//------------------------------//
// To the beach 
// Story: Stress Relief 
// by The PatioHeater 
//------------------------------//

“FOR CELESTIA’S SAKE APPLEJACK! JUST SHUTUP!” Twilight shouted, her face so close to Applejack’s that she could feel each rage filled breath coming from her nose. She was literally fuming with anger, on the brink of bursting into flame again.
“Twilight! Ah’m just tryin’ t’ help! That is all! AND IF YOU ARE TOO DAMN STUBBORN TO ACCEPT MAH HELP THEN YOU CAN JUST… JUST…” Applejack didn’t know what Twilight could do, she was far too angry to think coherently.
“Typical Applejack, can’t even think of an insult,” Twilight scoffed.
“At least Ah don’t scream at mah friends when they’re only tryin’ t’ help! And let me tell ya, Twilight, you don’t have enough fiends t’ go losin’ them.”
“WE HAVE EXACTLY THE SAME FRIENDS, YOU STUPID APPLE PICKING…”
“NOW WHO’S TOO STUPID T’ THINK O’ INSULTS?!”
Rainbow Dash, hearing the heated discussion, crashed through the doors of Twilight’s Library. “Whoa! Chillax you two!”
“SHUT UP RAINBOWDASH!” both Twilight and Applejack roared together.
“Hey, take it easy. What’s all this shoutin’ about?”
“Well Applejack here has been ruining my research!” Twilight said as she poked Applejack’s face angrily.
“And this bleedin’ Unicorn is just takin’ mah help an’ throwin’ it back in mah face!”
“Is that all?” Rainbow said with a small laugh. “Seriously? That’s nothing. I was thinkin’ Twilight had ruined your apples with her magic or something.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?!”
“Stress-sy! You need a break Twilight. And so do you Apples.”
“What’s wrong with me? Ah'm fine. It’s her that’s the problem.” Applejack pointed an accusing hoof at Twilight.
Rainbow gave her a contemptuous look. “You need a break.”
“No Ah don’t! Besides, it’s applebuck season, Ah’m needed on the farm.”
“No you’re not! You way ahead of schedule! Big Mac could take on a few days by himself.”
“Bu…”
“No buts, you both need a break.” Twilight and Applejack looked down in defeat.
A loud gasp came from the rafters. They looked up. PinkiePie was sat on them. “I have a BRILLIANT idea!” Pinkie jumped down, landing heavily on RainbowDash. “We. Should go. On HOLIDAY!” she shouted with excitement.
“What?”
Pinkie gasped again. “Oh my gosh! I better get packing! I’ll go and tell the others. You three go pack. Twilight, your good at organising things, go buy some train tickets. This is going to be SO FUN!!!” Pinkie disappeared from the Library in a cloud of pink.
“Well… I don’t think we have a choice,” Rainbow stated. “It looks like we’re going on holiday.”



– H –



“WE’RE GOING ON HOLIDAY!” Pinkie shouted excitedly as she and the others were waiting for Fluttershy. She grabbed Twilight by her shoulders. “WHERE’RE WE GOING?!” she shouted into Twilight’s agape mouth.
“Err… Hoofaluf,” she replied in a terrified squeak.
“Where’s that?” Pinkie lost her excitement completely.
“It’s by the sea. It’s supposed to be really nice and hot this time of year. Perfect for relaxing.”
“Relaxing? I don’t wanna relax. I want to PAR-TAY!” she shouted with a hoof in the air.
“Now darling,” Rarity started. “We can… Eurgh, partay a little bit,” it pained her to say that word. “But remember, the original reason to going away was to blow off some steam and relax, I think we all need it.”
“I don’t.”
“Alright, RainbowDash doesn’t but the rest of us do. We should go, have a relaxing time on the beach, lounge in the sun, perhaps a little bit of swimming in the sea, as long as there isn’t too much seaweed.” Rarity shuddered at the thought of the horrible green strands clinging to her fabulous coat.
“That’s all well and good Rare-rare, but that’s so boring. We need action!” Rainbow said stubbornly.
“Um… I’d rather sit in the shade with a book…” Fluttershy whimpered shyly.
“Fluttershy? When d’ya get here?”
“Um… I-I was here first…”
“Oh… well we were waitin’ on you, shall we board then?”
“YES!” Pinkie Pie exploded onto the train and found a cabin.
“Alright girls, let’s go on holiday.” Twilight boarded the train with the rest others. They followed the trail of confused and terrified Ponies and found Pinkie Pie in a cabin. It was going to be a long trip, a whole day on a train, that’s why Pinkie bagsied a cabin, angering the Ponies who reserved it, but Pinkie did bagsy it and fought valiantly for the rules of bagsy, eventually making the other Ponies give up  and walk away.
“Hey guys! I'm having the top bunk, by the way.” Pinkie was already sitting on said bunk.
“That’s okay Pinkie, I don’t like the top bunk anyway,” said Twilight.
“I call the other top!” Rainbow Dash flew up to the bunk and plonked herself down heavily. The other three of Ponies took the remaining beds without any fuss.
Twilight took a clipboard out of her bag. “Right then, I have come with an itinerary for our holiday. First, when we arrive, we will check into our hotel and unpack. Then after tha-.”
“Can I see that please,” Rarity asked, pouting her lips.
“Err… sure.” Twilight levitated the clipboard over to Rarity.
Rarity looked over it, titling her head as she pondered the details. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and she focused a lot of magic into the clipboard. The plan burst into flame and disintegrated into nothing. Twilight stared at the space where it was in horrified disbelief.
“Whoa. I thought I would be the one to do that,” Rainbow laughed.
“I'm sorry Twi-twi, but there’s nothing relaxing in keeping to such a tight schedule. Holidays should be spontaneous and fun, whether it be going to the beach or… partying,” she winced at that thought.
“Bu…”
“No Twilight, you know I'm right. I have more experience with relaxing than you.”
Twilight sighed. “Okay, I’ll trust you.”
“Now tell us, Twilight, why did you choose Hoofaluf?”
“Well, Hoofaluf is a city on the seafront…” Twilight spent the first hour of the journey giving her friends a history lesson on coastal settlements and how they develop. Amazingly, that one hour took longer than the other twenty of the journey.



– H –



It was the next day when they arrived at Hoofaluf. Twilight was right, it was hot.
“WE’RE HERE!” PinkiePie shouted as she felt the train rumble to a gradual halt, she was bouncing in her seat with excitement.
“Yes, Pinkie, we are. Now don’t get too excited, we have to stick together,” Twilight said in a controlling voice.
“Okay Twilight, I’ll try to keep calm. But no promises.”
The train came to a halt. They gathered their stuff back into their bags and headed out slowly, with RainbowDash trying to keep Pinkie from running off too quickly.
They disembarked from the train. The first thing they noticed was heat, hitting them square in the chests. Ponyville never got that hot, even in the height of summer. The next thing they noticed was the number of Ponies with, as Rarity said, perfect beach bodies. And she wasn’t wrong; none of them had ever seen so many attractive Ponies in the same place before. They couldn’t help but stare, although the novelty quickly wore off once they realised everypony looked like that.
“Err… yes…” Twilight started as her concentration returned. “Yes. Okay. Shall we go find our hotel then?”
“Okay,” Rainbow jumped into the air to look above the crowd. “What’s it called?”
Twilight’s silence spoke volumes.
“You… didn’t… book a hotel, did you?”
Twilight mumbled something quietly.
Rainbow facehoofed. “Twilight,” she said in an exasperated voice. “I thought you were good at organising things?” She could have cried, she really wanted a nap.
“Oh RainbowDash, stop complaining,” said Rarity.
“I'm not complaining, I'm whining.”
“Well whatever you are doing, stop it. Yes Twilight usually organises everything to an annoyingly perfect standard, but this one time when we actually needed her to and she let us down doesn’t matter,” Rarity said with anger disguised with sympathy and a small laugh.
“Okay, Rare, but can we go find one quickly?” Rainbow said exhaustedly.
“Yes, don’t worry Dash, we’ll find one. We wouldn’t want you to get cranky.”
Rainbow glared at her, she could sense the mockery in her friend’s voice. They went for a slow walk in search of a nice looking hotel.



– H –



After several hotels Rarity deemed unsatisfactory and a now mentally crippled RainbowDash (actually physically crying), they found one of the nicest hotels they could possibly hope to. It was well worth the wait, it was gleaming white and sparkling clean, you could eat off the tiled floors.
Twilight returned from the reception desk to the sofa, where RainbowDash was lying, leaning against PinkiePie and sniffling tears.
“Wow. I never knew Rainbow would need to nap so badly.”
“Yeah, me neither,” said Pinkie as she affectionately stroked Rainbow’s mane.
“Okay. I'm afraid that, due to unforeseeable events, they onl-.”
“D’ya mean how ya messed up with the reservations?” Applejack jested.
Twilight sighed angrily. “Yes, Applejack. Thank you. They only have had three double rooms, so we’re going to have to split up.”
“I’ll stay with Rainbow since, y’know, she’s kinda collapsed on me.” Pinkie took one of the keys from Twilight in her mouth. “Whapf fwoor if ib?”
“That one’s Third.” Twilight looked at the clock. “Okay Pinkie, it’s three o’clock now, what say we meet back here at five?”
“Okay.” Pinkie trotted off with Rainbow slumped over her back.
Rarity took one of the keys. “Well I need to go spruce up a little bit. Are you coming, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, um… okay…” she said with a surprised tone.
“Wait. Yer gonna leave me with her?!” Applejack shouted angrily.
“Oh, I'm sorry.” Fluttershy walked back.
“Applejack, I know how you feel about Twilight at this moment in time, but I can’t stand to listen to you complain about her, as I'm sure you will do. And the same to you Twilight. No offense. So if you don’t mind I would rather share with Fluttershy.”
“Fine,” Twilight and Applejack said in unison.
“Thank you. Come along Fluttershy,” Rarity ordered. Fluttershy followed happily, if she was honest she wouldn’t have wanted to share a room with them either.
Twilight and Applejack headed to their room, an angry silence surrounding them.



– H –



PinkiePie unlocked the door to hers and Rainbow’s room and went inside. “Okay Dashie, we’re here now. You can go and sleep,” Pinkie whispered.
Rainbow didn’t reply save for a few tired mumbles. Pinkie took this as a sign that she was asleep, and so took her to a room and placed her down gently on a bed, pulling the thin sheet over her.
Pinkie closed the curtains to let her sleep. “Have a good sleep, Dashie,” she said softly as she left the room, closing the door gently. She sighed with relief; Rainbow had been hard work for the past couple of hours. She clapped her hooves together. “Shower first, I think.” Pinkie ran for the bathroom where, to her delight, was a large shower and plenty of soft fluffy towels.



– H –



“Ah want that room.” Applejack burst through the door saying this, she didn’t even know what room she was talking about.
“No, that’s my room.” Twilight barged past her to get to the first room she saw.
“NO!” Applejack grabbed her tail and pulled hard.
“Hey! Get off my tail!”
“NO!” Applejack pulled harder, being rewarded by Twilight’s hardest kick, but that was barely a friendly punch. She let go and Twilight fell forwards, falling flat on her face. Applejack tackled her into the living area.
“What are we doing, Applejack? Are we seriously fighting over a room?”
“Yes. Why? D’ya have a better idea?” Applejack said angrily.
Twilight stood up and went to her bags, returning with a box. “Jenga.”
“Jenga?”
“You know how to play?”
“Of course Ah do!”
“Well, you could’ve fooled me,” Twilight joked angrily.
“Are ya calling me STUPID?!”
“Why? Are you too stupid process my previous statement? Oh sorry. I used too many big words, didn’t I?”
“That DOES IT, TWILIGHT! AH CAN’T STAND YA ANYMORE!” Applejack stormed away from her, but Twilight followed close behind.
“Why? Are you too much of a coward to play Jenga?”
Applejack turned around and looked Twilight square in the eyes with nothing but venom. She raised a hoof above her head, preparing to bring it down with great force on Twilight’s face. Twilight was terrified, she had never seen Applejack angry enough to punch somepony before. She winced, bracing herself for pain. But instead got the shock of her life. Applejack used that raised hoof to pull Twilight towards her and kiss her. Although it wasn’t pleasant for anypony, it was far too aggressive.
Applejack pulled away seconds later, both Ponies with expressions of complete and utter surprise. Their cheeks started glowing red.
“Err… sorry ‘bout that,” Applejack said sheepishly.
“Um, wow, okay. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Me neither. Ah honestly thought Ah was gonna hit ya.”
“I'm glad you didn’t, that kiss was definitely preferable to a punch.”
That was some awkward silence, the levels of which could be seen through a UV scanner.
“Err… now what?” Applejack said to break something. Anything!
“Jenga?” Twilight asked hopefully, she knew the competitive nature of the game would reignite their anger but that would be preferable to the awkwardness.
“Jenga,” Applejack said in agreement. Twilight began to set up the blocks in a much more comfortable silence, the concentration required offering a great distraction.



– H –



Rarity and Fluttershy were sat on their balcony, looking over the sea, feeling the crisp ocean air blowing over them.
“So Fluttershy, are you excited?” Rarity asked in a friendly way. 
“Um… I think so.”
“You don’t sound very sure. Is there something wrong?”
“No, no, I don’t think so. It’s just that… I think… PinkiePie…” her voice trailed off.
“Don’t worry about PinkiePie, she might seem to be easily excited and overenthusiastic, but she’ll never make you do anything you don’t want to. No matter how much she might push, as long as you say no enough she will drop it.”
“Really?”
“Really. And if I'm honest, Darling, I can’t stand her sometimes either.”
“Really? So it’s not just me? I'm not a horrible friend?” Fluttershy was so relieved to hear that.
“Really. And you’re not a horrible friend, everypony has a friend they hate. In an affectionate way, of course,” she added with a quick nervous chuckle.
“You don’t really hate her, do you?”
“Of course not! She’s my friend like any other, but I just can’t deal with her sometimes. She’s far too energetic for me, and on holiday she’ll be worse. RainbowDash, Applejack and Twilight seem to have a greater tolerance for her than we do. That’s why I wanted to share a room with you. I have always felt closer to you than the others. You’re much more my kind of Pony.”
“Thanks Rare-rare. That means a lot.”
“No worries, Dear. And if she gets too much, perhaps you and I could slip away and enjoy some relaxing time together.”
“Um… I-I don’t know Rarity… I’d rather not if that’s… um, okay with you.” Fluttershy shrank a little and blushed with embarrassment.
“Oh for Celestia’s sake Fluttershy, get your head out of the gutter!” Rarity was surprised by this remark.
Fluttershy smiled slyly.
“Oh, you.” Rarity shoved Fluttershy affectionately.



– H –



It was a little after five when they reconvened in the hotel lobby. RainbowDash swaggered out of the lift, she was considerably more herself.
“Hey! So what we gonna do first?” Rainbow asked eagerly.
There was no reply.
“W-why are you all staring at me?”
“Are ya feelin’ better, Sugarcube?”
“What d’ya mean by that?!” Rainbow grew angry. “I'm fine! I'm as awesome as ever!” She shot each of her friends evil and nervous glances.
“Ooookaaaay,” started Twilight. “Let’s just ignore that whole business of earlier, agreed?” This was answered by the collective nodding of heads, except for Rainbow, who pretended nothing happened. “Alright, now that that’s sorted, what does everypony want to do?”
“Oh, I’d love togo to the beach,” Rarity pleaded.
“Actually, I agree,” PinkiePie said, drawing the confused attention of the others. “What?” she said mildly frustrated, “Am I not allowed to relax? We were on that train for an entire day! I wanna dig a hole in the beach and sit in it.” She crossed her forelegs defiantly.
“Yeah I could go for that,” Rainbow shouted.
“Any objections?” Twilight called out, to which everypony shook their heads. “Alright then, let’s go to the beach.”
They all trotted out of the doors and down towards the beach.
“Um… Twilight?”
“Yeah Fluttershy?”
“You don’t seem angry at Applejack anymore. May I ask why?”
Twilight and Applejack blushed bright red. “Err… we just… um… talked. Yes, that’s it. Talked…”



– H –



The six of them were laying on the beach, well… except for PinkiePie, she was sat in a hole she dug, her head poking out the top, staring angrily at the passersby in defence of her hole, armed with a small plastic shovel. Applejack was sleeping in the sun, her face shielded by her hat, and was snoring loudly. Rarity was lying in the sun, getting some rays to her back, although the majority of it was obscured by her large sun hat. And she had possibly fallen asleep, although inaudibly, unlike Applejack. RainbowDash was looking cool behind her big sunglasses, her wings unfolded and forelegs behind her head. Twilight had her muzzle buried in a book, reading furiously quickly.
“Fluttershy, can you pass me a drink?” Twilight asked, not taking her eyes off the page.
There was no reply.
“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked again. She looked up. The towel beside her was barren of Fluttershy. “Oh sweet Celestia. Where’s Fluttershy?!”
“Relax Twi,” said Rainbow, “She said she was going for a swim.”
“Oh… when was that?”
“About ten minutes ago.”
“Oh… how come I never heard her?”
Rainbow gave Twilight a look over the top of her sunglasses.
Twilight answered her own question. “Oh yeah…” Twilight magicked herself a can from the cooler and cracked it open. After a big gulp of the cool drink she returned to her book, only to be distracted seconds later by something blocking her light.
“Afternoon mares,” said a suave, attractive voice.
Twilight looked up, a stallion was stood before her. Twilight’s mouth fell open at the sight of him, she hadn’t seen anypony quite like him before. His smile and his mane gave Twilight the strangest feeling in her stomach. And the way the sun shone behind him made his image even more alluring.
Rainbow through an empty can at Twilight, bringing her back from her mind. “Hi,” she said in an extremely embarrassed way.
“I'm the lifeguard around here and I was wondering.” The lifeguard turned to the side, Twilight’s eyes missed what he was trying to show her and focused entirely on his body, getting lost once again in her own world, making Rainbow laugh. “Is she yours?” he asked as he gestured his head towards Fluttershy laying across his back.
“Oh hey Flutters,” Rainbow said, seeing that Twilight was indisposed at that moment. “Are you okay?”
“She’s fine,” the lifeguard said. “I saw her struggling out in the water, she obviously got a little out of her depth. So I brought her back and I guess you were the friends she was talking about. And might I say what an attractive bunch you are.”
Rainbow gave him a strange look but Twilight giggled girlishly and blushed. “Thanks. You’re not too bad yourself.” Twilight slammed a hoof in her mouth when she realised those words actually came out.
“Thanks, err…”
“The name’s TwilightSparkle,” she said while twirling her mane playfully.
“That’s a nice name.” Twilight giggled some more. “Hey, listen, maybe I’ll see you around later?”
“I hope so. What’s your name?”
“OceanBreeze.”
“Okay, Ocean, I’ll see you around.”
Ocean let Fluttershy off his back who whimpered her gratitude before sitting on her towel, and walked off, giving Twilight and her friends a little wave. Twilight looked back down at her book, not being able to wipe the smile off her face.
RainbowDash couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, waking up Applejack and Rarity with a start, and even caused PinkiePie to pop up out of her hole.
“What in tarnation’s so funny?” Applejack sat up and rubbed her eyes.
“Oh, AJ, you missed it. Twilight was flirting with a lifeguard!” Rainbow fell back and started rolling around and Pinkie fell back in her hole laughing too. Applejack looked at her, her top lip started to quiver, trying hold back the laughter, but when she saw Twilight’s burning face and huge smile she joined in and started laughing as well. Rarity too was finding it hard not to laugh whereas Fluttershy was too awkward to laugh at anything.
Twilight tried to focus all of her attention on her book, but she couldn’t get Ocean out of her head, but to hide this fact from the others she sporadically flipped the page. But she wasn’t fooling anypony.



– H –



They had spent a good few hours at the beach. The sun had started going down by the time they left. They were feeling hungry, so they went in search of a good looking restaurant. They weren’t disappointed in their choice, they had some lovely food and drink, and it had a great atmosphere. They were there for what seemed like hours, largely because they were, but also because of how much fun they were having. They were asked to leave, however, after PinkiePie decided to whip the table cloth from under a family’s food, thinking she could do it in her slightly inebriated state. She almost did, but the majority of the food landed on the floor and attracted an alarming number of birds. If it weren’t for Fluttershy coaxing them back out of the restaurant they would have probably been banned from there.

They led Pinkie back to hotel, which was a difficult task. She was at the stage of intoxication that made her even more energetic than usual, and it took both Applejack and RainbowDash to stop her jumping into somepony’s home and causing chaos.
They eventually made it back to the hotel and split up to head to their rooms. RainbowDash walked into hers and Pinkie’s room, with the pink pony stumbling in behind her, laughing raucously.
“Twilight flirted with that lifeguard!” she suddenly shouted and started rolling on the floor laughing.
“Yes, Pinkie, I know. C’mon, let’s get you to bed.” Rainbow was fed up with her by now.
“That’s a little forward don’t ya think?” Pinkie stated angrily, although started laughing again immediately.
“Shut up, you stupid pink thing.”
Pinkie mimicked zipping her mouth closed, although this didn’t stop the giggles. Rainbow picked Pinkie up and slumped her over her back, she couldn’t be bothered to wait for her to follow. “Alright Pinkie, here we are. Now get off!” Rainbow shook her off onto the bed, causing Pinkie to laugh harder. Rainbow turned to leave and go to sleep but she got pulled up onto the bed and ended up standing over Pinkie. She tried to leave but Pinkie had a strong grip on her shoulders.
“Wow. You’re really sexy,” she said as she tried to pull rainbow down towards her.
“Pinkie. Stop it, you’re drunk.” Rainbow tried to wrestle herself free, but Pinkie had an amazingly strong drunk grip.
“I know! Duh!” She pulled Rainbow harder, and would have got her if it weren’t for Rainbow using her wings to help. Pinkie moved her hooves quickly and trapped her wings by her sides. “Stop fighting. You want it too!” she whispered seductively. Pinkie turned on the bedroom eyes and moved a hoof under Rainbow’s wing, causing her to burst out laughing, Rainbow was always very ticklish there. But this wasn’t the only reason Pinkie did this, the laughter caused Rainbow to lose any strength in her legs and she fell, allowing Pinkie to wrap her legs around her and drunkenly kiss her.
“PINKIE!” Rainbow shouted, although muffled by Pinkie Pie. Despite her persistence, mere seconds after getting what her drunk mind wanted, she fell asleep, snoring into Rainbow’s mouth. Rainbow saw an opportunity and quickly struggled free of Pinkie’s grip and quickly left the room before she had a chance to wake up. “Typical,” she muttered angrily. “I bet none of the others are having this much trouble.”

And she was right, they weren’t…



– H –



Twilight’s alarm went off, not a physical clock, she trained herself to automatically wake at up at whatever time she desired, 7am in this case. Although she didn’t need it, she didn’t remember going to sleep the night before but rather stopped processing anything. And neither did Applejack, on whom Twilight lay. The two of them registered the time and became focused again, they were lying there, wide eyed with unwanted surprise. Applejack was holding Twilight as she rested on her chest.
“Applejack?”
“Yeah?”
“Did we really…”
“Eeeeyup.”
“Ah… Let’s not tell the others.”
“Eeeenope.”



– H –



“Mornin’ Fluttershy!” Applejack shouted as she saw Fluttershy slowly approaching their table for breakfast. “D’ya have a good sleep?”
“Um… yes.” Fluttershy yawned, her mane was still a mess from waking up.
“Y’know Rarity’s gonna go crazy when she sees yer mane like that.”
“She said she would fix it when she comes down.”
“Maybe she could do mine as well,” said Twilight.
Fluttershy looked between the two Ponies sitting across from her, they seemed too friendly towards each other to be as angry as they were yesterday, there was no way they could have got over it that quickly. “Um… what happened between you two?”
“What?” they both replied in a startled fashion.
“Well, why aren’t you angry at each other anymore? You were so angry the other day and then suddenly not anymore. Why?”
“Err…” Twilight’s mind was working furiously to come up with a good reason. She resulted in changing the subject. “W-where’s Rarity?”
“She said she was going togo for a shower.”
Twilight and Applejack let out a loud groan. “Well we’re gonna be ‘ere fer ages ain’t we?!”
“Oh well, we might as well get started with breakfast.” Twilight stood up to head to the buffet, but got distracted by PinkiePie latching onto her neck.
“MORNING TWILIGHT!” she shouted, drawing the attention of all the other guests.
“And a good morning to you Pinkie.” Twilight pushed her away.
“How come you’re never hung over?!” RainbowDash asked angrily.
“Coz I didn’t have that much to drink! Duh!” Pinkie stuck her tongue out at Rainbow.
“Do you remember what you tried to do last night?”
“Yep!”
Rainbow gave her a confused look before shaking it off and turning to the others. “You lot look a mess! Did any of us actually get a good night’s sleep?”
Fluttershy nodded while Twilight and Applejack froze entirely.
“Where’s the food? I'm starving!” Rainbow stated eagerly. She didn’t wait for a reply and just followed the scent of toast.
“Good morning Darlings,” Rarity called as she approached the table, her mane wrapped in a towel and her body in a bathrobe. Floating beside her was a mane brush and a small bag of makeup.
“Heya Rarity!” Applejack said back. “How was yer first night in Hoofaluf?”
“Oh it was divine! I don’t think I’ve ever had such a lovely sleep.”
“Well that’s good to hear,” Twilight said as her heart returned temporarily to a normal pace.
“But you two,” Rarity said with mild shock as she addressed Applejack and Twilight. “You two look positively dreadful! Are you feeling quite alright?”
“Yeah we’re fine, Ah’m honest.” Applejack’s eyes darted around nervously.
Rarity gave them a suspicious look. “Well if you’re sure…” She turned her attention to Fluttershy. “Now dear, let’s see what we can do with that mane, hm?” Rarity picked up the brush and began brushing Fluttershy’s mane.
“Um, Rarity? Can you let me finish my breakfast first?”
“Oh, yes. Sure.” Rarity placed the brush down.
“Wait.” They turned their attention to Twilight. “When did you get breakfast?”
“W-when Pinkie appeared.”
“Oh… okay…”

The five of them (Pinkie was missing) were sat around the table, helping themselves to breakfast. They were talking about what they could do today, with much argument.
Twilight felt a sharp tug on her tail, she looked under the table to see the source of it. PinkiePie was there, gesturing at Twilight to follow her. After a moment’s contemplation she went under the table.
“What is it Pinkie?” Twilight whispered. Pinkie lodged a hoof in her mouth to make sure she didn’t say anything else.
“Follow me,” Pinkie said in a deep voice. She turned and sneaked away, out from under the table. Twilight followed in suit. Pinkie led her to the hotel lobby, both of them were sneaking and so they drew a lot of attention. Pinkie stopped at a notice board sat upon a stand, and pointed to the paper at the top of it.
Twilight stood up and read it. “Paintballing?” She looked back at Pinkie who was smiling idiotically. “Seriously?”
“YES!”
“Well we would have to ask the others, but I'm game!”
Pinkie celebrated at her success with one of her friends, Fluttershy was going to be the only real challenge…



– H –



“Rarity. Why did I let you convince me to do this?” Fluttershy whimpered as they walked into the Paintball Centre.
“Come on, Darling, it’ll be fun!”
“But I don’t want to shoot anypony. I-it’s mean…”
“No it’s not. It’s all in good fun.”
“But what if it… hurts?”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head off.”
Twilight approached the counter. “Hello?” she called out.
A head poked around the door behind the counter. “A-ha, good morning mares. How may I help you?” the stallion spoke in a very stiff upper lip voice, suiting his appearance perfectly.
“Err… yes, hi. We would like to play some paintball, please.”
“Certainly. Now, how many are there of you?”
“Six.”
“And what are you?”
“Err… mares?” she said with much confusion.
“No no, maybe you didn’t quite understand. What are you? Earth Pony? Unicorn? Pegasus?”
“Oh,” Twilight said with a little giggle, she felt rather stupid. “Two of each.”
“Okay. Please, follow me.” He walked to the other side of the counter and gestured the six of them to follow him into the back. “Please, put on some overalls and take some goggles. My assistant will be with you shortly.”

Minutes later, once they were dressed. “Oh dear, this is absolutely ghastly,” Rarity said in regards to the ugly green jumpsuit she now wore.
“Typical Rarity. Always thinking about the fashion,” Rainbow jested.
“Well if I have to go out and fight I would rather look fabulous.”
“So you’d rather look stylish and risk getting your coat permanently stained?” said a mysterious voice.
Twilight looked round, it was Ocean. She went weak at the knees. “Err… hi Ocean.”
“Hello Twilight.” Twilight giggled at the fact he remembered her name.
“So, do you work here as well?”
“Nope. It’s my day off, my mates talked me into it.”
“Same here!”
“No we didn’t!”
“Shut up Rainbow,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Hey, Ocean! I think Twilight fancies ya!”
“RainbowDash! Shut up!” Twilight shouted, her cheeks starting to burn.
“Err, okay,” Ocean said awkwardly. “Listen, I'm on the other team. Maybe I’ll see you afterwards?”
Twilight giggled girlishly. “I’d like that.”
Ocean smiled at her and left.
Rainbow fell to the floor laughing. Twilight blushed madly.
Another stallion walked in, levitating a heavy-duty box beside him. “Alright, I have your guns here. Now, go out there and play.”



– H –



The six of them hid in a trench while Ocean and his team were suppressing them with a huge barrage of paintballs. RainbowDash had been hit, and by the rules of the game she was out, but that didn’t stop her.
Fluttershy cowered behind a tree, being constantly ordered to fight back by her friends, they would need all six of them to stand a chance, but Fluttershy was scared stiff. She hadn’t even opened her eyes since entering the battlefield. The only thing that aroused her attention and made her open her eyes was the sound of a bird. She watched it fly passed her, tweeting happily. But the tweeting suddenly stopped. The bird fell to the ground, its leg twitching and its wing covered with green paint. Fluttershy nearly cried, but then she heard two of the other team talking.
“Aw Dude!”
“What?”
“I just totally nailed that bird!”
“Aw AWESOME!”
“I know right.”
“That’s so totally awesome. Bro. hoof!” They smashed their hooves together.

Fluttershy twitched. Her blood boiled. An inexorable wrath grew inside her to the point of exploding. She stormed over to RainbowDash and ripped the gun from her wing, affixing it to her own. She jumped into the air and quickly flew over to the enemy. She landed with a mighty thud. She was breathing very loud, sharp breaths. “Which one of you shot the bird?” she asked.
The other team were terrified, there was something unbelievably scary about an angry Fluttershy. None replied to her. She didn’t give them a second chance. Fluttershy unleashed a tsunami of paintballs from her two guns. She was a blur of yellow and pink. None were left alive…

Not literally of course, but Fluttershy had utterly destroyed their confidence and humiliated them beyond belief. Five Ponies were lying on the floor before her, writhing in pain and clutching at various body parts. But there was one missing. Fluttershy panned the scene and easily caught sight of the Pony who shot the bird. She flew at great speed towards him and tackled him into a tree.
“Are you then one who shot the bird?” she asked menacingly.
The Pony nodded with terror in his eyes, his upper lip quivering with fear.
A malicious grin curled to Fluttershy’s lips as she pressed the barrel of the paintball gun into the area which Celestia only meant to be treated nicely… and fired. The colt fell to the floor, a torrent of tears pouring down his face as the pain radiated across his body.
Fluttershy, knowing her work was done, suddenly realised what she had done and began to apologise profusely.



– H –



They were finished now, whether it was their choice or not, they were asked to leave. The colt Fluttershy shot in his “special place” had to be taken to hospital. It was nothing serious but the proprietors thought he should probably get checked out. Fluttershy had never felt so bad in her life.
They were removing their overalls when Rainbow finally broke the silence.
“That was awesome Fluttershy! I never thought you could ever do anything like that!”
“Um… RainbowDash?”
“Yeah Flutters?”
“P-please don’t. I feel bad enough already.”
“Don’t feel bad!” Rainbow said with increasing irritancy. “You were just playing the game. And it was them who shot that bird.”
Fluttershy considered her words for a moment and had to agree. “I suppose you’re right. They did really hurt that bird.” Fluttershy looked at the bird that was shot; it was resting on her back. She felt she had to nurse it back to health. “Are you alright, little guy?”
The bird chirped happily in reply.
“Oh that’s good, you’re already looking much better.”
RainbowDash winced as she moved the overall over her flank, where she got hit the worst. “Whoa! Check out that bruise!” Rainbow raised her flank in the air so everypony could get a look. A huge bruise had formed behind her cutie mark. “Awesome…” Rainbow couldn’t help but admire it.
“So that’s two places we have been asked to leave now,” Twilight said with a satisfied gleam in her eye. “Now what should we do?”
“Beach again?” Rarity asked as she stripped the last of the overall off and began brushing her mane.
“That’s probably the safest bet.” Twilight and the rest of them deposited their overalls in the washing bin and left.



– H –



PinkiePie was getting into an argument, a very bad one. Four young foals had literally planted their flag on Pinkie’s hole. They got into a sand fight, much less dramatic than their previous paintball fiasco. Pinkie was overwhelmed, and when the parents came over she was given a right earful and had to sacrifice her hole.
She turned away and walked angrily, shouting over her shoulder. “Hmph! Doesn’t matter. I’ll build my own hole. Twice as- no, EIGHT TIMES as big! With a moat! A-and a pool. And maybe a garden.” Pinkie kept going on like this and never realised she walked into the sea, but this didn’t stop her ranting whatsoever, now she just swam.
Twilight put her book down, she never thought she would think this about a book but it was really boring. “Okay. I'm going swimming. Anypony else?” Twilight stood up and looked at her friends, they were all asleep, she thought, or they were just ignoring her.
“I’ll go with ya!” PinkiePie shouted from behind her, her mane sopping wet yet somehow maintaining its poufy nature. She was placing an air tank on her back.
“Where did you come from?” Twilight asked with confusion.
“I was always here.”
Twilight opened her mouth to begin to argue but decided against it. “Where did you get that air tank from?”
“There’s a stall over there.” Pinkie pointed a hoof at a small wooden shack set up on the beach. “C’mon Twi, let’s go see some Sea Ponies!”
“You don’t honestly believe in Sea Ponies do you,” Twilight spoke with much disappointment. “They’re just something to tell little foals to make the seaside more interesting.”
“But I saw them Twilight!”
“I'm sure you must have been mistaken.”
“Well, it’s your loss. Are you still going in the sea though?”
“Yep. My book has lost its appeal.” Twilight looked forlornly at her book, the only one she brought with her that day. She grabbed her goggles and snorkel and the two Ponies walked to the sea.



– H –


The next few days consisted of a very similar series of events: Twilight and Applejack would wake up next to each other in an awkward fashion, they would spend breakfast deciding what to do on that day but end up just going to the beach again. The evenings changed slightly however, they visited many different restaurants, each one having its own little quirks, all of which were lovely.
This particular day they were all together on the beach, lounging in the sun and talking to each other. Except for Twilight, she had gone in search of more Sea Ponies with PinkiePie, but also had the hopes to be rescued by Ocean after seeing him on duty. A pack of colts approached them.
“Yo dude, that’s the one,” one of them whispered to another, the second of which was limping slightly. The second approached Fluttershy.
“Um… excuse me?” he said in a guilty and shy manner.
Fluttershy looked up, she recognised him instantly. He was the one who shot the bird which was still under her care. “Hello,” she said quietly.
He tried to sit down, but it pained him to bend his hind legs, so instead he fell to his side. “Err… I would like to apologise.”
“Really?” Fluttershy doubted him.
“Well… yeah! I didn’t mean to shoot that bird, and I definitely shouldn’t have laughed about it. So, I'm sorry.” He sighed with relief, he wanted to say that for a while now.
“Okay. I um… accept your apology. And I'm sorry for shooting you in the… the…”
“Hey, that’s okay. No worries.” He tried to stand up again, but failed as the pain was too great. “Err… can one of you help me?” he addressed his friends, but they just pointed and laughed. “Oh, c’mon!” No matter how much he asked they would never help him, just like true friends they continued to laugh.
“Oh for pity’s sake, I’ll help,” called Rarity, who was getting annoyed at the disturbance. She enveloped the colt in an aura of magic and lifted him to his hooves.
“Thanks,” he said as he looked up at his helper. His mouth fell agape; he had never seen anypony so beautiful before. Rarity was watching him look at her between the top of her sunglasses and the rim of her large hat with some suspicion. The colt walked over to her. “Um… hi!” he said while awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “I'm Charisma.” He held a hoof forward for Rarity to shake.
Rarity looked at the hoof to determine its cleanliness, and after deeming it was okay she shook it. “Rarity,” she said in an airy voice, throwing her mane back.
“Listen, I’ve never just asked anypony I’ve just met but… would you… like togo to dinner tomorrow?” Charisma winced, awaiting the inevitable put down.
“Err… okay.” This answer surprised everypony.
“Really?!” shouted all his and her friends simultaneously.
“Yes, really. There’s just something about him…” Rarity stared at him, not knowing why but she found hm particularly attractive.
“But tomorrow’s our last night here. Twilight will be furious,” Fluttershy stated.
“I'm sure we could spend our last day apart. Besides, we always end up arguing non-stop about what to do, so it would be a pleasant change from just ending up at the beach every time.”
“I suppose you’re right…”
RainbowDash sprang to life at that point. “Does that mean me and Pinkie can finally go to a club or something?”
“If you want.”
“Yes!” Rainbow celebrated, throwing a hoof in the air which Fluttershy gingerly tapped. That was worth celebrating itself.



– H –



It was the next day. The six of them had spent the morning and the early afternoon together before parting their ways. Twilight was suspiciously happy to be on her own; Rainbow had heard that Ocean would be joining her at some point, but Twilight refused to comment other than saying she was going to see some historic monuments. Applejack went hiking, she was a lover of scenery and picturesque places, and Hoofaluf had it all. Rarity had gone off to find her date for the evening. RainbowDash and PinkiePie were debating whether or not it was too early to start clubbing, but this was answered for them as none of the clubs were open, so they decided the beach would do for the mean time. Fluttershy was going to do what she had wanted to do since arriving in Hoofaluf, and that was to find a nice quiet tree to go read under.

Fluttershy found a book she believed she would enjoy for the evening and went in search for a quiet place, luckily for here there was a large park in Hoofaluf, with plenty of trees. She found a particularly nice looking tree and went to sit in its cool shadow. The grass was pleasantly cool on her stomach. She took the book from under her wing and began reading, her bird friend nestling into her mane and drifting off to sleep.
An hour or so later, Fluttershy was approached by an incredibly shy Unicorn colt; up to Fluttershy levels of shyness.
“Err… hello?” he whispered.
Fluttershy looked up. “Oh, sorry. Am I in your spot?” she asked apologetically.
“No no, it’s alright.” He looked down at the ground, digging his hoof in the soft soil. “Would you mind if I join you?”
Fluttershy looked at the colt, he seemed nice enough, and was incredibly attractive with his brown coat and mane, and his large thin circular glasses. “Um… no, not at all.” Fluttershy gestured for him to sit next to her, which he did so… awkwardly.
“I'm Magicshy.”
“I'm Fluttershy.”
They both read their books together in an almost comfortable silence.



– H –



“Bar! Another drink!” shouted RainbowDash drunkenly. She and Pinkie had been there for several hours now, it was getting on for midnight.
The bartender poured her another drink, he was very moody. “For the last time, it’s pronounced ‘BARE’!” He walked away again to serve some preferable customers.
“Thanks!” Rainbow downed half her drink in one go. She had lost Pinkie, she was probably off dancing, and that was never Rainbow’s thing. She looked across the bar, there was a very solemn looking mare sitting all by herself. Rainbow was saddened by this sight and so decided to go keep her company. She stumbled over towards her, apologising to all the things, animate and inanimate, that she crashed into. She carefully hovered herself onto the stool beside the sad mare.
“Hi! I'm RainbowDash! Why are you looking so un-rainbow?” She was too drunk to be polite.
“Huh?” replied the mare.
“Why so sad?” Rainbow hiccupped.
“Well, my husband just left me for some… TART!” she shouted angrily.
Rainbow tried to stifle a laugh but failed and drew the angry attention of the mare. “He left you… for a PASTRY?!” She let the laughs out freely now, and was quickly joined in by her new friend. “Bar Bare! More drink!”
The bartender almost shouted at her again, but restrained himself, she had gotten his name half right. He poured the drinks, his hooves shaking violently with frustration.



– H –



Rarity was woken up by the sound of somepony trying to sneak in at six in the morning. She got up to investigate. She poked her head around the corner, and saw Fluttershy tip-hoofing in. She looked a mess.
“Fluttershy?” she asked with the utmost surprise
Fluttershy winced. “H-hello Rarity…”
“Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick! And your mane is a mess!”
“Oh… yeah. I um… stayed at a friend’s house…”
Rarity’s look of concern changed to one of girlish glee. “You didn’t…?”
Fluttershy squeaked with embarrassment.
“Well… I am impressed! And never thought you’d have it in you, pardon the pun, to meet a stranger and go back to his place.”
“Really? So you’re not mad?” Fluttershy sounded so hopeful.
“Mad? Oh good heavens no! Whatever gave you that idea?”
“I don’t know… it’s just that… I’ve never done anything so impulsive before.”
“I know! But it feels good doesn’t it?”
“It felt weird…” she said with some disappointment.
“Well… I wasn’t talking about that but… really? Why?”
Fluttershy whimpered.
“Ooohh… you… hadn’t done it before? Had you?”
Fluttershy shook her head.
A huge smile came to Rarity’s lips. “Oh, Fluttershy. I'm so proud!”
Fluttershy gave her a curious look, she had never expected that response from her. “Really? Because I thought you would be… disappointed in me.”
“Of course not Darling! And if I'm honest, I'm slightly jealous.”
“WHA-?!” Fluttershy shouted, her mouth hitting the floor with shock. That was probably the loudest noise she had ever made.
“Well…” She giggled nervously. “I wouldn’t have minded if I… you know…”
“What about your date? Didn’t he offer?”
“You shot him in the testicles Sweetheart; he’s going to be out of action for a while yet.” The two of them started to laugh.



– H –



RainbowDash woke up. Her head was spinning, but keeping her eyes closed seemed to help. She also felt a strange weight on her chest. She opened her eyes a crack and saw a blurry shape of a Pony lying on her chest. It felt oddly comfortable to be in that position, protocol dictates that the mare lies on the colt and not the other way round, but Rainbow found it incredibly relaxing. She wiggled into a slightly more comfortable position, causing the other Pony to stir. It made an unnervingly effeminate sound for a colt. Rainbow opened her eyes more this time and saw that the Pony was, in fact, the mare from the bar whose name she couldn’t remember to save her life. She also only just noticed her colour scheme; she was purplish and had a dark pink mane. Her first thought was how glad she was that the mare wasn’t PinkiePie. And her second thought confused her, all her life she would have expected herself to push the mare away as quickly as possible, but she kind of liked this mare lying on her. It felt right. She wrapped her other hoof around the mare and hugged her tightly, a content smile grew on her face.

Sometime later, Rainbow was forced to wake up, nature called but she tried to put it on hold for a little bit longer. She nudged the mare gently to wake her up.
The mare awoke and looked up at Rainbow Dash. “Hey you,” she said in a weary voice.
“Hey… you.” Her name still escaped her.
“Thanks for last night. I really needed it.”
“No problem.” Rainbow had no idea what she was on about, but she could take a logical guess. “Listen, I have to get up.”
“Oh… okay.” The mare reluctantly let go, allowing Rainbow to stand. The mare walked around the bed and up to Rainbow to plant a small kiss on her lips. Any other day, any other Pony, Rainbow would have slapped her upside the head, but instead she smiled at her and returned the gesture, it felt so right. The two of them walked side by side into the living room, but they both froze when they saw PinkiePie, lying half in and out of the balcony, atop a pile of eight Ponies of various races and gender.
Pinkie stirred, she could obviously feel the stares. She looked up and saw Rainbow and her mare looking at her with confused concern. “This is not what it looks like. They needed a place to stay,” her voice was very stern.
“So you slept in a pile, half on the balcony?”
“We were very drunk. As were you, Dashie. I see you brought a mare back, despite your reservations.”
“So?”
“It’s just not very… rainbow, is it?”
Rainbow ignored this, the sudden need to go release the pressure caused by a lot to drink rose inside her. She turned and headed for the bathroom, but another sight distracted her. She watched as Twilight and Applejack came walking out of the same bedroom, giggling to themselves and Twilight wearing Applejack’s hat. They froze when they saw Rainbow standing there looking directly at them.
“W-what are you doing in our room?!” Twilight nervously started, hoping this would distract Rainbow from the sight she just witnessed, but it didn’t work.
“So THAT’S why you two have been suspiciously friendly with each other!”
“It’s not what it looks like, Sugarcube. She just… needed mah help with somethin’” Applejack said, it being the only thing to spring to her mind.
“I would stay here and mock you but I really need a wee!” Rainbow danced her way to the bathroom and quickly relieved herself.
The mare walked over to Applejack and Twilight. “So… how are you?” she said awkwardly. The other two didn’t reply. Pinkie got up and showed her new friends out, exchanging their goodbyes. They must have done more than she thought as each and every one of them was giving her strange signals. As the door shut Pinkie shuddered at the thought of her and all those Ponies being that close to each other…



– H –



Their train back to Ponyville was arriving at ten o’clock, giving them plenty of time for breakfast. They ate heartily, they did not want to suffer too much unnecessary train food. Rainbow’s mare joined them, much to their delight. She was a lovely Pony, in all senses. But she still never revealed her name, which panicked Rainbow as she tried to tip-hoof around the use of names.
“RainbowDash?”
“Yeah…” She allowed some time to try desperately to remember her name but couldn’t, so ended her sentence with a forced yawn, which seemed to work.
“I'm sorry but I have to go. I have work to do.”
“Oh…” Rainbow was upset by this more than she thought she would. “Okay.”
“And I doubt I’ll see you before you go?”
“No, the train arrives in an hour.”
“Alright then. Well thank you, RainbowDash. I had a great time. I hope I can see you again at some point. Try and keep in touch, please.”
“Will do!”
“Okay. Bye RainbowDash.” She stood up from the table and gave Rainbow a long hug. She pulled herself away, pausing to look in her eyes for just a second. “Bye,” she whispered.
“See ya,” Rainbow whispered back.
“And bye you lot!” she shouted as she walked away. “Have a safe journey!”
This was met by a chorus of various farewells from the others.
She had gone out of sight by now, was more likely than not to be out of the hotel entirely. Rainbow felt a horrible weight on her heart. She felt like crying. She didn’t like this feeling.
Twilight, seeing her friend’s despair, walked over to her and placed a hoof affectionately on her shoulder. “RainbowDash, what’s wrong?” The others had gathered around her as well.
Rainbow sniffed. “I don’t know,” her voice was laden with tears.



– H –



The train pulled into the station. The six of them were ready to board; their suitcases were already loaded, now they just waited to be let on. They had had enough of Hoofaluf for one year and were ready to return home.
The whistle on the train blew, signalling for its passengers to board. PinkiePie used her tremendous speed and persistence with the laws of bagsy and obtained the same cabin as before. She was swiftly joined by her friends and they all took the same bunks as before, except for RainbowDash, she didn’t want to fly up to her bunk for some reason.
“Cheer up, Dashie!” Pinkie shouted down to her.
Rainbow began to speak but decided against it, instead she looked out of the window.
“C’mon Dashie. Let’s see that big ol’ smile!” Pinkie reached down from her bunk pulled at Rainbow’s face to make it resemble a smile. “Fill my heart up with sunshine!” Pinkie looked longingly at Rainbow for a while, but then she gave up with a loud sigh. “Well I'm all out of ideas.” Pinkie relinquished Rainbow’s cheeks.
“Y’know, that kinda hurts,” Rainbow said while massaging her cheeks.
“What’s wrong Rainbow?” Twilight asked again.
“I don’t know.” The train gave another blow of its whistle and then jerked into life. Rainbow sniffed again, she could feel tears welling up in her eyes.
Rarity jumped off of her bunk and walked over to Rainbow. “Come here Dashie. Rarity’s here for you.” Rarity grabbed Rainbow and hugged her. Rainbow couldn’t contain it anymore and started bawling, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I really miss her,” Rainbow managed to say through the loud sobs.
“Who? That mare who sat with us at breakfast?”
Rainbow nodded and buried her face into Rarity’s shoulder to muffle her tears.
Fluttershy suddenly perked up. “What’s that sound?” she asked out loud.
Everypony looked up and fell silent, including Rainbow. It was a voice, shouting the same thing over and over again. It was shouting Rainbow’s name. Rainbow poked her head out the window and saw a Pony running alongside the train. She squinted to get a better look.
“RAINBOWDASH!” screamed the mare.
Rainbow felt an unbridled joy spread through her body. She made a loud gasp. “…YOU!” Even now she still couldn’t remember her name. She squeezed herself through the small window and flew at her, tackling her into the air and flying up, holding her in a tight hug.
“Don’t go,” pleaded the mare.
“Come with me,” Rainbow replied.
“What?”
“You said it yourself last night. Your husband left ya for a pastry, what else d’ya have here?”
The mare thought for a second. “I have nothing.”
“Come with me then.”
“Okay.”
“Did you just say okay?”
The mare nodded.
Rainbow’s heart quickened, she hadn’t known happiness like this. She pulled her mare in close and kissed her. Smiles spread over each of their faces. They didn’t want to ruin this moment.
“Rainbow?” she said dreamily.
“Yeah?”
“The train’s gone.”
Rainbow suddenly panicked, she couldn’t miss her train. She looked around but fortunately it hadn’t gone too far. “Quick, climb on my back and hold on tight!” The mare did as requested.
Rainbow pumped her wings as hard as she could to catch up with the train, but it was going too fast and she was carrying too much weight, she couldn’t catch up. Her pace slowed, she felt sad again. The mare moved to kiss Rainbow on the cheek. “My name’s Buttercup,” she whispered.
The combination of those two things gave Rainbow a sudden burst of energy and her speed increased. A stream of Rainbow formed in her wake.
“Aw… that’s so awesome!” Buttercup said in regards to the trail of colour behind them. That was the final thing Rainbow needed. She erupted forwards and left a Sonic Rainboom behind them. Rainbow caught up with the train in seconds and crashed on the caboose, with Buttercup standing above Rainbow.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Rainbow smiled.
“Me neither.” Buttercup smiled back.



– H –



“Hey everypony!” Rainbow called out to her friends. “This is Buttercup. And I think I love her.” She turned to Buttercup. “If that’s alright with you.”
“It’s more than alright.” Buttercup kissed her. This was met by much cheering. Twilight was sceptical about this, they had only met the previous night while drunk and Rainbow had only known her name for a few minutes, but she decided not to mention any of that, she had something else to say. “So, Buttercup is going to live you?”
“Yep!” Rainbow and Buttercup said together, both with huge idiotic smiles.
“And Buttercup is an Earth Pony, right?”
“Yep!”
“And Rainbow, don’t you live on a cloud?”
The sudden realisation hit RainbowDash. “Buck.”