Appledashery

by Just Essay

Cupcakes (And Eat It Too?)

"Hmmm-hmmm-hmmm-hmmm!" Pinkie Pie flounced from side to side as she happily skipped towards our table. At last, she slapped the tray full of cupcakes down and grinned brilliantly. "Here we go-sies! Sugarcube Corner's finest frosted treats for Ponyville's best sisters-but-not-sisterlies!"

"Ugh..." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, wings drooping. "Must you?"

"Heehee..." I smirked, scooping one cupcake towards me. "I think it's awesome!"

"Kiddo..." Rainbow pulled at her face muscles, glaring across the table. "You think everything's awesome when I'm in the room."

"NOMF!" I took a big bite and licked the frosting off my lips. "Mmmmm... am I that easy to figure out?"

"Anything else for the pegasi of the hour?" Pinkie hummed.

"Nah, Pinkie." Rainbow bore a thin grin. "We're good."

The mare saluted before moontrotting out of view. "Remember! Just whistle, and I'll come barreling to the rescue!" She entered the kitchen. "That's LAUGHTER barrels, in case anypony's keeping score!"

"Yeeesh..." Rainbow Dash gingerly picked up her own cupcake. "How can she stay so friggin' cheery twenty-four-seven?"

I gulped down another candied morsel and said, "Well, Rainbow Dash, some ponies find it easier than others."

"Meh. I suppose."

I smiled. "You wanna talk about what's getting you down in the dumps?"

"You mean beside what I already rambled about earlier while I was supposed to be helping you learn some basic flight mechanics?" Rainbow twirled her cupcake in front of her. She blew her bangs out of her face and muttered, "Some mentor to look up to, eh, kid?"

"Is the weather team giving you trouble at the tornado meet?"

"Huh? No!"

"Because I bet it's super hard to stay cool when everypony else is holding you back—"

"I can coach a bunch of weather ponies just fine! I... just... ugh..." She rolled her eyes and slumped in her seat. "It's cool. Everything's cool, kid. Let's... just talk about something else."

I blinked at her. "Oh." I blinked again. "Okay... uhmmmm..." I tapped my chin in thought. "So... like... I was reading a book the other day about how earth ponies could—in theory—practice lunar magic. But it'd have to involve ancient runes and the forbidden act of sawing off unicorn's hor—"

"I mean, I've dated before," Rainbow Dash rambled, frowning at the ceiling rafters of Sugarcube Corner. "But I never shoved it in other ponies' faces!" Her nostrils flared as she angrily juggled a cupcake from one hoof to another. "But nooooooooo... not only is she going out with such a... a... fuzzydud... but she's letting allllllll her friends know about it. But how does she tell me? Alone? Inside a tent? When everything's super creeps and awkward?" She groaned inwardly. "I mean... does she have any idea... any idea how much that stings?"

I looked at her. Smiling, I scarfed down the rest of my cupcake, gulped, then folded my hooves together. "So..." I leaned forward. "How does that make you feel?"

"Like someone's tethered a metal cable to my back and forced me to fish through the land of the dead—" Rainbow Dash stopped. She stared at me, bug-eyed. Then, with a groan, she head-desked atop the table. Hard.

"Heeheeheee..." I craned my head to the side. "Rainbow, if you wanna talk about it, go ahead—!"

"Grnnnnghhhh... I don't..." She muttered into the woodwork.

"You sure?"

"Mrmmfffnghhh..."

"'Cuz I don't mind."

"You shouldn't have to worry about me all the time, kiddo."

"Well, why do you feel like being miserable all the time?"

"... ... ..." Rainbow's head slowly rose.

I stared at her.

"Do I..." Rainbow blinked. "...do you really think...?"

I shrugged. "What do you think?"

"I'd... rather not..."

"Rather not talk about it?" I raised an eyebrow. "Or rather not... y'know... be unhappy?"

"It ain't cool to be unhappy." Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. "Believe me, Scoots. You don't want none of it."

"You think she wants any of it?"

"Of c-course not!" Rainbow Dash cackled. "Heck, she's super crazy happy twenty-four seven now!"

"Then why aren't you?"

"H-huh?"

I smiled. "If she's happy... then shouldn't you be happy... you know... for her?"

Rainbow gulped hard. "I wish... life was that easy, kid."

"Who says it isn't?"

Rainbow sighed.

My brow furrowed. "And don't you dare say 'you'll know when you're older.'"

"You'll know when yo—DANG IT."

"Heeheeheehee!" I hugged myself.

Rainbow groaned, picking up another cupcake and twirling it around atop a hoof. "Sometimes I wish you weren't so clever." Her nostrils flared. "Isn't it hard enough just sticking to flight rules?"

"Y'know... there was a time I thought it was impossible to fly." I winked. "Then somepony awesome came and showed me that I had a chance." I gulped a lump down my throat. "Just like any other pegasus."

"Yeah, so?"

"So... I used to think that flying was impossible! Then you showed me different!" I squirmed slightly in my seat, cheeks red. "So... wh-what makes it seem so impossible that a pony as cool as you can be happy?"

"... ... ..."

"Or at least happy for the one you care most for?"

"It's not her fault, Scoots... it's... it's all me."

"Then maybe that's where you gotta start," I said. "You gotta start with you."

She looked at me.

"We both... know that she's happy, r-right?" I leaned my head to the side. "So... if we can find a way to make you happy too... then everything's awesome! Don't you think?"

Rainbow Dash exhaled. She looked at the cupcake. She tossed the treat up, bumbed it against her elbow, then caught it in her muzzle. Biting down, she swallowed the thing in a few meager gulps and licked her lips.

"Tasty?" I asked.

"The tastiest." Rainbow weathered a burp. "Y'know... I should come here more often."

"Yes." I smiled. "You should."

She smiled back.

I pressed my hooves to the table top. "Bet I can eat more than you."

"You're on."

And we raced.

Comments

[MidnightReflection]

"Like someone's tethered a metal cable to my back and forced me to fish through the land of the dead—"

[RoboRed]

"Okay... uhmmmm..." I tapped my chin in thought. "So... like... I was reading a book the other day about how earth ponies could—in theory—practice lunar magic. But it'd have to involve ancient runes and the forbidden act of sawing off unicorn's hor—"

OH, U

[Salad king]

6863356
6863342
It's 6:30 where i am and I've been staring at my phone screen waiting for updates, how the hell do you get here that fast!

[Sir Mediocre]

6863464 By virtue of doing the same... in a different time zone, perhaps?

[Tchernobog]

6863356 I must have not read that one. Which is it?

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

6863464 They never leave. Ever.

[BabySkittleMonster]

Oh, the references... They hurt and feel so good at the same time... I swear this story is turning me into a masochist.

[viofriedsevey]

Well thats it, the best fucking scootaloo and dash conversation I've ever read.

[Aatxe360]

6863356

This sounds familiar. Should it?

[RoboRed]

6864682
It's an End of Ponies reference.

[YoshiFawful64]

6863654
End of Ponies, Skirts's first horsewords. The reference is made all the better by the fact that (very minor EoP spoilers) it's Scootaloo, in particular, saying that.

[Lightning Bearer]

Scootaloo is cutest best therapist.

Also, there's still a part of me that thinks Applejack found the letter and is trying to push Rainbow into confessing. I don't know why she would do that, but it's a comforting headcanon to cling to.

[Sheendough]

6865596 I have another thing in my head, but if I say it either Skirts will use it or divert the story into not using it.

[zaponator]

The references were strong in this chapter.

[Crochettail]

"Like someone's tethered a metal cable to my back and forced me to fish through the land of the dead—"

I think that was a reference

[Dash32]

Wow.......Scootaloos just a little filly, but she's got the wisdom of a full grown mare CONGRATS TO SCOOTALOO!

[Seraphimus]

6951035 if you look at their relationship throughout the story it has gone both ways... Dash is brilliant at handing out nuggets of wisdom and has even done so to Scoots a couple times, but she so often fails to follow her own advice. Scootaloo is just returning the favor. Plus with the way the story implies she basically takes care of herself....

I know what that's like. you tend to grow up or mess up, really fast. Scoots has obviously done the prior.