//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Unexpected arrival // Story: Rainboom For Due // by NikaTheBrony //------------------------------// It was a quiet and nice morning in Ponyville. It was midday, and ponies were walking in the town's park. The sun was shining above their heads and the weather was great. A perfect day for a picnic. The girls gathered in Ponyville's park in their regular meeting place. They sat together and started discussing the upcoming event. "And I have just finished my designs for all of us! Believe me they are fabulous!" Rarity exclaimed with excitement. "That's wonderful Rarity!" Fluttershy said. "Thank you darling." Rarity responded and turned to Twilight: "And Twilight, how are the preparations going?" Twilight finished to chew her sandwich and answered: "Well, I guess it goes good. Yesterday we have got a letter from Sunburst, in which he explains everything they are preparing these days. He also asked Starlight to come and help, and now she is on her way to the Empire. He also wrote that Shining and Cadance are very busy and they can't get enough sleep. I hope that they are doing OK there though…I wish I could help them more, but they insist to keep things as a surprise from now. Shining barely writes to me as well. I'm sure that he is very stressed now, MAYBE EVEN MORE THAN I AM!!" The girls looked at their friend who almost freaked out. Fluttershy approached her and tried to calm her down, by petting her hoof on Twilight's back. "It's OK Twilight, I'm sure things will work out. Besides, you can always count on us." She smiled to her. Twilight did some deep breathing exercises that Cadence taught her, to help her calm down. After she relaxed, she turned to Fluttershy and returned her a smile. "You're right Fluttershy. I have you! My best friends who I can always count on. Thank you all." She turned to the others with a big smile, and then they returned her smiles back. "No problem, sugarcube." Applejack said. "Anytime, dear." Rarity added. "And I'm also very happy to hear that you all are doing great! By the way, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight faced her friend, while the latter was drinking some tea that Fluttershy brought. "Yeah?" Rainbow asked in return. "How about your practices with the Wonderbolts?" Twilight asked her. Oh…this again… "They are nice. Besides, I have already told you that it's a surprise so I can't reveal everything." She answered. "When do you practice? Didn't you supposed to practice today?" Fluttershy asked her. Buck! "Today we have a day off! Like…only today to…regain energy! You know, we still need to take a break from time to time!" Rainbow answered and chuckled nervously. "I hope Spitfire isn't stressed…" Fluttershy said. "No no! She is fine! We are all fine! Everything's great!" Rainbow replied and forced herself to smile. The others looked at her in confusion. Finally, Applejack spoke up. "At least your wing doesn't hurt a lot by now, right?" She said and took a bite from an apple. "Nah! It's a lot better – WAIT WHAT?!?! How did you…?" Rainbow haven't told her friends about the accident yet. So how could Applejack know about it?! Maybe Spitfire told Shining Armor, and the latter told his younger sister Twilight, and Twilight told everyone? No, Twilight wouldn't do that…and Shining wouldn't want to worry her, even though it's about Rainbow's health. But Spitfire couldn't tell Shining at all. Only 2 days have passed and besides, she wouldn't want to worry him either. So how could they possibly know? Maybe Soarin told them? But he is focused on the training, and why would he tell them? Rainbow Dash was really confused at the moment. "Come on darling, when we came here, you were flying much slower than usual. Something surly happened." Rarity explained. Dang it, I thought they won't notice… "Also, you never skip training, and even if it's a day off, you would probably show us some tricks." Twilight continued. Big deal! What if I was about to nap? You know I love napping… "And ya' can't fool the element of honesty, who just happened to be me, ya' know? I could figure that out." Applejack added. Then, Rainbow remembered her small talk with Applejack yesterday. OK…I can't argue with that… "Fine! Alright! I'm injured and I'm not training for now." Rainbow Dash finally confessed. Now she felt even worse. She couldn't look at her friends. She lied to them and they caught her. Rainbow was sure that there was no doubt that they will be disappointed right now, and not only because she didn't tell them the truth, but also because she might not perform at the celebration at all. After a long silence, Fluttershy was the first to speak up: "How did it happen?". Rainbow still felt pretty bad, and didn't respond. Pinkie Pie tried to encourage her: "Come on Dashie! You can tell us! We are your friends!". Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and told them everything back from her practice with the Wonderbolts when the accident happened, to the meeting with doctor Featherheart, and finished with the talk she had with Soarin. "Why didn't you tell us?" Fluttershy asked her friend. "you know you can tell us everything!" Pinkie Pie added. Rainbow finally raised her head and looked at her friends. They all looked concerned. "I didn't want to worry you. Everything was great until I crashed and blenched my wing. Overall, it's not the first time I have got injured and I was hurt even worse before. I didn't think it will matter, but because of the event I didn't want to disappoint you guys. I know how important this event is for all of us, especially for you Twi. I'm sorry I haven't told you before." She faced the ground again with a sad expression. "What are you talking about darling? We are not disappointed." Rarity said. "You…you aren't?" Rainbow raised her head in surprise. "Of course not! It was your decision to tell us or not, and we understand why you didn't tell us. It wasn't because you don't trust us, but because you cared about us and didn't want us to worry. But if something bothers you, you shouldn't keep it to yourself. Thank you for telling us." Twilight said with a smile, and put her hoof around Rainbow's neck. "Also you should know that I could read you through. Let's just say you are not THAT good at lying." Applejack said and winked to her friend. Somehow, Rainbow Dash felt better and more relieved after opening this subject to her friends and talking about it with them. After all they ARE her friends. Her best friends. Then, they all approached her to a group hug. "Thanks guys! I promise it won't happen again! – just be careful on the wing! –" she said and smiled to them, and they all laughed. After they ended the group hug, they came back to their "seats". Fluttershy was passing the tea while Pinkie was cutting the cake she brought. Half an hour later, after they discussed more subjects than Princess Flurry Heart's birthday, ate Pinkie's cake and laughed at her jokes, Rarity decided to do some "research". "So, Rainbow, is your wing better now?" Rarity asked. "Well actually yes! I hope I will come back to trainings as soon as possible!" Rainbow answered proudly. She surely felt A LOT better now. "You surely have a great doctor there." Twilight added. "Absolutely! Doctor Featherheart is one of the best." Rainbow replied. "I'm sure you'll be amazing Dashie!! And I promise you won't forget this day!" Pinkie Pie said and turned around to wink at the reader. Everypony ignored that gesture because they know Pinkie's weirdness, but Dash was surprised by her comment. "Thanks Pinkie Pie! No doubt it will be THE BEST DAY EVER! In any case it would be." Rainbow said. "You're right, but let's not promise anything by now. Ya' know…just in case." Applejack added and the girls nodded in agreement. After that Rarity cleaned her throat to get her friends' attention and to turn back to the subject she wanted to discuss. "Anyway dear, you have mentioned before that a certain Wonderbolt helped you. It's really nice from his side." She said and sipped some tea. "You mean Soarin? Oh yeah he's awesome." Rainbow said and took a bite from her cake: "But not as awesome as me!" she added. "Wait isn't he the one that you saved from crashing? When we had the Equestria Games tryouts?" Fluttershy asked. "Eeyup! I saved him twice actually. The first time was in the Best Young Flyer competition. Rarity, you should remember." Rainbow said and chuckled a bit. Rarity got nervous for remembering it, and looked at her with an uncomfortable face expression. Then, she replied with a nervous chuckle: "Yes, I do remember. Thanks for saving me as well back then." and sipped more tea. "That’s nothing!" Rainbow responded to her friend. Rarity cleaned her throat again and said: "besides him, I also remember your other teammates from this issue we had with this Wind Rider." "Oh yeah, that was NOT a good situation. You were great for solving this kind of "mystery" by the way Rars'." Rainbow said, and the others, who heard about it from the two ponies, agreed. "Thank you darling. In any case you have great teammates." Rarity replied. "I know. I mean, COME ON! They are THE Wonderbolts!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Ya' are still excited about it, huh?" Applejack asked. "Hey! Even if I AM a Wonderbolt now, doesn't mean I can't get excited from time to time AJ! That's not bad." Rainbow responded to her friend. "A' guess ya' are right." Applejack said with a shrug. "Especially when you have great teammates who you can count on, right Dash?" Rarity added with a small smirk. "Exactly!" Rainbow said with confidence. "And also, are loyal and kind, and even…let's say…awesome?" Rarity smirked more. "Absolutely!" Rainbow said with more confidence. "And of course, help you when you are injured, after you have saved them couple of times." Rarity continued and sipped more tea. "Yes! Wait, what?" Rainbow asked. What was she agreeing about, again? "Rarity, what are ya' trying to say?" Applejack asked her, and lifted her eyebrow. "Nothing darling. Everything is fine." Rarity replied and chuckled together with Pinkie, who probably got the hints. Rainbow Dash shrugged. I would probably never understand them at situations like this… She thought to herself. Soon, they finished to eat the food they brought, and continued to talk about Flurry's birthday. Suddenly, Rainbow heard that someone was calling her name. "Hey, Rainbow Dash! Hey everyone!" Soarin called her and greeted her friends, who waved at him back. Rainbow Dash turned around and greeted her friend. "Hi Soarin! What are you doing here?" she asked him. Soarin put his hoof behind his neck and answered: "Kind of was looking for you." "Really? Did something happen?" she asked concerned. "No no! Everything is fine, it's just that I wanted – I mean, SPITFIRE wanted to know how are you doing and how do you feel." Soarin answered. "Really? Well… I thought that she expects me to get back when I'll feel better." Rainbow replied. "Yeah but, you know her. She has a lot of things to take care of, and a lot of paperwork to get done, and the practices now…and she wanted to…make sure you're doing good." He told her. Come on, if she would know that I came here by myself, she would probably think that I'm a "softie" or something like that. I already have Fleetfoot who teases me about it. He thought to himself. Rainbow thought for a second and answered: "Hmm…and you came?" "Disappointed?" he asked and lifted his eyebrow. Rainbow quickly refused. "No! Not at all! It's actually nice…" she started to say but stopped for some reason. After some seconds of silence between her and Soarin (and the others, who fully listened to their conversation), she came back from her thoughts and continued: "I mean, it's actually really nice from her, and my wing feels a lot better. Although only 2 days have passed. Anyway, we both know that it's not the worst injury I have had." "I understand, and I told you that Doctor Featherheart is always right." He said with a smile. "I never doubted that, and thanks for visiting!" she responded with a smile as well. "No problem. I have got to go now and get back to practice. Hope to see you soon." He said. "I'm looking forward to return as soon as possible." She said with her usual "Rainbow Dash confidence". "That's the spirit!" Soarin replied and took off, flying back to the Wonderbolts headquarters. "See ya' Crash!" he called her from distance. "Bye Clipper!" she called him back. After couple of seconds of staring at the sky, Rainbow Dash realized that her friends were looking at her all that time, not saying a word. She turned back to them, noticing their smirks on their faces. Even Fluttershy tried to smirk, but still looked rather cute. "What?" not understanding the meaning of this, Rainbow asked them with visible confusion. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy chuckled. "Handsome, huh?" Rarity said, still smirking at her. "What?!" Rainbow was REALLY surprised by Rarity's comment, and even more confused at the same time. Is she trying to say that she is interested in Soarin? Nah. Besides, she is literally interested in every second stallion! Wait…is she trying…no…no rarity you are NOT doing THIS! Rainbow Dash thought to herself. "Don't you understand? He is into you, darling." Rarity continued. "WHAT?!" Rainbow said with an angry tone in her voice. Buck! I was right... she confirmed her own thoughts. "She is right, sugarcube." Applejack added. AJ?! Are you serious?! Rainbow thought. "Guys that's ridiculous! We're friends!" she protested. " 'Just friends'? " Rarity teased her. "Do you hide something, Dashie?!" Pinkie teased her friend too. "Pinkie! Stop it already!" Rainbow responded with a frown. Then Twilight spoke up. "Girls stop, Rainbow would have told us by now if she was dating with Soarin, right Rainbow?" Twilight couldn't resist but also to tease her at least once. "TWILIGHT!!!" Rainbow turned to her friend. "What?" Twilight asked as if she was innocent and unknown to what she has just said. Everypony was chuckling except Rainbow Dash, while the latter crossed her hooves and was glaring at them. "Sorry Dash, we will stop now. A' think so." Applejack said and let out a small chuckle under her breath. "Thanks." Rainbow said and rolled her eyes. Sometimes I wish that AJ wasn't THAT honest… she thought to herself and let out a sigh.