm over her shoulder and holding her friend's many shopping bags with the other hand.

""It'll be quick" you said, if I hadn't gotten you out of there we would have stayed in that store until the mall closed" Rainbow said irritably.

Rarity crossed her arms frustrated for having managed to buy so "few" clothes, while the others watched impressed by the ease with which Rainbow carried Rarity and her purchases.

"Wow, when she said she was training I didn't imagine these results" Fluttershy said impressed.

"It's pretty incredible that she can lift so much weight with such ease" Twilight said.

"I heard that!" Rarity shouted.

"It sounds really funny" Pinkie Pie said laughing.

After that Rainbow put Rarity on the floor and only carried the bags with one hand.

"Well, what now?" Rainbow asked.

"We can go to the movies," Twilight suggested.

"Oh, that's great, I'd love to watch "I Love You, You Love Me," it just came out, and it's already being considered the best romance movie of the year," Rarity said excitedly.

"A romance movie? No thanks," Rainbow Dash said.

"What about My Little Pony?" Pinkie Pie suggested.

"No, that's ridiculous, it's a cartoon for girls aged 5-10, but it ends up being more popular with boys aged 10-40, I don't want to watch a movie about magical, multi-colored ponies talking about the "magic of friendship," Rainbow Dash said.

"Careful, Dash, you might end up annoying someone in the fandom," Pinkie Pie warned, looking around.

"How about "My Fluffy Bunny 7?" Fluttershy suggested.

"No, I've already seen the other 6 movies with you, and I had to comfort you after each movie, and they're not even sad movies," Rainbow Dash said.

"What about-" Twilight was interrupted.

"No," Rainbow Dash said.

"But I didn't even talk about the movie," Twilight said irritably.

"It's a science fiction movie, that covers a lot of science, technology, and chemistry, and more than half of the movie is people talking about things that only nerds can understand?" Rinbow asked with her arms crossed.

...

...

...

"Yes..." Twilight admitted.

"You're hard to please," Rarity said with her arms crossed.

"I just don't feel like watching those kinds of movies today," Rainbow Dash said.

Applejack sighed, "Okay, Rainbow, what movie would you like to see?"

Rainbow Dash looked around for a movie to watch, and after a few seconds she found something that caught her eye.

" "The Girl Fighter" " said Rainbow Dash as she pointed to a poster.

"No, I don't like fighting movies" said Rarity.

"And I don't like violence itself" said Fluttershy.

"I don't like it either" said Twilight.

"It's not my favorite kind of movie" said Pinkie Pie.

"Okay, fine, let's decide this with rock, paper, scissors, whoever wins gets to choose the movie" said Applejack.

1 hour and 49 minutes later...

The 6 left the movie theater of the movie "My Fluffy Bunny 7".

"That movie was really good" said Pinkie Pie skipping.

"I told you so" said Fluttershy with a smile.

"That bunny was so adorable" commented Rarity.

"It was surprisingly good" said Twilight impressed.

Rainbow Dash stared at Applejack, who had won the game of rock, paper, scissors.

"What? Fluttershy has been talking about this movie for 3 months, I thought it would be good for her" Applejack defended herself.

Rainbou crossed her arms and turned her head to the side, still with a frown on her face.

Applejack laughed "are you going to get mad just because of that?"

Rainbow Dash didn't answer, nor did she look at Applejack, suddenly she felt strong arms around her waist and something soft on her head.

"Come on, don't let this ruin your day" Applejack said as she hugged Rainbow from behind.

"I don't want to disturb you, but I think you should do this somewhere where you can have more privacy" Rarity said.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash noticed people looking at them, so Applejack let go of Rainbow.

Twilight held back her laughter "you should wait until you get home"

"Shut up Twilight" Rainbow Dash said pointing at the girl with glasses.

After that, the six of them went to the food court, and each one ordered something to eat.

"It's been a while since I've eaten a burger here," Rainbow commented as she held a large burger.

"Yeah, it's been a while since any of us have been to the mall, after everything that happened it wasn't the same," Twilight said as she ate fries.

"Not even Rarity?" Rainbow asked in surprise.

"No, I didn't really feel like going to the mall alone after that, so during those months I just went to other clothing stores," Rarity explained.

"Wow..." was all Rainbow could say.

...

...

...

Raibow Dash lowered her head to avoid being hit by an elbow, when she looked back Rainbow saw none other than Lightning Dust, a young woman their age who had bright amber hair, eyes of a similar color, wearing a white shirt, a light turquoise jacket, black pants, and black shoes with laces and white soles.

"Oh, sorry, I almost hit you," Lightning Dust said, smiling.

Then she realized that Rainbow Dash was ignoring her while eating a burger.

Lightning Dust frowned for a moment but recovered "Well, it's good that you're happy Rainbow Dash, you seemed so down since you got kicked off the football team."

Applejack stood up and glared at Lightning Dust with an irritated expression. Since the beginning of high school, Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust had a rivalry, but it certainly wasn't the healthy kind. Lightning Dust was very competitive, and was willing to cheat for a win. She also used to tease Rainbow, and bullied some of the students at school. Applejack could remember a time when Lightning Dust made Rainbow trip and twist her ankle.

Applejack approached Lightning Dust "Can you just get out of here? We're looking forward to having a nice day at the mall," Applejack said seriously.

"Oh, sure, sorry, I just wanted to say hi to my old friend Rainbow Dash, I didn't have much time to see her because I was really busy with the team, you know?" Lightning Dust said with a smile on her face.

Applejack growled slightly and clenched her fists, while continuing to glare at Lightning Dust.

"Hey, calm down blondie, I'm not going to steal your girlfriend" Lightning Dust said defensively.

Applejack's face turned red with anger and embarrassment.

"You..." Applejack whispered irritably.

Applejack seemed about to attack Lightning Dust, but Rarity intervened.

"Please calm down, this is a mall, there's no reason to fight" Rarity said placing a hand on Applejack's shoulder.

Lightning Dust continued to smile, but noticed that Rainbow Dash wasn't paying attention and continued eating, which made her stop smiling.

"Well, it was really good to see you again Dashie, bye" Lightning Dust said as she walked away.

Applejack and Rarity sat down, and everyone at the table was silent for a few seconds, until Applejack growled and said.

"I hate that bitch..." Applejack was interrupted.

"Applejack! Language... but I agree, she's very rude" said Rarity crossing her arms.

"and she's very mean too, as mean as Gilda, only more manipulative than aggressive" said Fluttershy.

"I'm honestly surprised you're so calm Rainbow, in the past you would have been the first to want to hit her" Twilight commented when she saw Rainbow Dash eating carefree.

"it doesn't matter what she says" said Rainbow Dash.

...

...

...

"Are you okay Dashie?" Pinkie Pie asked, hugging Rainbow.

"I am Pinkie..." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Are you sure? It's just that since yesterday we could notice that most of the time you seem kind of... emotionless, are you feeling okay darling?" Rarity asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine" Rainbow Dash replied.

Applejack looked at Rainbow feeling a little guilty.

After a while the six left the mall.

"This day was super hyper mega ultra amazing!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly as she skipped in front of the group.

"I liked it too, it's been a long time since we all went out together" Twilight said smiling.

"We should do this more often, especially spend more time at the clothing store" Rarity said smiling.

"No" Rainbow Dash said.

"I'm happy, it seems like everything is finally getting back to normal" Fluttershy said.

"Well, I have to go get Apple Bloom and go back home," Applejack said.

"I hope the Crusaders haven't gotten into any trouble," Rarity said.

"Do you want me to take you home, Rainbow?" Applejack asked.

"No, you don't have to, I can go by myself, bye," Rainbow Dash replied, and then she started to walk away.

Applejack approached Rainbow Dash and held her hand.

"Hey, Rainbow, are you sure you don't want to come? Scootaloo is there too and she really wanted to see you," Applejack said with a smile.

Rainbow Dash stared at Applejack for a few seconds, before deciding to agree, so Applejack would take Rainbow Dash and Rarity to their homes, and Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy would get a ride from Shining Armor, Twilight's older brother, while Applejack and Rarity got into the truck. Rainbow felt someone watching, and when she looked back she saw Lightning Dust watching from afar.

"What's up, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.

"Nothing, nothing major," Rainbow replied as she got into the truck.

After saying goodbye, Rainbow Dash and the others went to Rarity's house. It took a few minutes, where the only noise was the engine. When they entered the house, they expected destroyed furniture, dirt everywhere, broken vases and torn clothes. The three were surprised to see that the house was in perfect condition.

"I think the three of them left when you weren't here, Rarity," Rainbow Dash said.

Applejack and Rarity were starting to believe it.

"Hey, we're not irresponsible," Sweetie Belle said, entering the room, along with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

...

...

...

"Okay, we don't have the best track record, but we're not as good as you think either," Apple Bloom said.

Scootaloo smiled when she saw Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow!" Scootaloo exclaimed happily.

"Oh, hi Scootaloo," Rainbow said with a slight smile.

Scootaloo felt a little sad when she noticed that Rainbow Dash didn't really seem excited or happy to see her.

"Hi big sis," Apple Bloom said smiling at Applejack.

"I'm impressed, nothing broken, torn or burned," Applejack said with a smile.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm responsible?" Apple Bloom asked with her arms crossed.

"How was the mall?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"It was good, but I'm honestly surprised the house is in one piece," Rarity said.

"It's amazing how much trust you guys have in us," Scootaloo said sarcastically.

"Okay, now I'm going home," Rainbow Dash said.

"What? Please stay a little longer," Scootaloo said sadly.

"Now I have to go back, Applejack is going to take Apple Bloom home, and I think you should go home too," Rainbow Dash said.

"Okay..." Scootaloo said sadly, looking down.

Applejack stared at Rainbow Dash. Ever since she invited Rainbow Dash to her house so they could work things out, Applejack noticed that Rainbow Dash was different. She seemed to have difficulty starting a conversation. She usually limited herself to answering questions or making the occasional comment. She was uncomfortable with physical contact, and was MUCH less emotional.

(If only I had talked to her before...) Applejack thought, feeling guilty.

After that, Applejack decided to take Scootaloo home, it was on the way, so it didn't take long to get there.

"Bye Scootaloo," Apple Bloom said, smiling.

"Bye Apple Bloom, see you tomorrow at school," Scootaloo said, smiling.

"Bye," Rainbow Dash said.

"Bye, good night," Applejack said, smiling.

After waiting a few seconds until they saw Scootaloo enter her house, Applejack then took Rainbow Dash home, after a few more minutes they arrived at their destination.

"Thanks for the ride, but I have legs," Rainbow Dash said as she opened the door.

"Bye Rainbow, good night," Applejack said.

"Bye Rainbow Dash!" Apple Bloom said.

The two watched Rainbow Dash enter the house, after which Applejack sighed and gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"Applejack, are you okay?" Apple Bloom asked, worried.

"Yeah... I am... I was just thinking about some things" Applejack said.

After that Applejack drove to her house, meanwhile Rainbow Dash was already in her room feeding Tank.

(Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought, apart from Lightning Dust appearing there wasn't really anything bad, and it's been a long time since I went out with someone... so why do I still feel empty?) Rainbow wondered.

Tank looked at Rainbow Dash, looking worried.

"I'm fine, I guess, but I have a feeling this whole week is going to be stressful" said Rainboe Dash lying down.

Meanwhile, in a basement there was a punching bag, with Rainbow Dash's picture, and then someone started hitting the picture hard, it was Gilda, who was wearing a white tank top, black pants, and brown sneakers, she was sweaty, but she looked furious, she kept hitting the punching bag hard.

"Damn... traitor..." said Gilda as she hit harder and harder.

Elsewhere, Lightning Dust was in her room, laying on her bed.

"So she got her friends back... maybe she can get back into sports." Lightning Dust touches her belly.

She then remembers the dodgeball game, and how hard she was hit.

"She's stronger, that might be a problem, but I'll fix it," Lightning Dust said with a smile.

Author's Note

Well, that was chapter 4, in the next chapters other characters will be more prominent, in the next one there will be more focus on Twilight, and I would also like to let you know that I published this story on Wattpad, and there will be a Spanish version.