//------------------------------// // Chapter one // Story: I can steal horses with you // by Avellana //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash walked with a spring in her step out of the main entrance doors to Canterlot University. Her mid length polychromatic hair blew behind her in the brisk autumn breeze, and she pulled her leather jacket closer around her in an attempt to stave off the chill. The main yard was mostly empty at this time, and the few stragglers that remained were on their way home for the night. Dash sighed and smiled softly to herself as she took out her ear buds and phone, putting her playlist on shuffle for the short walk to where she’d abandoned her bike: abandoned being the best way to describe her apparent lack of ability to use parking spaces as Applejack had once said, usually just leaving it in the first space she found. She hummed along softly to the music as she made her way around the side of the building to the student parking spaces, skipping slightly as she kicked up the piles of fallen leaves along the path. She quickly reached the car park and managed to pick her bike out among the few vehicles that were left, its bright red paint job glinting softly under the golden sunlight. Upon reaching her bike, Dash fumbled around in her pocket for her keys, setting her backpack down as she did so. Once she’d found them she took her ear buds out and unlocked the storage compartment under the seat, retrieving her helmet and gloves, replacing them with her phone and bag. She snapped the compartment shut, and swung herself up on the bike, firing up the engine as she did. The bike roared to life beneath her, the sound sending an electric buzz though her entire body, a smile finding its way onto her face without having to try. She revved the engine a few times, before fixing her helmet securely and sliding her gloves over her pale hands. She took off down the car park, the smile never leaving her face as she raced down and out of the school grounds. She tore down the main road out of town, weaving between the traffic as her face shifted from smirking to childlike giggling. The rest of the world faded away as she raced out of town, allowing her mind to revel in the euphoria of it all, the electric feeling coursing through her veins made all the better by the picturesque evening surrounding her. She kicked down into the highest gear once she was clear of the suburbs, the engine of her sports bike deafening her as she flew down the empty road towards her target. As her mind began to clear from the initial adrenaline rush, her smirk began to falter, dancing delicately between a frown and a smirk, before settling on a small smile. As much as she would of liked to deny it, she couldn’t help feeling nervous. The sun was just beginning to go down behind the hills, the trees sporadically lining the roadside casting long shadows on the faded tarmac surface. The whispy clouds in the sky were stained salmon pink against the fading blue sky, the whole scene somehow creating a thin veil of nostalgia in Dash’s mind. It wasn’t often Dash had to plan out what she wanted to say. She usually just made things up on the fly, which for the most part had worked out just fine, her blasé attitude to most of life working perfectly so far. She took one hand from the handlebars, and felt against her front pocket, a wide smile creeping onto her face when she felt the small box through the jacket, safely secured and zipped away. She kept her hand there for no more than a few seconds, quickly returning it to the handlebars as she approached the upcoming bend in the road. She took it at an angle, the empty roads allowing her to swing out of her lane as she took the corner wide. Her smirk returned as she did this, reminding Dash of the summer nights when she had taken AJ out for thrill rides on these very same roads. Dash chuckled as she remembered how AJ screamed whenever she took a corner too tight, and how she thumped Dash’s side with a fist once they were out of the corners. She could almost hear the sound of Applejack’s voice, the feeling of her arms wrapped around her body with her head resting on Dash’s shoulder as she sped along the empty roads. For just a moment, Dash felt as if she was there again with Applejack, back in those long summer nights the two had shared. She couldn’t help but smile goofily at the thought. “Ich kann mit dir Pferde stehlen” Dash mumbled softly, going over the phrase in her head as she drove along. Dash wasn’t always the most thoughtful person. She would often say the wrong thing at the wrong time, or come across quite rude and dismissive to those who didn’t know her well. She struggled with expressing how she felt a lot of the time, and often muddled her words. Despite this, she settled on those six words, her bikes engine roaring as she pushed it faster and faster towards her target, Applejacks farm. ———————————————————— It began to rain lightly as Dash pulled onto the long gravel driveway up towards Sweet Apple Acres, her bike skidding slightly as she hit the gravel too quickly. After a brief moment of panic she managed to get control again, and slowed down considerably as she made her way up the drive. The sun had set by the time she arrived, and small, shimmering traces of stars were beginning to emerge in between the grey clouds. She rested her hand against her leg as she made her day up, stretching her legs out after the long ride over. Looking over to the farm yard she could see the lights on in both the house and the barn where the Apple family stored the feed and hay for their animals. Although Apples were their main crop, they also had the usual assortment of farm animals, as well as 3 horses that Rainbow Dash and Applejack would go out on when they got the time together. As she reached the yard the rain began to fall heavier, threatening to soak her through (her jacket had proven time and time again to be no match for rain). She quickly parked up her bike beside what she assumed was Big Macs truck, and took off her helmet, glad to get some fresh air. Dash quickly tousled her hair, before kicking her bike onto its stand and swinging off it, proceeding to jog over to the cover of the porch, not wanting to get completely soaked by the now heavy rain. She shook her head in an effort to dry her hair a little, and unzipped her jacket, taking her gloves off and shoving them into her pockets. Dash drew in a shaky breath, her nerves threatening to get the better of her, before letting it out again, closing her eyes as she did. The rain drummed down on the roof of the porch, matching her hearts beating as she opened her eyes and knocked on the door