//------------------------------//
// An Aside 
// Story: When Worlds Collide... 
// by Dreadnought 
//------------------------------//

The group exited the library and entered the torrent of a large crowd that refused to disperse.  Declining to answer questions, the group pushed through to the open street.  Angel turned and hopped down the road to the animal sanctuary.  Hitching herself to the wagon, Applejack trotted off to the market.  And Rarity started off towards her boutique, the others in tow.

“Big Mac?  Can I... speak to you for a minute in private?” asked Rainbow Dash quietly.

The others stopped in their tracks.

“Uh – sure.”  Turning to the other three ponies, he said, “Go on.  Ah’ll catch up.”  

Rarity nodded and shepherded the others off to her home.  

Rainbow led Big Mac to a back alley, where they could expect a semblance of privacy.  She shifted uneasily, looking down at the ground.  

“So... the Rainbow Dash you slept with last night....”

“Was mah wife,” he finished.

“Big Mac, I’m... sorry about earlier.  I –”

“Ah forgive ya,” he said calmly.

She looked up into his eyes.  “How can you so easily?  After all the terrible things I said.”

“Ah know it was a shock to find me in your bed.  You had ev’ry right to be angry.  Ah’m sorry Ah yelled too.”

She let slip a trace of a smile and he turned away.

“Big Mac?”

Never looking back, he said, “Ah’m sorry.  You... you just remind me too much of her.”

“I’m sorry too.”

Looking off towards the road, he said, “Ah’d best be catching up with the others.”

“Yeah.  I’m late for the Wonderbolts anyways.  So... I guess I’ll see you around?”

“Eeyup,” his voice cracked.

Rainbow Dash took off into the sky, soaring higher and higher.  She flew towards the Wonderbolt training facility but then circled back around.  Looking down, she saw Big Mac still in the alley, head hung low.  She frowned and continued to circle, but finally shook her head and resumed her course to the horizon at full speed.