Of Rainbooms and Destiny

by Sapphire Rose 12

Chapter 1

Rainbow Dash exhaled in bliss as she felt the sunshine beating down on her face. A tug on her tail startled her and snapped her out of her peaceful state. “What is it, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash questioned in annoyance.

“I'm still not sure about this,” Fluttershy replied with a small voice. “I love it on the ground, but Cloudsdale is all I’ve ever known. Change scares me, Rainbow Dash.” She shivered and swallowed nervously.

“Everything scares you, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash retorted. “Trust me. You’ll like it here in Ponyville.”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had decided to move to Ponyville. When they were old enough to begin living on their own, Fluttershy's parents urged her to look for a place to live independently. Fluttershy couldn't cling to them forever. Fluttershy reluctantly agreed when Rainbow Dash promised to move wherever she went. After exploring Ponyville, the two mares agreed that it felt like home and found houses to reside in. Fluttershy had chosen a peaceful cottage in a nearby field. Rainbow Dash decided to hire some pegasus construction workers to build her a house in the sky. As much as she loved Ponyville, Rainbow Dash could never stay on the ground for long.

“Just relax, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash instructed. “Nopony will hurt you.”

Hesitantly, Fluttershy began to move forward. However, she still stayed as close to Rainbow Dash as possible.

Suddenly, a great smell reached Rainbow Dash's nose. It was the smell of apples and cinnamon. Rainbow Dash turned her head to find the source and saw an apple stand nearby.

“Doesn't that smell good, Flutters?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Fluttershy only squeaked in reply.

“They might have cider there!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She could almost taste the sweet, tangy cider on her tongue. “Come on! Let's go get some! We need to stock up on food anyway.”

Rainbow Dash almost dragged Fluttershy over to the stand. She found three ponies over by the stand. One of them was an elder pony with a light green coat. Wrinkles made her face sag, but there was a youth in her orange eyes. Her mane had gone white and she wore it in a tight bun upon her head. An apple pie was her cutie mark. The pony standing by her was helping to collect bits. He was a tall, red stallion with white freckles on his cheeks. His mane was an orange-yellow color and his eyes were similar to a grassy green field. A working harness was worn around his neck. He looked healthy, big, and strong. His cutie mark was a green apple cut so that its seeds were shown. The last pony was only a filly. She had a bright sunshine yellow coat and an eagerness in her orange eyes. She wore a big pink ribbon in her pink-red mane. She had no apparent cutie mark yet.

As Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy approached the stand, the elder pony turned to face them and smiled, “Why, hello, young’uns! My name is Granny Smith. What can we get for you young fellers today?”

“Hi, name’s Rainbow Dash. Are you selling cider by chance?” Rainbow Dash wondered hopefully.

Granny Smith chuckled. “Sorry, you’ll have to wait until cider season rolls around. We make the best darn apple cider in all of Equestria. But can we interest you in some apple pie? We're great at making pies too.”

Rainbow Dash wrinkled her nose in disgust at the mention of pie. Rainbow Dash had never liked any type of pie. It had never been appetizing to her. “Uh… n-no thanks. But I would like it if you had some apple fritters.”

“We sure do!” Granny Smith said. “How many would you like?”

“Can I get a sample for me and my friend, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Your friend?” Granny Smith was confused. “I don't see anypony.”

Rainbow Dash whirled around to look for Fluttershy. The poor pegasus was hidden behind Rainbow Dash's tail. Rainbow Dash grumbled. “Fluttershy, get up.”

Fluttershy shakily rose to her hooves and looked at Granny Smith cautiously. Granny Smith smiled and her eyes crinkled. “Can I get ya a sample?”

Fluttershy nodded. Granny Smith prepared a sample for both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash tasted the sweet apple fritter. The sweet apple treat was baked to perfection. The outside was satisfyingly crunchy and the insides were creamy and sweet.

“Wow! This is delicious!” Rainbow Dash marveled.

Granny Smith was delighted. “Glad ya like it! Would you like a whole dozen? Just three bits!”

“Hay yeah!” Rainbow Dash replied.

“We're glad that ya like them, but things would go much smoother if we still had Applejack around to help,” Granny Smith said.

“Who’s Applejack?” Rainbow Dash wondered. “Is she their mother?”

The stallion and the filly burst out laughing.

“Eenope,” the stallion said through tears of laughter.

“Oh, heavens no,” Granny Smith told them. “Applejack is another one of my grandchildren. She's the second oldest of these two.”

“Oh,” Rainbow Dash said, a bit embarrassed. “Where is she now?”

“She went off to Manehattan as a filly to live with her Aunt and Uncle Orange,” Granny Smith replied. “The poor filly could never move on after her parents passed away. Big Mac and Apple Bloom here are all I got left.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac chimed in sadly.

“I never really knew my older sister, but I wish I had,” Apple Bloom added. “I’ve always wanted another amazing sibling like Big Mac. When I heard that I had one, I’ve been dying to meet her ever since.”

“I… I hope you get to see her again someday,” Rainbow Dash said.

“We do too,” Granny Smith said.

Rainbow Dash placed three bits on the table and took the apple fritters. “Thanks for the fritters. See ya around.”

“Bye!” Granny Smith said. “It was nice meeting you both!”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed.

“Bye, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Please stop by the orchard in the middle of town, so I can see you again! It's impossible to miss.”

“You know what? We will!” Rainbow Dash said.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy began to stroll around town again.

“Look at that, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash told her. “New friends already! Isn't it awesome here?”

“Um… it’s nice,” Fluttershy whispered.

Rainbow Dash sighed. Fluttershy really needed to gain some bravery if she couldn't take a simple stroll around town.

---

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stopped by an orange stand farther along the road. The tangy smell was enticing and lulled many customers in.

The pony working at the stand turned around. She wore a big, poofy red and green dress that brought out her grassy green eyes. Her coat was a bright orange and white freckles were upon on her cheeks. She wore her blonde mane in a fancy updo that looked like it took hours to do. A pink and red clip held it together.

“Good afternoon,” the mare said in a posh voice. “What can I do for you?”

“Hey there, I’m Rainbow Dash and that's my best friend, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said. “The food at your stand smells awesome. What do you have?”

“Today's special is an orange dream cake,” the mare replied. “My aunt's speciality.”

“We’ll have two of those,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Splendid,” the mare said. “That’ll be fifteen bits.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Fifteen?” Rainbow Dash cried. “No deal! That's not good for business!”

“What would you know about business, young mare?” she snapped. “We're visiting from Manehattan which means all of our food is authentic Manehattan food. Manehattan food costs a lot of money, so I’m going to need fifteen bits from you if you want the cakes. Take it or leave it.”

“This isn't Manehattan!” Rainbow Dash retorted. “This is Ponyville! Ponies here don't have that kind of money. I’m not wasting fifteen bits on cake! I’ll give you ten. How's that? That's way more than I need to spend on your food.”

“That's simply not going to happen,” the mare sneered. “My name may be Applejack, but I take business with the Oranges very seriously. Good day to you, ma’am. Good day.”

“Yeah, I bet that cake doesn't even taste good anyway!” Rainbow Dash hollered. “Come on, Fluttershy! We're wasting our time!”

“Bye,” Fluttershy squeaked nervously.

“Come on,” Rainbow Dash repeated.

They walked away from the stand.

“Ugh, I can't believe her!” Rainbow Dash complained. “What did she say her name was again?”

“Applejack,” Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened and she looked back and forth between the orange and apple stand, realizing where she had heard the familiar name.

“Can we get going, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy pleaded. “I really don't want to be out here for longer than we have to.”

Giving in, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy moved on.

A short time later, Rainbow Dash felt herself bump into another pony. They stumbled and tripped over each other.

The other mare grumbled. “Ugh, watch where you’re going.”

“Hey, it was an accident, I swear,” Rainbow Dash claimed.

Rainbow Dash got a good look at the mare before her as they rose to their hooves. The other mare was a royal purple unicorn with rich violet eyes. She had a deep violet mane with a red-violet streak flowing through it like magma. She wore a black cloak with white stars on it to cover herself. Her mane was tied up in a messy bun and some strands of her mane hung down on the sides of her face. Her nose was stuck in a book titled 'Magic and Mysteries: A History of Strange Magic.’

“This is a library book,” the mare said. “I can't bring this back ruined or I’ll have to pay for it. So, be careful next time!”

“I said I was sorry!” Rainbow Dash cried. “If anything, you were the one not watching where you're going. Maybe it would help if you got your nose out of that book of yours.”

The mare glared daggers into her. “At least, my books don't try to insult me. If you’ll excuse me, I must be going. I'm going to be late to my seminar and they don't call me Twilight Sparkle to be late. Serves me right for choosing a seminar in Ponyville.”

Twilight flicked her tail and trotted away in frustration.

“Some ponies,” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “She's not the only grump I’ve met today. I swear if I meet one more--!”

“Hey, you're in my way!” a new voice from behind her growled.

Rainbow Dash almost exploded, but she reeled herself in. She growled to herself. She was done with all of the mares being rude and inconsiderate.

“Rainbow Dash, why don't we try to make friends with this one?” Fluttershy nervously asked from behind Rainbow Dash's tail.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “My name is Rainbow Dash and that's Fluttershy. What's your name?”

The mare sighed. “Pinkamena.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked.

The mare repeated it, more forcefully this time. “Pinkamena. Pinkamena Diane Pie.”

Pinkamena had a straight pink mane that she constantly had to brush away from her cotton candy blue eyes. Her pink coat was dull and gave off an ominous vibe.

“Cool!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Wanna be friends?”

“Look, I don't have time for this,” Pinkamena snapped. “Now, move out of my way. I'm starting to get impatient.”

Rainbow Dash felt her anger starting to bubble up inside of her once again. “Pinkamena, I’m not going to put up with---!”

“Rainbow Dash, please! You're scaring me!” Fluttershy whimpered.

Rainbow Dash sighed and put her anger aside. “I'm sorry,” she mumbled.

Pinkamena trotted away, looking around. “Ugh, where is it? The sooner I find that cave, the sooner I bring home the granite.”

Fluttershy gasped in realization. “Rainbow Dash, look at her flank.”

“What about it?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion.

“She doesn't have a cutie mark yet,” Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow Dash looked closely at it in shock to find that it was true. Pinkamena didn't have a cutie mark. Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words. She didn't have a cutie mark just like Fluttershy. There had to be a connection somehow, right?

Rainbow Dash decided to shrug it off for now. It wasn't her concern and it wouldn't be polite to inquire about it.

“Rainbow Dash, I’m tired,” Fluttershy claimed. “It's too loud out here and I’ve had enough social time for today.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Alright, Fluttershy. Let's go. Now, what did you say your new address was again?”

“I’m not sure,” Fluttershy admitted. “I just know that it's a lovely little cottage somewhere in the east of town.”

“Then, I’ll help you look for it,” Rainbow Dash offered. “Come on, let's go.”

Without another word, Fluttershy followed Rainbow Dash, keeping closely behind her tail.

While they searched for Fluttershy's new house, Rainbow Dash's mind was running wild. Applejack was visiting Ponyville, selling her goods not far away from her closest family members. Though, Rainbow Dash wasn't certain if it was too late to do anything about the matter. She certainly didn't seem joyful in her predicament. But then again, neither did the other two mares she had ran into that day. Twilight seemed to be bitter about something Rainbow Dash didn't know about and Pinkamena just seemed to be upset for no good reason at all.

Thoughts like this kept flooding Rainbow Dash's mind, making her wonder if they were ever going to stop. But she knew that it kept plaguing her mind for a reason. She just couldn't quite put her hoof on it.

Author's Note:

Hello! If you have any feedback for me, I'd love to hear back from any readers who have great advice! Thank you!

Comments

[BlueHood]

I like this. Hope you continue

[Sapphire Rose 12]

8756630
Thank you so much!