//------------------------------//
// Ponyville - Tchernobog 
// Story: AppleDash Group Collab 
// by DbzOrDie 
//------------------------------//

Ponyville.

Home.

Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself as she laid down in her bed. The cross-country train from Las Pegasus was headed back to Ponyville, and she'd normally have flown there herself, but it was a long flight even for her. Plus, the ticket had been paid for by the Princess, so she kinda felt like she had to take it anyway. Not that she'd say no to a free ride.

It did, however, leave her plenty of time to think. Mostly about home. All her friends always had their little sayings about home, which they often used whenever the gang was in some far off place.

She quite liked Rarity's. "My home is your home." Although she tended to use some weird language to say it. Mi casa e... whatever. But it fit her perfectly. She was a giver, and would offer anypony a place in her home if they needed it, for as long as they needed it.

Fluttershy's was "There's no place like home." Twilight would say something about "comfort zones" and stuff like that, and it mostly flew over Dash's head, but she understood what Fluttershy meant. All these other places across Equestria, none of them felt like home. They didn't feel welcome, or familiar. Home did, and that's what made it special.

Speaking of Twilight, hers was typically some old, long dead stallion's line she picked from a book. "A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body. " Trust Twilight to find an egghead quote. Still, she understood it... at least, once Twilight had explained it. If you didn't keep your brain active, home doesn't feel like home. So if home was boring, then it wasn't a home. Said the pony who lived in a library.

Pinkie's was... well, typically Pinkie. "“Home is where you can scratch where it itches." It sounded weird at first, but she later understood it. Home was where you could do exactly what you wanted, without peering eyes. For such an outgoing pony, that sentiment felt rather private. But sometimes, it's just what you needed to unwind. Even Pinkie needed that.

Applejack's was very much like her: "“A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams." You could practically see the words transform into Applejack. The farmer had explained it once, as they'd cuddled on one of their many trips. The house was the blood, sweat and tears it took to build something over your head. But home was where your family was.

Rainbow herself didn't really have such a line... not until recently. But now, she particularly liked one such phrase she'd heard. "Home is where the heart is." As a Pegasus, you'd think it would be in cloudsdale - where she grew up, where her parents were, where she was born and bred.

But no. Her heart was in Ponyville, on a little farm called "Sweet Apple Acres", and she was waiting for her, probably looking up at the sky in anticipation of her return.

Yeah.

Home is where the heart is.