The warm morning found Applejack walking tentatively behind Winona among the rows of trees in the East Orchard, the unkempt grass of the fields tickling her hooves.
It had been a little over two weeks since the plateau, and Applejack hadn't seen much of Rainbow Dash since. She'd been busy. Though, three days afterwards she'd noticed a crumpled envelope had been shoved hastily through her letterbox, and when she'd opened it... she'd found it contained five bits.
Curiously, this morning—the morning of her first free day since then—Winona was acting very strangely. She had begun by bounding into her bedroom, demanding playtime as usual. But when Applejack had taken her outside, instead of playing she had led her straight to the East Field, and into it.
Winona walked slowly, nose in the grass, but stopping every so often to snuffle for something. And it took Applejack a little while to realise just what was going on.
She was eating biscuits.
Somepony had laid a trail of biscuits through the orchard for Winona to follow. And once Applejack realised what was happening, a little involuntary grin touched her lips.
Winona led her to a particularly tall apple tree—one the Apple family colloquially knew as 'Grandfather'—its knarled branches thick with fresh, spring leaves and concealing anything that might be hidden up there. Her smile grew.
“Winona? Reckon I'm gonna be a mite busy for a bit. Why don’t ya go find Big Mac or Apple Bloom to play with fer a while?” she said.
Winona’s ears perked, her tongue panted, her tail wagged, and she was away like a shot, eager to obey—especially if it meant more playtime and biscuits!
Applejack approached the tree and, raising a forehoof, she knocked three times on the trunk, as though she were at the door to a house. “Come out. I know yer up there.”
A rustling in the branches above attracted her attention and, sure enough, in short order a familiar cyan pony peered down from high in the boughs. She stood on a thick branch two thirds of the way up, poised with perfect balance. Rainbow Dash looked down with her usual grin. Smug, and cocky... and happy. Then, with a little mischievous glint in her eye she said,
“Prove it.”
It took Applejack a moment to work out what she meant. Then, when it hit her, she gave her own grin, determined and confident.
Applejack reared up onto her hindlegs and jumped, wrapping her forehooves around a low branch above her. Then, swinging the rest of her body upwards she managed to get a hindleg onto it and pulled herself up. With a balance and skill that could only come from practice, she stood on the thin branch and poised herself perfectly. Then she repeated the process again, rearing and jumping and reaching a higher branch. Then again. And again. Until she was finally stood confidently on the same branch as Rainbow Dash, her breathing a little heavy.
It had been a while. Way too long, in fact. She’d forgotten how exhilarating it was to just climb. She firmly met Dash’s gaze. “Ha! Told ya! I can climb trees with the best of ‘em!”
Dash returned a warm, simple smile. No trace of smugness anymore, though she gave no other sign that she was impressed. She settled herself, leaning back against the tree-trunk, and then Applejack lay down, her belly on the branch, her hindlegs dangling either side, and her forelegs under her chin.
“I’ve got something for you,” said Rainbow. Then she craned her neck to fish something out from beneath her wing, and returned with a scrap of parchment grasped in her teeth.
Applejack raised an eyebrow but took the paper and unfolded it.
Written on the parchment, in what was unmistakably Dash’s hoofwriting;
I.O.U.
One bajillion apples
-R.D.
Applejack chuckled and looked back at Dash. Then, using her teeth, she tore the paper in half and tossed it away.
“What are you doing?!” cried Rainbow Dash. “That’s good for a bajillion apples! Do you even know how many a bajillion is?!”
“Yeah, it’s almost a plethora,” Applejack replied. Then she smiled kindly and met Dash’s gaze. “Dash. I told ya. You’re family. Family can have all the apples they want.”
“Well... that’s cool, I guess,” said Rainbow. “But I’ve kinda already got the Apple I really want.” She looked at Applejack with that warm smile again.
Applejack made a show of rolling her eyes, but in truth she couldn’t help but be a little touched. Then Dash’s smirk reappeared and normal service resumed.
“So?” asked Applejack, “What crazy, suicidal, fool-pony thing are we doin’ today to prove who’s boss?”
Dash’s smirk grew and her eyes sparkled with bravado. “Funny you should ask. Because I pretty much know where the tallest tree in all of Equestria lives, and I’m thinking we have a race to the top. The pony who gets the highest wins. Whaddya say?”
Applejack looked back with her own, confident grin. She could just imagine the view from the top of such a tree... and could imagine seeing it with one of the best friends she’d ever had.
“You know what, Rainbow? You’re on.”