Chapter 2: The Boom and Beyond
Many years ago
Rainbow Dash felt her heart pounding in her chest. She was so excited for this race that she could barely stand still at the starting line. Beside her were the two bullies, Hoops and Dumb-Bell, and before her was the precious pegasus that they had been making fun of. Fluttershy had been Rainbow Dash's best friend for years now, even more-so than Derpy. Dash knew that Fluttershy would never have betrayed her like that and that she would always be there. She needed to return the favor.
The flag was waved and Rainbow Dash was off. She wasn't even thinking about the other two at the moment. She wasn't even thinking about flying as fast as she could. She used to remember the anger and pain of that day when Derpy had what seemed like the entire school turned against her, and she used those feelings to fuel her wings and reach speeds many considered amazing. None of that came to mind right now.
All she could think about was winning this race for Fluttershy.
I can't fail her she thought as she whizzed and banked through the air, curving and turning without thinking to dash through the cloud rings. She's too specialher voice echoed in her head. The sound of the wind rushing past her ears never reached her mind. All she heard was Fluttershy's "Thank you" after she had helped the pink maned pony up from the cloud and all she could see was the precious, timid smile. Rainbow Dash would do anything to keep Fluttershy smiling. Anything.
A bizare sensation shot through Rainbow Dash's body and she felt her bones quake. She turned her head a little and looked back over her shoulder. There was an expanding circle of fantastic light and color, and the wake left behind her was no longer the blurred after-image of her own rainbow colored mane, but an actual rainbow.
Not just a rainbow...a Sonic Rainboom!
The young purple pony pouted as the tension in the air got to her. Her parents were watching, the judges were watching, and she couldn't hatch that stupid egg! What was wrong with her? She knew she knew the spells. She'd practiced a dozen times on chicken eggs!
While Twilight was grateful that her parents were standing behind her in moral support, she wished that Cadace was there with her. Or her BBBFF, Shining Armor. Even Smarty Pants would have been a grand gesture of comfort, but he was busy doing a book report she had assigned to him.
With one baleful look at the judges, both of whom gave her dismissive glances, clearly already deciding that she had failed, Twilight lowered her head in defeat and shame.
Her ears perked up at an incredibly loud explosion that ripped through the air, but before she could turn to see what it was a tingling sensation in her horn caught her attention. She blinked once before the world stopped making sense.
And yet...it made perfect sense. For an eternal moment, Twilight felt good. Complete. Whole. That desire for her friends and family was gone and she felt like she had everything she ever could have dreamed of and more.
More than feeling happy with the world, Twilight suddenly knew everything. She saw the past, present, and future of all of Equestria unfurl before her like a giant parade.
Sonic Rainbooms, parties, curly pink hair, shy yellow smiles, rippling orange muscle, dashing blue wings, immaculate purple hair, toothless crocodiles, crying dragons, dark shadowy mares, mutant monstrosities, zebras, legends, harmony, discord, shapeshifters, marriage, sphinxes, hatred, and more!
It overloaded her mind and confused her. She wanted to cry...and yet..she felt as though it all made perfect sense. Everything was as it should be and, in the bitter end of it all, she was still happy and surrounded by love.
It all vanished from her mind and from her memory the moment the Princess of Equestrial tapped her shoulder.
Fluttershy stared up in amazement at the Sonic Rainboom that occurred moments after her fall was halted by a swarm of butterflies. She thought she had known joy and happiness when she was exploring the beautiful meadows and forests of Equestria's land, but as she gazed up at the menagerie of colors she felt truly special, and in the best possible way.
Rainbow Dash... she thought with a lump rising in her throat. She wanted to cry because she knew that her friend had done the impossible for her. She'd won the race and brought a legend to life.
But there was no time to cry! All of her new animal friends had been frightened by the explosion. She had to cheer them up and get them out of their hiding holes so they could see the beautiful rainbow before it was too late and vanished.
The young orange filly wiped off the last bit of her makeup while she stared in her bathroom mirror. Manehatten was all she had ever thought it would be and somehow it felt like less. It felt like she was missing something and she figured it had to be her family. Not that Aunt and Uncle Orange weren't great, they just weren't the ponies she grew up with her whole life.
A cracking sound in the air caught her attention; it sounded like a building had just fallen down somewhere! Startled, worried, and curious, Applejack ran to the window and witnessed the most amazing and beautiful rainbow she had ever seen. The rainbow made her feel warm inside and all kinds of happy. In fact, it made her feel like she did when she first met that pink pony, and all of the times she had been with Rarity.
She stared at the rainbow with a look of wonder and joy on her face as her aunt and uncle entered the room. Her aunt made a scoffing sound and commented on those "Silly Cloudsdale ponies" and their "Abhorred gay pride rallies" Applejack didn't know what she meant by that, but hearing her aunt speak snapped her out of her reverie. That rainbow was pointing right to Ponyville or Applejack was a barn mule. She knew that she needed to go home to be as happy as she had been, and she needed to apologize to her friend.
There it was again, that strange tingle. Pinkamena's head turned of its own accord as it had done when the Apple family had come and delivered a cart of apples to her dad. For a moment she was hopeful that the orange filly had come back. They could wave to each other again...that had made Pinkamena feel really good.
Instead of an orange pony on the ground, however, Pinkamena's inner tingle had her looking skyward as an explosion of color and joy washed over her. It was incredible...beyond amazing and beyond description. It was over as quickly as it started but Pinkamena wanted more. That feeling, having felt it a second time, was something she didn't want to let go of.
She wanted to recreate the feeling, so she decorated the barn with all of the colors of the rainbow. She looked around but it wasn't enough, so she added more decorations. For days she decorated and brought things from her home and her neighbors to her makeshift workplace. The colors were nice, but she needed music to get her body grooving. The music was cheery but she needed cakes and other sweet confections to tingle her. The food was delicious but she needed other ponies to feel whole. Her family joined her and the first ever Pinkie Pie Party had begun!
And yet, something was still missing.
"You!" Rarity shouted while smacking her forehead against the massive stone, "Stupid!" she beat her hoof into it as well, "Rock!" she kicked it a couple of times more, punctuating her sentences with violent outbursts at the stone. Mid rant, there a shock wave of pressure that sent Rarity tumbling backwards, head over flank, into the ground.
As she fell, the surging magical energy of the Sonic Rainboom caused her horn to glow and flash with a brilliant white and purple light and for a moment Rarity felt utter joy and peace. The bright light in her eyes faded away and she saw the now shattered boulder...filled with the most glorious and beautiful gems she had ever seen. There were rubies and opals and emeralds and sapphires and amethysts and jewels she had never seen before in her life!
She stared at the gems and the tingle in her horn spread throughout her mind. She suddenly saw her next set of costumes! It was as if Applejack was with her again and her creative muse was simply flowing like water from a faucet! She needed to get these beautiful decorations back to the school so she could finish her work on the play as soon as possible!
Reuniting with her brother and granny had been a tearful but joyful experience for Applejack, and for a couple of days she stayed at home with them and just basked in the familiar feelings of family and belonging. But there were other ponies on her mind that she had to go and meet as well. Before heading into town, Applejack went out to the rock farm.
She walked across the grey stony fields and looked around curiously. Surely the pink pony couldn't be so hard to find among this monotone landscape. She paused mid-step when she heard something. Closing here eyes, Applejack focused and thought it was music. She turned and looked towards the large grey silo. She was halfway there when the door flew open, letting out- among streamers, confetti, balloons and a much clearer bit of music- the pink filly that Applejack remembered.
She looked a little different this time; her mane was poofed up and her eyes were bright with life. Unlike the expression of sadness and boredom from before, this pink pony looked as happy as a pig in mud.
Pinkamena- now shortening her name to Pinkie Pie as it sounded soooooo much funner!- had been throwing her parties for her family non-stop for days before that feeling had come back to her. She loved the parties and loved the way her family smiled and was happy for a change, but even that joy paled in comparison to the feeling she was trying to recreate. When the tugging tingle finally came back, Pinkie was quick to jump to it, and as soon as she opened the doors to her Party Zone- her new nickname for the rock silo- she saw the orange filly from weeks before.
"Hiiiiii!" she said, waving her hoof and running over to Applejack. Without further greeting she wrapped her arms around the country pony and pulled her into a hug that made Big Mac's bear hugs seem loose and brief by contrast. Applejack had to cough a few times before Pinkie would let go and let her breathe, but when she did she smiled at the pink filly.
"Wah howdeh there," she said, her cheeks fading slightly from orange towards the color of Pinkie Pie's coat, "Ah saw you a few weeks ago when mah granny was sellin' some apples to yer Pah but I didn' get a chance ta innerduce mahself. Ahm Applejack, at yer service." she said, extending her hoof with a proud smile.
Pinkie Pie just beamed and gave Applejack a big hug again. "Oh I just knew you'd come back! I just knew it knew it knew it! My Pinkie Sense told me something good was going to happen today and when it told me someone super amazingly special was outside I just knew it had to be you! Oh! Did you see that awesome spectacular beautiful rainbow a few days ago? Wasn't it so super specially awesome! It made me want to throw a party and so I did and I haven't stopped because it was such a good fun party and my whole family loved it! Hey do you like parties? Parties are AMAZING you just gotta try one!"
"Ahm..." Applejack said, thinking about sticking around for a bit but forcing herself to shake her head, "Ahm sorreh there...erhm..." she rubbed the back of her head, feeling bad for not knowing Pinkie's name but the earth filly hadn't introduced herself.
"Oh sorry I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie said gleefully.
"Raght, well, erm, sorreh Pinkeh Pie but I really can't stay long. Ah did wrong by a friend of mine a while back and I need tah go make amends...ya understand?"
Pinkie saw the honesty in Applejacks eyes as well as the pain she knew could only come from hurting someone close. Without a frown Pinkie Pie nodded her head, her smile somewhat lesser than before. "Of course I understand Applesnack"
"Applejack" Applejack corrected.
"I know, I just wanted to give you a sweeter nickname." Pinkie pie said with a bigger smile.
"Well that sure is fine of you sugarcube," Applejack said, blushing again, "And, uhm, how about ah come back tomorrah for a spell. Ya know, fer that party y'all were talkin' bout?"
Pinkie Pie's eyes widened and her smile stretched so much that Applejack was afraid her head might split open. "OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmy gosh of course! Oh you should totally bring your friend too it'll be so awesome! i should go get it ready now!" she said before vanishing in a puff of grey dust. Applejack blinked as Pinkie vanished back into the barn.
"Well now thaht was just plain weird." she muttered to herself, but for some reason she couldn't fathom, she smiled at the weirdness.
Applejack was waiting in the dark just off the back of the stage. She'd caught the end-half of the final showing of the school play and was waiting for Rarity to come out. She waited quite a bit as Rarity was packing up the costumes she had made ever so carefully, but well after the final schoolfoal had gone home with their parents Rarity appeared.
Applejack spotted her and Rarity saw Applejack. The two were only a few paces from each other and they simply stared at each other for several long, silent seconds. Applejack spoke first, frowning and looking down at the ground. Rarity decided in an instant that she did not like Applejack's frown. Her orange friend should be smiling.
"Ahm sorreh Rarity." Applejack said before sighing, "Ah shouldn'ta just up and left like that. It was might unfriendlike of meh."
"Oh, no worries," Rarity said, stepping closer and smiling, "I'll admit I was very upset at first- well, frankly I was upset up until I saw you a few seconds ago. I missed you dearly, Applejack." she said, her large eyes glinting with moisture.
"Ah missed y'all too." Applejack replied. "Ah shoulda just told'ya about...y'know..."
"Oh," Rarity said, her turn to look down now. She figured that the kiss might have had something to do with it.
"Ah was just so confused'n-"
"No, no" Rarity said, lifting her hoof to Applejack's mouth to silence her, "It was my fault entirely. I did something my parents told me was improper for two fillies to do. I broke the rules and I made the mistake. I am very sorry Applejack."
Applejack smiled at Rarity and Rarity smiled back. "How 'bout we jus'...pretend...lahk it nev'r happened?" Applejack suggested slowly. Rarity closed her eyes for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
"Oh Applejack! I'm so glad I caught you before you went home!" She burst out suddenly as though she had just seen her. She turned about and ran back onto the backstage. Applejack waited a moment, then was about to follow out of curiosity, when Rarity suddenly ran back to her. She had a large cowboy hat in her mouth. She put it on Applejack's head and beamed.
"Its a stetson!" she said with pride. "I made it as part of my last batch of costumes for the play! It didn't' really fit in well, but I knew it would be absolutely perfect for you if- well, when- you came back."
Applejack looked at her gift in wonder, at a loss for words. Rarity frowned after a bit, thinking maybe Applejack didn't like it. "I'm sorry it doesn't' have any gems," she began, "I was out by the time I got around to making it, and I couldn't think of any that would have matched your coat so well, and-"
Now Applejack put her hoof in Rarity's mouth to silence her. "Rarity...its great!" she said as she tilted it back a bit as it was slightly too big, but she'd be able to grow into it. "Ah swear, Rare, its bah far the bes' gift ah ever got!" She gave Rarity a big hug. "Ah'll wear it so long as we're alwahys friends."
"Oh, I don't know," Rarity said, hugging her friend back, "You should really remove it to wash it once in a while." The two fillies giggled at the joke.