We waited in that ungodly long line for what seemed like hours. "Remember what I said about Cider season, Fluttershy?" I said, a little annoyed at the small filly crying behind us. "I take it back. It's more like trying to meet Princess Celestia." We had never actually met her on a casual visit. It was always when somepony was attacking us or when we were in danger. But I imagined it had to be a pain to get a five second visit with her to just shake hooves.
"Shut it." Fluttershy said, annoyed about her mane. She had been hit by a stray cup about 30 minutes ago. It was still filled with a carbonated beverage of some sort and it was sticky. She was having difficulty trying to brush her mane and get all the crap out of it. I was happy though that she didn't have to stay shy around me. She was much more open when she taked to me and spoke with more force in her voice. I'm not going to lie, I did kind of miss her being shy and defenseless, though.
We finally reached the gate after many long hours. "Ticket." the old irritable pegasus said. He didn't seem to like being here, whether it be because of all the ponies that came, or just because he hates his job. I flashed him my ticket and he let me through.
"Ticket." he told Fluttershy. She flashed her ticket and right before she walked in, two guards walked out and stood in front of her.
"Can you please come with us? You have been selected for a random search." the taller of the two said.
"What?" Fluttershy asked as she started to lower her head.
"We have a new policy. We must randomly search ponies as they walk in to make sure that nopony brings a weapon. Please step to the side, ma'am." he urged.
She looked to me questioningly. "Um, but why me? I don't even have any bags with me. Do I look suspicious?" she asked.
"Like he said, it's a random search." his counterpart said.
I walked up behind them. "So you guys are searching a mare who clearly has no bags on her while you let stallions walk in with bags of stuff in them. Sounds to me like you two are just being lazy. And I should know, I'm the Queen of Lazy!" I said.
The two guards looked at each other. "Move along miss. Enjoy the show." they told Fluttershy and walked off.
"Thank you, Rainbow. I didn't feel comfortable going with them." she said to me with a smile.
"It's nothing. What was I suppose to do? Leave you alone with them while I found our seats?" I said sarcastically.
"I don't think you would have had a choice." she pointed out.
I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'd find a way. Let's go before the show starts. I don't want to miss anything." I said and we ran for our seats. We were placed perfectly, not too close to where your neck would strain when looking up at their stunts, but not too far to miss everything they were doing. "This is going to be amazing!" I exclaimed, giddy with excitement.
"I hope it's as good as the ponies say they are." Fluttershy said as I waved down a vendor.
"Oh they are! I've read all about them!" I exclaimed.
"What can I do for you-" the grey mare started. "Oh! I know you! You're, um, Bowrain?"
I sighed. "No, Derpy. I'm Rainbow Dash." I clarified.
"Oh, right! And you're..." she stopped, trying to remember Fluttershy's name.
"Flutt-" I started, but Derpy cut me off.
"No, I got this!" she exclaimed. She scratched her head with her hoof, squinting her eyes in frustration. "Oh! I remember! You're Flyshy!" she said, beaming with glee. She really must have thought she was right.
"No, it's-" I was stopped again, this time by Fluttershy.
"Hey, Derpy. How are you doing?" she asked.
"Great, Shyfly! I've been trying to get some extra money so I can prove that I can live on my own!" she said. "This is my third job this month!" she said proudly.
"Aren't you supposed to hold a stable job?" I asked. Fluttershy nudged me.
"Well...yeah, I guess so. But I'm working full time at the Post Office! So when I get my vacation time I do these other jobs, that way I'm a produculative mare of Equestria!" she said, trying her hardest to say productive right.
"Producti-" I was stopped for a third time.
"That's great, Derpy! I hope everything works out for you!" Fluttershy said encouragingly. For some reason, she could talk to Derpy like any other pony. I guess it was just her kind of attitude that made Fluttershy talk to her so easily.
"Thanks! Now, that'll be 10 bits!" she said.
"For what?" I asked confused.
"Didn't you call me over for something? I thought I gave you what you wanted..." she said, her tone of voice losing confidence.
And this is where I felt really bad. I don't mean to hurt other's feelings or to put them down, but I can't help it sometimes. But the one thing you never do, is hurt Derpy in any way. "Oh, we did call you over, I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention to what you were going to give us." I said, unconvincingly.
"Oh! Well I got your two sodas for you! That'll be 10 bits." she repeated as she gave us our sodas.
"What's a soda?" Fluttershy asked as I gave Derpy the bits.
"I don't know. I just sell them." she said. "I gotta run, though. I have muffins I need to give to the others. See ya'!" she exclaimed as she flew to the upper stands.
"Well, what I really wanted was a pack of peanuts." I said as I sniffed the soda. It didn't smell too bad, but when I took a sip of it, I realized why. "It's full of syrup!" I exclaimed.
"This is what must've hit me outside the gate." Fluttershy said, taking a sip of her own. For some reason, despite it being filled with syrup, I really wanted another one. Soon, both of us had finished our drinks.
"This is worse than alcohol." I said, already getting the withdrawals. I haven't ever had a drink, but I've read reports about it while skimming through my Wonderbolts magazines and other athletic magazines.
"It's not so bad." she said, but I could tell that it was. Her hooves were shaking and she couldn't sit still, which was not like her.
"Well, let's not get any more of those." I said, despite feeling my own cravings for the carbonated beverage. I'm a very energetic pony and if Fluttershy had started to get jittery, I didn't want to know what would happen to me. We sat there talking about how excited we were for the show. Okay, it was more me talking about the show. I was just too excited and happy that I was actually here and was going to meet them later. I even had trading cards with me for them all to sign.
"Howdy there partner!" I heard a familiar voice call behind me. I turned my head and saw Applejack walking down the stairs towards us.
I looked at her in awe. "How in the wide world of Equestria are you able to be here?" I asked. She walked to our row and took her seat next to us.
"The same brown pony who gave me these tickets also 'soniced' me. Whatever the hay that means." she said.
Ah. So that's how he can walk on clouds "What? Soniced?" I asked.
"Yeah. I don' know what it is, but it looks like a screw driver of sorts with a lil' blue orb at the top of it." she explained.
"Okay then." I said, trying to seem like I was completely lost. " Well, what's up? I haven't seen you in awhile." I said.
"Ah'm doing just fine. Had a little mishap in Appleloosa. Darned cousins couldn't keep a barn together if you fused it with magic." she said.
"Reallly? That bad?" I asked with a light chuckle.
"Yep. They've never been the best at building barns, but it's nice to see 'em working hard and gettin' their hooves dirty." she said. "And Rainbow, you know it's impolite to not introduce your friends to each other." she told me as she nodded to Fluttershy.
"Oh! Right. You two don't know each other yet. Fluttershy, this is Applejack. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have became Captain of the Weather Team." I said.
"Hello." she said quietly.
"Howdy!" Applejack said enthusiastically.
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, but what do you do? I haven't seen you around school. Are you from Ponyville?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes, ma'am. Ah'm in charge of Sweet Apple Acres. I dropped out of school so Ah could run the farm and keep everything orderly. Ah couldn't have asked for a better life." she said proudly. "And yourself?"
"Oh, I just take care of animals in my spare time when I'm not at school." Fluttershy said.
"And she's amazing at it. I gave her a pet rabbit one day and he's a pain in the flank to deal with. But somehow Fluttershy is able to keep him straight. Sometimes." I said.
"Well, ain't that nice." Applejack said. "And how do you two know each other?"
"We've been friends since we were little fillies. She's actually the reason why I'm here. She gave me two tickets for this on Hearts Warming."
"Well that was awfully kind o' her. Why didn't you take your sister though?" she asked.
"Sister?" I asked confused.
Applejack narrowed her eyes at me. "Yes. You said you had a sister. Remember that day when you cleared the weather for me? You said you had to meet your sister for somethin'. Why didn't she come?" she asked.
Ah crap. I thought. I had forgotten about that day. "Ah. Yes, well...you see-" I stammered. Fluttershy interrupted me.
"She doesn't like the Wonderbolts. Neither does her brother, Felix, so I came with her." she said casually.
Thank you, Fluttershy. I thought, relieved.
"Ah see. Well, hopefully this here show will be worth it. Some weird brown pony came to me and gave me this ticket. Something about a meetup with a friend. You know him?" she asked me.
"I don't know, maybe. I know a lot of ponies." I said, trying to avoid the question. I saw the Wonderbolts and an orange pegasus step out with them. "Oh, it's starting!" I said. The orange mare in a uniform came out to the podium at the center of the arena. Her mane reminded me of fire and it hit me then who it was. "Hey, that's Spitfire, the Captain's daughter!" I told Fluttershy and Applejack.
"Mares and Stallions. Will you please stand for the Equestrian National Anthem." she said with a light voice. The stands rose out of their seats and put their hooves over their hearts. As the Anthem played, I looked around the arena for Princess Celestia. I had heard that she usually came to watch them when they performed. After a few minutes, I found her at the top of the arena in a small section that was marked of for her and whoever was important. I had to take a double take when I looked over there, however. I couldn't quite tell, but I thought I had seen my mother with her.
I was about to look to Fluttershy when the speakers cut out and the clouds suddenly made the sun disappear. I looked at the sky and saw nothing but pitch black storm clouds. "Uh-oh." I said. I looked to Fluttershy, who was cowering in her chair. "Fluttershy, get out of here!" I exclaimed.
"What's going on?" she asked as she looked at the sky.
"Something bad." I said.
She just whimpered and shook more as lightning flashed across the sky and thunder began to sound. "Please, Fluttershy? You're not safe here!" I shouted.
"I'm not going without you!" I heard her say.
I groaned. "Applejack! Can you take Fluttershy to Sweet Apple Acres? She needs to get out of here." I said.
"Why?" she asked. "It's jus' a tiny storm." she said.
"Well, yes. But she's really scared of them. So could you? I'm going to see what I can do about the clouds." I said.
"And when they don't let me back in?" she asked, clearly not liking the idea of having to leave.
"I don't think that will be a problem. There probably won't be a show anyway." I said and shot off into the sky. I flew above the clouds and tried to move them out of the way of the arena. I would push one away, but another one would replace it right away. "There wasn't supposed to be a storm today! Why are you here?" I shouted to the clouds. I tended to do that when I moved the clouds.
I saw a figure shoot out from the clouds. "Fluttershy! I said to get out of here!" I shouted.
"You don't recognize your mother anymore?" my mom said. "Now before you ask any questions, let's get these clouds cleared. Follow me." she said as she flew to the edge of the storm clouds.
"Hey! Wait!" I shouted to her as I flew behind her.
"Follow my lead!" she shouted. She started to fly around the edge of the clouds. I followed her close behind, gaining speed. I looked to the clouds as we flew by them and saw that they had started to swirl with us. "Keep flying around them!" she shouted as she flew beneath the clouds. For a few seconds I wanted to fly down with her, but as I was about to do just that, she shot through the center of the clouds and sent them flying upward in a tornado formation. The sun began to shine back onto the arena as the sky cleared.
"Whoa. You've got to show me that again sometime!" I said amazed.
"Maybe next time I'm able to visit I'll teach you. Now, go find Fluttershy. I don't think she's safe right now." she said. I already knew that from the second the clouds appeared.
"Yeah. I'll go do that." I said. There was a scream that came from below. It wasn't a scream of fear. No, I knew this scream. It was a scream of shock and despair. I looked to my mother and we both flew down to the arena. Spitfire was kneeling by a pony, holding his hoof in her's. I looked around her and sucked in my breath. Her dad and the rest of the team had been killed from what I could only believe to be lightning. It's very likely that whatever pegasus had put the clouds there had also caused the lighting to hit the Wonderbolts. There was some writing scorched into the ground as well. It read, Fluttershy.
"Rainbow Dash, go. I'll handle this." my mom said. I just stood there staring at my idols and the words next to them. "Rainbow!" my mom shouted at me. I jerked out of my daze and looked at her. "Go find Fluttershy." she said again with more force.
"Yeah. Right. See ya'." I said and took off for Sweet Apple Acres. I couldn't believe what had just happened. Fluttershy, AJ, and me were just sitting together waiting in the peaceful day when hay hit the fan. And when I saw what happened to Spitfire's dad...
I shook the picture out of my head. I didn't want to think of that. I had to find Fluttershy and make sure she was alright. I'm sure she knew who it was who caused it. At least I did. I arrived at the barn and knocked on the door. AJ appeared with a grim look on her face.
"Did you get Fluttershy here?" I asked hopefully.
"Uhh, yeah. But, when Ah went to get her something to drink, she had disappeared. Ah think she went home, so Ah would check there. Ah'm sorry Rainbow. Ah really am." she said in a grim voice.
"Ugh, okay. I'll check there. Thanks for helping though." I said. "I didn't want you to miss anything, but she means everything to me."
"Ah understand that. My siblings are the world to me and Ah would do anything for them. Go help your 'sister'. Ah'm sure she could use some comfortin' words from you." she said, putting some extra emphasis on the word 'sister'.
"Okay. I'll see you later then." I said and flew off to my house. I had to remember that I kept calling Fluttershy my sister. I don't know why I started saying that. It wasn't like Applejack couldn't just ask someone at school about us, but she didn't go to school. I guess I'd cross that bridge when I crossed it.
I arrived at my house and flew into our room. Everything looked to be fine, other than the fact that Fluttershy wasn't here. I walked downstairs calling her. "Fluttershy? Where are you?" I looked throughout the entire house. I walked into the kitchen and saw a piece of paper. I normally would have passed it by, but it was out of place. As if, somepony had wanted me to see it. I slowly walked over to the table and gasped when I read what was on it.
"Goodbye."