Mail Call

by BlazzingInferno

A Novel Solution

Somewhere outside Thunderlane’s house, the clock was chiming in the hour. It didn’t really matter on a Saturday, though. Today’s weather was somepony else’s problem. Today he could do something for himself, just as soon as he got his mind off of Rainbow Dash. He sat at the kitchen table, staring at the remains of his breakfast. The bowl of cereal was mush by now, and the toast was cold. At this rate, Rumble would come home for lunch and find him still seated there.

The letters were a dumb idea, that much he knew for certain. If he’d just left Rainbow alone, things would’ve been fine. She hadn’t been to work, or been seen out of her house, for two days now. That was his fault, without question. If he’d kept his dumb feelings to himself, she could’ve just kept sleeping in every day, oblivious to him and all the pain he was capable of inflicting.

At least Ditzy’s life was back to normal. After sleeping off her binge-searching on his couch, she’d gone back home and found the missing letters in her own mailbox. She’d accidentally delivered them to herself. All was right in her world, and all it took was upending Rainbow’s and his own.

There was a soft knock on the front door. He stood, stared at the door for a moment, and decided to put his dishes away instead. Whoever it was could come back later.

There was a second knock, this time a little more forceful. In response he dumped his bowl in the sink and turned the water on.

“Forget it, I’m not home.”

The third knock rattled the pictures on the walls, and the sound of Rainbow’s voice made him drop the plate on the floor. “Open up, Thunderlane! I know you’re in there!”

After turning off the water, and nearly stepping on the broken flatware, he ran to the door. “Rainbow, how could you possibly…”

She grinned as soon as she saw him. “Hah, knew it!”

He sighed. “You just guessed, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Can I come in for a sec?”

He didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, his head began nodding on its own.

Rainbow walked past him and looked around. “Nice place you’ve got here.”

All he could see was the smashed plate by the sink. “I… uh… Thanks.”

“So… I haven’t been to work in a while.”

He nodded again. “Yeah… We all noticed.”

She looked at him and bit her lip. “You didn’t tell anypony what happened, right?”

“Why would I?”

“I don’t know… I just feel kind of embarrassed that I lost it over some pony not sending me a letter.”

“It wasn’t just a letter though, right?”

She shrugged. “I’ve been thinking about it and… yeah, it was. Turns out I had this ‘secret admirer’ guy figured out from the start: he’s a coward for using letters, and he’s a jerk for leaving me hanging.”

His legs started to shake. “But… I thought you liked how the letters made you feel. That last letter could’ve just gotten lost.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter. I’m done with that guy anyway.” She flew up high and pounded her hooves together. “It’s time I took romance into my own hooves, where it belongs.”

He forced a smile. “That… makes sense, I guess. So why are you telling me all this?”

She dropped back to the ground and pointed a hoof at him. “ ’cause I’m asking you out.”

This time his smile was genuine. “Me?”

“Yep. I know you didn’t write the letters and everything but… I kind of wished you did. So how about we check out the wild clouds over the Everfree Forest this afternoon? You pick where we eat dinner, and you pay.”

He nodded. “I-I’d love to. That sounds great.”

She stepped closer and pounded a hoof on his chest. “And one more thing: no kissing or anything mushy on a first date, got it?”

He started laugh. “Got it.”

Her glare dissolved into a smile. “What’s so funny?”

“I’ve just got a really crazy story to tell you, but I’ll save it for tonight.”

Comments

[Luna Secret Stallion]

Awe no more?

[djthomp]

Man, he is going to be in so much trouble when he tells that funny story. But it's definitely better to tell it, honesty will serve much better in this than keeping it a secret and Dash accidentally finding out at some later point.

[Tennis Match Fan]

Ohmigosh, Dashie is in for a shock!

[The Blessed One]

I bet Rainbow won't find this "funny story" very funny...

[Cerulean Voice]

Nice way to end it. A story like this really shouldn't drag on, unless you wanted it to. You totally could, but the whole point of the fic has been and gone. We just get the amusing ending. Now I just have to wonder how the date will go... but that's another story and shall (or not) be told another time.
So, sequel?

[PresentPerfect]

This moves a little fast, but I like what you did with it. :)

[BlazzingInferno]

5658036
Struggling? More like it has me in a headlock
I finally had a free moment to fix that (for the second time). Thanks again for pointing it out!

[BlazzingInferno]

5663344
That line and the one after it are my favorites

5663377
Every time I thought about making it longer, Twilight would drop in and say "you know it's turning into You've Got Mail, right?"

I agree it could stand to be a bit longer. I was determined to have the final chapter appear on Valentines day, and this was the result.

Thanks for reading!

[HuskieSnow104]

There should be a sequel to this. I really want to see how that date turned out .

[Azure_Shadow]

Aaawww, this was a cute fic! I really enjoyed it.

[Fervidor]

Short but cute. The resolution was a bit rushed - I kinda wanted to see Rainbow's reaction to finding out Thunderlane wrote the letters. Still, nice to see a love story with actual conflict and tension that still isn't too complicated or drawn out.

[Grey Wolf]

Awww very cute and funny!

[Derpator]

Okay, this was wholeheartedly cute and fun to read, as short as it is. It flowed well, gave the right amount of details, and a great pairing to boot. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Dr Induction]

Very cute!

[trouble]

Damn-
I made a story like this not too long ago, just with Fluttershy
We had the same idea-I'm literally screaming.
Coincidence? I think not

[BlazzingInferno]

8503177
Huh, maybe we have some common source of inspiration, like a shared like in a TV show or something

[Crankshaft]

...Oh, that was beautiful.

The only thing I can pick on is not seeing Rainbow's reaction at the end - but I'm not sure if that would improve the story or kill the mood, depending on how it was written.

[Yoshifan30]

Well that was a pretty short story but I think that was pretty good so it looks like Thunder Lane felt really guilty what happened to Rainbow Dash and she hasn't been showing up at work same with him as well but at least Derpy is doing okay she can still keep a job but suddenly Rainbow Dash show up on his doorstep and surprisingly she wants to ask him on a date which he accepted it which I think this was pretty nice this was good keep up the good work