Poke.
"Dash."
"Mrmrmrmrr..."
Poke.
"Dash!"
"Mmmr."
Poke.
"Dash, wake up!"
"Mrrmr- Ah!" She sat up immediately.
Soarin' grinned. "Rise and shine, sleepy-head."
Rainbow stared at him for a moment, before plonking back down in her bed. "Five more minutes."
"If you don't get up, we won't be able to get breakfast."
"Darn it... Alright, let's get going."
The two landed (almost crash-landed) in front of the restaurant. It was a small take-away place.
"I beat you!" Rainbow called out, excitedly.
"No way, I beat you!"
"Nuh uh, I did!"
"Actually," A random pink pony said. "Soarin' won by an itty bitty hair."
"Hey Pinkie." Rainbow said.
"Ooh, are you here for breakfast? Because I'm here for breakfast too and we can have it together before you go on your epic quest and stuff."
"Sounds good to me." She turned to the stallion next to her. "Soarin'?"
"I like that plan."
***
"Bacon... Tofu?" Rainbow looked at the board. "Why...?"
"Bacon's a griffon thing, made of meat-"
"I know what bacon is, Pinkie. Heck, Gilda dared me to eat some." She shuddered. "I was sick for a week, and I couldn't get the taste out. Ugh." She composed herself. "But why make some out of tofu?"
"So that ponies can try it without feeling sick. Both emotionally and physically." Soarin' added. "Trust me, it's good."
"Emotional?"
"Bacon's made of pigs." Pinkie said bluntly.
"I know. But that makes sense now." She scanned the menu. "Um... I'll have that one."
"A tofubacon and egg McMuffin?" Soarin' inquired.
"No, next to it."
"Egg McMuffin."
"Yeah."
"Right, you, Pinkie?"
"Uhm... A chocolate sundae."
"Huh?"
"She runs on sugar, Soarin'. Just get her the darn sundae."
"And I'll have a tofubacon and egg McMuffin. Right, I'll be back."
The two mares took a seat. This restaurant, known as McTrottald's, was known to be quite widespread. Almost every developed town had one.
"So, Dashie~" Pinkie leant closer from her side of the table. "You like him, don't you~?"
"What sort of question is that at 9 in the morning?"
"It's an important one!" Pinkie protested. She looked around, making sure Soarin' couldn't hear them. "Come on, I know you do~"
"How so?" Rainbow replied sceptically.
"It's in your body language. You- He's coming here. I'll shut up now."
Soarin' placed a tray on the circular table. "Ladies, your food." He said, rather... gentlecoltly.
"Thanks." Rainbow grabbed her muffin and bit into it. "Hm."
"Hm?" Pinkie inquired, head upside down.
"Not too bad. A little bland, but we can't have it all." She continued eating.
"Oh well." Pinkie dipped her spoon into her sundae, and took a bite. "Mm... Yummy..."
"Only you can eat ice-cream for breakfast, Pinkie Pie..." Rainbow smiled. "Be right back, getting myself a coffee."
"You drink coffee?" Pinkie asked.
"Sometimes."
"I wish I was allowed to drink coffee..."
Soarin' blinked. "What?"
"The cakes refuse me to drink coffee. Something about 'blowing up Ponyville'. I dunno, ponies think I'm a ball of energy."
"That's because you are, Pinkie." Rainbow deadpanned.
"I've actually had coffee before, when I was only a little itty bitty Pinkie Pie. The farm didn't explode, I just felt kinda... awake."
Rainbow sighed. "Oh good, you're not actually a caffeine bomb..."
"Yeah, I know, right?" Pinkie affirmed, slightly annoyed. "I bet Twilight'd be worse with coffee..."
Rainbow chuckled and walked to the counter to order.
Meanwhile, Pinkie leaned to Soarin'. "You like her, don't you Soarin'~?"
Soarin' nearly choked on his muffin. "What?!"
Pinkie covered his mouth, glancing around suspiciously, before returning to a relaxed pose.
"My sister likes her, and I'd rather not get on her bad side."
Pinkie blinked. "That's awkward."
Rainbow returned, warm coffee in her wing. "Hey guys."
"Hey Dashie!" Pinkie replied.
Rainbow took a sip of her coffee. "Ah, warming..."
"Can I have a sip?" Pinkie inquired.
Rainbow looked at her coffee. I really want all of this, but... "Here, but if Ponyville blows up you're paying for it."
Pinkie eagerly took the cup and then a sip. Rainbow Dash took cover behind her chair, fearful for her life.
"Warm..." Pinkie said.
Rainbow peaked over her chair. "Huh?"
"And quite tasty. A little bitter, but I eat so much sweet stuff it's a good contrast."
"You're not exploding..."
"Well, duh." Pinkie giggled. "What, did you think I would be all "prii-keeeeeeeewey!!!"?"
"Honestly," Rainbow replied, sitting back down. "Yes, I did."
The three ponies giggled.
"Well," Soarin' started. "We have to go now. Time is of the essence."
"Why?" Rainbow tilted her head questioningly.
"We've got a show coming up in a month, and Spitfire needs her license."
Rainbow nodded. "Ah, that makes sense."
"And I've gotta go now myself." Pinkie said. "Cakes won't bake themselves, and I've gotta make sure that they don't."
Soarin' blinked in confusion.
"What Pinkie's trying to say is that she's making some cakes as well as babysitting the owners of Sugar Cube Corner's foals."
"Oh."
Pinkie said her crushing farewells (a big group hug) before bouncing off. Rainbow massaged her neck.
"She's got a strong grip." Soarin' said.
"I know..." Rainbow playfully growled.
"Bored."
Rainbow rested her head on her hoof, watching the countryside roll past.
"Bored."
Soarin' looked up from the book he was reading.
"Bored."
"Rainbow, we can't fly all the way to the frontier."
"I bet I could." Rainbow sighed. "How long do we have 'till we get there?"
"A few more hours." Soarin' went back to his reading.
"Ugh, what am I gonna do to pass the time?"
"Read a book?"
"I've read all the Daring Do books, and I didn't bring any with me."
"There's always the Hay Games."
"Eh..."
"Come on, Rainbow. Trust me, it's awesome."
Rainbow turned. "But you're reading it."
Soarin' looked at the cover of his book. "Nah, this is the third book." He pointed to his container. "The first one's in here."
Rainbow picked up the book, looking over the cover. "What's it about?"
"Read the book to find out, Dashie."
Rainbow slightly blushed at the stallion's use of her Pinkie-exclusive nickname. "Alright, fine..."
"Oh man, that was just awesome!" Rainbow took a step off the train and onto the dusty road of the town. "When Straightshot dropped that Parahornet nest on the sleeping ponies-"
"I know. Grotesque, but clever." Soarin' chuckled.
"I'd hate to be that mare..." Rainbow leapt into the air. "Uh, why are we here?"
"The train doesn't have toilets, we need to stretch," Soarin' replied. "And I have a relative I wanna catch up with."
"Oh." Rainbow noticed the toilet block. "Race you there?"
Soarin' chuckled, and started trotting. "Nah."
She hung her head. "Aw..."
"Later, maybe."
***
Rainbow hit the button, sighing relaxedly. That was a weight off my mind... Heh.
She exited into the dusty street, looking for the Wonderbolt. "Soarin'?"
"Yeah?" A voice from behind her asked. She leapt into the air in fright, only to see the pony behind her was in fact Soarin'.
"Oh, there you are."
"Hey." He started walking to a particular building. "If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to this relative in private."
"Sure. Though I'd like to meet... uh, him?"
"Her."
Rainbow blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry."
"It's ok, you didn't know." He said with a chuckle. "Wait for me here, or at the station. Or the sky."
Rainbow saluted as he walked in. She took to leaning against the wall. She looked around the town, out of boredom.
Many of the townsfolk were wearing some sort of hat. Top hats, bowler hats, slouch hats, akubras, fedoras, and several she didn't know. Some ponies wore other things, like dusters or very western dressed. Which she found odd, considering this was east of Equestria's capitol.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing here?" A gruff stallion's voice rang out behind her.
She turned. A large-built stallion with a worn hat looked over her, and beside him were two more ponies in similar gear. "Just relaxing."
"Your kind ain't welcome around here."
She blinked. "What, pegasi?"
One of the ones behind spread his wings.
"Mares?"
The other one raised her head. A pale coat with a red mane.
"Um... Pegasus mares?"
The leader facehoofed. "No, you fool. I mean lesbians."
Rainbow's face turned into a scowl. "Hey! How do you know if I'm a lesbian or not?"
He stuck a hoof at her forehead. "Your mane, your actions, everything."
"And what is wrong with being a lesbian, if I were one?"
The stallion paused. "It's not right."
Rainbow grinned. "How so?"
The mare at the back spoke up. "Lesbians can't have kids. That means it's not natural for mares to be attracted to others."
The pegasus flew in front of Rainbow Dash. Their muzzles touched. "That's what Celestia's been saying."
Rainbow scoffed. "I live in Ponyville, and my best friend is Celestia's protégé. I think I have a more up-to-date belief."
The pegasus raised his hoof to strike, rage etching his muzzle. "You-"
"Quillfeather, get away from the mare." A stern mare's voice shot out. The pegasus stallion immediately withdrew. "As for you, Duststorm, don't you have better things to do then harass out-of-towners?"
Duststorm, as he was known, growled. "If you did your job at keeping these... inequine ponies out of town, I wouldn't have to do it for you."
"Dust, Celestia has accepted homosexual relationships for at least twenty years. Don't you read the newspaper?"
Dust growled quietly before turning around, kicking dust in Rainbow's face. Rainbow turned to face the mare. "Thanks for the save."
"It's my duty." She struck out a hoof. "Sherrif Sunbright."
"Rainbow Dash." She shook her hoof. "So what's the deal with those guys?"
"He's old fashioned. Can't accept Celestia's change in policy."
Soarin' flew out the doors. "Oh hi, Rainbow."
"Hey Soarin'."
"I see you've met my mum."
Rainbow looked at Sunbright. Under her hat was a flame-coloured mane, and she had a light-blue coat under her duster.
"I can see the resemblance."
"Well, mum, I've gotta go." Soarin' smiled. "Helping Spitfire with something, and we were just stopping for a break. As I've told you."
"Alright, you two have fun." Sunbright turned around, leaving the two pegasi to wander on back to the station.
"Your mum's cool, you know that?"
"Both our mums are cool." Soarin' smiled. "Heck, they got on really well until mum moved here when they expanded the borders. Then they just... dropped out of contact."
"Makes sense. There's hardly any long-range communication except pegasi and cart."
Soarin' sighed. "Well, let's get going. I need a nap..."
"Me too."
"Wow."
Soarin' looked up from his illuminated book to Rainbow. "Eh?"
"The night sky..." Rainbow pointed a hoof. "It looks so beautiful."
Soarin' laughed, causing Rainbow to blush out of embarrassment.
"What? I'm allowed to be a mare sometimes!"
Soarin' laughed harder, even after receiving a kick to his gut.
"Shut up, idiot!"
Soarin' calmed down. "Sorry, I just never expected you to be one to use that word. You're usually too cool for that."
Rainbow turned her head back to the window. "I normally don't have a need to. Or want to. But seriously, without the lights of Cloudsdale or Ponyville the sky seems so..."
"Beautiful?"
"Yeah..." She sighed.
"I know what you mean." He shut his book and flicked his light off. "It just seems so much darker."
"I wonder why the sky when we're in the Capitol area looks purple. Twilight probably knows." She chuckled. "Well, I should probably get some sleep now."
"Likewise." Soarin' got up and pressed a switch on his bench. It suddenly flattened out; creating a bed that was built for two. Rainbow followed his actions, flicking out her own bench.
Soarin' pulled out something he seemed to be purposely obscuring from Rainbow's sight, peaking her interest. "What's that you've got there?"
"N-nothing!" He turned around. He stiffened when Rainbow Dash crept closer in a predatory stance.
"Show me."
"Nah, I'm go-" He was suddenly tackled by a cyan pegasus, desperately reaching for the object.
"Show me!"
"No way!" He tried flicking her off with his wings, but her grip was too strong. Eventually she got a grip, and tried pulling.
"Come on, you don't want this to get damaged, now do you?"
Rainbow pulled hard. When she heard something like a stitch breaking, she immediately flew back when Soarin' let go.
"Hah! I won- Um..." She looked at the object in her hooves. It was a toy much like Twilight's Smarty Pants, except better maintained and proportioned and appeared to have a Wonderbolt's suit designed onto it. The mane was made of ice-coloured wool and the coat and wings were a fiery orange. It was snatched out of her hooves by an embarrassed Soarin'.
"Soarin', what's the problem?"
Soarin' looked at the figure. "This is my first plush. It's of the Wonderbolt's founder, Volt Blaze." He turned it around in his hooves. "I've had this since I was one. I hardly travel without her."
"They had plushes of the Wonderbolts?" Rainbow looked curiously.
"Apparently, but that was a while ago." He placed the plush on his bed, sighing dejectedly. "There's my embarrassing secret."
Rainbow smiled sweetly. "I think it's kinda cute."
"W-what?"
"My embarrassing secret is that I enjoy reading, despite personal claims otherwise."
"And I think that's kinda cute too."
Rainbow looked at him with confusion.
"I think you'd actually look cuter with glasses." He chuckled, only to have a pillow thrown at him.
"S-shut up!" Rainbow cried, embarrassed out of her wits. "I would not!"
"Whatever you say, egghead." He replied, chuckling. "Well, good night." He threw the pillow back at Rainbow Dash, who managed to catch it.
"Night, Soarin'."