//------------------------------// // Hard work, Deep discussion. // Story: Rainbow's Adventure on Earth // by TheRealShadowFoot //------------------------------// After Alex had left her sight, Dash went back inside to figure out what she could do for the day. She eagerly wanted to get out of the house, but had no clue where she could go or what to do. Judging by the amount of kids around, there had to be some sort of public park or something nearby. She approached a young child, no older than maybe 7 or 8 years old, slowly and carefully. She didn’t know how the child or his parents would react to her. “Hey, little guy.” She said to the little boy. “Hi there miss!” He responded joyfully, raised to be as friendly as possible to everyone. “What’s your name, little man?” Dash asked the boy. “My name’s Sarah. I live with my friend Alex across the street.” “You know Mr. Alex?” The boy said, amazement in his eyes. “He lets me and the other kids play with the hose during the summer. He’s really nice. My name is Timothy, but my mommy calls me Tim for short. Nice to meet you, Sarah.” “Nice to meet you too, Tim.” She said, shaking his little hand. “Do you and your friends know about a park nearby or something like that? I’m kind of bored and wanna go play somewhere.” Dash said brightly, smiling at the child. “Oh yeah! There’s Johnson Park, right around the corner from my house. Do you want to see if my mommy will take us, Sarah?” Tim said excitedly, jumping up and down. “I’d love to” Dash said, letting Tim take her hand and lead her to his house. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Alex was cruising down the highway, clocking about 50 mph, jamming to some music on the radio. His mind wandered to Rainbow Dash back home. He knew she must have been getting bored by now. She’d been metaphorically trapped in his house for almost a month now, with nothing to do but watch stupid daytime TV or listen to the radio. He would have to show her other stuff to do, since the club scene didn’t work out too well. He shuddered to think what might have happened to his innocent houseguest had he not been there. Pulling into the job site, it was shaping up to be a fairly decent day. The skies were filled with shady clouds, blocking out just enough sun to not bake Alex and his workers alive, especially since he elected to wear a black company t-shirt today. He slogged down the last bit of his cold coffee, and threw the container into a nearby debris heap. “Supervisor!” A familiar voice called to him. Turning around, Alex saw the youth from the accident a couple days ago. “Yeah, what is it kid?” Alex asked with a grunt, adjusting his glasses on his nose. “Well, Sir, uh, someone didn’t show up today…” The apprentice said nervously. “So, can’t they call someone in? from another site?” “They tried sir. The Supermarket project can’t spare a single laborer. The project is already behind.” “So, you guys need me to work alongside you?” Alex knew the answer before the lackey even said anything. “Yeah, otherwise Foreman John will take it out of all of us, including you. Those were his exact words.” Alex groaned. “So be it, who called out?” Alex asked the lackey. “Johnson, sir, one of the roofers. You’re probably needed on the sheetrock crew so they can get done quicker, freeing up some time to go to the roof.” Alex grinned to himself. “Better yet, I’ll get on up there and work on the roof myself.” “If you insist, sir. I better get back before Foreman John comes to find me. I have a feeling I’m on thin ice already.” The lackey trotted off, nearly jogging. Sighing, Alex grabbed his tool belt from the truck box. “Time to sweat my balls off” He grumbled as he began to climb one of the 100-foot ladders. He really hated heights, but he worked quick. The sooner the necessary shingles were done, the sooner he could get back to the ground. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow Dash was kind of surprised. Tim’s mother not only offered to take her and Tim to the park, but she also brought along some of his friends from the neighborhood. In this, she met a little girl named Amanda and a little boy named Luke. They all immediately liked Dash / Sarah, and asked her to play with them. She couldn’t resist the little ones, so she chased them around the park and down the slide. Dash found herself playing on the swings with the little ones, and they all begged her to push them. After they were satisfied, she got on a swing herself, halfheartedly trying to outdo them. She loved the feeling of flying she got from the swings. They also all got on the merry go round together, laughing with such glee that Dash found it contagious, and before she knew it, she was laughing with them. Before they knew it, sunset was upon them, and Dash and her new little friends all went home with Tim’s mom. Tim’s mother, whose name was Catherine, thanked Dash / Sarah for occupying the kids all day. Dash was more than happy to, and she wanted to go back tomorrow if the weather kept up. Since she had no reason to practice for the wonderbolts, she now had loads of time to kill. She even considered playing with the little fillies and colts back home if she ever got back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alex’s day was filled with trips up and down the ladder, carrying countless bundles of shingles. This wore him down quite considerably. Add this to hammering in shingles on top of the tar paper, and before Alex knew it, he was wiped out, but busy. He took his lunch break about noon or so, and after milking it to the very last minute, he was pleased to find out that the roofer that had called out, only had an important appointment, and was back on the job site while he was on break. Pleased with this news, Alex spent the next few hours of his day helping the sheetrock crew finish up the bottom floor’s walls. Before he knew it, they were done there, too. He then moved on to the second floor, where he helped finishing framing up the recently added bedroom. After this, it was damn near sunset, and Alex was let go fairly early because of all the progress they made. Taking his time back home, he wondered how Dash fared all day. He hoped she didn’t get too bored out of her skull. He just pulled off into his neighborhood, when he saw Dash talking with one of his neighbors. He hoped it was nothing serious, and he pulled into his driveway, cutting the engine and climbing out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dash didn’t notice the familiar blackish-blue truck pulling into the driveway of her home. She was too busy talking to Catherine about maybe taking the little ones off of her hands tomorrow. Dash was fairly confident she could take care of the three kids, and she had so much fun with them, she couldn’t wait. Catherine agreed, and told Dash when to come pick them up tomorrow. With a wave, Dash ran off, now finally noticing Alex’s truck had pulled in. Overjoyed, she jogged back to the unassuming household. Opening the door, Dash saw Alex just taking off his work boots. She ran up behind and hugged him tight. Then she realized he stunk. “Alex, why do you smell so funky?” Dash asked her roommate. “Eheh, a hard day’s work will do that to you. They needed a pair of hands on the jobsite today and I was the only free pair. They had me up on the roof, in the main house, and even upstairs. I’m so wiped out” He laughed. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need a good long shower.” He said, stripping off his shirt and tossing it into a basket by the door. “Oh, ok.” Dash said, slightly dejectedly. She wanted so bad to tell him about her day, but that funk was unbearable. Noticing this, he comforted his friend. “I’ll be out in 20 minutes, I promise.” Alex said, walking up to the bathroom. “Meanwhile, set us up some tea, eh?” “Sure!” Dash quipped, bouncing off to the kitchen. She hurried and got the kettle started before Alex started his shower. She realized herself that she hadn’t had a decent bath in a long time. She made a note to herself to ask Alex how to use the shower, if it was any different from ponyville. While Alex was showering, she watched TV. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After Alex got out of the shower and dried off, he felt human again. Half-trotting downstairs, he flopped down on the couch next to Dash. “So, you hungry yet?” He asked her, feeling his own gut go into knots. “Yeah, I could eat” She added nonchalantly, leaning back on the couch. “I don’t think we have much left here in the house. Let’s see what I’ve got on me.” Alex said, pulling out his battered wallet. Searching thoroughly through the folds, he found a $20 bill tucked away in some foreign place of the beaten maroon leather. “Hmm, I’ve got 20 bucks…let’s see if we can find something to eat downtown.” He said, grabbing Dash unwittingly by her hand. With this, Dash blushed a deep scarlet. They climbed into the cab of the truck, and Alex pulled out his keys and started the engine in one fluid movement. Dropping the pickup into reverse, he glided slowly and easily out of the driveway, pulling a 180, and toeing the gas gently, so as not to rocket down the block. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “so, Dash, how’d your day go today?” Alex asked her, eyes on the road. “Not bad. I spent the day playing with some of the kids around the neighborhood. We went over to the park and ended up staying there all day.” She said, flipping her hair out of her face. “That’s nice. What were their names?” “Oh, the first one I met was Tim. He had a couple friends his age, too. One was a little girl named Amanda, and another little boy named Luke.” “Oh! I know those three!” Alex laughed to himself. “They’re always bugging me to play in the hose when it gets warm out. You very rarely ever see those three apart.” “Sounds like some kids back home I know.” Dash said, saddening a little bit. She missed her number one fan. “I hope you get home somehow, Dash.” Alex said, looking at her with as comforting a look he could muster. “I do too. I like it here on Earth, a lot, and if I had to, I would stay. But I don’t belong here, Alex.” “If you didn’t belong here, why would some divine, benevolent power stick you here, possibly knowing that you wouldn’t be able to get home immediately?” Alex berated her tenderly. “I sort of forgot what it was like to have friends.” Alex smiled at her. “Maybe that’s why you were teleported or whatever? “I never really thought of it that way. Maybe you’re right.” Dash looked down at the floor. “Chin up.” Alex took her jaw in his hand gently, lifting it up. “You shouldn’t hide those brilliant eyes of yours, filled with so much wonder and soul. You’ll always be welcome here, with me.” “Thank you, Alex. I wish I could be fine with staying here forever, but imagine knowing you have a home you can’t go back to. Wouldn’t that rip you apart inside? If all those things in your house, the beautiful furniture, your TV, your sentimental stuff? What if you knew it belonged to you, but had a key to a permanently locked door?” “It would definitely tear me apart. But I would try very hard to appreciate it from afar. Treasure your memories of your home, and you’ll never feel alone. Your home isn’t just a physical place, it’s also inside you, spiritually, mentally, and physically. It’s what makes you who you are. That will never change, and when you do go back, you’ll realize just how much you loved it.” “I know, Alex. I’m just finally feeling homesick. I’ll be ok after a little while, promise.” She fixed him with a wan smile. “I hope so.” He laughed. “Otherwise, you’ll never have any fun again. And you don’t have to be ok all the time. Everyone, every pony, hurts sometimes. There’s no shame in that. But when you do feel ok, enjoy it.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just then, they pulled into downtown. “You’re technically still a pony right?” Alex asked her. “Yeah, I guess.” Dash said, sensing the gears turning inside her companion’s head. “That means you probably live on a mostly vegetarian diet, right? So, we need to get you vegetable food instead of meat.” “Yeah. I’ve never ate meat before, but no pony back home does. It’s pretty much against every direction of our moral compasses.” “Ok, so we definitely need something vegetarian. How about steamed rice and vegetables?” “Yeah, that sounds vegetarian enough.” “To the Chinese joint!” Alex screamed, making Dash jump as he was laughing like a madman. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (A/N) That chapter's done, but feels like it may be missing something. i just can't place what. If you have any suggestions, please leave it down below.