//------------------------------// // A Hopeful Rainbow // Story: Orange and Cyan // by PaperBack //------------------------------// Applejack let a big yawn take over the functioning of her mouth she looked over to see her friend finishing her own yawn, “Well Dash, Ah reckon we should try ta get some sleep, wouldn’t ya say?” the orange mare asked letting out another yawn The cyan pegasus yawned again before answering, “ Yeah that sounds like a good idea.” she said as they both stopped walking at about the same time and sat down in front of a column, yawning again. Applejack took her saddlebags off and opened one, “ Are ya hungry at all?” she asked taking out a few of the apples she had stashed in there before her and the others set out on their journey. Dash smiled softly, “ Yeah, a little.” she said walking over to take the fruit from her friend. “Now Ah know we’re pretty deep in the cave, but do ya think there might be any sort a burnable material around?” Applejack asked biting into an apple of her own. Rainbow shrugged swallowing the apple she was chewing, “ Dunno, but it might be as good idea, the whole ‘better safe then sorry’ thing ya know.” “Alright then, Ah think we should look by ourselves. That way we cover more ground.” “Okay then.” RD said flatly, “I’ll go this way.” pointing to the left of the column. “Alright then Ah’ll go the opposite, and we’ll meet back here, or shout ifn either of us find somethin’.” Dash nodded, “ Sounds good to me.” With that they finished their mock dinner and set off in search of any burnable material, their still glowing bodies lighting their way. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ After a few minutes of walking Rainbow Dash let her mind think back to what she had told AJ earlier. “I can’t believe that AJ knows how to preen! Oh man that felt sooo good I can kinda see why Stormbreaker was only after…” she felt her wings begin to flare at the thought. “...Come on Dash get your mind out of the gutter, she’s your best friend. But do I think of her, like, more then a friend after what she did, or is that just my hormones, and emotions talking? Even after I told her I had a crush on Cloud Kicker I still get the feeling she is creeped out, and worried I’ll do something to her in her sleep. That first time was an accident, I can’t help I do that in my sleep. I’m just happy she understood that whole situation. But what if she--,” she returned to reality when her face connected with a hard smooth stone-like surface… ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Meanwhile Applejack was lost within the confines of her own mind as well, “ Ah hope Dash isn’t beatin’ herself up ‘cause Ah’m not into mares, but she is very attractive. Her streamlined body, her wings so well taken care of… her flank…,” AJ smiled at the thought of her friends flank, ”... the way in jiggles slightly when she-- WAIT what am Ah thinkin’ Ah can’t really be that into her… could Ah? Ah mean she does have all the qualities Ah’m lookin’ fer in mah special somepony. She’s loyal, obviously, she’s competitive, darin’, willin’ ta work hard… when she wants to, she can be honest. But would it even work out, if Ah did decide that Ah was into mares, but then what would Twilight and the others think more importantly what would mah family think of me fancyin’ a mare…. at least we would have an honest and loyal relationship… Ah can’t really be considerin’ this can Ah? Ah mean sure mares our age do experiment with their sexuality, but if it doesn’t work out--,” her thoughts were also interrupted by her face meeting a smooth stone-like surface. AJ shook her head, “ What in tarnation?” she said to herself taking a second to look at what her face had collided with. Looking up she saw that it was a large front leg made of concrete polished smooth after decades of being out in the elements. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was looking at, “ Oh, Ah found the statue… but where’s its head?” she asked the darkness surrounding her, “Ah’ve gotta go find Rainbow.” she turned quickly trotting away from the statue, attempting to try and remember about where it was. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Shaking her head to rid it of the throbbing pain Rainbow Dash took a step back to look at what she had walked into. Staring directly into a stone face of a mare pony, “ Hey I found the head of the statue...But where’s the rest of it?” she too asked to herself into the darkness of the cave. Walking around the severed head of the statue Rainbow notices that it was cleanly cut through, not a single chip, nick, or crack. “Wow, the ponies who stole this were really careful not to break anything.” Rainbow walked back to the front of the head looking close at the face of the pony whom the statue was modeled after. She moved closer to the underside of the nose and looked up into the shallow nostrils. “Rainbow!” said a voice from behind her, making her jump, smashing her face into one of the nostrils of the statue then fell to the stone floor. Rubbing her muzzle she turned to where the voice came from ,” Holy hell AJ did you have to scare me like that?” she asked her “Well Ah thought ya could hear me comin’, with the echo of mah hoof steps off the walls.” “Okay maybe I was thinking about other things, like where the rest of the statue is, ‘cause I found the head.” she said pointing to the object in question. AJ blinked and looked over at the head of the statue, “ Well that’ll save us a lot o’ time, ‘cause Ah found the rest of it. It’s over there.” she said pointing off in a seemingly random direction, “ Ah tried to mark where is it the best Ah could. so we can find it later. Ah suggest that you do the same. There’s no way you and Ah can carry either part out of here by ourselves.” Rainbow simply nodded, “Well how did you mark the way to the body?” “Ah used rocks like breadcrumbs leadin’; over here to you.” “But how did you find… Oh never mind.” “Yeah we glow remember?” AJ deadpanned Now the two mares began searching for rocks, leaving a trail for them to follow as they made their way back to about where AJ’s saddlebags were. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ “Wow I can’t believe we we managed to find your saddlebags.” AJ looked at her friend and gave a small smile, “ Yeah Ah can’t either, but Ah’m happy we did.” she yawned and laid down next to a column. “Hey do mind if I grab an apple from your saddlebags?” Rainbow asked “Not at all,” AJ answered, “ Hey grab me one too, please.” Rainbow turned her head around, “ Sure thing AJ.” she said upon reaching said bags Opening the tan leather of one of them Rainbow saw no fruit or any other food-like items, what she found was a round metal tin with Applejacks cutie mark on the lid and a thick notebook. She took out the notebook and opened it. The first page had a rough pencil sketch of a tree with three windows and a door with a path leading up to the door. Mountains, a single cloud, a flock of birds and what looked like a river completed the drawing. Turning the page over revealed another drawing, this time in color, depicting light purple mountains, a royal blue river and a black silhouette of a pegasus sitting on the banks of the river. “...Uh AJ what’s this?” asked the light blue pegasus holding up the book to show her. Applejack lifted her head off the ground to get a better look at what Rainbow was asking about. “Oh that’s mah sketchbook.” The pegasus blinked and stared at the earth mare unable to grasp that she could do anything else besides farm work all day and sometimes into the evening hours. “You draw?!” she finally said looking back to the drawing of the pegasus by the river. “Yeah Ah do,” she eyed her friend inquisitively, “ what of it?” Rainbow sat back on her haunches and waved a hoof dismissively, “ Nothing… I just never expected you to be the artistic type.” AJ now glared at her, “ What just because Ah live on a farm Ah should always be thinkin’ er doin’ somethin’ related to it? Ah bet you don’t even think about the weather all the time.” And she was right Rainbow did not think about the weather all the time, she mostly thought about what new trick she would come up with next. Apple got up from where she lay and walked over to her and put a hoof on her shoulder, “ Ah’m sorry fer snappin’ atcha, but AH do like havin’ somethin’ that takes mah mind off the farm even fer just a little while.” Rainbow looked up from the pegasus drawing, “ Sorry…” she said sheepishly. “ It’s okay, sugarcube.” AJ said apologetically grabbing her saddlebags, “ Hay why don’t Ah show ya some of mah other drawings?” Rainbow smiled, “ Sure, I would actually like to see more of what you can do.” The two mares walked back over to the column, laid down and turned to the third page of the sketchbook. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Applejack let out a small sigh and raised her head to look around the cave. “Why can’t Ah fall asleep?...Well Ah could draw Ah guess, ta pass a little time.” she said to herself as she got up and leaned against the column opening her sketchbook to a blank page, “ Now what do Ah draw?” she looked around the darkness of the cave, hoping to find something to inspire her until her eyes landed on the glowing, sleeping pegasus next to her. She reached into her saddlebags and grabbed out the tin with her cutie mark on the lid, popped it open and removed a light blue pencil and began drawing. With light pencil marks she sketched out the pegasus’s lean athletic body, switching to royal blue to outline her mane and tail. In normal pencil she drew and shaded the cave that she could see from the glow that emanated from the both of them. Next she moved to shading in her mane and tail switching the colors and trying to match them as best she could, blending them into one another. She continued to define and redefine some of the features that Rainbows body had until she was satisfied then she moved on to her face, her beautiful light blue face. AJ shifted her eyes from the page to Rainbows face then back to the page as she began to draw her gorgeous magenta eyes… wait what? Applejack stopped drawing and looked over to find Rainbow, still in the position she was in when she was asleep, looking at her with wide curious eyes. “Whatcha drawing?” the rainbow maned mare asked lifting her head to get a better look at the page. Applejack felt a small amount of heat rising up into her cheeks as she turned the book to show the pegasus. Rainbow looked at the paper in her friends hooves, a look of surprise spread itself across her face, she too felt a little heat rise up in her face. “Ah couldn’t sleep...So Ah decided ta draw somethin’... and since there isn’t much ta see in the darkness….” she trailed off and broke eye contact with the pegasus. Rainbow smiled and looked back to the drawing of her, “ It’s not finished.” she laid her head back down in the exact position it was in before she awoke to see her friend drawing her, Applejack looked at Rainbow, stunned that the pegasus had said nothing or even over reacted, she just calmly laid her head down to let her finish her work. Turning back to the paper Applejack and Rainbow Dash sat in silence and she continued to draw the eyes, looking up every so often. Rainbow stared at the mare drawing her, “Could AJ really be into me? She didn’t freak out when I told her I was into mares… Maybe it would workout, her and I being together, but I think she is more worried about what her family would think of her if she was dating a mare.But she did say she had caught herself ‘eyeing a mare or two just wondering if it would workout.’ So… if anything else I have a chance. But on the other hoo--” “Somethin’ wrong, sugarcube?” Applejack asked “Uhhhhh… no.” she said quickly sitting up and averting her gaze. Applejack narrowed her eyes, but decided not to press the issue, as she went back to put some finishing touches on the drawing of Rainbow. When she was truly finished with drawing her friend, Applejack turned the page so Rainbow could see it. Rainbow stared at the drawing in stunned silence. After a few minutes she spoke, “Wow AJ you’re really good at that.” Applejack smiled, “Thanks sugarcube, Ah try ta be.” Rainbow let out a small sigh and felt her face becoming warm, “AJ…?” “Yeah” she said flipping to a fresh page in her sketchbook “...Would you… ever… you know…,” she look away from the orange mare sheepishly Applejack looked over at her rainbow friend raising an eyebrow, “Would Ah ever what, sugarcube?” Rainbows face was practically red with no hint of the blue that was underneath, “Gooutwithaponylikeme?” she said blending the words together hoping that would ease some of the awkwardness she felt. The orange farm pony just stared at her friend, “Would Ah ever go out with a pony like you?” she asked The rainbow maned pegasus nodded shyly. Applejack saw the glint of a single tear flow down her face, “Aw Rainbow there’s no need ta cry.” she said sliding over and put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. At hearing she was crying Rainbow sniffed and looked up at her friend, her eyes full of worry, “... well… would you?” she asked again “Well… Ah don’t right know…” she put a hoof to her chin Rainbow tried not to shed another tear as she turned away from her friend, “...Oh…” she said quietly, her voice heavy with disappointment. Looking at her sad friend Applejack felt awful, “ Now Rainbow, Ah did say that Ah don’t know if Ah would be into datin’ ya. Also Ah don’t think bein’ in this here cave is the right place ta ask me that type o’ thing.” Rainbow looked back into the emerald eyes of her friend, “...So are you saying yes?” “Ah’m not sayin’ yes, but Ah’m not saying no either...Ah’m sayin’ maybe.” Rainbow cheered up a little at hearing her say that, and sat up to give her farmer friend a hug, which Applejack happily returned. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~