//------------------------------//
// Ask Not For Whom the Breakfast Tolls 
// Story: Appledashery Vol. Two 
// by Just Essay 
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"Mmmm-mmmmm!"  Spike slurped the syrup off his scaley chin with a serpent's tongue.  "Best.  Pancakes.  Ever!"  He smiled up from his plate at the kitchen table.  "You always know how to work a skillet, Mrs. Twilight's Mom!"

"Ohhhh Spike..."  The older mare trotted by in an apron and ruffled his spines.  "We really gotta get you to call me something different."

"Uhhhhhhhh..."  Spike tapped his chin in thought.  "... ... ...'Mrs. Twilight's Dad's Wife?'"

"Well, our little Spikey-Wikey is right about one thing."  Rarity smiled, squatting daintily on a stool in her terry cloth bathrobe.  "Your breakfast cooking is absolutely divine!"

"Yes."  Fluttershy nodded with a soft smile.  She still had frayed pink bedhair.  "It's so very nice of you to make something for us to eat.  I had brought extra change because I figured we would be eating out."

"Nonsense!"  Twilight Velvet winked.  "Having company makes for pleasant exercise!  Besides..."  She sighed melodically.  "It gets awfully boring with three of our children no longer living here."

"Mmmmmm!"  Pinkie Pie looked up from licking a plate clean.  "Wait a minute.  'Three?'"

Twilight Sparkle wandered over to the table with a bowl of cereal.  "She's including Spike."  She reached over to nudge the little dragon with a smile.  "He was always like the youngest of us, in a way."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh!"  Pinkie Pie said.  "Whatever!"  And she resumed slathering her tongue across the plate.  "Mmmmmm!"

"Twilight, darling?"  The matriarch in the room squinted over the still-steaming kitchen counter.  "Aren't you going to have some of my pancakes?"

"I figured I would had some cereal.  This way the rest of my friends could enjoy your cooking more!" Twilight Sparkle grinned.

Twilight Velvet folded her forelimbs with a knowing smirk.  "You're planning to do a lot of trotting around town lately, aren't you?"

Twilight Sparkle's ears drooped as she instantly blushed.  "Uhhhhhh..."

"Why?"  Rarity craned her neck.  "What does that mean?"

Twilight Velvet gave a motherly chuckle.  "Our little star has always had a hard time digesting pancakes and syrup while on the go."

"Thank you, Mother—"

"I assume you're going to a museum or two later?  Be sure to make lotssss of restroom stops."

"Okay.  Thank you, Mother."

Rarity and Fluttershy giggled.

"It's... n-not just that!"  Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat, red in the face.  "I-I was kinda looking forward to Filly Loops."

"Uh huh..."

"B-besides!  Rainbow Dash is having some!"  Twilight gestured across the table.  "See?  I'm being economical!"

"Is that what you're learning over in Ponyville?"

Twilight Spakle levitated the bowl to her lips and began spooning cereal into her gullet.

"Hmmmm.  That's what I thought."  Twilight Velvet nevertheless smiled, levitated a fresh stack of pancakes, and passed by the table.  "Pinkie Pie?  Would you like some more?"

Thud!  Pinkie placed her saliva-stained plate on the table's edge and grinned a crescent moon.  "I thought you'd never ask!"

Twilight Velvet chuckled and placed some more onto Pinkie's plate.

In the meantime, Applejack stumbled out of the bedroom on three legs and limped across the lush apartment.  She blinked and teetered in the bright sunlight coming through the windows.  She raised one hoof and rubbed her fuzzy freckles.  "Mrmmmfff... mighty sorry for sleepin' in, y'all."

"Heya, Applejack!"  Pinkie grinned and—WHUD—plunged her skull back into her pancakes.

"Good morning, darliiiing!" Rarity sang.

"Good morning, Applejack," Fluttershy added softly.  She smiled.  "So nice of you to join us."

"Mmmmm... a shame I didn't join y'all sooner..."  She shuffled up and slumped onto a stool.  "I'd have helped with fixin' the mornin' vittles."  She yawned and gestured with one hoof.  "I've got a crate full of apple treats sittin' in y'all's storage room."

"That's very nice of you to offer, Applejack, but it's all well and good that you got to rest in for a change."  Twilight Velvet smiled.  "Twilight's always writing us about how hard a worker you are.  I'd say it's about time you enjoyed a true vacation."

"Well, that's mighty hospitable of you.  But I'd lurve to show my appreciation all the same."

"Well, maybe next morning or the morning after."  Twilight Velvet nodded.  "I'd absolutely love to see how you make an apple fritter."

Applejack bore a tired smile.  "I'd be delighted."

"Now, would you like some pancakes?"

"Yeah!"  Pinkie Pie raised her head just long enough to speak, much less breathe.  "A shortstack for Applejack!"  WHUD!

"I... uh..."  Applejack teetered where she sat.  "Just lemme sit here for a bit, if that's alright with you."

"Absolutely!"  Twilight Velvet ducked back behind the kitchen counter.  "Take your time, dear!"

"Mrmmmfff..."  Applejack rubbed her face with one hoof.

There was a slurping sound to her side, followed by a cracking voice:  "Trouble sleeping?"

Applejack blinked.  She looked over.

Rainbow Dash was sipping from a bowl of color-stained milk.  A few loose rings of wheat floated in the liquid, a few clinging to Rainbow's nose—at least until she licked them up.

"You... do remember what happened last night, right?" Applejack droned.

"Heh... takes a lot outta ya, huh?"  Rainbow Dash smiled, sipped some more, and smiled again.  "I dunno about you, but I'm feeling pumped!  I got to see the Wonderbolts last night!  If even for a little bit!  Heh... I wanna live the rest of this week to the fullest!"

"Well, alright, sugarcube."

"Mmmmmmm... y'know, I used to think that cereal was pretty lame.  But, now that I think of it, there's nothing quite like filling your muzzle to the brim with sugar fruity goodness in the morning.  Y'know what I mean?"

Applejack's sunken eyes rested on the mare's bed-tossed mane.  "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."

"Mrmmfff..."  Rainbow finished the last of the milk.  She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her tummy.  A burp... a second burp... and she looked at Applejack.  Her eyes lowered slightly.  "... ... ...maybe you should go back to bed if you love that thing so much?"

"Huh?  What thing?"  Applejack paled.  She then looked down to see that she had been hugging her pillow from last night the entire time.  The cover had slipped half off.  The farm mare chewed on her bottom lip, squirming slightly.

Fluttershy suppressed a giggle from across the table and finished her pancakes.

"I... uh..."  Applejack cleared her throat.  "Reckon it's mighty comfy."

"Sure.  Whatever."  Rainbow Dash grabbed her bowl and silverware and zipped to the kitchen.  "I'll help wash up!"

"Oh, that's nice of you, Miss Dash!" Twilight Velvet said.

"Please.  Just call me 'Dash.'  Woohoo!  Today's gonna rock!"

Applejack rubbed a hoof through her bangs and stared blankly into the tabletop...