“And now, gentlemares,” announced Rarity in triumph, “the pièce de résistance.” A bolt of pure white light shot from her horn to pull back the heavy curtains, revealing a plain white ponnequin wearing a dress. It was a simple enough garment at first glance – an elegant yet unshowy evening gown of china blue with deep navy accents. The three very posh-looking unicorns sitting opposite exchanged knowing looks.
Rarity smiled as she gauged her guests’ reactions. “Yes,” she said, “I do think you will enjoy this. A little magic is needed in any dress, but this dress has been designed to incorporate something new; I call it ‘reactive fabric’. As you see, in flat, cloudy light like this, it has an understated but classy appeal. After dark, the material catches the moonlight, making it twinkle and glitter in a way that mere sequins never could. But as you’ll see in just a moment, this dress’s unique nature truly shines through at those moments when the world is graced with a... oh my goodness, I really must stop chattering on like this or we’ll miss the—”
There was a sudden crash from outside, as though a pegasus in a screaming hurry had slightly misjudged her landing and had an uncomfortably close encounter with a rather dense clump of bushes. Rarity gasped for a moment, covering it with a brittle giggle as she recovered her composure. She set her jaw and took as deep a breath as she dared, then marched directly to her front door, her face like thunder.
“Ms Rarity? Is something wrong?”
Rarity didn’t turn round, nor even break her gait. She gave her guests a perfunctory snap of her tail and continued outside, slamming the door behind her. The pristine Hearth’s Warming wreath almost fell off its nail, and there was a dull thump from somewhere upstairs as something heavy hit the floor.
Rarity opened the door just in time to be showered with leaves, twigs and dust as Rainbow Dash shook herself vigorously. The pegasus looked up at her friend with a slightly dazed expression, which almost at once became a familiar lop-sided grin.
“Heh... whoops. Didn’t quite stick the landing. Good job those bushes were there, but... ew, it was pretty icky in there. Had to get this gunk outta my feathers asap, you know? Not a lot of fun preening when you have bits of dirt and stick all over the place. Sorry I got some of it on you; I guess coming through your door right then wasn’t the greatest timing on your part, Rarity!”
The already chilly early-winter air dropped in temperature by several degrees.
“On my part?” said Rarity acidly. “What, pray, happened to your timing?” She looked pointedly at the increasingly cloud-filled sky and demanded, “Where is the brilliant rainbow I was promised?” She saw the pegasus start to grin again. “And I don’t want any stupid replies, Rainbow Dash. You know exactly what I mean.”
Rainbow looked at the floor and shuffled her hooves, her smile dying on her lips.
“I’m waiting. And my Very Important Guests from Canterlot are waiting, too. If I can’t explain myself to them, Rainbow Dash, I will in all probability lose this contract for good. And if I lose this contract, not only will it cost me dear in reputation, not only will somepony else be chosen as Mare à la Mode this Hearth’s Warming, but – I swear – I will never, ever let you forget it.”
Still staring at the grass, Rainbow mumbled a few inaudible words.
Rarity said nothing, weapons-grade silence radiating off her with the force of a thousand attack spells.
Rainbow winced, then lifted her head a bare inch or two. In a dull monotone, she said, “It wasn’t a rain-bearing cloud. I tried to get to another one in time, but I went too fast and overshot. I was gonna at least get the sunbeam going, honest I was, but I really had to land; the afternoon storm team guys were already setting up and I couldn’t interfere with their work. There just wasn’t anything else I could do.”
Silence reigned for a brief moment. “It wasn’t a rain-bearing cloud?!” Rarity parroted, in a fair yet distinctly mocking impression of Rainbow’s scratchy voice. “You didn’t even, oh I don’t know, check that beforehand?” Another pause, this one slightly longer. “Well. If these are the standards you set for yourself nowadays, I can see that I was quite thoroughly mistaken in asking you to assist me in the first place.”
“But it was just—”
“No. I don’t want to hear it. Not another word, Rainbow Dash. I shall now be trying my level best to explain this... this fiasco to my guests in the quite possibly forlorn hope that I will not be the laughing stock of Canterlot society by this time tomorrow. What you wish to do with the rest of your afternoon is entirely your own affair.”
Rarity disappeared inside, leaving her erstwhile companion standing disconsolately in her garden, her mood matching the leaden skies above.
When Rarity reappeared a few minutes later, still gushing out profuse apologies as the Canterlot unicorns boarded the taxi that would carry them to the station, there was nothing to be seen but four scuffed hoofprints in her front lawn.
* * *
Rainbow Dash slogged along, her hooves sinking into the springy turf as she went. She mumbled and muttered to herself, occasionally half-opening her wings before folding them tight against her back with a perceptible snap. The light was fading fast now; Rainbow stole a quick glance at the sky and estimated that she had perhaps twenty minutes before she would be soaked to the skin. She felt faintly satisfied at the prospect.
She stomped on, breathing a little heavily but never slackening her steady gait. A cockchafer whirred busily past her left ear; she flicked at it derisorily as it passed. A slight stumble brought nothing but even more muttering – but at length, the slope began to flatten out. Rather than enjoy the relief of easier going, Rainbow broke into a trot, then a canter, though she checked herself whenever she verged on the breathless release of a full-blown gallop.
Dash raised her head for the first time since landing and, with flat, dull eyes, looked across the wide vale in which Ponyville nestled. To her right, roughly on her own level, she could make out the flitting shapes of pegasi putting the final touches to the thick layer of stratus; to her left and far above, the lonely cry of a solitary eagle scored the air. Otherwise, the world was still and empty: cold and humid, matching the sweat that ran down beneath Rainbow’s still-clamped wings. She was alone with the gloom that now enveloped her.
Even the eagle that had briefly intruded on her dismal thoughts did not come to keep Rainbow Dash company, instead banking in a wide arc and heading far off to the west, turning away from the coming storm and answering the siren call of the distant ocean. The pegasus gave a single flick of her tail and then stood motionless, only an occasional blink betraying her utter alertness. She would pay her penance.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash! What’cha doing all the way up here, huh?” There was no mistaking that voice. Rainbow unwillingly shifted her gaze as Pinkie Pie bounded towards her, the earth pony’s face a mask. Quite literally a mask: her eyes and nose were covered by a pair of enormous comedy glasses attached to a quite absurd snout that looked as though it had been made from a carrot. This gave the huge, open beam that came below a vaguely sinister air.
Rainbow sighed. “Not now, Pinkie Pie. I’ll talk to you later, but I need to stay here, okay? You oughtta get inside before the rain starts.”
“Uh-huh,” said Pinkie. “Right now is real ‘uh-huh’ time. And when I realised there was an ‘uh’ and a ‘huh’ going on at the same time, that’s when I knew I needed to come find you.”
“Honestly, Pinkie, can’t this wait until later? I really need to be on my own right now.”
Pinkie Pie’s grin faded, though the rest of her stayed right where she was. “Like I said, Dashie, this is an ‘uh-huh’ situation. And that means I have to stay with you.” She plucked off the carrot-nose, bit off the tip and replaced it carefully, chewing steadily.
Rainbow snapped. “Pinkie! Will you please just go away?”
There was an endless second before Pinkie Pie said, “Well, if that’s what you really want me to do, then I guess... I guess I will. I’m really sorry I couldn’t make you feel better, Rainbow Dash. Maybe one of the others can. If you need me later on, I’ll be at Sugarcube Corner making cinnamon buns for the Cakes.” She pivoted on the spot and began to slide, very slowly, down the grassy slope.
“Hey, I am coming back, you know!” said Rainbow. “I just need to... wait, what ‘others’?”
Pinkie swivelled again and slid back up the slope to occupy her previous position. “Those others, silly,” she said, waving a hoof to the side.
There was a heavy bump in the direction Pinkie had indicated. Rainbow Dash turned her head slowly and blinked. A large purple balloon was sitting just over the crown of the hill about a hundred feet away; Rainbow craned her neck to see that its basket was skewed and spattered with mud from its awkward landing.
A group of ponies were trotting briskly towards her, their backs glistening dully in the subdued light. Rainbow noted without surprise that there were three of them. First smooth, muscly orange-brown; then feathery, breezy yellow; finally majestic, stately purple – the last with a smaller shape in a slightly different purple clinging to its back.
Spike.
Rainbow closed her eyes, dreading her friends’ approach but suddenly too weary to escape, too weary even to move. She tried to block out the hum of conversation that was gradually growing closer, focusing instead on the clamminess of the air around her. She fidgeted awkwardly, her hooves shuffling back and forth as she waited.
“Rainbow!” That was Twilight. “Are you all right? Blossomforth stopped by and said she’d been unable to find you, and that she hoped it was all right if she stood in as storm-team leader this afternoon. I don’t know much about that sort of thing, but she’s a good pony and I know you’ve told me she knows what she’s doing up there, so I told her to go ahead. I hope that was okay.”
Dash, eyes still firmly shut, gave a thin, humourless smile. “Sure, why not? It’s not as if I’m going to be getting in her way any time soon.”
Twilight spoke again, an edge of concern creeping into her tone. “Have you done something to your wings, Rainbow Dash? It’s not like you to be on the ground up here.” She winced. “Ow; that landing didn’t do my horn any favours. Looks like we’re not going to be teleporting home. And it’s dangerous to fly the balloon in bad weather, so I guess—”
“Did you crash too, Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie interrupted, nudging the pegasus’s shoulder playfully. “Was it really, really, really bad?”
Rainbow opened her eyes and stared into space. “Yes.”
“Well, hoo-ee, Rainbow,” said Applejack. “It must have been one doozy of a smash-up if it’s keepin’ you away from the skies when there’s a storm brewin’. You reckon you need to see the doc about it?”
“No.”
“Suit yourself, I guess. Not that I can speak for you hoity-toity weather ponies, ’course, but if I’d’ve been a-comin’ down a hill and taken a mighty tumble like that, I’d be haulin’ myself off to the Ponyville Hospital quicker’n a sidewinder on a skatin’-pond.”
This time, Rainbow said nothing at all, simply poking a smooth, round stone with a forehoof and rolling it beneath her horseshoe. The quiet allowed Fluttershy’s soft voice to be clearly heard, despite the breeze that was now noticeably ruffling the ponies’ manes.
“You’re not really hurt, are you.” It was much more a statement than a question. “Well, I mean, you are, but not... oh Dashie.” Impulsively, she threw her forelegs around Rainbow’s neck, holding her fellow pegasus tightly; Dash tolerated this. “And, well, we didn’t all come up here to see you standing there all alone like that. It’s just wrong.”
Rainbow blinked for what seemed the first time since the others had appeared. “Then what are you doing? And why are you all bothering me? Seriously, guys, what’s going on?”
Applejack gave a brief chuckle. “I think what Fluttershy was trying to say there is that, yep, we did come up here to see you... but we ain’t standin’ for that ‘all alone’ business – ’specially at Hearth’s Warmin’ time. And I reckon—” She broke off, looked over Rainbow’s shoulder and grinned, raising her voice. “I reckon there’s somepony here who’d agree with me ’bout that.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, but twisted her head around to see—
“Rarity?”
“The very same.” The unicorn was coughing and wheezing for breath as she topped the slope and came fully into view, speaking in short, gasping bursts. “My goodness, all the muck... up here is absolutely... atrocious. I don’t know how... you earth ponies stand... it.”
Applejack’s grin widened. “Now ain’t that just like you to say, Rarity? ’Specially when you've just been made the toast of Canterlot fashion!”
“Applejack! That was... supposed to be my... surprise!”
Rainbow held up a hoof. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Will somepony please tell me what the hay is going on?"
Applejack winked at her. “Rarity here is goin’ to be Mare à la Mode this Hearth's Warmin’! So you don't need to beat yourself up over it no more.”
“She is? But then why are all you girls bickering at each other just like we’re always doing... back... home...?” She subsided. “Oh.”
Fluttershy gave Rainbow a gentle nuzzle. Dash suddenly realised that windburn had brought a little colour and warmth to her cheeks. Yes, windburn. Definitely. She shook her head and thought of something – anything – else to say. Well, one thing’s pretty obvious...
“You know we’re all gonna get really, really wet in a minute, guys? Even flying it would take a while to get back to town, and you’re gonna be soaked. And cold; this is gonna be the last rainstorm before we switch over to snow for the holiday season. I hope all this was worth it.”
Rarity smiled. “Oh, yes, it was most definitely worth it, Rainbow.”
There was a long, thoughtful silence. Rainbow Dash blinked as she felt the first tiny droplets of the imminent downpour tickle her muzzle and her ears twitched slightly as she found her voice at last. “Guys, thanks for coming up to see me and all – I really appreciate it, yeah? – but like I said, you’re gonna get pretty wet pretty fast if you stay out here. It’ll be bad enough even if you set off now, so I’ll see you when I get back to Ponyville, okay?
No-one moved.
“I said—”
“We heard you, sugar cube. But we ain’t budgin’. We ain’t goin’ anywhere until you’re happy again. Ain’t that right, y’all?” Applejack looked from one pony to the next and each gave the tiniest of nods. It was enough.
“But—” Dash tried to protest; the spots of rain were more frequent now and a curtain of menacing, ink-murky grey was sweeping rapidly towards the hill on which they stood.
“No buts, Rainbow. You’ve shown us all what loyalty is about so many times and, well, I reckon it’s time for us to show you a little of it in return. Hope you don’t mind us borrowin’ your Element for a spell.” Applejack smirked briefly, then her face set back into an expression of implacable determination. What was left of the late-afternoon light was fading fast as the storm front approached, but Applejack merely brushed a little dampness from her eyes and looked straight at Rainbow Dash.
“Together we stand,” she said as the rain began to fall in earnest. “Together.”
There was another lengthy silence, broken only by the ever-increasing howling of the wind and the spatter of raindrops all around them. Rainbow Dash, unconsciously copying Applejack’s earlier actions, looked from one pony to the next, making sure also to spare a small glance for Spike as he clung to Twilight’s withers. She shook her sodden mane from her face and took a deep breath. The rain continued to thunder against the increasingly puddled turf below her hooves.
She looked straight at Rarity. “I...” she began. “I...”
“It’s all right, Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity gently, a warm smile lighting up her face. “You don’t have to say anything. I know. We all do.”
Rainbow looked up at her in surprise “You do?”
“But of course, darling! We’re your friends, you know. I’m your friend.”
Once again, an extended pause. Then, from Dash, “I’m gonna say this anyway. Whatever I say, whatever stunts I pull, whatever stupid things I do, I want you to know that I love you guys. Everyone with me right here, you’re the best. I really, really love you all. Just... don’t tell anypony I said that, okay? Don’t want to go losing my reputation!” She gave a nervous chuckle, blinking a few times and looking away as she did so.
Fluttershy spoke up. “We all love you too, Rainbow Dash. Don’t we, girls?”
There was a quiet cough from behind Twilight’s neck, almost lost against the incessant drumming of the rain.
Fluttershy blushed. “Oh my goodness, Spike, I’m so sorry!”
“Ah, don’t worry about it,” said the little dragon. “You did mean me too, right?”
Fluttershy gave a small smile and nodded at him, but didn’t say anything in reply, instead sweeping all six of the others into a tight group hug. For once, just for once, Rainbow Dash was the first to reciprocate.
The rain continued to pound down on seven colourful backs.
* * *
The storm’s raging intensity had gone now, and the rain was little more than a fine mist hanging in the still-chilly air. The friends stood in a line on the hilltop, marvelling at the constantly changing patterns of light and shade that played across the valley floor below. As if by some unspoken impulse, they lifted their eyes to the skies, each in turn holding their heads up high – and at that moment, a wide shaft of sunlight broke through a small gap in the grey blanket above them, shining through it all and arrowing down to bathe their little town in its golden light.
Rarity looked across at Rainbow Dash and arched an eyebrow, smiling warmly as she did so and with the tiniest of twinkles in her bright blue eyes. “Rain mixed with sunshine? Well then... I do believe you have a job to do, darling.”
Dash laughed again as she took to the air – and this time, the sound that pierced the slowly lifting gloom was pure and sharp. Her laughter was the clear note of a thousand flowers bursting through barren desert soil; the soaring melody of a hundred songbirds swooping in great arcs between the dripping trees; the joyous song of a dozen little fillies at play in the schoolhouse yard...
...the music of friendship.