"And then Rainbow Dash flew up to the stallion and threatened him mighty-fierce!"
"Did he, now?"
"Uhm... Rainbow Dash is a mare, darlin'."
"Oh. Right." I wince. "I keep forgetting." A gust of wind blows down through the massive blue spires of the Northern Sprawl's shopping district. Applejack's mane billows in the breeze as she trots down the sunlit sidewalk beside me. I stay close to her, carefully making sure that nobody steps on this tiny pony wearing a sweatjacket as she half-gallops to keep up with me. "So... uhm... what brought that on?"
"Weren't ya listenin' to me?"
"You're going to have to repeat that last part, sorry."
"Rainbow caught this fella and his pegasus friends oogling Fluttershy up and down!"
"Don't you mean back and forth?"
"... huh?"
"Because you're quadrupeds. I figured it'd make more sense than 'up and down' and..." I sigh and smirk towards the hazy purple sky. "Never mind..."
"Whatever. Long story short, the varmint was bein' a real hound dog and he deserved to be shown some manners! Especially after he and his buddies whistled while Fluttershy trotted by."
"Well, then, sounds like Rainbow Dash had a reason to be pissed."
"Yeah, but t'ain't no excuse to buck a pony's teeth in!"
"I'm... afraid you lost me there."
"Rainbow means well, but when she gets angry—land's sakes you'd better run! Heheheh..."
"I don't get it. Are you proud of her or embarrassed?"
"A lil' of both, I reckon. I respect that Rainbow wants to protect Fluttershy's honor, but it don't make it right to threaten physical harm on another pony."
"Hmmm..."
"What?" She looks up at me. "You don't agree with me?" She suddenly trips and flies forward. "Whoah nelly!"
I jerk my left foot forward like a soccer player, catching her chin before it can collide with the ground. "Watch it!" I swiftly kneel beside her and pull the left sleeve of her hoodie up. "That's the third time today, girl."
"These dag blame'd things keep a'slippin'," Applejack says, cheeks burning as she glances at the wandering pedestrians all around us. "Hope nopony saw that."
"Nobody, AJ. Remember where you are..."
"Eugh! I'm workin' on it! I'm workin' on it!"
I giggle and pat her blonde mane before standing back up. "Don't you fret. It's charming, really."
"Oh yeah? And is my gettin' all tangle-hoof charming too?"
"Nah. More like unnecessarily annoying." I look ahead as we continue our stroll. "I'll have to write an extensive paragraph about the length of the sleeves in my daily report. Hopefully the first line will be capable of auto-adjusting once they take in all my input."
"Could ya ask them to fix it so that I can bring my hat with me next time?"
I smirk. "Sorry, AJ. Until they can increase the storage capacity, all you're arriving with is your birthday suit."
"What does that mean, anyways?"
"Hmmm?"
"'Birthday suit.' That's the fourth or fifth time you've brought it up. Is it supposed to be some sort of inside joke?"
"Uhhhhh..."
"Only suit I'm wearin' is this here jacket. What about y'all?" She glances at a passing woman and her child. "Are ya wearin' birthday suits somewhere beneath yer suit-suits?"
"So, about Rainbow Dash." I clear my throat. "Did she ever make true to her threat?"
"Hmmm? Oh, Tartarus, no! I bit onto her tail and dragged her into the next street faster than you can say 'apple fritter.'"
"I'm noticing a common pattern."
"And what's that, ya reckon?"
"Well, from the stories you share, you must have bitten onto that poor pegasus' tail nearly two dozen times by now."
"Only 'cuz she's always bitin' off more than she can chew!"
"Is that your opinion, or Rainbow's?"
"I... uhm..." Applejack pauses on a street corner, fidgeting with her sleeves. "Uhhhh..."
I glance down at her as we wait for the crosswalk sign. "Seems as if Rainbow's not the only one among your friends who's loyal." I wink. "At least she doesn't try hopping the fence that exclusively surrounds her Element."
"Look, if I didn't rein Rainbow Dash in a little bit each day, she'd lose her head! I swear!"
"And that sounds to me like the same thing that would happen to Fluttershy if Rainbow Dash wasn't so overprotective of her."
"Wh-what?"
"We can go now." I point to the signal and briskly step across the street in front of several stalled hovercars. "Come on."
"What..." But Applejack stumbles on the street corner, coughing and sputtering up engine fumes. "Wh-what are... kaff kaff... y'all tryin' to insinuate... kaffff... about me?"
I pause, groan, then run straight back. I scoop Applejack up in my arms and carry her across the street before the signal can cycle through. "Not insinuating anything. Except that you might be a bit overprotective of Rainbow Dash, just like she's a bit overprotective of Fluttershy. Nothing wrong with it. As a matter of fact, I think it's rather adorable."
Applejack waves the fumes out from before her muzzle as she rests in my arms. "Speak for yerself. I just don't want Rainbow Dash killin' anypony, all because she's tryin' to defend Fluttershy."
"I doubt she would. But even still, I'm sure your friends are all happy to know that you're always around to keep them safe just the same." I smile as I carry her through a crowded courtyard. "It must be great having someone—er—somepony around with a cool head like yours."
"Erm..." She nods, trembling slightly. "I reckon..."
"Don't you have a pony friend back home who does the same for you?"
"Mrmmmmm..." Her hooves knead against my forearms.
"Well?"
With a sigh, she leans back, nuzzling my chest with the back of her head. "Why do you think I'm always comin' back here, darlin'?"
For a moment, I have no response. I glance aside at the other people walking back and forth. So many bodies, so many minds, and all of them glued to the same invisible tracks.
"Celestia almighty..." Applejack's head tilts back, back, and back. Her mane hair is tickling my chin at this rate. "Yer hometown is huuuuuuuuge."
I shrug. "The cities on Earth were even larger."
"I find it downright fancy that y'all call it 'Earth.' Any earth ponies like me livin' there?"
"'Fraid not. Nor pegasi or unicorns..." I gulp. "...or much of anything that breathes, for that matter."
"Sometimes I wish the other gals could see this," Applejack murmurs, her eyes sparkling. "I'm plum lucky to be the first... or maybe even the only."
"Well, if the Beta Testing goes off without a hitch, then they just might." I glance up at the brown and amber swirls of Jupiter devouring the purple sky. A hover freight putters by, crossing paths with two stellar cruisers entering the atmosphere with vapor trails. "Still, we don't get any dragons or sea serpents or faeries on this plane. I imagine those might be a sight to behold."
She snorts and guffaws, nearly shaking out of my arms.
"What?"
She smirks up at me. "We don't have any 'faeries' where I come from, sugarcube."
"Yeah, you do!"
"No we don't."
"You've got... those things... those little winged popcorn farts that eat stuff and turn into even more popcorn farts."
"Them things are called parasprites, and you certainly don't see them startin' the fireworks show at any amusement park."
"'Amusement park?' AJ, have you been flipping through the channels of my holoscreen while I'm at work?"
"Uhm..." She bites her lip and looks away, trying not to smile. "M-maybe..."
"That's it. You can walk on your hooves from here on out."
Until I read the description, I thought that he was referring to the Breezies when he said "faeries"... the breezies actually ARE fae ponies, I think.
What happened to Earth? Did we fuck it over with our humanity? :P
Dammit, I was enjoying this...
Shit, implications...... wait, was AJ watching Ferngully?!
I love the little movie references for this.
~Skeeter The Lurker
Having a vivid imagination really helps reading this story. ITS SO FUCKING CUTE TO IMAGINE
I really like the way you portray this world. Technology has advanced quite a bit, but you merely allude to such.
4384341 most likely or by that time the sun went re giant and ate it
4386689 I know
This story is beyond interesting, especially since it revolves around the fictional future of the human race.
4383515
Also, way back in "Ticket Master" Pinkie sings about fairy lights during her Gala song, and we see faeries trapped inside lanterns.
4384341 probably.
4400706 I'm going to assume that we, as human beings had forgotten that the ecosystem is more important than the economy and decided this:
"MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY, NEED MORE, SCREW NATURE."
You know, because that's TOTALLY not happening today.
4384341
Wouldn't surprise me.
Oh Twelve, we fucked up Earth didn't we x-x
Am I sensing some FlutterDash here? ...Nah.
That Earth line triggered my 'Backstory Senses'.
"Popcorn Farts"
I love that.
So… global warming, war or natural disaster?
Tv surfn everyday.
It's okay, I see her everyday and I forget sometimes too.
Wow, this is getting cute.
4805402
Naww we just bled all of its resources dry. We're chilling on Europa (yes that was a pun) until everything decomposes into the earth.
4702244 Flutterdash is canon, but they're both straight so they can't do shit about their feelings.
Breezies are the fairies, not parasprites.
Best thing I've read so far 8'D POPCORN FARTS!
kekekekee *dies*
Nice job once more!
So Earth got all exploded then?
You lost me at 'popcorn farts' XD
I initially thought that Rainbow Dash was a dude throughout the NMM episodes.
I thought that they were doing an invert of the 'lone woman of the hero group' thing by having Dash be the only dude in the hero group (like Wonder Woman in the 80's 'Super Friends' cartoon(the kids don't count)).
It wasn't until 'Ticket Master' that someone used a female pronoun regarding Dash did I realized that Dash was a chick. (Hadn't figured out the general nose shape rule yet, and I didn't think anything of the eyelashes)
Spike is almost the solo dude, but he isn't on screen and doing stuff with the group enough to really be a part of the group. He is kind of their collective side kick.