Appledashery

by Just Essay

Praise-Worthy

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand...” Rainbow Dash spread her feathers, backflipped, and came down in a spiraling plunge. “...this one I call the wind whipping special!” She pulled up at the last second, her outstretched wings creating a thunderclap of ruptured air that followed in her wake, ripping several blades of grass up out of their roots in the hilltop.

“Wowwwwwww!” I cooed, even as I was being knocked back into the parked chariot on the hill's crest. “Ooof! Do that last one again, Rainbow Dash!”

“Uh uh! If I do, then I'll end up on some angry landscaper's hit list!” She slowed down her circular flight just long enough to bestow me a daredevilish wink. “But I got something even better! Check this out!”

Pulling up, she ascended rapidly, bursting through three clouds in a row. When she was three hundred meters up, she suddenly stopped, coiling her wings at her side. She clutched her hooves to her chest, turned into a curled blue ball, then plummeted outright.

I gasped, my wide eyes trailing her falling figure. “Pull up, Rainbow!” I sputtered, then hopped up to my squirming hooves. “Pull up pull up pull up!”

“Haaaaa!” She spread her wings at the last second, corkscrewed out of her plunge, and zig-zagged up and down with a whizzing noise from her feathers. “And that's the reverse firework! Banned in seven countries and a griffon province! Heh...” She soared past me and flung her hoof down to slap my fluttering bangs. “Had you for a minute there, didn't I, squirt?”

“Hmmmph...” I folded my forelimbs and tried my trembling best to look tough. “I w-wasn't scared at all!” I blinked, watching her climb up again. “What are you doing now?” I suddenly gasped and hopped in place. “Oooh! Oooh! The Buccaneer Blitz?”

The sound of her voice traveled down to me. “Sorry, kiddo! But that would blind a full crowd of adult ponies. I shudder to think of what it would do to you!”

“Awwww—I can handle it!”

“Pffft. Forget it. I've got something even cooler.”

“Cooler than the Buccaneer Blitz?!”

“Yup! Feast your eyes...” Rainbow Dash snarled through clenched teeth as she prepared the mother of all plunges. “...on the Glorious Graviton Galore!” I suddenly heard a shrill whistling noise. Squinting my eyes, I spotted a pocket of compressed air forming in front of Rainbow's diving body. My heart skipped a beat, and I felt my blood run cold.

“Uh... Rainbow...?”

She shouted something reassuringly, but it was hard to understand it. Before my eyes, I watched as she spun her body around, so that her lower legs were now plunging first. Suddenly, the pocket of air that was between her and the earth compressed, forming a veritable spring board of expanding gases.

THOOOM! Thunder rolled, knocking me onto my blank flank. At the same time, Rainbow Dash sprung back from the burst of air, spinning like a top and spreading her wings out so as to descend in a twisted glide. She landed on the grass in front of me with skidding hooves, coming to a stop just an inch from my drooped tail.

“Hah!” Rainbow Dash smirked proudly. “You're the second pony to ever see me do that, kid.”

“R-really?”

“Yup. The first was Fluttershy.”

I blew the bangs out from my face and stammered, “What did she say?”

“Beats me. The poor gal fainted.”

“Heeheeheehee!”

“Whew!” Rainbow Dash fwomped down onto the grass besides me. “Luna on a bike! My head's buzzing.”

“Yours?” I grinned. “My blood's bubbling just from watching you own the skies!”

“Eh... the sky was asking for it,” Rainbow Dash said, waving a hoof. “Between sun-up and sun-down, it thinks it can rock my coat color. Pffft. Amateur imitator...”

“Heeheeheee... Wow, I wish I could think up stuff that quick and snappy!”

“Who said anything about thinking?” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “The key is living it.” She reached over and yanked my bangs down over my eyes. “And you don't get there by second-guessing everything, ya feel me?”

“How, Rainbow?” I parted my mane and smiled rosily at her. “Just how do you have everything so figured out?”

“Heh... trial and error, kid.” Rainbow Dash stared up at the clouds, her nostrils flaring. “Believe me. There're a ton of bumps and burps alike on the path to becoming awesome. Even if you have it born within you, there's a flankton of things to butt your head against before you've got everything perfected.”

“You... y-you think I have awesomeness born inside of me?”

She turned her head in the grass, squinting at me. She smirked. “The way you rock that scooter, day in and day out, it'd be a shame if you didn't.”

“Well, I dunno...” I shrug, staring down at my hooves. “I mean, I guess I'm pretty slick and all...”

“Dang straight.”

“But it's nothing compared to you, Rainbow Dash.” I looked up with a soft smile. “Just, how does it feel? I often wonder what it's like, y'know... to wake up each day knowing how on top of everything you are. To be the strongest and fastest pony alive.”

“Yeah...” Rainbow suddenly muttered. I saw her flexing her left forelimb in her right hoof's grasp. “It's... uh... it's pretty killer, Scoots...”

“Really, though, I'd give anything to be like you... but...”

Rainbow blinked. She looked aside at me. “Hmmm? But what?”

“Well...” I smiled bashfully. “If I was like you, then there wouldn't be much of you left, now would there?”

Rainbow stared off into the windblown fields beneath us.

I continued. “If I never end up as awesome as you, then... th-then that's okay, Rainbow...” I smiled hopefully. “Cuz I'll at least know you're still out there, being the best pegasus Equestria has ever had.”

“Scoots, for real...” Rainbow Dash sat up, staring at me with a remarkably calm expression. “Don't do that...”

“Do what?”

“Don't sell yourself short. Even when it concerns me.”

“But... but...” I blinked, squinting worriedly at her. “You really are the best, Rainbow. I mean... aren't you?”

She gulped, glancing down at her forelimbs again. “Yeah, but...”

“But nothing!” I smiled. “And I wouldn't want to spend the day with anypony else!”

Rainbow's mouth opened, but she lingered for a while before saying anything. “You... you really do think the world of me, don't you, kid?” She gazed off past the chariot.

“Yeah... I-I mean, why shouldn't I... Rainbow?” I was worried at how silent she was. Trotting forward, I tilted my head, following the path of her gaze. I saw nothing but rows of glistening apple orchards. “Is... is everything okay?”

I felt a firm hoof on my shoulder.

I looked up.

She smiled warmly. “More than okay. I feel like stretching my wings a bit more. How about you?”

“Rainbow...” I blushed and dug at the soil. “You... uh... y-you know very well that I can't.”

“Pffft. Since when is that gonna stop you?” She leaned down and winked. “Or us for that matter?”

I blinked. I glanced at her outstretched wings, then at her face again. “You... y-you mean...?”

“Yup.” She turned around and gave me room to climb into her back. “Hop on, squirt. And hold on tight.”

“Omigosh omigosh omigosh...” I bit onto the edges of my hooves. “But... wh-what if my weight throws your off or something—?”

“You friggin' forget who you're talking to, kid,” she droned. “Now hop aboard. I don't make this kind of offer twice.”

“Okay...” I gulped, then smiled as I trotted nervously forward, trying to contain my joy. “Okay. You sure?”

Rainbow's hooves squirmed against the ground. I heard her inhale hard before saying through a smirk, “Yup. No turning back now.”

I clung tight to her shoulders, my body tensing up. “Rainbow, I... I don't know what to say. Thank you.”

“You've eaten lunch today, Scoots?”

“Uhm... yes?”

“Then don't thank me yet.” WOOSH! And suddenly we were both in the clouds.

“Gaaaaaaaaaa-hahahahaaaaaaaa!”

Comments

[Tchernobog]

[zaponator]

You know what? I don't even miss the headbutting and the flank-kicking. I mean, sure, I'll be happy when we inevitably get back to it, but I'm no less happy in the meantime. The slices of life are just as delicious as the adventures. I think that's not only what makes this story so awesome, but also makes it so perfect for the daily update thing. It's as comfortable fighting armies of dogs or demons from Tartarus as it is doing... well, nothing at all.
It's simply delightful.

[Jay_Baker]

This chapter was really good panini approves can't wait to see the next one :) keep up the good work

[Novi]

4501919
Yup, this is just one of the stories that I think deserves more recognition.

We all should stalk the author and give him a suprise group hug!

[BabySkittleMonster]

I've finally caught up! 1 day of reading with only two breaks does wonders...[
Now, commence waiting everyday like everypony else... sigh why'd I have to catch up?

Still... D'aww moment for Scootaloo love! Poor dash though.

[Thursday]

This seriously made me tear up. This story is so beautiful so far. Keep up the amazing work JE.

[Keebroo]

Maybe I'm biased, but this chapter has been the best yet. Powerful in imagery, powerful in story development, and most of all, powerful in ponicuddlifeelgood content. My words do it no justice, but all the same; thank you.