Date: Thirteen years prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return.
Two days before the Sonic Rainboom Incident.
Location: Orange Family Residence, Manehattan.
Point of View: Applejack
“Aunt Orange… are y’all sure ‘bout this?” the orange filly asked.
“Most certainly my dear Applejack, a soirée is the best way to test your sophistication lessons,” the pale, yellow mare replied. The filly could notice a certain spark in her eyes when she added, “And I will make you look absolutely stunning, so you give a good impression to our friends. Who knows, one may even find you fitting to present you to his son.”
Applejack was not sure how to feel, she did want to live a good life, and she knew Manehattan had lots of possibilities, but it would be hard to get to the top, and if she couldn’t perform well at a little soirée held by her aunt and uncle, she wouldn’t be able to get anywhere.
“But is it really what Ah want?” She re-played what her aunt just said in her head. “Ah don’t wanna look good so they present me their sons, Ah wanna look like a good girl so Ah can make some friends! That’s the second reason of why Ah came here, nopony in Ponyville wanted to be mah friend.”
“A-Auntie… Ah really don’t wanna ‘meet a colt that’s the son of some important pony.’ Ah wanna make friends! N’ if Ah fall for somepony, Ah want it to be somethin’ special, after years of knowin’ each other…”
“Non-sense my dear, your uncle and I met each other that way, and we live happily together. But never mind that, our biggest problem right now is to make you talk like how a true Manehattanite should.”
“But Ah-”
“I, my dear. I,” the orange-maned mare corrected.
Date: Thirteen years prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return.
The day of the Sonic Rainboom Incident.
Location: Meadow below Summer Flight Camp, Cloudsdale’s surroundings.
Point of View: Rainbow Dash
“Hey, are you out there?” the cyan filly asked.
“R-Rainbow Dash?” the daredevil pegasus heard, somewhere near her.
Rainbow Dash looked around, but found no pony nearby. Just colours, many colours. Dash always loved looking at that part of the world; it was probably because she was one of the most colourful ponies around. She didn’t pay that much attention to the things ponies said, or the objects around her, but their colours.
She was in a meadow full of blue lagoons, very green trees, pink and yellow flowers … but no clue of the pony she was looking for. The smell that invaded her nostrils was also breathtaking; the flower perfume lingered in the air and the breeze carried the scent of what seemed to be a nearby river. She loved feeling the scent of everything too, she always said that everypony had their unique smell, and that it described the pony.
That’s when she realized, that smell was in the air.
“You’re close, aren’t you? Come out, I won’t hurt you!”
From below her, a pink-maned and pale yellow-coated filly with a large but slim body emerged.
“Wow! H-how? Y-you… I couldn’t see you!” the rainbow-maned pony asked, dumbfounded.
“Oh… I-I’m sorry, I’m just… good at hiding,” she heard other pony say, and she notice she was avoiding her gaze.
“But that goes beyond hiding! You’re right here, lying between the flowers! It’s like camouflage, so awesome!”
“I guess I was just lucky these flowers were here and have my same colours?” the weak-flyer pegasus replied blushing.
“Still, pretty awesome…Uh…”
“F-Fluttershy,” the shy pegasus replied in an almost inaudible voice.
“I’m sorry, didn’t quite catch that.”
“Flutter…shy,” she repeated, a bit louder this time.
“Fluttershy huh? I like that name.” Rainbow Dash got closer to the filly and took a deep breath. “And you smell like flowers, I like that.”
Rainbow Dash realized the little pony that she saved from the bullies, was staring at her with a confused face, so she exclaimed.
“Oops, sorry, shouldn’t have said that aloud, forget about it. My name is-”
“Rainbow Dash.”
“H-how did you…?” asked the rose-eyed pegasus.
“I… I’ve seen you several times and you seemed to be… nice… so I asked you your name a week ago. I guess you don’t remember that… i-it’s okay. Ponies never pay me any attention.”
Rainbow Dash cringed and she felt her heart hurt a little “I-I’m sorry okay? I was never good at remembering ponies, heh,” she said, rubbing the back of her head. “But you seem like a nice pony too! We should hang out more often. Is that cool with you?”
“Yeah… I’d like that.”
“Hey! You got your cutie mark!”
“Yeah, it seems I’m good with animals.”
“And I’m the most awesome flyer ever!” the cyan pegasus said, showing her new-found friend her cutie mark.
“I’m happy for you and me. In fact, I’m so happy I could just scream for joy.” She took in air, and then, a barely listenable “Yay!” exited her mouth.
“That… was your ‘scream for joy’?” Rainbow Dash said while holding a snicker.
“I’m sorry, was it too loud?”
Rainbow Dash grinned and answered, “Nah, it’s cool. But I really think we should go back to the camp, they’re probably looking for us.”
Date: Ten years prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return
Rainbow’s first visit to Fluttershy’s house.
Location: Town centre, Ponyville
Point of View: Rainbow Dash
“Gosh, Fluttershy, you’re terrible at giving instructions! I’ll never make it to your house this way… And I don’t know anypony from here, I don’t even know who to ask.”
Rainbow Dash was trying to deduce where her friend’s house was. She re-read the instructions aloud. “‘When you get to the town hall,’ which I suppose is this big building I the middle of the town centre… ‘you have to turn left, towards the Everfree Forest. It’s the only cottage nearby so you won’t get lost’… Well that would be nice if I knew which left is the left you chose when you wrote this letter!”
The cyan pony groaned and inspected the place a little better.
“Well… There are six streets… like the colours of my mane. Today, I feel like orange, so let’s go that way!” So she sped through one of the routes. “Why don’t make this an obstacle training session?” The daredevil pegasus flew and dodged the ponies passing by with grace and ease that is, until she tried to evade a cart full of apples.
She succeeded to evade the cart, but she failed to dodge the filly carrying it.
“Look out!”
“What in Tarnation?”
The fillies collided and the apples flew in every direction.
“Ouch! That hurts a lot! What are you, made of stone?” asked Rainbow Dash while she shook her head, trying to regain focus.
“Ah’m sorry fer being a hard-workin’ filly! Now what’s yer excuse fer crashin’ and making all mah apples fly awa-”
For the first time the two fillies looked at each other.
“Wow… uhm… hi,” Rainbow said. The filly was like nopony she had ever seen before. A certain aura surrounded her, and Dash liked it very much. But the most important thing for the pegasus were the colours of the earth pony. “She looks very pretty with that orange coat, the golden mane, those white freckles… and those emerald eyes. Whoa… maybe today I felt like orange because I was going to meet her! That would be very cool, like destiny’s meddling or something.”
The farmfilly was looking at her without saying a word.
“Oops, guess I should apologize. Sorry for crashing and… destroying your property?”
“I-it’s not a problem, Sugarcube.”
“Whoa. She has a very sweet voice.” “N-no, I feel bad, shouldn’t be dashing around knowing there are ponies walking by, is there anything I can do to help?”
“Well... if y’all wanna, Ah need to gather the apples that aren’t ruined. Ah came here to sell’em to earn sum money fer the family,” she said rubbing her hoof.
“Oh, no! I just ruined the batch you were about to sell? Horseapples. Let me make it up to you. But first... I’m sorry for asking something after what I did but... do you have any idea where the Everfree Forest is? Fluttershy to-”
“Y’all lookin’ fer Fluttershy?” the pony said smiling.
“You know her?” Rainbow Dash asked surprised.
“She buys apples almost everyday, Ah’ve been to her cottage sum times, helpin’ her when she needed a hoof to carry sumthin.” The orange cowfilly seemed to be thinking something and she then continued. “Tell y’all what. Help me gather the good apples left n’ Ah’ll escort y’all to Fluttershy’s house.”
“That sounds like a deal to me.”
Date: Ten years prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return
Rainbow’s first visit to Fluttershy’s house.
Location: Town centre, Ponyville
Point of View: Applejack
“So… you’re from Cloudsdale huh?” Applejack asked the rainbow-maned pony who was walking by her side, towards a certain shy pegasus’ cottage near the Everfree Forest.
“Yeah, born and raised. You’re from here, aren’t you?”
“Eeyup. Where do y’all know Fluttershy from?”
“From flight camp. I met her there and we became friends, but since she lived here I couldn’t see her anymore, but then she sent me a letter and well, here I am.”
“Ah…” Applejack felt the pegasus was friendly, and she liked her, but she was getting short on topics to talk about. Luckily they were getting close to the cottage, but still, it would be a minute until they got there. “Ah won’t take an awkward silence minute, better think of sumthin’” “So… do y’all like sports?”
The filly’s eyes seemed to sparkle when she mentioned sports and a grin appeared on her face. “Like them? I love them! I’m a speedster, my life is a race and my cutie mark proves it!”
“Now that y’all speak of it, Ah haven’t asked y’all ‘bout yer cutie mark, how did y’all got it?”
Well I got in that flight camp I was talking you about. I was doing my usual aero-”
“Sorry to interrupt y’all, but we’re here.”
“Oh, great!” She looked at the door some seconds, then she smirked and asked Applejack.
“Could you knock the door for me? I’ll hide behind you and scare her!”
Applejack rolled her eyes and giggling she knocked the door. Rainbow Dash didn’t know what her plans were.
After a few seconds, the shy filly opened the door and after eyeing Applejack she exclaimed, a little concerned “Oh I’m sorry Applejack, but I can’t hang out today, I have a friend from Cloudsdale coming over. I’m sorry, we can hang out the day after tomorrow, if that’s okay with you…”
“It’s okay Flutters, Ah jes came here to escort yer lil’ friend.” She said, moving aside, revealing a surprised Rainbow Dash. “This sweetie got lost n’ Ah helped her.”
“R-Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked.
“Awww, you’re such a buzzkill.” Said Rainbow Dash huffing disappointed and glaring daggers at the emerald-eyed farm-filly.
“Sorry Rainbow, but Ah know Shy gets scared easily, Ah don’t want y’all givin’ her a heart attack.”
“I’m glad you’re finally here Rainbow, but trying to scare me is not very nice… Just saying…”
“It was just a prank! And I didn’t even got the chance… thanks to some pony.”
“Ah’ll make it up to y’all.” She looked at Fluttershy and asked “Would y’all n’ this crazy filly be free for an hour at six?”
“Huh?”
“See, this pegasus in a blue n’ yellow uniform came to the stall yesterday n’ bought an apple pie for his son. He was short on bits, but he gave me three tickets to his show, n’ Ah thought we could go.”
“Wait… pegasus, blue and yellow uniform, show, today at six… THE WONDERBOLTS!” squealed ecstatic.
“The what now?”
“The Wonderbolts! The greatest group of performing pegasai ever! I absolutely love them! I hope I can be one of them when I grow up.”
“Well… y’all could learn watching’em, ever been to one of them shows?”
“Sadly,no. Getting a ticket to their show is almost impossible.”
“Well, can’t wait fer a better opportunity, can y’all? Are y’all comin’?”
“Oh I’m so going to be there!”
“N y’all Flutters?”
“Oh no, no. I don’t like crowds… or shows… or ponies doing dangerous speed stunts. You… you two go together, alone, I’ll wait for you here Rainbow.”
“Hey Fluttershy, not so fast, there’s still a long time until six.”
“Eeyup. Ah still gotta sell those apples… Ah’ll come here n’ get y’all at five thirty, that okay with y’all Rainbow?”
“Sure!”
Fluttershy giggled and said “You two sound like Applejack is asking you on a date.”
Rainbow looked at Applejack, they both grinned and follow the game.
“I must tell you, my dear Applejack, that I don’t give kisses on my first date…”
Applejack tried her best not to laugh and said. “Well Ah’m gonna prove y’all that there’s a first time fer everythin’ Sugarcube!” She then got close to her and rested a hoof on Rainbow’s back.
“Hey, hey! Hooves off the merchandise” Fluttershy said sternly, looking at them with a stare that could freeze the flames of Tartarus.
The two other ponies looked at her surprised, until the pink-maned pony started giggling.
Soon after, the three ponies were rolling on the floor laughing to their hearts content.
“Okay, too much jokin’ fer me. Ah gotta go.”
“See ya later AJ!” replied Rainbow Dash
“Don’t be late for your date!” joked Fluttershy.
“Don’t worry ma’am Shy, Ah’ll be here fer yer daughter at five thirty.” She said, giving an exaggerated bow.
As she walked back to the market she thought “That Rainbow gal sure is sumthin’! Ah never felt so in sync with somepony Ah barely know!
Some hours later, Applejack found herself in front of Fluttershy’s cottage door again. She knocked thrice and waited for an answer.
Some seconds later, Fluttershy appeared looking sternly at Applejack.
“What are you doing here?”
Applejack noticed she was following their silly little play from before, so she followed suit.
“Ah’m here fer yer daughter ma’am. Is she ready fer our date?”
“Rainbow!” Fluttershy yelled.
“Wow, she really got into her character, Ah’ve never seen Fluttershy yell that way”
After a few seconds, Rainbow Dash appeared, wearing a nice blue dress, it was some tones darker than her coat, but she looked really good.
But a question lingered in Applejack’s mind. “Uh… why the dress?”
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat and said, with a silky voice “Well, my dear mother, Fluttershy, had this idea and I totally agree with her because I despise leaving half-baked plans… if they involve fun.” And before the earth-pony could ask she continued “She said ‘If you’re pretending to have a date, why don’t pretend it thoroughly?’. So… here I am, making my mother proud.” She said barely containing her snickers.
“Oh, okay then.” Applejack also cleared her voice, and with a deeper voice she said “May Ah take yer daughter ma’am?”
“Okay, I trust you will take good care of my sweetheart.”
“Ah’ll bring her back before midnight, Ah promise!”
As the two fillies walked towards town giggling about their absurd game, they heard Fluttershy add.
“And don’t get too sweet you too! Keep your distance!”
“Sure thing ma’am!” Applejack said snickering.
After a few more steps, she noticed Dash had stopped and was looking at her worried.
“What’s wrong Sugarcube?”
“I really hope you play your ‘gentlemare’ role really good, because I forgot to bring any bits…”
Date: Ten years prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return
Rainbow’s first Wonderbolts show.
Location: Town centre, Ponyville
Point of View: Rainbow Dash
“Don’t y’all worry Sugarcube, Ah brought bits fer two, jes in case.”
“Cool, I’ll pay you when we get back to Flutters” Rainbow Dash said.
“Nah, don’t mind it”
“Hey, I destroyed your cart, you took me to my friend’s house, then you invited me to watch my heroes with tickets you got AND you’re paying for everything. And we just met!” She smiled and looked at her “I never refuse free stuff, but this is too much, and you said you needed the money for your family.”
“Okay now… where were we supposed to turn?”
“That was amazing! the loop-de-loops, the barrel rolls. And that ending with the ‘Smoke Screw’! Awe-some!”
“Yeah, Ah don’t know that many technical names, but it was sum fancy show.” Her stomach grumbled and she blushed embarrassed “N’ Ah dunno ‘bout y’all but mah stomach is screamin’ fer sum chow.”
Rainbow chuckled but said “Well…”
“Now don’t y’all hold back jes ‘cause Ah’m paying.”
“Okay… let’s go eat something then… but I’ll pay you back later!”
“Hoo-ey gal, that was good don’t y’all think?”
Rainbow Dash tapped slightly her belly “Oh yeah, I’m stuffed”
“Okay we should get goin’. Fluttershy’s probably worried.” Applejack proposed.
“Yeah, you’re right. She’ll probably have a heart attack if we’re not there before midnight.”
The orange filly grinned and winked at her new-found friend “B’sides… Ah promised to bring her daughter back before midnight.”
Rainbow Dash knocked the door and waited for the shy pegasus. While waiting, she looked at her ‘date’ and grinned “You can go now, don’t think if you wait you’ll get rewarded or anything. I already told you I don’t give kisses on the first date.”
Applejack snickered and replied “As a gentlemare Ah gotta make sure y’all get to yer house safe n’ sound.”
Before the speedster pegasus could think of a comeback, Fluttershy opened the door. Only her eyes could be seen in the tiny gap she left open.
“Oh y-you’re back.”
“Yep, it was a blast!”
“Y’all should’ve come too!”
Fluttershy’s eyes darted back and forth and she bitted her lip. “Oh my… I don’t know how to say it Dash but… Y-you can’t sleep here tonight…”
“What!?” Rainbow’s eyes went wide as saucers.
“I am grounded, and my mom said I can’t have visitors, so…” The pink-maned pegasus refused to watch her in the eye.
“B-but what did y’all do to be grounded in the few hours we were gone?” asked Applejack.
“Umm… you see… the dress Dash’s wearing was not mine. It’s actually one of my mom’s dresses. I just cut some parts to make it the size of a filly, and did some little changes when you were napping.”
“Wow… you’re very talented! This looks flawless. B-but why would you do that? Didn’t you realised she would be mad?”
“She never uses it, and it was very, very old. And I thought it would look good on you…” She then started rubbing her left hoof with the other. “Turns out that dress was the one she used on her first date with my dad…”
“Ouch” the two other fillies answered in unison.
“Yeah, she’s very mad at me…”
“Okay, take the dress… maybe if she looks at how pretty it looks, she may forgive you.” She took off the dress and handed it to the shy filly. “Oh, and at least can you give me the bits I left here?”
“Oh yeah, here. And sorry again for this.” The filly said handing Rainbow Dash a bag full of bits.
Rainbow Dash could notice she was at the verge of crying. “It’s okay Shy, don’t worry and please don’t cry. I’ll come back tomorrow to see if you’re still grounded, I’d like to hang out a bit more than just the few hours we shared today”
“Okay… bye, you two.”
“Bye Fluttershy”
After the door was closed, the two ponies looked at each other and started walking down the path towards Ponyville.
“N’ what are y’all gonna do now?”
Rainbow Dash pondered… it was quite a good question. “I guess I’ll have to fly back home.”
Applejack stomped a hoof on the ground “To Cloudsdale? This late in the night? No, y’all aren’t. Not in mah watch.”
“What do you want me to do? Sleep on the floor?”
“Y’all are coming with me to Sweet Apple Acres, you can have mah bed, n’ Ah’ll take the spare mattress on the floor.
“Hey Applejack, you’ve done too much for me for a day… for a lifetime in fact, I can’t ask you to-”
“Ah’m not askin’ if y’all wanna.”
Date: Ten years prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return
Rainbow’s first sleepover at Applejack’s house.
Location: Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville
Point of View: Applejack
“Y’all are coming with me.”
“AJ, I just met you, I don’t wanna impose by-”
“Ah invited y’all, y’all are not imposing.”
“You just invited me because Shy couldn’t let me stay, and I told you I can fly home.”
“Ah’m invitin’ y’all ‘cause Ah had an unforgettable day with y’all, n’ since Ah’m not sure if Ah’ll ever see y’all again, Ah want it to last a little longer.” Applejack said, looking at Rainbow Dash with a look that showed both loving care, and stern resolution.
The cyan pony smiled tenderly and nuzzled her new friend’s neck “Thanks Apples.”
Applejack just froze in place by the sudden surge of affection showed by the pegasus.
“Oh, sorry! Did you have any personal space issues or something? I’m sorry if I did something that bothered you!” Rainbow Dash asked concerned.
“N-nah, its okay… jes… sudden.”
“Heh… it’s just that I’m not used to be treated this nice by ponies. I mean, I’m not usually treated badly, except the occasional bully, but I don’t see many sudden acts of kindness either.”
“Well get used to it. Mah granny raised me to be a dependable gal, n’ Ah’m gonna try to be the pony that will help every other pony. So if y’all need sumthin’, jes come and ask me. Even if y’all decide to do a giant contraption fer a fancy trick… Ah’ll be there to help y’all!”
“Thanks AJ, I will keep that in mind…”
After some minutes of walking, Dash seemed to be getting a bit nervous.
“We’re almost there Sugarcube, don’t get like that.”
“Where do you live anyways? We’ve left town some time ago… You’re… you’re not taking me to some obscure place to kidnap me or anything… right?” Rainbow Dash seemed genuinely preoccupied.
Applejack couldn’t help but to laugh at her friend’s silliness. “Y’all gotta be kiddin’ me! Haha, kidnap you?” She then stopped laughed and continued “Ah’m a farm-gal… Ah live in a farm, n’ farm aren’t next to town, they are a bit farther.”
“So… how big is your farm?”
“The orchards… Well, y’all tell me, we’ve been walkin in mah family’s lands for a while now.”
“Huh?” asked Rainbow Dash dumbfounded.
“Noticed where the trees became apple trees?”
“Yeah…”
“That’s where our land starts.”
“Wow, you guys have quite the place huh?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed while looking around the place.
“Eyup, n’ next year Ah’ll start working on applebucking.”
“Huh? What’s that?”
“The way we recollect them apples. We buck the trees, apples fall, n’ we sell’em later or use’em in food.” Stated Applejack smiling broadly.
“Cool! So… are we there yet?”
“Actually, yeah!” said Applejack pointing to the Apple Family’s household. “Ah present y’all mah house.”
“It looks… good I guess.” Replied Rainbow Dash with a fake smile on her face.
“What, y’all don’t like it?”
“It’s not that… it’s just that, being used to cloud pegasus houses, I can’t really ‘enjoy’ an earth pony house, they are very different.”
“Oh… Ah understand, Ah guess… well, come on in! Ah’ll check if the spare room is free.”
Date: Ten years prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return
Rainbow’s first sleepover at Applejack’s house.
Location: Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville
Point of View: Rainbow Dash
Applejack placed her hoof in front of her mouth, signalizing her to be quiet. “Mah family is usually asleep by this time.”
“Isn’t this a bit early to be sleeping?” asked Rainbow Dash, out of pure curiosity.
“We Apples usually wake up with the first sunray, so…”
“Yeah, I get it.”
Applejack got closer to the front door and opened the door as quietly as she could. Luckily they were fillies, so their hoofsteps made little noise. Unluckily, not every member of the family was asleep already.
“So… y’all finally decided to come back from yer lil’ date lil’ filly.”
Both fillies froze in place and looked to their right, and suddenly a lamp was turned on revealing an old pale green mare.
“Uh… h-hi Granny! Yeah… Ah jes came back, n’ Ah… Dashie needs to stay over Granny. Y’all always said we should care fer our friends, n’ Ah don’t want her to fly back to Cloudsdale this late, it’s dangerous fer a lil’ filly.”
The old mare looked at Rainbow Dash sternly “Dashie?”
“Rainbow Dash at your service ma’am! Best flyer to ever come out of Cloudsdale ma’am.” Rainbow instinctively said with a smile.
She noticed Applejack’s eyes widen and shaking her head in disapproval.
“She’s an assertive n’ pretentious one huh?” the mare frowned “Y’all see… in this family we admire humbleness.”
“Horseapples” Rainbow thought, cursing herself.
“Pony-feathers” Applejack said under her breath before looking at her grandmother and with her head held up high, exclaiming. “She’s a good gal Granny, don’t be impolite to a guest. Y’all yerself taught us that!”
“Guess y’all are right Applejack, besides, y’all have a good eye fer ponies, n’ if y’all brought her here, then she’s a good catch.” She said getting up from the armchair she was sitting on, and walking up the stairs.
Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack with a quizzical expression, just to get the same look from the farm-filly in front of her. She got a bit closer and whispered “You told her about the ‘date’ stuff?”
“No Ah didn’t.”
“Then why is she talking to us like we were dating?”
“Ah have no clue, now follow me, Ah’ll take y’all to the guest room.” Applejack said while walking up the same stairs as the old farm mare did some seconds ago.
“You know, I found something funny about us.”
“N’ what is that Sugarcube?”
“You say pony-feathers and I say Horseapples, but you’re the apple one, and I’m the feathered pony. Isn’t that weird?”
The orange pony stopped and smiled at her “Ah guess that jes means we’re meant to meet!”
“That’d be so awesome!”
Date: Seven years prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return
The day Applejack esdefscno 43R olev for Rainbow Dash .
Location: Outside Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville’s Outskirts
Point of View: Applejack
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