//------------------------------// // Cold Shoulders // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash dragged a canvas tarp across the arid soil. Using the dim starlight as her guide, she stretched the material outward in every direction, forming a crude bed. Sighing, the petite pegasus turned around three times, then laid down on her side. She curled up, hugging her numb forelimbs to her chest. At last, after wrapping her tail around her flank, she closed her eyes to the desert world... ...and embraced the lull of sleep. Precisely ten seconds later: "You aren't seriously going to sleep out there like that, are you?" The voice came from inside the abandoned vehicle. Rainbow's brow furrowed. "If the cold doesn't kill you, then the coyotes will." "I'm a light sleeper," Rainbow muttered. "I can be airborne within a sneeze." "Come on, booger. Hop inside the stagecoach." "Rnnnngh..." Rainbow gnashed her teeth. "Don't you ever learn?" "Yeah, 'cuz I have this crazy habit of staying alive." "No, not that..." Rainbow sighed. "And besides, I'm friggn' amazed that you've lasted this long." "Yes. Because the life you're living is soooooo much safer." Rainbow's ears perked. She sat up and squinted over her shoulder. "What's that supposed to mean?" "You think I'm brainless?" Listing Breeze reclined within the open doorway to her delapidated stagecoach. "I know all about you and the Elements of Harmony crud." Rainbow blinked. "You do?" "And I know that you've been getting into all sorts of crazy trouble in Pussyville." "Ponyville." "Whatever." Listing Breeze stifled a yawn. "For such a tiny, insignificant dot on the map, that place sure does get a lot of hydras, parasprites, ursa majors... you name it." "Look. I can handle it." Rainbow snorted, turning back over to sleep again. "A little bit of danger never scared me off." "Oh, I think we both know that for certain." "Grffff... I mean it, Listing. I'm fine." Rainbow huffed. "I've got friends." "Uh huh..." "They make sure I'm safe. Plus, they keep me plenty busy." "And yet... for as many friends as you have... you're still a cadaver ready to happen... just like your old stallion." Rainbow shook. "It's not like that!" "Isn't it?" "Some of my friends... they've hooked me up." "With what? A miracle machine?" "I'm taking medicine, okay?!" Rainbow huffed. "I just... f-forgot to bring some with me on this vacation." "Why's that?" "Cuz I was kinda sorta hijacked into this trip." "Hahahahaha!" Listing's laughter echoed through the desert night. "You were forced to go on vacation?!" "Yeah. So?" "So... Rainbow... how pathetic does your life have to get that somepony's gotta force you to chillax?" "What do you care?" Rainbow grumbled. "I could never relax around you." "But at least I kept you safe." "Hrmmmmfff..." Rainbow's eyes clenched. "That's some definition of 'safe.'" "Did you ever fly yourself into a canyon wall? Or play chicken with lightning? Or rip your wings off trying to break new speed records?" "... ... ..." "Face it. You had the right kind of recipe for excitement with me. I'd never would have let you fly off the handle." "Yeah, well..." Rainbow shuddered, burying her head in her forelimbs. "You never let me fly away. Period." "You did anyways, didn't you?" Silence. "I was always looking out for you, Rainbow," Listing said. "I'm sorry if you're... y'know... too angry and sad to see it. But you were never a prisoner. And if that's how you felt about it, then... maybe one of us just moved on..." "It certainly felt like a prison at times," Rainbow grumbled. A slight shiver. "And a dungeon." "I was learning, okay?" Listing grumbled. "Sure, I made a few mistakes along the way. But so does everypony. Why can't you get over that? We had something special... and it was about to become something positively amazing. But then... you left, Rainbow. And I was all alone." Rainbow clenched her jaw tight. "Anyway... this is neither here nor there. We've got some important shit to do tomorrow. If you're gonna sleep out there like a frozen dinner, so be it. All I ask is that you be on your A-Game when the time comes." Silence. "Did..." Rainbow murmured. "...did you really come to check up on me in Ponyville?" Listing merely snorted in response. Rainbow craned her neck up slightly. "We had broken up. Why would you do that?" "Pfffft... always asking the dumb questions." And Rainbow heard the groan of the stagecoach door closing. The mare blinked. With a sullen sigh, she curled up even tighter, fought the shivers... and surrendered to sleep.