The view was incredible from this altitude. Ponyville was sprawled out in front of him, bathed in the morning sunglight. It was just like a map, minus the names of the places scribbled across the landscape. The beauty of it all was completely lost on Bullit, though. All he was looking for was any sign of the distinctive floating cloud-house. He didn't have much of a description to go on, but he knew he'd recognize it when he saw it. Cloudsdale architecture was particularly recognizable.

"So this is where she's holed up, eh?" he asked with a sly chuckle. "How about that? Our little brat hiding in a tiny place like this?"

"Maybe she didn't think we'd look somewhere boring," Rattle replied. "She was always more a fan of crowds."

Bullit Blaze unfolded a scrap of newspaper from his mane, reading through the article again. Ponyville Flyer wins Silver at Equestria Games, read the title. Bullit grinned.

"Well, better get looking, right?" he said, and dove off his cloud towards the town below.

Applejack was sat down in the kitchen, taking a minute to read through that day's paper as the rest of the household bustled around her. She was determined to get as much reading done as she could before getting interrupted by one of Big Mac's problems, Granny's yelling, or most likely of all...

"Hey, did'ya find out what happened to Rainbow's house?" Applebloom asked.

...Applebloom's ceaseless questioning.

"It kinda' fell out of the sky. Somethin' about a drunken pegasus and a thunderbolt," Applejack replied, giving her sister a dismissive wave. She was none to keen to go into too much detail. After all, if Rainbow wasn't comfortable with telling her, what were the chances she'd like Applebloom knowing?

"Wuz' it the gangs again?!" came Granny's irate reply. "If it were, I'll smack 'em silly, just you—..."

"The gangs have been gone for years," Applejack replied. "Remember?"

Granny frowned.

"Nope."

Applejack snapped her newspaper in front of her again, blocking out any further distractions. "Well, they are. 'Got kicked out."

Granny harrumphed, as if dissatisfied with the result. Applejack let herself get drowned in her own thoughts. Most of them revolved around Rainbow and her new lodgings. Something about the situation just kept niggling at her, and Applejack wasn't comfortable letting sleeping dogs lie.

"Oh, come on! I can do way harder stuff than this," Rainbow proclaimed. "I can do crazy awesome stuff like kinetic and potential energy! This is just adding!"

Scootaloo looked at Rainbow, her eyes filled with utter despair. "And multiplying!"

"Multiplying is just adding stuff lots of times," Rainbow told her, dismissing Scootaloo's fearful replies with a wave of her hoof. "It's easy if you use a pen and paper."

"Cheerilee won't let us use pen and paper," the young filly replied. "She says it's important we can do this stuff in our heads!"

Rainbow snorted. "That's dumb. You always have pen and paper. Besides, you can't do hard multiplications in your head."

"That's what I said," Scootaloo replied. "Not to mention, we have calculators nowadays," she said, holding out the small device she had stored in her drawer. "It's so much simpler!"

"Oh, don't be silly," Rainbow scoffed. "Those'll never catch on."

Scootaloo went silent for a second. "What do you even use all this for, anyway? All you do is fly around."

"Most of the time, yeah. I just let my awesome instincts guide me." Rainbow flicker her mane out of her eyes as she lounged back against the edge of the desk. "But for complex tricks, it's sometimes important to figure out if they're, y'know, possible or not." She shrugged. "Typically, the more scientifically improbable what I do is, the more impressed ponies are when I actually pull them off."

Scootaloo frowned. "So... you calculate whether your tricks are doable or not... then do them anyway?"

"That about sums it up. Apparently, ponies can't perform the Sonic Rainboom," Rainbow explained. "That's exactly why everypony loves it so much!" She stood up to her full height and puffed her chest out. "And that's why maths is important! So you know exactly when to ignore it."

Scootaloo frowned. "That's not what Cheerilee says..."

"Yeah, well, who are you gonna' believe? Me, or a qualified teacher?" Rainbow asked. "Now, c'mon, pack your things and let's go! School is in, like, ten seconds!"

"Ten minutes."

"Ten seconds!"

Applejack shrugged. "She'll be fine. She's with Scootaloo, after all..." she muttered.

"Wassat'?" Granny asked, cupping her hoof around her ear. Applejack shook her head.

"Nothin', Granny. Just thinkin' aloud." She sighed and put her paper down. "C'mon, then! It's 'bout time we get you to school," she said to Applebloom.

"Okay!"

Applejack got to her hooves. "I got plenty of chores today. Harvest apples, sell apples, visit Rainbow... probably sell more apples, too." She tapped her hoof impatiently. "C'mon! Let's get going!"

Scootaloo buzzed after Rainbow as fast as she could, barely able to keep up with the speeding pegasus. It wasn't fair, she thought. Her schoolbag was weighing her down, whereas Rainbow was completely unburdened. In fact, Rainbow was almost trudging just so Scootaloo could keep up.

Living with Rainbow was proving to be harder than she expected. Awesome, but hard.

"Keep up, slowpoke! Imagine it's practice!"

"Practice for what?!" Scootaloo shouted back.

"Going really fast!" Rainbow replied. "Flying! Looking awesome! Anything!"

"Speaking of looking," Scootaloo began, widening her eyes as she saw the schoolhouse begin to appear over the horizon. "Watch out!"

Rainbow quickly spun around to face the sudden appearance of the school, widening her eyes as she fought off panic. Thinking fast, she dashed up into the air with a powerful beat of her wings, only just avoiding a collision with the building.

Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief. It'd be really embarrassing to have her first day with Rainbow ruined by her knocking the whole school down.

"Ha! Not this time, building," Rainbow gloated, gliding down to the ground. "I saw it coming a mile away."

Scootaloo dismounted her scooter, shaking her head in disbelief. She was lucky that Rainbow had been flying slowly, she realized. Had she been going at full speed, or even half speed, things might have turned out much worse. Scootaloo locked her ride against the fence and shook her helmet off her head.

"So... This is it, yeah?" Rainbow asked, whistling. "It's pretty small. Up in Cloudsdale, the school was huge. It was way uglier, too."

"Huh." Scootaloo tilted her head, curious. "Did you have bullies there, too?"

Rainbow hesitated briefly. "Uh, yeah. A few."

Scootaloo decided that perhaps it was a bit of a delicate subject. Rainbow didn't look happy reminiscing about her old school. "Sounds rough. I'd hate to be in a big school like that," she said. She started imagining how horrible it would be to get lost in a crowd and still get singled out by bullies. It'd be like being stuck in a shoal of fish that just abandoned you to a hungry shark.

"Just a bit," Rainbow replied. "Anyway, see you later!"

"Leavin' so soon?"

Rainbow spun around to face Applejack and Applebloom, trotting towards the school gates among the other fillies and colts. Applejack was carrying Applebloom's bag for her, and looked wide awake despite it being only half past eight.

"Oh, hey!" Rainbow flew up in the air, before balancing herself on one of the fence posts, giving her a height advantage over the farmpony. "I was just taking Scoots' to school!"

"I can see that," Applejack replied, and passed Applebloom's bag to her. "I was droppin' off Applebloom myself."

Applebloom cantered over to Scootaloo, a broad smile on her face. "Hiya! Is Sweetie Belle here, yet?"

"No," Scootaloo replied, eyeing two ponies in the playground. "But they are."

Applejack walked over to her sister. "Somethin' up?"

"Nope!" Applebloom replied, taken surprised by her older sister. Applejack shrugged, leaving the young filly to her own devices.

"All right, then. I'll see ya'll this afternoon." She looked over at Rainbow. "You comin'? Or are ya'll busy?"

Rainbow pondered the question, before nodding. "Sure thing! My shift only starts after lunch."

Applejack grinned. That was one item off her schedule already. With a bit of luck, it wouldn't be the last.

The Sugarcube Corner was almost empty. The early risers of Ponyville had already gone to work, whereas it was still too soon for the rest of the populace to fancy a coffee and cake. But for Rainbow and Applejack, who more or less made their own timetables, it was perfect. They were sat outside, each with a small pastry they ordered, courtesy of Pinkie's lightning fast service.

"So, you checking up on me?" Rainbow asked. She leaned over the table, eyes narrowed. "It's okay if you are. I thrive on attention!"

Applejack hesitated. "Well, actually, I was a bit worried..."

Rainbow's shoulders sagged. "Yeah, I thought you would be." She took another sip of her coffee in silence. "Look, Greased Lightning is awesome. Scary, but awesome. She tore apart a bike with her bare hooves!"

Applejack chuckled. "You sure you ain't scared of her 'cause she's Scootaloo's mom, and you feel a lil' threatened?"

"Where'd that come from?" Rainbow asked, puzzled. "And besides, you'd be scared too if you saw her with that wrench."

"... and you're fine, then?" Applejack asked. "Comfy?"

"AJ, you're not my mom," Rainbow pouted. "I don't need you to fluff my pillows for me. They're already very fluffed." The pair fell into silence for a brief while. Rainbow eventually rolled her eyes and sighed. "... but thanks for asking."

"Anytime. But anyhow, that's enough of that." Applejack smiled. "You'll never guess how many times ponies have been askin' me about your house. All they heard was I was there, and I've been pestered ever since." She rolled her eyes. "My family's been askin', the a pony on my way here asked, last evenin' after I left your house, I got questioned..."

Rainbow raised her eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What've you been telling them?"

"As little as possible," Applejack replied. "Only that it had somethin' to do with a drunken stallion and a thunderbolt."

"Lightning bolt," Rainbow corrected. "Thunder can't have bolts."

"Lightning bolt then. Beg pardon' for falsifyin' my reports," Applejack replied sarcastically. Rainbow shrugged.

"That's cool, then. Word's bound to get around anyway."

"Good. I was worried I might be doin' you a disservice."

Rainbow snickered and took a bite out of her snack. "You worry way too much."

"Ponies are startin' to ask spread rumours, though. Granny thought it was gangs."

"Gangs? That's crazy! They've not been around for years, and I'd have heard if they came back." Rainbow's pastry dropped out of her mouth as she turned red and aggressive. Applejack raised a hoof, signalling Rainbow to let her finish.

"That's what I told her! But you just know that other ponies'll come up with the most ludicrous of stories." Applejack gestured wildly with her mug. "You'd best be on the look-out for bad rumours."

"Ugh," Rainbow groaned. "Fine, I'll keep an ear out." She picked apart her pastry with her hoof. "This sucks."

Applejack nodded. "I know, sugarcube." She looked up at the sun. "Aw, shoot. I got apples to buck," she said. "Tell ya' what: I'll be around town later to sell my produce later. Maybe we could meet up again then?"

Rainbow grinned. "Sure! I'll be, y'know, around. Might scavenge some more of my stuff from my house later." She tapped her chin. "I'll need some diving equipment... y'think Grease' has any? Or will I just have to wait 'till we drag it out the lake?"

"I might take time off an' join you, if you want."

Rainbow stopped mid-thought, and smirked. "...you've been taking a lot of time off work to take care of me, lately."

Applejack narrowed her eyes. "Takin' care of you is work. Feel free to scavenge your stuff alone if you want..."

"No, please come with!" Rainbow backpedalled. "My stuff is super-heavy!"

Applejack's thoughts wandered as she watched her customers browse her goods. Rainbow always kept things to herself for far too long. Applejack remembered her little reading fiasco. She just kept on keeping secrets until everything blew up in her face, and even got accused of stealing slippers, of all things.

"Do you know what I'd like?" muttered one of her customers, chatting with a friend. "Oranges. We don't have any oranges here. Strange, isn't it?"

"Oh good", Applejack groaned under her breath. "The townsponies have gotten picky."

"It is odd," replied her friend. "Still, apples are pretty nice. They're a lot sourer."

"Are you two really comparing apples and oranges? 'Cause historically, that hasn't worked out all that well."

"And you don't have to peel them!"

"Agreed," the second pony said. "That'll be two bags of apples, then, miss Jack!"

Applejack smiled. It was true what they said: apples really did sell themselves. And one more item off her schedule.

She let her thoughts drift back to her friend. There was also the matter of the young flyers contest. She let all those feelings of anxiety bubble and boil until she was a quivering wreck. Applejack adjusted her price tags absent-mindedly. "I wish she'd figure out that we don't like seeing her keep secrets like that."

Applejack shook her head, frustrated. Rainbow was right: she was acting like an overbearing mother. She decided to stop fretting for the day. She had apples to sell and things to do, and besides, she'd see Rainbow later in the day to help her with her stuff.

"Oh..."

Rainbow sat down, wings drooping by her side as she lost the strength to lift them properly. Twilight hung her head. "Sorry, but weather is magic-resistant to everypony who doesn't have a weather-related cutie mark or talent... or is a pegasus. I can't just levitate it out the lake."

"The house has collided with the lake bed," Thunderlane went on. "Even if we mobilized the whole weather team, we'd just break the house if we tried dragging it out by force." He shrugged apologetically. "I'm afraid the only thing we can do is vaporize it and let it become part of the lake."

The trio of ponies were gathered around the place Rainbow had dragged herself from the lake, the spot closest to the half sunken cloud-house. For the first time, it seemed the reality of the situation had hit Rainbow: her home wasn't coming back.

"I kinda' hoped you'd be able to get it out," she admitted.

"We can still salvage most of your things," Twilight said. "Especially the stuff on the second floor: it looks relatively intact."

Rainbow walked over to the waters edge and kicked the lake, sulking. "Great," she replied, only half paying attention. "I'm gonna'... stay here for a bit."

Thunderlane and Twilight both looked at each other, unsure of how to proceed. Twilight made a move in Rainbow's direction, but thought better of disturbing the dejected pegasus. Instead she flew up over the lake, observing the wreckage of Rainbow's home.

"Horseapples," Rainbow muttered. "I had some good times here..."

Thunderlane stepped to let a new arrival pass. Applejack brushed some dirt off her coat she had acquired from her day's work. She trotted up to Rainbow, who's hooves were just deep enough in the water to get wet.

"You look pretty down," she said, coming up behind her friend. Rainbow quickly wiped her hoof across her face, snorting.

"What, me? Naw, I'm made of, uh, steel," she replied. "Steel doesn't get sad."

"I bet if it did, we'd be okay with that," Applejack told her. Rainbow shook her head.

"That's ridiculous. If steel got sad, it'd rust." She looked over at Applejack. "You don't want me to get rusty, do you?"

"No, o'course not."

"It's just a shame, y'know? I don't think I had anypony over to visit, ever." Rainbow kicked the water again. "Kinda' missed out. I mean, you'd have mostly fallen through my floor, but we could have worked around that. You and Twi' and Rarity had a sleepover. That sounded like fun. Minus the tree."

Before Applejack could find the words to reply, Rainbow took a deep breath, loud enough to startle Applejack. Rainbow spread her wings, and the gentle breeze caused each individual feather to flutter. The wind whistled through them ever so faintly. Rainbow was only rarely quiet enough for Applejack to hear such small and unnoticeable noises, and it surprised her.

"Well, better get started. Apparently, the top floor is relatively intact, so..." Rainbow flew up just above Applejack. "Thanks for coming. Again."

"Anytime, partner."

The Barrel Scraper was a surprisingly pleasant establishment who's name gave no indication of the service quality found within. Bullit Blaze strode through the room, observing his surroundings with disdain. He shook his head at the kind and polite ponies enjoying a cool, refreshing drink on a summer's afternoon, disgusted.

He lay his hoof over the bar, his face twisted into a condescending scowl as he beckoned to the bartender, an older, fatter pony.

"Beer," he ordered, "... and make it cheap!" The bartender, taken aback by Bullit's sour attitude, hurried to the barrel and began pouring. Bullit scoffed. "This place don't look like it's seen a proper fight in years," he said. "What happened?! Did the guard grow a pair?" He leaned over the bar. "Did you?"

"There just aren't that many violent types around here anymore," the bartender replied, nervous. He was so nervous, in fact, that he almost spilled Bullit's drink. Rattle gave him an evil eye, causing the older pony to flinch.

"Why's that?" Bullit asked, taking the mug and bringing it to his lips. The bartender hesitated. Rattle got impatient.

"Why haven't we seen any gangs 'round here?" she asked. "Who's in charge here?"

The Bartender relaxed, happy he could finally answer a question. "Oh, that'd be either Mayor Mare, if you're looking for any administrative concerns. For any kind of friendship dispute, you'll want Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Friendship dispute?" Rattle asked, unsure if she should laugh or feel insulted.

"I meant," Bullit continued, "...who's the boss? You know, the pony in charge of whatever gang you have in this little backwater hamlet." He turned towards Rattle. "Is hamlet the right word?"

"I think it is, Bullit."

"Hmph."

The bartender held up his hooves defensively. "Oh, there aren't any gangs around here. We're quite a peaceful town."

Bullit raised an eyebrow.

"You mean this place is... uh, unoccupied?"

"Well, we're occupying it."

Bullit's hoof shot across the counter faster than the eye could follow, taking the bartender by surprise. Even Rattle flinched. He grabbed the older pony by the neck and dragged him over the counter, the wood digging into his sides. The bartender gave off a small whimper as Bullit snarled sadistically.

"We're occupying it now," he said. "You can tell everypony that the Thundercloud's gang are here to stay."

His grin widened as he breathed out, his stink washing over the bartender unpleasantly. Rattle gave a throaty laugh, startling the entire room. All eyes were drawn towards the deadly duo, shocked into absolute silence. The Thundercloud's gang had arrived.

Then the bartender began to laugh.

Bullit hesitated, unsure if his ears were deceiving him.

Upon re-inspection, he found that his initial suspicious were correct. The bartender was laughing. Laughing at him.

"What's so funny?!" he demanded, his temper rising.

"Oh, it's nothing you need concern yourself with," the older stallion replied. Bullit's grip loosening around his neck, allowing him to slide back to his side of the counter. "It's just that I didn't know you were a gang."

Bullit tilted his head, confused.

"Wh-what about it?"

"Listen, word of advice, boyo..." the bartender said. "There are two ponies you absolutely have to stay away from if you want to keep yourself out of the hospital." He smiled benevolently. "I'm only saying this because it's been a while since I've had a good laugh, and I hate to see you two get hurt for no reason..."

"What are you talking about, you old fart?" Rattle demanded.

"Stay away from, one: any pegasus with a rainbow mane. She'll just cause you nothing but trouble. And two: an—"

"A pegasus with a Rainbow mane, eh?" Bullit asked, interrupting the old stallion before he could finish. "I don't suppose you'd know where I could find such a pony?" He shook off his surprise at being made a laughingstock and grinned. "I'd very much like to pay her a visit."

Author's Notes:

Chapter 3 will be released on the 14th of June!

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this story, you may also enjoy Ponyville's Bad Day.

Please leave any thoughts or criticism in the comments! I always read them and I always enjoy getting notifications. They make me feel special.

Have a good one!