What’s wrong with me?
Rainbow Dash pondered that question as she rested on a caboose’s railing, watching the wooden tracks casually pass below her. Shadows continually cast on her and the multi-car train, many of them created by the pine trees towering over the railroad’s path, all lined by loose gravel. The jagged Stallihorn mountain range covered the entire horizon, their peeks hidden thanks to dense drab clouds hovering at altitudes higher than Cloudsdale. On occasion, the flaming sun said its hello through a hole but the ever-changing landscape ensured the air would be no more than mildly warm. A gentle wind rode down the slopes and brushed Rainbow’s cheek but she paid no attention to it, even when it moved a few strands of yellow hair into her sightline.
Then, her world became nippy and dark. She had entered another tunnel, number twenty-three based on her lackadaisical count, but enough to assume that the train was closer to its final destination than its departure point, Ponyville. As she sighed, the caboose exited the pony-made hole and back into open air where she heard the sound of rushing water. Curious, she turned her head left, finding a river running alongside the train. Its banks teemed with baby trees, shrubs and a few critters eagerly running into the foaming water for a nice cool bath. Looking further downriver, the stream bent away from the tracks and carved its way between two mountain peaks. She had already seen many sights on this train ride, all of it familiar, but this particular one struck a nerve.
This is the closest I’ve gotten to Brayside.
Suddenly, the train jolted to a grinding halt, all but tossing the mare overboard. Before Rainbow could guess why, a hiss over the PA system drew her attention.
Attention, Stallihorn Zephyr patrons. This is your conductor speaking. We apologize for the stop but we’ve just received reports of severe gusts at the Prancemotory Summit up ahead. Don’t worry, folks. We already have a weather pony taking care of it. Once we get an all clear, we’ll continue on to Brayside Beach and San Prancisco without delay.
Rainbow turned her attention skywards; she expected a pegasus slicing through the air to give the train and its passengers safe passage.
Nothing. Maybe she was too far away to see this pony, she thought. If she had the drive, Rainbow would take flight and search out for them but something held her in place. She had no answer why this was so, much like how she couldn’t answer her own question.
After a prolonged eye blink, she was instantly thousands of feet above where she had been just under a thick layer of clouds. Beneath her was the snaking river and the railroad’s path but sans the rails and the accompanying tunnels. In this time, those existed solely on blueprints secured in a shack a few miles away from here. The work to make it all a reality came down to what looked like ants moving across the uneven terrain shoveling dirt, pushing wheelbarrows, laying down ties or gnawing at vertical rock with pickaxes. She could’ve watched them all day if it wasn’t for a grey hoof wiping through her sights.
“Are you zoning out on me, Rainbow,” asked a young, somewhat squeaky voice.
“Huh?”
A turn of the head and there he was, a slender stallion with blue forelocks flowing across his forehead in a swoop.
“Sorry, Swift,” she said, adding a nervous chuckle. “Guess I’ve been really out of it lately.”
He smiled just as the sun broke through the clouds and shone over him. “No worries. I hear ya. I feel like we’ve been doing weather duty for this construction project for years when it’s really… four months, I think.”
“Long enough that you’ve changed your hairstyle.”
Swift ruffled his mane, which had a lighter shade of blue exactly like his tail. “Not that again. I’ve already told you I just thought I should spend a few seconds brushing it. I could always change it back.”
“No,” she blurted. “It’s okay. You look—” Her next few words spilled out of her mouth. “Um, it’s fine.”
They spend the next few moments watching a few workers laying objects too far to discern on a mountain’s face. Then then ran all the way to a deep pit made of sandbags where a stallion soon pushed down on a handle - construction on tunnel number twenty-three had begun.
“Just a few more explosions and we can call this project a wrap,” said Rainbow with a firm nod. “Good thing for my wings because all this flying back and forth between here and Ponyville”—she stretched her back—“that’s a lot of tough miles. Don’t get me wrong. It’s okay because it means hanging out with you but I could do without the work.”
Swift turned slight away from her. “About that. So, what’s going to happen once we’re done here? We’ll finally have some actual free time again.”
Her face twisted in discomfort. “Um, why do you ask? Did you have something in mind?”
After a lengthy pause, “How about joining me for the Aloha Summer Festival?”
“The what now?”
“It’s one of Brayside’s traditions, a big party to mark the end of summer. This year, we’re holding it the first weekend after the railroad’s finished. Since you haven’t been to Brayside yet, I thought you could finally come over. You know, see the town, meet my friends, and do stuff together.”
Tha-thump! Her heart quickened its pace. “Um, what kind of stuff?”
“Um—“ His face color shifted toward red “—friend… stuff. Things friends would do together.” He slapped his forehead. “Y–your friends! They can come too! Yeah, one wicked time at the beach, all of us.” Another pause, “But no pressure! If you’re not up for it, no worries.”
This was a no brainer answer and yet, panic froze her lips tight.
“Never mind,” he said, downcast. “We can do something—”
“Okay!” Rainbow blurted.
He pulled away from her slightly.
“Sorry,” said Rainbow, fighting to hide her embarrassment. “Yeah, I guess we could hang out. I mean, that’s what good friends do, right?”
The stallion’s mouth moved but he made no sound; this wasn’t what she remembered at all.
Voice cracking, “Right?”
Fog rolled into her imagination, covering the entire region in seconds.
“Right?” she whispered.
Tweeeeet! The locomotive’s shrill whistle knocked her out of her daydream and right onto the shaking floor. Once more, the train was in motion; the PA system expectedly crackled to life.
This is your conductor. We’ve finally been given the all clear! It’ll be a little gusty but there should be no further issues once we pass over the summit. Again, our apologies for the inconvenience!
“Lousy conductor,” she mumbled as she staggered back to all fours. “I’m gonna… wait. Who’s that?”
A few hundred feet above her, a grey stallion streaked across the cloudy skies.
She filled her chest with air and then bellowed, “Hey! Hold on! Where are you going, Sw—”
Mistaken identity – the pony that stopped at her call had wavy blonde hair rather than the expected blue. Thankfully, she had already met this stallion before, furthering relieving the tension had it been Swift Flying after all.
Rainbow greeted the newcomer with a smirk. “Well, well. If it isn’t Light Shower. Heh. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
After landing on the caboose, he ran his foreleg over his flowing forelock, smoothing out a few loose ends. “Far too long, girl. So much fun working together busting some storm clouds for those few days with you and that wonderful team Ponyville team of yours.”
“You mean working that mouth of yours with Raindrops and Thunderlane.” Rubbing her chin, “Hmmm, what did Swift call your little group?” She chuckled, “Oh yeah. That’s right. The Lazy Trifecta.”
Light Shower whipped back his head. “Hmf! As second in command, I was simply doing my duty developing good relations between the Brayside and Ponyville weather ponies. Nothing more.”
“Sure you were. Oh, and let me guess. For all the work you did, Swift rewarded you with weather duties on this side of the Stallihorns all by yourself.”
“For the record, I volunteered—” His ears folded “—involuntarily, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”
Rainbow slapped the railings, “Ha, ha, ha! Burn!”
His frown receded with each chortle. “I suppose I earned that one. You know, there was a time when Swift would’ve looked the other way.”
She rubbed an invisible medal hanging over her chest, “Yeah, well. What can I say? Some of my awesome leadership skills must have rubbed off on him.”
“Hmm, yes.” Shower gave her a quick hug. “Well, I’d love to chat with you some more but I’d bet Swift sent somepony to spy on me. Oh, by the way, he told me that if I saw you, to let you know that he got called into special meeting at town hall today but will meet you at the station as promised.” Winking, “Believe me, he’s so eager to see you again.”
“Oh.” Rainbow suddenly found fascination in the floor. “A–alright.”
“Bon Voyage!” said the departing stallion.
She clung onto the railing and waved a goodbye. Rainbow followed his ascension into the low-lying clouds, disappearing close to a ridge. Once out of sight, she mused about what would happen over the next few days. Despite the three weeks between the initial agreement and today, her mind was no less uncluttered with mystery.
What’s wrong with me? Rainbow bopped the side of her head. It’s just a nice, little four-day vacation… with Swift. I mean, everything’s cool between us.
Rainbow looked behind her, triggering a time warp. She had just landed in the same caboose, holding onto a strip with four pictures on it. Swift stood in front of her with mild surprise, not expecting that she’d catch up to his train just to make a delivery. They talked, they hugged and then a magnetic force pulled them closer together and set her heart fluttering with warmth unlike any other. A whistle awoke her senses to what was a mistake, an error, a misstep over a solid red line – she made sure Swift Flying knew that.
“You and I as friends? That's totally cool, and it totally works for us, but I… I want to keep it that way. You understand, right?"
Fast-forward four months since that cool orange afternoon and that statement had eroded to dust. She might as well had never said it in the first place.
What’s wrong with me?
Then, a gust grabbed onto the caboose’s door and slammed it against the outside wall.
“Not again,” she grumbled as she walked over to close it. “They really need to fix the lock on… this. Hmmmmm.”
Abiding with her gut feeling, Rainbow stuck her head into the caboose’s cabin. Aside from a sink, tables, couch and a few cabinets, she found nothing extraordinary or out of place.
“I thought I saw somepony in here,” she said, stroking her muzzle. “Oh, well.”
The moment she shut the door, Fluttershy peered from behind a tablecloth. Once she felt safe to do so, she sneaked through the caboose, past one sliding and through another leading into the rearmost passenger cabin. Then she carefully peeked through a rounded glass pane where she caught a glimpse of her friend, standing alone out in the elements.
After a melancholy sigh, Fluttershy slid down her head from the window. “Why won’t she come inside?”
A hoof touched her back, “Why not just ask her, darling?”
“Eeeeeeek!” Fluttershy responded to a surprise like any other; flipping over like a pancake on a griddle. Now she had a view of light fixtures and a face full of Rarity shaking her head.
“Apologies, my dear.” She offered a foreleg, “But you really must work on not getting startled so easily.”
She accepted her help, “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m really worried about Rainbow Dash. She’s been out there since we left Ponyville and she hasn’t said why.”
Rarity had a look at Rainbow. “I’m certain it has something to do with that Swift Flying fellow. A bite of adolescent infatuation, perhaps?”
“That sounds terrible!” said the shivering pegasus. “I’ll fetch my first aid kit!”
The unicorn tittered. “Oh, Fluttershy! I’m saying that she has a crush on him, darling.”
“You think so? Are you sure? I know we’ve teased her about it before but I honestly thought it wasn’t true. I mean, she’s never been interested in anything cutesy wootsie and I’ve been her friend since we were just fillies.”
Rarity tapped her muzzle, “Quite true and that makes me wonder. Do you recall when we were away at Manehattan back in the spring? She never did tell us exactly what she did all those days. If she had to invoke a Pinkie Promise between her and Swift to keep it a secret, whatever happened must have been big.” Spreading her hooves, “Life-altering big!”
Fluttershy stepped away from her, “Then maybe we should just leave things alone.”
Rarity grabbed her closer, “But we can’t! We simply must know what’s going on! Matters of the heart are my specialty!”
“Um, but what about your crush with Prince Blueblood? You thought—“
“That was a rare moment of extremely poor judgment,” she curtly responded. “Come. We shall talk to her, together!”
Before Rarity could slide open the passenger car door, Pinkie Pie did so from the other side.
“Halt!” She blocked the doorway, holding up a firm hoof. “You shall not pass.”
Rarity’s long eyelashes twitched. “How long were you hiding there, Pinkie?”
“Ever since Twilight asked me to watch over you.” She squeed.
Then, one of the many cabin doors behind the group moved just enough for Twilight’s head to emerge.
“Aha! Going to the dining car, Rarity?” said the bookworm unicorn, raising an eyebrow. “What did I tell you about leaving Rainbow Dash alone?”
Pouting her lips, “But it’s not fair. You let Fluttershy go.”
“That’s because I thought if she was willing to talk with anypony, it would be her. Well, that and I had a feeling she’d chicken out anyways.”
Fluttershy blushed, “Well, I tried to.”
Twilight flashed a smile. “I know you did. Now, back inside, you three.”
“But now I really must go to the dining car,” Rarity whined. “I’m absolutely famished.”
“Fine.” She motioned toward the front of the train, “You can go, along with Pinkie Pie.”
Twilight slid the door wide open to allow Fluttershy by before closing it tight. The unicorn then took a seat next to on one of the two burgundy benches situated across from each other, the space in between taken by a thin table. Spike, sitting on her end closest to the small square window, found the constant train chugging noise a relaxing enough melody to sleep with, even with the constant shifts of ambient light. Across from her, Applejack sat with the lid of her Stetson covering her eyes but with her occasional fidgeting, she presumed the accommodation were not to her liking. That or that she’s a pony not to share a tent with if having personal space mattered.
Fluttershy leaned into Twilight’s ear. “Did you find out why Applejack’s been crabby lately?”
“Not yet,” she responded in kind. “All I know is that she was looking forward to this trip until yesterday. So far, I haven’t been able to get a word out of her.”
“Do you think it has anything to do with Rainbow Dash?”
“Nope,” Applejack interrupted, crossing her forelegs.
Twilight recoiled. “Oh, um, hey. You didn’t hear what we said, did you?”
“Eeyup.”
A lump slid down Twilight’s throat. “Um, okay. Well, if you don’t wanna say anything—”
The cowpony slid a sheet onto the table. “You remember when I sent over my request for a food booth at the Aloha Summer Festival last month? Take a guess what happened.”
Fluttershy covered her mouth. “Oh, no! You didn’t get one? I’m so sorry.”
“No, no, Sugarcube. I did get one.” She pointed at an area on the paper. “That space right there.”
Twilight leaned forwards to examine what was a schematic of the festival’s general layout. A shaded box indicated the exact location, as did an angry face drawn with a red marker. “Hmm. Well, it is one of the smaller spaces and it’s not exactly close to the entrance.”
“It’s the worst one available!” Applejack banged the counter. “Of all the nerve! I’m telling ya it’s one of them conspira-whatevers!”
“Conspiracy,” the unicorn corrected. “That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?”
“It ain’t, Twi! If there’s something I can say about the whole Apple family, no matter where in Equestria, we’ve been good at selling our apples.” Applejack slouched on the table. “Well, everywhere except for Brayside. You’ve got the Pineapples, the Mangos, the Bananers, plenty of competition that does everything to try to keep us out. I bet one of them convinced whoever’s organizing this shindig to put me in such a lousy spot. That’s the only explanation that makes sense.”
Twilight gave her a friendly tap. “Applejack, I think you’re taking this a little too personally. If they really wanted you out, you wouldn’t even have a booth in the first place. Maybe you can talk to the head organizer and see what they can do for you.”
“You’re darned right I’ll be giving that pony a piece of my mind,” she grumbled.
“Now, Applejack. We’re on vacation here, so please don’t go overboard.”
The cowpony returned to slouching on the bench. “I ain’t promising anything but I’ll try. No need for more drama, I suppose.”
Fluttershy frowned. “You don’t mean Rainbow Dash, do you?”
“Eeyup.”
“Aren’t you even a little curious on what’s going on with her?” asked Twilight. “She’s your friend, too, you know.”
Applejack shrugged. “She was fine until this morning. Probably got a case of jitterbugs in her belly about this trip or something. Whatever it is, asking Rainbow straight up now ain’t gonna get us anywhere.”
The cabin door slid to the right. “Ask me what?”
The three mares stared at Rainbow Dash as though she was a phantom that stole other ponies’ voices.
Spike rose from his slumber. “Whoa, why is it so quiet around—” His heavy eyes focused on the cyan mare “— oh, hey, Rainbow Dash.”
“Hey, Spike, girls.”
Applejack scooted closer to the wall, allowing Rainbow to take a seat beside her.
“So, who wanted to ask me something?”
Spike stood on the bench cushion, “I think it’s about why you were standing out there by your—“
Fluttershy held the dragon’s mouth shut and then whispered to him “Please forgive me.”
Rainbow feigned a chuckle. “Oh, that. I just, needed to think about… stuff. For two hours.”
Other than Spike’s unintelligible mumbling and the train’s judders, nopony said a word for ten seconds.
Twilight pretended she had a cough. “Yeah, okay. We were just… I thought something was worrying you.”
Shaking her head, “It’s all right, really. Guess I’m just a little… train sick. Yeah. I gotta have that fresh air.”
Rainbow had a sinking feeling and not just because the train was starting to travel downhill. All those eyes on her could only mean her explanation had no buyers. It was time to switch subjects, fast!
“So, um, aren’t you all excited about this vacation?”
Spike finally eluded Fluttershy’s grasp. “I sure am! Four days of soaking some rays, surfing some waves, gouging on food but you know the best part?” He hopped onto the table with a broom, which he held over his head. “Not having to sweep the Library!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well, I can’t wait to build a few sandcastles and to read a few books by the ocean.”
“Sell some apples,” said Applejack, tipping her hat “That’ll be a good vacation. Hmm?”
Another visitor arrived into the cabin, this time Rarity levitating a chocolate chip cookie.
“Well, that was an utter waste of time.” Rarity tapped the treat onto the table, making a solid thumping sound.. “Simply dreadful. Everything’s… Rainbow! Darling, how are you?”
Ugh! Not again! Rainbow stretched her smile. “I’m… fine. We were just talking about how awesome this vacation’s gonna be. Where did Pinkie Pie go? I thought she was with you.”
Rarity sighed. “Miraculously eating with that the chef dares to call food.” She sat next to Twilight. “I suppose I can wait until we reach Brayside Beach. I’m sure Swift or one of his friends can recommend a good place where we can have a more proper meal. Perhaps even have a nice dinner together?”
“Dinner, together?” Rainbow scratched her mane. “Oh. Oh! You meant all of us together. Heh, heh.”
“It doesn’t have to be. We’ll understand if you and Swift want to spend some time, alone.”
“A–alone?”
Suddenly, the room became a sauna with the steam coming off her face. Pinkie arrived and caught a case of the giggles.
“Why is your face red? Ooooooo. I bet it was something embarrassing.” Pinkie closed to within an inch of her nose. “Why, Rainbow? Is it a secret that you don’t anypony to know? Things that you don’t want to admit because it’s may ruin your reputation? Something about this trip that will force you to face things you’ve never dealt with before?”
Twilight pulled on Pinkie’s tail, taking her down onto the floor. “Sorry about that, Rainbow. We’re not trying to make you uncomfortable or anything.”
Rainbow’s pupils darted from side-to-side, “Me? Uncomfortable?” She flicked her mane. “Oh, no, no, no. Why would I be uncomfortable? If anything I’m so comfy, I might just, um, take a nap. Wake me when we get there, wontcha?”
Suddenly, Rainbow placed her head on the table and after throwing in a few stretches and yawns, began snoring. While her little act would win her an award for lamest attempt at pretend sleep, at least she no longer had to deal with her friends. To her chagrin, it did nothing to stop the gears from turning inside her head, constantly working on the nagging question that just wouldn’t go away.
What’s wrong with me?
Rainbow had no bona-fide answers – just the facts that kept her sanity in check. She was Rainbow Dash, a fast flier, a loyal pony and a mare that draws the line of relationships at friends. That was enough to sleep on.
Barely.