> "Loyalty" Begins With an L
>  by shortskirtsandexplosions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> i
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    When the colt saw the brand new quartet of roller skates, he gasped, his little eyes as wide as saucers.  He hopped in place and squeaked with joy before leaning up to hug his mother.  The chuckling mare squatted down and held him close, nuzzling his cheek warmly as she relished her foal's ecstasy.  A few kindly words were exchanged, and side-by-side the mother and son trotted home happily from the Ponyville marketplace.  The colt galloped slightly beyond his parent's gait, motioning for her to trot faster, for he was eager to try on the brand new skates.

High above, on the roof of Ponyville's town hall, Rainbow Dash watched silently with a blank expression.  Her ruby eyes followed the sight of the loving mother and son.  A sigh escaped her lips.

"Uhm... Rainbow Dash?  Did you hear us?"

Rainbow Dash slowly turned around.  "Hmmm?"

Raindrops, Thunderlane, and Blossomforth were hovering behind her with tiny black thunderclouds in their separate grasps.

"Where should we take these?  It's already midday.  Aren't we supposed to be spreading rain across the village?"

"Of course we are!"  Rainbow Dash said, her wings flexing as she produced a swift, authoritarian frown.  "The Weather Commission would never forgive us for slacking on the job!"  She pointed at Raindrops.  "You.  Go and release precipitation over the park on the east side of town.  Thunderlane?  Blossomforth?  Think the two of you can stop flirting just long enough to cover the central flower gardens?"

"Uhhh... Uhhh..."  Thunderlane blushed furiously.

Blossomforth smacked him lightly with her tail and smiled Rainbow Dash's way.  "Of course we can, Rainbow Dash."

"Good.  Get to it," Rainbow said, clutching her own cloud.  "I want every flower properly watered, do you copy?  There'd better not be a single wilting bud like there was last time!"

"We'll get right on it."

"See that you do!  Ponyville needs us in order to stay beautiful.  Now get moving!"

"Aye, sir!"  Thunderlane gave a salute, smirked, and rocketed westward with his cloud.  Blossomforth swiftly followed him while Raindrops bolted in the opposite direction.

Rainbow Dash grasped her thundercloud.  She paused suddenly, her wings twitching.  She glanced over her shoulder and stared at the sight of Thunderlane as he flew away.  Her jaw fidgeted, as if she was trying to pronounce something without opening her mouth.  She gave forth a sigh, identical to the one that had sounded from her lips earlier.  With the dark cloud in her grasp, she flew for the opposite end of town.


> ii
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Hnnngh!"

Rainbow Dash gave the cloud a swift kick and nothing happened.

"Oh, come on."  She growled and bucked it again and again.

Eventually, the water within the cloud buckled, and a fresh fountain of rain fell over the south end of Ponyville.  Rainbow Dash exhaled with relief, but her job wasn't done.  Darting to every corner of the leaking cloud, she kneaded the dark mists with her hooves and spread the water around.  Soon, what was once a tiny black clump of a raincloud had become a broad ceiling of gentle precipitation.  Under her expert touch, the entire southern end of Ponyville was covered.

She observed her job from a tall tree overlooking the edge of the village.  It was always a peculiarly satisfying sensation to witness the world being soaked from a weather front that she herself had molded.  What was once a dry, sunlit courtyard had become utterly saturated in a matter of minutes.  The rooftops turned slick.  The gutters filled to the brim.  The sidewalks and grass lawns formed puddles.  Rainbow Dash knew that she had always made an impact on the village, and she felt a sense of pride every time she finished a job, unleashing the soothing touch of nature on Ponyville.

Except, on that day, she didn't feel proud.  She hardly felt any satisfaction whatsoever.  Normally, she'd be closely examining the rain, making sure that she had covered every inch of the quadrant that the Weather Commission had assigned to her.  It was her job to not only drench the town when told, but to do so thoroughly.

Suddenly, the very nature of her occupation didn't feel as though it deserved such avid scrutiny.  Instead of observing her task, Rainbow Dash found herself staring across the shadowed, rain-swept village to where a pair of shrieking ponies had been caught in the downpour that she had made.

It was a mare and a stallion, both unicorns.  The mare was giggling like a schoolfilly, fussing with the constant sheets of rain punishing her perfectly kept mane.  The stallion was doing his best to cover her head with an increasingly soggy newspaper.  In mid-gallop, the mare tugged him towards a gazebo, and the two scurried up the wooden steps until they stood under the tiny shelter from the rain.

As they caught their breaths, the newspaper became so wet that not even the stallion's telekinesis could keep it levitating in one piece.  It fell like a funeral veil over his head.  His glowing horn broke through, and he groaned miserably as ink and flakes of paper cascaded down his muzzle and neck.  The mare giggled and peeled the soiled newspaper from his face.  Once they could see each other again, they shared a mutual blush and leaned in to warm their shivering selves with the gentlest of kisses.  Their lips remained locked for a good ten seconds, and soon they were leaning against each other, nuzzling and watching with contentment as the rain came down softly around them.

Two, four, six minutes passed.  Rainbow Dash didn't realize she was staring so fixedly at them until a bolt of lightning exploded before her.  She gasped in fright.  Frowning at herself for such a jittery reaction, she took it out on the cloud by giving the vaporous thing a firm kick.

"I didn't friggin' say you could spout lightning!" Her grunt of frustration dissolved with another melancholy sigh.

"Dealing with lousy weather, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow blinked confusedly before looking straight down from where she hovered.  All she saw was the top of a large green umbrella and two sets of hooves peeking out from beneath it.  It never ceased to bug her how most ponies failed to take into account what pegasi could or couldn't see from up high.

"Uhhh... Just who’s talking?" Rainbow Dash droned.  "Or else I'm just going to guess that a beach table is stalking me."

"Oh, our bad," said a mare's voice with a nervous giggle.  A cream-colored face with blue eyes tilted out from beyond the edge of the umbrella, squinting up through the wet drizzle.  "We were just marvelling at the wonderful job you were doing today, Rainbow Dash," Bon Bon said.

"Yeah," said another voice.  The umbrella hovered at a slight tilt as Lyra peeked her glowing horn out as well.  "It's high time that this side of the village got a shower."

"Maybe the Mayor will finally stop whining about how badly the rosebushes are doing on the edge of town!" Bon Bon remarked.

"She should be whining about the proposed school building renovations or else Cheerilee's gonna choke her to death before the next election!" Lyra exclaimed.

Bon Bon laughed.  "Now that, I would pay to see!  Cheerilee the assassin!"

"Sure beats gardening during your free time."

"Heh... Yeah, I guess." Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her mane.  "I wouldn't know anything about roses.  The Weather Commission just points me where to go, and I deliver the rain."  She shrugged.  "Nothing to it."

"Awwww... Don't say that!"  Bon Bon smiled, wincing as a drop or two landed on her fair cheeks.  "You do so much for this town, Rainbow Dash.  We're lucky to have such a loyal, dependable pony!"

"Heh, don't forget 'awesome,'" Lyra added with a wink.

"Oh yes!" Bon Bon gasped.  "I heard all about that incredible sonic rainboom that you performed at the Canterlot Royal Wedding!  That had to have been fantastic!"

"I was there," Lyra said, chuckling as she levitated the umbrella.  "And it was."

"Too bad I was down with the pony pox when it happened," Bon Bon muttered with a pouty face.  "That's twice that I've missed you pulling off a legendary stunt, Rainbow Dash."

"Well... uhm... you know what they say," Rainbow Dash said in a wavering tone.  She attempted smiling, but for some reason it only came out as a grimace.  Nevertheless, she cleared her throat and uttered, "Third time's the charm, right?"

"Maybe," Bon Bon replied, then gasped with a smile.  "I know!  Lyra and I are headed downtown to have lunch.  How'd you like to join us and share all about the stunt you pulled?"

"Bon Bon..."  Lyra nudged her.  "She's a busy pony.  She's got weather stuff to do..."

"I'm not saying that she should spend the whole day with us," Bon Bon quietly returned before gazing back up at Rainbow Dash.  "I heard that a lot of exciting things happened in Canterlot two weeks ago, and who better to fill us in than the most courageous pony in Equestria?"

"Heh..."  Rainbow Dash fidgeted in midair.  "I don't know if I qualify as that, you guys..."

"Come on... It'll be our treat!"

Rainbow Dash gulped.  "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to pull a rain check—erm... no pun intended."

"Awww..."

"I've got stuff to do," Rainbow Dash said, gazing towards the horizon.  "Just... stuff, I guess..."

"It's alright, Rainbow Dash," Lyra remarked with a sweet smile.  "We both know you've got a lot of things on your plate.  Thanks for making Ponyville so beautiful as always."

"I still think it would be spectacular to spend some time with you," Bon Bon said.  "Would you consider having lunch with us another day?  Or, better yet, anytime you feel like gabbing a bit—drop in at our place!  The door's always open."

"Well, mostly open," Lyra added.

"Heeheehee..."

"I'll... uh... I'll keep that in mind," Rainbow Dash said.  "Thanks.  Erm... for the invitation, I mean."

"Anytime, Rainbow Dash."  Lyra waved a hoof and pivoted the umbrella around to cover them as they trotted across town.  "Keep doing what you're doing.  Ponies love you for it."

"Bye!" Bon Bon cheerfully added as the two scurried off through the puddles, engaged in a giggling conversation.

Rainbow Dash remained hovering in place, watching the fillyfriends departing.  The umbrella was like a green dome that tightly contained their echoing voices, laughter, and breaths.  Lyra protectively dried Bon Bon's path, and Bon Bon lovingly leaned into her.

Just then, a loud, ear-splitting shriek shook Rainbow Dash out of her contemplation.  She winced and spun around, gazing across the village for the source of the caterwauling.  There was a white, fluffy thing clutching a tree branch high above Carousel Boutique.  At least, it was once a white, fluffy thing.  At that moment, it more closely resembled a wet mop than an actual, living feline.

"Opalescence?"  Rainbow Dash squinted her ruby eyes.  "What in the hay?"  She darted over, pierced the rain as she would a fog, and hovered in front of the drowning persian.  "Don't you ever learn?"  She groaned and reached her hooves out.  "Fine.  Let me just get you down before Rarity has a heart attack—"

The shivering thing hissed and swung a lacerating paw at her.

"Yeowch!"  Rainbow Dash brought her hoof back and frowned at three fresh rivers of blood on her forelimb.  "Stinkin' little tramp!"  She seethed briefly, rolled her eyes, and sighed.  "Fine.  If you're gonna be that way..."  She gazed up at the rain cloud, reached into the mists, and grabbed a clump of vapor, holding it in her hooves like a pillow cover as she approached the cat once more.  "Let's try this again..."



> iii
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Oh, bad Opal!  Bad, deplorable, naughty Opal!" Rarity violently cooed.

The shivering cat clung to her, frowning over its shoulder at Rainbow Dash.

"No trips outside for a week!"  Rarity levitated the cat as she trotted across the center-most fitting room.  Snatching a towel from a nearby broom closet, she enshrouded the feline before planting her atop a stack of velvet pillows.  "You need to learn some proper respect!  How many times must one of my close friends endeavor to save your priceless, silken coat?!"

"If there's gonna be a next time," Rainbow Dash muttered.  She fidgeted by the entrance to the Boutique, wincing.  Her forelimbs were lined with scratch marks in several places and there was a light scar on her blue cheek.  "Do they sell 'Beware of Cat' signs in the marketplace?"

"Rainbow Dash, I am most terribly sorry for the bodily harm Opalescence has dealt you."  Rarity finished fussing with the persian and trotted over towards her friend.  The room danced with kaleidoscopic bands of light from the rain-slicked windows stretching beyond.  "Just look at you!  You're like a survivor of some ghastly war zone!  Do allow me to soothe your wounds, dear.  I'm quite sure I have my first aid kit lying around here somewhere..."

"It's okay, Rarity."

"But I must insist!"  Rarity planted a gentle hoof on Rainbow's shoulder.  "It looks as though a sociopathic cretin took a razor to your flesh—!"

"It's okay!"  Rainbow Dash flinched from her, hiding a brief wince.  "Seriously.  I'm fine."  She smiled crookedly.  "I've gotten twice as many scrapes from a flight through Ghastly Gorge.  I'll live."

"Hmmph... Well, if you're so insistent," Rarity said, leaning back.  She smiled gently.  "Your rough and tumble ways will forever astonish me, Rainbow.  But I imagine they must serve as an advantage from time to time."

"Whatever."

"Oftentimes, I wish I had your tenacity," Rarity remarked as she trotted back to the other end of the Boutique where a tuxedo variant hung off a mannequin in mid-creation.  "If I wasn't so frail and dainty, then perhaps I too could labor on things over extended periods without losing my train of thought."

"There's... uh... nothing wrong with being dainty," Rainbow Dash fumbled to say.

Rarity instantly produced a flighty laugh.  "Oh, Rainbow.  You almost had me fooled there!"  She calmed her snickers and resumed assaulting the tuxedo on all sides with various pins, needles, and lengths of thread.  "Regardless, if that was a veiled attempt at a compliment, I do greatly appreciate it."

“Uhm...”  Rainbow Dash squinted from her end of the workroom.  “What are you making?  Looks like a suit.”

“Because it is a suit, darling!  It’s a cocktail party ensemble for none other than the illustrious Fancy Pants!  Oh, his exceeding charm and Canterlot connections have put my work on the map, and I felt I owed him a finely-pressed tuxedo as a means of expressing my gratitude since he helped make my tailoring skills known to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!  Oh, such a charming wedding that turned out to be.  I truly am lucky to have been appointed as the fashion designer...”

“Uh huh...”  Rainbow Dash nodded.  “How long have you been working on this project?”

“Mmmmm... for the last three days, I suppose..”

“That long, huh?” Rainbow Dash said.  She gulped, hesitated, and eventually uttered, “Is... uh... is Fancy Pants him?”

Rarity almost dropped the needle and thread right then.  She turned and squinted at Rainbow Dash in the rainslick sunlight.  “I beg your pardon?”

“Y’know.  Is he... is he him?”

Rarity blinked, then squeaked forth a delicate laugh.  “Ohhhhh no no no, Rainbow Dash.  Heheh... Why, Fancy Pants is simply a business partner!  Besides, he is far too straight-laced and regimental for the likes of me.  I seek a stallion who is regal, and yet carefree.  Somepony who is a romantic at heart, and yet is as concerned with feelings as he is with figures.  Heheh...”  She sighed dreamily and shook her head.  “Alas, Rainbow, I shall be looking forever, I suspect.  An artist such as myself has an eye for perfection, and perfection is simply impossible.”

“I... I didn’t mean to poke a weird subject.”

“Oh hardly, dear.  I’m rather delighted that you would ask.  It’s a topic most dear to my heart, after all.”  Rarity cleared her throat and resumed sewing.  As she did so, her face took on a much more rigid expression.  "Still, perfection isn’t exactly everything that’s important in a pony.  Sometimes, on rainy days such as this, I realize just how empty the Boutique feels.  I suppose it can be said that beyond all the pretense of custom and courtship, in the end it's all about having somepony to share my talents with, to share my thoughts with, to share my fears and joys and—"

Rainbow Dash gulped and stammered, "You want somepony to come home to."

Rarity paused, blinking.  "Why, yes."  She smiled sweetly at Rainbow Dash.  "That's precisely it, darling.  To be perfectly frank, I had no idea that you could—"

"I gotta go," Rainbow Dash blurted.

"Huh?" Rarity did a double-take.

"Lots of clouds to push around the sky.  I just remembered.  So long, Rarity."

As Rainbow Dash opened the door to the rain and began flexing her wings, a bright glow of magic illuminated her from behind.

"Rainbow Dash.  Wait just one moment, dear."

"Unnngh..."  Rainbow Dash groaned and looked behind her.  "I didn't mean anything with those last, sappy comments.  I swear.  I wasn't thinking—"

"Uhm... It's not that, darling."  Rarity levitated a book over in front of Rainbow's face.  "You will be flying around Ponyville for the extent of this afternoon, yes?"

"Didn't I just say I would?"

"More or less.  Ahem."  Rarity smiled with a pleading expression.  "Would you be so kind as to give this back to Fluttershy?  She lent it to me four weeks ago, and I’ve kept it for far too long.  It's only best that she have it in her personal library once again."

"Yeah, sure, Rarity."  Rainbow Dash nodded with a slight smile.  "I can totally do that."

"You are loyal as ever, Rainbow Dash."

"Pffft."  Rainbow Dash grabbed the book in her hoof.  "It's just a simple delivery..."  As she tried to take it, the magic tugged the item in place.

Rarity had Rainbow's full attention.  She smiled under a glowing horn.  "I'm ever so blessed to have a friend like you, Rainbow.  If there was something troubling you, surely you would be comfortable enough to let me know, I would assume?"

"Uhhh..."  Rainbow Dash nervously squirmed, tilting away from Rarity's warm smile.  "Yeah.  Sure.  I guess."  She took the book and aimed for the door again.  "Well, gotta go—"

"Oh!  And you will be attending the picnic tomorrow, yes?"

"Uhm... What picnic?"

"Rainbow Dash!"  Rarity looked hurt.  "Surely you have not forgotten!  Twilight herself arranged it the day we got back from Canterlot!"

"Ohhhhh... That."  Rainbow Dash winced, clutching the book to herself.  "Jee, I dunno, Rarity."

"Oh?"  Rarity's ears drooped a bit.  "But it means so much to Twilight and the rest of us."

"I know.  It's just that..."  Rainbow Dash gnawed on the corner of her mouth.  "I... I've got a bunch of stuff to do.  The Weather Commission has been putting me through the wringer lately."

"Hmmm... Yes," Rarity murmured as she gazed out the nearest window drenched with rainwater.  "I can see that."  She nevertheless smiled at her friend.  "Well, see if you can clear some time tomorrow morning.  We would be absolutely enamored to have you join us.  Word is that Twilight's brother and sister-in-law have returned from their honeymoon."  Rarity's eyebrows wriggled.  "Could it be possible to make our adorable librarian blush more than the one time we stumbled upon Mr. and Mrs. Cake at the lake house during that late summer walk?"

"Yeah.  I'm gone.  See ya."  Rainbow Dash zoomed out the door.

Rarity laughed and waved at her departing friend.  "Try not to be a stranger, Rainbow!"

> iv
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "I got the park covered with some leftover rainclouds to spare," Raindrops said from the four pegasi's perch on a tall hill overlooking Ponyville.  "And so I thought I'd touch up the schoolyard since it was looking parched.  I... uhm... had to wait for classes to end so that no foals got drenched.  That's th-the excuse for why I'm late, Rainbow."

"And Thunderlane and I not only got the flower gardens," Blossomforth said, smiling.  "But we had enough precipitation left over to cover Grey Whinny thicket to the north!"

"Grey Whinny thicket..."  Rainbow Dash murmured aloud, gazing thoughtfully towards the lengths of Ponyville as the rain clouds dissipated on their own.  "That's out by the lake house, isn't it?"

Blossomforth and Thunderlane jolted.

"Uhhh..."

"Lake house?"

"What lake house?"

"I don't—ahem—know what you're talking about."

"Hmmm..."  Rainbow Dash flexed her wings and turned towards the three.  "It doesn't matter.  Good job, everypony.  That's another perfect execution that the Weather Commission can thank us for."  She raised a hoof.  "Here's to the best weather team in all of Equestria!  Put 'em there!"

Thunderlane breathed with relief and slapped Rainbow's hoof along with the other two.  "Woo!  Yeah!"

"We're rocking the skies and making rivers!" Blossomforth chuckled.

"Heheheh..."  Raindrops winked.  "I bet you were."

Blossomforth and Thunderlane blushed again.

"Well, that's all for today," Rainbow Dash grunted.

"What's with the book?" Thunderlane asked with a tilt of his head.

"Never you mind."  Rainbow Dash stared fixedly at the group.  "The Commission's got an even bigger quota for us tomorrow.  We'll be covering the night watch.  A cold front is moving through, but we need to make sure there's a bright dawn for the day after.  So that means a lot of late-evening cloud kicking.   You think you're all game?"

"Oh heck yeah!"  Thunderlane flexed his wing muscles.  "We're more than game!  We're the whole dang season!"

"Wait until twenty-four hours from now to get into the zone," Rainbow Dash said.  "We'll be meeting on the roof of town hall at six o'clock sharp.  I don't want a single pony late!  Get a message out early if any of you fall sick."

"We'll be there with bells on, Miss Dash," Raindrops said with a smile.  "Hey!  How'd you like to join us at the Cider Station in about an hour?"

"What?"  Rainbow's face scrunched up.  "You mean the bar on the edge of town?"

"Yeah!  All the cool pegasi hang out there!"  Blossomforth added.  "Well, all the cool pegasi besides you, that is.  Uhm... There'll be darts, singing, and all the cider you could ask for!  Okay—maybe not Sweet Apple Acres cider—but a good substitute!"

"Blossomforth..." Rainbow Dash stared coolly her way.  "There is no substitute."

"Eh... I-I suppose you're right," Blossomforth uttered with a nervous smile.

"Still!"  Raindrops leaned in.  "Would you like to come?  You could bring your book!"

"Thank you, but..."  Rainbow Dash shifted where she stood, gazing at the Carousel Boutique from afar.  "I think I'll pass."

"Awwww..."

"I've... got things to do.  So, you all have your fun," she murmured, then added with a glare, "But don't you dare get so sloshed that I'll have to pull your worthless wings out of bed!"

"Yes, sir!" Thunderlane said with a heavy salute.  The other two ponies giggled.

Rainbow Dash said nothing.

"Well, let's go!"  Blossomforth hovered up.  "Race you there, Raindrops?"

"You're on!"

"Uh uh!"  Thunderlane flew up.  "Don't you girls even think of out-flying me!  I swear, the Cider Station will feel as though a meteor hit them once I arrive!"

"Thunderlane, wait here one second," Rainbow Dash said in a cold tone.

"H-huh?"

"You two girls go on ahead," Rainbow Dash waved.

"But... But..."  Thunderlane stammered.

"Uh ohhhhh..."  Blossomforth waggled her eyebrows.  "Somepony's gonna be making it rain upside down—"

"Shhh!"  Raindrops leaned into her friend and hissed, "Knock it off."  She smiled Rainbow's way and nodded.  "Better hurry up once you're done, Thunderlane!  The cider's not gonna sip itself!"

"See ya!"  And the two were gone.

Thunderlane flew back down to the hilltop with a sigh.  He heard the hooves of Rainbow Dash shuffling closer, and he gulped.  "Uhm... Is there a problem, Rainb—er... I mean Miss Dash, sir?"

Rainbow Dash stood in front of him.  "Why do you call me that?"

"Call you what?"

"'Sir.'"

"Huh?"  Thunderlane did a double-take.  "Are you serious?"

Rainbow Dash merely stared at him.

"Oh.  Uhm... well..."  He smiled nervously and shivered a bit.  "It's because... Well.  You see... I... er..."

"Do I intimidate you, Thunderlane?"

"Intimidate m-me...?"

"Do I freak you out?" Rainbow Dash nearly growled.

"Well, n-no!  I mean, yes... I mean..."  Thunderlane chuckled nervously, his ears drooping.  "You're my boss, Rainbow Dash.  You're the head weather flier here.  If I do something to disappoint you, it could affect my score in the eyes of the Weather Commission."

"Yeah..."  Rainbow Dash nodded towards the horizon.  "I guess that makes sense..."

"Did I do something wrong?  Are you mad at me?"

Rainbow Dash glared at him.  "Why?  Should I be?"

"I-I..."  He flinched immediately upon the glint in her eyes.  "See?  That's just it.  I don't know—"

"Am I an angry pony?" she asked, leaning forward.  "Do I strike you as a pony who loses her cool a lot?"

"Well..."

"Is that why you call me 'sir?’"

"Jee, I never thought you'd ask me that."  He shrugged.  "It's not like I'm the only pony who calls you 'sir.'"

"Raindrops and Blossomforth don't call me that."

"Yeah, but other ponies do."

"Since when?"

"Since... since you became the boss of all the weather fliers, I guess!"  He gulped.  "I swear, we don't mean to be disrespectful or anything.  It's just that you're so..."

"I'm what?"

"Well... Heh..."  He smiled with a suddenly easy breath.  "It's like this, I guess.  Remember last Hearth's Warming when you played the role of Commander Hurricane?  We all thought you filled the role so well."

"Who's 'we?’"

"Well, y'know... the whole weather team.  We all watched you in the Play of the Founding Ponies, Rainbow.  We were happy that such a cool pegasus from Ponyville was representing all of us.  But then when you actually started speaking Commander Hurricane's lines, we were floored!  It was like you were—I dunno—born for the role or something.  You sounded on stage just like you do when you shout us commands while we cloud-kick around town.  We all joked that you were a pegasus general reincarnated, and so we started calling you 'sir' just like Fluttershy did on stage.  I guess we didn't think much of it.  It was the best thing to say whenever you ordered us around."

"But Commander Hurricane was also a mare."

Thunderlane blinked, quite obviously puzzled.  "What... does that have to do with anything?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head and ran a hoof over her face.  "Nnngh... Nothing.  Nothing, I guess.  Sorry..."

"Is... Is everything okay, Miss Dash?"

"Yes!"  She frowned at him.  "Why wouldn't it be?!"

"S-sorry!"  He flinched from her.  "I didn't mean to make you angry!"

"I'm not angry!"  She snarled.  "I'm just... just..."  Her face softened, and she waved him off with a hoof.  "Forget it.  I kept you from enjoying cider, and that's a flippin' crime.  Take off and enjoy your time before we work tomorrow."

"Absolutely.  Yes, sir—er—ma'am—er... Rainbow!"  He saluted shakily and darted off in a streak.

Rainbow Dash stared lethargically after him.  Once he was a distant speck above the rooftops of Ponyville, she slumped back on her haunches and gave the book in her hooves an equally bored look.


> v
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "I always thought that it was because Commander Hurricane was in the military," Fluttershy said.  She dished out lumps of food to various mice, squirrels, and rabbits in the foyer of her cottage as a rich sunset bled crimson bands across the front windows.  "They called her 'sir' out of respect.  Maybe your weather team is showing you the same appreciation, Rainbow."

"But, doesn't it sound—I dunno—weird to you?"  Rainbow Dash stood at the far end of the cabin where the shadows were thickest.  "I mean, I'd rather be caught dead than become a Cloudsdalian guard.  It seems so boring.  Weather flying is already dull and simple enough as it is.  I mean, it’s not like we’re making tornadoes everyday!  There doesn't have to be a whole bunch of regiment to it."  She caught a familiar reflection in her peripheral vision.  Turning aside, Rainbow Dash caught her image in a circular mirror.  "And—like—it's not as if they use the same stiff, rigid chain of command in the Wonderbolts."

"They didn't call Spitfire 'sir' when you were hanging out with them on the day of the Best Young Fliers' Competition?"

"Eh... They may have been."  Rainbow Dash tilted her head left and right in the reflection, examining the fresh scratches from Opalescence.  "I was a bit too stoked with excitement to pay attention, not that it would have mattered much to me.  Spitfire's so dang cool.  If I was her and ponies called me 'sir,' I don't think I'd give a flying feather."

"Well, perhaps you're in a similar place," Fluttershy said as she finished filling the animals' dishes.  "Ponies around town look up to you.  Uhm... I know I always have..."

"Heh..."  Rainbow Dash smirked and looked towards her.  "Yeah, well, you'd look up to a bucket of birdseed if it so much as flew faster than you, Fluttershy."

"Well... okay..." Fluttershy murmured defeatedly.  "I guess that's true."  Her wings twitched.  Changing the subject, she gazed at the nearby table and smiled at the book that had been returned to her home.  “Thank you again for delivering the novel I had let Rarity borrow.  I know you’ve been very busy lately..."

"Eh, it’s no prob.  What’s it about anyways?"

"It's... uhm... not the kind of book that would interest you, Rainbow.  At least... erm... I wouldn't imagine so..."

“Why not?”

“Well, it’s a classic romance story, and I know how much you roll your eyes at that sort of a thing.”

Rainbow Dash lingered slightly, gazing at the edges of her own reflection.  "Whatever," she eventually grunted with a shrug.  "If there's no Daring Do, I'm not interested."  She stared fixedly at Fluttershy's mane for a while as her friend hovered away.  She blinked and glanced at her own reflection in the mirror, grimacing slightly at the terribly unkempt, undeniably normal spread of her prismatic hair.

"Twilight says that there's a new volume coming out soon," Fluttershy remarked.  "Actually, two more books, come to think of it.  It's just a matter of months away..."

"Yeah..."  Rainbow Dash murmured absent-mindedly.  She gave Fluttershy's beautiful mane one last look before staring deeply into the mirror and fluffing her own head of hair with a scraped hoof.  She shaped the mane into something at least halfway "fashionable."  The sight that she was presented with did little to solace her.  Her nostrils flared.

"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy's voice murmured.  "Doesn't that excite you?"

Rainbow winced and shook her head until the mane was back to its usual raggedness.  She looked nervously towards her friend.  "Huh?  What excites me?"

"Two new Daring Do books!"

"Oh.  Uh... Yeah.  Sure.  How'd you find out about them?"

"Twilight told me.  I visited the library today looking for a new issue of Rodents Monthly.  I would have stayed longer, but... well..."

"Hmm?"

"It's not important."

"What, the magazine wasn't there or something?"

"No." Fluttershy shuddered, her coat paling even more as she gazed skittishly out the nearest window.  "I was told that reading up on squirrels was unbecoming of an animal expert."

"Huh?"  Rainbow Dash made a face.  "Who in the hay said that to you?"

"Oh.  Uhm.  Palm Fringe and Valley Strokes."

"What?"  Rainbow Dash leaned forward, her brow furrowed.  "Those two bimbos?!  Were they poking fun at you again?"

"Oh dear..."  Fluttershy bit her lip and dug at the floorboard with her hooves.  "Now I w-wish I hadn't said anything..."

"What did they say to you, Fluttershy?"

"Uhm... Nothing.  Really."

Rainbow Dash frown.  "What did they say?!"

"Eeep!"  Fluttershy backed up against a wall.  "They... They said I was a 'silly filly playing animal doctor...'"

Rainbow Dash started breathing heavier and heavier to the point of fuming.

"And that... uhm... 'I should just quit my day job.'"

Rainbow was already storming towards the front door to the cottage.  "Where are those two boneheads right now?"

"Oh Rainbow, don't—!"

Rainbow Dash flung the door open on its hinges and spread her wings.  "I'll friggin' smack their hooves together and make a table out of them both!"

"Please!"  Fluttershy tried biting on Rainbow's tail, but the blue pegasus' movement only made her pratfall onto the rug.  "Eeep!"  Wincing, she looked up and stretched a desperate hoof.  "Really!  Don't!  I shouldn't have said anything!  I don't want any trouble..."

"No, Fluttershy, you don't!  You never do!"  Rainbow Dash gnashed her teeth and glared down at her frail friend.  "But trouble just seems to follow you, doesn't it?"

"Uhm..."

"I am sick to friggin' death of ponies thinking they can make a pushover out of you!"  Rainbow Dash bucked an invisible cloud in frustration and growled, "Day in and day out, it never fails!  Why do some mares have to be such stupid jerks?!  Is it cuz they hate a pony who's kinder and gentler than them?!  Is it cuz they want to feel like they're popular?!"

"I... I don't know.  But please, Rainbow.  Don't go after anypony..."  Fluttershy's eyes moistened slightly.  "You know how much I hate conflict.  I'm... I'm not worth it, really..."

"Fluttershy..."  Rainbow Dash flew down to the ground at the sight of her friend's eyes watering.  "Of course you're worth it!  Don't you get it?!  You're... You're so sweet and nice!  You're—like—the model pony that Celestia wants all of us to be!  Or all ponies, for that matter!  And you're so good at what you do: both when it comes to your job and your hobbies!  And..."

She groaned and folded her forearms, glaring off into the sunset beyond the front door.

"Nopony should have to treat you like crap for how you decide to live your life,” Rainbow Dash said in a low tone.  “It's... It's just stupid.  I know you.  I know that you're awesome and wickedly cool, even in your own shy little ways.  And... And it just sickens me that somepony would take a mare who's so innocent and make her feel like crap just because.  It makes no sense.  It makes no—"  She stopped in mid-sentence, blinking.  Her gaze fell upon Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was frozen still, her body crouched against the rug and her wide eyes locked nervously on Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow winced.  She scratched the back of her neck.  "Uhm... I... I'm sorry that I just went off like that.  I don't... I don't know what got into me."  She sighed as her wings drooped at her sides.  "I... didn't really get a lot of sleep last night.  Sorry for dumping all of that on you."

"Rainbow Dash...?"

"Mmmf..." Rainbow Dash ran a hoof over her face.  "Yeah, what...?"

"Are you..."  Fluttershy stood up, and all the shock and fear was gone from her face, replaced instead by deep concern.  "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine enough, I guess.  So little sleep, like I said."

"It's just that..."  Fluttershy trotted over towards her.  "I'm not used to you... to you..."

"What?"  Rainbow Dash briefly frowned.

Fluttershy gulped.  "Feeling."

Rainbow Dash blinked.  She looked at the fresh cat scratches on her hooves, as if they suddenly stung for the first time in hours.  She cleared her throat and hid her limbs behind her back.  "Yeah, well.  Sleep deprivation can do funny things to a pony's senses.  Heh..."  She smiled crookedly.  "Just ask Applejack."

Fluttershy smiled sympathetically.  "There are worse things to be deprived of."

Rainbow Dash slowly tilted away from her, as if Fluttershy was made of some deadly material.  "Eh..."  She shuffled backwards, increasing the distance between them.  "I only need a soft cloud to sleep on.  I promise, Fluttershy, that I'll be less grumpy next time you see me.  I mean it."

"Including tomorrow?"

"Hmmm?"

"Oh, Rarity didn't remind you?"  Fluttershy smiled sweetly and flexed her wings.  "Twilight's been planning tomorrow morning's picnic for days now.  Everypony's going to be there.  Plus, Pinkie's going to be sampling her new caramel fritters.  It should be really fun.  You're going to come too, right?  I mean, if that's okay with you..."

"I... I have things to do, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said, though she winced to say it directly to the pegasus' sweet face.  "Seriously.  It's like my whole week is booked and stuff."

"Oh..."  Fluttershy hung her head.  "I was really hoping you would come."

Rainbow Dash gulped.  "You were?"

"Mmmhmmm..."  Fluttershy nodded, and her soft eyes tilted halfway towards Rainbow in a meek gaze.  "It feels as if we never see you around lately, Rainbow."

"Who's 'we?'"

"The girls and I, of course.  Ever since the wedding ceremony, it's like you're always being called off to one job or another."

"Well, heh, you know how it is.  You pull one sonic rainboom over Canterlot Castle and suddenly you're working on all of Ponyville's to-do lists."

"But surely you can make it to the picnic at least this one time.  We miss having you around."

"I... I..."  Rainbow Dash tried looking away from Fluttershy.  It felt like cutting off a limb.  "I-I'll see what I can do.  But, no promises..."  She flew off into the sunset, blazing away from the cottage.  "See ya!" she added in a habitual voice crack.

Fluttershy waved after her, smiling sweetly.  "Try to get some shuteye, Rainbow Dash."



> vi
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Rainbow Dash tossed and turned restlessly on a cloud.  The edge of the dying day was freshly melting over the western horizon.  The rooftops of Ponyville darkened below, and the pinprick lights of streetlamps did their meager best to pick up the slack.

A groan flew through the pegasus.  Her eyes slid back in her head as she rolled onto her back, gazing lethargically at the stars being born one at time against the purple canvas above.  They had always held a beauty and wonder to her youthful perspective.  Suddenly, though, they appeared paler than normal, as if a splash of color had stolen all of their luster from the sky.

Rainbow Dash sighed.  A distant wind picked up, generating tiny whining noises over the cloudtops.  If she listened hard enough, she thought she could still hear the meek murmur of a dear friend with wilted wings.  Her ears twitched painfully, sending a shudder through her body.

In an insomniac slump, she turned over and nestled herself deeper in the misty bed of levitating vapors.  She clenched her eyes shut, and yet all she saw was more faces.  Far beyond the whistle of the high winds, she heard voices that accompanied the images, growing sweeter and sweeter with each indecipherable exclamation.  The kinder they were, the more she winced upon hearing them, and she curled into a fetal position and squeezed her forelimbs together... surprised at feeling nothing.

Her eyes flew open.  Rainbow Dash was hugging nothing but dissipating cloud vapors to her chest.  She saw dozens of cat-scratches on her rough coat, and through the corner of eyes she spotted a flash of straw-thick, unconditioned mane hair.  A slight whimper escaped her lips, and as soon as a hint of moisture lined her eyelids, she gnashed her teeth and kicked hard at the cloud.

The bed of mist exploded beneath her.  She spun about, kicking two more nearby clouds until the dark sky cleared in a breathless gasp.  Soon she was hovering limply, panting, hundreds of feet above the rooftops of Ponyville.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  Then, with a surrendering slump of her shoulders, she fluttered loosely down to the earth.

The streets of Ponyville were empty.  Rainbow Dash walked alone, like a ghost, her hooves shuffling between houses at ground level.  There was something that always unnerved the lofty pegasus about touching the earth, though she would never admit it to anypony.  It was infinitely more comforting to hover aloft in the air, unfettered by gravity, in complete control of her own wings, her own body, her own soul.

Now, as she scraped and dragged her limbs past halo after halo of flickering lamplight, she felt weighted, lonesome, and vulnerable.  Regardless, she pressed on with her self-imposed anchorage, testing her courage, as if taunted by yet another undiscovered country.

Her eyes flicked left and right.  She saw the lights on in several homes.  Rainbow Dash was too polite to peer in through the windows, but even through her peripheral vision she could make out movement.  Each home was bustling with activity, filled to the brim with talking, murmuring, and even laughing ponies: ponies at dinner, ponies at conversation, ponies at family communion.

On the porch of a two-story cottage, two ponies and their foals were gathered.  A dog barked and ran circles in the front yard while a little colt flung a disc for the excitable canine to fetch.  The father said something and chuckled, while the mother squatted in a rocking chair with a little filly curled by her side.  A porchlight dimly illuminated the family with a yellow glow, giving them an ethereal quality as they enjoyed the conclusion of the day.

Rainbow Dash stared at them for a prolonged period.  She knew the family.  On several occasions, they had waved to her as she went by.  But on all of those occasions, she had been in the air.  She had been flying overhead, as everypony expected of the village's chief and most loyal weather flier.  Walking by at ground level across the street, she was virtually ignored.  It was too soon for Rainbow Dash to tell if she liked the change or not.

She ran a hoof through her mane, wincing at the still-fresh scratches that Opalescence had given her.  Her eyes briefly locked on the mare, on how closely she nuzzled and loved on her daughter.  All the while, the mare's husband was standing by her side, coaching his son's disc-throwing skills from afar.  It took a while of staring, but Rainbow Dash realized that the husband's and wife's hooves had been grasping each other the entire time.  It was the subtlest of gestures, and yet it was so sincere, so pervasive, so...

A sweet smell graced Rainbow's nostrils.  Her heart skipped a beat as she spun and looked down the block.  She saw a familiar house with a familiar front door and an even more familiar rooftop.  She squirmed where she stood, fidgeting, exchanging glances between the house and the relaxing family across the street.  It would have been so easy to walk away, to fly away, to rocket towards the sky and attempt to do battle with sleep again.  But something froze her in place, something painful—like the same thing that had brought moisture to her eyes on the cloud above.



> vii
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "I dunno, Bon Bon," Lyra said with a wincing expression.  Squinting through bifocals, she scribbled notes across a music sheet lying out on a table in the center of the mares' brightly-lit living room.  "If I were you, I wouldn't sign up for it.  It kind of sounds pretentious to me."

"Why don't you marry that word if you love it so much?!" Bon Bon's voice carried over the smell of various baked candies in the nearby kitchen.

"What word?"

"'Pretentious!'"

"Pfft!"  Lyra rolled her eyes and smirked.  "So color me purple."

"I really think it's a great idea!"  Bon Bon trotted into the doorframe to the kitchen, wiping one of her hooves with a towel.  "How many up-and-coming confectioners fail to make it big in Ponyville because the likes of me and Mrs. Cake are gobbling up all of the local market's attention?"

"Yeah, but switching baked goods with Apple Fritter for the upcoming Summer Sweets Competition?"  Lyra made a face, shuffling through several music sheets.  "I dunno, Bon Bon.  If you ask me, popular candy-makers get that way cuz they earn it.  Exactly what is this stunt going to accomplish?"

"What else?"  Bon Bon stifled a giggle.  "It'll help lesser-known bakers get their names on the map!"

"But is it worth lying to a bunch of taste-testers?  Including the judge's board?"  Lyra shuddered.  "I just hate to see some harm come to your reputation."

"We're gonna come clean with the whole experiment in the end!  Besides, Mrs. Cake and I have won top awards so many years in a row.  I think it's time that new ponies got the spotlight, especially if it means showing how broken the judging system is!"

"Yeah, well, I'll back you up in anything you do, honey," Lyra murmured.  "Even if it's something stupid."

"Heeheehee... Oh Lyra."  Bon Bon trotted over and nuzzled the mint-green unicorn.  "Don't you think I have more in life to make me happy beyond candy-making?"

Lyra smiled, shoving Bon Bon off with a shrug of her shoulder.  "Pleasing you hardly earns us bits."

Bon Bon turned back to the kitchen.  "It might if we paid a special visit to Los Pegasus."

"Oh, hardy har har..."

"Heeheehee—"  Bon Bon froze in mid-trot upon hearing the doorbell ring.  "Goodness me!  Who's that at this hour?"

"Uhhh..."  Lyra lowered the bifocals from her nose.  "You don't suppose Derpy's confused sunset with sunrise again?"

"She'd better be delivering extra cinnamon if she is!"  Bon Bon said from where she was removing several treats from a pair of ovens.  "These rolls aren't going to perfect themselves!"

"Oh, Celestia forbid!"  Lyra got up from the sofa and walked across the living room.  "Better make sure your—I mean—Apple Fritter's goods don't go stale!"

"I see what you did there!"

"No you didn't!"  Lyra chuckled and opened the door.  "Lose your watch again, Miss Hooves—?"  She froze in place, blinking.  "R-Rainbow Dash!"

Bon Bon's head peeked out from the kitchen door, wide-eyed.

Rainbow stood outside the front entrance, digging at the doormat with a blue hoof.  "Uhm... Hi."

"Hey," Lyra replied with a blink.

Bon Bon limply waved from afar.

There was silence.

"Uhm..."  Rainbow Dash gnawed on her lip.  "This... This is really late at night, isn't it?"  More silence.  "I mean, for 'chewing the fat' or whatever..."

"Huh?"  Lyra's mouth fell agape.  She gazed back at Bon Bon, then at a nearby clock.  "Oh!  Uhm... Hardly!  Ten o'clock?  Pfft.  At this hour, I've barely tossed the day out of my mane!  It's not late at all!"  She gulped and smiled back towards the kitchen.  "Is it, Bon Bon?"

"Er... No!"  Bon Bon smiled brightly and skipped across the living room to stand by Lyra's side.  "What a pleasure to have you drop by!  I mean really, Rainbow Dash..."

"Have a step inside," Lyra said, gesturing.

Quietly, a squirming Rainbow Dash did just that.  One tiny hoofstep after another, she stepped through the door and stood in the mares' foyer.  She looked around, her ruby eyes squinting at the indoor lighting.  "Heh... swell pad.  It's certainly..."

"Comfy?"  Bon Bon smiled.

"Bright," Rainbow Dash uttered.

"Yeah, well."  Lyra rolled her eyes and motioned towards Bon Bon with a smile.  "Blame Miss Sunshine here.  Turns out candy isn't the only thing she likes to decorate."

"So what if I like everything to be cheerful wherever I go?"  Bon Bon stuck her tongue out and gestured towards the sofa.  "Here!  Have a seat!  Would you like something to drink?"

"Uhhh... I-I didn't come here to empty your well or nothing—"

"Pfft!  Don't be such a silly filly!"  Bon Bon waved.  "You're our guest!  If you're parched, it's the least we can do!"

"Yeah."  Lyra nodded.  "You look beat."

"Lyra!" Bon Bon hissed.

The unicorn shrugged.  "Hey!  Just saying!"  She smiled at Rainbow Dash.  "Crazy day of cloud kicking?"

"Heh.  Yeah."  Rainbow Dash managed a relaxed smirk, shaking the tangles out of her mane.  "When is it not, though, is the question."

"So which thundercloud pulled the knife on you?"

"Huh?"

Lyra pointed at Rainbow's scraped forelimbs.

"Oh.  That.  Uhm..."  Rainbow Dash stirred.  "Let's just say that firefighters aren't the only ponies who have to rescue cats from trees."

"Say no more," Lyra remarked, waving both forelimbs.  "Now sit down before Bon Bon has a heart attack."

"I am not!" the earth pony's voice called forth from beyond.  She was already in the kitchen, rummaging around.  "Lemme just turn these ovens off and I'll get you a glass of something!  What do you like, Rainbow?  Orange juice?  Sarsaparilla?  Ooooh!  I know!  Cider!  You're crazy about the stuff, aren't you?"

"Uhm..."  Rainbow Dash fidgeted until she found her way to the sofa.  She sat on it, folding her hooves politely beneath her.  "Just water is fine."

"Okay!  I'll be out in a sec!"

"She really loves having guests over," Lyra remarked, sitting down on the opposite side of the couch from Rainbow Dash.  She shuffled her song sheets together and telekinetically filed them into a manila envelope.  "So stop feeling guilty about visiting at this hour.  We're both late owls anyway."

"Alright..."  Rainbow Dash nodded.  She tilted her head up and sniffed.  "This place smells different."

"Jee, thanks," Lyra droned with a wry smirk.  "I make sure to secrete poached dragon glands all over the corners every morning.  It chases the gargoyles away."

"Er... I mean..."  Rainbow Dash winced.  "I-I guess I don't know what I mean.  It's... it's a nice smell..."

"Heh... I'm just teasing you," Lyra said.  "What is it that you're always telling ponies, Rainbow? 'Chillax?'  I swear to Luna, what's gotten you so tense lately?"

"I guess I'm just used to flying over rooftops," Rainbow Dash murmured, her eyes scanning a distant line of old photographs resting over a fireplace.  "But actually going inside the houses?  Aside from a few of my best friend's places, I rarely step inside anywhere.  And when I do, the smell is... different.  I dunno.  It's just something I notice."

"I bet your house has a nice smell of its own," Lyra said.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip, avoiding the unicorn's gaze.  "I... I wouldn't know..."

One of Lyra's eyebrows arched at that.

"Tall glass of ice-cold water, coming right up!"  Bon Bon marched into the room with a tray balanced on her flank.  Of the three glasses, Rainbow Dash clutched one and Lyra telekinetically lifted another.  "Don't be afraid, Rainbow Dash," Bon Bon said.  "It's bottled stuff.  I know that most pegasi are exclusively used to drinking rainwater from clouds."  She winked playfully.  "No need for you to suffer from Maretazuma's Revenge."

"Eh heh heh..."  Rainbow Dash raised the glass and took a sip.  She swallowed and exhaled, "I think I'll be more than okay.  Thanks."

Bon Bon lowered the tray and squatted on a stool across from the two on the sofa.  "So, were you just out having a stroll?"

"Something like that," Rainbow Dash murmured.  She gulped heartily from the glass.  When she held it in her hooves, the leftover water rippled visibly in her feeble grasp.  "Ever have a night where your body wants to sleep, but your brain refuses to let it?"

Lyra's eyes rested on the quivering water before rising up to Rainbow's dull expression.  "Heh, all the time.  If my horn had its way, I'd be up every night scribbling crappy attempts at a symphony."

"I used to have terrible insomnia," Bon Bon said.  "Lyra, you remember.  We used to take midnight strolls to the stone bridge over Deer River and back."

"Deer River..."  Rainbow Dash took another drink.  "You mean just north of the lake house?"

"Uhhh..."  Bon Bon blushed furiously and glanced over towards Lyra.

The unicorn was fighting a rosiness to her own cheeks.  "Erm... We wouldn't know anything about a lake house."

"Ahem."  Bon Bon recovered with a gentle smile of her own.  "Do you have any solutions for insomnia of your own, Rainbow Dash?"

"I dunno."

"Oh?"

"Haven't had sleeping problems until just recently."  With that, Rainbow Dash unemotionally slapped the glass onto the tabletop in front of the sofa.

Both marefriends stared fixedly at the empty container, exchanged glances, and faced their guest once more.

"Well... uhm..."  Bon Bon fidgeted.  "Maybe if you paid a visit to Nurse Red Heart, she could prescribe something for—"

"Are those your photos?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Bon Bon blinked.  "Huh?"

"Those." Rainbow Dash pointed across the room.  "The old-looking ones."

"Above the fireplace, I think she means," Lyra added.

"Oh!"  Bon Bon brightened cheerfully.  "Yes, they belong to my family!"  She got up from her stool and approached the hearth, straightening the wooden frames around the black-and-white images of ponies in outdated fashion.  "We've been here a long time—in Ponyville, I mean.  Not as long as the Apple Family, of course..."

"Well, whose family has?" Rainbow Dash remarked.

"Hehehe... Exactly."  Bon Bon pointed at one picture after another.  "This is my Grandfather Pepper Skins.  And that's my Great Aunt Falsetto.  This group here are my distant cousin and his wife and foals—"

"I'm not seeing any unicorns."

"Huh?" Bon Bon briefly fumbled.

Lyra spoke up, "They’re all Bon Bon's relatives.  I... uh... don't have any family photos.  Not in the living room, at least."

"Besides, Lyra doesn't like showing off like I do,"  Bon Bon said with a flighty laugh.  "But she likes sharing things in her own way.  Oooh!  Honey, how about playing that little number you wrote over the weekend?"

"Oh Bon Bon, I dunno..."

"Why not?  Heeheehee—It's absolutely beautiful!  Brings a tear to my eye!"  Bon Bon smiled across the room at Rainbow Dash.  "Don't let her cutie mark fool you.  Lyra here can play the piano like an angel."

"Yeah..."  Lyra smiled tiredly, leaning her chin against a hoof.  "Like an angel of death."

"Oh hush!  That latest piece is gonna be on record sooner than later!"

"Everypony is sick to death of sad ballads.  I know I can whip up something better, given the time."

"Maybe if you stopped teaching at Ponyville High everyday and took some time off to be even more creative for once!"

"Hey!  I happen to enjoy running the local band camp!  Some unlucky sap in Equestria has gotta be into it!"

"But why's that sap always gotta be you?"

"Ugh... I really don't think this is the time or the place, Bon Bon..."

"Lyra..."

"Uhm..."  Rainbow Dash was fidgeting.

"Oh dear."  Bon Bon chuckled.  "You poor thing.  Listening to us go on like that.  Why don't you tell us all about that sonic rainboom you performed in Canterlot?!"

"Yeah..."  Lyra smiled.  "You think you're the insomniac?  Bon Bon won't lie still until she hears from the mistress of flight herself."

"No, I'm fine just... just talking about whatever," Rainbow Dash murmured, staring down at the couch cushion beneath her.  "You both are really... cool.  It's as though you read each other like a book."

"That'll happen after you've lived with another pony long enough," Lyra said.

"Heehee!  Oh, absolutely."  Bon Bon nodded.  "Say, did you see these photos?"  Bon Bon trotted over to an adjacent wall and motioned towards several far more colorful images.  "Lyra and I have something of an album building.  It's almost twice the number of pictures that I have of old family members.  The way I see it, several decades from now, we'll have a rich history of our own for future ponies to share."

"Yeah..."  Rainbow Dash said.  "You... You really bring a lot of life to this village."

"Awwww... Thanks!  That's so sweet."

"Do you... Do you find it hard?" Rainbow remarked.  Her voice stammered, then produced, "Living together... around so many other ponies, that is.  Doesn't... Doesn't it make you feel uncomfortable?"

"Hmmm..."  Bon Bon's face scrunched past her own reflection in the picture frames.  "Uncomfortable?  I dunno.  I find every day to be exciting and promising.  It's good to have a positive outlook and all.  But as for being uncomfortable around other ponies?  Well, if you ask me, I try not to pay it too much mind.  I mean, I can't speak for everypony, though a lot of them have done nothing but enrich our lives in this delightful town."  She giggled.  "And you should know a thing or two about enriching lives, right, Rainbow Dash?"

Silence.

"Rainbow?"  Bon Bon turned around.  The first thing she saw was the back of Lyra's head.  The mint-green unicorn was staring fixedly at their guest.  Bon Bon followed her gaze, and her expression went blank.

Rainbow Dash was curled up tightly against the far end of the couch.  In an almost foalish gesture, she hugged her forelimbs to her chest and stared deeply into the floor.  Her face was locked in a perpetually anxious wince.

Without a word, Bon Bon trotted briskly towards the center of the living room and squatted down on the floor beside her partner.  The two of them stared intently at Rainbow Dash.  Bon Bon eventually swallowed before saying, "Are... Are you feeling uncomfortable about something, Rainbow Dash?"

"I..."  Rainbow Dash shuddered.  Her teeth showed briefly as she took several short breaths and curled her forelimbs to her chest even tighter.  "I-I don't know..."

Bon Bon smiled warmly.  "Of course you do.  Why... Why would you be here, Rainbow, unless there was something you wanted to share with somepony?"

"You can talk to us, Rainbow Dash," Lyra said in an even lower tone.  "What are you feeling right now?"

Rainbow Dash shivered.  She gulped and darted her eyes towards the corners of the room furthest from the two.  "I..."  Her lips quivered, and the next utterance positively squeaked out of her.  "I feel."

Lyra and Bon Bon sat patiently, waiting, listening.

Rainbow Dash shuddered and repeated, "I feel.  And all I'm getting is nervousness and butterflies in my stomach and this stupid insomnia and... and..."

"Are you feeling confused?" Lyra asked.

Rainbow Dash winced.  Slowly, she shook her head.  "No."  She finally looked the two in the face, and when she did so it was with a vulnerable twitch to her ruby eyes.  "That's just it.  I kind of wish I was confused.  But I'm not.  I couldn't possibly be more sure of something in my life.  I feel... no."  She tensed her jaw.  "I know, and now every stupid little thing suddenly screams at me at full volume."  She closed her eyes and sighed.  After a few seconds, she cast a tired glance at the pair.  "Was there ever a day when you woke up and—like—you just knew?"

Bon Bon and Lyra blinked.  They exchanged glances and smiled.

"Well, to be frank, Rainbow..."  Bon Bon chuckled slightly.  "We always knew.  It's not like some light switch was flipped and suddenly we decided that we were going to like mares."

"Contrary to what some ponies might think, there's never some overnight epiphany," Lyra added.  She leaned forward with a sympathetic look.  "Why?  Do you feel as if a switch was flipped for you?"

"Pfffft," Rainbow Dash reacted before even thinking.  She glanced off towards the far end of the living room as she curled into the corner of the couch.  "No.  No, I guess I... I always knew.  Only..."  She winced through her teeth.  "It... It suddenly matters to me now.  It didn't always matter, but now it does, and I can't stop thinking about it."

"What happened?" Lyra asked softly.  "What caused you to think about it so much?"

"Nnnngh..."  Rainbow Dash clenched her eyes shut while her brow furrowed as if with a furious headache.  "That stupid wedding.  All that ceremony and sappiness and celebration and crud."  She groaned.  A few seconds passed, and she continued in a muttering tone.  "It started first with me being asked to perform the sonic rainboom over Canterlot.  I was like 'Cool, I can totally do that.'  But then—like—the whole wedding became this crazy thing.  There was a bunch of drama, and then the whole changeling crap happened.  And—like—when all the madness was done with, and Twilight's brother and Princess Whats-Her-Name did their vows and k-kissed and got married and all..."  She bit her lip as a soft breath flowed through her.  Eventually, she dripped forth, "I... I saw how happy they were.  And... And I liked it.  I liked that happiness... because—like—I could feel it too."

Bon Bon smiled.  "I think that's really sweet, Rainbow Dash.  Twilight's your friend, and it's only natural for you to be happy for her brother—"

"It's more than that," Rainbow Dash grunted, shaking her head.  "After they kissed and it was my time to pull off the sonic rainboom, I... well, y'know... I did it.  But it was so easy.  I mean, I knew it would be easy.  I'm learning how to pull the stuff off in my sleep.  And it's not like everypony wasn't impressed.  All of Canterlot was screaming their heads off.  I had tons of ponies asking for my autographs left and right.  Even the rich snobs."

"Heh... alright..."

"But, like, I started thinking..."  Rainbow Dash murmured.  "The sonic rainboom was once something I thought would be impossible, but now it's so flippin' easy for me to do.  So, like, what about joining the Wonderbolts?  Will that become something easy for me too?  I mean, I'll totally dig that when it happens, and I'd rock the skies and become the greatest Wonderbolt there's ever been or ever will be.  But..."  She squinted into the shadows of the place.  "What if impressing all of Equestria isn't all it's cracked up to be?  I mean, not to toot my own horn or nothing, but there are tons of ponies who kiss the ground I walk on here, how little I do walk on it..."

Bon Bon giggled.  "Uh huh.  No denying that..."

"I just..."  Rainbow Dash squirmed nervously.  "I just feel suddenly that all of that won't matter to me like I've always imagined it would.  Being praised by tons of ponies is cool and all.  But how will I know that I'll really be happy from it all?  How will I know that I'll feel... like they felt... Twilight's brother and the Princess, I mean.  They were in such a good place.  And... and I think I want that too.  I want to be in a good place so that when I make it big, I won't... I-I won't be alone.  I can talk about it.  I can share it.  I..."

Bon Bon gently said, "You want somepony to come home to..."

The light reflected brighter off Rainbow's eyes, and her voice cracked, "Yes."  She sniffled and slowly nodded.  "I... would really, really like that."  She sighed heavily, as if confessing a great sin.  Her hooves played foalishly with the colorful hairs of her tail as she blinked her eyes dry and muttered, "And for the life of me, I can't see that somepony being a stallion.  I... I never have..."  She slowly shook her head.  "And now, I can't stop thinking of how... how strange that is..."

Bon Bon chuckled dryly.  The brightness faded briefly in her face as she smiled with a furrowed brow.  "Rainbow Dash, you're experiencing a very special moment of self-discovery.  It's only natural to feel as though you've had a shock to your system.  But don't feel as though you have to call it 'strange.’”

"But isn't it?"  Rainbow Dash glared at her.  "How many couples are there like you two around here in Ponyville?"

"Well—"

"Or in Equestria for that matter?"  Rainbow Dash shivered at the words coming out of her mouth.  "I... I don't know what my friends would think of me if I told them.  Would they think I was weird?  Would they pretend to not feel awkward around me?  I mean... I-I actually do care about these crazy ponies I hang out with all the time.  I don't want to scare them off..."

"Scare them off?!"  Bon Bon chuckled.  "Oh Rainbow Dash, you have some of the greatest, most dependable friends in all of Equestria!  I mean—for Luna's sake!—you're all embodying the Elements of Harmony!  That's an enviable bond no matter how you shake it!  Even if it that wasn't the case, I've baked with Pinkie Pie constantly!  I know Applejack and Rarity like sisters!  I've even talked with Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle on several occasions!  I know for a fact that they're all very tolerant and understanding!"

"I... I owe it to them to not freak them out," Rainbow Dash muttered.

Bon Bon briefly frowned.  "And you owe yourself far more respect than that!  Seriously, what's to fear about telling them how you feel?  That's what this is all about, isn't it?  You shouldn't be afraid of anything, Rainbow Dash.  I mean—heehee—it's not like you're crushing really hard on any of them to make the whole thing awkward—"

Rainbow Dash winced visibly, biting her lip.

Bon Bon froze in mid-speech.  She blinked, and then her face paled.  "Oh... OH.  Uhm..."  She fidgeted and ran a hoof through her blue-and-pink mane.  "Hmmm..."

"So stupid..."  Rainbow Dash clenched her eyes shut and murmured over and over again in a hissing voice.  "So stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid..."

"Hey... Hey, no.  No, don't go there."  Bon Bon leaned forward.  "You're being too hard on yourself.  Now stop.  I mean it.  You've opened up so easily to us, haven't you?  What's to say that you can't do the same with your friends—even if you do... have feelings for one of them?"

"I'm a featherbrain," Rainbow Dash grumbled.  "A stupid cloud skipper who doesn't know how to keep her wings down.  This will all end stupidly.  I know it."

"Not at all."  Bon Bon shook her head.  "Your friends love and care for you.  It won't be as awkward as you think.  I think you should go to them and tell them the truth, so that you can finally be at ease with yourself.  I just know that they'll accept you no matter what, and all of your fears will be for nothing—"

"Bon Bon..."

She looked over.

Lyra was gazing at her silently, her eyes calm and meditative.  She slowly shook her head.

Bon Bon blinked, her lips quivering as if attempting to protest.  In the end, she gave up, and sadly hung her head in a quiet slump.

Rainbow Dash watched curiously as Lyra shuffled off the couch and squatted by Bon Bon's side.  She rested a mint-green hoof on the mare's shoulder and looked over.  "There's a reason why I don't have any photos of my family to grace the fireplace."

Rainbow Dash blinked.  She swallowed and nodded.  "I'm listening..."

Lyra took a breath and spoke.  "I was born and raised in Canterlot," she said.  "I'm not sure if I ever told you that."

To Rainbow Dash's neutral response, she calmly continued.

"I had a very nice upbringing, and when I say 'nice' I invariably mean 'rich.'  Heh.  My mother's a lawyer and my father works in the management of a popular jewelry store in the city's upper district.  Since I was a little filly, they supported me in all of my endeavors.  They taught me to pursue my dreams and aspirations with utmost zeal.  When I got my cutie mark for musical talents, they invested a lot of money to enroll me in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns—the music department, to be exact.  I shot to the top of the my class almost instantly.”

Lyra’s eyes wandered across the bright walls of the living room as she continued speaking.

“My parents were so proud of me,” she said in a quiet tone.  “And on several occasions they took me aside to make sure that I was getting the best out of life.  My father—as a matter of fact—had a philosophy that he always shared with me.  He told me that the essential key to a unicorn's healthy living is to embrace love and joy as much as learning.  So, taking his advice, I took time away from rigorous study to go out and socialize.  I fell in love at a young age, and it positively changed my life.  I was living in the clouds, and everypony in the family knew it.  My parents begged and begged to be introduced my new coltfriend.  And, so, one day I indulged them."

Lyra paused, fiddling with the ends of her hooves against the wooden floorboards.  She smiled gently to herself.

"Only,"  she said.  "It wasn't a coltfriend."  She paused, then leaned back.  "Looking back, I have to admit—I was really young.  I didn't think.  Or—at least—if I did, it was with a measurable degree of brashness, arrogance and... pretentiousness on my part."  She glanced over at Bon Bon.

Bon Bon quietly smiled back.

"What..."  Rainbow Dash murmured.  "What did your parents say?"  She gulped, afraid of the answer that she was already starting to predict.  "What did they do?"

Lyra looked back.  She exhaled, "The details aren't exactly important.  The long and short of it: I moved out within the year.  Not all places in Canterlot are as... inviting as Ponyville, Rainbow Dash.  I've heard you speak less than favorably of Equestria's capital city on several occasions, and the only reason I've never argued the point is that—well—I believe it too, for I've lived it.  And—in a lot of ways—I still do."

She looked Rainbow Dash in the eye from across the room.

"You say that every house smells different?  That couldn't be farther from the truth.  But living in that home?  It smelled rotten.  My parents never attacked me for who I was or who I chose to love.  They never outright berated me or went out of their way to insult me.  As a matter of fact, they did nothing.  And because of that, I felt like nothing.  I was suddenly some shell of a pony that they barely looked at anymore as we passed each other in the hall.  And when I looked hurt or insulted, they acted all defensive, pretending that they were doing their best all along to avoid offending me."

Lyra suddenly frowned.

"But you know what?  Ignorance is a poor substitute for tolerance.  I had to get out of that environment.  The funny part was that when I started packing my things, finally they showed signs of life.  In a last-ditch effort to keep me around, they scheduled me with a psychiatrist, as if I had a sickness, as if there was something about me that needed to be fixed.  My parents, the very mentors who taught me to embrace the joys of life in the first place, the ones who taught me to explore the lengths of myself..."

"So..."  Rainbow Dash squinted.  "You left home?"

"I left, yes." Lyra nodded.  "And for a while, I didn't know where to go.  My mother in particular has a lot of influence in Canterlot.  I know that she never personally went on any crusade to hurt my image, but everypony could tell that she was displeased with me.  As a result, friends and distant relatives who once offered open doors to me suddenly had them closed.  Nopony bothered to think for themselves.  All they knew was that there was something undeniably wrong with me, and they never bothered to challenge the issue, to second-guess the intoxicating power of absolute intolerance.”

Lyra chuckled, a bitter smile gracing her lips.

"The deliciously ironic part was that the fillyfriend with whom this whole thing started also wanted nothing to do with me,” she said.  “Because she thought I had instrumented the whole thing as a desperate stunt to make me move in with her.  Close-mindedness infects all things, you see.  I learned that the hard way, and that's when I knew true hopelessness, for I had no place to call home.  I wasn't entirely lost, mind you.  I had money to my name.  I had my education, and a career to get started on.  But what point is achieving anything if there's no joy to it?  If there's no security in living the way you want to live, the way you wish to live it?"

"That... that sounds pretty terrible," Rainbow Dash said.

"Mmm.  Not half as much as what I went through the next two and a half years," Lyra said.  "I settled in Ponyville, but I couldn't possibly have called myself 'happy.'  I had just lost all connections with my family.  There was... was so much bitterness and doubt in my life.  I don't know if you've ever lived with that, Rainbow Dash, and I shudder to think of you dealing with it.  Imagine if you felt guilt and regret every time you did something you believed in, like shaping weather clouds or practicing for the Wonderbolts.  I... I clammed up.  I became a hermit.  I found my tiny little niche in the village and I sat there alone, writing songs and practicing music theory, content to do so in solitude until the end of time."

"What... What changed?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Not what..."  Lyra said, and a warm smile blossomed under her cheeks.  She turned towards Bon Bon.  "Who."  She leaned over and nuzzled the mare's face.  Bon Bon smiled sweetly, her eyes watering.  Lyra caressed her cheek and spoke, "She saw me.  She saw all of the walls that I had erected around myself.  And... and she loved me anyway.  And slowly, those walls came crumbling down."  Lyra swallowed and gazed back at Rainbow.  Her voice was wavering slightly, "She taught me what my parents had always meant to, only she did so with love and sincerity and... and with loyalty."

Rainbow Dash blinked.

"I had found joy again, and suddenly life in Ponyville had a purpose to it," Lyra murmured.  "I... had a purpose.  I started believing in myself, only because I realized there was nothing stopping me from doing so in the first place.  I became a teacher of the local school band, and I've been an active member of the community ever since."

"And someday, she's gonna write a masterpiece of a symphony," Bon Bon said with a proud smile.

Lyra rolled her eyes.  "One thing at a time, honey..."

"Mmmm—Heeheehee..."

"And... Since you and Bon Bon got together..." Rainbow Dash was wincing even before she was finished preparing the question.  "Have you seen your parents?"

Lyra slowly shook her head.  "Celestia knows I've tried," she said calmly.  "I've written letters.  Sometimes they reply—always ignoring every comment I've made about my new life and all.  But I've come to expect that from them.  I just wonder how they look and sound in person, of course.  It's the little things that gnaw at me, the things that I know I won't get to savor again soon... if at all..."

"Wow..."  Rainbow Dash made a face.  "You must—like—really hate them after all this time."

"Hate them?!"  Lyra frowned.  She slowly shook her head.  "No, Rainbow Dash, I can't.  Sure..."  She chuckled bitterly and smirked towards the ceiling.  “I feel like wringing their necks on occasion, heh.  But no, I can never hate them.  They're my parents, Rainbow.  They taught me things that I'll never forget, instilled me with strengths that keep me afloat even to this day.  For better or for worse, they're still the same wonderful ponies who provided for me when I was a little filly, and they will forever be a part of my existence."

"But, like... they practically ignore you and stuff..."

"And I know them well enough to tell that somewhere behind all of their walls—their constructions of confusion and obstinate fear—that there is still a piece of them that's worth waiting for, that's worth cherishing..."  Lyra took a painful breath. "Just as Bon Bon so... so humbly bore through all of my barriers to find me.  Life is something built by ideas, Rainbow, and some of them are more painful and blind than others.  But life is also short, and that's a truth that ideas hardly stand up against, no matter how solid their foundation.  I can only hope that the stigmas my family has built will crumble before it's too late, and maybe they too will find a joy in their life that they've been denying all this time, a joy that I can help them seize."

"But... But what if that never happens?"  Rainbow Dash gulped and stammered, "What if you're closed off from the ones you care for all the time?  Would... Would it be worth it?"

"Rainbow Dash, that's just the thing."  Lyra said with a sigh.  "I... We can't tell you what to expect in this life, or what entirely to expect from your friends the moment you come out to them.  But the fact of the matter is that ponies are ponies, and no single soul is open to absolutely everything.  In a perfect world, your friends will accept you.  But you can't go through life expecting everything to work out perfectly.  All you have—the one thing you have control over—is yourself, and the ability to account for yourself."

"Yeah, I know all that and stuff," Rainbow Dash muttered, gazing past the sofa as she hugged herself tighter.  "I've lived the dream, and I could continue to live it.  But without... without my friends..."  Her voice cracked, "I d-don't think I could live happily."  She gulped and darted her eyes towards Lyra.  "Could you?"

"Yes," she replied firmly.  "And I have."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I could have just given into everypony else and what they thought in a heartbeat, and yet I didn't," Lyra replied.  "You think I gladly and willingly let myself become ostracized by my family and all their acquaintances in Canterlot?  Heh..."  She shook her head.  "There hasn't been a day when I haven't wondered what life would have been like if I just functioned by the 'norm,' whatever that is."  She sighed.  "I could easily have settled with my parents, wrestled myself a coltfriend, maybe even mothered a foal with a stallion.  But..."

Lyra paused briefly, staring into space.  She felt a gentle hoof touching hers.  Smiling, she clutched Bon Bon's forelimb and breathed easier.

"It wouldn't have been right," Lyra said.  "I would have been living a life, but it wouldn't have been my life.  It wouldn't have been a happy one, a true one.  How fair would that have been to my parents?  To a stallion?  To a child born from such a charade?  And, what's more, how fair would it have been to myself?"

"Yeah, but look at you now." Rainbow Dash sat up straight for once, pointing at the couple.  "You found Bon Bon.  You found happiness."

"Don't you see, Rainbow Dash?  Don't you get it?"  Lyra smiled ardently.  "There's a foundation to everything—an important foundation—and it's true for all the things in life, especially when nothing is ever... ever guaranteed.  Yes, Bon Bon pulled me from the depths of despair, but that's because I was there for her to find, instead of living a lie elsewhere with my parents.  Why was I there for her to find me?  Because I took a gamble, Rainbow Dash.  I came here to Ponyville and limped through years of loneliness with one faith:  that more than anything in this life, I had to be loyal to myself."

Rainbow Dash bit her lip and looked towards the floor.  "I know what loyalty means..."

"Do you?"

Rainbow Dash looked up.

"Before you tell your most vulnerable secrets to your loved ones," Lyra spoke, staring fixedly at her.  "You must first ask yourself: 'Am I loyal to my friends, or am I loyal to the idea of them?'  Because if you're not prepared for all the ways in which they might reject you as you are prepared for the ways in which they might accept you, then you haven't yet figured out the difference between being loyal and just pretending.  And would you pretend to be loyal to them any more than you would pretend to be loyal to yourself?  Don't you think you both deserve more honesty, more sincerity, and more respect than that?"

Rainbow Dash gulped a lump down her throat and practically whimpered, "I... I just hate being alone.  And if what I say changes things... if it makes a huge change—"

"Everything changes, Rainbow Dash," Bon Bon interjected softly.  "The things that don't change, that refuse to acknowledge the love of one pony that's more intimate than mere friendship: those are the things that you should truly worry about, and should address as soon as you have the strength and courage to do so."

Rainbow Dash ran a hoof over her face, sighing.  "I... I just wish that they could work the same."

"What?"  Bon Bon smiled.  "Love and loyalty?  Heehee... Yes, they can work the same, but not for everypony."

Lyra added, "I think you owe it to yourself to make the divide, as well as to the pony that you particularly care for."

"And if it comforts you any, Rainbow Dash," Bon Bon added with a gentle smile.  "We'll be here for you, to help you every step of the way."  She squeezed Lyra's hoof and Lyra nodded.

"I thank you guys.  Really, I do..."  Rainbow Dash gazed wearily, dizzily at them.  "But if there's anything I've gotten from this whole sap-fest, it's that the only pony that can help me... is myself..."

> viii
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Hours later, Rainbow Dash was flying low over the treetops of the Everfree Forest bordering Ponyville.  The stars hung high above as she glided past the leaves and branches of the landscape below.  Rainbow Dash was calm, and yet she couldn't relax too much.  As much as she would like to hold her wings straight out and let the breeze carry her, the wind simply wasn't strong enough to grant her such a wish.  She had to carry herself, to flap her wings every couple of minutes and keep the easy glide going strong.  The very moment she let go of herself, she could go crashing violently into the forest.

As a pegasus, Rainbow Dash had this knowledge ingrained into her mind.  However, on this particular evening, the entire exercise weighed heavier, gave her breath a more desperate tempo and pitch.  The anxiety of the previous day was still there, only now she was sweating it out of her pores, forcing it out, squeezing it out like she might burn calories during self-imposed Wonderbolt practice.

It occurred to her that even if she did join the Wonderbolts one day, nothing would equal the amount of input she had applied with her constant calisthenics.  If the world was a fair and balanced place, she'd become queen of the skies.

With flaring nostrils, she gazed lethargically at the world below.  She saw something glinting in the moonlight, something alive.  Arching an eyebrow, Rainbow Dash pivoted her wings so that she circled around a tiny clearing in the middle of Everfree.  There was a pond glittering with the reflection of a thousand stars, and situated along the edge was a familiar figure.

Not one to abandon curiosity, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, hovered, and levitated down until she squatted by the equine's side.  "Uhhh... Zecora?  What's up?"

The zebra in question looked over her shoulder from where she stood with a wooden pole and a silken line cast into the waters.  She smiled, her teeth shining pale and bright in the moonlight.  "Good evening, Rainbow Dash on the fly.  Most surely you can see the stars in the sky."

Rainbow Dash blinked.  She stared directly up, facehoofed, then uttered, "Yeah, I get that.  What I meant to ask was: why are you fishing at this hour?"

"Why else would anypony wish to fish?"  Zecora smiled and returned her gaze to the line.  "To bring home a most delicious dish."

"Heh..."  Rainbow Dash shook her head and plopped down on her haunches.  "I guess it's true what they say about leading a horse to water, even a striped one..."

"Perhaps you find it strange that I do this at night," Zecora remarked, casting the line farther into the pond.  "Not all creatures seek food when it is bright."

"Yeah.  But zebras are from the desert and all, so I figured you had a thing for sunlight."  Rainbow Dash blinked, then scrunched her face up in thought.  "Come to think of it, why would a desert equine be fishing in the first place?"

"Not all of the Zebrahara is rocks and sand," Zecora replied.  "There happen to be many swamps and lakes in my land.  However, plants and fruit are still very rare.  So often we turn to what the waters have to spare."

"Yeah.  But..."  Rainbow Dash gave the pond a sickly look and struggled to keep her lunch in.  "Doesn't it amount to eating meat?  That's—like—totally gross."

"That is your opinion, to which you're entitled."  Zecora flexed her neck and relaxed where she sat.  "I assure you, it is not my desire to have your feathers riled.  Ponies see meat as a consequence of strife.  For zebras, it all falls within the circle of life."

"Heh.  Well, thank goodness there're no laws against eating fish around here..."  Rainbow Dash nervously scratched the back of her neck.  "Or against grabbing for them past sundown."

"You have a penchant for stating the obvious and being coy with it."  Zecora smiled back at Rainbow Dash.  "Could this be the only reason for your random visit?"

"No, I was... I was just flying and I saw you and... and..."  Rainbow Dash bit her lip.  With a sigh, she squatted down and rested her chin on a pair of folded hooves.  "How do you do it, Zecora?"

"Hmmm?"  Zecora cocked her head aside.

Rainbow Dash hesitated slightly, then blurted, "How do you live around so many... so many non-zebras in the middle of a country that's unlike the place where you were foaled, and yet you do it so confidently?  If I flew out into the middle of the Zebrawanda—"

"Zebrahara."

"Yeah, that—and, like, tried to pull off my Wonderbolt training and all the other stuff I do normally, only around a bunch of zebras who didn't understand me, I'm pretty sure I'd lose my mind."

"Ah, but you assume that a journey like mine is lacking in wit."  Zecora winked and gave the line another shake.  "As a matter of fact, I came to a place such as this to find it."

"Huh?"

"A life that doesn't change is hardly worth living.  I've explored the world to see all that it is giving."

"Don't... Don't you get lonely, though?"  Rainbow Dash asked.  "There are no zebras around here..."

"You concern intrigues me greatly."  Zecora's eyebrow arched.  "Has something been troubling you lately?"

"So what if it has?"  Rainbow Dash ran a hoof through her mane.  "I don't think I've given you enough credit, Zecora.  You believe in what you believe in, and you stick to it.  You hang out here like a hermit, and..."  She fidgeted.  "It's... It's like you're forever loyal to yourself, or at least something you believe in."

"Every search for truth requires a degree of proof."  Zecora said with a nod.  "I must finish questing before I can start digesting."

"But for how long?"  Rainbow Dash stammered.  "So many ponies call me brave, but here you are doing your own thing... and by yourself.  And it's gotta be really tough—and frightening—Zecora, to be doing one thing for so long while surrounded by a bunch of ponies who... well... who are all so different from you."

"Every soul is different, my little pony."  Zecora turned to look steadily at her.  "And each life's dream and philosophy.  If I obsess all the time over the worries of the rest, how will I ever put my own creed to the test?"

Rainbow Dash blinked at that.  She fiddled with the grass on the edge of the pond.  "Yeah, okay.  But... But it still seems like such a lonely way to go about things."

"All journeys take courage of great magnitude, but they need not entirely end in utter solitude.  After all, if I had not embarked upon catching fish, I would not have summoned you to this moment of bliss."  She smiled sweetly upon saying that, her eye shining with something electric.

Rainbow Dash slowly smiled.  She got up and suddenly darted into the nearby woods.

Zecora watched, craning her neck and squinting into the shadows.

When Rainbow Dash returned, she had a long wooden stick with a string of moss tied to the end of it.  She sat beside Zecora on the edge of the pond, tied a dangling piece of grass-root to the end of the mossy fiber, and dipped it into the waters.

"Rainbow, I fear that might not properly catch you a bite."

"Well, that's just the thing about living differently," Rainbow Dash said with a drowsy smile.  "What's the harm in trying, huh?"

Zecora smiled.  A chuckle escaped her lips.  "You are full of surprises, my winged friend.  I’m glad that we’ve had this moment to spend."

"Back at ya, girl."  Rainbow Dash smiled and gave her "fishing pole" a shake.  "So, what's this I keep hearing about a lake house?"

"Huh?" Zecora merely blinked at her.

Rainbow Dash shrugged into the cool breeze of Everfree night.  "Eh, it was worth a shot.  Still, it's gotta be hard to blush through those stripes of yours."

Zecora laughed, and a pegasus' giggles joined her.



> ix
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The morning came like a warm glaze of golden polish over the eastern horizon.  The grayness melted away as the sun rose, casting brilliant rays over the rooftops of sleepy Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash sat alone atop the rooftop of town hall.  She breathed in the warm air as the dawn's mists around her dissipated.  Slowly, her eyes opened, and when she saw the bright aura of the sun burning towards her, she smiled and winced at the same time.  It was neither a painful nor a joyous sensation.  It was something simple, something manageable, and she reveled in it.

"Uhm... Were you out here all night, Miss Dash?"

Rainbow's ears flicked.  She turned around to see Thunderlane perched on the rooftop behind her.  "Something like that.  Why do you ask?"

Once more, Thunderlane shifted nervously in her presence.  "Oh.  I... I was just curious, is all.  I'd hate to think that our weather captain was losing sleep or something..."

"Losing sleep?  Maybe.  Losing awesomeness?  Not in a million years."  Rainbow Dash gestured his way.  "Since when were you such an early bird?  Planning morning gymnastics with Blossomforth?"

"Eh... Eh heh heh heh..."  Thunderlane chuckled.  He stood at a sharp angle from the sunrise, as if the resulting shadows might hide the blush in his cheeks.  It was an utter failure.  "Really, though, uhm... I was just about to fly Rumble to school.  The little squirt's got some bullies who are giving him a hard time, and I figured I'd teach them not to mess with the guy or else they'd have to deal with his big brother."

"Well, that's awfully swell of you," Rainbow Dash said in a low tone.  "What's their problem with Rumble anyways?  He seems pretty harmless."

"They think he's got a girly mane."

"Heh.  You don't say?"  Rainbow Dash squinted up at him.  "And why doesn't he just cut it?"

Thunderlane shrugged.  "Cuz he likes it the way he has it, and he's not about to let anypony tell him to do it differently."

Rainbow Dash smiled and faced the rising sun once again.  "Well... Good for him."

"Hey, uhm..."  Thunderlane shuffled over to the edge of the rooftop.  "I did some reading last night after stopping by the Cider Station..."

"You went to the library instead of the lake house?"

"No!  I mean, yes... I mean—Nghh—Stop doing that!"

"Heheheh..."

"Seriously, though," Thunderlane said.  "I did a bit of research... about Commander Hurricane."

Rainbow Dash's nostrils flared slightly.  "Oh yeah?" she droned.

"Yeah.  Uhm.  Late last night at the cider station, I got into talking about the Hearth’s Warming Pageant, probably because of our conversation and all.  Heh.  Anyways, somepony stated some supposed fact and it got me curious.  So I read up on Hurricane; I did some old school brushing up on history, I guess.  Did you know that she single-hoofedly rounded up the entire population of Stratopolis and led them on an exodus to the newly founded land of Equestria?"

"Uh, yeah.  And so does every pegasus who was foaled in Cloudsdale.  What's your point?"

"Well, the point is that I learned about something she did after she retired."

"And what was that?"

"Well, the history scrolls tell the story a bit differently, but one thing they can all agree on is that she went to a secluded cloudbank hovering above Dragon Mountain several hundred years ago."  Thunderlane smiled slightly.  "Only, she wasn't alone."

"Oh?"

"No.  She was last seen with Snow Pansy, formerly 'Private Pansy' of the Pegasus Sky Militia.  After Equestria founded, the two of them spent their last days together in peaceful seclusion.  Records even say they were entombed together.  Y'know... like a married couple."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.  "And just what's your point?"

Thunderlane opened his mouth, hesitated, then slumped back on his haunches.  "Erm... well..."  He gulped.  "My point is this.  I... I-I didn't know about that earlier.  And when I—y'know—made those comments about comparing you to Commander Hurricane..."  He winced slightly.  "You gotta understand, I had no idea about that little tidbit of her life.  So, like, I wasn't trying to imply anything about you or your—"

"Hey Thunderlane..."

"Yes, Miss Dash?"

"What did Commander Hurricane do for the entire population of Stratopolis?"

He blinked.  "Uhm... Just like I said, she saved all of them in a controlled exodus to Equestria.  She preserved the very core of pegasus civilization."

Rainbow Dash nodded, staring at him steadily.  "Then does anything else really matter?"

He stared back.  Very slowly, he smiled, matching the warmth of the sun cascading down on the two of them.  "No.  No, I guess not."

"Then swell."  Rainbow Dash looked once more towards the burning horizon.  "I'll see you at this exact spot twelve hours from now, six o'clock sharp."

"Uhm... Miss Dash?"

"Yesssss?"  She stood up, flexing her legs and wings.  "What now, Thunderlane?"

"Just... Just so I don't make an idiot of myself in the future," he looked at her sincerely.  "What... What would you have me call you, while we're weather flying and all?  From now on, I mean?  'Miss Dash?'  'Ma'am?'  'Miss?'"

Rainbow Dash looked at him, at the sunrise, then at him again.  She smiled softly.  "How about 'friend?'"

He smiled at that, breathing with relief.  "Yeah.  Yeah, okay."

She stretched her hoof out.

He slapped the flat of his against hers, smiling.

"Get a haircut," she grunted, fluffed his mohawk, and flew towards the other end of town.

"Where are you going?" Thunderlane asked.

"I just remembered," she called back.  "I've got a picnic to go to."

> x
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Lyra?!"  Bon Bon called across the house as she trudged down the stairs, fastening a saddlebag full of baking tools to her sides.  "Lyra!  There you are..."  She smiled and trotted across the living room.  "I'm off to have breakfast with Apple Fritter so that we can plan for the Summer Sweets Competion.  Then after that I've got this craaaazy schedule at the confectionery today.  I should still be able to make our lunch date at the school campus later, though.  Don't hate me if I'm a little late, please?"

Lyra sat before the table, gazing blankly at her mess of musical notes.  Her mane still had its morning supply of cowlicks, as if she had just rolled out of bed five seconds prior.

"Lyra?"

"Hmmm...?"  The unicorn glanced over.

"Honestly!"  Bon Bon giggled and leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek.  "You can't let that mind of yours go to waste yet.  You've got another decade and a half of teaching left at least.  Save the brain-melting to the school foals, huh?"

"Uh... Eheh... Yeah, sure..." Lyra said in a dull tone.

"Gotta run!  Don't forget to turn the lights out before you leave the house yourself!"  Bon Bon was halfway out the door.  The village was alive outside with the hustle and bustle of ponies.

"Bon Bon..."

The mare stopped halfway through the door.  "Yeah, Lyra, what?"

"I..."  Lyra bit her lip.  She gazed over at her, her eyes thin and baggy.

"Dear Celestia!"  Bon Bon exclaimed, chuckling.  "Did you get any sleep last night?"  She blinked, her grin fading.  "Lyra...?"

Slowly, the unicorn shuffled towards her.  "Bon Bon... have... have I told you lately how much I love you?"

Bon Bon smiled sweetly.  "Why, yes.  Yes, Lyra.  You tell me all the time, silly."

"I really do, Bon Bon," Lyra said.  In her next breath, her lips began trembling.  "I... I just want to make sure that you know that."

Bon Bon exhaled, her smile melting into a thin line.  "Oh darling..."

Lyra sniffled.  "I love you s-so very m-much..."

Bon Bon dropped her saddlebag and drifted over, engulfing Lyra in a close hug.  "Come here..."

Lyra hid her face in Bon Bon's shoulder just as her amber eyes began streaming with tears.  "I-I don't know wh-where I would be without you..."

Bon Bon stroked the small of her back and nuzzled the mare, murmuring warmly into her ear.  "I adore you, Lyra.  You are the joy of my life.  Forever and ever..."

Lyra merely shuddered, her breath coming out in shivering sobs as she clung to Bon Bon, her face buried in her beloved's embrace.  Together, the two rocked in the center of their home, swaying to a gentle hum that Bon Bon produced for the two of them.  Seconds passed and turned into minutes.  They risked being late to their respective jobs, but that didn't stop them.  For a moment, absolutely nothing could.

> xi
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Rainbow Dash knocked on the library door.  There was no response.  She knocked again.  Still, nothing.  Eventually, she gave the door the tiniest of pushes.  It swung loosely open as if on its own volition.  Pensively, Rainbow stuck her head into the front atrium of the town library.

"Twilight?"

She gazed left and right.  The place was well-lit, but nopony was home.

"Twi?"

Silence hung over the books and shelves and dust of the place.

Rainbow Dash sighed.  She trudged forward, squinting at a curious sight atop the central table.  There was a picnic basket lying in the middle.  She reached a hoof forward and pulled a checkerboard blanket aside.  She smiled.

The basket was absolutely brimming with red, delicious apples.

Rainbow's stomach gurgled.  She had almost entirely forgotten her appetite over the past thirty-six hours.  Reaching in, she pulled a fruit out, rubbed it against her feathers, and admired the glistening shine.  Before her, the reflection of a lavender unicorn grinned across the crimson skin.

"Rainbow!  There you are!"

"Gah!"  Rainbow Dash flinched, dropped the apple, juggled it, and eventually caught the fruit in a pair of outstretched wings.  Exhaling sharply, she pivoted and gazed tiredly at her friend.  "What is this?  Sneak-Up-On-A-Pegasus Day?"

"Heeheehee... Hardly."  Twilight held a hoof up.  "Hold on just for one second."  She turned and called out the door.  "I found her, girls!  She's here!"

"Well, alright!"  Applejack could be seen beyond the doorframe outside.  She stood in the middle of the street along with three other familiar mares.  "Reckon it's about time she showed up!"

"Is she joining us for breakfast with the dew and aphids?!" Pinkie Pie bounced into view beside the farm filly.

"Goodness!"  Rarity grimaced.  "Pinkie, must you?"

"What?!  What other insect has a sillier name than an aphid?"

"They get all over one's mane, though," Fluttershy said with a shudder.

"So we can make a game out of it!"  Pinkie bounced.  "Aphid Crisis in 3D!"

"Shhh!"  Applejack hissed at the other three.  "Land's sake!"  She cleared her throat, then smiled towards the library entrance.  "Twi?  Is she coming?"

"You girls go on ahead!  I'll talk to her."  As the four trotted off, Twilight turned to smile at Rainbow Dash.  "Rainbow—"

"Twilight, before you start."  Rainbow Dash bit her lip, balancing the apple limply in her feathered grasp.  Her limbs kneaded the wooden floorboards as she stood before Twilight like a prisoner in front of a firing squad.  "I... I know that I haven't been around much, lately.  And you're probably gonna go head over hooves in trying to talk me into attending the picnic.  Well, the truth is... I wanna go to the picnic with you girls.  But... But there's..."

Rainbow Dash winced, avoided Twilight's gaze, and fumbled for words.

"There's been something I've been meaning to tell you... all of you.  And, like, I guess I'm a little scared to.  And there really isn't much in this world that scares me.  But this does.  It scares me, because I know that things will... will change.  I mean, they'll be different—or maybe just feel different after I... after I just come out and say it.  And I don't want to freak you all out and yet I owe you all enough to just be upfront about it and—"

"I love you too, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash froze, her eyes locked on Twilight Sparkle.  Her irises shrunk and her lips parted.  "...Buh?"

"Heeheehee," Twilight giggled pleasantly.  "It's okay, Rainbow Dash."

"It... It is...?"

"We're your friends," Twilight said.  "And we all love you dearly.  We know how hard it is for you to express your feelings, on account of how 'sappy' it is to do so."

Rainbow Dash blinked.  If it was possible for her face to pale and blush all at once, it would have, and most likely did right there.  "Ahhh... Ohhh... Heh... Heheheh..."  She exhaled sharply, running a hoof through her mane.  "Oh, Twilight.  That... That's... What you meant—I mean, what I meant—"

"You don't have to say anymore," Twilight waved her hoof.

"No, really."  Rainbow Dash gulped and hoarsely stammered, "I think that—"

"Rarity and Fluttershy told us all about how distant you've been acting lately, as if you were stressed over work or something.  It doesn't take an apprentice of Princess Celestia to tell when a lot of stuff is weighing on you, Rainbow Dash.  But, at the same time, I and your other friends know how you like to keep stuff to yourself."

"Er... Yeah..."  Rainbow Dash bit her lip.  "I do that all the time, don't I?"

"But Rainbow Dash..."  Twilight smiled up at her.  "You should know by now that we love you no matter what.  And if ever one of these days you would like to do something different—something brave, for you that is—heehee—and share stuff with us.  Well, we're here for you, Rainbow Dash.  And we'd never leave your side.  Not ever."

Rainbow stared steadily at her, her eyes soft but imploring.  "Really, Twilight?"  She swallowed dryly.  "Would you really be okay with anything?  No matter what?"

"That's the thing about loyalty, Rainbow Dash."  Twilight leaned in and whispered playfully, as if it was a secret.  "It's infectious," she said with a wink.  "We're all much closer, much more secure ponies thanks to you."  She leaned back.  "After all, you're the reason we ever got together in the first place, what with the sonic rainboom and all."

"Huh... Yeah..."  Rainbow Dash's wings flexed.  "Yeah, I guess that's true, isn't it?"

"That kind of a bond is meant to be.  I don't know where'd we all be without you.  And—you know—if you would like to sit out this picnic and have some peace to yourself, that's okay.  I won't be hurt by it.  Really.  But do forgive us if we bug you from time to time, Rainbow Dash, even when you're doing stuff alone.  Cuz we just can't get enough of you, and I doubt we ever will."

Rainbow Dash exhaled, gazing down towards the floor with red cheeks.

"Now..."

Rainbow Dash glanced up, curious.

Twilight Sparkle was still smiling.  "You said there was something you wanted to tell me?"

"Uhm..."  Rainbow Dash took a nervous breath, the rosiness leaving her face.  "Yeah.  Uhm... I... I wanted to tell you... I wanted t-to tell all of you..."

"Hmmm?"  Twilight stared, grinning innocently, her eyes fluttering.

Rainbow Dash's mouth hung open.  Her eyes watered slightly, but she hid it with the glint of her smiling teeth as she eventually said, "I wanted to tell you that you are all the b-best friends that I could ever have."  She took a deep breath as if coming out of a dive and added, “Cuz I’ve got some good news to share with the whole gang, but I want to wait until we’re all together.  So, uhm, I would like...”  She fidgeted, then blurted, “I would absolutely love to have this picnic with you guys.  Today more than ever.”

"'Love,' huh?"  Twilight chuckled, lifted the basket of apples with her magic, and hoisted it onto her backside.  "That's a new word for you, Rainbow."

Rainbow nodded slowly.  "Not new.  Just different."

"Well, if you wanna practice saying it, why not do it with the bunch of us?  Any occasion is the best occasion for good news!"  She trotted happily out into the sunlight, motioning for Rainbow to follow her.  "Come along, Rainbow Dash!  It's a beautiful day!"

Rainbow Dash stood behind for a few seconds, exhaling as if having finished a ten million mile flight.  She gazed at the apple in her winged grip.  She tossed it into her hoof, raised it to her lips, and took a bite.  She tasted the morsel in her mouth.  It wasn't any more or less sweet than she remembered the fruit.  If anything, it tasted different, and she couldn't remember a time in her life when she was so terrified and excited all at once.

"It most certainly is," Rainbow Dash said.  She quietly came out of the library and closed the door behind her.







Special thanks to:  Ezn, RazgrizS57, theworstwriter, Vimbert, theBrianJ