Author's note: I decided to give in to my OCD and color-code the quotes. It's mainly just to help you know who's talking, and helps avoid that "she said, then he said, then that other girl said" sort of annoyance. xD

It seems that at least one of them remembered me, though it seems obvious now, especially considering that I just got tackled before I even got into town...by a familiar, rainbow blur...

Rainbow blur zooming towards me, check.

Brace for inevitable impact, check.

Impact, check.

Tumbling backwards with the other pony as a result of the impact, check.

Finally get pinned to the ground by Rainbow Dash, check.

Her ‘flying-tackle’ had become as routine as any of her other flying techniques; the exact same every time.

“Ha! I knew it! I thought it was you, Goldie! How’ve you been? What are you doin’ outside Ponyville?!?!”

Goldie...it seems like forever since I’ve been called that. But then again, it’s been years since I’ve seen Rainbow Dash -- ‘Goldie’ was her nickname for me, and as time has told, it was hers alone.

“Well, at first I was trying not to get tackled...”

“Wow, you haven’t changed a bit, have ya?” Rainbow interrupted me, amused by my unchanged sarcasm.

“Likewise. And do you have any particular reason for why you’re still laying on me after you tack...”

Rainbow interrupts me again with a friendly hoof to my shoulder as she stands up. That was another part of her fly-tackling-me habit: I often had to remind her that she was still laying on top of me post-tackle.

“But seriously, Goldie. Whatcha doin’ here?” Rainbow inquires as she helps me up.

I wait a few seconds to come back to all of my senses -- I wasn’t as used to Rainbow’s fly-tackles as a result of time.

“Actually...I finally decided to join my only friends, and considering that all three of you live here in Ponyville...”

Rainbow cuts me off again. “Oh, that reminds me! You need to meet our other friends he--” She stops for a second to think, before resuming. “Aaaactually, I bet you’d prefer a quick reunion with ‘Shy and Derps, too, wouldn’t ya?”

Fluttershy and Ditzy “Derpy Hooves” Doo...they, along with Rainbow Dash, make up the three friends I’ve ever had, and it seems that with each of them I had a special connection that was unique in each and every way. The more I think about it, that could be one reason why they were literally my only friends. Well, at least for me, I prefer quality over quantity, and friendships make no exception.

I nod, as this is one of many circumstances in which words are simply not needed.

Rainbow smiles. “Alright! I’ll be back in ten seconds fl--”

It was my turn to interrupt.

“Are you sure that you can get ‘Shy here that quickly?”

She grins. “It’s been a while since I’ve been a ‘victim of your wit’. I missed it a little actually...”

‘Victim of my wit’...heh, I love how we always referred to it like that.

Rainbow blushed a little before breaking the awkward silence that had followed her last comment.

“Aaaanyway, I’m gonna go get ‘em now. Don’t go anywhere, Goldie!” Rainbow says with a wink before, well...dashing off.

I walk over to the side of the road and lay down under a tree. I knew that Rainbow Dash would likely take longer to return than she would like -- mainly because of Fluttershy, ‘least that’s what I would expect. Regardless, I subconsciously decided to take this opportunity to do some reminiscing.

After all, it was memories that got me through each day since I had last seen my friends, which was...hmm...approximately five years earlier. I know that five years normally shouldn’t seem like an eternity, but in my case it was five years of solitude. That’s different. And that’s why my memories with my friends were -- and still are, actually -- so important to me.

As a result, it just felt...right to get lost in my memories one last time...because once Rainbow got back, I knew that it would be time to make new ones.