1 August
Rainbow Dash and her exchange friends were sleeping soundly at the hotel up the road from Canterlot’s airport. The sky was a lovely purple-pink hue, and the sun would be peeking over the horizon soon.
Their first flight would be leaving in just two hours; therefore, Gilda was awake fifteen minutes before everyone else, charged with waking the rest of the group so that they'd be able to catch it.
At 5:30am, coffee mug in her talons, she pounded her fist on each bedroom door.
“WAKEY WAKEY EGGS AND BAKEY!” she could be heard shouting.
Everypony slowly rose from their slumber, discombobulated. Gilda opened the door to the room where Rainbow Dash was sleeping and proceeded to excitedly shake the last of the drowsiness from her.
“Our first plane leaves in two hours! Can you believe it?!” the griffon nearly squealed in delight.
“Me neither,” Dash replied with a groggy voice.
She reluctantly crawled out of the comfy hotel bed and proceeded to stretch her muscles and wings. After that, she took the last can of iced coffee out of her saddlebags and chugged it down the hatch for good measure.
The next order of the day was moving all the ponies’ luggage into the lobby; once that was taken care of, they could make their way to the airport to catch the first plane. Dash, having packed literally everything into her suitcase as well as her carry-on bag - which, by the way, reached nearly her allotted weight limit when combined together - was physically straining to heave her luggage down the corridor towards the lobby.
Once everything was ready to go, Rainbow Dash, Gilda, Lyra, Argie, Brolly Brella, Surprise, Derpy Hooves, Billy, Hoops, and Quarterback hauled their luggage individually to the airport, a short walk from the hotel. For Dash, it was a horrifying experience in itself. She managed, though.
They met with their escort when they reached the terminal. At that point, while the luggage was being carried over, Dash pulled out her phone and texted James…
About to get on the plane! See you in Pittsburgh! -RD
The gang had an incident-free, hour and a half-long trip to San Diego, where they would catch another plane that would take them to the Burgh.
Meanwhile, the Van Driessens were well on their way to Pittsburgh. James was in the back seat, ecstatic to the point of shaking and grinning from ear to ear. Kath was driving, Chris was asleep in the passenger side, and James was texting Jeremy and Richard back and forth. Following them were James’s grandparents, his aunt Jennifer, and Maria.
James was in the middle of a mini-argument with Jeremy about their favourite TV shows when Kath pulled into the airport parking lot. The family was ready to surprise her when she got off the plane with a big sign that read “Welcome, Rainbow Dash!” in big, bold letters saturated with glitter. The walk to the terminal, as well as the wait for the plane to arrive, was unbearable.
At 4:30pm, after nearly three hours of waiting, the big plane landed and was taxiing towards the terminal. It was only a matter of time before a bundle of blue fur and prismatic rainbow mane would appear, suitcases in hand, ready to be welcomed…
And there she was!
“James!” Rainbow Dash dropped her bags on the spot and flew into James’s open arms. He pulled her into a warm and tender hug almost immediately, gently squeezing her lithe, athletic body.
“You made it,” James said happily. Dash patted him on the back, and the slightest hint of a blush appeared on his cheeks.
Chris and Kath exchanged hugs with her soon after.
“How was the trip?” Chris asked.
“Not that bad, when I think about it.”
James was still smiling. “I know we’re going to be great together. Speaking of which…” He panned over to Chris, his father. “...are we doing anything for dinner?”
“Does Cheesecake Factory sound good?” the older man asked.
“That’s a great idea,” Maria, the exchange coordinator, beamed. “That way, Dashie can get her first taste of American food.”
Dash snorted lightly, for this was the first time outside of her native Equestria that she had heard that nickname.
“Shall we be off, then?” Kath said.
With that, Rainbow Dash’s bags were stuffed into the back of the aunt’s van; it took three tries to get them to fit into the boot, mainly due to the sheer weight.
The drive to the Cheesecake Factory was loaded with traffic; the interstates through the city centre proved to be slower than gravy because of rush hour. To occupy themselves, Dash and James spun tales about their friends, laughing the whole way there. When they finally reached the restaurant, it was roughly 5:30pm. Kate crossed her fingers, hoping to not encounter a long wait to get a table.
The hostess escorted the lot of them to a table near the back of the restaurant large enough to fit them.
“Can I start you off with anything to drink?” the hostess asked.
“I’ll have the lemonade, please,” James started off.
“Same here,” Dash echoed.
Everyone else ordered a soft drink, with the exception of Maria, who had a glass of iced tea.
Once they came, Kath asked the young mare about her trip over.
“Well, it all started yesterday afternoon. I arrived at this hotel in outer Canterlot down the street from the airport. I met our group, everypony said goodbye to their parents, everypony got checked in… We stayed the night at the hotel, and Gilda woke us all up at 5:30 the next morning.”
“Bet no one was very happy,” James quipped.
“If I recall correctly, it was an hour and a half to San Diego, which was where the connecting flight was -- and that flight was delayed…” she just barely remembered, “an hour or so, and hour and a bit.”
“What’d you do in the meantime?” Chris asked.
“Mainly waited around at the airport, buying useless tat we didn’t need.” She pulled out a road map that she’d bought in San Diego to prove her point.
“I don’t quite understand the business of getting to the airport early to check in, then waiting around for no reason,” James echoed Dash’s sentiment.
“Me neither,” Dash said. “Maybe it’s how you guys do things here?”
“Try telling my parents that -- they moved here before I was even born and they still don’t understand parts of American culture. They simply go by whatever the norm was in their home country and go from there.”
Rainbow Dash continued with her story. “We then had to wait on the plane itself for about forty-five minutes because the wind was a bit too vigorous. The flight here took about six and a half hours, I think. I slept almost the whole time, so it wasn’t that bad at all.”
“But you’re here now, and that’s all that matters,” Kath said. James reached over to pet his new host sister tenderly on the head. Her eyes closed and her ears perked up.
Rainbow Dash and James chatted some more, primarily about their respective cultures, friends, governments, and economies, while their food was being prepared. Small arguments often broke out over insignificant misunderstandings, but other than that, the two laughed and had a good time.
After everybody’s meals were well and truly consumed, Maria ordered some chocolate cheesecake for the lot of them. Dash and James absolutely loved it, savoring every last bite, even feeding each other pieces of cheesecake. Kath couldn’t resist the temptation of taking a photo with her phone.
Click. The pair dropped the act almost immediately, visibly embarrassed. She snickered lightly under her breath. Maria smiled.
It was then that all the cheesecake had been consumed, Chris paid the check, and everybody walked out to their cars. Rainbow Dash, overtaken with jetlag, leaned her head on James’s side.
“Wait until the car, Dashie,” James gently told her. In response to that statement (and the chilly breeze in the evening air), she unfolded a wing and wrapped it around him, making him blush.
James climbed in the backseat, Dash following him. As they rolled down the highway, the mare rested her head in James’s lap and fell asleep, softly snoring after a while. James silently yawned and grew drowsy as the sun set, his hands gently resting on her back and on her head. Neither of them noticed Kath reaching back and sneaking another photo of them napping.
When they got home after a two-hour drive, Jennifer jostled the pair from their sleep. “I see you slept well…” she teased.
Reluctantly, they rose from their slumber and helped unpack the big van. Rainbow was once again reminded of her ineptitude when it comes to packing when she lifted her bags up to where she would be sleeping.
“You can set those in my room,” James told her, still a bit groggy. “It's no biggie.”
“Thanks,” she replied, nuzzling him affectionately.
She set her bags in James’s room. “Nice place you've got here.”
“Thanks. Need help unpacking?”
“I could use some right about now,” she said. He dug out her laptop and phone, along with all the charging equipment, and set them on his desk, next to his computer.
While she set out her toiletries in the adjoining bathroom, he took a few minutes to prepare a new place on the wall above his stuff to adorn with his upcoming memories with the spunky, athletic young mare -- just as he had done with the other foreign exchange students his family hosted over the years.
Six arrangements of photos lined that wall, one arrangement for each kid that he could remember; from left to right, there was Sammy (from Portugal), Jean-Pierre (from France), Ambra (from Italy), Max (from Greece), Marina (from Russia proper), and Heidi (from Germany). A small tear formed in his eye just looking at it. Memories bubbling up, he made a beeline for his bed. He knew exactly what he was looking for.
Under his nightstand was a photo album that his grandparents gave him when he was twelve years old. In it contained pictures from when his grandparents hosted exchange students from the USSR, along with a hoard of other items from that era.
He was just about to open it when Rainbow Dash entered the room.
“Whatcha doin’, James?” she wondered.
“Oh, it's just an old album from when I was growing up.”
“Nice room you’ve got here!” she said, as she looked around. She saw the small walk-in closet, the posters on his wall, his desk, with computer, printer, and school stuff for the upcoming year; she also saw the flat-screen TV on top of the dresser. James’s bed, inviting and comfy, was the only one in the room.
“Thanks… there’s only one bed though.”
“I can see that…” she said, awkwardly and nervously.
“Luckily, I’m used to sharing my bed.” His memories turned to the first time having to share his bed with Sammy, and his face automatically flushed.
“Aww, you’re blushing,” she noticed, reaching over for a quick peck on his cheek. Her wings stiffened and became erect, and she giggled.
He regained his composure slightly before asking, “Would you like some tea, maybe some coffee?”
“Sure!”
They bolted downstairs to the kitchen, where the Keurig was. Demonstrating how to use it, he opened the top lid, poured water from his favourite mug into the well, and closed it. While that was going on, Dash trotted over to the cabinet and reached for a box of tea bags.
“Can you find the red box of English breakfast, please? That’s my favourite kind,” James told her.
After she hoofed the box over to him, he took out two tea bags from the box, one in his mug, the other in a “World’s Greatest Dad” mug that Rainbow had found.
James put two lumps of sugar in his mug. “How much do you want in yours?”
“I usually have three,” she said.
He put his mug under the spout on the Keurig and pressed Brew.
“While we’re waiting for the magic to happen, why not team it up? I usually have a little cake or even a croissant to go with mine,” he suggested.
“Do you have cinnamon buns?”
He opened up the fridge to find a plastic baggie full of leftover cinnamon rolls. “Is this what you’re talking about?”
Her mouth immediately watered. James walked over to his finished mug and set it aside, motioning for Rainbow Dash to come over.
She poured her water in the Keurig, like her host brother had done, put the tea bag and three lumps of sugar inside her mug, and pressed the magic button as before. Meanwhile, James took her cinnamon roll out of the microwave, where it had been heating up. He grabbed a croissant on the way out.
They gathered everything up and made their way back upstairs, being careful to not wake Chris, who had fallen asleep while watching sports.
They set their fixings on James’s desk. He turned on the TV.
“Now, the pièce de résistance,” he said as he channeled his inner Jean-Pierre. Using the remote, he logged onto Netflix. Rainbow was nothing short of amazed.
“Net…flix?” It didn’t seem to catch on at first, as she’d never heard of it up until that point.
“You like?”
“We don’t have anything like that in Equestria,” she told him matter-of-factly. “When we ponies want entertainment, we go to a show or something… either that, or flip on the radio or TV and pray to Celestia that something good was on.”
“Now see, you’re developing just as we are,” James explained. “Do video games exist in your home country?”
“Somewhat.”
“Good,” he said. “Because my cousins would flip a table if you told them that you didn’t have video games, let alone TV or the Internet.”
The mare giggled a little. “So you guys can watch whatever you want?” she asked as she went for her cinnamon roll and tea.
“Basically, yeah.”
He put on an old episode of Orange Is the New Black, then reached over for his croissant and tea before sitting on the bed.
“Mind if I snuggle next to you, James?”
“Not at all…” She put a big pillow against the wall for him to lie against so that he’d be comfortable; she pressed her body gently against his, nearly curling up on his lap.
With that, they relaxed there, eating and sipping on tea. They set their empty mugs on the nightstand about three-quarters of the way through.
James put the mugs on the kitchen counter downstairs while Rainbow was brushing her teeth in the bathroom that they would be sharing.
When he came up the stairs, he could hear her struggling to pull or yank something, presumably her mane from how matted and unkempt it was.
He went into the bedroom and changed into his flannel pajamas, throwing his day clothes on the computer chair. When he was going into the bathroom to brush his teeth, Dash was sitting on the toilet, struggling to brush the mat out of her mane.
“I can help you with that in my room,” he offered. “Just let me get this out of the way.”
She made her way into their room, leaving him to take care of his business. She pulled out her prized robe, slipping it over her body and tying the string together; she took out her slippers as well, sliding them onto her hooves. She set the brush on their bed and awaited his arrival.
James, from the bathroom, could tell that it was beginning to get dark, from the way the sunlight was dying as it crested over the horizon, leaving a dark shroud of purple and pink hues in its wake.
He made his way into the bedroom, and there she was, in a cute little purple robe.
“Mmm, hey there James.”
He could feel his jaw beginning to drop.
“Brush my mane, big guy,” she said. He hopped on the bed and leaned back on the pillow as before, with Rainbow Dash nuzzling her head into his lap, just like in the car.
He took the brush, channeling his inner Bob Ross, allowed it to dance and play within her prismatic mane, making her gasp in delight. His touch was rougher when he came to the particularly matted areas. Gentle but firm, he made his presence known. Some of them gave way by rubbing with his fingers; with others, he had to use the brush quite vigorously.
Eventually, her mane smoothed out and became much more easier to work with. Rainbow Dash’s eyes lulled shut, intoxicated with the sheer feeling of him brushing her mane.
After nearly a half hour of brushing, James had begun to grow drowsy as well.
“I'm about ready to hit the sack,” James informed her.
“Me too.” The mare let out a little yawn.
They shifted around on the bed so that Dash would be lying right on top of James. Because of the pure awkwardness of it, she had opted to simply lay astride him, with her head on James’s chest.
He may have gotten used to foreign exchange students sleeping in his bed with him, but this time was different. He had precisely no idea how she’d react, but she seemed to like it.
And so they laid in bed together, James embracing Dash in his arms, his heartbeat drawing her in closer to him as they both said “Good night” to each other.
At this point, Kath ventured upstairs to check in on them, unprepared for the sheer cuteness of what she was about to encounter.
“Awwwwww!”