The ride was long. Much longer than Oliver had rode before in a car.
The night had passed, and Oliver was ready to see his friends once more. It was his brother Robbie who had volunteered to drive him. It was such a long way that Oliver only had time to eat breakfast and say goodbye to his family before he had to make the long journey.
They had already gone far from the highway, and were driving the country backroads far from their home.
“How much further now, Oliver?” Robbie asked.
“Uh... Let me see: we passed the general store. We saw that broken signpost. So, there should be a turnoff coming up, and that should be a straight shot to the cabin where my friends are staying,” Oliver said, as he looked at the map that had been marked for him.
Oliver’s eyes traced the path on the map. He could almost precisely pinpoint exactly where he was from the cabin at the moment. It was only a short drive that separated him from the girls who had saved his life in a single day. What a whole summer with them could do for him, he could only imagine.
“You’re excited to see your friends again?
Robbie’s voice snapped Oliver back to reality.
“Huh? Yeah. I mean, they’re excited to see me again. I can at least return the favor can’t I?” Oliver answered.
“Is that why you got all those gifts for them?”
“What gifts? I only packed supplies I needed to bring.”
“Supplies like a birdwatcher’s wilderness guide, water balloons, and a bag full of chocolate muffins you baked yourself? Sounds like a heck of a party you’re going to.”
His brother’s laughter made Oliver uncomfortable. Even though he knew Robbie appreciated what the Rainbooms did for him, he never could understand what it really meant to him. They were the single greatest people he had met, and now he was a part of their life.
“There’s the turnoff coming up,” Oliver said, pointing to the right.
Robbie took the turn, and drive the length of the path. It was a narrow, unpaved dirt road, and after about a mile and a half of driving down it, the boys were greeted by a fantastic sight.
There was a large clearing, where fresh tire tracks were dug into the soil, as if a large vehicle had driven away earlier. Nearby, there was a large, sparkling lake, like a diamond in the sun with a pier that jutted into the water. Away from there was a walkway that led up to a cabin that had been ostentatiously decorated with rainbows and glitters that made it sparkle in the sun, almost like it was a real rainbow made manifest into a living area.
“Wow. Your friends don’t mess around with the decorations,” Robbie commented.
“I guess they take this ‘do it yourself’ thing really seriously,” Oliver added.
The boys both got out and quickly unpacked Oliver’s belongings.
“Alright. So, I don’t expect anything serious to happen, but just in case: tell your friends how they can contact me, or mom or dad. Alright?” Robbie said.
“Got it,” Oliver affirmed.
“Okay. I’m going to head back now. Have fun,” Robbie bade his brother. He climbed back into the car, turned it around and drove off.
Now, Oliver was on the threshold of was he was sure was going to be the greatest summer of his young life. With a spring in his step, he climbed up the stairs to the front porch, and strode to the front door. He rolled his wrist twice, then knocked in a musical cadence.
“Who is it?”
Oliver recognized that voice. It was Rainbow Dash. He greeted her in a way that he knew she would remember.
“A swimmer with a ripped figure,” Oliver called.
“Swimmer--?”
Oliver heard footsteps rapidly approaching the door. In about a second it swung open, revealing Rainbow Dash.
“Oliver!” She greeted him.
“Hey--Hey!” Oliver began to greet, before Rainbow Dash picked him up with one arm and playfully noogied him with the other. It ended quickly when Dash plopped him back on the ground.
“Man, did we miss you! Me and the others were just talking what we’d do if you accepted our invitation! You know, it was Pinkie’s idea to send you that in the first place?”
“I kind of guessed,” Oliver said, after he shook feeling back into his head.
“Don’t just stand there! Come in! The others are all waiting for you!” Dash said, grabbing Oliver by his wrist and escorting him inside.
Oliver was just as taken by the interior as the outside. He didn’t know how long they had been using this cabin, but they had pictures lining the painted walls, the wooden floor was laminated with a polished sheen, flowers were placed on small tables that were set out, and the central living area was furnished with a couch and some chairs and a coffee table. Most notably of all were the room’s occupants: Sunset Shimmer, with Twilight Sparkle and a new girl that Oliver didn’t recognize.
“Oliver! You came!” Sunset greeted him, before receiving him with a hug. “I knew you’d get my letter! Come here, let the others say hi.”
Oliver was passed along to Twilight, who hugged her young friend next.
“Welcome to the cabin,” she said.
“Thanks,” Oliver said. He noticed the fourth girl in the room, and introduced himself. “Hi. I’m Oliver.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Wallflower Blush,” the new girl introduced herself. “They told me all about you. And, I think they saved me the same as they did to you.”
“Really?” Wow! That’s great!” Oliver said, heartily shaking Wallflower’s hand.
Wallflower retracted her hand, but giggled at the gesture anyway.
“Where’s everybody else? Didn’t they want to come?” Oliver wondered.
“Everybody’s here, Oliver,” Twilight said. “Rarity and Applejack went to town with their sisters to go shopping for supplies.”
“Rarity and Applejack have sisters?” Oliver wondered.
“Yeah. They wanted to come along after they watched your video of us at the beach,” Dash explained. “They seemed really excited to meet you.”
Oliver smiled slightly. Even though he hadn’t met them, there were so many people who wanted to be his friend, just because. His thoughts ended when Dash pulled him aside.
“So, I was thinking,” Dash began, “Since me and Applejack didn’t spend a whole lot of time with you: we get you for some water skiing on the lake.”
“Alright. Is anyone else coming?” Oliver asked.
“Yeah. Fluttershy wants to come, because she want to go diving with you to see all the fish that live in the lake. We can start when AJ gets back from her trip.”
“Great! Because in the meantime: I have some stuff for you guys,” Oliver said.
He set down his luggage, took off his backpack, and sifted through it. From inside, he produced a plastic container full of cupcakes. Half of them were decorated with orange frosting and apples, the other half were decorated with blue frosting and lightning bolts.
“For you. For helping me.”
“Shoot! Did you make these?” Dash said, taking the container.
“Well, my sister helped. She says ‘hi,’ by the way.”
“I knew we made the right choice helping this kid,” Dash said, ruffling Oliver’s hair.
“Hey, don’t rough me up just yet. I still have gifts for everyone else,” Oliver said, reaching into his backpack to produce more items. “For Pinkie, when she shows up: some chocolate muffins. Made with love, obviously.”
The girls all laughed at the joke, before Oliver presented his next item.
For you, Twilight: some books about geodes and other kinds of rocks. It says something about semi-precious stones, but I don’t really know what that means,” Oliver said, handing the book to Twilight.
“Thank you,” Twilight said, always happy to add a new book to her collection.
Oliver presented his next gift.
“I know that Rarity likes making clothes and stuff, so I got her a catalogue of a bunch of clothes from other countries. I thought she might get some cool ideas from it.”
“You seem to know exactly what people want from just meeting them,” Sunset said, as she took the catalogue and placed it with the cupcakes.
“People say I have a gift,” Oliver explained, as he got his next gift. “Here’s something for Fluttershy. It’s a birdwatcher’s wilderness guide.”
“Wow. It’s uncanny. Fluttershy doesn’t even have any books about bird watching,” Twilight said, having read through her friend’s library before. It was placed with the other gifts.
“And you, Sunset,” Oliver said, “I know we didn’t get much of a chance to talk, but I thought a rematch sometime would be nice.”
“Rematch?” Sunset wondered.
She caught the bag that Oliver tossed to her, and read the label.
“Water balloons?”
“That shot me and Tony gave you? I figured you might want to try your luck getting back. Of course, you might not have much luck watching your back,” Oliver said with a sly smile.
Twilight and Dash laughed hysterically, while Sunset slowly sat down, remembering how leaving her butt open allowed it to be splattered with water balloons only weeks prior.
“You,” she said, pointing to Oliver, “Are going down, my little friend.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Oliver said. He then focused on Wallflower, who hadn’t received any gift at all. “I’m sorry, Wallflower, but I didn’t know you’d be here. If I knew, I would have brought you something.”
“It’s alright. I don’t mind,” Wallflower meekly said. “But, if you wanted to do something for me, you could come see the garden patch I’ve started out back.”
Oliver couldn’t see any reason not to. It would be a good way to get acquainted with the new arrival. Plus, it was something to do before Applejack and Rarity returned from their errands.
“Alright. Let’s do it,” Oliver said.
Wallflower didn’t actually say anything. She only smiled widely and guided Oliver away by his wrist.
It was impressive, to say the least. Oliver was taken behind the cabin, and was shown a small patch of greenery that had been planted there. Among the leafy plants were flower buds that added color to the many shades of verdant plants. Not only were there plants, but insects that darted about. Butterflies fluttered about, ladybugs skittered from leaf to leaf. One ladybug in particular had to fly away, as a praying mantis suddenly sprang from the foliage to strike. Beetles crawled out from underneath the leaves and felt their way through the moist soil. A spider had just finished setting up it’s webbing, when a pesky fly buzzed into it.
“Well. This is it,” Wallflower said. “I know it’s not much, but I just started it. But, I think if I can make something really special, if I work hard on it.”
“I think it’s amazing,” Oliver said, as he touched his finger to a leaf, and allowed a ladybug to crawl onto it.
“You really think so?”
“Sure. This is just like the kind of stuff my sister likes to do when she helps my mom in the garden back home. You know, you two might get along if you met,” Oliver said, letting the ladybug walk to his other hand.
“What’s your sister’s name?” Wallflower wondered.
“Mela.”
“Well, Mela sounds really nice.”
“She is. I think when we’re done here for the summer, you should meet her, and start a garden together.”
Oliver allowed his ladybug to buzz back to the surface of a large leaf. He looked at the garden, and then to the little red beetle, which was grooming itself with its front legs.
“Hey, you know what would be really good to have in this garden?” Oliver said.
“Well, I was thinking it kind of needed some more color to it. I really like marigolds, so I thought I’d plant some of those one of these days,” Wallflower answered.
“Well, some color would be nice. But, not just from the plants. Look at all these little bugs crawling around. If you invited some of the good ones to live here, they could add some life to the garden too.”
“That’s a great idea,” Wallflower said. “But, how?
“My mom says planting herbs like chives and dill attract ladybugs. And marigolds too. And if you grow something like oregano, some more praying mantises might come to hide under them. Then, place some decorative pedestals in the sun, so butterflies can rest on them and notice the colorful flowers. And put a tiny dish of water and pebbles somewhere for the bugs to drink. Also, a hummingbird feeder would help to attract some birds that could keep the pest population down.”
“Did you learn all of that from your mom?”
“Actually, Mela told me all of that. Mom read it to her from a book she got from school.”
“I’m definitely going to need to talk to your sister,” Wallflower answered with a beaming smile.
There came the sound of approaching footsteps from around the corner. Rainbow Dash appeared, already wearing her swimsuit.
“Hey, Oliver, Applejack’s back. She says she wants to start water skiing with you,” Dash reported.
Oliver had been looking forward to spending some quality time with Dash and Applejack, but stopped shortly when he looked back to Wallflower.
“Okay. But, I think I want to finish up with Wallflower first,” Oliver said.
“It’s alright. You can go with them. I know you weren’t expecting me, and already had plans with the others. Besides, I have a new project to set up for us to do now,” Wallflower explained.
“Well, alright,” Oliver said, not completely comfortable with leaving Wallflower alone so prematurely.
“You hear that? She’ll be fine. Let’s go hit the wake,” Dash said, guiding Oliver away.
Before he left, the boy looked over his shoulder, and saw Wallflower gently sifting her hands through the garden greenery.
“You don’t have to worry about her, little dude. She’s fine on her own. In fact, she’s probably trying to figure out how to make that garden special, just for you,” Dash said.
“You think so?” Oliver asked. “I still feel like she would have liked to join us on the lake.”
“Believe me, she’s a lot happier in her garden than she is water skiing,” Dash said, recalling Wallflower’s disastrous attempt at the sport.
They made their way to the pier, where they met with Applejack, who had also already changed into her swimsuit. At the moment, she was sharing the remainder of the cupcakes that Oliver made for her with another girl also in a swimsuit, who Oliver didn’t recognize. One who was almost the same age as himself. Applejack’s sister, Oliver thought.
The younger girl took an enormous bite of her cupcake, and saw Rainbow Dash coming with Oliver.
“Mm--Applejack? Is that him?” The young girl asked through her mouthful.
Applejack glanced in the direction that was pointed, and swallowed her bite with a beaming smile.
“Well, if it ain’t little Oliver,” she greeted him with a pat on his shoulder. “How ya been, pardner?”
“Better, since I met you guys,” Oliver answered.
“That goes without sayin’. I watched yer video at least a hundred times since we shot it. I swear, it gets better every time.” Applejack then motioned to the young girl with her. “I don’t think ya met my sister yet. This here’s Apple Bloom. The youngest member o’ the Apple family.”
“Hi. I’m Oliver,” the boy introduced himself, extending a hand for a shake. What he received, however, felt like more than simply that.
Apple Bloom firmly grasped both of his hands in both of her own, and pumped her arms up and down like she was drilling for oil.
“How-dee, Oliver! It’s a pleasure makin’ yer acquaintance!” Apple Bloom said.
Apple Bloom let go, allowing Oliver to shake feeling back into his arm.
“Uh, nice to meet you too,” Oliver said, taking a quick step back from the girl. “So, we’re supposed to be water skiing?”
“Sounds like Dash already brought ya up to speed. Ya know how to do it?” Applejack asked.
“No,” Oliver said, shaking his head.
“Then, that’s what we’re here for,” Apple Bloom declared. She dragged Oliver away by his arm, “Come on. Me an’ the others picked up some trunks in case ya came. Let’s get ya changed, an’ hit the lake!”