Heritage

by bahatumay

Cider

Applejack exhaled and adjusted her hat, impressed. Rainbow had not only adapted to farm life; she'd thrived. She had shifted her sleep schedule and worked powernaps into the rare down times to make sure she was always awake when she needed to be. This morning, she had even managed to get up early enough to take advantage of Applejack's morning sex offer (a request Applejack had cheerfully honored).

Currently, she was finishing stacking the barrels. Her wings helped as she lifted the last barrel into place.

“Perfect, just like me,” Rainbow grinned. She dropped back down to the ground. “What’s next, Applejack?”

Applejack shrugged. “That’s it for this week. We got everything done, and with plenty of time to spare.”

Rainbow grinned and nudged Applejack lightly with her elbow.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Fine, I admit it. I was wrong. You did make it.”

“Told you,” Rainbow Dash said proudly, flexing her foreleg. “I’m half earth pony.”

Applejack nodded. For some reason, she doubted that it had been Rainbow’s heritage so much as her innate sheer stubbornness and refusal to give up. Still, she had made it to the weekend, and so she, like all big ponies (regardless of how loudly Apple Bloom proclaimed she was such) deserved to be there for the weekend celebration.

So thus it was that Rainbow got a seat with the two older Apples at the table for their little weekend celebration. It wasn’t too big, of course; but still. Granny Smith (before she’d settled down for another nap, that is) had provided a whole slew of food.

And they were going to take advantage of that.

Applejack had just loaded her plate full of fritters when a sizable tankard caught her eye. She reached for it… and froze. Her eyes widened in horror. Macintosh frowned and followed her eyes, and it took him a few seconds longer to realize what was wrong.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t realized anything was wrong until he had already picked it up and popped the top off.

Granny Smith had pulled out the hard cider.

Rainbow’s head shot straight up. “I smell cider.”

Oh, there ain’t no way this can end well… “Rainbow, this is the hard stuff.”

“Sweet!” Rainbow’s ears pricked up. “I’ve always wanted to try this. I've never had it before.”

“And there’s a good reason for that,” Applejack said. “If you ain’t ever had this before, it’ll knock you flat into next week.”

Rainbow pointed. “Mac’s drinking it just fine.”

Applejack scowled. “Mac!” she scolded.

Macintosh swallowed. “What?”

Applejack massaged her temples with her hooves. “Rainbow, Macintosh is a big stallion, even if he ain’t got much brain to speak of, and-”

“And I'm half earth pony. I can take it.”

“He's full earth pony,” Applejack protested, but she knew it was a lost cause already.

“I can take it,” Rainbow growled. “I’ve been working like an earth pony, I can drink like an earth pony!”

Applejack knew when she was beat. She threw her hooves up in defeat. “Fine. Fine. Go ahead. But I'm not dragging your sorry flank back to bed when you pass out.”

“Heh,” Rainbow smirked as she poured herself a mug. “Not a chance.”

* * *

Applejack pulled her hat down, firmly covering her eyes. “Thanks, Fluttershy,” she mumbled.

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Fluttershy said as she pulled the cloud down. On top of this cloud was Rainbow Dash, snoring softly, sleeping in a position that looked as though she were doing her best pretzel impression. “I don’t know why she did this,” Fluttershy fretted as she brought the cloud to the ground in reach of Applejack. “Pegasi are notorious lightweights. I tried some of Pinkie’s coffee once, and I couldn’t sleep for a whole twenty-four hours.”

Applejack wasn’t sure if that was because of the coffee, or if because Pinkie had probably brewed it strong enough to dissolve steel and loaded it with more sugar than you needed for apple marmalade. So she made a noncommittal shrug and started pulling Rainbow off the cloud.

“She really does have a nice singing voice,” Fluttershy continued. “Even if her lyrics were…”

“Filthier than a hog in slop?” Applejack deadpanned.

“I was going to say ‘inappropriate’,” Fluttershy corrected. “I had no idea there were so many terms for a mare’s…” She blushed harder.

Applejack had had no idea either, especially since she had been the mare with the parts Rainbow had been singing about. “Yeah, well… that’s Rainbow Dash for you.” Applejack bucked her hips slightly, shifting Rainbow Dash’s weight across her back. With a wry smile, she turned around and started to trudge the long way back home through town.

“She’ll have a major headache tomorrow. You’ll have water set out for her, right?”

Applejack barked a sarcastic laugh. “Not a chance.”

* * *

Applejack awoke, bright and early the next morning. She never could sleep in. Resigning herself, she slowly slid out of bed, shivering in the cool air. Her headache was very mild; a large glass of water and a nice shower would soon set her right. Frankly, Rainbow Dash had given her a bigger headache last night.

Speaking of Rainbow Dash, she, on the other hoof, had had no such good fortune. That little motion of Applejack leaving the bed had been enough to wake her up, and Rainbow quickly regretted this development. She groaned, and that just made it worse, so the groan grew louder and more pained.

“Mornin’, Rainbow!” Applejack said, a bit more cheerily than she felt. “Ready for the day?”

“Please, leave me alone to die…” Rainbow whimpered.

“No promises, Sugarcube,” Applejack smirked, “but I’ll see what I can do.” She leaned in close. “Maybe next time, leave the heavy drinking to Mac,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” Rainbow muttered. “That… that sounds good.” She groaned once more. “Don’t worry. I’ll get up soon.”

Applejack cocked her head. “For what?”

“I’m still… still helping on the farm today,” Rainbow said determinedly (if a bit shakily). “I won’t let you down, Applejack.”

Applejack felt something warm in her heart at Rainbow’s loyalty, and she somehow found herself taking mercy on Rainbow Dash. “Hey, Rainbow,” she said, coming back over to the bed and gently stroking her mane. “Look, you don’t have to get up this morning. Hay, you can take the whole day off, if you want. Promise. I won’t mind.”

“No,” Rainbow protested, forcing herself up on one elbow. She looked up at Applejack with the only eye she could open. “I’m… I’m half earth pony. I can do it!”

Applejack shook her head, and a tiny smile played at her lips. “I’m sure. Sleep, sugarcube.”

Rainbow tried to push herself up further, but just ended up falling face-first back into the bed covers.

Applejack chuckled. She set her hoof down firmly but softly. “Go back to sleep, or I’ll tell Apple Bloom that you’re willing to be a subject for nursing cutie mark practice,” she threatened.

Rainbow quickly closed her eyes and feigned sleep.

Applejack cracked a smile and headed down the stairs. She knew how to play with Rainbow.

She made it back to the kitchen, where she found Apple Bloom making herself a snack.

Apple Bloom’s peanut butter spreading motions on the toasted bread seemed to grow a bit more aggressive as Applejack walked in. “So, did the big ponies enjoy their little weekend shindig?” she asked, her voice biting.

Applejack exhaled through her nose. “Not really,” she confessed. “Rainbow got into the hard cider and I had to chase her down. Honestly, I think Mac was the only one to have a good time.”

“Eeyup!” came Macintosh’s cheerful confirmation from upstairs.

Applejack could have sworn she heard Rainbow Dash moan in protest. She cracked a smile. “But I got her back safe and sound, so there’s that.”

“Huh,” Apple Bloom said, reaching for another piece of bread.

“Can’t say the same thing about some houses she hit,” Applejack amended. “So if an angry pony shows up, just send ‘em my way.”

Apple Bloom shrugged as she continued spreading the peanut butter. “I’m heading out,” she replied. “Crusader outing.”

Now that Applejack looked, she realized that, aside from her breakfast, Apple Bloom was also making a whole stack of sandwiches. “Where are you going?”

Apple Bloom shrugged. “We’re gonna go try and help somepony with their flying. It’s gonna take all day, so I’m bringing plenty of food.”

One side of Applejack’s mouth curled up in a wry smile. “Is it Scootaloo?”

Apple Bloom grinned. “I can neither confirm nor deny that allegation,” she said.

Applejack snorted. “Of all the cutie marks, I think that politics cutie mark was my least favorite.”

Apple Bloom put on her most innocent, charming smile.

Something else occurred to her. “And if anypony ever comes asking about a brewing cutie mark, you turn them right down.” Applejack chuckled dryly. “Trust me, Apple Bloom, there’s stuff you ain’t never old enough to hear, and I heard plenty of that last night. If Rainbow ever reaches for the hard cider again, you have my permission to knock it out of her hoof.”

Apple Bloom grinned. “Where is Rainbow, anyway?”

“She’s in bed, sleeping last night off,” Applejack replied. “I’m gonna go deliver a basket of apples to Fluttershy for helpin’ me last night. If Rainbow comes down, let her know. She may have a headache that’s poundin’ like an earthquake, but she’s determined to do her share of chores today.”

“Oh.” Apple Bloom glanced back up towards the stairs, and she squinted. “Does she know that today’s our day off?”

Applejack smirked. “What she don't know don't hurt her.”

Comments

[Hobbestc]

It took me a minute to realize the reason why AJ had to get Fluttershy to help with Dash. I suppose that if Dash got drunk and knocked out on a cloud there really wasn't much chance of AJ being able to grab her and take her home by herself, lol.

[michaelb958]

Applejack snorted. “Of all the cutie marks, I think that politics cutie mark was my least favorite.”

BEST CUTIE MARK CRUSADE
Take my upvote. Just take it.