//------------------------------// // Don't Be Shy // Story: A Day With Friends // by MyOpinionIsSuperior //------------------------------// “Owwwwwwwwww,” Rainbow Blitz moaned loudly, rubbing his temples with a free forehoof. Head throbbing, his vision cleared, allowing him to see that he had become uncomfortably wedged between several broken branches at the top of an apple tree. Blitz wriggled himself free, releasing a yelp as he broke away from the foliage and plummeted toward the ground. Fluttering his wings, he slowed his fall’s momentum, landing with a grunt; the impact sent small jolts of pain down his legs. Rainbow Blitz touched a sore spot on his rump, wincing as he rubbed the discoloration that had started to form at the base of his tail. “I’m gonna be feelin’ that one tomorrow…” “YooooooHooooo!” His ears perked up, guiding him to the source of the unusually sugary greeting. Rainbow Blitz watched as Golden Delicious trotted casually toward him from behind one of the many trees, eyeing him up and down with unbreakable focus. He could feel his heart pound and the heat surge to his cheeks as the pretty filly gave him a coy smile, fluttering her eyelashes in a very flirtatious manner. She walked up to him and got dangerously close, her eyes half-lidded in determination. “Well hellooooo there, my delicious zap apple cutie. Did ya’ll come all this distance just to visit me?” “I-uh, well-uhm, you see, duh-huh,” he fumbled, desperately trying to think of an appropriate response for the stunning little farm filly. The more she looked at him like that, the harder he blushed. Rainbow Blitz broke into a cold sweat at the unfamiliar situation; for once, he was at a complete loss for words. “You don’t hafta’ lie to me, sugar,” she said with a quick wink, relieving Blitz of the breath he was unaware he was holding. “Ah know you were meant to spend the day with Cappy and his mama. But seein’ as how you’re shootin’ ‘round the sky all fast-like, Ah’m guessin’ Cappy found a way to keep Miss Fluttershy busy.” “I guess that’s one way of putting it,” Blitz said with a forced grin, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. “Ah don’t even wanna know what that boy did this time,” she huffed, giving a frown that would normally be uncharacteristic given her current company. Quickly changing her demeanor, she smiled eagerly, taking Rainbow Blitz’s front hooves with her own. “But the important thing is you’re here now, my zap apple hunk. Ah reckon’ takin’ you out for a picnic might just excuse me from my mama’s silly busy-work.” She paused, stretching her neck out to meet Blitz face-to-face, his blush returning stronger than before. “And there’s… somethin’ Ah need your help with. And only you can be the one to do it for me, Rainbow Blitz.” “W-what can I do for you?” He asked with a nervous smile, his voice wavering in parallel to his confidence. Golden Delicious flashed him a playful grin. “Weeelll, Ah-“ “Rainbow Blitz! Thank heavens ta’ Betsy you’re alive! How’s he doing, Golden Delicious? Anything broken?” Golden Delicious groaned angrily at her mother’s unwanted entrance. She fumed internally, making her smile and response at her mother all the more bitter. “He’s fine, Mama.” “Yeah, I should be good. Just a few bumps and bruises,” he said assuredly, an adult’s presence bringing him back into his comfort zone. “Golden Delicious was just inviting me to go on a picnic.” “Is that so?” Applejack growled, giving her daughter a sour look. Rainbow Blitz felt his fur stand on end, secretly thanking he wasn’t on the receiving end of Applejack’s anger. Golden Delicious played with a lock of hair in a cat-like demeanor, rolling her eyes as she spoke. “Ah don’t see why you’re upset, Mama. Ya’ll said if Ah could find somethin’ better to do with my time then Ah could go do it. And what could be better than makin’ sure this strappin’ young colt eats properly by givin’ him some good ol’ Apple family vittles?” “Fine, you win,” Applejack deadpanned before forcing a small smile to address their guest. “Ah supposed a lunch break was in order anyhoo.” “Did someone say lunch?” All three pairs of eyes looked up at the gruff voice that had intruded on their conversation. Capricorn grinned from the surface of a cloud, his head popping out beyond the edge of the cumulus. Applejack gave the alicorn a piercing glare, causing the colt to recoil into the safety of his cumulus cover. “What’d you do to your mama, ya’ little duh-link-wint? Where is she?” Capricorn popped back out of the cloud and returned the glare, firing his own questions in defense. “What’d you do to your husband, Missus Applejack? Where is he?” Applejack’s eyes bulged in surprise, clearly caught off guard by the question, though she wasn’t about to let the misbehaved juvenile know that. She lowered her Stetson, attempting to block her horrible poker face. “Ah had a very important job for him to do. He had to… um… find some very special fertilizer for the north fields.” “S-so you sent him on a w-wild goose chase?” Capricorn snickered. “All right, so what if Ah did!” Applejack bellowed up at him, blushing at the colt’s small victory. “Ah had to make sure he didn’t let Golden Delicious off too easy from today’s work! All she’s gotta do is bat them pretty eyes and he’ll spoil her more rotten than a tomato in a landfill.” “Ah can’t help it if Daddy can’t say no,” Golden Delicious cooed, inspecting a forehoof that glimmered in the sunlight. Applejack rolled her eyes and continued despite her defeat. “Ah had to think of some way to send him off for a spell. Now spill it; where’s your mama?” Capricorn grinned sheepishly, kicking a part of the cloud off as he fidgeted. “Let’s just say she, um, fell asleep on the job.” “What’s that suppose ta’ mean?” Applejack raised a curious eyebrow, wondering how the quiet, responsible parent could have slacked off in a similar manner to the other’s parent during her younger napping days. “Whatever you want it to mean, ma’am,” he answered politely, leaving the cowpony to ponder the possibilities that befell her unfortunate friend. Capricorn glided down gracefully in a manner that Applejack noted was remarkably similar to his mother, joining the other earth-bound ponies. “Lunch with you guys would be perfect! Blitz’ll need a lot of energy for the show today, especially if he’s gonna do the Sonic Rainboom!” “The Sonic Rainboom?!” Applejack hollered, her eyes widening in disbelief. “Since when could you do that?” Rainbow Blitz squirmed under her gaze, unable to fabricate a story under the pressure. “Oh, uh, well I can’t, but-“ Capricorn quickly muzzled Blitz with hoof and turned towards the matriarchal cowpony, opting to finish the sentence for his silenced friend. “He meant to say he can’t do it, yet. He’s almost there; he got the sonic barrier to show up, after all! He just needs a little… a little….” The mischievous alicorn’s eyes lit up as an idea crossed his mind. “Applejack! Maybe you can help us!” “What in tarnation am Ah supposed ta’ do?” She asked skeptically, tilting her head in thought as she contemplated how an earth pony was supposed to help a pegasus fly. She chose to humor the boy; after all, she had sent Rainbow Blitz’s mother rocketing through the sky during a particularly sleepless week of her life. “Well, if Rainbow Blitz gets going fast enough, he can break the sound barrier right?” “Uh huh.” “And with your lassoing skills, you could probably send him off pretty fast, right?” Rainbow Blitz sat down and began to quiver in fear, his eyes shrinking to pinpricks as he pictured being tossed around by the centripetal force. Applejack let loose a defiant snort, stomping an angry, protesting hoof on the ground. “Now if ya’ll think I’m gonna launch a child at break-neck speeds, you either think Ah’m negligent or just plain dumb. Ah probably should stop ya’ll from even tryin’ to do all this Rainboom stuff.” “That’s quite all right, Mama,” Golden Delicious spoke up, taking a delicate step forward towards the boys. “Ah’m pretty good with a rope, wouldn’t you say so?” “You bet your biscuit you are!” Applejack nodded proudly, quickly forgetting the context of the statement to indulge in bragging rights over one of the laborious activities her daughter would participate in. “Why, Ah haven’t seen a filly as talented at lassoin’ at your age since, well, mahself!” “That’s great!” Capricorn sprang into the air, preparing to speed off toward a part of the farm where collateral damage wouldn’t be an issue. “Let’s go try it out!” Golden Delicious jumped up with surprising agility, clamping onto the alicorn’s tail with her teeth and dragging him back down to the ground. Spitting the disgruntled colt’s blonde tail out, she shot him an annoyed stare. “Now hold on, sugar,” She said sternly, her lecture-like tone bearing a strong resemblance to her mother or uncle, whenever he was provoked enough to deliver a tongue-lashing. “Ah didn’t say Ah was volunteerin’, now did I? This here stunt sounds like my little zap apple honeybun could get hurt if we don’t do it right.” Applejack raised an eyebrow at her daughter’s refusal to ‘help’ the object of her affections perform a heroic, spectacular trick, but remained stoic. She wasn’t one to complain for any random spurts of responsibility Golden Delicious decided to display. “Sounded like volunteering to me,” Capricorn grumbled. He planted his rump on the ground and crossed his forehooves. “Out with it. What do you want?” “Funny ya’ll should mention that,” Golden Delicious cooed, ignoring the smacking sound of her mother’s face-hoof. She approached the sitting Rainbow Blitz, tilting her head down to meet him eye to eye. “’Cuz Ah need help as well, and you, sugarcube, are the only one who can help me. You see, one of the very most important things in a young lady’s life is, well,” She paused, relinquishing a slight blush on her freckled cheeks. “Her first kiss.” “Where are you going with this?” Blitz asked, tilting his head in confusion, one eye scrunched up in obvious contemplation over the possibilities. “Yeah, where are you going with this, sugarcube,” Applejack growled, gritting her teeth. Golden Delicious ignored her mother’s aggression and continued. “It’s very, very important to pick the right colt to share the divine experience with, otherwise the young filly in question will regret her decision for the rest of her life. You see, sugar, the colt for me has gotta’ be kind, polite, athletic, and respectful to yours truly. He’s gotta be a proper gentlecolt,” She paused again and added with a suggestive flutter of her eyelashes, “It don’t hurt none if he’s funny and a looker at that.” “Wowee,” Blitz gasped, displaying sincere awe at the filly’s extensive list. “That’s a lot to expect from somepony. You’re gonna be looking forever to find a colt like that.” The loud slapping sound of hoof on flesh interrupted the conversation, grabbing the attention of everypony present. Capricorn’s hoof fell to the ground, a red mark in tribute to his limb’s previous position crowned on his forehead, a testimony to his frustration. “She’s talking about you, ya’ dingaling!” He belted. “She is not,” Blitz said, dismissing the idea casually with the wave of his hoof. “I’m not all those things." “Actually, sugar,” Golden Delicious blushed, demonstrating a rare side of modesty. “He’s right. Ah know you’re a bit of a prankster and can run your gab from time to time, but nopony’s perfect. Ah thought you were just a pretty face until Cappy showed us them letters you and your Daddy wrote for the Princess.” “He did what?!” Blitz shrieked, panicking that his gush had been spread out for all of Equestria to see. “Cappy didn’t know what they were, honeybun,” She defended. “All he knew was that you had written one of them, and we hadn’t seen ya’ll ‘round here in such a long time, that we thought somethin’ may have happened to you. He just wanted to make sure you were all right, even if he had to steal somethin’ from Princess Celestia herself. It’s actually rather sweet of him, when you think about it.” “Yeah yeah, I missed you. So what?” Capricorn blushed, failing to hide a slight smile. “Anyhoo,” Golden Delicious continued. “After Ah read that there letter, Ah fell hard, sugar. Ah didn’t know you were capable of bein’ such a sweet, carin’ little sparkler. And from that day on, my zap apple honeybun, Ah made my decision. Rainbow Blitz, Ah’d like to share my first kiss… with you.” Realization from the revelation finally hit Rainbow Blitz. His cheeks flushed a strong crimson and he stammered, barely able to release the words. “Y-y-y-you’ve got to be kidding me!” “Yer darn right she’s kidding!” Applejack howled, eyes bloodshot in shame. “Lips or cheek?” Capricorn asked, a playful smirk on his face as he nudged the young filly in approval. Blitz gaped at Capricorn in shock. “Cappy!” “Oh, lips,” Golden Delicious sighed happily. “Most definitely lips.” “Deal,” Capricorn said, shaking the young romantic’s hoof. “Golden Delicious!” Applejack snarled. “Ah will not tolerate this sort of behavior, young filly! Nopony is gonna be lassoin’ anypony else, nopony is gonna be doin’ the Sonic Rainboom until they’re the right age ta’ do so, and nopony is gonna’ be kissin’ under my watch! Am Ah clear?!” Golden Delicious shot her mother a venomous, sidelong glare. “Mama, if you ruin this for me, Ah will make for certain that Daddy gets ahold of the grass seeds for this years Winter Wrapup.” Her dirty look met her mother’s scowl, the two battling each other with their eyes. Applejack’s angry features quickly changed into a casual smile, the victor being decided. “...Have fun kids!” Applejack trotted away in a cold sweat, leaving behind a flabbergasted Rainbow Blitz to deal with the whims of the other children. “Applejack!” He hollered. “Help me! Please!” She, and along with her, Rainbow Blitz’s last hope vanished inside the barn, slamming the door shut in frustration. He whimpered as Capricorn took him by the tail, dragging him out to the open fields to seal his fate.