//------------------------------// // Chapter 5. Loco in the Cocoa // Story: Lake Iwannagohome // by Scquishiey //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash landed on a dirt trail that curved through the pine forest and quickly began to collect sticks and rocks big enough to make a fire. Rustle rustle Rainbow Dash stopped collecting twigs and perked her ears up when she heard something coming from behind a berry bush. She cautiously tiptoed towards the bush to see what was making the noise, spreading the center of the bush apart with her fore hooves– “HIYA, DASHIE!” A very loud, bubbly voice shouted, catching Rainbow Dash off guard. “WAAAAAHHH!!!” Rainbow Dash cried out, while falling onto her back, her campfire materials launched out of her hooves and flew through the air. Rainbow Dash looked back over to the bush, and her magenta eyes grew wide. “PINKIE PIE?!” Rainbow Dash panted angrily. “Yessiree!!!” Pinkie Pie chirped as she walked out from behind the berry bush and stood near the blue Pegasus sprawled out on her back. She was wearing a camouflage jacket along with a matching military patrol cap, but instead of being the usual brown, green, and tan colors that camouflage consisted of, both were different shades of pink. Rainbow Dash caught her breath and stood up and proceeded to dust off her hoodie with her wings, then looked up at Pinkie Pie. “Why are you here?!” Rainbow Dash whisper shouted. “To help you get with your loverboy! Hee hee, silly filly!” Pinkie Pie giggled. Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow. “He is not my loverboy! I don’t even like him like that!” Rainbow Dash said annoyed. “Ugh, how did you even get here?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I followed you two!” Pinkie Pie replied happily. How Pinkie Pie was able to keep up with two flying Pegasi on foot was unknown to Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie looked at Rainbow Dash with a smirk. “Hah, if you don’t like him, then why were you making goo goo eyes at him back at the shop? Hmmmm…?” Pinkie Pie questioned as she leaned sideways towards Rainbow Dash, smirking as she raised her eyebrows up and down looking Rainbow Dash in the eyes. “Ugh, no I wasn’t!” Rainbow Dash said loudly as she started to pick up the fallen twigs and rocks spread across the dirt ground with her wings. Rainbow Dash started walking back towards where her and Soarin set up camp. Rainbow Dash turned her head around. “I’m going back now, and please Pinkie Pie, just go home.” Rainbow Dash said to Pinkie Pie, while trying her best not to sound too rude as she began to trot out of the forest along the path. Rainbow Dash saw that Soarin was done setting up the tent, then spilled her collected materials down in front of it. Soarin looked at the pile of rocks and twigs. “Great! These should do for now, I decided to make us some hot cocoa.” Soarin told her. Rainbow Dash smiled meekly at him. “Sounds good.” She said as she sat down on her sleeping bag. Soarin placed the rocks that Rainbow Dash had gathered into a circle, and then placed the twigs in the center. He then went to the tent and stuck his head inside the flap and took out a box of matches with his teeth, took a match out, struck it against one of the rocks that made up the campfire, and as the match lit up, Soarin threw it into the pit. Soon the twigs burned and crackled as the flames spread around the inside of the campfire. “Hey Rainbow Dash, you can put your stuff inside the tent now.” Soarin told her. “Alright.” Rainbow Dash responded as she got up from her spot and put on her saddle bag and rolled up her sleeping bag and flew towards the tent then went inside. Rainbow Dash looked around the inside of the tent; it wasn't very big, but there was enough room for two ponies. She noticed that Soarin had already put his stuff inside. His sleeping bag and saddle bag sat near the left side of the tent. She then too placed her sleeping bag down on the floor on the right side of the tent and took off her saddle bag and placed it right on top. She exited through the tent’s flap and saw that Soarin had set up two black foldable chairs by the campfire and set a small steel grate over the fire making it look like a grill with a stainless steel pot sitting right on top of it as creamy, brown liquid boiled inside. Rainbow Dash trotted over to one of the black chairs and sat down as she put her fore hooves in her hoodie's front pocket. “Someone came overly prepared.” Rainbow Dash smirked at Soarin. “I could’ve just bucked some tree trunks down to use as chairs!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed while puffing out her chest and placing a fore hoof on it. “Heh, but these are more comfortable, don’t you agree?” Soarin said while smiling at her. “Heheh yeah, I do have to agree with you on that.” Rainbow Dash replied while sinking back in her seat a little attempting to get more comfortable. Soarin had two white ceramic mugs out on the floor and picked one up and poured the hot chocolate from the pot and handed it over to Rainbow Dash. “Here yah go!” Soarin said cheerfully. “Thanks.” Rainbow Dash thanked him softly. Soarin smiled and nodded and went back to pour the remaining contents inside of the pot into another mug for himself. “Hey Dash, I’ll be right back, I’m going to go over to the lake to wash the pot and get us some water so I can boil it.” Soarin said as he flew over to the lake nearby while holding the pot in his fore hooves. “Alright.” Rainbow Dash responded as she was about to take a sip of her hot chocolate. “Just do it, Dashie.” A quiet high-pitched voice that sounded very serious and very close by said. Rainbow Dash threw her head back away from the cup. “Huh? Who’s there?!” Rainbow Dash said, slightly starting to panic as she frantically moved her head from side to side. “Psssst down here!” The same voice whispered. Rainbow Dash looked down and peeked inside of her cup of hot chocolate and noticed a round, pink face with a pair of big, blue eyes and a smile molded around the inside of the cup, staring right at her. “WAAA! WHAT THE–PINKIE PIE?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she almost tipped back in her chair. “Hee hee! Yep! Now go, Rainbow Dash! Make a move!” Pinkie Pie giggled while she was still inside of the mug making it shake a little as Rainbow Dash held onto it. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and shouted, “Ugh! FOR THE LAST TIME, PINKIE PIE I DON'T–” “Hey Dash, everything alright?” Soarin asked. Rainbow Dash quickly spun her head around and noticed that Soarin had come back from fetching water. “Oh, I uh…” Rainbow Dash mumbled as she turned her head back around to look at the inside of her cup again and noticed that Pinkie Pie was gone and the steamy hot chocolate had returned. She turned around to look at him again. “Oh! Haha, nothing!” She then placed the brim of the cup on her lips and began to nonchalantly sip her drink, but held the liquid in her mouth. “Uhm, alright, cuz it sounded like you were shouting.” Soarin said as he trotted over to the campfire to place the pot of water on it to boil. Rainbow Dash turned her head around and spat out the hot chocolate onto the ground from fear of Pinkie Pie still being in there when Soarin wasn’t looking. After Soarin was done putting the pot back on the steel grate he turned around to look at Rainbow Dash. “Hey, Dash, yah know what I thought would be a great idea?” Soarin said, a happy grin forming on his face. “What?” Rainbow Dash asked as she cocked an eyebrow. Soarin zoomed inside of the tent, then came back out holding a brown ukulele in a fore hoof. “CAMPFIRE SONGS!” Soarin shouted cheerfully as he held up the ukulele over his head. Rainbow Dash looked at the ukulele, then up at Soarin. She chuckled a little. “Alright, alright, what are gonna sing?” Rainbow Dash sighed then smiled at him a little. “This one’s called, The Calmest Campfire Song Ever.” Soarin replied as he went to go sit down on the black chair alongside Rainbow Dash, propping the ukulele up in playing position. “Oh hey, I know that one.” Rainbow Dash said as she sat up straight, preparing to sing along with him. Both Pegasi cleared their throats and Soarin began strumming the ukulele. Both started to sing. “We all have those long work days where all we want to do is dive onto our beds and fall into a deep, everlasting sleep…” As they were both singing, Rainbow Dash looked over at Soarin and noticed him violently strumming the ukulele strings while bobbing his head up and down. He obviously had no experience in playing the ukulele before. “Until reality kicks in and we have to take care of bills, chores, family, food, and for many of us, even more work!” For a pony with a normally raspy voice, Rainbow Dash had a very beautiful singing voice. “By the time everyone else is asleep, we’ve just finished what is known as ‘yet another day in the life’, but we’re still restless.” Soarin, on the other hoof, did not. “We get into bed, but can’t stop thinking about the millions of things that we haven’t finished yet, so we stay awake.” Rainbow Dash tried to harmonize with Soarin, but his singing was just so horrid, that it reminded her of a foghorn. “That’s where calming music, sounds, and songs to sleep to, come to our rescue and help us relax in a healthy waaaaaay.” The song was coming to an end, and both Soarin and Rainbow Dash prepared for the smooth, calming line at the end of the song… “Ooooooooooo…” Rainbow Dash sang in the most blissfully sweet-sounding voice. “ARRRROOOOOOOO!!!!!!” Soarin sang loudly sounding like a dying wolf as he stopped strumming the poor ukulele strings. Rainbow Dash swore she heard one of them snap. “Whoo! I love that song!” Soarin shouted. The song seemed to have invigorated him since he had a huge grin upon his face. Rainbow Dash looked at him and smiled. Even though she didn’t find The Calmest Campfire Song Ever, very calming to say the least, because of Soarin’s howling and poor ukulele playing skills, she was glad that they both sang it together. It was a song from her foalhood that brought back a lot of good memories.