PonyFall: Rainbows

by Silverness


Tyler's Favor

Ponyfall: Rainbows

Chapter Eight - Tyler’s Favor

Edited by Darth_Dash & J_Xayph

April 15th, 2012 (11:30 am)

“Yo, Rainbow Dash! Wake up! Your food is ready!” I yelled from the kitchen.

A loud groan came from the living room followed by the sound of blankets rustling around. “It’s too early... just five more minutes...” Rainbow Dash moaned.

I flipped a pancake out of the pan onto the stack piling up on a plate. On a second burner, a small bit of egg and bacon cooked separately. “Too early?” I scoffed. “It’s never too early for pancakes.”

“Wait, did you say pancakes?!” There was a loud thud on the floor and a few seconds later, she appeared in the entryway with a blanket wrapped around her waist. It looked like she was stuck inside a cocoon after she made a few hops. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“I did, bu- you know what? Nevermind.” I sighed, turning back to breakfast. It was too early in the morning to argue over such a simple matter. “Just take a seat and I’ll have your food out.”

“Gotcha,” Rainbow Dash said, plopping into a chair at the table, where a pitcher of juice was already laid out. I flipped the last pancake onto the plate and brought it over along with two glasses.

Rainbow Dash grinned at the sight and picked up one of the pancakes with her mouth. She had already gobbled it up before she noticed the incredulous look I was giving her. “What?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

Rainbow looked at me, eyes narrowed, before shrugging and returning to her breakfast. As she ate, I filled both glasses with orange juice. She glanced up from her half-eaten pancake, then watched as I grabbed my cup to take a sip. She tried doing the same thing, but much to her chagrin, she was unable to get a grip on the cup. I left her there to gather the remainder of our breakfast.

When I turned around, plates in hand, I could see Rainbow Dash gritting her teeth at her challenge. She tried again as I placed both plates next to the pancakes and watched her grab the glass at an irregular angle, managing to pinch the edge with her forefinger and thumb.

"I think you'd have an easier time if you tried using more than two fingers," I said, stacking a couple pancakes and a helping of eggs and bacon on my plate.

"Can you just leave me alone? I'm not used to any of this," she said, trying with both hands, but only pushing the cup away.

"Maybe if you could calm down and think for once, you'd figure it out?"

She turned away from the cup and shot me a glare. "Don't you tell me to calm down. I am perfectly fine by myself, and I don't need you to tell me what to do!" She shouted, grabbing the cup between her wrists in a furor. She lifted it up, and she shot me a look of mixed triumph and relief. "See? I don't even need any stupid fingers." Then, the cup slipped and crashed to the table, splattering her with orange juice. Her face reddened as she looked meekly at me, before turning away and mumbling to herself.

I patted Rainbow’s shoulder to calm her down. “Hey, don’t worry about it. We all make mistakes.” I picked the glass up and set it upright, filling it up again with juice.

“But how the heck am I supposed to drink it without grabbing it? It’s practically impossible!” Rainbow Dash argued.

“You’re right about that. How are you going to drink fro- Wait a second, I think I’ve got it,” I said, getting up from my seat. “Be right back.” I went to the counter where a plastic container held an assortment of bendy straws. I grabbed one of them and placed it inside Rainbow’s cup. “Here, this should work. Try it.”

“A straw, huh?” Rainbow said, looking surprised. “Well, alright then.” She grabbed the straw and took a sip from her glass. “Hm... it’s a little bland, but it tastes like oranges.” She sipped it again. “Eh, I like the orange juice from Equestria more than this one.”

“Oh yeah? What’s it taste like in Equestria then?”

We continued to converse on the topic of differences between fruit on Earth and Equestria for quite some time. From her knowledge, she told me that the oranges were much sweeter there. It only made me wonder more about how pure Equestria was.

“Hey, Cody,” Rainbow Dash said after we finished our conversation. She had mouthful of pancake hanging out of her mouth.

I forked another piece of egg into my mouth. “Yeah? What is it, Rainbow?”

“Is that machine supposed to be blinking?” Rainbow asked, pointing to the counter.

I looked over in the direction she was pointing at, and for the first time noticed the answering machine blinking red. Someone must’ve left me a message and I didn’t notice. Excusing myself, I got up from my seat to the counter and picked up the phone, pressing the button for messages. The machine told me there were two new messages. I pressed seven to listen to the first one.

“Hey, Cody. Pick up the phone. It’s your mother. I just wanted to call and tell you that your father and I will be spending a bit more time down here in Texas to keep an eye out on your brother. You know how he gets, always showing his enthusiasm somehow. Anyway, we both hope that you’re doing okay. We’ll be back by the 19th, no later than the 20th. Take care now, and make sure not to make a mess there. Okay? Call you later.”

After the message ended, I blinked a few times and rubbed my ear to make sure I heard right. My parents weren’t coming back for another four to five days? I had thought they were staying for just a few days, but it helped in the end, since Rainbow was staying for the foreseeable future. At least Mom called to make sure I was fine.

I proceeded to the next message.

“Yo, buddy. It’s me, Marco. You’re probably wondering how I got your number, right? Well, I asked your brother if he could give me it and he did. Good thing he did because everyone else wanted to know if you were doing okay up there in Indiana. Maybe we can catch up on Xbox Live, but it seems different without you here. The rest of the guys say hi an-”

“Hey, Cody! How ya doing there?”

“Marcos! Stop interrupting me, I’m trying to talk.”

“Well it isn’t fair that you’re doing all the talking, asshole.”

“Whatever, you’re garbage. Anyway, hope you’re doing fantastic out there. See ya.”

“Yeah, see y- Hey! Wait a minute!”

“End of Message.”

I smiled warmly. I hadn’t heard those two for a while. It’d been what? An entire year since the day I moved? I wondered how the others were doing down there.

“So, what was it?” Rainbow Dash asked from her seat.

I looked behind to see her finishing a pancake with her mouth. “Oh, it was a message from my mom and a couple of old friends.”

“Huh? A message?” Rainbow asked. “You mean that machine can be used to send messages and stuff?”

“Yup. It’s technology at it’s finest. I’d explain it to you, but I don’t know much about all that technical stuff,” I said, placing the phone back on the hook. “And besides, I’m sure you’d get lost in my explanation and not understand a single word of it.”

“Try me,” Rainbow Dash challenged, sounding confident and determined.

“If you insist,” I said, walking back to the table, “Again, I don’t know much, but I’ll just give you the brief explanation.”

My brief explanation turned out to be a long and complicated ten minutes, thanks to the many questions Rainbow asked. I didn’t have answers for most of them, but I tried my best. I was in the middle of explaining phone lines when she dropped her face onto the table.

“Too much egghead stuff...” Rainbow Dash muttered.

I shook my head, smirking as I took a drink from my glass. “Egghead stuff? I’m guessing Twilight would love to listen to my explanation no matter how bad it is.” Seeing Twilight Sparkle taking notes would be quite a scene.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Twilight would have a field day and do stuff like write down notes for future references and all that,” Rainbow said, waving a hand around. “She does it all the time. Even with the littlest things, like that one time she forgot buy a present for Pinkie Pie’s birthday.”

“Oh really? How’d that go?”

“She basically went insane, scribbling down notes and steps on what to do. We all tried to tell her that Pinkie wouldn’t mind as long as she went to the party, but she wouldn’t listen,” Rainbow Dash continued. “So there we were, running around town to stop Twilight from blowing up over herself.”

“Damn. I can’t believe she got so into that,” I said, though I wasn’t surprised.

“Neither did I. She finally stopped searching for one after figuring out it was hopeless and we all went to the party after that. Pinkie greeted us at the entrance and we all went in, except for Twilight, who explained that she didn’t have a present. Instead, Pinkie Pie hugged her and said that she did get her a present; it was friendship. You should’ve seen the look on Twilight’s face after that. She was practically crying at that point, and we all joined in on the hug.”

“Wow, that’s actually a pretty heartwarming story,” I said, amazed that such an event happened outside of the show.

“Yeah, it’s one of those small moments where it’s good to be sappy.” She smiled, but then noticed the smirk on my face. “Not that I’m usually sappy or anything. It just seemed necessary at the time and you know tha-” she sputtered out, too quickly.

“I know, I know. You’re too awesome and cool for that kind of stuff,” I finished for her.

“That’s right,” Rainbow grinned. “You’re never as awesome as the incredible, daring, Rainbow Dash!”

“Mmhm. Y’know, you should eat more before your food gets cold.” I motioned at the remainder of her breakfast on her plate. My plate also had a few bits of uneaten food left, forgotten during the conversation.


“That, we can agree on,” Rainbow said, taking a bite out of her half-bitten pancake.

As I stuck a fork into my own, a series of knocks came from the front. I looked towards the door where the knocking continued. “Excuse me for a moment,” I said, getting up from my seat. I walked off, leaving Dash to her food and made my way to the door. The knocking didn’t let up, getting louder with each of my footfalls. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” I grumbled, irritated. I unlocked the door and opened it, revealing Tyler’s thin frame standing on my doorstep.

“Yeah, Tyler, what is it?” I asked, leaning against the doorway. “I’m having breakfast right now.”

“Now?” Tyler said, confused. “But, it’s twelve.” He pointed to the silver watch on his wrist. In bright digital white, the time read twelve forty-five. “See?” he added.

“I can see perfectly clear, Tyler.” Along with the watch, the sun was up at the point where it’d be noon. I stuck my head out and looked around the neighborhood. Nobody else was up or standing nearby. “Now, what is it that you want?”

“Um, do you remember the favor I asked about yesterday?” Tyler asked, triggering my memories of events from the day before. I remembered coming home from school, finding Rainbow Dash, getting my ass kicked by her, playing some video games, and having the biggest scare of my life. What else was missing?

“Oh, do you mean the time when you came over and tried to barge into my house?” I said, remembering that critical moment. “I know you asked me about helping at McDonald’s today or something.

Tyler nodded, confirming my story. “Yeah, that was it. If it’s not too much to ask, I could really use your help.”

“Um… help in what exactly? It better not be the toilets again.”

“What?! No, not that again,” Tyler said. “No, it’s just that we’re shorthanded one person and need someone to work the grill unt-”

“Pass,” I said, waving my hand dismissively. “I’m off today remember?” He must be crazy if he thought I was going to do all that crap on my day off. Sure, I had done it before, but why would I do it then? I was especially inclined to turn him down with Dash to take care of.

“Oh come on! Please?” Tyler pleaded, literally putting his hands together as if praying. “Do it for your ol’ pal. Like seriously, we really need help badly. Most of the regulars called in their vacation time and they were given a few days off, leaving us younger guys at work.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “And then we had three guys call in sick yesterday because of that flu outbreak. It’s just me, Sarah, the assistant manager, and a few other guys working there until six when the night crew takes over,” he finished explaining his situation.

“Can’t you get someone else to help you guys? What about Josh?” I asked, scratching my head.

“I’d love too, but everyone is either not answering their phone or in classes. And I think Josh is sick.”

“Seriously? You’ve gotta be kidding me. You couldn’t find anybody else?” I sighed. There were several dozen people he could’ve chosen. If he came to me of all people, then he must’ve ran out of options.

“Yeah... no. Sorry, but everyone else didn’t pick up,” Tyler said, nervously rubbing his neck.

“Ugh,” I groaned, rubbing my head in frustration. “Fine…. I’ll help you at the damn restaurant because apparently I can’t enjoy my time off from work.”

“Dude, you’ve been off for the entire week!” Tyler exclaimed. “You’ve had more than enough time to enjoy yourself.”

“Whatever,” I said, waving him off. I figured I’d have to take Rainbow Dash with me if I wanted to keep an eye on her. If I didn’t, she might disappear again and another incident might happen like the night before. “Do you mind if I bring someone along? I can’t go, if she doesn’t want to come.”

“Uh, no, I don’t mind,” Tyler answered, his face showing confusion as expected. “Who do you need to bring?”

I nodded. “Gimme a second, if you could just wait out here, I’ll bring her over.” As I finished, a warning signal rang inside my head. What if he recognized Rainbow? I hoped that he didn’t know anything about the show, in fear of him seeing the resemblance between the girl in my house and her pony counterpart.

I left him and ran back into the kitchen where Rainbow Dash was currently fiddling with a random piece of string to pass the time.

Rainbow looked up once she noticed my entrance. “Who is it? Is it some creep? I can get rid of him if you want me too.”

“No, it’s not some creep. It’s just Tyler from next door. He wants to know if I can help him out at work.”

“That’s all? That seems easy enough,” Rainbow said, not seeing the clear picture.

“I know, but if I go, what am I’m going to do with you? I can’t just leave you here unattended. What if you break something? Or hurt yourself?” I asked, worried that another appliance would fall victim to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow laughed. “As if. I’m the most dependable pon- person you’d know. Why do you think I’m the Element of Loyalty? I’m just simply awesome like that.” She smirked as she stroked her own ego a bit.

“Right, and as much as I trust you to take care of yourself, I can’t take that chance now.” Rainbow’s smirk faltered and began turning into a frown. “But, if you don’t want to be bored, then you can come with me to McDonald’s and help out.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Sure, I guess? I’m not sure what this ‘McDonald’s’ is, but it’s better than sitting around the house all day.”

“It’s a restaurant, like the one we went to yesterday, except it’s way popular and they’re everywhere,” I said.

“Oh really? Well, why didn’t you say so?” Rainbow asked, quickly bolting for the door. “Let’s go!”

“Woah, not so fast, Dash,” I said, gently grabbing her by the arm and pulling her into a halt. “Before we go, I need an explanation for you, since Tyler knows that a teenager girl doesn’t live here.”

“Right,” Rainbow Dash said. “So, got any ideas?”

“I do, but you’re not going to like it.”

“Try me,” Rainbow challenged, smirking as she did.

I explained my idea to her. As soon as I mentioned it, Rainbow slammed her hands against the table, the wood creaking slightly. Her mischevious smirk had turned into a scowl and she pointed her fist in front of my face, voicing her opinion on the matter. I assured her everything would be alright, but her expression stayed sour.

“We don’t have any other choice, Rainbow,” I said. Using the friend excuse would just raise suspicion over her being more than just a friend. The homeless excuse wouldn’t work either; partly since I’d have no reason to shelter a homeless person, and partially because Tyler would most likely mention it to my parents. There could be other options, but we simply didn’t have the time to find something more viable.

“B-but, ugh! Fine!” Rainbow Dash shouted, raising her hands for emphasis. “If I have to, then I guess I have no choice.”

With that done, I left our empty plates on the table for later and led Rainbow Dash into the living room. She still seemed pretty ticked off by my plan. To be honest, I didn’t like the entire idea either, but I had to play the game with the cards I was dealt, like it or not. So with that, I grabbed my uniform out of my closet and made my way back outside with Rainbow in tow.

“There you are,” Tyler said when we finally got outside. “I thought you were going to ditch me.” He looked over to Rainbow Dash. “And this must be the girl you’re bringing along. I must say, you have excellent taste.”

“W-wait, what?!” I sputtered out. “You’ve got it all wrong, Tyler. This is my cousin, Rebecca. From uh... Canada.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow and circled around Rainbow Dash, as if trying to to see the resemblance. As he did, I could see the irritated look on Dash’s face. Obviously, she didn’t enjoy him invading her personal space. “Uh... are you sure you two are related?” he asked, after finishing his examination. “I don’t see the resemblance.”

“We’re related, okay?” I blurted out.

“Okay, okay. Jeez, I was just checking,” Tyler said. He looked back at Rainbow Dash, eyeing her. “So... any reason why she has that cool rainbow hair?”

“I dyed it,” Rainbow said without hesitation. “It was pretty hard, but I found a way to do it. But who wouldn’t want cool hair such as mine?”

“Yeah, what she said,” I said, though I think my voice was slightly higher pitched than normal

Tyler scratched his chin and nodded slightly. “I see... Then you wouldn’t mind if I stole her for a bit? I’d like to know her a bit more.”

“W-Wait, what?” Rainbow sputtered.

“You know, just a talk to get to know you a bit since, your Cody’s a relative and all,” Tyler said. “After all, we’re practically best buds, he and I. Right, Cody?” he said, elbowing me.

By the tone of his voice, I knew he didn’t mean a regular chit chat. “Haha, yeah no. Not happening.” That was way out of the question. Seriously, out of the question! She was a damn pony for crying out loud, that was having trouble adjusting to her new life. I crossed my arms and glared at Tyler. “Nopenopenope, absolutely not! We’re going to McDonald’s right now.”

“But, I just want to talk with he-” Tyler tried to say.

“McDonald’s, now,” I growled, pointing to the Honda sitting in the driveway. He looked over and sighed, trudging to the car. Rainbow walked beside me, sending me a small smile of gratitude.

“Thanks for the save, but I think I can handle him,” Rainbow said, grinning.

“Oh really?” I unlocked the car for us as Tyler decided to take the passenger seat.

“Yeah, really. I am amazing and totally awesome, remember?” Rainbow said as I opened the back for her. “Oh and I kicked your flank once too.”

I winced at the memory, sighing as I remembered it all too clearly. “Just get in the car...”