Chapter 6: Two Steps Back
While Twilight and Fluttershy were enjoying a nice lunch together at the Stars Buck Cafe, Applejack was feeling mighty nervous trying to back away from Rarity.
"Oh please Applejack, I insist the fashionista said, almost ready to pull out her exaggerated pleading voice. It worked wonders when applied just right, but she would much rather not manipulate one of her best friends that way unless absolutely necessary. Though, truthfully, it would be for Applejack's own good to just accept Rarity's offer. She would undoubtedly have a good time if she did.
"Awww C'mon Rare," Applejack said, "Ya know ah don' go in fer that sortah thang."
"Which is exactly the reason I insist you take it." Rarity said, the ticket floating between them as Rarity levitated it.
"But speed dating? Ain't that sortuh...ah dunno...trasheh?"
"Trashy?" Rarity asked, looking almost offended, "Oh my goodness darling, it is anything but trashy! Why, you'll be at the finest restaurant in Manehattan! Only the social elite are invited. Well, the single social elite." she added the last part while glancing down, clearly less than pleased at her current relationship status.
"An' why aintchyoo goin?" Applejack asked.
"I already told you," Rarity said, rolling her eyes with a sigh, "Fancy Pants wants me to design a whole new wardrobe for his wife and he wants me to come to Canterlot to do it. The time I'll be spending there conflicts with the date of the speed dating invitational. It would be a tragedy for the seating to be ruined by having one less mare show up than expected, and I know you have yet to be courted-"
"Thas cuz ahm so dang busy helpin' run Sweet Apple Acres," Applejack cut in defensively, her eyes betraying her discomfort at the moment.
"Of course!" Rarity said, lifting a hoof placatingly, "I didn't mean to imply anything-"
"Oh shush!" Applejack said quickly in a conspiratorial whisper, "RD's comin'. Not a word of this speed datin' nonsense, kay?"
"Kay" Rarity agreed, turning to look over her shoulder. Rainbow Dash was, indeed, approaching them. Unusually, she was walking across the ground at a rather slow pace. The pair of ponies could tell something was wrong even before Rainbow Dash was close enough for them to see a large bruise on her left shoulder.
The blue Pegasus looked up when she sensed that she was the object of some else's attention and appeared quite surprised that he friends were there. She twitched as if she was going to try and run away but then she heaved a surrendering sigh. She knew her friends too well to think that she could try to pass off her appearance as nothing and walk away without being questioned.
Applejack and Rarity walked toward their friend, meeting her halfway.
"Somethin' wrong there Dash?" Applejack asked.
"No" Rainbow Dash blatantly lied. They all knew it was a lie, and they all knew that Rainbow Dash knew that they all knew it was a lie. She just had to try and pass it off as nothing at least once. She looked balefully at her friends and then sighed. "Alright, yes...but...can we talk somewhere else?" she asked, her voice shaking a bit and her eyes flooding with tears, the flood held back only by sheer force of will. Something was very wrong for Rainbow Dash to be on the verge of tears, and Applejack and Rarity could hardly fathom what it could be.
"O' course sugarcube," Applejack said gently, stepping alongside Rainbow Dash to try and provide some comfort.
"My boutique is nearest," Rarity offered, "We can all go there and have a cup of tea." Rainbow Dash nodded as her gaze continued to sweep the ground in a forlorn manner. Applejack and Rarity shared a concerned glance as they led Rainbow Dash off of the trail and in a direct line to Rarity's dress shop in an attempt to get there as soon as was possible.
It only took them a few minutes to arrive. Rarity let everyone in then shut and locked the door behind her. They all went upstairs to where Rarity actually lived. Applejack helped Rainbow Dash onto a couch while Rarity went into the kitchen to make some tea. The moment she sat down the multicolored maned pegasus busted out into tears. Applejack sat beside her and hugged her, patting her back and whispering "Shh, its aight sugarcube. Its aight."
"No, its not alright," Rainbow Dash said between sobs, "Its never going to be alright!" Despite the rising anger in her voice, she clung to Applejack as though her friend were the only thing keeping her from falling off of a cliff into a chasm of despair from which there was no return. Rarity came back into the room with a teapot, three cups, and a plate of small cookies all on an amethyst platter. She moved the table nearer the couch and placed everything on it, pouring each of her friends and herself a cup of tea. She got up onto the couch on the other side of Rainbow Dash and reached out to pat her friend's shoulder while Applejack's shoulder got soaked with the pegasus's tears.
"Jus' calm down darlin'," the earth pony said, patting Rainbow's back consolingly, "If ya can, how bout y'all tell Rare and me what happened to ya?"
Rainbow Dash's crying began to weaken after a few minutes. She was soon down to just having tears flow down her face and in need of a tissue to blow her nose every few seconds, but she could talk and sip at her tea.
"It...it all s-started yesterday. After the picnic fell to pieces I w-went for a fly." She sniffled some and blew her nose on a tissue Rarity handed her. Taking another sip of tea she continued. "I m-met the Wonderbolts a-and they were, like, totally fanboying over me." Rainbow Dash began to start returning to her old self as the parts about the Wonderbolts asking her for tips and Rainbow Dash training them. Apparently she'd spent all day with them, learning some of their maneuvers as she showed them some of hers.
"I was invited back today," she said, "And we were off to a great start." Now Rainbow Dash began to revert to the sobbing mess she had been an hour earlier. Her eyes welled up and she sniffled again. "Then that...that..." her nostrils flared some and she slammed her hoof down onto the couch, "That pig, Soarin', Uuunnnnhhhhh!" she groaned, "He starting flirting with me like he was some all-that hotshot, and he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer no matter how many times I said it." She sighed and collapsed into the couch, looking downtrodden once more now that her anger had been vented.
"Is he the reason y'all got this here bruise?" Applejack asked, pointing at the off color splotch on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. Her nostrils were flared at the thought, "Did he start gettin' fresh with ya? Did he..." Applejack's eyes widened with shock at the thought that Soarin might have raped her friend.
"What?" Rainbow Dash asked, blinking in surprise. She looked at her shoulder and shook her head. Her eyes widened as well as she grasped what Applejack was thinking. "Oh, no, I got that yesterday when I hit a tree." She swallowed a dry lump of air as she tried not to get choked up. For some reason, Applejack's reaction was more than a little comforting. The idea of her cowmare friend kicking Soarin's ass was quite pleasing as well.
"So Soarin upset you with his relentless pestering for your affections?" Rarity asked, surprised that Rainbow would let a boy like Soarin get under her coat like that.
"N-no..." Rainbow Dash said, sighing. "When I made it clear I wasn't interested...he talked about the Flight Academy." Her eyes began to well up with tears again, "He brought up some...some rumors about me when I attended...he called me a...a...slut." She closed her eyes and began to cry again. Applejack and Rarity hugged her until she calmed down.
"Well if that ain't the worst," Applejack said.
"Indeed," Rarity agreed. "Why, I hope you gave him what he was owed! If not, Applejack and I would be more than happy to put him in his place!"
"Shoot," Applejack said, "Ah'll go 'n git Big Mac 'n a bunch o' his big stallion buddies. They'll put a limp in Soarin's leg that that boy won't be fergettin anytime soon!"
Rainbow Dash sighed and wiped her eyes. "No...no its fine. Spitfire kicked him in the jaw when she heard one of his comments. But...what he said...it r-really got to me." She sniffed again and was about to wipe her nose on her arm when Rarity floated a tissue in front of her, not liking the idea of snot covered hooves smearing boogers across her furniture if she could help it. "I...I broke down. I l-lost my c-c-cool in front of them all." She began to sob some more and started bawling. "And now the Wonderbolts won't ever want to hang out with me again! I totally blew my one chance at becoming a Wonderbolt because I let what that prick said get to me!"
As Rainbow Dash cried herself out, Applejack held her again and shared a glance with Rarity. Truth be told, they both thought that she might have been overreacting a little, but neither of them dared to voice that thought. They both remembered, to their own shame, how they had treated Twilight when she had overreacted. So instead they sympathized with her. She needed comfort and care, and that's what they would provide.
After about ten minutes of crying and tea and cookies, Rainbow Dash had calmed down again. She was still moping and looked not unlike Twilight when she had received that scolding from Celestia.
"Y'all shouldn' let that bother you," Applejack said after the silence was too long for her to handle. Rainbow Dash just looked up at her with her sad eyes. "What that Soarin' feller said was jus' plain wrong. The fact that you didn' do the kickin' to his face makes y'all a better pony than 'im. Even if ya did cry. Heck, if the Wonderbolts won' take ya on cuz one o' yer heroes called ya somethin' that vile, well then yer better off without'em."
"Applejack is quite right," Rarity agreed, giving Rainbow Dash a smile. "Give it a couple of days so you can calm down, then go back and offer to continue training the Wonderbolts. And if Soarin' apologizes, accept it. If he doesn't, all the more reason for you to show them just how much better than them you are."
The pegasus seemed to absorb their compliments like a sponge absorbing water. She smiled at Rarity and gave her a hug. "Thanks." she said. She sniffed again and reached for a tissue so she could blow her nose. Wiping her eyes, she got up. Rarity and Applejack got up with her. "I...I think I'll go home. Thanks, both of you. I guess I kinda knew you two were right but...I needed to hear it." She gave both of her friends a hug and made for the door.
Applejack and Rarity considered following her to make sure she was okay but decided that she probably needed this time alone now that she had vented it all.
"So, Applejack," Rarity said, "Are you going to need a new dress for the speed date?" Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes, knowing she wouldn't be able to get out of it.
Deep in the Everfree Forest there was a lone zebra casually mixing her dinner. The fact that the ingredients were exotic from the perspective of anyone or anything in this part of the world, that they were cooked in a large black cauldron, and the fact that the smoke and sparks coming out of bubbling hot pink goo were not commonly seen in most pony recipes, Zecora's stomach was rumbling and her favorite dish was coming along quite nicely.
She dipped her ladle into the delicious brew and pulled a sample out of her cauldron and lifted it to her lips. The smell was right, and when she sipped at it the taste made her smile. "I have finally broken my failing loop. Now I can enjoy my favorite soup." she said as she put the ladle back into continue stirring.
A knock at her door surprised Zecora. She was used to being unceremoniously dropped in on, but the time of day wasn't usual for her normal visitors. She went to the door and opened it to find a very nervous looking Derpy Hooves hovering a few inches above the ground. She was glancing around nervously as she handed Zecora a scroll.
"Here ya go Miss Zecora," Derpy said, "Gotta go!" she added quickly before flying away. Zecora was surprised; this was the first letter she'd received in months. She took it over to her table and opened it, the seal being one not used in Equestria, but a seal from her tribe.
Zecora
Dune Sea has defeated all of the Southern Tribes. She is continuing to move north. We are next. They have killed Jelani and Rafiki. We cannot escape. Find help.
The message was written in a rushed manner, but the writing was familiar. Her sister didn't even have time to sign it. Zecora felt a cold, sickly feeling come over her. Dune Sea... For over a century her people had been keeping the Rising Sun Empire from getting into Zebra territories. If they were expanding to the north again, then Equestria was in danger.
Not knowing how long it would take the sphinxes to travel the distance it took her to come to Equestria, she feared she may be to late to do anything. But she had to try. The first thing that she had to do was inform Princess Celestia of the impending danger. She went over to a drawer and pulled out a scroll and a quil. Spreading the parchment out on the table, Zecora began to write.
Princess Celestia,
I just received word about an incoming stranger. I fear that Equestria is in great danger. My sister has told me that my people have failed, and now it is Equestria that will be assailed. The terrible threat is in the form of a sphinx, and they will bring more peril than hi-jinx. I am shamed for what I must say, but I have known of this threat long before this day. I did not tell of Dune Sea for fear of spreading gloom. I am sorry to tell you now so late, but her coming is the sign of doom. I shall send this letter off and make for Canterlot at once, for I shall help prevent Equestria from grievance.
-Zecora
Zecora sealed the envelope then put it in her saddlebag. She would take it to Ponyville and have Twilight Sparkle's assistant send it directly to Celestia before she departed herself. With luck, she could prevent the fate of her people befalling these peaceful ponies.