Spike slid a hot cup of tea in front of Rainbow’s muzzle. “Thanks,” she said absently.
“No problem,” said Spike. He waddled around to where his miniature throne faced the map table, set a cup of his own down on a place mat and a comic book beside it, then back out to the kitchen again.
Rainbow returned her attention to the table. A faded, monochrome version of Equestria flickered above it, and to one side of it two symbols were circling around a spot on the map in a tight orbit. One was to be expected: the purple star cluster indicating the owner of the map, the realm’s youngest princess, the most powerful mage in all the Kingdoms of Equestria, the Element of Magic, little Miss Adventure herself. If anything, it was surprising the map hadn’t called on her more often.
The other symbol orbiting the little symbolic valley was a trio of butterflies, representing the least adventurous mare Rainbow had ever met.
Rainbow watched them, her eyes flicking rhythmically back and forth as they spun.
Spike came back with a bowl of mixed gems for himself and a crunchy salad that he put in front of Rainbow. He propped a pillow on the back of his throne and settled himself into place.
“Thanks,” she said, taking a bite. After swallowing she nodded to his throne and added, “That’s a cozy nest you’ve got set up.”
“Yeah, it helps to have a routine,” said the little dragon sagely. He wriggled to get comfortable. His tail made chair mechanics complicated. “Your first time, right?”
Rainbow frowned. “Hmm?” she murmured through a mouthful of lettuce. “First time?”
“I mean, your first time sitting at home waiting while somepony else goes and has the dangerous adventure.”
“Oh.” Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, I’m usually the one doing the adventuring.”
“Do you remember the first time you all went on an adventure together – when you went to face Nightmare Moon?”
Rainbow smirked. “Yeah. We really kicked her flank! That was awesome.” She caught sight of Spike’s serious expression and added soberly, “But maybe not for you, I suppose.”
“I was really worried that time. I spent the whole night walking circles round the library. There are still scratch marks on the…” His grin fell and he sighed quietly, remembering the fate of the library. “Well, I suppose there aren’t any more,” he amended. “But since then Twilight’s stood up to Discord, Chrysalis, Tirek, hydras, sand worms, ursas. Even that ‘bugbear’ thing, whatever that was.”
“Yeah, for an egghead, she does manage to get us into a lot of trouble. It kinda feels normal now, you know? You must have gotten used to it too, right?” she asked cheerfully. “It’s not like you have to sit around worrying about her like that whenever she goes away – not every time?”
“Every time,” confirmed Spike quietly. He took a sip of tea, avoiding Rainbow’s gaze. “It, uh. It helps to make yourself comfortable, and find ways to pass the time. I’m sure you could borrow one of Twilight’s Daring Do books if you want? This is a library, when it’s not being a castle, even if it’s not a very well stocked one yet.”
Rainbow shook her head. “I’ll just wait. This time.” She returned to staring at the map. “Where is it they’ve gone?” she asked.
“The Smokey Mountains,” said Spike.
“Never heard of them.”
“Me either.” He leant forward and traced the route from Ponyville on the map. “It’s somewhere a long way to the west, but nopony much lives there.”
“Is there lots of dangerous stuff between here and there?”
Spike shrugged. “Not really. And they’re going by balloon, so I don’t think they need to worry about that.”
Rainbow stared intently at the map. “I hope they’re okay.”
“Hey, Flutters, you in here?” Rainbow pushed open the door to Fluttershy’s bedroom and was brought to an abrupt halt by what she saw there.
Zephyr Breeze spluttered as he pulled his lips away, hastily forming a nervous grin. “Whoa, hey there, Rainbows! Come here to brighten up my day?” Gilda, perched atop him, curled her talons into a fist and punched Zephyr’s stomach. “Oomph!”
“What are you here for, Dash?” she asked, lifting her head up. “Yer kinda interrupting us.” Her hindquarters remained sprawled unceremoniously over Zephyr’s. Their tails, braided together, flicked lightly back and forth over the pillow.
“Whu… but… how does that even…”
“Yeah, yeah, interspecies hankie-pankie,” said Gilda with a dismissive wave of her talons. “Get over it. We’re not Junior Speedsters any more. So what’re you here for?” she repeated.
Rainbow Dash shuddered, and did her best to file what she was seeing under ‘things to freak out about later’. “I was looking for Fluttershy. This being, y’know, her bedroom.”
Zephyr coughed. “Wait, is it? We, er, didn’t notice.”
Rainbow looked around at the excessively feminine decor, dominated by yellows and pinks. The duvet the two of them were rolling on was decorated with hundreds of little pink butterflies, as were the curtains. The pictures on the wall showed an assortment of cute bunnies, little birds, adorable mice and so on. The hand-carved wooden sign hanging on the door said ‘Fluttershy’, and was also decorated with butterflies. “Right,” she snarked, “didn’t notice.”
“Hey, you could join us and ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!” he exclaimed as Gilda bit down on his ear.
“So, yeah, where is she?” asked Rainbow impatiently.
Releasing Zephyr’s ear, Gilda replied, “Her and the folks are off looking at a new house for her.”
Rainbow frowned. “A new house? She never told me she was moving. Where to?”
“Ponyville,” said Zephyr, nursing his ear.
Rainbow paused. “…Where?”
“Raaarg!” Rainbow pushed the little model manticore forwards around the peaks of the Arimaspi mountains.
The cluster of little gryphon models were made to back off. “Curses! You have tricked us!”
The manticore was nudged forwards into the middle of the group. “Raarrr!”
A model representing a flock of black birds was pushed down from the direction of Appleloosa. The gryphons rejoiced, “Huzzah, the corvids have come to save us!”
“Does Spike know you’re playin’ with those?” asked Applejack, trotting in. “Ah’m fairly sure he’d be miffed to find them missing.”
“He said it was fine.”
“Well, okay then.” She hopped into her own throne. “Ah thought he lost all his comics and stuff when the library got blown up?”
“He said these were a present from Shining Armor, to make up for that.”
“That’s awful nice of him.”
“Yeah, they’re a cool family. So what are you doing up here?”
“Hiding from mah family,” replied Applejack with an embarrassed smirk. “Mind if Ah just hang out here for a bit?”
“Go ahead. You’re having a fight with Big Mac?”
“Nah, just Apple Bloom. And we ain’t fightin’, exactly. She got some weird ideas about rock farming in her head, ever since we spent Hearth’s Warming with the Pies.”
“And she won’t shut up about it, right?”
“Can’t believe Ah used to think she’d calm down once she got her cutie mark.” She shook her head. “Still, Ah’m sure if Ah can just wait her out, she’ll move onto something else and forget all about it.”
“Good luck with that. Those three can be pretty persistent when they want to be.” She nudged the manticore forward to attack the flock of birds. “Raaar!”
Applejack looked past Rainbow at the tattered remains of a miniature cloud hovering near the table, the elongated wisps evidence of how she’d failed to get comfortable. A small puddle of rainwater pooled on the floor beneath it, slowly evaporating.
“So what exactly are ya doin’ here?”
“Just waiting.”
Applejack frowned. “Waitin’ fer what?”
“For Fluttershy and Twilight to get back.”
Applejack looked down at the glowing contours. “Looks like the map’s still doin’ its thing. Don’t that mean they’re still workin’ on it?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Then when they’ve done whatever it is they went there for, they still need to fly all the way back here?”
“Yup.”
“So they’re not gonna be gettin’ back for at least a few days?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re waiting for them anyway?”
“Pretty much.”
“Okay then.” Applejack sat still for a few seconds, a quiet grin spreading across her face.
Rainbow spared her occasional glances, getting increasingly irked by the loud silence, until she eventually she called out, “Stop that!”
Applejack raised an eyebrow in mock innocence. “Stop what, sugarcube?”
“It isn’t like that!”
“Like what?”
Rainbow leapt up and bucked a tuft of cloud at Applejack, who tried to dive out of her chair but wasn’t quick enough to avoid a splash to the face.
Applejack tipped her hat forwards, caught it in her teeth, threw it at Rainbow Dash, then ducked under the table. Rainbow looked to the opposite side of the table, but Applejack emerged from a different side than she expected, darted to the side of the room, leapt into the air, kicked off a wall and body slammed Rainbow, shoving her back into her own cloud.
She landed on the table with a scramble of all four hooves. Looking up, she took a step to the left, and allowed the hat to flutter neatly down onto her head.
She was then deluged as the remains of the cloud gave up their vaporous form and rained down upon her.
They both collapsed in giggles. Rainbow gasped, drew a deep breath, and asked, “Hey, how does rock farming work, anyway?”
Applejack shook her head, scattering rainwater across the room. “Don’t get me started.”
Rainbow was awoken by a staccato tapping at her window shortly before dawn. “Is that a bird or something? Can’t be a tree up here.” She flowed out of bed onto the floor, stumbled over to the window, and pushed it open, admonishment on her lips.
Without warning, her bedroom was invaded by a flock of birds, big and small, sleek and fluffy, fast and darting and fat and languorous and erratic and colourful and above all, loud!
“Gyaah!” Rainbow backed up to evade their agitated clamouring, flapping her own wings to escape more quickly. She wound up perched on three hooves atop the headboard of her bed.
“What? What’s going on? It’s the middle of the night, I was asleep, dang it. Why are you even up here?”
She got no reply more intelligible than a cacophony of squawking, chittering, chirping and hooting.
“Stop that! I don’t understand that racket, you know I’m not Fluttershy.” At the mention of her friend’s name, the noise redoubled.
“All right, all right!” she shouted. “I’ll come!”
Soon after she landed at the door of Fluttershy’s cottage and trotted inside. Angel shut the door behind her. “Thanks, little guy.” He nodded, his expression serious, and pointed up the stairs. Around the room various critters watched pensively.
Rainbow climbed halfway up the stairs, far enough to see the mound of blankets wrapped around the vague form of a pony, and to hear quiet sobbing.
She cleared her throat. “Fluttershy?” she said quietly.
The sobs caught, as if she was holding her breath.
“Fluttershy, what happened? Was somepony mean to you?”
“No,” came the muffled reply.
“What then?”
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry.”
Rainbow cast her eyes across the horde of assembled creatures watching her from perches around the living room, their hundreds of eyes tracking her in the predawn gloom. “Your animals don’t think it’s nothing. They’re really worried about you.”
“Oh.” She paused. “I’m sorry, everyanimal. Please don’t be upset.”
Oh, sweet Celestia, Fluttershy could be really hard work sometimes. Rainbow settled down onto the top of the staircase, her chin resting on the floor of the bedroom. This was going to be a long one. “Are you still worried about the dragon?” she asked.
“Yes,” replied Fluttershy, then, “No.”
“He’s not coming back, you know. We showed him good. We all watched him fly off.”
A mumbled whimper came in reply.
“What was that?”
Fluttershy’s muzzle poked out from the bundle of blankets, looking more grey than yellow in the dim predawn light. “That’s not it.”
“What else is there to worry about? He’s gone, the town is saved, all wrapped up. We go home and let Pinkie throw a party.”
The muzzle pulled back under the shade of the blanket. “I was… useless. Everypony was counting on me to do something, and I just… held you all back.”
“Seriously? Fluttershy, you were incredible. You totally stood up to that dragon.”
Fluttershy gasped and pulled her muzzle back under the covers.
“I mean, you flew right up to that massive, fire-breathing dragon, stood on his nose, trotted up to his eyes and told him what for!”
A whimper emerged from the bed.
“And that guy was enormous! It could totally have swallowed any of us in a single bite, and you weren’t even scared or anything!”
The trembling from under the blankets suggested this pep talk wasn’t having quite the intended effect.
Rainbow held her hoof on the top step, on the verge of going closer. She thought back on the day’s adventure, on the arduous climb up the mountain, on the difficulty they’d faced getting Fluttershy to move. On the ways they had to hurry her, on the things she said…
“I’m sorry,” she murmured.
Fluttershy’s muzzle emerged again with a soft rustle. “What?”
“I said I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… been so rude about you earlier.”
The muzzle shook from side to side. “Don’t be sorry, Rainbow. I’ve been called much worse things before.”
“But I told the others we should leave you. I said you’d hold us back.”
“And I did. You were right, Rainbow, I was nothing but trouble for you all day.”
“You saved the day, Fluttershy! You—” Rainbow flinched as a pillow soared over her head, bounced down the stairs and skidded to a stop next to the kitchen door. She backed down a step.
“You were right!” shouted Fluttershy through her blankets. “You said everypony should leave me behind, and you were right. I just held you all back.”
Rainbow settled back down on the top step. She picked carefully around her words. “I… said all that for you.”
Silence.
“I knew you didn’t want to go up there. I knew you were scared of dragons. So I told Twilight you’d slow us down, so she’d leave you behind. I thought that’d be easier for you. But she didn’t listen and I guess I got carried away. I didn’t… mean to hurt you. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, Rainbow. I’m sorry. I didn’t understand what you were doing. I thought you really did want me to stay behind, so I did all the things you said I would. I let myself be useless.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t trust myself.”
Rainbow’s eyes shot open as she was booted from behind by a small but surprisingly powerful impact. She whipped around to see a very impatient Angel pointing insistently up at Fluttershy’s bedroom. “Okay, okay,” she whispered.
Keeping her body low and her steps muted, she crept up to the bed. Resting one hoof on the side of the mattress, she quietly asked, “Friends?”
Fluttershy lifted the sheets to reveal her eyes, tears shimmering in the darkness. “Friends,” she confirmed with a sniff. She reached out to lay a hoof over Rainbow’s. “I don’t know if I could do anything without you, Rainbow Dash. You’ve always been there for me.”
Rainbow smiled, feeling the warmth of Fluttershy’s fetlock through her own. “You can count on me.”
“There you are, darling. Everypony’s been looking for you.”
“Hey. Found me,” said Rainbow absently, lifting a wing in greeting. She was slouched in her throne in the crystal map room, her head on her hooves, which rested on the edge of the table. She was still staring at the map.
Rarity slipped into her own throne, taking care that her tail was positioned just right. “Tell me, Rainbow Dash, are you feeling all right?”
“I’m fine, Rares. Hunky-dorey.”
“That is good to hear. That said, you might want to let the weather team know that as well. It seems they’re in quite a state without you.”
“I’m not on duty today,” she defended. “And they know I might have to run off and do Elementy stuff any day, so I’m sure they can set up a little storm like that without me.”
“Are you certain? Because apparently they had to draft my masseur in to help.”
Rainbow spared a glance out the window, taking in the roiling storm clouds edging over town. It did all look a bit amateurish. She’d probably have to chastise somepony about that later.
“Hey, good point, isn’t it usually your spa day?” she asked.
“Ordinarily it would be,” said Rarity while idly examining a hoof, “but with Fluttershy away on her little adventure it doesn’t quite feel the same.”
Rainbow returned to staring at the map. “I know the feeling. Are you here hiding from your little sister too?”
Rarity scowled. “Quite the opposite. I’m afraid Sweetie Belle is grounded right now.”
Rainbow chuckled. “What’d she do? Make a mess of your workroom? Waste your material? Freak out a snobby client?”
“If only. I caught her smooching with a colt this afternoon.”
Rainbow snapped to attention, looking at Rarity for the first time. “Whoa, seriously? Which one?”
“That drab earth pony that’s always playing on the arcades,” said Rarity with obvious distaste.
Rainbow leaned forward, a broad grin on her face. “Where was it? When? What happened?”
Rarity was fuming. “Barely an hour ago. They were both around the back of Sugarcube Corner, lips locked together,” she spat. “Honestly, it was nothing but luck that I happened to catch them. Sweetie swore it was their first time, but can I really believe her?”
“What about the colt? Did you let him go?”
“Much as I’d have relished gelding him, I doubt I could explain that to his mother,” she muttered. “Besides, he moved surprisingly quickly.”
Rainbow was lapping it up. “Wow, I guess little Sweetie’s growing up already!”
“Rainbow Dash!” exclaimed Rarity. “I don’t feel you’re treating this with the gravitas it deserves.”
“Oh, come on, Rares, don’t be so hard on her. You never fooled around like that as a filly?”
“I certainly did not! A gentlemare should never squander her charms on cheap lust. Are you telling me you flew around getting intimate with every colt in town?”
“No way! I was way too busy being the fastest filly around. Besides, the colts in Cloudsdale were all jerks.”
“I see. Come to think of it, I don’t believe any of the six of us have had much interest in romantic matters. Aside from some, ahem, brief encounters best overlooked.” She thought for a moment, then leaned in. “So tell me, how would you feel if little Scootaloo were to start acting like that, hmm?”
“Scootaloo? What’s she got do with anything?”
Rarity looked honestly surprised. “She clearly thinks of you as her big sister, Rainbow Dash. She looks up to you, whether you realise it or not.”
Rainbow Dash shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I… yeah, I guess. She does follow me around a lot.”
“So as her surrogate big sister, what would you think if you caught her misbehaving like that?”
Rainbow scrunched up her face and made a series of ‘thinking really hard’ poses. “Yeah, I really can’t see it. It just doesn’t seem like something the kid would do.”
“Nor did I expect behaviour like that from Sweetie Belle, at least not for a few more years.”
“Well, maybe we’re both wrong,” said Rainbow with a shrug.
“I beg your pardon? You can’t possibly be suggesting you think Sweetie’s old enough to be ready for such intimacy?”
“Maybe not now, but soon enough, you know? They won’t be foals forever.”
“And if she makes a mistake? Or a horribly bad choice? Something she’ll regret for the rest of her life?”
“Then she’ll learn from it and do better. That’s what being a kid’s all about, right?”
“I suppose so,” said Rarity reluctantly. “Especially with those three; they seem intent on making every mistake possible.”
“And when they come back and need us, we’ll be waiting for them.”
Rarity followed Rainbow’s eyes to the cutie marks still circling on the map. “I can see you’ve been thinking about this.”
“A little,” confirmed Rainbow.
Rarity gave her a few seconds to say anything more before asking, “You’re worried about her, aren’t you?”
Rainbow murmured an indecipherable acknowledgement.
“You could have gone with them, you know? I’m sure Twilight would have welcomed the company.”
Rainbow shook her head. “Nope,” she said decisively, “Fluttershy needs to do this one without me.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “That’s surprisingly definite.”
“Yeah, well. It’s her first time going on an adventure without me. Her first chance to really shine. I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I took that away from her, right?”
“Hmm.” Rarity gave her a few seconds before clearing her throat. “Well, I’m very glad that’s sorted. Now hop to, Rainbow. You’re joining me for a hooficure.”
Rainbow jerked up in alarm. “Actually, I should probably go help them with that storm—” She leapt into the air, only to find her tail pinned telekinetically to the throne, forcing her to flutter in place.
“Nonsense. A lady really should take better care of herself.”
“But I’m not a lady!” protested Rainbow.
“So I can see,” insisted Rarity as she dragged the frantically flapping pegasus out the door. “Let’s fix that.”
Rainbow paused outside the door, taking a series of deep breaths. She raised her hoof to knock—
“Rainbow Dash, get your tail in here!”
So much for being prepared. She took a deep breath and stepped inside. The principal was standing by his desk with a familiar piece of parchment in his hooves.
“Have a seat.” He indicated a cloud couch. “It’s about your career path. We think you must have made a mistake on the form.”
Yup, here it was. “A mistake?”
“It says here you want to work with the weather team in Ponyville.”
“That’s right.”
The old grey stallion looked at her over the top of his glasses. “Perhaps you aren’t aware of this, Miss Dash, but you’re among the most promising candidates this school has produced in a very long time.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m awesome!” she said smugly.
He coughed, ignoring her youthful arrogance. “Even so, what you may not know is that we’ve been approached by winghunters from all the major weather companies hoping to recruit you, as well as the state emergency relief, the royal rangers, and even the EUP. No matter which you choose, you have a glittering career laid out for you here in Cloudsdale. In fact, if you just work on your fine control, you could even be a Wonderbolt some day.”
Rainbow felt her resolve harden. “I sure will.”
“You honestly plan to try for the Wonderbolts?”
“Absolutely!”
“So then, why would you want to be consigned to some grubby little mud-pony backwater that nopony’s even heard of?” he asked in exasperation.
Not for the first time, the older stallion slipped in a casual slur against the ground-bound, and Rainbow had to make herself swallow her comeback. She had other business here today, and getting into an argument about it wouldn’t help. Instead she readied the fib she’d rehearsed. “I’d like to broaden my horizons. See more of the world outside Cloudsdale. And the Everfree border teams are always after talented pegasi to help them deal with all the wild weather they get there.”
He took off his glasses and rested them atop her scribbled questionnaire. “This is about Fluttershy, isn’t it?”
Okay, so much for lying. Taking a deep breath, she replied, “Yeah.”
The stallion leant forwards. “Look, I know you’ve been looking after her since you two came to this school, and that’s a good thing. But graduation is a time for everypony to move on. Both of you have to make your own lives now. You graduated flight camp with flying colours, despite your refusal to address the theoretical aspects of flight, while Fluttershy barely passed at all. You have to realise that sticking with your friend now will only hold you back.” He gestured outside. “Everything that could be yours, that should be yours, will instead go to some other, less-qualified pony. All the things you deserve – respect, a position of responsibility, even a shot at the Wonderbolts – you’re going to watch them all sail right past you.”
Rainbow said nothing. She knew it was all true.
“It’s time for you to decide what’s more important to you, Rainbow Dash. Pursuing your career, or staying loyal to your friend.”
Rainbow landed on the parapet, then hopped down to the floor. The cold, angular crystals were a marked contrast to her soft, fluffy cloud home.
To one side of the balcony was a worn wooden table, various papers held in place by a paperweight and fluttering in the breeze. On the other side were a few cushions. By the parapet stood Twilight’s new telescope, among the first belongings she’d replaced.
Rainbow leant over the parapet, holding one hoof over her eyes to shield it from the sunlight. Squinting at the western horizon, she located the distant balloon making its way slowly over the mountains.
Her wingtips twitched. She was not going to fly to them. She was not going to cut Fluttershy’s adventure short. She was not going to undermine the progress her friend had made in the last few years. Unless they were in any kind of danger, of course.
But if she happened to walk past a telescope and catch a glimpse of them in the distance, nopony could blame her for that, right?
She looked quickly about, up, down, around the doorframe. Kneeling down, she put her eye to the telescope, nudging it until it pointed at the approaching balloon.
In the balloon’s gondola she could make out Fluttershy and Twilight, as little specks of purple, pink and yellow. She turned one of the dials that made it blurry, then tried the other way until they came into focus.
Twilight Sparkle was talking. Rainbow couldn’t hear what she was saying, of course, but she seemed very enthusiastic about it. Fluttershy was listening attentively, a smile on her face. At something Twilight said, they both laughed.
Rainbow looked up. Well, they were safe at least. She didn’t need to go flying off to save them or anything.
More than that, Fluttershy looked happy. Not traumatised, sobbing on the floor of the gondola. Not hiding under the picnic basket. Not frozen rigid in place. Rainbow didn’t know what sort of adventure the two of them had been on – she would get the details soon enough – but whatever happened, it looked like Fluttershy was… fine with it.
Well, Rainbow could be fine with it too. She would wait here, greet them with everypony else, listen to their story, laugh and gasp at all the right moments, then let her friend go home to her animals for the night.
She might find a nearby cloud to sleep on, though. Just in case.