The day began like almost any other. Patrol over the last few nights had been largely uneventful. There had been a few muggings and a few robberies, sure, but it wasn't anything near as challenging as the raid on the Echelon they executed a few days ago. And since it was Rainbow Dashes day off, she thought that she'd just relax. At least, until Trixie stopped by after Braeburn already left to pick up some things.
Rainbow Dash heard the door to her apartment knock at about eleven in the morning. Braeburn had just left to pick up some things, so she was alone for maybe an hour. She hoped to use the day just relax, but apparently fate had other things in mind for them. She was still irritated by the way, Braeburn acted because of one set back. "Who is it?!" She called out, kind of irritated that some pony decided to show up today.
Almost immediately after she asked, she regretted the answer. "It's Trixie. May I come in?" Rainbow Dash was both shocked and appreciative of the way she asked. Ever since she'd known her, Trixie had been even more of a high and mighty character than Rainbow herself. To hear her asking for something as mundane as an invitation to come in was, well, out of character.
She couldn't in good conscience not open the door for her. Even she would feel bad about that after she helped her and Brae the other night. "Um... sure. Just let me get the door unlocked." She then proceeded to unlock her apartment and let the blue mare in.
"Thank you, Rainbow Dash," she said as she walked in. There was something different about her today, something unsettling. It wasn't bad, but it seemed as though she was tired. "So this is where you and Braeburn live? It's..." she took the time to look for the right word to express what she thought about their apartment. Rainbow Dash patiently waited for some kind of backhanded compliment that she could snap at. "Nice. Your apartment is nice."
Rainbow was actually shocked that nothing mean came out of her mouth. This wasn't right. Maybe it was just Brae telling her to be nice, or maybe she was going through some issues. She didn't know, but what she did know was that she was going to find out. "Alright, what's up?"
"What do you mean?" Trixie was keeping a bad poker face about what was troubling her. Rainbow Dash knew that because, even though she absolutely hated to admit it, she and Trixie were almost the exact same mare. The only real difference was that Rainbow was a pegasus while Trixie was a unicorn.
"Don't 'what do you mean' me," she was going to push to find out what she wanted. "I know that-. Look, this isn't going anywhere and I just made up some coffee. Would you like to join me?"
A faint smile appeared on Trixie’s face. "Yes. I would, actually." She graciously accepted Rainbows invitation and sat down at the table.
Rainbow Dash went into the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee. It was the only thing she could make without setting something on fire. The only reason she let Braeburn make was because he was always up first, and also his burnt coffee wasn't that bad. The burning gave it a kick. She handed her a mug and then sat down across the table from her. "So why'd you stop by, anyway?"
"I just thought I would stop by to see what Braeburn had been up to since we..." She wanted to find the right words to use without offending Rainbow Dash. "Since the last time I saw him."
Rainbow raised one eyebrow and decided not to pry into that. She got the idea well enough and she could always ask Braeburn about it later on. So instead, she decided to ask Trixie another question. "You look tired. Been sleeping alright?"
"I..." she was about to lie about something, but then decided against it. Rainbow wanted answers from one thing or another today, and Trixie seemed genuinely friendly enough to warrant at least some civility. "No, actually. I haven't slept well the last couple of nights."
It was difficult for Rainbow Dash to keep up being polite. Usually Braeburn would just say no until she wore him down from asking, which took a while to do. He was really patient. But with Trixie, it seemed like she wanted to tell somepony, but at the same time, didn't. It was almost like her pride kept her from it. "Sounds like that's got a story behind it. Care to explain?"
"Trixie isn't sure that she wants too..."
"Alright," she finished the last gulp of her still hot coffee. It was a skill she'd acquired when she'd down shots of rainbow from Cloudsdale. Now that took some guts. "Your call."
"I'm grateful for your forgiveness after all that I did to you," she stopped and, for but a moment, it seemed as though she would let a tear or two pass by. They didn't. "Thank you."
Rainbow hadn't been this surprised by anything since the guitar incident. Not to say she wasn't pleasantly surprised, but still. "You’re welcome. We owe you one for the other night."
"No, I owed you one for what I did to you. And I owed Braeburn more than that."
Rainbow fought every urge to ask her about that and she succeeded. She might have failed, though, had it not been for another pony knocking at her door. "What is it?!" She called out again. This time she was actually relieved at the interruption. It meant pressuring Trixie into answering her questions wouldn't be so hard.
"It's Applejack." Oh no. They hadn't spoken since she took off with Braeburn three months ago. This was either going to end kinda good or very badly. "I, uh... I wanna talk."
She gave an irritated sigh and then opened the door for her old best friend. "I kind of have company, AJ."
"It's fine," Trixie said from the table, finishing her coffee. "I was just leaving. Thank you again for the coffee, Rainbow Dash. I was going to visit Summer in the hospital, anyway." She maneuvered past AJ and Rainbow and then left without any other words.
"Uh... was that who I..." AJ began to ask, confused.
"Yeah, why?" Rainbow answered, knowing her friend would be confused.
"Never mind..." She shook it off and then walked into her friend’s home. "So this is where you and Braeburn... live?" Rainbow Dash got the strangest sense that she had had this conversation just now. She didn't want to have it again. "I know it's nice, AJ. What did you want to talk about?"
She took a sigh and then began to spill her guts. "Rainbow," she began in her country accent and taking off her hat. "I ain't at all happy 'bout the way things ended between us."
Rainbow Dash was still hurt at what she said to her when they fell out. "Remind me what happened again?"
"I uh... shoot," Applejack was always humble enough to admit when she was wrong, but she really made a plot of herself the last time she saw Rainbow Dash. "I took you and my cousin bein' together the wrong way. I know better not to meddle in his affairs and I did it anyway. I'm sorry for calling you a cousin-stealing griffon and for sayin' all those other things about what you can do and where you could do it." She looked back up to Rainbow Dash after keeping her head down for the whole apology. "Could ya ever forgive me?"
Rainbow Dash was ecstatic to hear her best friend say that. "I'll think about it," she smugly said with a wry grin. Then AJ went for a hug and Rainbow could do nothing but accept it. She wasn't ever this sappy, almost, but it felt great to have her old friend back. "And I'm sorry for calling you a dogmatic and stupid work horse who wouldn't know a good time if it bit you in the tail."
"Wait a sec..." Now AJ was confused. "Y'all never said that to me, Sugercube."
Rainbow Das just smiled at her with her eyes closed. "But I thought it."
She gave a chuckle at her. "It's good to be back, Rainbow."
"It's good to have you back."
And for what seemed like hours, they just talked back and forth, sharing old memories and new ones. As it turned out, Donut Joe fell for Pinkie Pie while there opening a new donut shop. Ponyvilles resident renegade, Thunderlane, fell for Fluttershy. He was totally wrapped around her hoof. Rainbow Dash knew that beneath that onyx coat was just a big softy. Twilight was trying to get a hang of more advanced versions of transmutation spells, and Rarity and Spike were preparing for when Twilight mastered the transmutation spells. And as for Scootaloo... she became a weather manager in Ponyville and actually broke the sound barrier for her first time. She always knew she had it in her. All in all, things carried on as they always had. Rainbow Dash was sad that she hadn't seen her friends in months, and even worse that she missed such important mile-stones in their lives. But she also understood that things changed, and maybe, after everything with the Echelon was finished, she and Brae would move to Ponyville and settle down for real. Rainbow Dash smiled as she mused at that thought and wondered why Trixie took off to in such a hurry to visit Summer Blaze.