> The MacDash Chronicles
>  by FelixTheBrony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Rescue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rescue

“Fluttershy!!” A rainbow maned, cyan coated filly called out as she swept over the trees of the forest below her. It was getting dark and nopony had seen hide nor hair of the gangly yellow Pegasus.

The filly searching was more commonly known as Rainbow Dash, and she was searching for her friend Fluttershy, who had fallen from the clouds and towards the Earth below...At least, that's what the other ponies in the crowd said. 

She was quite annoyed with their nonchalance as they said that. Why didn't they care enough to try to catch her? Or at least call some adults to help? Why did it fall to her? Even Gilda wouldn't help!

She grunted as she dove and scanned the trees a little more astutely, noticing that they appeared to hold some red fruit of some kind. She wasn't quite sure as she'd never really seen the ground below before. Her family had always been high flyers and never knew anything else.

Guess I'm the first to see this. She thought to herself, grinning a bit. Just something she could brag about later. Maybe she'd see some of the monsters or the native Earth Ponies or something.

No! You remember what dad said! The Earth below is dangerous! Just find Fluttershy and get back to camp! She shook the thought from her head and continued in her search.

“Fluttershy! Where are you?!” She called, hoping for some kind of response. But alas, even if she was heard, the yellow Pegasus wasn't capable of giving much of a holler back. She was just so damn quiet!

“Flutters!” She continued, not noticing the trees becoming a bit darker, nor the sky becoming more gloomy as she dove into the tree canopy. She looked around herself, trying to find a speck of pink or yellow amongst the greyscale of colours around her. 

“How can it be so hard to find a bright pink and yellow pony in all this...black?” She said, finally looking at her surroundings. “OK...This is spooky...” 

“AAHHHHHHH!!” She heard a familiar voice scream in the distance. Rainbow immediately took off towards the direction of the scream.

“Fluttershy! Don't worry I'm coming!” Rainbow announced, breaking out of the trees and into a clearing and in front of the gangly yellow filly known as Fluttershy, trembling against one of the surrounding trees. 

“Fluttershy! Are you okay?!” She peeked up at her rainbow friend, feebly, and pointing behind her. 

“Run!” Before Rainbow could register what her friend meant, she felt herself getting knocked over and spun up to face Fluttershy's attacker. 

She recognised it from one of her dad's books. It was a four legged beast whose whole body composed of wood, a set of piercing green eyes, glowing menacingly at it's prey.

“A timberwolf...” She whispered to herself, fearfully, trying to kick the beast away...

...but a pint-sized filly had no chance against the weight of a full-grown timberwolf, but the kick annoyed it enough to start thrashing it's paws at her, causing her wing to dislocate.

“AAAAHHHHH!” She screamed in pain as her wing was bent in a way that it certainly wasn't supposed to be bent. Tears started to fall as the beast brought it's muzzle down towards her throat.

Fluttershy saw this and gathered as much breath as she could. “Help us! Somepony! Anypony!” She screamed, the fur under her eyes matted down from her fearful tears.



A red furred, blonde maned Earth Pony colt wandered through the orchards, almost completely lost. Work just didn't feel the same without his little sister Applejack there by his side as he bucked the apples while she caught them in a basket on her head.

He paused for a second to stop a tear coming out of his eye. Darn it AJ, why didn't ya just wait an' let me help ya? Why do ya gotta be so stubborn?! He sniffed and continued on his sweep of the orchards, making sure that there weren't any overhanging branches that'd be struck by the coming storm.

With that thought, he looked up and noticed some of the Pegasi starting to put together the black clouds, ready to release their rain, wind and thunder. Reckon it'll be a big storm tonight. Wouldn't wanna be caught in that...

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard a scream in the distance. In panic, he took off towards the sound, noticing that he was now on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Gosh darn it! Who'd be silly enough to be here right now?!

He shook the thought from his head and reached towards his back, grabbing a hold of his lasso ready and rushing into the forest, making sure to dig his hooves into the ground every so often to create a little trail to follow later.

He ran along the forest floor, having no real sense of direction, not helped by the fact that he didn't know where he was going...until he heard another scream. This one sounding a little bit different from the other, but regardless he continued on towards the noise.

He was suddenly aware of a clearing and could see a cyan filly being pinned to the ground by a timberwolf, whose maw was slowly going towards her neck.

Adrenaline fuelled into his little body as he pushed it to it's limits, clenching his rope in his teeth and bursting into the clearing just as another scream for help echoed across the area.

Before the timberwolf knew what was going on, the red colt had skidded to a halt, turned round and slammed his back hooves into the barked monster's face, an applebuck that'd make his pappy proud.

The beast was thrown off the filly and landed a few feet away, quickly getting back to it's feet.

Fluttershy and Rainbow looked up and saw the red colt stand in front of them, protectively, starting to turn his neck around, spinning the lasso around in the air. The wolf growled and started to charge forwards.

In response, the colt flicked his neck forward, sending the rope sailing towards the barked beast, wrapping around it's four paws, before he pulled his neck back causing the rope to tighten and snapping it's legs together. 

In surprise, the wolf fell to the ground, skidding across the ground in time for the colt to turn and kick it again, releasing it from the rope and leaving it on the ground, whimpering slightly.

The colt growled, causing the creature to look up, scared. “Go on! Get!” He snarled, to which the timberwolf to run away with it's tail between it's legs.

The two fillies glanced at each other, before gazing at their hero before them. He turned back and he immediately dropped his aggressive stance and took on a more concerned look. 

“Are y'all okay?” He asked, his voice surprisingly deep for a colt his age. Rainbow was about to reply before she cried out in pain and passed out. 

The other two were at her side in an instant, looking over her form in fear. “Her wing!” Fluttershy yelped, pointing out the appendage. The colt nodded and nudged his nose under the cyan filly, sliding her onto his back. 

“We should go ta mah place so mah Granny can take a look at her...” Fluttershy looked up at the sky, apprehensively.

“I-I don't know...Maybe we should wait here for someone...” 

“No offence Miss, but yer friend looks really hurt an' needs help now. Besides, nopony'll find us in tha Everfree Forest in tha air an' there's a storm comin' too.” He said, pointing towards one of the forest openings. “Now jus' follow me, Ah made a trail back.” 

“Oh...Okay...If you think that's best...” She replied, following him, but struggling to keep up with his fast pace. 

The colt noticed and stopped, scooping the other filly up and depositing her on his back too, much to her surprise. “It'll be much faster if'n Ah just carry tha both of ya.” 

Fluttershy blushed slightly, tightening her grip as the three of them exited the Everfree. Turns out they weren't that far from the exit. “Th-thank y-you...sir...”

He smiled back, helping the pink maned filly feel at ease. “Ma name's Lil' Macintosh.” 



Lil' Mac rushed towards the farm house in the centre of the orchards as rain started to pour from the sky. He then, as soon as he made it to the front door, knocked urgently hoping that his Granny will answer quickly. 

He allowed the shivering yellow filly off his back, making sure the cyan one remained stationary as the door opened, revealing a wrinkly old green mare with a grey mane. “It's 'bout time ya got back Mackie, what took ya?” 

That's when she noticed the two Pegasi with him and gave him an odd look. “Who's this wit' ya?”

“Ah found 'em in tha Everfree Forest an' tha one on mah back was injured. It was 'bout ta start stormin' so Ah thought we'd be able ta let them stay here. Please, Granny Smith?” Granny gave the nervous yellow mare a toothy grin and motioned for them to follow her.

“Of course, Dearie, nopony should be out in this storm. C'mon in.” Mac walked in, depositing the cyan filly on the sofa, looking at her wing in worry, Fluttershy not too far behind. 

“Th-thank you very m-much...You're v-v-very nice...” Fluttershy mumbled out, to which the two smiled.

“Not a problem...” Granny  Smith said, ushering them aside to look at the injured wing herself. “Hmm...Alright, it's not broken, just dislocated. Ah'll have it fixed up in a jiffy.” She said, laying a hoof on her back and gently gripping the base of the appendage.

Then, in one quick motion, she forced the wing up and slotted the bone back into place. However that woke up the unconscious pony, who started to scream in agony.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!” She screamed, her wings snapping to her sides protectively. She looked around wildly, trying to deem where she was and how she got here.

“Don't ya worry now, Dear, Ah was just setting yer bone back in place. It should be fine in a little bit. Still gotta bandage it up.” Granny said, Mac approaching with the first aid kit. 

Rainbow relaxed a bit when she saw Fluttershy besides the red colt who saved their lives. “Where a-are we?”

“Why yer at Sweet Apple Acres! Ah'm Granny Smith, an' that there's mah eldest grandson, Lil' Macintosh!” 

Mac smiled at her bashfully and that's when their eyes met. Green and magenta eyes locked onto each other as the world around them seemed to melt away. Wow...She's awful pretty...

Man who is this guy? He looks so cool! Rainbow broke eye contact, trying to fight the red off her cheeks. “Uh, cool...The name's Rainbow Dash, flyer extraordinare.” 

“Um...I'm Fluttershy...” The yellow filly said, before a very soft sneeze came out of her. Granny chuckled and stood up.

“Well Ah reckon y'all are cold. How's about Ah fetch some hot cocoa an' y'all can tell me how ya met mah grandson?” The two fillies smiled and nodded while Mac just stayed silent, an unseen red blush on his cheeks.

What made him blush like that? Sure she was pretty, but there were lots of pretty fillies! Well this one, Rainbow Dash, seemed to put them to shame in his opinion, just by how unique she looked. Her rainbow coloured mane, her cyan coat. It was a colour scheme that just reminded him of a bright and clear day. It made him feel happy.

He shook his head and walked towards the kitchen before the filly that caught his interest called his name causing him to pause. “Hey Lil' Mac?” 

He turned his head back to see her looking at him, giving him a genuine smile. “Thanks for saving our lives.”

He smiled back, trying to think of something to say...And for some reason he said. “Eeyup.” His eyes widened a bit and he hurried into the kitchen, pretty embarrassed by that. What in tarnation?! Why would Ah say that?! That's not even a word!



Rainbow Dash continued to watch where he left, feeling the red start to rise to her cheeks before she suppressed it. He even has a catchphrase like a superhero! That's! So! Awesome!

Fluttershy looked up at her, tilting her head to the side. “Um...Rainbow?” The cyan filly looked down at her shy friend and smiled.

“It's good to see ya, Flutters. I'm glad you're okay.” She said, giving the yellow filly a quick hug. Before Fluttershy could think to return it, she pulled away nervously. “Um...Don't tell anyone about that, alright...Got a reputation to maintain and all.” 

Fluttershy smiled brightly and winked. “Okay...” She then hopped up and sat next to her. “So what do you think of them?”

“Well...They're really nice...Even though we're complete strangers. That's just...I don't know...” Fluttershy smiled, turning towards the area where they left.

“I know. And Lil' Macintosh is so much nicer than the other kids in Flight Camp.” Rainbow smiled.

“Yeah. Hoops and those other meanie heads could learn a thing or two from him.” She agreed, causing the two to giggle...Well, Fluttershy giggled, Rainbow chuckled. Rainbow Dash did NOT giggle.

After a couple of seconds, Rainbow nudged her friend. “So what do you think of them?” Fluttershy rubbed her forehoof with the other, nervously.

“Well. Granny Smith is very nice and...Well...” She hid behind her mane and mumbled out the last of her sentence. Rainbow sighed and leaned in to listen to her more clearly.

“What was that?” Fluttershy sighed back, feeling embarrassed about what she was going to say next.

“Um...I think Lil' Mac is cute...” Rainbow recoiled a bit, before relaxing a bit.

Well of course she thought that! She told herself as she let a silence fall between her and her friend. He is pretty cute and he saved our lives! If that's not enough to sweep a filly off her hooves, what is?!

She then folded her hooves, hoping her disappointment didn't show on her face. It's not like I need anything like that anyway! I'm Rainbow Dash! I don't have time for mushy stuff like that!

She sighed sadly and glanced back towards Fluttershy who was twiddling her hooves, nervously. Besides...Fluttershy is way prettier than me...He'd probably take more interest in her than me anyway...



“...So Lil' Mac took down a timberwolf, eh?” Granny asked, grinning proudly. Rainbow and Fluttershy had just retold the story of Mac's daring rescue.

The old green mare wrapped a hoof around her eldest grandson and hugged him close. “Ah see yer pappy's rope tricks came in handy, eh Mackie?” Mac blushed slightly, but nodded sheepishly.

“Aw it ain't that impressive. Just doin' tha right thing.” 

“You took down a timberwolf twice your size and saved both our lives!” Rainbow exclaimed, panicking when she almost spilt her drink on Fluttershy. She managed to catch it in time to finish her comment. “That's pretty impressive, right Flutters?”

Fluttershy squeaked slightly when she was asked a question, but managed to respond. “U-um...Right...Thank you Lil' Mac...”

He smiled back, sheepishly. “It weren't nothin', jus' doin' what mah pappy woulda done.” 

Granny smiled as she observed the three children. It was good to see Lil' Macintosh make some friends. It was the perfect thing to take his mind off of his sister leaving. 

She glanced outside and grimaced as the storm appeared to get worse. “Ah think y'all better stay here fer tha night, ya can't fly in a storm like this...”

The two nodded, obediently, but began to worry. How long were they going to be here?! Rainbow can't fly with an injured wing and Fluttershy...Well she could barely fly as it is, never mind with a filly on her back.

“Ah'll git dinner started, Mac could you be a Dear an' fetch Applebloom outta her crib fer me?” Lil' Mac saluted and trotted upstairs. The two rose an eyebrow at the old green mare as they followed her to the kitchen.

“Who's Applebloom?” Granny gave Rainbow a smile.

“She's Mac's baby sister.” Fluttershy gasped, excitedly. 

“A foal!” She squealed in excitement. Rainbow just shook her head at her friend. Fluttershy was just a sucker for cute things. 



“Peek-a-boo!” Fluttershy said, softly as she suddenly removed her hooves from her eyes.

Applebloom, the 1 year old filly, giggled in her high chair, reaching out with a hoof to try and grab at some of Fluttershy's long pink mane. “Oh you are just the cutest!” She continued, poking at her chubby cheeks, causing her to giggle further.

Mac gave a smile at his sister's happiness from his position on the sofa next to Rainbow Dash. Granny had gone to sleep on her rocking chair off to the side after they had eaten. Then he remembered his other sister and how she now wouldn't be here to see the baby grow up and sighed.

This caught Rainbow's attention and she turned to give him a quizzical look. “Something on your mind Big Guy?”

He looked back, surprised. “Um...Ah'm not particularly big...” 

“You are compared to me.” Rainbow said, motioning with her hooves and showing that she was, in fact, at least a head shorter than him. “But no question dodging, is something wrong?” 

He thought about it for a bit before figuring that he could confide in this filly. He didn't know why, but he felt he could trust her. She seemed like a...loyal kind of friend. She had to be if she had spent an hour looking for the yellow filly who was now playing 'where's Fluttershy?' with Applebloom.

“Well...It's just that Ah have another sister too...About yer age, give or take. But she didn't wanna stay on tha farm an' went ta live with mah Aunt an' Uncle Orange in Manehatten...” He sighed again while Rainbow looked at him, sympathetically. “...Ah jus' miss her a lot...”

“Hey don't you worry about it! It's not like you'll never see her again!” He was startled by her confident reply but he had to admit, it made him feel better. “And you could write to her too! I'm sure she misses you just as much!”

“Ah sure hope so...” He said, smiling slightly before he heard a little yawn from the yellow foal. He looked over and trotted up to Fluttershy and Applebloom. “Ah think somepony's ready fer bed~” He said, playfully, picking the foal up and sat her on his back. 

The foal nuzzled herself onto his back, smiling contently. He looked towards Fluttershy, apologetically. “Sorry Miss Fluttershy, foal's gotta sleep.” She smiled back, shyly, rubbing her forehoof with the other.

“O-okay...Goodnight Bloomy...” Applebloom nuzzled in further, much to Mac's amusement as he trotted upstairs.

Fluttershy had a big, goofy grin on her face as she sat next to Rainbow. “First I meet a bunch of cute little animals, then I get my cutie mark and now I met an adorable little foal!” Rainbow grinned back.

“Yeah. Minus falling from the clouds and nearly getting savaged by a timberwolf, I reckon this has been a good day, huh?” She mentioned, showing off her flank to her friend. “You're not the only one with their cutie mark though, check mine out!” 

The white cloud with a tricoloured lightning bolt was depicted on her flank while Fluttershy's showed three pink butterflies. “Wow...We got our cutie marks at the same time...”

“Yeah I know, that's awesome!” She noticed Mac come back and motioned him over. “Hey Mac, wanna hear the story on our cutie marks?”

Mac seemed a bit confused at the sudden question, before shrugging with a smile on his face. “Oh, sure. Why not?” 

Fluttershy twiddled her hooves, hiding behind her pink mane. “W-well...W-when I fell from Cloudsdale, I l-landed on a bunch of butterflies. Then all these other animals came out to greet me! There were bunnies and raccoons and birds and mice and so many other cute little critters...”

“Sounds like you had a lotta fun then.” Mac said, imagining the scene being described to him. Fluttershy nodded, blushing a bit at having him so interested. He and Rainbow were paying her their full attention and it was a little intimidating, but she managed to finish.

“Oh it was...Then there was a loud bang and a bunch of colours washed over the sky, scaring all the animals into little hiding holes and burrows...” Rainbow rubbed the back of her head, sheepishly, as Fluttershy continued. “...So I managed to persuade them to come out again and then it just appeared! My cutie mark!” 

“Sounds ta me like ya got a special inclination towards those critters...” Mac mentioned, off handedly, smiling a bit. “Takes a special kind of pony to connect with them. Animals ain't usually so trustin'.” 

Fluttershy blushed a bit, but the grin that spread across her face showed her true happiness from his comment. He thinks I'm special! She squealed silently. 

Rainbow turned and picked up where Fluttershy finished. “Well I got mine during a race with some of the ponies who were bullying Flutters here!” 

Mac nodded. “Good, Ah don't like bullies an' it's always good ta see them put in their place!” Rainbow grinned and pumped her hoof in the air.

“Amen to that! Well, during the race I was going so fast that I actually broke the sound barrier and created a sonic rainboom!” Fluttershy gasped in disbelief while Mac just settled for looking amazed.

“R-really!” Fluttershy said, smiling. Rainbow grinned.

“Yup...Not that anypony believes me...” She sighed, flopped to the side, away from Fluttershy. “Everypony was watching one of the meanie heads at the time so they completely missed it! They just thought it was a weather factory malfunction!” 

“Hey don't worry, I believe you...” Fluttershy said, resting a hoof on her shoulder. Mac scanned her face and smiled to her.

“Ah believe ya too.” Rainbow looked at him in disbelief. He hadn't seen her, yet he was just going to take her word for it?

Sensing her disbelief, he explained. “Well us ponies from tha Apple family take pride in our honesty an' we can pick out a liar from miles away. An' yer as far away from lyin' as you can get.” 

Rainbow grinned, sitting up in pride. “Finally! Somepony else believes me!” Mac started smiling, sheepishly.

“It helps that Ah saw tha colours too...It was awfully pretty...” He mention, blushing. But his red coat managed to hide that very well.

Rainbow's cyan coat was doing a much worse job of doing the same thing, so she settled for breaking eye contact to try and conceal it with her hoof. 

Fluttershy glanced at Mac's flank, saw the green apple half and grew curious. “Say Lil' Mac, what does your cutie mark mean...If you don't mind me asking...” She said, losing confidence as she asked. 

Lil' Mac looked at his flank with a sense of pride. “Course I don't mind, after all. Y'all told me yer cutie mark stories, it's only fair Ah tell ya mine.” He said, before turning back to the two, getting their attention.

“Well...It started a little bit after mah pappy passed away...” Mac felt a slight pang, but managed not to show it. “Mah mama passed earlier so that just left me, Granny, Applebloom and Applejack left...”

The two looked sympathetic after they heard that his parents were no longer with him, but he managed to carry on. “After that, all tha farm work and takin' care of us fell onta Granny Smith...” He turned and smiled fondly at his Grandmother. “Course she was gettin' on a bit an' weren't able ta handle it on her own...”

He turned back and grinned sheepishly. “So Ah decided ta drop outta school ta help out at tha farm full time. Ah took ma pappy's old yoke here...” He said, motioning to the brown yoke that seemed much too big for him. “...an' Ah started doin' tha plowin', applebuckin', feedin' tha animals, repairin' damages, sellin' foods at tha market an' just about anythin' else that needed doin'.” 

“Granny tried makin' me go back ta school, but Ah refused. Ah already knew al tha fancy mathematics ta keep tha banks an' everypony happy, so Ah never really needed ta go fer anythin' else...After about a week of doin' all that an' not stoppin' mah cutie mark appeared...” He said, looking at his flank again. “Ah don't really know what it means, but Ah don't care. Ah wouldn't trade what Ah do fer anythin'!” 

Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at him in awe. There was a love for one's family, but this was something else! The sheer loyalty that this 14 year old colt showed for this farm, the dedication he showed in making sure it stayed afloat, the sacrifices he made to make his Grandmother's life a little bit easier! It was inspiring, to say the least.

He let out a yawn and stood up. “Welp, it's getting' pretty late, we should be headin' ta bed. Ah gotta get up early to clean the debris from around tha farm. Ya know, branches an' such...”

“I could help if you want?” Rainbow found herself volunteering, almost impulsively. Fluttershy looked shock before shaking out of it and saying something along the same lines.

“Me too. After all, it'd only be fair after everything you've done for us.” Mac found himself blushing, turning his head away in embarrassment. 

“Aw shucks, ya don't owe me nuthin'. Ah was just doin' what mah pappy woulda done.” 

“We insist!” Fluttershy pressed, feeling slightly more confident than usual. “It's the least we could do...”

Mac scratched the back of his neck before sighing when he saw the two starting to give him the lost puppy eyed look. Aww shucks, Ah can't so no ta those faces! 

“Well, if yer sure. Just let me know if'n ya wanna stop, Ah won't hold it against ya...” He said, stifling another yawn. “...now let me show ya ta tha spare bedroom. Ah hope ya don't mind sharing...” 

With those last words, all the ponies found themselves in their beds for the night to sleep until the morning came. 
> Meet Applejack
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Meet Applejack!


A cockerel cawed as Celestia rose the sun into the sky, signalling the dawn of a new day. The orange glazed sky spreading it's reach over the horizon, staining the clouds a breathtakingly dark shade of the same colour.

...Rainbow, however, ignored these factors and rolled over, trying to get the sun out of her eyes, accidently taking the sheets away from Fluttershy, who was rolled over onto the floor. “Oof!” 

The cyan mare woke up and looked over the side, as the yellow filly looked up grinning sheepishly. “Um...Sorry...” 

Rainbow grunted and stretched. “Ah no biggie! I like to take a fly during the mornings anyway!” She answered, about to spread her wings...

However her left wing was stuck securely to her side. In confusion, she glanced at it and saw that it was securely wrapped in bandages. That's when the events of last night caught up to her. 

A knock sounded at the door before Lil' Macintosh walked in, a lazy smile on his face as he greeted his new friends. “Mornin' girls...” Fluttershy 'eeped' and hid behind her mane, managing to utter out a response.

“Morning Lil' Mac.” Rainbow grinned, nudging Fluttershy in the side to speak up a bit. 

“Oh...uh...Morning...” Lil' Mac motioned his head across the hall.

“There's a bathroom just across tha hall in case ya wanna freshen up. Ah already set out a couple of toothbrushes new from tha packet out on tha sink. When ya done, Granny's makin' breakfast.” He explained, leaving them to get ready. 

“They have spare toothbrushes?” Rainbow asked, confused. “How often do ponies come stay here?” Fluttershy shrugged, before catching a look at herself in the mirror. 

She gasped, horrified at the state her mane was in, stray hairs shot out, part of it looked like she (or Rainbow) had drooled on it and it was frizzy. “Oh no! I can't believe he saw me like this!” She exclaimed, albeit still quietly, and rushed to grab the mane brush. 

Rainbow rolled her eyes, glancing at the mirror herself. Her usually windswept look stared back and she grinned. Looking good, Rainbow! “Calm down, Flutters, you just woke up. I'm sure he isn't going to judge you for it.” She mentioned, before leaving. “Now if you'll excuse me, I need to use the little filly's room.” 



Big Mac was about to head out towards the barn with the two Pegasi in tow before a green hoof stopped him. 

“Hold on sonny, Ah got a quick job fer ya...” Granny Smith said, passing him a letter. “Ah need ya ta take this ta the Belle's over by Town Hall, alright?”

Big Mac nodded, smiling. “Okay Granny!” Granny smiled back and headed back inside.

“Well girls, looks like we'll be headin' down ta...t-ta...” The two shared a confused look at Mac's sudden loss of words, before he turned and rushed to get Granny Smith, pushing her out the door.

“Granny! AJ's back!” He exclaimed, excitedly, as he ran towards an orange speck with a stetson on it's head.

Rainbow suddenly remembered what she and Mac had been talking about the night before and grinned. Told ya so, Big Guy. 

Fluttershy, however, wasn't there for that conversation. So when she saw the pony she had a crush on tackle another filly to the ground in a tight hug, she felt a pang of jealousy. Who's she and why's she moving in on my guy?! 

She narrowed her eyes at the female in barely suppressed rage that is not usually affiliated with her. If she tries anything funny, she'll be laughing on the other side of her face.

Rainbow rose an eyebrow at her friend but opted to say nothing. Maybe it was just her friend's time of the month. That's what her dad says when her mom looked angry for no real reason.

The little orange filly with the blonde mane and the shared green eyes of her brother nuzzled said brother back, feeling a tear escape her eye. “Aww, Ah missed ya too, ya big lug!” She said, getting back to her hooves to nuzzle her grandmother as well. “Sorry Ah left, Granny, but Ah really wanna stay here...Ah wanna work here, it's what Ah was meant ta do...”

Just as she said this, a bright flash shone through the area and, once it cleared, her once blank flank now adorned three red apples in a triangle formation. She blinked, before glancing back and  grinned cheek to cheek. “Mah Cutie Mark!!” 

Granny Smith hugged her granddaughter, smiling widely. “Congradulations Applejack, an' welcome back. So how was it at tha oranges?”

Applejack made a face and waved a hoof. “Well it was borin' mostly, it was all these classy parties an' stuff, an' Ah just felt really uncomfortable...Though Ah did make a new friend!” 

“Who?” Mac asked.

“His name was Soarin. He was this Pegasus colt from Cloudsdale, but he came down ta Manehatten with his parents fer some sorta Wonderbolt thing...”

“Wonderbolt thing?!” Rainbow exclaimed, making her and Fluttershy's presence known to the orange Earth Pony, who suddenly had a cyan face in her's. “You got to go to the Manehatten, Wonderbolt Rally?! That's so awesome! Who was there?!”

Applejack took a step back, overwhelmed by this new pony suddenly being in her face. “Um...Who are you two?” Mac laughed a bit, moving to stand by the Pegasi.

“Well Ah made a couple o' friends too. This is Rainbow Dash...” The Cyan Pegasus smiled, seeming  ready to burst into questioning her about the Wonderbolt show again. 

“...and this here is Fluttershy.” Fluttershy shook her jealous thoughts from her head to give the filly a pleasant smile. Whether or not this filly was after her Macintosh, she'll still show her the kindness she deserved...for now.

“Well howdy! Ah'm Applejack!” Mac suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be delivering something and decided he should do just that.

“Ah hate ta go, but Ah gotta deliver a letter ta tha Belle's lil' sis, Ah'll be back in a bit.” 

Fluttershy heard that and suddenly felt kind of stupid and a little angry at all the bad thoughts she was having of the new pony. Even if she wasn't his sister, jumping to conclusions and plotting against her wouldn't have been nice at all! What would mom say to that?!

Applejack hopped up besides her brother. “Ah'll come with ya then. Besides, Ah wanna see if'n Rarity would like ta talk fer a bit.” She then motioned her head to beckon the two Pegasi over. “An' while we're at it we can give you two a tour o' Ponyville!” 

“Sounds awesome!” Rainbow agreed, nudging Fluttershy a bit. “Right Flutters?”

“Oh...um...yes...that sounds wonderful...” She answered, quietly.

“Well you youngin's have fun, Ah'll git back inside ta check on Applebloom...” Granny responded, before pausing and reaching for her saddlebags and giving Mac a few bits. “Here's some money, Mackie, git you, yer sister an' yer friends somethin' nice.” 

The red colt nodded. “Eeyup!” 

“Why'd ya say that?” Applejack asked, confused. Mac glanced at her, then at Rainbow nervously, before turning away to hide his blushing cheeks.

I said it cause tha pretty filly seemed ta think it was cool... “Um...No reason...” Rainbow rose an eyebrow.

Huh? So it wasn't a catchphrase...Ah whatever, it's still cool and...well the way he said it was just so h-No! Bad Rainbow! You know Fluttershy has a crush on him, you can't go and steal her colt! She sighed and put on her most convincing smile as the group made off towards town. 

Usually, she wouldn't have given much thought to other ponies who were after what she wanted. After all, a lot of ponies wanted to get a place on the Wonderbolts and she won't feel bad if she got a place when someone else didn't...

...but Fluttershy has a hard enough time with ponies in general, never mind with colts she likes. She doesn't need more competition.

Besides, I'm Rainbow Dash! A coltfriend would just get in my way! She thought to herself, glancing towards the colt in question. No matter how cool and good looking he is...Or how selfless and heroic he is...Or...Ah who am I kidding! I'm so totally crushing on him too...

Applejack had glanced back at Rainbow Dash, who was still staring at her brother, and smirked almost evilly. Well, well, well looks like Rainbow Flash has a crush on mah bro... She thought to herself before she took on a confused expression. Wait...It WAS Rainbow Flash, right? Or was it Rainbow Slash? Ash? Thrash? 



Cash? Stache? Brash? Mash? She continued to think to herself, not noticing the subject of her thoughts approach her from the side until she made her presence known.

“So who was there? Hurricane?! Storm Chaser?! Thunderclap?!” Rainbow asked, excitedly, bouncing alongside the orange filly who had jumped, startled by the other filly's sudden appearance.

“Huh? Oh...well Ah weren't really payin' much mind ta their names, mainly ta their flyin'. It was pretty fancy...” Applejack replied, having been impressed with the flight team...though she had spent most of the night talking and playing with Soarin.

Rainbow seemed to deflate a little at that, but still smiled. “Well...What performance did they use? Freestyle? Parade standard? Cyclone Centre Four?” Applejack shrugged, a clueless expression on her face.

“Ah'm real sorry, but Ah couldn't tell ya. Ah think me an' Soarin were playin' tic-tac-toe at that point.” She responded, gesturing apologetically to the Pegasus. Rainbow sighed and nodded.

“Ah okay...Guess I'll just have to read about it in the paper or something.” She shook the thought away and just walked next to the filly, deciding to try and make friends. “So, you're Applejack huh? Mac's told me about you.”

"Oh really..." Applejack narrowed her eyes slightly, giving a suspicious look to her brother who was making polite, but very awkward, conversation with Fluttershy. “What kind o' things did he tell ya?” 

Rainbow shook her head, and nudged the farm filly in the shoulder. “It was nothing bad! He was just telling me that he missed ya and that you went to live in Manehatten with your Aunt and Uncle.” She gave the filly a grin. “No embarrassing stories yet.”

“Good, Ah don't have ta tickle 'im ta death...” Applejack muttered, managing to sound both threatening and kind of adorable too. “So how did ya meet 'im?” 

“Believe it or not, he saved our lives from a timberwolf!” Rainbow replied, noticing Applejack's surprised look. “Yeah, he just kicked the giant thing off me like a pile of twigs then lassoed it's legs together! It was so awesome!...Well except for the part were my wing dislocated and I passed out, but it was still the coolest thing I've ever seen!”

Applejack smiled a bit, proud of her brother for his achievement, ready to tell all the other school kids about this when the summer ends. 

She also noticed Rainbow's cheeks became slightly more red as she began trailing off. “He just came outta nowhere...like a handsome red knight in shining armour, ready to defend me from anything...” 

Applejack smirked at the cyan coated filly's dreamy smile that was beginning to spread across her face as she looked towards said 'knight in shining armour', unaware that the orange filly was still listening. “Settle down there, Lovergirl...” She whispered, nudging the rainbow maned Pegasus on the side. “C'mon Rainbow Sash, if ya don't stop it, he'll turn around an' think ya crazy!” 

Rainbow had managed to snap out of it, but mainly because Applejack had gotten her name wrong. “Hey! My name's Rainbow Dash not sash!” Applejack grinned, sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Sorry 'bout that. Ah'm not so good with names...” 

“Well...I guess I can let ya off since we've only just met.” Rainbow said, grinning. “Sooo...Was he cute?” 

“Who?” Applejack asked, confused.

“Soarin, did he sweep you off your hooves?” The filly asked, making a mocking swooning voice, trying to get back at the orange farmer by embarrassing her about a potential crush, even though she was literally taking a guess on whether or not the filly had taken an interest in this guy or not.

She seemed to succeed since she saw a red tint to her new friend's cheeks. “Um...No...Ah mean, no he didn't sweep me offa mah hooves...But he is...kinda cute...” Rainbow started to laugh a bit while Applejack blush. “Shut up!”

“Ah I'm just teasing ya.” Rainbow replied, smiling. “I like you, you're a lot of fun to talk to!” Applejack smiled back, punching Rainbow in the shoulder.

“You too, Rainbow...” She glance forward and grinned, competitively. “Bet ya Ah can beat ya ta that buildin' over yonder!” Rainbow's eyes burned back, crouching in anticipation. 

“On three!” 

“Got it!” Applejack replied, crouching next to the Pegasus.

“One...Two...Three!” The two declared, taking off down the road passed Mac and Fluttershy, the later jumping and hiding behind Mac protectively.

Mac just shook his head and smiled. Jeez, Rainbow and AJ hit it off really well if they're already playing a game... 

“Um...M-maybe we should try and s-stop them? T-they could g-get hurt...” Fluttershy said, quietly, to which Mac shook his head.

“Ah'm sure they'll be fine, not many ponies on tha move this early in tha mornin'...Plus Ponyville is quite small an' AJ knows her way around, so Ah'm sure they'll be okay on their own fer a bit...” He paused for a bit before smiling. “So you were tellin' me about tha Weather Factory?”

“Oh yes...Well all the clouds are made there, but you shouldn't eat the rainbow...I made that mistake once...” Mac nodded along and listened to Fluttershy politely, but he was slightly worried about his sister and the cyan filly now that Fluttershy put the idea in his head.

Quit bein' a worry-wart! They'll be fine! He told himself, glancing forward to see that the two had stopped, arguing which one of them reached the end first. See! Stop bein' paranoid an' deliver tha dang letter!

And so the four continued on towards the Belle's residence.
> More Friendly Faces
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


More Friendly Faces


“I so totally won that time!” Rainbow exclaimed, patting the wall of the small, white house they were currently waiting at. Applejack glared back, playfully.

“Sure ya did! An' Ah'm tha Princess o' tha Griffins!” She shot back, sarcastically. 

“Oh sorry, your majesty, I mean to say I totally kicked your royal behind!” Rainbow argued, just as sarcastically. “So I win, eight to seven!” 

“...Best nine outta seventeen?” 

“You're on!” 

“Nnnope!” Mac interrupted, Fluttershy at his side. He pointed at the mail box outside the house with the name Belle on it. “We're here, so yer race is gonna hafta wait fer a bit.” 

Fluttershy smiled, nervously. “...Um. I think you're just as good as each other for what it's worth...” Rainbow sighed, shaking her head.

“I told ya, Flutters, that's not how it works. There can only be one winner!” Fluttershy nodded and smiled bashfully, while Applejack and Mac frowned in confusion.

“Then why did Stalliongrad an' Manehatten tie fer first at tha Equestrian Game's hurdles last year?” Applejack asked, confused, causing Rainbow to look at them and chuckled, a fire in her eyes. 

“Well, I guess it's just my contests with only one winner!” Applejack grinned.

“Yeah...Me!” Rainbow flinched and glared at her new friend. 

“No way! I totally won!” Mac rolled his eyes and knocked on the door to deliver the letter.

Almost as soon as his hoof hit the door, it swung open and a white Unicorn filly with a slightly frizzy, but curled up violet mane burst out, hugging the surprised colt, as a loud wailing was heard inside. 

Fluttershy started to glare at this new pony, after deducting that this one couldn't possibly be a blood relation, hoping that her gaze may cause her to perish in the spot. 

“Um...Did we come at a bad time, Rares?” Applejack asked, finally taking notice of the Unicorn who clung to Macintosh like duct tape. 

“Please get me out of here! Sweetie Belle won't stop screaming!” Rarity, the filly, exclaimed dramatically, still refusing to let go. “I can't take it anymore!”

“Um...Eeyup?” Mac said, confused. There's that word again...Well, just gunna hafta get used ta it...

“Rarity! Who's at the door?!” A surprisingly chipper voice asked as he made his way towards said door. He revealed himself to be another white Unicorn but with a greyish brown mane and moustache. 

I see where she got most of her looks. Rainbow thought to herself, feeling a slight pang of jealousy at seeing the filly embrace her crush. That filly is WAY prettier than I am! And they even live closer together too...Oh who I am I kidding, I never stood a chance at getting him...

Mac glanced up at Hondo Flanks, Rarity's father, and handed him the letter. “Hm...” He mumbled, opening the letter and skim reading it. He then smiled and sighed in relief. “Phew, good old Granny Smith came through for us!” He happily said, turning back into the house. “Go on Pumpkin, go play with your friends!” He said before closing the door, causing the crying to stop.

Applejack turned to Rarity for an explanation. “My father sound proofed the door...” She explained, before a small cough got her attention.

She looked up at Mac as he stared back. “Uh...Think ya can let go now?” He asked, nervously. Rarity blushed slightly, letting go almost immediately, as if she's only just realised what she had done. 

“Oh uh...Sorry...” She then looked and saw two new faces with them. One was a yellow and pink filly that was looking at her with utter disdain and the other was a rainbow and blue filly who looked sort of...wistful? No that wasn't the right word.

She glanced back at the two Apple ponies and hid behind Applejack in slight fear of the feral yellow one. “U-um...Who are these two?” 

Applejack turned back grinned. “These are two o' mine an' Mac's new friends! Rainbow Dash an'...uh...” Applejack stuttered, having forgotten the other one's name in all the racing. Mac rolled his eyes and finished. 

“An' tha other one's Fluttershy.” He then moved to stand next to the two Pegasi, who both seemed a bit wary of Rarity. “Fluttershy, Rainbow, this is our friend Rarity.”

“Uh...Charmed?” Rarity said, questionably, slowly moving out of hiding to greet the two properly.

Rainbow shook her jealous thoughts to the back of her head and gave the pony a pleasant smile. She seemed friendly enough and, if she was Mac's friend, that's good enough for her. “Good to meet ya!” 

Rarity was slightly relieved to see that Rainbow Dash seemed friendly, but Fluttershy still seemed...angry? For what though? I haven't done anything!

“Hello...” Fluttershy said, plainly, shuffling slightly closer to Mac. Rainbow raised an eyebrow at her.

Wow girl, it's our first day here! Try not ta kill anyone! 

“So where d'ya want to go?” Rainbow asked, trying to break the silence. 

“Ah know! We can take ya on a tour of Ponyville!” Applejack cheered, throwing one hoof around Fluttershy and the other around Rainbow. “It's ya first time here an' all!”

“Um...Tha chores...” Mac interrupted, remembering that they still have to go and clean the debris up from the orchard. Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Ah'm sure they'll still be there after a couple o' hours Mac! Besides, Granny gave us a bit o' spendin' money, so she musta known we'd be away fer a while.” Mac was about to argue back before he saw the truth in her words.

Besides... He thought to himself, glancing at Rainbow Dash. Ah haven't had a day off in a while an' Ah wanna git ta know mah friends a little better. 

“That's tha spirit Mac!” Applejack cheered, seeing him nod in acceptance. “Let's go! We can go see Town Hall first!” 

As the group started walking, he noticed Rainbow come up besides him. He smiled to himself as he felt her presence. Good choice me...Good choice...



“So when'd ya git yer Cutie Mark, Rares?!” Applejack asked, only now just noticing that her friend had three blue diamonds adorning her flank. Rarity looked back at her mark and smiled.

“Well I got it yesterday. My horn started to direct me somewhere and I followed it to the top of a hill...cliff...Something...”

“Wow, you need to work on your vocabulary...” Fluttershy let out, snarky, surprising Applejack a little. Rarity rose her own eyebrow at that, but shrugged it off.

“Yes well, after that I saw I had been taken to a giant rock! Naturally, I initially thought that my horn was on the fritz again, until a saw an explosion of colour in the sky and the rock cracked open and revealed a whole bunch of gems of different colours and varieties! I used them for the costumes in the school play and my Cutie Mark revealed itself in all it's fabulous beauty!”

“Wait...An explosion o' colour? That's tha same thin' Ah followed home. That's when Ah realised that mah home an' family are tha things Ah care about tha most and Ah got mah cutie mark!” Applejack exclaimed, smiling. “Quite a coincidence!” 

“...That's how I got my cutie mark as well...” Fluttershy admitted, motioning her head to a group of birds who flew above them. “The explosion scared the animals and I had to calm them down, that's when mine showed up...” 

She then motioned to Rainbow Dash, who was in a discussion with Mac about something. “And Rainbow Dash was the one who made the explosion by creating a Sonic Rainboom...”

“...So it seems we may all be connected...” Rarity muttered loudly enough for them all to hear. “Perhaps it is destiny that we have all met each other! Like we'll all be part of some prophecy and we'll have to save the world from evil!” She declare, causing Fluttershy and Applejack to glance at each other out of the corner of their eyes...

...Before bursting out laughing. 

“Hahahahaha! That's tha most ridiculous thin' Ah've evah heard in mah life!” Applejack chuckled, trying to contain them before they became too much.

“Heeheehee...What's this evil being going to be called? Nightmare Moon?!” Fluttershy giggled, thinking of the funniest name she could think of. 

“No! No! Maybe Discord!” Applejack joined in. “After all! There is a statue of him in the Canterlot Gardens! Maybe it'll come to life!” 

Rarity huffed and turned away from them. “I was just having fun with the idea! No need to make a mockery of me!”

“Yeah there is!” Applejack continued, jabbing her friend, lightly, in the ribs. “C'mon, Rares! Ya gotta admit, what ya said was kinda stupid!”

“Well...” She muttered, a small giggle accidently escaping her lips. “I guess it was a little silly...” She continued before she started laughing as well.

Further back, Mac glanced at them and rose an eyebrow. “Um...Did we miss tha joke?” Rainbow looked up and shrugged.

“I don't know, but don't change the subject! How could you think Supercolt is better than Spidercolt?!” Mac sighed. 

“Spidercolt was good until Spidercolt 3 came out! Ah do not like tha fact we only see Poison fer about ten minutes!”

“Oh and what of the great 'travel back in time to save his marefriend' bogus!” Rainbow argued. “At least the first Spidercolt didn't have any cop out parts to save his partner!”

“Oh, an' we're jus' gonna look over tha goofy Grey Goblin here?” Mac replied, before grinning. “Just wait until Colt of Steel comes out! That movie will be great!”

“I don't know about that...” She grinned. “I still think The Amazing Spidercolt will be better...”

“That's not comin' out fer another year! Colt of Steel shows this weekend! Ah can't wait a whole year ta debate...” He sighed, before suddenly getting a bit nervous. “Um...Hey, Rainbow...”

“Yeah?” She replied, looking up at his, noticing his slight shift in demeanour. “What's up, Mac?”

“Ah was just...Well...Did ya maybe wanna see tha movie with me?” Mac asked, suddenly feeling like one of the silliest ponies in the world for doing this. “...As friends?” 

Rainbow flinched a bit when he added that last part and held back a sigh of disdain. Damn...Well, what did I expect? We only just met yesterday. “Uh, sure! Sounds like fun!” Rainbow replied with false positiveness.  I could have at least fooled myself a bit if he didn't add that last part... 

“Cool...Hey look, that's Town Hall ahead!” He announced, pointing out the building in the distance. “C'mon, we might make it in time ta see tha Mayor!” 



“An' this is Sugarcube Corner!” Applejack announced to the two Pegasi as they entered the large, gingerbread house like structure. “This is where Mr and Mrs Cake work ta create lots o' tasty cakes an' pies an' tarts an' all kinds o' sweet desserts!” She continued, bumping into an Orange Earth Pony stallion.

He looked down and smiled. “Oh hello there Applejack!” Carrot Cake greeted, brightly, putting a tray of brownies on the counter. “Sorry about the mess, we're training a new apprentice...”

“Somepony finally answered your 'help wanted' sign?” Rarity asked. Carrot nodded.

“Yes! She used to work on a quarry with her family, but she decided to come and work for us because, apparently, rocks aren't very fun or colourful.” He answered, looking at the clock. “And you should be able to meet her now since it's lunch time and all. Pinkie!” 

Suddenly, out of the kitchen, burst a bright pink filly with a darker pink mane and baby blue eyes, three balloons adorning her flank. Her eyes lit up as she spotted the group of ponies and she bounced towards them, each leap sending her about four feet into the air, much to their amazement. 

“Hi! I'm Pinkamina Diane Pie, or Pinkie Pie for short, I'm new in town so I don't have any friends yet, so I hope we all get to be great friends! I like having friends, they're really friendly...Even though I haven't really had a friend before, unless you count my sisters, Inkie, Blinkie and Maude! But their family, so does it count? Huh? Does it?!” She asked, pressing her face directly against Big Mac's, causing him to flinch and step back.

“Um...Eeyup?” He shrugged, hoping that answer was sufficient enough. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes at the pink pony, not un-noticed by Rainbow who nudged her friend in the ribs. 

“Great!” Pinkie cheered, bouncing back and landing on the table next to Mr Cake, who smiled, tiredly at her. 

“She's a bit of a hoofful, but her cooking skills speak for themselves...” He said, collapsing into the chair behind him. “Now I'm going to take a quick nap, feel free to take the rest of the day off Pinkie...” 

“Woohoo!” She cheered, bouncing towards the group. “So what're we doing?”

“W-well...” Applejack started, trying to figure out how they managed to get roped into hanging out with this new pony. “...We were going on a tour o' Ponyville...Ah guess you can tag along since ya new here too an' all.”

“Hooray! Let's go, friendios!” She declared, bouncing outside before pausing, looking thoughtful. 

“Um...Everything alright, Dear?” She turned to face Rarity.

“How long has this text been here?”

“Text?” Mac asked, looking around. “What text?”

“WAGH!” Pinkie yelped, tripping over the last line of dialogue. “Watch what you're doing, random words describing what we're doing at this very moment!” Pinkie finished, turning her head up and bouncing away, a huge grin spread across her lips.

The group faced each other, question marks popping up over all of their heads.

“Um...What the heck is wrong with that filly?!” Rainbow finally asked.
> Business Trip
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Business Trip

The six little ponies trotted along, continuing the tour of the town to the three new ponies. “An' this here is tha market place!” Applejack announced, waving a hoof across the expanse of the circle like centre of town. “This is where most o' tha shoppin' an' business is done!”

“Ooh! Bagels!” Pinkie announced, rushing over to the stool that appeared to be selling many varieties of baked breads. Rarity followed after her since she drew the short straw and had to keep an eye on her. 

“Alrighty.” Applejack continued, looking over the three that remained with her. “Mac, can Ah get a few o' those bits.” Mac nodded and picked out a few from his saddlebags, passing them into her hoof with his mouth. 

Applejack tossed the bits into her bag and declared. “Okay, so we'll split up and meet back in the middle in about an hour, then we'll head back home. Fluttershy an' Ah will go this way, Mac, you and Rainbow go that way!” 

Fluttershy seemed physically disappointed that she was being separated from Lil' Mac, but was relieved that he was only going with Rainbow. I know I can trust her with him, there's no way she'd ever steal him from me!

Rainbow nodded in agreement, trying to remain calm, but on the inside she was freaking out a bit. Ah man! At least if I was with AJ, I could try to get my mind off of him! But now I'm going to be right next to him the WHOLE DARN TIME!

“We'll let Rarity and Pinkie know!” Applejack continued, wrapping a hoof around Fluttershy's hoof and pulling her towards a flower stand. 

Mac had looked around to try and find an interesting stand, so didn't notice his sister give Rainbow a wink. Rainbow did notice, however, and felt her face turn red from both embarrassment and a little anger. Darn you, Applejack! You did that on purpose!

“Um...Want ta look at tha mornin' comics in tha library?” Mac asked, just as nervous. He suddenly had no idea what to say around her now. All the other times he had talked to her, someone he knew was there as well, so he knew he could change an uncomfortable subject around very quickly. 

Now it was just the two of them. 

“S-sure.” Rainbow replied, before cursing herself. Did I just stutter?! Rainbow Dash does NOT stutter!

“This way then.” He answered, deciding not to question the word slip. 



When the two got into the library, they were stunned when they saw, in the centre of the room, the Princess of Equestria herself sitting regally in the centre of the building. She glanced up and them and smiled. “Oh, hello there.”

Mac and Rainbow glanced at each other, before bowing in respect. The Princess giggled a bit, despite herself, and just waved a hoof. “You may rise, my little ponies.” 

The two did and, carefully, approached the Princess. “U-um...Hi Your Majesty?” Rainbow said, waving meekly.

“Howdy.” 

“So, what brings you two to the library today?” The Princess asked. Big Mac rose an eyebrow.

“Um, pardon me, but ya ain't our new librarian, are you?” He asked, curiously. The Princess giggled a bit before replying.

“Of course not, I'm just staying here for the week to help Mayor Greyhoof with some of the new laws being put into practice. I also decided to bring my new, personal student to teach her about some of the more traditional pony ways of doing things.” She then turned to side and called. “Twilight, can you come here a minute?” 

“Coming Princess!” They heard a voice reply before a purple Unicorn filly with a dark purple mane with a pink highlight in the centre of it and a pink star surrounded by smaller white stars on her flank. “Is there anything you needed?” She asked eagerly.

The Princess nodded. “Yes there is, I'd like you to meet two of the locals.”

Twilight looked at Lil' Mac and Rainbow and suddenly felt a little nervous, shuffling behind her. “Oh um...Hi...Uh...I'm Twilight Sparkle...”

“Well howdy. Ah'm Lil' Macintosh an' this is mah friend, Rainbow Dash.” Mac answered in a friendly tone, hoping to put her at ease a little. 

“Pleased to meet ya!” Rainbow added, a little more confidently. “But I actually live in Cloudsdale, so I'm not really local.” 

“Oh, my mistake.” The Princess said, looking slightly flustered. “I guess I shouldn't have assumed.” 

She then had a thought and leaned down a bit. “Say, can you two do me a favour and show Twilight around a bit. I have a meeting to get to and I'm afraid I can't take her with me.”

“But Princess, surely I could do some studying!” Twilight argued. The Princess rose an eyebrow. 

“How is getting a tour of the town not studying?” Twilight flushed a little, having no come back for that. 

“But...But I don't want to bother them.”

“It won't be no bother at all.” Mac said, smiling. “Ah'm already showin' Rainbow around, one more won't hurt.”

“Besides, who wants to study on the weekend!” Rainbow added, causing Twilight to pout.

“I like studying...” 

“C'mon Twilight. Maybe you'll make some friends.” The Princess stressed, pushing her towards them. “I have to go, but please look after her and make sure she's back by seven.”

“Sure thing!” Rainbow answered, to which the Princess smiled and then teleported out of the room. “So c'mon Twilight! Let's go have some fun!” 

Twilight was about to respond, before a cyan hoof wrapped around her's and she was dragged out of the room. Mac, in a panic, ran after them. 

“Weren't we gonna look at tha comics!” 



Mac, Rainbow and the newly added Twilight wandered around the market stools, Mac greeting a few of the ponies he knew such as Caramel, Raindrop, Roseluck etc. Twilight kept looking around in wonder, having never been outside of Canterlot, having been a city filly her whole life. 

Rainbow just mingled between the two, pointing out some interesting things so Mac can explain them. Twilight would always be very inquisitive about the information given, up to the point when Mac would struggle to answer her questions. 

One such example of a conversation like this would be when Rainbow pointed out the Clock Tower.

“That there's tha old clock tower. Mah Granny said that mah Grand Pappy helped build that from ground zero...” Mac explained, to which Twilight replied. 

“Oh wow! In what year?” 

“909 ALBNM (After Luna Became Nightmare Moon), about nine years after Granny an' her parents claimed tha land.”

“Why did they build it?”

“It's so that everypony could tell what time it was.”

“Why didn't they just use a watch?” 

“Watches hadn't been invented yet.”

“What kind of foundations did they use?”

“...” Mac paused, trying to find the answer...Or more specifically find out what the heck foundations were!

“What are foundations?” Rainbow asked, confused. Twilight explained.

“They're the lowest load-bearing part of a building, typically below ground level.” She explained. 

“Um...Then I guess wood?” Mac answered.

“What kind of wood?” 

“Um...Wood wood?” 

“Oh look! There's Pinkie and Rarity!” Rainbow shouted, defusing the slowly turning awkward conversation, pointing towards the pink filly who appeared to have large crate on her back while she continued to hop four feet in the air per bounce while Rarity lagged behind her, obviously getting a little tired. 

“Hi guys!” Pinkie said, dropping the crate down next to her, before noticing Twilight next to them and gasping, dramatically. “Oh my gosh, another new pony!” 

Twilight recoiled a bit at the rather loud pony in front of her, not aware of the fact that Mac and Rainbow had backed away from her until Pinkie trapped her in a massive bear hug. “Oh we are going to be the bestest of best friends! I always like making friends because friends are friendly and fun and fun is fun...”

“Oh thank heavens!” Rarity declared, dramatically. “This'll keep her in one place for a little while at least...” 

“Oh c'mon Rarity, was it really that bad?” Rarity sent a small glare Rainbow's way before collapsing onto her stomach.

“No. It was worse.” Mac glanced to his left and recoiled a little as Twilight rushed behind him, using him as some kind of pony shield against the wrath of Pinkie.

“Howdy everypony!” Applejack called out to the rest of them as she and Fluttershy trotted up to them. She then noticed the purple filly and rose an eyebrow. “Um...Who's this?”

“This is Twilight.” Mac replied, moving his head so that his eye wasn't accidently poked out by the Unicorn's horn. Fluttershy, unsurprisingly, started to glare at the new pony who was standing too close to Mac for her liking. 

Rainbow, noticing this, decided to grab Twilight by the hoof and bring her over to the others. “Yup! And Twilight this is Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy!” She introduced her to them, pointing out each one with her hoof. 

Twilight blushed a bit and nervously shuffled in place. “Um...hi?” 

“Hello!” Pinkie declared, bouncing on the spot. “Are you new in town too?! This is great! We can be move in buddies!” Mac rose his eyebrow at her.

“Ah don't think that's a thin'.”

“Well I'm making it a thing!” Pinkie responded.

“An' that makes it a thin'?”

“Does that make it not a thing?”

“No?”

“No!”

“No!” Mac smiled, triumphantly, along with the pink pony. Then, after a couple of seconds thinking about it, Mac asked. “What in tarnation did we just agree on?”

Pinkie grinned, scooping Twilight up in another, unwanted hug and replied. “That as of today we are move in buddies!”

Twilight struggled in her grip and finally managed to pull away. “I'm not moving here, Pinkie! I just came with the Princess!” 

Pinkie's mane deflated like a balloon cause them to recoil a little. “Y-you don't want to be move in buddies?” She asked, pouting with a quivering lip. Twilight sighed with a deadpan look on her face.

“Fine, we can be whoa!” Twilight suddenly interrupted herself when Pinkie suddenly scooped her up again and started to treat her ribcage like a squeeze toy. 

“Yay!” 

The group watching this sighed. “I'll ask again, what the heck is wrong with that filly?” Rainbow stated and, once again, received no answer. 
> Farmin' Mishaps
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Farmin' Mishaps


The group of ponies, after they finally finishing the tour of the town, found themselves back at the farm where Granny Smith was talking to two ponies. One of them was a stallion with a very light purple coat with a rainbow mane and tail. The other was a stallion as well, but had a yellow coat and a red mane and tail. 

“Who's Granny talkin' ta?” Applejack asked, out loud. Rainbow Dash gulped nervously when she saw the purple stallion.

Uh oh... 

The two stallions turned to the group and seemed visibly relieved. “Oh thank goodness, Dash!” The purple stallion said, hugging the filly. “I was so worried about you!” 

“Fluttershy!” The other stallion cried, hugging the yellow filly in turn. “Are you hurt? Where were you?”

The group seemed a bit confused before the similarities in the stallions and fillies started to stand out and the idea seemed to click. 

“Dad!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, trying to push him away. “You're embarrassing me in front of my new friends!” She stressed further when his grip tightened. 

He, after some time, let his daughter out of his grip and set her down. However, he was now setting his daughter with a disapproving gaze. “Now young lady, you should know better than to go out alone at night.”

“But Fluttershy...”

“I know, sweetie, but you should have told a grown up,” He answered, before she had a chance to finish her sentence. His glare softened a bit when she started to look down at the ground. He sighed. “Well, I'll let you off this once. You seemed to have gone through enough.”

She smiled slightly. “Thanks dad.”

While that was going on, Fluttershy just clung back onto her father. “I don't like it at Flight Camp, daddy! I don't want to go there again!” 

“I know baby, don't worry. I won't force you to go back. Not after this,” He reassured her. 

“How did you know we were here?”

“Granny Smith got a pony called Dolty Doo to send a letter to us.” 

The four fillies and the colt just stood there, unsure of what to do, until Granny Smith cleared her throat. “Why don't you five go inside an' grab a cookie each, fresh outta tha oven.”

“Yay cookies!” Pinkie cheered, before she just seemed to disappear in front of their eyes. Twilight's eye twitched as she tried to figure out how she did that, while she was being pushed in by Applejack. Rarity trotted in afterwards, thanking Granny Smith as she went. 

Lil' Mac was about to follow before Rainbow's dad put a hoof on his shoulder. In confusion, he looked up into his grateful smile. “Thank you so much for saving her. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Mac just blushed and scuffed the ground. “Aw shucks, t'weren't nuthin'. Just doin' what felt right,” He answered, breaking eye contact to look at the ground.

“I wish more ponies shared that view,” Rainbow's dad replied, before letting him go, only to be hugged by Fluttershy's dad. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you !” He kept repeating while Mac squirmed, uncomfortably, in his hooves. Rainbow tried to contain her giggles while Fluttershy blushed, extremely embarrassed by her father's behaviour.

Rainbow's father poked Fluttershy's in the shoulder. “C'mon, Feather, I'm sure he wants to get a cookie.” 

Feather's eyes widened and he quickly let the colt go. “Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to trouble you!”

Mac just shrugged. “T'weren't no trouble,” He said, before awkwardly making his way into his home. 

After that, Feather and Rainbow's dad turned to their daughters. “Uh, well I hate to tell ya the bad news, squirt,” Rainbow's dad started. “But the Flight Camp officials said that leaving the area without permission is grounds for exclusion so...”

“Aw man...” Rainbow said, scuffing the ground. “That stinks. So much for a vacation...”

“You could always stay here,” Granny Smith said, causing Rainbow to turn. “It ain't no trouble an', if'n yer vacation was cancelled, doesn't seem fair fer ya ta have no vacation at all.”

“Well that's really nice of you Mrs Smith,” Rainbow's father said, turning to his daughter. “So what do you think, kid?”

Hm...Stay here with Mac, Granny and AJ or go home to stay in my room all summer. Easy! “Thanks Granny Smith!” She said. Her father turned.

“Alright, how much do I owe you?” 

“Oh, no payment necessary. It'll be a delight ta 'ave her here,” Granny answered. “Lil' Mac don't make a whole lotta friends, so it'll be nice ta see 'im spend time with one.”

“Can I stay too?!” Fluttershy asked, a little too eagerly, to which her father seemed concerned.

“Are you sure, sweetie?” Fluttershy nodded, to her father, before looking up at Granny pleadingly.

“Why sure ya can! Tha more tha merrier,” Granny Smith answered. Rainbow's dad grinned, nudging Feather away from his daughter. 

“Well, see ya in a month, Rainbow!” Her dad called out to her, before he flew away, taking Feather with him. 

“Yay!” Fluttershy cheered, softly, to herself, to which Rainbow rolled her eyes.

Jeez Flutters, could you be any more obvious! 



“Yay! A whole month of fun!” Pinkie cheered as multi coloured confetti exploded out of her mane and showered the whole group, causing Twilight's eye to twitch again.

“Are you okay Twilight?” Pinkie asked. Twilight sighed.

“Yeah. Just a brain aneurysm from sheer stupidity...” Pinkie whistled.

“Wow, from all those big words I would've never guessed you were that stupid!” She replied, oblivious to the obvious sarcasm, to which Twilight's head slammed into the table in front of them, jolting all the glasses of milk around. 

“Um...Hey Pinkie, wanna help me feed tha chickens?” Applejack asked, picking up the bag of chicken seed. This Twilight seemed to be having trouble dealing with the pink filly so decided to try to distract her.

“Chickens! I love chickens! Cause you can't make a cake without eggs. Well you can, but the way you should make a cake is with eggs, otherwise the mix won't bind together and the whole thing will come apart so it'll probably be more like crumbs then a cake...” Pinkie's voice seemed to get quieter and quieter as they got further and further from the other five ponies.

Rarity sighed in relief. “Thank heavens,” She said, taking a sip of her milk. “I'm not sure if my ears could take another Pinkie rant...”

Mac rose an eyebrow. “Aw shucks, she ain't that bad. She's just bein' herself.” 

“Oh I know, Mac. It's not that I don't like her, it's just that she seems to be more inclined to talking to herself, more so than us.”

After a small pause, Rainbow just shrugged. “Well I think she's really fun!”

Twilight rose an eyebrow at her once Fluttershy put an ice pack on her head. “Weren't you the one asking what was wrong with her earlier?” 

“Hey, everyone has something wrong with them! Nopony's perfect!” She defended, swigging the last of her milk down and knocking it back on the table. “I, apparently, don't have very good table manners!” 

“I can't imagine who'd dare say such a thing,” Rarity said, sarcastically, followed shortly by a rather loud burp from Rainbow Dash. 

“Sorry,” She said quickly. Lil' Mac just grinned and let out a larger one in response. 

“Ah no need ta apologise, better out than in is what Ah say,” Rarity and Twilight cringed and shuffled away from the two. Fluttershy just stayed put, trying her hardest to hold her breath to maintain her place next to Mac. 

Rainbow laughed and pumped a hoof in the air. “Amen to that!” 



Lil' Mac pulled the cart his yoke was attached to forward and through the forest, the six fillies following behind him. “So all we hafta do is gather all tha twigs, stones an' branches lyin' around an' pop 'em in tha cart!” Applejack explained as she flicked a stick into the cart. 

“Why?” Twilight asked, igniting her horn and levitating a few stones into the cart. 

“Well it's so that we don't trip an' hurt ourselves in tha orchard an' tha apples that Mac bucks from tha trees falls on tha nice soft ground rather than, say, a big rock. Last thin' a pony would want is a bruised apple!” Applejack answered, noticing Rarity lagging behind a bit. “You okay back there, Rares?” 

“Mud...So much mud...” Rarity murmured, carefully manoeuvring around a large, mud puddle. Rainbow, who was standing beside her, rolled her eyes. 

“C'mon Rarity! A little dirt won't kill ya,” Rarity glared at Rainbow before saying.

“Do you know that for sure?!” 

“Mud can't kill anypony, silly filly!” Pinkie piqued in from behind, diving head first into the mud, sending a few splotches towards the two. Rainbow took it like a champ but Rarity screamed, dramatically as it covered both of their faces.

Pinkie then surfaced out of the fairly shallow mud pile and gave the two a big, toothy grin. “See?!”

Rarity looked down, seeing her pristine white fur stained with mud, her face starting to turn red from both anger and embarrassment. 

Rainbow noticed and turned to Pinkie with a deadpan expression. “Pinkie. Run.” 

Pinkie tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Run? Run from wha...”

“I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, PINKIE!!” Rarity screamed to the heavens as she dove into the startled pink pony, who dived into the mud puddle after taking a breath. Rarity splashed around the fetlock high mud, trying to find Pinkie. “WHERE ARE YOU?!” 

Rainbow glanced at the rest of the group and noticed a bit of pink in the cart, hiding under a pile of leaves. “Um...Rarity? We're falling behind,” She explained. “Maybe you should save your...”

“THERE SHE IS!!!” Rarity exclaimed, interrupting Rainbow, and charged towards the cart. Pinkie saw this and jumped out of the cart, past the four perplexed ponies.

Lil' Mac, Applejack, Twilight and Fluttershy were about to call after Pinkie before Rarity passed by them like a Wonderbolt, almost toppling them over in the process.

Rainbow trotted up to them, looking towards where the pair of ponies had disappeared. “Um...Shouldn't we do something about that?”

“Nnnope!” Lil' Mac exclaimed, picking up a rock with his teeth to throw it into the cart. “Ah ain't touchin' that issue wit' a ten foot pole!” 

“Seconded!” Fluttershy agreed, looking over yonder with a sense of fear over the white Unicorn....Wouldn't stop her from messing with her face if she made a move on Mac, but still!

“Thirded!” Applejack joined in, Twilight sighing in response.

“Thirded isn't a word, Applejack,” She complained, causing Rainbow to snicker. Twilight rose a bemused eyebrow at her. “What?”

“We woo, we woo! Egghead alert!” She teased, running a couple of circles around the purple Unicorn. “We woo, we woo!” 

“Stop it! I'm not an Egghead!” Twilight argued, turning her head away. “It's not Egghead like to tell somepony that something they say isn't a word in the dictionary!”

“How do you know?” Rainbow accused, grinning. “Did you check the whole dictionary?” 

“Um yeah? Why?” Applejack started laughing as well at that point, leaning on a nearby tree trunk. 

“Seriously! Tha dictionary!” Applejack cried out, almost falling over when Rainbow fell into her, still laughing at the absurdity of it. 

Twilight started to blush when Lil' Mac and Fluttershy gawked in her direction as well. “W-well...I like reading and I had read everything else...It's normal...”

“About as normal as readin' tha phone book...” Lil' Mac muttered to himself, actually managing to get a giggle out of Fluttershy too. Twilight's eyes shot open further and glance to the ground, blushing in embarrassment. 

Lil' Mac was about to ask what was wrong before it dawned on him. “Wait! You have read tha phone book?!” 

“Not a lot of books left...” Twilight huffed. Rainbow, finally getting over her laughing fit, wrapped her free wing around Twilight's barrel in a Pegasi hug. 

“Ah cheer up! We're only teasing! Besides I'm sure you can read all the books you want while living in the library!” Twilight sighed, but did let out a little giggle.

“I guess...Maybe they have the new Sherlock Hooves book!” She exclaimed, suddenly very excited to get back to the library after the day was over. Rainbow rolled her eyes as the group continued.



An hour later, after they found Pinkie and Rarity panting, covered in dirt, mud, leaves, twigs and just about anything you can name that might be lying on the ground in an orchard, Lil' Mac stood, looking up into a large golden delicious tree, several baskets scattered around.

Applejack watched with the utmost attention while everypony else was wondering what was going on. 

“Um...Applejack?” Rainbow whispered to her, half afraid of breaking the silence in the area. “Not that the tree isn't cool or anything, but why are we sitting here and watching one?”

Applejack grinned and bumped her hoof into her shoulder. “Do not go an' pretend that you've been lookin' at tha tree, unless ya wanted 'im ta save ya from it?” She teased, which Rainbow was quick to blush at, quickly checking to make sure Fluttershy hadn't heard.

Luckily, Fluttershy had been busy doing what Rainbow was totally not doing and staring at Lil' Mac intently, almost as if she was trying to imprint his image into his mind. 

With this sorted, Rainbow shoved Applejack back and repeated her question, not even bothering to acknowledge her rebuttal. “Why are we looking at a tree?”

“Well...” Applejack started, looking back to see that Mac was taking a few steps away from the tree. “...Yer about ta see, now please be quiet, I love watchin' 'im do this!” 

Rainbow turned her head to watch as Lil' Mac charged towards the tree, his eyes seeming to stare intently at one point in the bark.

As soon as he was one step away from colliding with the tree bark, he stopped, using his momentum to swing his hips around and slammed his back hooves into the bark of the tree, about four foot up the tree from the base. 

The whole tree vibrated for a few seconds before the plump, golden delicious apples fell from the branches and landed into and around the baskets, some rolling around a little before coming to a stop. 

Lil' Mac nodded to himself before he realised he had an audience and he felt a small weight on his back. Before he could register what was going on, he was suddenly assaulted by a pair of large baby blue eyes staring right into his. “Wowee! How did you do that?! Was it strength, magic, telekinesis, luck, power, endurance, a wobbly tree, precision, strategy...?”

Mac, startled, jumped back and tripped over one of the apples behind him, slipping backwards sending Pinkie over forwards, still spewing words from her maw like water out of  hose. 

Rainbow, who was just about to help get Pinkie off of his back, only had a few seconds to register the little, red rolling blur before it collided into her and she joined the ball. 

The other fillies had gathered on top of the small hill, watching as the blue and red wheel continued down until it hit the bottom.

Rainbow's head was spinning around as she leaned up to try to get back to her hooves, desperate to stop being dizzy. However, as she did, she felt her forehead collide with another, luckily without the force necessary to headbutt somepony.

She opened her eyes wide as a pair of shocked green ones looked back. 

The two just remained like they were, staring at one another, their foreheads still pressed together, snouts about a centimetre apart. If one of them were to move unexpectedly they'd have probably been kissing. 

Suddenly, the full weight of the embarrassing situation hit Rainbow, as well as how guilty she felt for having feelings for somepony her best friend wanted so bady. So she, flushed red and a hint of a tear in her eye, pushed Mac off of her and ran off.

The others got down the hill and helped Mac off of his flank, still a little shell shocked by what had happened. “Mac, what happened?” Applejack asked, concerned over her brother and her friend's well being. 

“Ah...Ah don't know...Did Ah upset her?” He shook the thoughts from his head and chased after the filly. “Rainbow wait!”

Fluttershy was about to pursue, both in concern for her best friend and her crush, before she paused. Wait, no Fluttershy! Rainbow's upset about something that happened with Lil' Mac, so you need to leave them alone to figure it out! Besides, we can trust Rainbow! She's our best friend!

During all of this, Pinkie had finished asked her question when she spotted Lil' Mac running away. She tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Was it something I said?”
> Hearts Merged and Heart Broken
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hearts Merged and Heart Broken


Rainbow sat in the shade of one of the trees far from the area her friends were, allowing her tears to fall free. Her free wing was being used to hug her own torso in an attempt to try and stop her chest from hurting. 

Why was she feeling like this?! She had only met Lil' Mac yesterday and she was already crying about it as if he had just cheated on her or something! She was Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in her school and coolest filly out there! She did not cry and she certainly didn't cry over something as silly as this!

But, no matter how many times she reminded herself of this, it only made the pain feel worse. As if she knew that she wasn't even kidding herself, much less anypony else. Applejack had picked up on her crush almost immediately and they had only met today!

Maybe I should just tell him and be done with it... She thought to herself, sighing. At least then I can get the rejection out of the way early and we can get past it quicker.

But she knew that was unlikely. After all, they were going to be in the same house for the whole month and avoiding him if it didn't blow over quickly was nigh impossible. 

She was suddenly ripped from her thoughts when she felt a firm but gentle foreleg wrap around her back and pull her into a small embrace. She sniffled and looked up at Lil' Mac's worried face. “What...?”

“Ah dunno, looked like ya needed one,” He shrugged, letting his hoof gently rub her shoulder comfortingly. 

She turned back down, but pressed up against him a little more. Finding warmth in his embrace.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, her letting out tiny little sobs and him just letting her let them out before she suddenly found herself and used her uninjured wing to rub her face free of the water stains. As if trying to salvage some of the image she wanted him to have of her. 

Lil' Mac just tiled his head slightly to face her with a questioning look. “Why did ya start cryin'? Ah didn't knock yer wing, did Ah?”

Rainbow looked up and shook her head, biting her lip slightly when she realised how close the two of them actually were to each other. 

Lil' Mac sighed a little and smiled as comfortingly as possible, trying to find out why his new friend/ first crush was bawling her eyes out after falling down the hill with him. “C'mon, you can tell me. Ah promise Ah won't laugh.”

She cringed at the thought of him laughing at her about her feelings for him. That'd hurt a lot more than just being shot down. She started trying to think of an excuse.

She couldn't use the 'knocked the wing' one since she just said that wasn't why she was crying, but everything else she came up with was ridiculous. Heck, the actual reason she was crying was quite ridiculous! 

She sighed through her nose and turned to him, knowing that she wasn't going to be getting away with lying since he said that his family could spot a lie coming from a mile away, and decided to answer the best she could. 

“I...I...I-I...” Dammit brain, work with me here! “Fluttershy has a crush on you!” 

Lil' Mac recoiled a little, his eyes widened in surprise. “She does?” He asked, confused. 

Rainbow cursed herself in her head. Now to add to her ever growing pile of problems she was having, she had just betrayed her best friend's trust! Dammit brain, this is going just about as well as wrapping yourself in tin foil and flying through a thunderstorm!

“Uh...I mean...I uh...” Mac looked down at her, still surprised at what she had just said. 

“So, how does Fluttershy havin' a crush on me affect you?” He asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. 

Rainbow clenched her eyes shut and turned her head away from him. Lil' Mac sighed and removed his hoof from her side. “Ah understand if ya need some space...” 

Rainbow, in a panic, grabbed the hoof he had just pulled back. “Wait! I'll tell you, but please don't leave yet!” Mac jumped a little at her sudden volume shift, but decided to hear her out. After all, he could wait.

He laid back down next to her and she pressed herself back into him, all the while still trying to put together her jumbled thoughts. C'mon Rainbow just pony up and tell him! The worst he could do is say he doesn't feel the same way!

“I...I really like you...” She said in a Fluttershy like mumble, effectively meaning that he had struggled to hear her.

“Um...Sorry Rainbow, Ah didn't rightly hear ya,” He responded, shifting his head towards her a little. 

Rainbow just sighed and looked up at him. Well, She thought to herself, clenching her eyes shut. Actions speak louder than words! 

With that, she inched closer to him and rubbed her nose against his very softly, almost as if it were just a whisper of wind that had flown past. But Mac understood the gesture all too well and had frozen in place at the contact.

Time seemed to stand still as Rainbow just sat up, looking at the colt who looked as if he had seen a ghost or something. 

She manoeuvred her way around so she was sat in front of him and waved her hoof in front of his face, anxiously. “Um...Lil' Mac?” She said, almost as if he would snap at her if she had disturbed him. 

He sat up and shook his head. He then looked deep into her eyes, his deep green staring intently into her magenta irises. 

She was about to turn to run and cry some more, taking his silence as rejection enough, before he suddenly stepped forward and pressed his snout against hers, rubbing it ever so slightly. 

Her eyes never left his as he did this and she noticed a relieved kind of happiness behind them. She couldn't help but to smile and rub her nose back against his, her head tilting up slightly to meet his slightly taller frame. 

The two seemed oblivious to the rest of the world as they nuzzled against each other in the afternoon sun. So oblivious in fact, that they didn't notice that someone else had spotted them. 

Someone with a yellow coat, a pink mane and now tear filled blue eyes as she turned tail and ran from the scene in front of her.
> When Fluttershy Met Angel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


When Fluttershy Met Angel


Fluttershy settled down near the edge of the Everfree Forest, close to an abandoned cottage, and finally felt she was far enough away to let her tears out. 

She felt betrayed. That was the short answer. Betrayed that her best friend and gone behind her back and stole Lil' Mac right from underneath her. She thought, out of everypony, she could trust her best friend not to do something like that.

But it wasn't like she would do something about it. What could she do? If Lil' Mac wanted to be with her then she had no say in the matter. 

She may have been a bit venomous to those she thought were trying to home in on him, but if he wanted to be with them, it was his choice...even if she didn't agree. 

Maybe if it had been Twilight or Rarity then she would have taken it a bit less...personally. But Rainbow decided to one; not tell her that she had feelings for him as well, two; go behind her back as if she were some double agent, and three; break her trust.

Fluttershy sighed as ideas were forming in her head. Ideas that seemed way too disgusting to actually go about setting into motion...

...ideas to break them up.

I can't do that! She thought to herself, trying to shake them out. I know I want Lil' Mac, but he obviously doesn't want me! There's little to no point in breaking them up!

She sighed as she rubbed the last of her tears away. There were surprisingly little she had to let out. “Maybe I'm overreacting...” She said to herself, quietly. Almost as if she were afraid she were being spied on. “...besides, she looked so happy with him and I've never seen her that happy before...”

She was about to let it go before she glanced up and noticed that she wasn't alone. Before her stood a tiny little, pure white, baby bunny rabbit who was sniffing her, curiously. “Oh, hi there,” Fluttershy said, surprised at the sudden appearance but delighted at the sight of the adorable creature. 

Said rabbit nuzzled his face into her cheek, trying to dry her tear stained cheeks for her, causing her to giggle. “Heehee, aren't you just the cutest little thing!” She cooed, carefully scooping the baby bunny up into her hooves. The bunny seemed to almost smile up at her, his eyes sparkling. 

She giggled again and deposited him into her mane, causing him to snuggle into it. “Awe!” She cooed again, smiling brightly and forgetting why she had come out here in the first place. 

She, gaining some confidence from having her new little friend, decided to confront Rainbow Dash about this new development between her and Mac. Maybe she ran off before Rainbow even got the chance to tell her. Maybe Rainbow only just started to develop those types of feelings for him and didn't get the chance to tell her.

She smiled again, hoping beyond hope that Rainbow will tell her. Sure it'll hurt, but it would hurt a lot more to know that she was lied to. 

The little bunny looked down, questioningly, causing Fluttershy to pause once she noticed him. “Oh! Right, I guess I should fill you in,” Fluttershy said, explaining the whole situation to to the rabbit.

It looked down at her, a confident little smirk playing on his lips as he pointed out the farmhouse and the blue Pegasus who was currently getting her bandage replaced by Granny Smith. “Oh, um...maybe we should talk to her later. She looks awfully busy right now.”

The bunny looked down and frowned, folding his arms in front of him before pointing to the colourful one. “R-really? Right now?”

The bunny nodded, giving her a reassuring smile and pat on the head to indicate that he was here for her. “Well...No, you're right! I need to talk to her now or I may never never work up the nerve again!” She declared to herself out of earshot of the others, before marching up to Rainbow and Granny.



“That wing ya got there seems ta be healin' right quick,” Granny said as she manoeuvred the bobby pin to hold the bandage around her wing in place. “Ah reckon ya can git ta flyin' again by tomorrow evenin', but better make it tha followin' day jus' ta be sure.”

“Thanks Granny, I really appreciate it,” Rainbow replied, glancing at her wing longingly. She couldn't wait to be able to start flying again and to show off her moves to her new friends...especially one friend inparticular. 

She blushed as she remembered nuzzling with Lil' Mac earlier, a silly smile spreading on her face. She just felt so happy! She couldn't ever remember being this happy. Even when she got her cutie mark.

She was about to follow Granny Smith inside to join her and the rest of her friends for dinner before she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned around and shrunk down a bit when she came face-to-face with Fluttershy. Aw man! I completely forgot about her!

Rainbow noticed her friend's hurt looking eyes and frown and reeled back, expecting to be slapped, punched, kicked or all of the above.

“Can I talk to you, Rainbow? I-in private...” She heard Fluttershy say in her usually quiet voice. Rainbow squinted her eye open and noticed that Fluttershy was also struggling to look her in the eye. 

“U-uh...S-sure,” Rainbow responded, glancing at the farm house and noticing that dinner hasn't been served just yet, so they did have a little time. “But let's not stray too far, okay?!” She quickly added, sounding a little panicked, despite herself.

Fluttershy nodded, hearing a positive squeak from her scalp. She smiled to herself, proud to have made it this far. The affectionate nuzzle she got from the baby bunny didn't hurt either.

The two rounded the corner of the farm house and stood, just out of earshot of the six inside. 

They stood like that, staring at each other, expecting one another to speak first.

Fluttershy felt a little tap on her head and sighed, knowing that she'll have to be the first to speak up. “I...um. I saw you and Lil' Mac earlier...”

“Uh...It wasn't what it looked like!” Fluttershy gave Rainbow the stink eye.

“Really? Because it looked like the two of you were nuzzling, romantically,” There was a pause that lasted all of a few seconds as Rainbow collected her thoughts.

“...Okay it was exactly what it looked like...” Rainbow replied, stepping back slightly. “...Look, if you're going to beat me up, do me a favour and avoid the wings?”

Fluttershy's own eyes shot open and she took a step back, mortally offended. “You thought I was going to beat you up?!” She practically shouted, causing Rainbow to flinch back again.

“Um...yeah?” She answered, as if it were obvious. Fluttershy's disbelieving eyes fell to the ground, before raising them back towards Rainbow, a small mist gathering in them.

“Do...d-do you really think th-that low of m-me...?” Rainbows own eyes flew open at that and she tried to say something.

“Well...er...I just...with the looks you were giving the others...I er...” 

Fluttershy felt a nuzzle on her scalp and knew she had someone backing her. It gave her the strength to not break down completely. “I-I gave those looks to the others b-because I didn't know them!” She clarified. “They were strangers at that point, Rainbow, I didn't know whether they were nice or not! I know that now, obviously, and I'd never, ever, ever hurt a friend on purpose!” 

Rainbow rubbed her forehoof, now feeling very ashamed of herself. She was supposed to know Fluttershy inside out. She trusted the girl, but this whole thing with Lil' Mac just seemed to have been blown way out of proportion. It apparently made her a little paranoid.

“I...I'm sorry, Flutters...” Rainbow finally managed to say, letting her head droop down. “I..I should have told you yesterday that I had feelings for him as well...I just...I didn't want to hurt you...”

Fluttershy, for her part, let Rainbow continue. “I was going to back off! I swear it! You never had much confidence in yourself and I thought that you getting a coltfriend would help! I also thought that it was more likely that he'd like you more, considering that you're way prettier than I am!”

“And it did give you confidence! You'd never glare at anyone before and would always just let ponies push you around! But, from the look in your eye, I saw that you'd stand your ground against anyone that came after Lil' Mac! I...Just kinda assumed that would include me...” Rainbow sighed sadly and looked up at Fluttershy again.

Fluttershy was crying, once more, as she gave the blue Pegasus a hug. “Rainbow! You were going to give up being happy just so I could get a little b-braver?” Fluttershy giggled a bit, confusing Rainbow a bit. “That's one of the silliest things I've ever heard!”

“Wh-what?”

“Rainbow, I don't need a coltfriend for that! You make me feel braver everyday you remain my friend!” She admitted, nuzzling her friend's cheek. “You're the best flyer in our whole school! You could hang out with all of the cool kids! But instead, you decided to stick with me! That gives me the strength to even turn up at school most days!” 

She let go of Rainbow and gave her a wide smile. “And now I have even more friends! Sure I don't have a coltfriend, but there's plenty of time to worry about that! And, with all of your help, I might actually build the confidence to talk to the colt I'll like about it.”

She sighed wistfully, giving Rainbow one last smile. “Lil' Mac just wasn't meant for me. So, if you want my blessing, you have it.” 

Rainbow stood there, completely shocked by this turn of events. She was sure Fluttershy was going to be angry! So sure of it! But...

Rainbow grinned, almost bouncing with excitement. Feeling like Pinkie Pie on a sugar rush and hugged the butter yellow Pegasus so tightly it almost caused her eyes to pop out. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” 

She let go, allowing Fluttershy to catch her breath as Rainbow started towards the farmhouse. “You're welcome,” She felt a tap on her hoof and looked down to see the bunny looking up at her, a proud smile on his face. “And thank you, you lil' cutie, I'd have never had talked to her if it wasn't for you, my little guardian angel.”

A thoughtful expression came over her features as the bunny scurried up her tail, over her back and into her mane once more. “I like that. Angel...What do you think?”

The bunny looked down and nodded, smiling lazily. Fluttershy smiled, widely, and squeed. “Well, from here on out, we're a team Angel bunny!” 
> Rainbow's Biggest Fan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Rainbow's Biggest Fan


Rainbow Dash giddily bounced on her hooves in front of the door to the farm house in the early morning, her wings buzzing in her excitement, now allowing her full reign of her flight abilities. She had to love the Pegasi racial, accelerated healing factor! 

Due to Pegasi having hallow, light and fragile bones, they needed something other than flight to compensate for them. The accelerated healing factor allows Pegasi to heal physical injuries at three times the speed to that of any other species. (Head cannon for me!)

The reason for her excitement was that Lil' Mac had asked her for a date later today and she had eagerly agreed, still not quite believing her luck. She had gushed about it to Applejack, who had found it quite amusing to find her friend so excited about a simple little picnic in the local park. 

But AJ had seen how much this meant to the cyan filly and just listened to her rambling. Allowing her to gush, not noticing that their conversation had been overheard. 

Fluttershy and her new companion, Angel Bunny, stood next to Rainbow, wiping the sleep out of her eyes. “Rainbow, I know you're excited, but did you have to wake up so early?” She asked, indicating to the horizon of dark orange and a star spotted sky. “The Sun's not even up yet.” 

Rainbow turned and settled down on her hooves, blushing. “Sorry Fluttershy, I didn't mean to wake you and...uh...Angel up, but I'm just so excited!” Fluttershy shook her head of the residual jealousy that she felt bubbling up at her words. 

Even if Fluttershy was okay with Mac and Rainbow being together, it didn't mean she was on board 100%. She was still a tinsy bit disappointed that the only nice colt she had ever met was almost immediately taken off the market, so to speak. But she was trying her hardest not to have any negative feelings towards her friend...

...Besides, one disturbing dream about it was enough for her and she made a note to get her mother to call one of those talking Doctors for her.

They both suddenly heard the door open and turned in alarm to find Lil' Mac up and at 'em, smiling brightly at the pair. “Mornin' girls,” He greeted them, giving the pair a friend nuzzle on the cheek. 

Fluttershy squealed, cutely, and turned away, causing Angel to jolt awake from his little nap and glance down at his new friend, a little peeved. Rainbow just smiled widely and returned the nuzzle with a giggle. 

“Morning Lil' Mac. I hope we didn't wake you up,” She replied, looking a little sheepish as she pulled away. 

“Eenope,” He answered, before blushing and coughing to hide his embarrassment of, once again, making up a new word and making himself look a little silly. “Ah mean, no ya didn't. Ah usually git up early ta feed tha chicken, pigs an' other animals.”

“Ooh! Can I help?!” Fluttershy volunteered, immediately, after hearing the part about animals. “Animals are my special talent, after all, and I'd like to meet some of the ones that I didn't get to meet in the forest.”

“Only if ya wanna, Ah ain't gonna force ya,” Mac replied, but didn't receive any type of rejection from her. He then turned to Rainbow, who had taken to hovering off the ground a good five feet up. “You wanna help feed tha animals with us, Rainbow?”

“Huh?” Rainbow responded, looking down at him. “Uh yeah, sure, just let me get my morning flight patterns out of the way first!” She declared, before she turned and shot up at high speed, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. 

Mac's eyes widened in wonder as he shot forward into the more open ground and craned his neck up to see. Fluttershy just remained on the porch, not trusting herself to be alone while sitting next to Lil' Mac. She knew that Rainbow Dash tends to be a little oblivious to the rest of the world when she's doing her flight routines and didn't want her...'less subtle' side out. 

Rainbow closed hers eyes as she felt the wind rush through her mane, spinning around in mid air in a corkscrew motion, leaving behind a twirling rainbow contrail for all observers to see. 

Mac's eyes sparkled as he followed her every movement, not wanting to miss even a single second of the extravagant sky dance that she was preforming for him and Fluttershy. His smiled brightened further when she came up and in a wide arc, making it seem like an actual rainbow had appeared in the presence of the rising sun. 

She stayed in the air with a proud smirk on her face, smug in the knowledge that her little hiccup hadn't affected her flight capabilities. 

She then descended to the ground as fast as she could, only just now noticing the round of applause that Lil' Mac and Fluttershy were giving her.

She smirked, proudly, and bowed to her 'fans' as she descended. “Thank you! Thank you! I try,” She said before pausing mid-bow in thought. She then grinned in realisation. “Ah who am I kidding, there's no try about it!” 

“Ah'll say, that was one o' tha most amazin' things Ah've ever seen!” Lil' Mac praised, approaching the filly as she dropped onto her hooves...

...as soon as she did though, she gave out a startled yelp before she tripped over and fell onto her side. 

“Rainbow!” Her friends cried, rushing towards her as she groaned and sat up. “Are you okay?” 

“Ah I'm fine,” She waved them off, blushing in embarrassment, rubbing the back of her head. “Landing on the ground here is a lot different to landing on the ground in Cloudsdale. Less squishy,” She replied, pressing her hoof against the dirt of the Earth in front of her, only for it to maintain it's form.

“Yeah, I noticed that too,” Fluttershy muttered, also pawing at the ground in front of her. Lil' Mac just sat there, his eyebrow up and his eyes puzzled. 

Ah kinda wish Ah knew what a cloud felt like now, He thought to himself, staring at one floating by his homestead, obviously one that had yet to be taken care of by the weather team after yesterday's partial cloudy day. Then Ah might know what this difference is.

“Ah well, what doesn't kill ya, hurts like heck!...Or something along those lines,” Rainbow shrugged, bouncing to stand by her newly appointed coltfriend. “To the animals!”



The three, after about an hour of getting all of the animals fed and cleaning out the chicken coop (Rainbow being mere moral support for that particular chore) they noticed a pair of ponies leaving Granny Smith, who was waving at them cheerfully.

“Who was that Granny?” Lil' Mac asked, approaching his grandmother who appeared to be holding onto a foal in her hooves.

“That was some o' ya Mah an' Pa's old friends. They're goin' on their second honeymoon so we'll be lookin' after their little bundle o' joy for tha week,” Granny explained, noticing the little foal looking around. 

Granny smiled at Fluttershy's shining eyes at the mention of another foal, Mac and Rainbow looking curious as well. “Alright y'all, say hello ta little Scootaloo,” She said, revealing the filly to them.

She was an orange furred Pegasus filly with a purple mane and wide open, purple eyes. 

She looked at the three before her eyes locked onto to Rainbow Dash and her little brain, surprisingly, made the connection to the pretty colours she saw from her crib this morning. 

She squealed, happily, and buzzed her tiny wings, latching herself around Rainbow's neck. “Pwetty!” She giggled, hugging the surprised filly tightly. 

“Awe!” Fluttershy gushed, looking over the interaction with great interest. “She's so precious!”

“Ah think she likes ya, Rainbow,” Lil' Mac teased, using his hoof to support the baby and keep her up when her little wings finally gave up.

“Uh...Thanks?” She said, looking down at the baby in confusion. “Um...When do ya think she'll let go?” 

“Oh sorry, Hun, let me get her,” Granny replied, lifting the filly off of Rainbow and back into her own hooves. Scootaloo, however, kept reaching out, trying to get another hug.

“No! No! No!” She protested, twisting and turning in Granny Smith's grip to hug the 'Pwetty Pony' again. Rainbow shuffled her hooves, feeling a little guilty. Besides, it did feel nice having the foal hug her. 

“Uh, actually, can you put her on my back? I can carry her better that way,” She asked Granny, hopefully. Granny just grinned and put the foal onto Rainbow's back, who cheered and snuggled her face into the back of Rainbow's mane. Rainbow smiled and smiled even further when little further when Lil' Mac stood next to her. 

Granny had already gone inside by the time this happened and Fluttershy made to follow, hoping to get some food for her and Angel. She glanced back, noticing Rainbow with the little foal snuggled up on her back, Mac standing a little taller at her side. “Awe...”

Mac glanced at Rainbow's blushing face as she looked at the foal, then to him, then the foal before her thoughts became a little clearer to him. His face paled a little and he nudged her to move. “Okay, one step at a time hey Rainbow?”

“...I will teach this filly to fly someday!”
> Advice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Advice


After Granny had finished breakfast, Applejack had rushed downstairs to join Mac, Rainbow and Fluttershy at the table, Applebloom giggling as she bounced around on her back. 

Mac rose an eyebrow at his little sister. “Are ya sure Applebloom is safe like that?”

“Sure Ah'm sure Mac! Little gal's got quite tha grip!” She replied, turning to nuzzle the little filly who squealed and giggle a little more. She then noticed the other little foal sitting in the spare high chair next to Rainbow. “An' who's that? Did tha stork bring us another sister?”

“Not quite, Dearie,” Granny replied, setting a stack of pancakes down on the middle of the table. “Ah'm lookin' after her fer a friend.”

“Okay!” Applejack said, brightly, setting up another high chair beside Scootaloo's. “Why don't ya make a friend, Applebloom?” 

The group watched as Applejack sat Applebloom down and said foal glance at the new orange one. She smiled and booped the Pegasus in the nose who, in turn, booped her back giggling.

“Aw well ain't that...” Mac was interrupted by a knock at the door and stood to answer, Rainbow following suit, noticing that Scootaloo was preoccupied with Applebloom to notice her escape. 

They opened the door to find none-other than Rarity standing there, another sleeping foal on her back and several bags under her eyes. “Uh...Hi Rarity?”

“Yo,” Rainbow added, eyeing the suitcase next to her. “What's the bag for?” 

Rarity huffed and glared at the ground in front of her. “My parents have gone on vacation and only just told me this morning! They just dumped Sweetie Belle on me, told me to pack my bags, get the foal's things and go to the farm!”

“...That might actually explain what the letter was about,” Rainbow mentioned, not really knowing what else to say. Rarity sighed, ignoring Rainbow's comment and was about to pick up her bags before Lil' Mac did it for her. 

“Yer the guest, Ah got 'em,” He said, picking up the handle and slowly making his way inside.

"Thank you, Mac," Rarity replied before she noticed the look Rainbow gave her and rolled her eyes. “Mac's always been like this, Rainbow, no need to get jealous.”

“Who said I was jealous?!” Rainbow snapped back, defensively. Rarity sighed, rubbing her eyes with her hoof. 

“It's too early in the morning for this, I'll probably see if I can get some slPancakes!” She exclaimed, immediately losing all semblance of fatigue and sat at the, oddly enough, already laid out seat for her. It would seem that Granny knew she'd be coming.

Rainbow huffed and turned to Lil' Mac, who smiled innocently to her. She smiled back, but part of her was a little annoyed that he helped out a stressed pony who was having a bad morning and...

Okay! We are not falling into jealous Fluttershy territory! She thought to herself as she sat back down in her place next to Lil' Mac, who was currently dousing his pancakes in syrup. “Would you like some pancakes with your syrup?” She asked, playfully.

“Eenope,” He replied, a little grin appearing on his face when he heard her giggle.



“Granny, Ah finished tha chores! May Ah go ta tha park wit' Rainbow?!” Lil' Mac called into the house, fetching the picnic basket up from the table. Granny Smith popped her head round the corner and nodded to him.

“Sure ya can Dearie, have fun wit' yer friends,” Granny said, before returning to the knitting she had picked up as a recent hobby. 

“Uh...Actually, it's just Rainbow...” Lil' Mac admitted, actually visibly blushing through his red fur. “It's kinda...Well it is a date...” 

Granny immediately halted her knitting and turned to her eldest grandchild in surprise but, mostly, she seemed quite happy. “Well that's great, Sweetie! Look at you, gettin' yer very first fillyfriend! Yer father only started courtin' yer mother when he was twenty-six!” She laughed, causing Mac to fidget a little more uncomfortable than before. 

When she noticed that, she cut herself off and gave Lil' Mac a reassuring look. “You'll be fine Mackie, don't be nervous.”

“How did ya know Ah was nervous?” The red colt asked, deciding to do a quick check of the inventory of the picnic basket. 

“Well, fussin' over that there basket is a start,” Mac immediately stopped messing around with it once she caught him out. “An' tha fact ya told me it was a date at all, yer Pa never told me bout yer Ma 'til bout three months later.”

“Did...Did dad date a lot o' ponies then?” Granny whistled and rolled her eyes. 

“Yer Pa was certainly a ladies colt, let me tell ya. Made it all tha better when he found yer Ma an' he knew she was tha one,” Mac looked at the ground, thoughtfully, before looking up again.

“So how do Ah know if Rainbow's tha one cause, well...Ah really want her ta be,” Granny smiled at the little pony in front of her and patted his head.

“If'n that's tha case, she may well be,” She explained, noticing that he still looked jumpy. “Aw shucks Mackie, Ah'll bet that little Pegasus is just as nervous as you are,” Mac looked up, blinking.

“Ya think so?”



“Aw man! Why did I leave this so late?!” Rainbow complained, dragging a brush through her mane, but somehow not actually getting any knots out! It seemed like how ever many times she got one out, three more would take it's place. 

“Just stay down!” She yelled, emphasising her point by yanking the brush down a little too harshly and cringed as the brush took some of the red part of her mane with it. 

Applejack and Rarity passed by the spare room before they heard a loud yelp and ran back in shock. “You okay there, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, concerned. 

“No...” Rainbow sighed, pretty down. “I was practicing a few flight exercises and I lost track of time and now I have, at most, five minutes before my date!” 

Rarity's eyes had widened considerably at the mention of a date while Applejack, having been already told about it the previous night (several times over) just rolled her eyes. 

“Aw Dash, Mac won't care what ya look like. Ah know 'im an' Ah know that he likes you fer who yer are,” Rarity turned to Applejack, a little shocked by how lax she's being about this.

“Applejack! First dates are very...Wait this is your first date, right?” Rarity quickly asked Rainbow, who nodded allowing Rarity to finish her point. “First dates are very important! It may not seem like it, but appearances do count for something, especially since she and your brother haven't known each other that long!”

She then twirled round and grabbed Rainbow by the shoulders. “Don't you worry, Darling, I'll take care of your mane. Having a bad hair day on your first date is just the Worst! Possible! Thing!” She declared, before falling backwards onto a couch that seemed to just magically pop out of nowhere.

Before Rainbow can get over her surprise to ask how that red sofa got into the guest room, the mane brush she had in her hoof was suddenly encased in blue magic and softly went through her mane. “Don't fret, Rarity's here to scare the knots away!”

Applejack rolled her eyes and sat next to Rainbow at the vanity mirror. “Well while she has her fun, is there anythin' else ya needed advice on?”

Rainbow blushed a bit as she asked this, her brain not fully processing what she was asking before it was too late. “Well...I kinda wanted to see if he'd kiss...”

“Applejack's eyes widened in horror and she slapped her hoof over Rainbow's mouth. “Ew! Not helpin' ya wit' that!”



Granny had entered the kitchen to help Lil' Mac get some fritters for the picnic basket, since Mac remembered Rainbow saying that she really liked them from yesterday, when they found Fluttershy in the room with Angel, playing with the three foals.

Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle kept squealing and smiling as Fluttershy and Angel kept making silly faces at them. 

So entranced she was, that the filly didn't notice Mac approach until he was right next to her, pulling a face of his own. 

Fluttershy yelped a bit and scooted back, only for Angel to shake his head, implying that she shouldn't be scared of the, obviously, not threatening pony. Fluttershy blushed and, bashfully, scooted back to her original position. 

Granny was too engrossed in finding the fritters, so couldn't really hear what was going on around them, so Fluttershy decided to do what she was meaning to do this morning. 

She got some lilies out from under her wing and gave them to Mac. “Um...Here, they're Rainbow's favourites,” She said quickly, as to not give Mac the wrong idea. 

Mac was a little surprised since Rainbow said that Fluttershy had feelings for him too, so why was she suddenly helping him? 

She must of sensed his unease, so deciding to explain. “You seem to be happy with her and she's very happy that you like her too...” She mumbled, but knew that Mac would hear her regardless. “I may have had feelings for you...heck I still do, but I want you to be happy most.”

Mac was quite touched by this. He knew that a lot of mares and fillies in books and such usually did awful things to their friends out of jealousy. It was cliché, yes, but it seemed like it would actually happen and he was kind of preparing himself for it. 

“This...This is very nice o' you Fluttershy, thank you,” Mac smiled, giving her a friendly one armed hug. Fluttershy blushed brightly, but smiled when she saw Angel smiling at her, proudly. “An' no matter what, you'll always have a friend in me, you know that right?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy replied, nudging him away. “Now why are you still here? You have a date!” 

“Right!” Mac grinned back, putting the lilies in the basket that Granny hoofed over to him and grabbed the basket in his teeth. “Ish me uck! (Wish me luck!)” 

“Good luck!” Fluttershy and Granny called to him as he trotted upstairs to meet Rainbow. 

Fluttershy turned back and noticed the three foals and angel giving her big smiles and couldn't help but smile back. 
> The Picnic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Picnic


“And viola!” Rarity exclaimed, motioning Dash to look at the mirror.

Said mirror held the image of a very confused Rainbow Dash, staring at her mane that, for the most part, looked the same. The only difference was that it was brushed, thus looked a bit smoother. “Um, no offence Rares, but I was expecting to look...you know?”

“Like a completely different pony?” She responded, Rainbow nodding in confirmation. “Come on, would you really want to go out in public looking like me? It doesn't seem like you would.” 

Rainbow narrowed one of her eyes, taking stock of the eye shadow her new friend wore, as well as the glossy, curls of her mane that spiralled, elegantly, around her neck. It was a look of beauty, elegance and style...

...Not really what she'd wear at all.

So Rainbow shrugged, and gave her a thankful smile. “Well ya got me there, but thanks for getting the knots out. Darn things always manage to find their way in there after a good flight.”

“No problem...”

“Heads up Rares, Mac's on his way up!” Applejack warned, grabbing the alabaster Unicorn and diving under the bed with her. 

Rainbow was about to ask why AJ hadn't just used the door like a normal pony before she heard it knocking.

*Knock knock knock* “Rainbow?” *Knock knock knock* “Rainbow?” *Knock knock knock* “Rainbow?”

She took a quick look in the mirror, her eyes holding her usual, confident repertoire behind them. Remember what AJ said! Be yourself, don't let nerves get the better of you and ew, not helping you with that! 

With that sorted she opened the door to find Mac standing on the other side with his brow matted down with a little sweat, a picnic basket on his back and a bunch of white lilies in his hoof, that he straight up thrust towards her face in his nerves. 

Rainbow stepped back to avoid the flowers being thrown into her and grinned at him. “Whoa there Mac, take a breath. You look a little nervous,” Admittedly, seeing him nervous helped to calm her down a bit.

“Eheh Eeyup,” Mac replied, doing as she said as she took the lilies from him. “Fluttershy said they were ya favourites.”

“She washn't wrong,” She replied, the stem of one of them hanging from her mouth as she plucked one straight out. “They tashte delishious!” 

Mac blinked, unsure how to take that. He thought she was going to put them in some water or something. But, then again, she was still happy so he didn't feel the need to complain. 

She then plucked one out with her teeth and held it out for him. “Want one?” She asked, between her clenched teeth. 

Mac's face lit up, a little redder than usual, as he started glancing down at the ground and away from her lips. “Uh...um...ah...”

Rainbow tilted her head a little, confused on why he was suddenly acting more nervous before she felt the stem in her mouth and froze on the spot. She could even swear she heard AJ retch a little under the bed. 

She quickly dragged the stem back and chewed the flower out of existence before she could mess something else up, and picked one out with her hoof this time. “Right, sorry, my bad! You want this one?” 

Mac let out a little sigh and nodded, taking the flower and chewing it, enjoying the crisp and slightly spicy and bitter taste to it. 

They stood there for a few seconds, just sort of glancing at one another, as if trying to find something to say. That last moment hit Mac in the nerves harder than he thought it would and Rainbow didn't want to say anything else to embarrass him. 

Meanwhile Fluttershy had come up to use the rest room and noticed the two awkward, pre-teens just standing there, not doing or saying anything. She cringed sympathetically and quickly coughed to gain their attention. “It's getting a little late, don't you think you should get to the park before it gets dark?” 

Mac's eyes widened a little and placed the basket on his back. “Yer right, Granny won't want us gone too long!” 

Rainbow saw his worried expression and soon had an idea. “Your right, race ya there!” Before Mac knew what was happening, Rainbow made a dash towards the front door. 

He shook out of it a few seconds later and took off after her, grinning competitively. “No way yer faster on tha ground!” 

Fluttershy watched after them and shook her head. “And they call me shy.” 

“I wonder how this date'll go,” Rarity asked, rhetorically, as she got out from under the bed, Applejack climbing out as well.

Fluttershy, however, didn't expect the the two to suddenly appear behind her and shrieked in surprise, jumping up and clinging to the ceiling like a cat. 

AJ shot forward and looked up at her. “Sorry 'bout that, Flutters, didn't mean ta scare ya!” 

Fluttershy sighed in relief and flapped her wings to make her descent back to the ground a little gentler. “What were you two doing under the bed?”

“Hiding,” Rarity said, as if that explained everything. 

Before Fluttershy could inquire about her odd answer, Pinkie burst out from the bathroom beside her, causing her to jump. “Hey guys! I saw Mac and Rainbow run out the house just now and I don't know what's going on but we're going to go spy on them now, okay? Great, I'll get you to the park and then I'll get Twilight and Spike!” 

Before they could question how Pinkie got into the bathroom, who Spike was or how to get Fluttershy off the ceiling again, she grabbed them all and raced out in a blur. 

“...At least I don't need to pee anymore.”



The little race to the park ended with Rainbow dancing a little victory dance at the entrance. The sun still in the air in the early afternoon. “Oh yeah! I won! And the crowd goes wild!” She cheered. “I'm awesome, fast, tough...”

“Modest?” Lil Mac asked, grinning at how cute she was acting right now. Rainbow shrugged.

“Yeah, that too,” She answered, before moving to stand next to him. “Want a race to the playground?”

“Ah was kinda thinkin' we'd eat first, considerin' that Ah can barely hear ya over mah stomach,” He explained, grinning.

Despite the fact that it was a very silly joke, Rainbow still giggled a little. Whether it was due to the elation of actually being on a date with Lil Mac or the slight loss of breath from the running, she wasn't sure. She did not giggle...normally!

“Sure big guy, I'm pretty hungry too!” She explained, as they made their way over to the shade of a tree near the centre of the park, not noticing a pink blur with streaks of white, yellow and orange enter the shrubbery in a neighbouring collection of trees, before leaving again.

As the two set up a white and red, chequered blanket to keep the two from having to sit on the dirt, the pink blur came back with a streak of purple with some green in the mix too. 

Afterwards Lil Mac set down the basket and then looked around. “Huh? That's strange.”

Rainbow looked up from spreading out a little crease in the blanket with a questioning look in her eyes. “What's strange?”

Mac looked around for a second before shrugging. “Ah nothing, just thought Ah heard somethin'.” 



In the shrub, Twilight looked up from feeding a little, baby dragon in her hooves, a little puzzled. “Um...Hi girls, what are we...”

Pinkie quickly silenced her with a hoof and pointed to look behind her. Twilight glanced back to see Lil Mac and Rainbow lying down on the blanket, Lil Mac taking things out of said basket to lay before them. “You took me to watch two ponies eating?”

“Twilight! They're on a date!” Pinkie stressed quietly, motioning to the rest of the gang. “We were going to spy on them and I thought I'd invite you too!” 

“No Pinkie, you were going to spy on them, the rest of us might of needed to go to the little fillies room,” Fluttershy replied, a little annoyed by the situation. 

“...You don't look need to go to the bathroom,” Rarity pointed out, to which Fluttershy blushed madly and looked down, hiding behind her mane.

“W-well...Uh...” 

“Ah don't think we need ta hear this,” Applejack reasoned, poking a hole in the bushes so she could see what was going on. 



The two were eating quietly for a little, focused on filling their empty bellies, occasionally stealing glances at one another. Where Rainbow was delighted to find that she wasn't the only one who seemed to eat like a slob. As proved by Mac forgoing his fork in favour of ploughing his face into his salad in a way that would make most farm animals blush. Not going to be outdone, Rainbow decided to try to match his bad table manners with her own, causing him to grin back.



In the bushes, Rarity was cringing slightly at the sight. Twilight was doing pretty much the same thing, Fluttershy and Pinkie were looking mostly bored and Applejack appeared to be keeping a close eye on the two. 

“Oh heavens! That's certainly not how one is supposed to act on a date!” Rarity muttered to herself, forcefully, adding this scene to her 'not to be done, ever!' file. 

“Of course not! That'd be ridiculously rude,” Twilight agreed before a small burp left Spike's mouth and she looked at the baby dragon, smiling. “Aw, who's a good boy!” 

“Twilight! That's a dragon, not a dog!” Fluttershy stressed, looking down at the cute little lizard in front of her. “And he's the most adorable little boy I've ever seen!”

Spike looked up at her and spat a small, harmless, green ember at her, giggling. Fluttershy laughed when it hit her nose, leaving a warm feeling in it's wake. 

“Shh! They might hear us!” Pinkie suddenly stressed, pointing back out. “I think they're about to start talking!”



Indeed, the two little ponies had finished with their meals and were now just letting the food digest. “So what do you do for fun?” Rainbow asked, causing Mac to grin at her, teasingly.

“That's a little random, isn't it?”

“Ah, gotta start somewhere,” She shrugged in response. Mac nodded and looked up into the sky in thought.

“Well...AJ and I play with our hoopity hoop,” Rainbow blinked, confused as to what a hoopity hoop was. As if anticipating it though, he explained. “It's a ring that we swing around on our hooves, barrels and tails. The trick is to time our movements to keep it, well, moving...” He scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment. “Ah guess it does seem kinda lame...”

“Not at all, as long as you're having fun!” Rainbow replied, grinning. “Me, I like to race and show everyone how awesome I am!” 

“Modest too,” Mac grinned, causing her to wave the comment off again.

“Yeah, modest too,” She then sat and smiled a little more. “But watching Wonderbolt shows with my parents is awesome too! And someday, I'm gonna be a Wonderbolt and make mom and dad proud of me!” She continued, staring up at the sky, longingly. “I mean, doing what I love and getting paid for it too, what could be more awesome than that?!”

“Not much Ah imagine,” Lil Mac answered, staring up at the sky with her. “So...What're yer parents like?”

“Huh? Who's asking random questions now?” Rainbow asked, grinning. 

Mac smiled back, before a strange look overcame his features. A look of...longing. “Well...Ah it's nothin', forget Ah asked.”

Rainbow rose an eyebrow in concern, grabbing a hold of his red hoof in her cyan one. “C'mon, you can tell me.”

“You'll laugh.”

“Promise I won't.”

“...Really?”

“Yup! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a needle in my eye!” She chanted, not noticing a certain pink friend of her's in the bushes, mentioning something about 'modifications'.

“...Well, it's just been a little while since...Since Mah ma an' pa passed...Ah just, maybe, forgot what it felt like a little...” He admitted, Rainbow cringing a little with sympathy.

“Ah jeez, sorry, I shouldn't of mentioned my folks, that was kinda insensitive of me,” Rainbow rambled, mentally kicking herself for her little slip up. You knew this! You knew this and you still brought it up!

“Aw shucks, Ah ain't offended or nuthin, Sugarcube,” Lil Mac reassured her, squeezing her hoof back. “Ya shouldn't have ta tiptoe around these things with me. Ah made mah peace an' it ain't all bad. Ah still got AJ, Bloomy and Granny. An' Ah got friends like you and Fluttershy too.”

Rainbow flinched a little at being called a friend but, for now, she doesn't mind so much. After all, he probably only said it because he's still nervous about saying fillyfriend. Besides, by the end of the month, she was sure he'd start calling her his special somepony...

...and if not, well she'd have to try again next year!

“Well, they're pretty laid back when it comes to the whole 'parenting' thing. They pretty much let me get away with most things. So long as I don't bully anyone or get arrested,” She shrugged. “But I know they have my back when things get tough. It's nice to have them around, I guess.” She ended, letting the quiet parade around them for a little bit afterwards.

Sensing the silence was going on a little longer than normal, Mac decided a new question was in order. “So...Captain Equestria or Iron Mare?” 

“Oh Iron Mare, for sure!” Rainbow rebuked, causing Mac to shake his head.

“Wrong answer, Cap all tha way!” He grinned back, before going into a little song. “When Captain Equestria throws his mighty shield~! All those who oppose his shield must yield~!”

Rainbow hid a little chuckle at Mac's little song, thinking the song was a bit strange. “Unless you're a plane, or some ice~!” 

Mac gave her comical glare. “Alright you asked fer it," He patted her on the shoulder. "Yer it!” He declared, taking off towards the playground. Rainbow shook out of her stupor long enough to give chase, grinning at him.

“Oh you are going down!” 



“Okay guys, maybe we should leave before they actually catch us,” Twilight stressed, bouncing baby Spike in her hooves a little, causing him to giggle. “Little Spike isn't adept at being subtle.” 

“...What she said,” Fluttershy agreed, though not really sure of the meaning to some of the words Twilight said. Pinkie sighed, her mane drooping a little. 

“Aw! But I thought we were having fun!” 

“Tell ya what, Pinkie, how's about Ah ask Granny if'n you an' Twilight can come round fer a sleepover tomorrow. Spike can even play with Applebloom an' tha other girls,” Applejack appeased her, motioning to Twilight and her baby dragon. 

Pinkie let out a loud gasp, suspending herself in the air for a few seconds, before diving out of the bush and towards Sugarcube Corner. 



Rainbow sighed a little as she remained suspended in the air while Mac sat on the other end of the see-saw. “I told you this wouldn't work!” 

“It was worth a try,” Mac replied, getting off the see-saw, letting his end rise up gently, allowing Rainbow to descend slowly. 

Rainbow rolled her eyes and made her way over to the swings. “Ah don't worry about it, let's have a quick go on the swings before heading off!”

Mac grinned and made his way over to Rainbow, who sat in the seat, her back hooves dangling over the edge of the seat, ready to start pushing herself. He then got behind her and placed a hoof onto her back, gently pushing her forward. 

Rainbow was a little startled, having not expected to be pushed, but smiled a little with a small blush. It felt...nice to have someone do this for her. To give up their fun so that she could have a little more. Plus, he could probably push her much higher than she could get herself. 

“Higher!” Rainbow laughed as her eye line just cleared over Mac's head. Mac smiled at her cute noises and proceeded to obey her wishes, putting a little more force into his pushes, hearing a loud 'Wee!' as a reward for his efforts. Seeing her this happy filled his heart with pride. He was proud he could make her this happy which, in turn, made him happy. 

They continued this little cycle, Mac continued to push while Rainbow smiled and laughed, she gave of a particularly cute squeal when she cleared the top of the swing set completely, until the sun began to signal it's descent into the horizon, signalling that it was time to head back for dinner.

Rainbow was a little disappointed that she had to get off the swings, but she did so in true Rainbow Dash fashion. By waiting until she was as high as she could go, leaped off and flapped her wings to glide down to the ground, commando rolling and ending in a pose with her hoof pumped in the air. 

Mac dived out of the way of the empty swing threatening to take out his teeth and made his way over to Rainbow, grinning. “Nice moves.”

She smiled back. “Thanks, been working on that since...just now!” 

They made their way over to where they had left the picnic supplies and packed it all away, heading back to the farm.



When they did get back, the sun was about halfway set and the dinner bell was ringing. “Soups on, everypony!” They heard Applejack yell outside where Rarity and Fluttershy were talking and feeding the chickens. 

Lil Mac sighed as his date had now officially come to a close and turned to face Rainbow, only for a pair of lips to hit his cheek. “Thanks for today Mac, I had a really good time!” She told him, laying her head against his shoulder. “Think we could do this again?”

Mac blinked, as if only just registering what just happened before he shook out of it an grinned, widely. “Eeyup!”