//------------------------------// // ch.2 Home // Story: Second Place // by Pecan Pallet //------------------------------// ch.2 Watching the puffs of warm air weaving out of his mouth, Big Macintosh waits eagerly for his little sister to come home. Accompanied by Applebloom and one of AJ’s male friends, the three wait patiently at the train station. The air was dry on this cold day, but felt refreshing and clean in the lungs. Big Mac turns his head from side to side, relieving the stress on his neck; the popping sounds making Applebloom cringe a little. The wooden bench was cold and wet, but with Big Mac’s coat, it felt like nothing. Of course, this wasn’t the case for everypony. With either a long coat or a thick scarf, everypony was fit for the freezing winter weather. The harsher part of the winter was already over and Winter Wrap-up was only a few days away. With spring on their minds, Everypony waits eagerly for winter’s end. “Bloody aye, it’s already been, like, 20 minutes.” Pacing up and down the length of the station, AJ’s friend glances at his watch, “I really don’t have time for this…” though the Colt keeps complaining about it, he would never leave the station till they got back. The stallion is kind of an odd fellow, but he puts friendships and relationships in high regards. Stopping in front of Big Mac and Applebloom, he checks his bag for a memo pad to jot something down. The stallion was about one hand taller than AJ, his form built more like a race horse than a labor horse. His coat was an Ivory white, being only a hint darker than Rarity’s. With a spiky black mane and tail, he keeps himself relatively groomed. He has golden hazel eyes, somewhat close to Ditzy Doo’s. His cutie mark was a paint pallet, a paint brush and the three primary colors splatted on it. He was currently wearing a gray Newsboy hat, a gray scarf, and a pair of gray, heavy-duty boots. In truth, he appears as a normal, average earth pony, but there was one thing that stuck out for him. He had a Mare’s snout, which was the main reason he became friends with Mac’s sister and the others. You see, the six mares never really had any Stallion friends in there little friendship circle, and they weren’t looking for any either. He stumbled into the group when Pinkiepie mistook him for a lonely Mare, introducing him to her friends. It took a few days for them to realize their mistake, but by then he was already good friends with Twilight and Fluttershy. They never really decided to tell him though, Pinkie pie saying how much of a real friend he was. It took them a while, but they finally accepted him, though RainbowDash is still a little put off by it. “Maybe, it’s the snow. It was snow’en mighty hard, yesterday.” Applebloom states, wiggling awkwardly in her large snow coat. The coat was previously owned by Applejack, so it was slightly big on her. The Coat was a burgundy color with a fur lining; she was like a burrito in that thing. “well, hopefully they get here soon.” He replied, continuing his robotic pacing. Applebloom, now cuddling close to her brother, was sapping away the heat from his body. Letting Applebloom snuggle up to him, he turns towards the train tracks, towards the direction the train was supposed to come from. The tracks where bare, the vast expanse of the snowy fields showed no sign that the train was near. Looking up at the milky sky, Macintosh could only imagine how Lightning is stressing herself. She is such nuisance, but Macintosh was always the tolerant type. Besides, for as long as he has known her, he couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy… only a little. After five minutes or so, Applebloom fell asleep and AJ’s friend finally stopped and sat his plot down. At this time, it began to snow and it was getting gradually harder to stare at the sky. The flakes fall slow and soft, no wind to command where they should rest. It was soundless, only the crunching of snow could be heard from other ponies at the station. While the peace was enjoyable, time was lagging on. Lightningbolt began to crawl back in his mind again, though he wish she wouldn’t. She’s a grown pony, but she still acts like a Foal. That mare… in an effort to block her out, he closed his eyes, trying to think of anything els but lightning… It only felt like he closed his eyes for a small moment, when he suddenly heard the sounds of train crawling into the station. The sudden screech, the ear piercing sound of scraping steel was met by another loud deeper roar. The rearing sound shook Big mac, opening his eyes to see the train fall into the station. The snow swirled through the air as the machine decelerated. The heartbeat of the engine slowed as it hissed to a stop. Three loud toots awoke Applebloom instantly as the Station began to stir up with commotion. The train stood still, the doors to the carts swinging open. Like a fountain, streams of ponies left the iron beast, shouting and pushing each other to get their belongings. “Hay, the train here!” Applebloom said, leaping off the bench and dashing into the crowd. “Wait, AppleBloom!” Macintosh said, stumbling off as he pulls his limbs from under him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Wull hurry it up, RD, I ain’t waiting for your flank.” “Why you telling me? Rarity’s the one with all the junk.” “For one, Rainbowdash, These cloths are NOT “junk”. Secondly, at least I have the decency to put my belongings in another Boxcart.” “Well, you can’t trust those Colts, those sneaky little-” Rearing up, she strikes her luggage as it was jammed between the narrow doorway. “ya sure you got it, sugarcube?” “ya, ya, just a minute.” With another buck, the bag flies out, almost hitting someone as it clunked nosily on the station floor. “Presto! See, who need them!” with a hop and a skip, she jumps out and takes off. She couldn’t stand waiting any longer in that train, her wings aching for another flight. It was snowing fairly hard in the station, the marvelous snow dancing between everypony. The air was a refreshing glass of water, washing over her and making her feel rejuvenated. She breathed in, the cold outside air contrasting with her warm body, making her smile. The air felt natural under wing, her wings in command. She was only in the air for a short time, but it reminded her why she loved flying. “Hay, hotrod, ya missen’ a wheel.” Her friend picked up her bag and pulls it to the side, out of the way of the growing crowd that was at the station. “I umm, It was like that…” she fibbed, her friend picking up on her “I’m not guilty” face. After a short moment, she touched down and joined her friends still getting off the train. Trotting over, she retrieves her luggage from her earth pony friend. “Ya shouldn’t be so careless about your things,” Her friend said, “Money don’t grow on trees.” Rainbow huffs to herself, she was the last pony to be told that. At least AJ was financially wealthy with the farm, she doesn’t have to adapt to a range of ever-shifting jobs. In fact, Aj’s money pretty much grows on trees! Rainbow turns away from her friend, twirling her suitcase by the one wheel. “Yes, Ms. Applejack, I’ll do that, Ms. Applejack.” She said mockingly, getting her mind off money. “Oh, knock it off, Surgarcube.” Aj said, jabbing her shoulder. Applejack was Dash’s best and closest friend, being kind, hardy and mindful of everypony. She lives with her siblings, Applebloom and Big Macintosh, and her granny, Miss Granny Smith. She also has a pet dog, but she keeps forgetting its name. Though she’s not as carefree and wild as RD, she’s makes up for it by being calm, honest, and reasonable. Because of AJ’s personality and morals, a lot of ponies consider her the “Rainbowdash tranquilizer.” Like a dog on a leash, she pretty much keeps her in check. From her temper to simple moral choices, she always has a way keep thing sane. Though the two have many differences between them, those differences are the things that keep them together. “We’re finally back, girls, home sweet home” Closing a book and stuffing it away, a Purple unicorn smiles as she approached Dash and AJ “I can’t wait to study that plant Zecora gave me. If my calculations are correct, there should be exactly 3.827 liquid ounces of sap waiting for me.” Twilight squeals, even though nopony really cares. I don’t know about you, but Rainbow would rather be dead bored than do some research project. “About time, trains take too long…” Spike, Twilight Sparkle’s dragon assistant, said with grogginess in his voice. “ha ha, then why didn’t you sleep, silly… here, you can sleep on my back.” “They had free food…” he whispers as he clawed his way to Twilight. Both Rainbow and AJ understood Spikes exhausted status, as they just got back from doing a play in Canterlot. Spike was playing as the narrator, and even though he didn’t need to act, it was just nerve racking. Rainbowdash and her friends were the main stars in a Play on Hearth's Warming Eve, reenacting the founding of Equestria. Rainbow had to use everything she got to play her role, and not just any role, but the role of the epic Commander Hurricane. Acting is one thing, but this was a COMPLETELY different story. Commander Hurricane is a great Pegasus Icon, and though RD flunked history, she still felt honored to play such a great role in pony history. Spike began to snore noisily atop of Twilight, sleeping like a rock. Twilight smiles at her little dragon, using her telekinesis to move her suitcase out of the way of passing ponies. Shortly after, her other friends left the train. Rarity, with a lush fur coat, walked off with only a small purse, the rest of her thing in another cart. Fluttershy, saying nothing upon exiting, moved to the side and whispered sorry to every pony that passed. Pinkiepie, on the other hand, was talking up a storm as she hoped out. Not a single word was processed through Rainbow’s brain, her speed and “sugary” talk leaving most ponies bewildered of what she could be saying. Luckily, the conversation was not aimed at Rainbow, but to her sisters who trailed behind her, Inkie and Blinkie Pie. Inkie and Blinkie where visiting Pinkie Pie for the winter, and thus, attended the play in Canterlot. Their reason for their stay was not really clear, but nothing that Rainbow was interested in. “So what about you, Rainbowdash?” The purple unicorn spoke, “Do you have anything planed this evening?” Rainbow, not putting any though, replied. “ummm… nah, I’ll just sleep at home.” She said, dropping the first thing that came to her. “What about you, Applejack?” “Tellen’ the truth, I’m not quite sure what ta do. Maybe I’ll just go home. I recken’ Granny smith and my siblings are probably worrying about me.” Applejack shrugs, her plan not being any better than Rainbow’s. Rainbow sighs with boredom, puffing small clouds of warm air into Aj’s ear. Her ears twitch, tolerating it as she continued talking to Twi. Maybe I should walk Aj home, she thought to herself. What els could she possibly do?... but before she could say a thing, a filly rushed under her, making her jump. “Hay” she shouted, only realizing a second later that it was Aj’s little sister, Applebloom. “AppleJack!” the filly shouts, doing a full on tackle. “Applebloom!” AJ said, catching her and falling onto the wet station floor. “whoa, hay there, sugar-cube. What are ya doing here? I thought-” Aj said, brushing the snow off her little head. “I missed you, big sister, why wouldn’t I!” Applebloom glimmers with a smile as she hugged her, squeezing her tight like a pillow. Aj’s hat fell off her head within their embrace, some of her other friends walking over to also greet Applebloom. Rainbow steps away, watching from a distance as they began to laugh about something her ears didn’t pick up. She made no effort to acknowledge little Applebloom, not a simple “Hi” or “what’s up?” She grunts to herself, staring at the two, grunting something to herself. Her body reacts faster than her mind could process, Jumping at the sound of Big mac’s voice. She takes a moment, glancing at the big red stud. “Big Mac!” she said, almost in a surprised manner. She should have known better, though, if Applebloom was here, why wouldn’t he? She raised her hoof, “Hay, how’ve you been?” her hoof splotches against his shoulder, snowy slush hugging his coat as it left Rainbow’s hoof. “opps…” Big mac stared at it for a bit, shrugging it off. “Fine...” He says quietly… ... “…ok…” she grunts, “so, umm… did you do anything interesting?” she pauses, “Maybe got busy with some mare?” she tries a more joking tone, which didn’t work. “Nope.” He said in his monotone. “Just worked on the farm.” ... She grunts again, this was the only difficulty she had with Macintosh. Every attempted to start a conversation with the big colt always ended up at a dead end. It’s not him, she tells herself, it’s probably her. She exhales deeply, her mind empty of ideas. At the sight of Macintosh turning his attention to his sisters, she stepped forward, putting one hoof in front of him. He pulls his head back, awaiting some response or question from the Rainbow mare. She fell frozen, what is she doing? She couldn’t think of anything to say, so why get in the way? Impulse, she blamed. Why else would she have done it?... Maybe… she takes a quick glance behind her, her friends unaware of the two of them. “umm…is there-?” he stops in mid-sentence. His deep green eyes looked down at Rainbow, her body useless as snow drifted in front of them. Say something, you idiot!, she told herself, but what? She can’t think of anything to say, what can she possibly talk about? They don’t have anything inco- “Lightning.” The name left her mouth, “L-lightning Bolt, What about her? Is she ok?” Big mac’s expression goes unchanged, but his voice had a little bit of amazement in it, as if he was surprised she would bring up Lightning Bolt. She wondered that too, why her name left her lips. “well, umm, she’s fine…” his eyes leave her face, “But…She’s eager to see you, again…” “oh.” That’s all she could think of. Applejack noticed her brother seconds later, the stud leaft her and wondered off to greet his sister. She evaded the incident, but her mind was itching with thoughts of Lightning Bolt. It’s bewildering her why that very pony would come to mind. She was just a distant thought, but… she just wondered why she would mention her to Big Mac. “I doesn’t think he knows her, but he did answer the question…so why…” She stops herself, too much things to think about. She shakes her head, the snow flying off her mane. Just too much to think about right now… she looks back up at the sky, the snow growing thicker. She felt sick inside, but just had to ignore it. “stupid idiot.” She tells herself. That conversation with Big Mac could have gone better, way better. But, aw well, she had to start somewhere… As she reviewed the steps in her mind, she huffs another cloud of warm air, “step one: get to know each other." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~