Beneath the snow covered fields of Sweet Apple Acres, a single light fixture swayed to and fro, illuminating a small room filled with apples. The eerie lighting had left half of the room mostly unlit. Matt had followed Applejack down there at her request.
"Remind me again why we're in your creepy cellar?" he asked.
"I already told ya. It's a surprise!" she replied.
He sighed. He had learned to grow wary of pony surprises. At the very least, AJ didn't seem to totally hate him anymore. He could barely see her with the room's terrible lighting and he could hear her rummaging around in… something. He heard the distinctive sound of glass clinking together.
"Aha! Here we go…" exclaimed Applejack. She picked something up with her mouth and brought it into the light. "Now, this here is the good stuff!" she said, setting it down.
It appeared to be a cardboard carrying device cradling six glass bottles, all of which had an apple logo on one side.
"Good stuff?" he asks.
"Yup. Traditionally made Apple family cider!" she said proudly.
He stood there, seemingly unimpressed.
"So… it's just apple cider?"
"Just apple ci-! This is the best apple cider in all Equestria!"
He quickly realized that he offended her.
"My apologies, I-I didn't realize. Why are you giving me this?" he asked.
"Consider it payment for helping me the other day. Cider season's long gone, but we saved a coupla batches down here."
He placed the six-pack of cider into his bag.
"I see. Thank you, Applejack."
"Don't mention it. Now we're even." She replied.
They went topside and headed their separate ways, Matt heading towards the center of Ponyville. While he was grateful for the gift, he was a little disappointed that it hadn't taken up more time. It was still midday and he didn't want to go back to the library just yet. He walked through the center of town, surprised to see a lot of ponies still out and about despite the chilly weather.
He eventually found his way to his favorite bench, which was amazingly clean of snow. He took a seat and continued to observe the populace. The hustle and bustle was as persistent as ever, though one thing caught his eye. It was a tree, one of the mid-sized ones in the town square. The strange thing is that it was completely clean of snow and hadn't withered completely yet.
He approached the incredibly out of place plant and began to hear what sounded like snoring. As he got closer, the pieces all fell together. Rainbow Dash lay asleep on a branch, pillow and blanket included. She'd probably kept the tree clear of snow specifically to nap on. He shook his head and smiled slyly. Even when asleep, she moved around a lot. Since he himself hated to be woken up prematurely, he decided to let her sleep. Though, he was hoping she could provide some sort of distraction.
Just as he turned, he heard what sounded like a yawn and the sound of the branch bending. He apparently didn't have to be the one wake her up. He turned back to see her rubbing her head tiredly.
"Busy day, Rainbow?" he called out.
"Oh, haha…" she replies tiredly, slowly turning her head to face him.
She squinted a bit, eyes adjusting to the light. "I'm surprised to see you out of the library… alone."
"I thought it would be nice to get some fresh air for a change. What are you up to?" he asked.
She had since flown down and landed on solid ground. "Oh, you know. Enjoying my time off."
"So you're free today?" he asked, smiling at the idea of something to alleviate boredom.
"Sure am." She replied, before suddenly getting an idea. "Hey! Did you want to go to Cloudsdale with me? I'm heading up for a bite to eat."
Naturally, he had read a book or two about Cloudsdale. A large city made of clouds, hence the name. Primarily populated be Pegasi. He was also aware that there was a flaw in Rainbow's plan.
"I would love to, but isn't there a rule about walking on clouds?" he inquired.
The 'rule' he mentioned was a naturally occurring phenomenon that permits cloud-walking can only be done by creature with wings.
She looked saddened for a moment, before quickly snapping back a response.
"Not if you're friends with Unicorns!"
Minutes later, Matt popped back into the library.
"Twilight? Mind lending some magic?"
Twilight Sparkle was in the middle of writing… something.
"Huh? For what?" she asked.
"Rainbow Dash offered to show me around Cloudsdale, but I'm sure you can see the hole in that plan."
"I do. You probably won't be able to walk on clouds, so you thought about using the old cloud-walking spell, right?" she responded.
"Correct. I'm glad we're on the same page." He said, happy she got the point so quickly.
"Hmm…" she said, trailing off while levitating a book near her face. "Here's the spell, but…"
His glee vanished. There always seemed to be a 'but'.
"What if your body rejects the magic?" she asked. In truth, she was worried about what might happen if he suddenly fell through the cloud layer.
He cupped his chin with his right hand. "Right, right. We determined that it works based on will, right? I guess I can just try to… let it work."
She closed the book and aimed her horn at him.
"Alright, just… try to relax."
He closed his eyes and tried his best. He felt the wave of magic engulf him, surrounding him in light and warmth. It felt somewhat nice. When it stopped, he opened his eyes and looked himself over.
"Think it worked?" he asked.
"I suppose there's only one way to find out. I have to finish this report, just promise me you'll be careful?" pleaded Twilight.
"I promise." he replied, hoping nothing went wrong.
He headed for the door to the in-waiting Rainbow Dash.
"Oh, and Matt?" he heard Twilight call his name. "Try to be home at a reasonable hour."
"I promise that, too." Matt said, shutting the door behind him.
Though Matt spending time with Rainbow Dash didn't exactly sit right with her, she needed the time alone anyway. After the disastrous results of her 'first move' she needed to form another plan of action.
Rainbow lounged about on a small cloud she'd apparently brought down herself.
"Right, well." Matt began when he emerged from the giant tree. "How exactly am I getting up there? Some kind of transport vessel? A balloon, perhaps?"
She laughed as she hopped down from her cloud.
"Yeah, sure." she responded, gesturing towards the low-floating cloud. "Here's your 'vessel'."
He raised a brow at the idea, though he knew better than to argue with Rainbow Dash.
"Right…" he responded solemnly.
He approached the cloud, making sure he wouldn't pass through it. It felt amazingly soft, yet somehow firm. He slowly climbed atop it, finding a comfortable sitting position almost immediately. He felt Rainbow grab the end of the cloud towards his back. He knew what she was going to do.
"N-now Rainbow, I have to ask that you take it slowly. I'd rather not end up a stain on the ground." He said.
"Oh, please. I'd never let anything like that happen to you…" she replied, quickly realizing how soft it made her sound. "… Well, here we go!" she exclaimed before taking off skyward.
They were off, Matt hanging on for dear life.
"I thought I said slowly!" he yelled back to her.
She smiled in amusement. "This is slow!" she yelled back.
Though it only took a few minutes, it felt way longer for Matt. Needless to say, he was not enjoying the experience. As they reached their destination he quickly dismounted his fluffy transport.
"We need to have a serious talk about what 'slowly' means." he said shakily.
"I think we should have a talk about what hair is supposed to look like!" she responded, pointing at his head and laughing.
He couldn't see his hair, but he could feel that it was out of place. Far out of place, and somewhat stiff.
He ran a hand through his dark locks in an attempt to straighten them out. While doing so, he turned his head and noticed the sprawling cloud city before him.
"Wow… It's more impressive then I'd heard." he said.
"A lot of ponies say that their first time here." Rainbow said proudly.
He immediately took notice of how thin the air was at that altitude. It was also astonishingly cold, yet free of snow. He was thankful for that.
"So, where are we headed?" he asked.
"Just a little place in the center of town. You can see it from here." She replied, pointing towards a large cloud building.
It didn't look that far, but as Matt began to walk towards their destination, he noticed that the gaps in the clouds prevented easy access.
"Do you wanna get back on the 'vessel'?" asked Rainbow Dash with a grin.
He shuddered. "N-no no, that's quite alright. I can just walk."
Rainbow began to soar around him as he slowly made his way across the cloud path.
"What's wrong?" she called out. "You look pretty nervous."
"Can't imagine why." He said, glancing downward.
"What're you worried about? The spell lasts for like, three days." she assured.
"Still… It's a long way down."
She stopped her circular flying to hover next to him.
"Relax; I'm more then fast enough to catch you."
"I know, I know. Doesn't make falling anymore appealing…"
He continued his less-than-fast pace until finally touching down on the cloudy mainland. Rainbow Dash led on until they arrived at a food court like area.
"You wait here." commanded Rainbow. "I'll go get the food."
He sat at the quaint little cloud booth, appreciating the addition of a cloud parasol. He sat for a few minutes, idly twiddling his thumbs, until Dash came back with a tray of food.
"I didn't know what you would want, so I just got you some hay fries. Oh and some orange juice. I guessed you'd be sick of apple by now."
"You guessed right." he said sticking a bendy straw into his drink.
He wasn't exactly happy about the concept of hay fries, however. He took a bite and was surprised to find that they didn't taste horrible. He went back and forth between food and drink, noticing that Dash was doing the same. He slowed down for a moment as a question came into mind.
"So why did we have to come up here? Isn't there a place just like this back in Ponyville?" he inquired, taking a sip from his juice.
She swallowed hard at his question, as it had caught her off-guard.
"O-oh, well it's… I just started to miss the place, alright?"
He took another sip of his drink. "Yeah, alright. I'm going to get a refill."
He got up to proceed over to the counter he saw Rainbow go to earlier. He knew she had an ulterior reason for wanting to come up there, but he didn't want to pry. He was sure she'd tell him later. He was more concerned with getting some customer service.
As he walked off, Rainbow felt her hoof reach her forehead. She was slipping up, losing her cool. Which was not something she liked doing. She sighed and slumped over onto the table. She glanced over to see where he walked off to and saw him chatting to the clerk.
"Rainbow Dash!" She heard two voices call from the opposite direction.
She turned to see to two familiar, very similar looking grayish-blue ponies.
"Oh, hey Flitter, Cloudchaser." she greeted them. "What're you guys doing here?"
"We're just visiting some family." replied Flitter. She and her sister, Cloudchaser, looked striking similar, though Flitter adorned her mane with a tasteful pink bow.
"But forget that, what're you doing here?" asked Cloudchaser.
Dash glanced back towards her human companion, before smiling sheepishly.
"Oh, y'know… just visiting." She lied through her teeth.
"Oh yeah? Who's your friend?" asked Flitter, motioning in Matt's direction.
"Him? H-his name's Matt. You haven't heard about him yet?"
"That's him?" Asked a surprised Flitter. "Wow. I thought he lived at Golden Oakes… What's he doing in Cloudsdale?" She had noticed Rainbow Dash's flustered expression. "Are you two… dating?"
The red in her mane couldn't match the red on her face.
"W-what!? N-no! I'm just showin' him around…" she hurriedly replied.
Both of the Pegasus sisters giggled in unison. "Relax, Dash! We're only teasing." Said Cloudchaser.
"Teasing about what?" said a male voice unexpectedly.
Rainbow turned to see Matt sitting across from her again, sipping that drink of his.
"Oh, nothing. We'll see you around, Rainbow Dash!" exclaimed Flitter as the twins flew off.
He watched them fly away, still giggling.
"They seem nice." Matt said.
"Yeah, that's one word for it…" she trailed off. "Anyway! Let's go, we've got plenty to see." she said.
Matt sat his drink onto the table and stood up. "Alright… wait, do I have to ride on the cloud again?"
"Yep. Don't worry, we're going sight-seeing. Cruisin' speed!" she declared.
He sighed heavily. "Fine…"
Instead of walking back to the cloud they used to get there, Rainbow had already corralled a new one for him to ride on. He took his seat and they were off. Rainbow was true to her word, and the speed they kept at was vastly slower than earlier.
Cloudsdale seemingly had everything, including a large racetrack, several homes and businesses, and a factory that allegedly creates weather. It was all very interesting and unique to Matt, but he eventually couldn't take the frigid air any longer. He told this to Rainbow, who insisted she had one last thing to show him. She flew him to a large, floating cloud structure just outside Ponyville. It had a rainbow fountain and several columns in its build.
"… and last but not least, this is my little slice of Cloudsdale." said Rainbow Dash, setting Matt's cloud onto her home. She opened the door and invited him in.
It was probably warmer inside so he went in without hesitation. Dash's home was decently tidy, but he assumed it couldn't be that hard to clean clouds. She walked with him into the living room and he took a seat on a cloud-couch. When he did, his bag hit the back of the couch with a distinctive glass clink.
"What have you been lugging around all day?" asked Dash. "Sounds like you may have broken it…"
He took the forgotten six pack of apple cider out of his bag, relieved to see them all intact. Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up at the sight.
"Y-you have Apple family cider? Where did you…?" she stammered.
"Applejack gave it to me earlier, in return for helping her out the day."
Rainbow glanced at him, then the bottles, then to him again. He noticed this behavior.
"… Would you like some?" he offered.
The euphoria that overcame her was impossible to hide as she nodded vigorously.
He freed a bottle from its cardboard prison and handed it over to her. He took one out for himself, too.
"Oh man, cider season's been over for months! This is gonna be great!" exclaimed Rainbow.
"If you say so. It looks pretty regular to me." He responded.
"Oh, you'll see." She said, raising her bottle. He tapped it with his to produce a satisfying clink, than took his first sip.
He quickly found that the cider was of magnificent quality. He also soon discovered what the closest thing in Equestria that equated to alcohol was.
"Wow… Yeah, that's pretty great." He said.
"I know, right? I can't get enough of this stuff!" replied Rainbow.
As he continued drinking, he felt himself warm up in his core. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but he enjoyed it. There were a few minutes of silence as the two friends enjoyed their beverages. Rainbow Dash had already started on her second bottle.
"So, hey…" she began. "I've been meaning to ask you something."
He blinked a few times, seemingly trying to clear his vision. "Go ahead." He responded.
She took another sip before continuing. "Don't you miss your home? Like, at all?" after a few minutes, she noticed his cold eyes no longer looking at her, but staring off into space. "It's alright, you don't have to-"
"No."
"Huh?" she was surprised by his response. "Really? What about your family?"
"I… I don't have a family." He responded.
Now she was even more confused. "What? But, everyone has a family, right? Brothers or sisters?"
"Dash…"
"And of course you've gotta have parents…"
"Dash."
"I mean it's cool if you don't wanna talk about them, I know how much of a drag parents can be."
He let out a long sigh before cracking open his second bottle.
"My parents… passed away." He said solemnly before taking another gulp.
He wasn't looking at her but could tell her expression had changed to one of shock.
"O-oh, Matt… I-I didn't know, I…" she stammered.
"How would you?" he asked rhetorically. "I haven't told anyone about them yet."
"Oh… How long…?" she tried to ask.
"It's been a bit over five months now."
The room turned silent as Matt seemed lost in thought and Rainbow Dash tried to think of something appropriate to say.
Before she could say anything, Matt spoke up.
"That's why I acted so cold when I first got here. I didn't want to get attached to anything I'd have to leave behind. But now... I've come to realize I needed attachment." He brought a hand to caress his face. "When my parents died in the accident, I tried to shut the rest of the world out. It worked, unsurprisingly. I thought I deserved it for surviving. But eventually, my self-imposed isolation was broken by Twilight ripping me from the clutches of solitude. Being here has taught me that friendship can warm the coldest of hearts, and it saved me from myself."
Another moment of silence passes before Matt lets out a small belch.
"Or maybe that's the cider talking, I don't know anymore." He said.
Rainbow Dash was deep in thought about what Matt had told her.
"Wow." She said aloud. "You really are something else, Matt."
He cocked his head to the side at her comment and she giggled at the sight.
"It's no wonder Twilight's so into you…" she added. She had already thought she knew him well, but he had another level to his personality she could never have foreseen. She felt like she knew him better now.
Her mind stopped at the slip of what she'd just said, however.
He looked to her, as if in question. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.
"O-oh, um… Y'know, just that you're a really cool guy and, uh…" she stopped before the cider made her blurt out something she'd regret. She gathered her words and tried again. "I, uh… Matt, have you ever had a crush on someone?"
"Hm. Nope." He said coldly.
"R-really?" she asked. She was learning a lot about him today.
"I never had the time for stuff like that. I was far too busy with my studies and such."
She'd nearly forgotten that he was quite the egghead. "You've never had… somepony special? At all?"
He began to reply, but stopped himself. "Well, at one point my friend from childhood asked to be in a relationship with me. I told her yes, though I hadn't a thorough understanding of what exactly that meant. I still don't, really." He responded.
Her mind was swimming with thoughts about what he meant by all of that. He really didn't know what being in a relationship was?
"Did… did you love her?" she asked suddenly.
"Not particularly. I mean, we knew each other for years but I never really placed much value on people back then."
"… What was her name?"
He thought for a moment before his face turned to despair.
"I… I don't remember. I've all but just forgotten what she looked like. I don't remember what color her eyes were, or any unique features…" he quickly realized that he had entirely forgotten who that person was in the span of five months.
"So…" began Rainbow Dash. "You don't know what love is like?"
"Not in the romantic sense, no. It never really bothered me much. Though I know what sentimental love feels like. Twilight, the library, Spike, Pinkie Pie… you." He said, facing her way.
She felt perturbed that he had mentioned Twilight Sparkle first on that list, but was also touched that, in one way, he had just said he had affection for her. Though not exactly the way she'd hoped, she was still excited by the sentiment.
She wore a bright smile on her face the rest of the night.
"Hey, I bet I can drink my last bottle faster than you!" she challenged.
"Ah, but I think you'll find your esophagus is thinner than mine. You're on."