Appledashery

by Just Essay

Paint Your Wagon

"Okay... okay... okay..." Rainbow Dash reclined along the thick tree branch in the glittering sunlight. She had pulled the envelope out of her saddlebag and was fiddling with the seal. "Let's see what the shadows that be wanted you to deliver, Lameulus!"

She struggled and struggled some more, ultimately grunting in frustration.

"Darn it!" Rainbow's muzzle winced. "They really made this thing to be opened with griffon's talons, didn't they? Gughhhh..."

She looked left, looked right, then brought her muzzle to her wings. Biting down onto a single feather, she clenched her eyes shut and yanked hard. Plonk! Rainbow grunted slightly from the pain of plucking a feather loose. Turning the blue thing around in her mouth, she aimed the quill barb against the edge of the envelope and easily tore the thing open.

"Pffft!" Rainbow spat the feather out and grinned victoriously. "Ahhhh... there we go..." She pulled the envelope open and pulled a folded sheet of paper out. "Come to Dashie. Let's see..."

Her eyes scanned the page, tracing the intricate handwriting. As the seconds drifted by, her face grew longer and longer and her ears folded.

"Wait a second..." She blanched slightly. "Canterlot Castle? West Lawn?" Her muzzle hung open. "What the hay kind of a package am I grabbing?"

"Howdy there, Rainbow Dash!"

"Gaaaaah!" Rainbow fell from the tree, flapped her wings, and hovered goofily upside down. With a nervous twitch, she shoved the envelope back into her saddlebags and stammered. "I wasn't sleeping in your trees, AJ! I swear!"

"Calm down, sugarcube!" An upside down smile with upside down freckles shone in the sunlight. Applejack stood in the dirt road with a cart full of apples behind her. "We ain't nowhere near Sweet Apple Acres!"

"Oh... I... uh..." Rainbow Dash twisted her wings and repositioned herself upright. "I... uh... I was just..."

"Will you relax, darlin'?" Applejack smirked. "I was only sayin' 'howdy' while passin' by!" She chuckled slightly. "You expectin' an inquisition or some nonsense?"

Apple Bloom suddenly burst her head out of a barrel of apples. "Hey, AJ! What's an inquisition?"

"It's one of them things Granny Smith puts us all through when her zapapple jam jars go a'missin'."

"Ohhhhhhh..." Apple Bloom squinted up at Rainbow Dash. "So, did Rainbow steal some jam, or...?"

"Nah, she's just bein' super skittish. Must come with bein' faster than lightnin'; er heart's all a flutter all the time." Applejack smirked upwards. "Or am I just buckin' a dead tree."

"Eheheh..." Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, you know us pegasi." She gulped. "Life's always... up in th-the air..."

"You look frazzled, sugarcube. Reckon you might like to sit in the wagon for a while? Rest them wings of yern?"

"Yeah!" Apple Bloom nodded. "Maybe do my math homework for me!"

"Apple Bloom!"

The filly sighed, folding her forelimbs. "Well, it was worth a try."

"I... I..." Rainbow Dash's wings beat harder and harder as she smiled at the notion. Then she felt the weight of her saddlebag, rustling with the torn envelope lying deep within. She took a deep breath and ignored the pounding in her chest. "Thanks, Applejack, but also no thanks." She scratched the back of her head with a jittery hoof. "I... k-kind of have some important stuff to get taken care of," her voice cracked. "You know how it is."

"Reckon I do. Must say, you've been quite the hard worker as of late." Applejack winked. "Yer makin' the rest of us girls look bad."

"Heh... we can't be having that, now can we?"

"Well, was nice seeing you!" Applejack began drawing the cart over the hill. "Figured we'd best skedaddle on home now! Good luck!"

Rainbow Dash fidgeted, biting her lip. "Oh... uh! AJ! Wait! One second!"

Applejack grinded her hooves against the ground, forcing the wagon to bump into her. Apple Bloom pratfalled into the next barrel with a splash of apples. "Hmmm?" Applejack glanced up. "What is it, sugarcube?"

Rainbow Dash avoided her gaze, rubbing her front hooves together. "Have you... uh... ever felt so desperate about saving Sweet Apple Acres that you were willing to do just about anything to make it happen?"

Applejack tilted her hat back. "Hmmmm... I must say, I find that an awfully tough question to formulate an answer to, seein' that my farm was saved just recently." She chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Land's sakes, just hear myself talk..."

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smile. Clearing her throat, she said, "Well, maybe I'm not wording it right. Uhm..." She bit her lip, then rasped forth, "Have you ever considered how far you would go to make sure you got what you wanted out of life?" She gulped. "Even if you knew that there'd be a lot of stupid mistakes made along the way?"

Applejack stared up at her. She blinked. "I reckon it'd all depend on if it was a life I was proud of livin'." Her green eyes narrowed. "Is there somethin' yer wantin' to get off your chest, sugarcube—"

"NO." Rainbow immediately winced. "I-I mean... not really. My sleep schedule's been all bucked up, and now I can't stop letting my mind go in circles in the daytime just like it used to at night. Ya dig?"

"Heh. Trust me. I know."

"What do you know?" Apple Bloom stuck her head up again, frowning. "What are y'all even talkin' about?"

"Lemme put it this way, Rainbow Dash." Applejack looked up with a smirk. "You may be a brash mare from time to time, but you have my utmost faith and confidence, just like all the girls!" She winked. "Don't start doubtin' yerself, especially when yer findin' good work and a good daily pace to yer life."

Rainbow Dash nodded... then nodded again. "Yeah. Yeah. Cool stuff." She waved and flew off, heading northeast towards the Canterlot Mountains. "Thanks a ton, AJ!"

"Yer welcome!" Applejack waved. "I guess..."

Apple Bloom ran a hoof through her frazzled mane. "Darn if I'm not confused as all get out!"

"Darlin'..." Applejack's mouth hung crookedly as she pulled the wagon once more uphill. "...yer ain't alone."

Comments

[Tchernobog]

The Castle, you say?

[Sheendough]

Is that an unknown crush I see on our little AJ?

[Aatxe360]

I would wonder if this package would be something that shouldn't be leaving the castle. Maybe it was a set-up to get Romulus out of the picture.

[Lightning Bearer]

Oh lawdy, the castle. And not some alley or nook where a guard or civil servant might receive something untoward, but out in the lawn. So, one of the princesses? That would certainly explain the apparent importance of the delivery, that the newbie (Dash) wasn't entrusted with it. Whatever happens, this ought to be good.

Also, dat exchange between Dash and AJ. I wonder if Sheendough is onto something. AJ might be more receptive to Dash's attentions than even she would consciously realize.

[zaponator]

This will be the one to make or break the organized crime theory.

[Snowdrifter]

"It's only a model..."

[arancaytar]

"Will you relax, darlin'?" Applejack smirked. "I was only sayin' 'howdy' while passin' by!" She chuckled slightly. "You expectin' an inquisition or some nonsense?"

Wait for it...

Apple Bloom suddenly burst her head out of a barrel of apples. "Hey, AJ! What's an inquisition?"

No Apple Bloom, it's "nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

[arancaytar]

"Wait a second..." She blanched slightly. "Canterlot Castle? West Lawn?" Her muzzle hung open. "What the hay kind of a package am I grabbing?"

Have we considered the possibility that it's a decoy? But no, Romulus wouldn't have had time to write it.