//------------------------------// // Potential Energy // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Listing Breeze sat behind a boulder. Rainbow Dash sat behind another boulder. The two faced the Hump Gang's compound across Los Alamules. The setting sun warmed their flanks, drawing the sweat out from beneath their manes. Condors circled somewhere overhead. The last warm breeze of the day rolled over the dusty valley. For a moment, Rainbow thought she heard the skittering of a scorpion, but it was too far away for her to be concerned with. Minutes passed. Rainbow flexed and unflexed her numb forelimbs, all the while locking her eyes on the road leading north and south through Los Alamules. In the distant northeast, Las Pegasus was a stalk of gray haze. It was too early for the lights to twinkle into being. "So... uhm..." Listing Breeze gulped. "...I heard about the Sonic Rainboom." Rainbow Dash blinked. She almost turned to look at Listing directly... but chose not to. "Were you there?" "Was I where?" "Where else? The Best Young Fliers Competition." "Pfffft. Nah... I was long gone from Cloudsdale at that point." Silence. "Good," Rainbow said. Listing glanced aside. "Yeowch. You really don't me sharing in any of your glory, don't ya, booger?" "That's not what I meant." Rainbow sighed. "That competition was—like—over a year ago at this point." She gulped. "Knowing you were out of town makes me happy. Seems like you ditched the Red Clouds earlier than I thoguht." "Pffftchyaaah." "Of course... out of the apple tree and into the barrel." Listing winced. "It's not as bad as you think, Rainbow." "Really?" Silence. More silence... "Anyways, congrats," Listing murmured. Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "On what?" "On proving the sonic rainboom wasn't an old mare's tale, ya melon fudge!" "Oh. Right." Rainbow nodded. "Heh... that pretty much was the best day ever." "Every pegasus from Green Valley to San Franciscolt was talking about it," Listing said. "Even at cloudstops between here and griffon lands. You got your name across the board, didn't you?" "Yeah. But, like, only for a day." "Ugh." Listing rolled her yellow eyes. "Don't be a humble dumbass. It doesn't suit you." She smirked aside. "I started hearing shiet about you having... like... 'saved the world' from Nightmare Moon and stuff." "The Element of Loyalty did that," Rainbow said. "Along with the other Elements of Harmony." "Yeah. But that Element of Loyalty is you." Listing raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it?" "What if it was and what if it wasn't?" Rainbow shrugged. "I was cool long before I ever moved to Ponyville and got mixed up with saving the world. Right?" Listing bit her lip. Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Right?" "Maybe you took off because fate knew when and where you could go to get your groove on," Listing muttered. With a sigh, she rested her chin on her forelimbs. "Because it sure as Tartarus wasn't with me." "Are you still on about that?" "Booger, I was never off about it." "That much is clear." "Rainbow Dash, I never asked you to leave me—" "No. You never did." Rainbow frowned, staring aside. "Plus, if you had your way, you'd never give me a chance to." "I only wanted to—" "What? Turn my love life into a prison?" "We had more together than we ever had a part." "You were suffocating me, Listing," Rainbow groaned. "I couldn't grow. I couldn't stand out. I couldn't make a difference—" "And just when were you going to begin, huh?!" Listing's brow furrowed. "Your dad's death turned you into a miserable wreck. You never took flight school seriously. In fact, right when we met, you had dropped out of cloud camp altogether! Pffft... at the rate at which you were sinking, I'm surprised you didn't just pick a random balcony and jump off of Cloudsdale altogether!" Rainbow bit her lip. "Have you ever come close ever since?" Listing asked. "No," Rainbow grunted. She sniffled slightly, hugging herself as she glanced aside. "Not at all. I have—" "What? Friends?" Listing raised an eyebrow. "Like those tipsy drinking mares? Or those other 'Elements of Harmony?'" Her nostrils flared. "Hate me all you want, Rainbow, but I gave you an edge." "Heh..." Rainbow chuckled bitterly. "Sure you did—" "I held you close and kept you from being alone," Listing said. "And in the meantime, I showed you how to fly straight... how to make use of all that spectacular that spunk you've got stored up in that petite chest of yours." "I was never your friggin' psychology experiment," Rainbow muttered. "I could have done well on my own." "By doing what? Moping through the clouds? Hanging out with losers?" Listing sighed. "Rainbow, it pained me to see you just... wasting away like you did back in Cloudsdale. You would boast and joke and show off every day... but deep inside... and when nopony was ever looking... you were just a sad little filly looking for attention... wanting to be held close... wanting somepony else to show her how precious she was. All of things you wanted—but could never get by continuing to be the scampy little jerk that you were." "What, am I supposed to thank you or something?" Rainbow said, glaring aside. "For all you gave, Listing, you took three times as much." With a shuddering breath, she looked across the desert again. "Yes... yes I am thankful that you looked out for me the way you did. You came in and gave me a shoulder to lean on when I needed it the most. But you know who else did that? Fluttershy." "Hah!" Listing grinned. "Fluttershy? That limp bag of farts?" "Listy, that limp bag of farts saved my life as much as you did. And she did so gracefully... and selflessly." Rainbow's nostrils flared. "And you certainly don't see Fluttershy getting lost in stupid old habits and snagging past acquaintances into the mess." "Is Fluttershy living with you in Ponyville these days?" "... ... ...yeah, why?" "Tell me." Listing squinted. "Have you gotten any less miserable these past few years since we split up?" Her eyes glared. "Have you got any less pathetic... less depressed... less sad since you decided to hang out with these 'graceful' friends?" Rainbow Dash bit her lip. Listing slowly shook her head. "So... so much potential, Rainbow. I believed in you..." She nodded. "And I still do. When we first met, you were just a punk drop-out. Right before we split up, you had become a full-time weather flier. Maybe it wasn't a Wonderbolt like you had dreamed, but you were sure as heck getting your name across the board. I had hopes that once you took off for Ponyville... you would stand out more." She cocked her head to the side. "Tell me... are you in the Wonderbolts Academy yet?" Rainbow sighed, hanging her head. "Do you even have a job in Ponyville?" Listing exhaled. "Two, actually," Rainbow muttered. "For a while there... two and a half." "Any of them full-time?" Rainbow winced. Listing sighed. "Hate me all you want, Rainbow. But every time I peer deeper... I start to wonder if I'm the only pony in your circle of so-called 'friends' who even worries about you." "I don't want ponies to worry about me." Rainbow clenched her jaw. "I never want ponies worrying about me." "No, I suppose not." Listing sighed. "You're too loyal for that." She turned and looked back out at the desert. "Except when you're not." Rainbow winced. "Well... for what it's worth... thanks for aggreeing to help me get the Desert Hounds' shit back." "Yeah..." Rainbow nodded. "I know how much bits mean to you." "I'm not thanking you for the bits," Listing murmured. She smiled slightly. "I'm just grateful for the nerve." "... ... ...?" "You don't have to like me, Rainbow," Listing said. "But it means the world to know that you're in one piece." "I'll always be in one piece, Listy," Rainbow said. "Don't you worry about that." "I'll try not to," Listing said. "Only now... it'll be a bit easier for me. Thanks." "Don't thank me yet. We've got a heist to accomplish." Listing chuckled. Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "What?" "Better make that 'three and a half' part time jobs." Listing laughed. Rainbow blinked. She rolled her eyes... but ultimately laughed as well. The dry air was briefly broken by mutual giggles.