Appledashery

by Just Essay

Apples All In a Row

The crickets were in full chorus by the time Applejack pulled the cart full of overflowing fruit baskets up the hill and towards the front of the Apple Family Barn. Rainbow Dash hovered alongside, her muzzle twisted in a pathetically concerned expression.

"Uhm... AJ? You sure you don't need help with—?"

"I've... got this... Sugarcube..." Applejack sweated and grunted. Her heavy hooves scuffed over the bent grass and soft soil as she finally came to a stop. "Nnngh... besides, you've done enough today."

"Hey..." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I'm happy to lend a hoof. But, y'know, nothing for you to kill yourself over."

"Nonsense. I just..." Applejack paused to exhale heavily as she unhitched herself from the wagon. "I-I just know all the strengths and weaknesses of this here cart. No sense in you accidentally knocking it apart by hitting a stray rock in the ground or nothin'."

"Jee..." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Don't mention it, darlin'." Applejack, slumped back against the cart and let loose a long groan. "Whewwww-weeee. I haven't bucked anythang that hard in months!"

Rainbow Dash jerked, hissed, and snickered involuntarily.

Applejack's tired green eyes glared at her. "What's so cotton-pickin' funny?"

"Snkkkt... it's nothin'." Rainbow Dash waved a hoof. "I promise."

"Hmmph. For a pony who's used to the sky, ya sure do keep yer mind in the gutter an awful lot."

"Oh come on! That was an easy one!"

"Hmmm... reckon it was." Applejack shut her eyes and appeared to drift away. "Reckon it was..."

A cool breeze wafted over both ponies' manes. The weathervane atop the barn twirled and squeaked, breaking the sound of nighttime insects.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip. She started to flap her wings harder, hovering up and away from the scene. "Yeah, well, guess I'd better... y'know... get going and all. I... uh... I wish you luck with the apples. Hope they were worth your while." Without thinking, she turned and fluttered east at a speed that could only outpace her heartbeat—

"Rainbow, darlin'?"

She stopped in place, turning around. "Huh?"

Applejack was standing up. The farm mare gave the cart behind her a slap of the hoof, and a basket full of apples fell out. She caught it expertly in one hoof and layed it gently onto the grass below her. "There ya go, sugarcube."

Rainbow stared. She stared some more.

Applejack raised her eyebrow. "Didn't ya want some of your own super bad hours ago?"

Rainbow gasped. "Friggin' duh!" she slapped her own head with a hoof and suppressed a giggle as she fluttered down. "I swear, where's my darn head these days?"

"Beats me, but I know where yer heart is."

Rainbow Dash froze in the middle of picking up the apples. "You..." Her pupils shrank as a wilted little voice limped out of her. "You d-do?"

"Yup." Applejack leaned against the cart again, smiling slightly. "I just wonder where you got the gumption to build yer own homemade swill."

"Uhhhh... homemade what-now?"

"Y'know, a swill!" Applejack tilted her hat forward so that the brim shaded her eyes from starlight. "For mixin' yer own apple cider."

Rainbow Dash paled, and yet she exhaled with relief. "Oh, puh-lease. Like I know anything about making my own cider!"

"No shame in admittin' the truth, Rainbow Dash. You certainly earned them apples you've got ten times over."

"Applejack, for crying out loud! The truth is—" Rainbow Dash gnashed her teeth. She sighed, and her wings deflated. "I miss apple cider really, really bad."

"Hmmm... that's what I thought..." Applejack yawned.

"But, y'know, I almost would have been just fine leaving without the apples." Rainbow Dash smiled gently into the nightly wind. She brushed her bangs back as a shudder left her lungs. "Just knowing that I did something to help you? Well, that's pretty radical. Cuz you totally deserve it, AJ. Well, maybe not the help, cuz you're stubborn at times—not to mention you can pretty darn well help yourself. But... I think you deserve a pony taking care of you like you take care of all of us. And I don't mean just me and the girls, but every pony you friggin' meet. You're like... a bottle of awesome in earth pony form. So selfless, so dependable, so... st-strong. I look at you and I sometimes think that... that with the way I do things, I'm kind of... I dunno... winning for all of the wrong reasons." Rainbow Dash gulped, fidgeting against the soft earth. "Does that make any sense to you, AJ?" Silence. "AJ?" She blinked. She looked up.

Applejack's muzzle was hanging open as her body drifted silently beneath her overhanging hat. "Zzzzznnttt... neighhh.... Zzzzzzzzznnnt... n-neighhh.... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzznnt... Neighhh..."

Rainbow Dash blinked. Her cheeks turned rosy, and she smiled slightly. Leaning forward with a sigh, she hung her hooves over the basket full of apples, almost as if she was hugging the fruit. She gazed longingly at the slumbering mare, and it wasn't until several seconds had pulled the glimmer from her eyes that she finally whispered along the nightly wind.

"Applejack, I don't care how bad things get, or how good, or if you have your dreams come true or not. I will always be there for you. Because I... I..." Rainbow Dash bit onto her tongue. Her face scowled—more like a grimace of pain, as she still couldn't get herself to pronounce it. Instead, she sighed, then flapped her wings so that she could lean over the basket. She gave the end of Applejack's ponytail a light stroke, then a flounce, knocking over to the far side of the mare's shoulder. Applejack stirred slightly, yawned into her sleep, and rested further against the wagon.

Rainbow Dash was already biting onto the basket handle, pumping her wings hard, and blurring her way towards the heart of town.

---

Upstairs inside Sugarcube Corner.

"Hmmmmmmm..." Pinkie Pie cuddled a pillow, nuzzling it in mid-slumber. "Hmmm—heehee... why, Mr. Fritter, your glazed tuxedo looks so delicious. Shall we go dance in the chocolate ball room?" Her lips drooled slightly. "Ooooh... the sprinkles are out in full glory tonight!"

Slam! The windows to her bedroom flew open. Curtains, streamers, and a wall-eyed alligator flew across the tight space.

"Guaaaaaah!" Pinkie Pie sat up, rubbing her bleary eyelids and frowning. "Hey! Who scared away Mr. Fritter?!" She squinted. "Dashie?"

Thwomp! Breathless, Rainbow Dash slapped the basket full of tumbling apples down at the end of Pinkie's bed. She hovered, shivering, and spat, "Pies!"

"Pies?!"

"Bake 'em bake 'em bake 'em bake 'em!" Rainbow pleaded, voice cracking.

Pinkie Pie sat up in bed with a vicious scowl. "Are you telling me that you broke into the Cakes' house, woke me up in the middle of the night, just for me to bake pies at one o'clock in the morning?"

Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth, squeaked, and squeaked again. "......yyyyeah?"

A beat.

Pinkie hopped out of bed with a flounce of her mane. "Oki doki loki!" She grinned ecstatically with bright eyes lighting up the whole room. "Best midnight kitchen magic evarrrrrr!"

The mare grabbed the basket in her mouth and bounced down the stairs, losing fruit with every leap.

Rainbow Dash hovered in mid-air, smiled, and collapsed in a prismatic puddle. Thud!

Comments

[Tchernobog]

Zzzzzzzzznnnt... n-neighhh

Oh that is just adorable!

[theoneandonlyrainbowdash]

hmm was that supposed to be an " I...I...I love you applejack" dialog from meh? (rainbow dash)

[Salad king]

It's certainly getting interesting.

[MellowMabari]

Applejack's muzzle was hanging open as her body drifted silently beneath her overhanging hat. "Zzzzznnttt... neighhh.... Zzzzzzzzznnnt... n-neighhh.... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzznnt... Neighhh..."

I don't know why I expected anything else.

[zaponator]

Man, I can hear Applejack's a-fucking-dorable snores so gosh dang clearly in my head while reading them. Best pony.

Also, Pinkie Pie at the end there. She is also best pony.

[BabySkittleMonster]

Ah, there's the Pinkie we all know and love.

[DrEggnog]

I can't believe how darn good the last few chapters have felt. I'm not gonna lie. I went into Appledashery expecting a guilty pleasure at best. But my heart is super going out for this.

[DeathFox4]

Pinkie?

Since when do you bake at midnight?

?
Sorry, thinking of cupcakes.

[Metal Aura]

I am suprised no one mentioned this.
It is never too late for pie.

[arancaytar]

A cool breeze wafted over both ponies' manes. The weathervane atop the barn twirled and squeaked, breaking the sound of nighttime insects.

Hmm... AJ and RD alone in the barn at night with only a weathervane for company.

"Beats me, but I know where yer heart is."

Rainbow Dash froze in the middle of picking up the apples. "You..." Her pupils shrank as a wilted little voice limped out of her. "You d-do?"

"Y'know, a swill!" Applejack tilted her hat forward so that the brim shaded her eyes from starlight. "For mixin' yer own apple cider."

Um... AJ? Isn't that called a still? A swill is what comes out.

Applejack's muzzle was hanging open as her body drifted silently beneath her overhanging hat. "Zzzzznnttt... neighhh.... Zzzzzzzzznnnt... n-neighhh.... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzznnt... Neighhh..."

AJ has the most adorable pony snore in all of Equestria, and that's a hard-won title.

[arancaytar]

"Bake 'em bake 'em bake 'em bake 'em!" Rainbow pleaded, voice cracking.

Um, Dashie, the lyrics go "Boil 'em, mash 'em, stickeminnastew."

Pinkie Pie sat up in bed with a vicious scowl. "Are you telling me that you broke into the Cakes' house, woke me up in the middle of the night, just for me to bake pies at one o'clock in the morning?"

... is this the moment where RD did something too crazy for Pinkie Pie?

No, thought not.

[AppleTank]

Without thinking, she turned and fluttered east at a speed that could only outpace her heartbeat—

Gotta go east