Rainbow After The Storm
by milesprower06
Chapter 4
Reunions and Regrets
SWEET APPLE ACRES
THREE YEARS AGO
Rainbow slowly came to in the same place she had fallen asleep. But something wasn't right. She quickly found out, as she felt a blanket give way around her as she sat up.
“Bout time you got up. I was startin' to fall asleep here.” the barn's other occupant greeted. She was an orange earth pony, with braided blonde hair under a cowpony hat.
“Uh...sorry about barging in here. I needed to get out of the storm.”
“It's alright. I'm actually curious as to why you came in here instead of moving some clouds around. You are a Pegasus, after all.” the cowpony said.
“Well, I'm not allowed to alter forecast weather, and it was freezing up above the storm, so I was close by, and I came in here.”
“Looks like ya did more than that” Applejack said, motioning to the apple cores around the Pegasus' hay bale.
“Yeah, I'm really sorry. I haven't had a decent meal in a few days,” the Pegasus apologized.
“No need to apologize. They're just a few apples. Come on, let's get you inside. I've got a guest room with a real bed, and let's get a real meal in your belly, and then you can tell me what's goin' on here. By the way, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres. Nice t'meet ya. Name's Applejack.”
Rainbow smiled, just a bit surprised at the farm pony's hospitality after her trespassing. “Rainbow Dash” she replied.
“Fitting name, to be sure. Come on in the house now.”
Rainbow followed Applejack out of the barn, and it was no longer the pouring rainstorm it was when she went in. The stars were now out and shining brightly. It was a short walk to the farmhouse. They came in through the side door, quietly, as to not disturb the rest of the family. Rainbow looked around for a brief moment at the kitchen area that they had come in at. She followed the farm pony down the hall to a guest room. It was a bed, a nightstand, dresser, and closet, with a window with a view of one of the orchards.
“There's a bathroom next door down. If ya need anything, I'm the last door at the end of the hallway.
“I...I don't know how to thank you, Applejack.” Rainbow replied.
“Ya can thank me in the morning by tellin' me what's goin' on over breakfast tomorrow. For now, just get some more sleep. Have a good night.” she said. With a smile, she gently closed the door, and left her new guest alone. With no possessions of any kind with her, Rainbow had little else to do but climb into the warm, soft bed. Right now, this was better than a cloud. Or a haystack.
She was back fast asleep moments after her head hit the pillow.
Morning came quicker than usual, seeing as how it was the middle of the night when she had woken up in the barn. This time, the alarm clock of choice was a wiggling wet nose on her own snout.
“Now now Winona, leave our guest alone! Get down now.” she heard Applejack say. Rainbow opened her eyes to see a tiny puppy on her chest, tail wagging furiously.
“That's mah' new puppy. Only had her about a month. Trying to get her trained and ready to help me around the farm.”
Rainbow waited for the puppy to get down and scamper out of the room before tossing the covers aside, and got out of bed.
“Sleep well?” Applejack asked.
“Yes, very well, thanks.”
“Well, freshen up and come on into the kitchen. Got a fresh hot breakfast made up for ya.”
Rainbow again thanked AJ and made her way down to the bathroom to get cleaned up. She took a quick shower which helped deal with the wet fur smell she gained from the storm last night. Once she was clean and had herself completely dried off, she went out to the kitchen, where a very inviting breakfast was waiting for her at the table, accompanied by Applejack, and who appeared to be her grandmother and brother.
“Well, now that we're all settled, how about tellin' us about your friend here, Applejack.” the elderly pony said. Applejack nodded to her, and then turned to Rainbow.
“Well, this here's Rainbow Dash. I found her snoozing out the storm in the barn last night, and was hoping she could tell us what she's doing here. Where are ya from, sugar?” the farm pony asked the obviously hungry Pegasus.
“Um...I'm from Cloudsdale. I...I ran away from home three days ago, and no, I'm not ready to talk about it. It's my business, and I have to deal with it. Sorry if that seems a little rude, but...look, I'm still not sure how to feel about it yet” Rainbow replied, short, blunt, and straight to the point, instead wanting to concentrate on her food.
“Well, you're absolutely right that's its your business. You don't have to talk about it with us if you don't want to. But, I just want to caution you, if you're not returning there anytime soon, you'd probably be best off trying to find a way to support yourself. I can tell ya right now that not many other ponies would be as hospitable to you trespassing on their property and eating their crops.” Applejack replied.
Rainbow was about to agree, when the breakfast conversation was interrupted by a sudden, lively barking. Winona, who had been looking out the window, had spotted something in the yard near the house, and was now bolting out the side screen door to give chase.
“Winona!” Applejack called, turning to see what had her dog's attention. Another lone bunny darted into the bushes while Winona frantically circled, waiting for it to come back out, tail wagging furiously.
“Gosh darn it, here I was hoping she got'em all. Mac, ya better get that Fluttershy gal over here again, tell her we've got one more for her.”
Rainbow immediately stopped eating at the sound of the name.
“Fluttershy??? Fluttershy's here?” Rainbow asked, amazed.
“Eeeyup. In town, rather.” Big Mac replied.
“I take it you know her?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah, she was my friend back from Flight School. My only friend...I haven't seen her in six months.”
“Well, sounds like a reunion's in order then!” Granny Smith chimed in.
As soon as he was finished with breakfast, Big Macintosh again headed out to Ponyville at a quick gallop.
“Small world, I guess,” Applejack commented, ignoring the continuous barking of Winona, who was doing a stellar job of keeping the lone bunny in the bushes. “So how do you know Fluttershy?” she asked.
“She was in my class at flight school. The last time I saw her was the day I got my cutie mark. She's the only friend I've ever really had. I'm glad she's okay.”
PONYVILLE
Fluttershy was tending the small animals she kept indoors when there was a gentle knock on her door. Going to answer it, she was met with a familiar face from the day before.
“Oh, hello again. Big Mac, was it? What can I do for you?” Fluttershy greeted.
“Ah'm sorry to bother you again, Miss Fluttershy, but it seems one of the bunnies wasn't interested in coming with you yesterday.”
“Oh dear.” the caretaker commented, and ran to get a small bag of carrots, and also a few leaves of lettuce. “Sometimes they just need a little more convincing.”
“We also have a friend of yours from Cloudsdale.” Big Mac told her, as they left the cottage.
“Oh? Who would that be?”
“Her name's Rainbow Dash. Applejack found her sleeping in the barn after last night's storm.”
“I wonder what she's doing down here. She's the reason I got my cutie mark.”
Ten minutes later, they were back at the farm, and Rainbow came out on the front porch to see her friend.
“Fluttershy!” she said, galloping toward her and embracing her. Fluttershy returned the hug, glad that Rainbow was so happy to see her.
“Awesome, you got your cutie mark!” Rainbow said, eying her friend's flank.
“Yes, I did. Thanks to you, Rainbow. We'll have plenty of time to catch up, but these ponies have a bunny problem for me to finish taking care of.”
With that, Fluttershy made her way around the house to the back yard, where Winona was growling at a bush. Applejack successfully called her dog away at Fluttershy's approach, and she laid down in front of the bush.
“Now now, sorry about that noisy dog, but you aren't supposed to be here, little friend. Why didn't you come with me yesterday with the rest of your friends?” she gingerly asked, putting a carrot on the grass in front of the bush. When this didn't entice the pesky bunny out, she added a piece of lettuce to it, and this caused a little black nose to poke out and sniff the offering. After barely a second, two furry arms grabbed both and pulled them back into the bush. Sounds of ravenous eating could be heard.
“Now don't you want to come back to my place, and have all the room to run around, and all the lettuce and carrots you want?”
This question was answered by the last bit of carrot, stem included, being thrown back out, hitting Fluttershy on the forehead with a thunk.
None of the Apple family could exactly tell what happened next. Fluttershy's pupils seemed to dilate, and she again spoke to the creature, who then cooperatively came out of the bush.
“Now there's a good bunny. Come on, let's go get you set up in your new home.” she said to her newest companion, who now followed in step.
She approached the group of residents on her way out.
“You can come along too, Rainbow. You can explain what you're doing down here, and I can give you a place to stay.” she offered.
“Yeah, alright.” Rainbow said, turning to Applejack and Big Mac. “Thanks for the bed and breakfast, and um...for the barn and bale too, I guess.” she thanked them.
“Ain't no trouble at all. Hope everything works out for ya, sugarcube. Have a good one, now.”
Applejack watched as the two Pegasi departed her farm. She was glad to have made a couple new friends, and wished to see them again soon, but also hoped that that was the last of her bunny problems for a good, long while.
“Well, that was quite the exciting night. Not every day a rainbow-haired Pegasus flies into your barn.”
Rainbow walked alongside her fillyhood friend along the hilly path to Ponyville, who seemed to favor walking everywhere instead of flying.
'Just like old times,' Rainbow thought to herself, remembering how Fluttershy rarely ever flew in Flight School.
“So what are you doing here, Rainbow? I didn't think I'd see you again after that race knocked me off the starting line.” Fluttershy said.
“Yeah, glad to see you're okay. Well, um, in my case, everything's not okay. I ran away from home, and I've been here and there for three days. I don't want to go back. I don't want to give my dad the satisfaction of coming back. But if I don't...”
Fluttershy politely waited for her friend to get through her thoughts.
“Applejack's right. If I'm not going back home, I've got to find a way to support myself. But...what would I do? And what pony would hire a Pegasus that got expelled from Flight School?”
“Well, looking around can't hurt. And you're more than welcome to stay with me until you find something.” Fluttershy offered.
Rainbow couldn't find the words to show her appreciation for Fluttershy's kindness just yet.
“Why'd you get expelled?”
“The bullies that were giving you problems were now giving me problems, and when I fought back, the school that wouldn't do anything about them kicked me out, and my parents wouldn't even listen to my side of the story.”
“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Rainbow.”
“Well, if you're gonna put up with me for a bit, then please let me help however I can around your place. What...do you do, anyway?”
“Oh I take care of all sorts of woodland creatures. That's what my cutie mark signifies. I can communicate with animals like no other pony can. And here we are!”
Rainbow looked to the cottage in front of them at Fluttershy's announcement. The two-story home sat atop one of the numerous hills in the meadow. One could see the Everfree Forest on the other side of the meadow, as well as the path to Sweet Apple Acres they had just come down.
A creek ran in front of the house, and a small sandstone arch bridge was built over it, with bushes planted on either side. More than anything, however, it looked like a work in progress. Half-built animal habitats littered the trees and yard, which made Rainbow even more eager to help.
“Well, I just had a good breakfast, so where do I start?” Rainbow asked.
“Well, there's plenty of cleanup to be done in the back yard. This place was owned by a gardener, obviously somepony not very organized. Just pick up whatever tools and shovels you see, and if it looks like they can be used, set them aside. Just stay out of my shed in back.”
“Huh?”
“There's a small shed in back, and right now, it's a death trap. So many things stacked on each other. Moving even one thing might bring the whole thing down on you, so just stay out until I can get somepony who can handle that mess, alright?”
“You got it.”
“And if you need a break, just come inside and fix whatever you like. What's mine is yours, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow felt tears prick her eyes as she smiled.
“Fluttershy...just...well, thanks. You're really the only friend I've had, and you've got to be the most sensitive, kindest pony I've ever met.”
“Not a problem at all, Rainbow. In fact, I have you to thank for all this. If it wasn't for you knocking me down here at the start of that race, I wouldn't have found out who I really was. So let's call it even.”
Rainbow gave her friend a smile.
“You got it.”
CLOUDSDALE WEATHER FACTORY
BREAK ROOM
Stormcloud had found it increasingly hard to focus on his work at the factory. Right now, he was just trying to find the motivation to go back out to the floor for the rest of his shift, as he sipped at a cup of premium roast Canterlot coffee.
“Hey there, Stormcloud.” an approaching voice greeted in the Weather Factory break room.
“Huh? Oh, hey there, Cloudkicker.” Stormcloud returned the greeting, sipping at his drink.
“You've been rather distracted lately. What's goin' on with you today?” his co-floor manager asked.
“Oh, it's Rainbow. She got expelled three days ago, and when I told her to go apologize to the school, she took off into the night. I haven't seen or heard from her since.”
“She'll come around. She's got a lot of spunk, I'll give ya that.”
“By the way, whatever happened to your daughter six months ago? She went missing from flight school during some Pegasus race. The day Rainbow got her Cutie Mark.”
“Oh, Fluttershy? She's fine. She sent me a letter just a few days after she went missing. Said she plummeted all the way to the ground before she was caught by a group of butterflies, and found she was able to talk to the animals. She got her cutie mark that day too, and has opened up some kind of animal habitat down in Ponyville.”
“Wow, that's good to hear. Glad she's okay.”
“What'd Rainbow get expelled for, anyway?”
“She kept on getting into fights. Said the bullies wouldn't leave her alone.”
“And you kicked her out for that?”
“I told her numerous times to stop fighting, and she wouldn't listen.”
“Sometimes kids aren't the best of listeners. And still, you have to try and see things from her point of view, Stormcloud. That's part of parenting. Fluttershy told me the day she got her Cutie Mark was because of a race that Rainbow challenged some bullies to that were making fun of her. I'm not saying what she did was right, but maybe the school does have a bullying problem. Don't you remember our days from flight school?”
Stormcloud scoffed.
“I recall you got into one fight, and they never bothered us again.” he admitted, unable to hide the smirk on his face.
“Maybe that was the problem. Maybe they weren't leaving her alone. Maybe there are too many of them. I'm not trying to tell you how to be a parent; I'm only suggesting you try another point of view.”
Stormcloud sighed, taking another sip of his coffee. Until Rainbow returned, the advice of his best friend and co-worker weren't going to do much good.
“Regardless of what happened and why, as concerned as I am, Firefly is worrying herself sick. What am I supposed to do? Rainbow could be anywhere. Where am I supposed to look?”
Cloudkicker reassured his friend as best he could.
“She'll come around. Kids always do.”
Stormcloud looked at the last bit of coffee in his cup.
“I sure hope so.”