5141375 Don't give up! Have Hope!

Well its safe to say its been over four hours. So Runner claimed.

Prompt runner
By huntersunday

Rainbow Dash was fast, there was no doubt about that. She was quick, agile, and known to be one of the fastest runners in Equestria. Most ponies could easily tell you this, but those who were closest to her, would tell you she tended to run from most problems.

Rainbow dash sat with her head leaning against a random tree, She slowed her breath, trying to regain her composure. How could it have happened so soon? Sure her and Applejack had been together for years. It was only a matter of time, but still.

She had been ready for any question, any request, but that one question made her insides turn.

“Hey sugarcube, Ah would love for you to move in with me?”

The question still rang through her skull, it was to unexpected. So like always she turned and ran. Running had always been a safety net for her, she did it when Applejack first asked her out, Also when Applejack wanted to tell their friends.

The sound of hooves clattering against the ground brought a smile to her face. She looked to the sky and pondered. Her memories bringing light to her mood. Sure she had run from every problem she had encountered, and maybe if she admitted to herself, she had always been scared of the consequences.

She turned her head to smile at her panting marefriend. Applejack just smiled in between breaths, before she spoke, “ Ah told you once before, Ah won't let you run from me sugarcube”

Rainbow dash could do nothing as she let tears of joy rush down her face. She may have been known as the best runner in equestria, but her lover would always be right behind her.

“As long as you're here with me, Applejack, I can always be strong” Rainbow dash looked to the sky once more. A smile formed once more grabbing onto her marefriend.

Applejack let out a laugh as she nuzzled against her lover, “Dang girl you ran clear across the town,” Rainbow Dash let out a chuckle as Applejack kissed her on the cheek.

“Ah hate to see how far you run, when Ah ask you to marry me?” Rainbow Dash’s color drained from her face once more, As she turned once more and fled.

Applejack just smiled, Rearing back once more to give chase. She always loved catching a rainbow.

Word Prompt Twisted

5142178 you had hope and here you go

Prompt: Twisted

The sounds of ponies bustling about the hospital soaked up any conversation that might have been. Both mares sat in silence, one adjusting her recently applied and uncomfortable cast, the other fiddling with her forehoof, unsure of what to say and how to say it. Applejack ran her hoof through her mane, her recent discovery still fresh in her mind.

"So," she said, her voice barely audible over the din of the hospital.

Rainbow Dash pursed her lips.

"Yeah."

"I'm real sorry," Applejack said.

"You said so," Rainbow muttered. "About twenty times."

"Well, I am."

Rainbow sighed. "AJ, can we just... not?"

"But I don't—"

"I mean, what the hay made you think I could do that?!"

"Well..." Applejack began, looking away, "You're usually real bendy, and there was that time ya did that leg trick, an' how you're always braggin' you're flexible in all the right ways and a couple o' wrong ways too..."

"So you thought you'd cripple me for a week?"

"I swear, I didn't know they didn't go that way!"

"Wings face a certain way for a reason, AJ!"

"I figured they were like tails!"

"Tails don't have bones!" Rainbow exclaimed, waving her forelegs about her head. "I know you like to try new things, but c'mon, at least warn me first! Now I can't do my job for a week until my wing resets."

Applejack went quiet, and peered at her hooves. Rainbow breathed in, and looked away down the corridor.

A moment passed.

"I liked what you did with my ears, though," Rainbow admitted. "That was new."

Applejack brightened. "I'd been meanin' to try that one."

"It was cool. I also didn't expect the honey to work out that well either."

"Thanks! I got that one from one o' Rarity's magazines."

"It was a good one. We should do it again sometime."

Rainbow's shoulders sagged.

"So, uh, sorry I yelled. I just needed to let off some steam."

"It's okay. I'm sorry I twisted your wing back to front." Applejack chuckled. "I guess we'll laugh about it sometime down the line, eh?"

Rainbow's expression darkened. "No we won't."

"Ah. Uh, okay, we won't."

"Also, we're using a safety word from now on," Rainbow added. "I'd have suggested 'oh, please no, stop, dear Celestia no', but apparently, you don't respond well to that. We should use something clearer and less ambiguous. Like, I dunno, 'banana'."

Next prompt: Banana

Good good the tread breathes once more

Claiming Banana. It'll be silly, but fun

5142661 Prompt: Banana

Applejack had set out that morning to get an early start at Applebuck Season. She'd left the house with a smile on her face and a cheery swing in her step as she made her way down to the west orchard. She'd set her first basket down beneath the first tree to catch the first apples of the season. She'd kicked out with all her might, felt the familiar tremble of the tree beneath her hooves, and heard the satisfying sound of fruit falling from the branches into the waiting basket.

It was a moment she treasured, each and every year – turning around to see that first harvest of the season, reaching down and taking a bite of Sweet Apple Acres' world-renowned crop, tasting the first of the sweet apples that she'd spent all year cultivating...

This time around, she hadn't gotten as far as the tasting. She was still at the 'seeing the first harvest of the season' part. After a minute spent processing the information in front of her, another to convince herself that she wasn't having a nightmare, and one more minute of blank staring for good measure, the pieces finally fell into place.

“Dash,” she said.

She was met with silence. Unless you counted the poorly-masked snicker from one of the nearby trees. Applejack did. She grit her teeth.

“Dash,” she growled.

The snickering stopped. There was a faint rustling of leaves as Rainbow Dash poked her head out. “How did you know I was here?” she said.

“Why am I lookin' at a basket of bananas?” Applejack asked, in a level tone.

Applejack didn't look at Dash, she just kept staring at the basket, filled to the brim with the yellow fruit that was decidedly not apples. Even without looking, she could picture the look of silent terror dawning on her marefriend's face, as Dash darn well recognised the tone.

Dash dropped out of her tree and stood a 'safe' distance away as she spoke. “Hehe. Uh, okay. So, this is a little obscure, but hear me out,” she said. “Remember April Foals day, when you took me out for lunch? Then we went back to my place and you told me to meet you upstairs, 'cause you had a 'surprise' for me. And then you took a picture of my face when I saw that you'd had Pinkie paint my entire bedroom pink, with hearts? Remember how we had a good old laugh about that and then swept it under the rug?”

“You didn't speak to me for a week,” Applejack pointed out.

“O-oh, right...” Dash gulped. Applejack could practically hear the sweat beading on Dash's forehead as she spoke. “Well, I had this great idea for how to, uh, prank you back, and stuff. So I waited 'til last night, then mentioned to Discord that you wanted to, uh...”

“Wanted to what?”

“...'Mix things up', this season,” Dash said, cringing around her words. “I just asked him to change a couple of trees, but oh wow, would ya look at that, he did the whole orchard and then skipped town. Hehe. What a guy, right?”

Applejack was silent.

Dash took a couple of tentative steps closer. “...Honey? Y-you see the funny side, right? Ha ha. Right?”

Applejack slowly tilted her head up, to look into the branches of her tree. Bananas hung in place of her carefully loved and tended apples. She panned across, looking out over the entire orchard of banana-laden apple trees. Then she looked at her marefriend, whose face was held in a terrified grin.

“H-hey, how 'bout I 'make it up to you',” Dash said, shifting closer. She tried for a husky voice, but desperation made it come out as more of a broken squeak. “What d'you say we, uh, go back to the barn and I'll--”

“Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said.

“Aw, horseapples.”

“Start runnin'.”

Yup, that was fun

Okay, next prompt is... Bubbles.

5151663 Applejack shouldn't be so mad. After all...

Bananas are good.

5142385 This is me, when my boyfriend will try to propose... XD

5142661 jajajajajajajajajajajajajaja.

5151663 Only Discord can do this XD

Thread is revived again. I am happy.

Found this one surprisingly tricky, but what the hey-ho...

Prompt: Bubbles

“This is ain’t right. You do know that, don’tcha?”

“Ugh, why do you have to be difficult about this? Pinkie doesn’t give me this kind of trouble! She buys it for me all the time!”

“So why not ask her to buy it today?”

“I would, but she made her ‘Super Mega Treacle n’ Syrup Ultra Maxi-Ice Cream and Cotton Candy Muffin Milkshake Supreme x 2’ last Thursday!”

“Oh. So she’s gonna be in one of her sugar crashes ‘til...”

“Until next Wednesday, yeah.”

“So why aren’tcha doin’ this youself?”

“It’s just... what if somepony saw me? What if Scootaloo was in there? Or a Wonderbolt? I have a reputation to-“

“Hehehe, you-“

“Don’t you dare call me a wimp!”

“Aw come on Sugar, I weren’t gonna say that.”

“...Really?”

“I mean it’s so obvious, why point it out?”

“Grrr...Applejaaaack...”

“I just gotta know why this is so important to you? I mean do you really think you should be doin’ somethin’ like this?”

“It’s...I...it just makes me feel...look, it’s none of your business, okay? Here’s the money, just get one. One’s all I need.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of it. Don’t you worry none.”

“Hmph.”

Despite the fun she’d had teasing Rainbow a moment ago; Applejack couldn’t help but feel apprehensive as she entered the store. She just felt so...out of place in here. She was a respectable, hard working mare; she shouldn’t have to be in a place like this!

But Rainbow wanted what she wanted, no matter how inappropriate it might be. It got under A.J’s skin at times. Especially when she got dragged into it as well. It was one thing if Rainbow wanted to earn herself the scorn of the entire town, but as much as she might forget, Applejack had a reputation to think of as well.

She could feel eyes on her as she perused the store’s offerings. Watching her. Judging her. She tried her best to pay it no mind. Or at least look like she paid it no mind.

She soon came across the item she was looking for. She balked when she saw the price. Things were getting so expensive these days. She worried about Rainbow’s spending habits at times. She half considered if it might be more practical to make the stuff at home for her. Aside from being cheaper, there wouldn’t have to be this walk of shame every time Rainbow ran out.

Then again, Applejack wasn’t sure she could live with the shame if Big Mac or Applebloom caught her and she had to explain herself to them. The old “it’s just for a friend” excuse never worked, even if it was true in this case...

But she knew there was no way she could leave this place without getting what she came for. For all the trouble Rainbow caused her, she just couldn’t help wanting to see that smile again. She grabbed the item off the shelf, trying to ignoring the warm feeling of blood rushing to her cheeks.

Outside the toy store, the still blushing Applejack handed the bottle of bubble mix over to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus’ face lit up and she grabbed it immediately. Applejack was convinced she was going to cuddle with it in a moment. Still, she smiled despite herself. Embarrassing as the ordeal had been, it was worth it just to see Dash’s smile again. She chuckled as Rainbow took out the small stick and started blowing bubbles.

Rainbow stopped when she saw A.J grinning at her. She looked at the cowpony with an accusing glare.

"What?"

“Heh heh, I swear, you can be so childish sometimes.”

“Your mom’s childish...”

Next prompt: Clothes

5166157 I wish I could have written this prompt on Saturday. Saturday is No Pants Day in HapHazredland. It'd have been fitting. Anyhoo, this is a bit of a sequel to 5062019.

Prompt: Clothes

Rainbow's eyes opened. The sunlight pouring into the small bedroom stung her eyes, causing her to roll into the pillow next to her.

Ever heard of curtains, AJ?

Rainbow eyed the old clock resting on the bedside cabinet and groaned. Eight-thirty was not an okay time to wake up. Neither was nine-thirty. Or Ten-thirty. In fact, afternoon-thirty was the only okay-sounding time to get up, and even then that was only because you could only lie in bed for so long before you needed lunch.

Rainbow's brain wasn't fully in gear just yet, but she had woken up in the cosy, comfortable bedroom enough times to know exactly where Applejack would be. Rainbow rolled out of bed, stretched out her back, and trudged out into the corridor outside.

She passed the large, imposing form of Applejack's brother, squeezing between him and the wall. She rubbed her eyes as she went to the stairs.

"Uhm..." Big Macintosh began.

Rainbow never quite understood why the big stallion was quite so shy.

"Mornin', Big Mac," she croaked, and went downstairs.

The sounds of Granny Smith and Applebloom bustling around downstairs were as if they were heard underwater. Rainbow slid by them and into the kitchen. Coffee first, she thought, then Applejack.

Memories from the night before slid into the forefront of her mind. It was still too early to distinguish dream and reality. It was one of the many problems Rainbow had discovered that came with waking up before noon. Did she need to bust some rainclouds today, or had she already done that? Or was it just a figment of her imagination? Rainbow didn't know, or care. Applejack knew her timetable better than even Rainbow's boss: she'd just ask her.

She reached out to bite the kettle handle in her teeth, then stopped. Something wasn't quite right.

Am I supposed to bite this? Rainbow heard footsteps from behind her. Wait, how do I pick stuff up again?

"RD?" came Applejack's voice from the doorway. "What're you doin'?"

The gears in her brain slowly began to turn. Oh yeah, I have hands, right. She grabbed the handle of the kettle whilst pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Morning, AJ. Sorry, I think those weird dreams have been getting to me. Thought I was a horse again."

Wait, if I'm not a horse, shouldn't I be wearing...

Rainbow's eyes widened.

"Sugar, y'all have a problem," Applejack said, her voice strained. Rainbow turned to see not just Applejack, but also Granny Smith and Applebloom in the doorway. Applejack extended her arms, her very human arms in a vain attempt to block their vision. "Hey! No peekin'!"

Rainbow nearly dropped the kettle.

"Shoot!" she exclaimed, and darted behind the fridge. "I'm sorry! I got confused!"

"She gets dreams," Applejack explained.

"I get dreams!" Rainbow repeated. From behind the fridge, she pointed at Applejack. "It's all her fault!"

"It ain't my fault you're goin' madder'n a rattlesnake in July!" Applejack snapped. To her family, she added, "Go on, get! Kitchen's off limits! Ain't nothin' to see here!"

It occurred to Rainbow Dash that unwarranted nudity was a far more effective way to wake up than even coffee.

New Promto: Unsee

5167423

Good thing AJ wasn't left alone with Dash. Otherwise she might have tried to jumper!

I can do a pun if it's a sequel, right?

I should probably update the prompt collab fic someday, right?

...

I'll do it tomorrow

5167525 Of course it counts. And by the way, that pun was pantastic.

5167617
You sure? I was afraid I might've shoehorned it in...

5169519 Even if it was, I wouldn't have minded. I don't get all that shirty about a whole lot, to be honest.

Besides, I always love puns. They're the best kind of humour: they never fail to knock my socks off.

Here we go agaaaaiiiiin!...

5169519 5169559
You guys really are pretty good with puns. Hats off to you two. If anyone disagrees, you can just tell them to put a sock in it. I may be a bit biased, though — when it comes to amusing me, puns are always a shoe-in. I have such an appetite for them, I'm basically scarfing them down.

Perhaps it'll incentivise people to write more prompts for this thread if we threaten to hi-jacket with puns!

Or will they just give us the boot?

5171121 Puns would make me want to smack people, rather than write :P

5171129
Oh, then you've been listening to puns for about a year and a half, then.

5171420 Sounds about right.

5171129 You could say you might find our humour...

punbearable?

5171546
It greaves me to see people who can't enjoy puns...

(armour is still clothing, it totally counts!)

5172435 Some people are just hatful towards fine comedy.

I myself have a vested interest in seeing puns become more widespread on this group. I reckon people will cotton on that we're the funny ones and decide we're the better group for it!

5173288
Hopefully, those people who don't glove puns like we do won't boot us out of the group for this.

5173705

5173705
Can we really be blamed? I think it's just in our jeans

5173936 Yeah. Punishing us just because we were born this way would be hitting below the belt, in my opinion.

Still, some people just get a bee in their bonnet about anything.

This is the prompt thread, not pun thread!

If you must make puns, put em in your prompts!

5174040 But I caaaaaaaaan't stop, Tcherno! My mind is puns, now. Puns as far as the eye can see.

Someone needs to get writing promptly. It's the only way to end this! My sanity is hanging on by a thread.

Claiming Unsee

EDIT: Aaaaand done! Spoilers for the new episode "Newbie Dash" if you haven't seen it.

Incidentally, Microsoft Word Dictionary informs me that 'unsee' is not a real word

Prompt: Unsee

“Well sweet, sassy molassey, would ya look at this place?”

Rainbow resisted the urge to squee with excitement. One of the first things she had been looking forward to doing after becoming an official Wonderbolt, was to bring her marefriend up to the academy and properly show her around. And judging from her reaction, it was safe to say Applejack was impressed.

“So how’s about we mosey on over to the mess hall and get something to eat?” Applejack was saying. “I’m so hungry I swear I could eat three whole bales o’ hay!”

“Yeah, yeah in a sec,” Rainbow cut her off, “but first you gotta see the coolest part of the compound!”

Without waiting for an answer, Dash picked A.J up by the armpits, ignoring all protests, and flew her over to the barracks. There might technically not have been any need to do so, the barracks were on the same cloud as the one they had started on after all, but darn it, she was excited! She couldn’t wait for Applejack to see everything!

---

“Aaaand this locker right here belongs to, oh I don’t know, me! How cool is this?” Rainbow stood proudly next to her locker, eagerly waiting for Applejack’s seal of approval. The farmgirl chuckled and leaned forward from her seat on the locker room bench.

“Well lookee there, gotcha name on it an’ everythin’!”

“You know it! They get these name plates specially made! Nothing but the best, for the best of the best-“

“Hehe.” Applejack cut her off with a laugh. ”You get your own personal locker and you’re still too dang lazy to lock it, huh?”

“Huh?”

Applejack got up from the bench and moved forward. She stuck a hoof out, pointing at the padlock lazily hanging off the door by its unlocked hook. “So whatcha keep in this thing anyhow?”

“What? No! Wait, don’t-“

It was too late. Rainbow tried to stop her but Applejack’s curiosity had got the better of her. She reached out and swung open the door, casually ducking past Rainbow’s flailing attempts to stop her from seeing whatever was in there.

“Hoowhee, would ya look at this!” Applejack pulled out a bomber jacket, crisp, new and adorned with flight badges. “They sure give you some fancy gear in this place!”

“Heh, yeah they sure do!” Rainbow sweated. “So hey, how about we head over to the mess hall now? I hear they’re serving cabbage soup today! You know how you love cabbage soup!”

Rainbow made a grab for the bomber jacket, but Applejack pulled away. Clearly sensing that something was up, she started looking over the garment, trying to find what Rainbow was trying to hide.

“No! She can’t see it! She can’t, she-“

“Hey, what’s this badge right here for?”

“She saw it...”

Rainbow sat down in defeat. A.J had seen it. There was no way to make her unsee it.

“Uh, this looks like a picture of your Cutie Mark-“

“Crashing into a sign, I know.” Rainbow sighed heavily and looked down at the floor. This seemed to catch Applejack’s attention.

“Hey there...” A.J sidled up to her and laid a hoof on her shoulder. “You okay partner?”

“Why’d you have to go and look at that stupid badge? Why’d they have to go and put it on the stupid jacket?”

“Aw Sugar, is this about that nickname thing again? I thought you were past that.”

“I am! Really, I am, I just... I hate that stupid name so much!”

“Aw come on now, it’s just a name. So what?”

“So what? It hurts! Have you ever been called names?”

“Well sure, all the time.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yup. Pretty much every day in fact.”

“Every...” Rainbow suddenly turned wrathful. “Who? Who’s doing this? Why didn’t you tell me? If I ever find the punk who-“

She was stopped by A.J’s hoof being shoved in her mouth. The farmer gave her a flat look.

“I was talkin’ about you, genius.”

Rainbow sprung back. “What? I don’t...what’re you talking about?”

“Just the other day you called me ‘Applequack’.”

“I was just... You fell in the pond! You were surrounded by ducks, I was just...” She wasn’t sure what to think. A.J didn’t seem to be mad, heck; she was smiling at her right now.

“Just what, Sugarcube? Making fun? Teasing?” She was still smiling.

“I wasn’t trying to be mean, I was just...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your –“

She was cut off as A.J’s lips met hers in a quick kiss.

“You didn’t hurt my feelin’s at all Rainbow. I get it. When you tease me it’s just a bit o’ fun. Heck, I do it to you too. You didn’t mind when I call you ‘Rainbow Rash’, the time Pinkie put itchin’ powder in your flight suit.”

“Well yeah, that’s just...I mean you and me smack talk each other all the time, we’re just... We’re not trying to be jerks to each other...”

“Well that’s how you gotta think o’ your team mates. I know some o’ them colts gave you a hard time at flight school, and that was mean of ‘em. But I reckon most folks don’t really mean the harm they’re causin’. You just gotta try and not take it all too seriously.”

“I...I guess so...”

A.J gave her another quick peck on the lips. “So whaddya say, you wanna head on over to the mess hall, Crash?”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “Hey! Just because we talked this over, it doesn’t mean its okay for you to call me that!”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Aw come on Sugarcube, we just talked about-“

“I mean it! How would you like it if I started calling you Appleslack?”

Now it was A.J’s turn to narrow her eyes. “Rainbow Dash,” her words were slow and icy, “how do you-“

“Know about that nickname? Let’s just say Granny Smith has some interesting stories to tell. Lemme see, it was something to do with a mud hole, a tree branch and a length of rope, right?

“Shut up Rainbow.”

“Or what?” Rainbow looked directly in Applejack’s face, bearing the smuggest look on her muzzle possible. “You gonna leave me tied upside down from a tree over a mud hole? Oh wait, that was you, wasn’t it...Appleslack?”

“Rainbow Crash!”

“Appleslack!”

“Rainbow Crash!”

“Appleslack!”

“Rainbow Crash!”

“Appleslack!”

And so the two continued to trade barbs with each other all the way to the mess hall.

Next prompt: Bowtie

5222336 So, I had an idea, I wanted to execute on it, but I think it didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted. Sorry!

Bowtie

"Something Olde, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixbit in your Horseshoe.” Applejack repeated.

“What?” Rainbow Dash deadpanned.

“It’s tradition. You want one of each.” Applejack explained, “Each item is a positive symbol to your continued... love.” Applejack hadn’t meant to pause there, but the word was hard to say—even now.

“I guess I can get one of each from my friends. I don’t suppose you can let me borrow something?”

“Well, shucks, Rainbow. I’d be happy to.” Applejack paused again. It felt strange to say, plus, would it really be counted as borrowing? Especially since Rainbow was marrying into the family. But, she supposed it was the thought that counted in the end. “You can borrow my grandpappy’s old bowtie. It’s been in my family for generations.”

“Uhm, cool. I guess?” Rainbow shrugged. “Anyways, thanks for your help. I’ll pick it up tomorrow before the party.”

“You’re welcome.” Applejack nodded. “I’m really hap—”

“I know.” Rainbow cut her off and waved a hoof. “I got to go, thanks for telling me about this tradition of yours, pegasus just go for a suicide dive and call it good.”

“Alrighty then, I’ll see you later.” Applejack waved a hoof, but Rainbow was already gone. A chromatic streak in the evening sky.

Applejack didn’t sleep that night. How could she? She blamed it on the nerves as she tossed and turned in the bed. She spent the better part of the evening hunting down the bowtie. It rested quietly on her nightstand. Everytime she looked at it, her heart ached and sleep eluded her. Not matter how she felt, she told herself: it was the right thing to do. The crowing of the rooster shook her suddenly from her a fitful night’s sleep into an unhappy dawn.

Clambering out of bed, Applejack did her very best to make herself presentable. She cleaned herself, brushed her mane back, and prepared everything a good pony ought to do days such as today. She traded small talk at breakfast, and maybe a grand total of two words with Big Mac, before making her way to Twilight’s Castle.

She found Rainbow already there, dressed, albeit uncomfortably, in a beautiful flowing gown. She smiled brightly and passed the bowtie to Rainbow. Rainbow accepted it wordlessly and strapped it around her back hoof, just above the hem of the dress. She felt words bubbling forth from within, but Rarity shooed her away before she could speak.

So, instead, she sat quietly in the room and waited. Slowly, but surely, music filled the room. The doors opened, and Rainbow walked through them, her head held high. As beautiful as ever, at least in Applejack’s eyes. As Rainbow passed, Applejack swallowed the lump in her throat and turned her head away.

Rainbow stopped at the front of the room, before Twilight, the princess officiating, and next to her brother, the lucky son of a—. Applejack shook her head and sighed. It was all so sudden, hardly anypony was even here. Just her and her friends.

In deliberate fashion, Twilight delivered the vows. But, Applejack wasn’t listening. All she could do was stare at Rainbow. Stare at the bowtie, just hidden behind the hem of that dress. The dress which hid the beautiful colors, the brightest of blue coats, the sheer spunk and energy she would never find in another.

“...let them speak now, or forever hold their peace.”

Applejack’s chair clattered to the ground. She raised herself to her hooves and locked eyes with Rainbow Dash. “I love her!” She declared, loud and clear. Her chest pounding, she sunk down to the floor. Her mind barely registered what she had done. Her friends, her brother, they crowded around her. She held her hooves together over her head, begging for forgiveness, to be spared for her horrible deed.

“I know.” Rainbow chirped out.

“We all know.” Rarity added with a sigh.

“Yup.” Big Mac nodded.

The words boiled in Applejack’s mind. She sprung to her hooves and leveled a glare at each pony present. “So, the lack of guests, the location here in Twilight’s castle, Rainbow’s visit yesterday, the invitation I got not two days ago.”

“How else was I supposed to get you to admit you had feelings for me?” Rainbow grinned and wrapped her forehooves around Applejack’s neck.

“How about just talking to me?” Applejack shuddered in rage, but couldn’t find it in herself to push Rainbow away. “How about not putting together some sham ceremony to make me come—” Applejack growled, kicked at the floor, before finally exhaling.

“Consarnit Rainbow, how do you manage to make me so happy and so angry at the exact same time?”

“That’s just what being in love is like, darling.” Rarity chimed in.

“Yup.” Big Mac nodded, glad his sister hadn’t torn him a new one.

Next prompt: Math

5222336 I'll take Bowtie, sure. Sounds like fun.

Besides, I've been wanting to continue my little series since I finished clothes 5167423 . You'll have to forgive me for delving into some headcannon-y territory. I rather liked this idea but I'm far too busy to actually toss it into a story at present.

Applejack pushed the door, the wood sliding against a carpet of papers. Each sheaf was adorned with numbers and symbols that might as well have been alien to her they were so complex. She poked her head into the room.

Past the mountains of ink-splattered calculations and over the rivers of crumpled papers, Rainbow Dash stood in front of the mirror, struggling with a garish red bowtie around her neck. She wore a vest the same colour as pale brown straw and that looked twice as itchy, a checkered shirt and hideous sewage colour skirt.

She had come a long way since having a few strange nightmares a year ago.

"Horseapples!" Rainbow exclaimed as she threw the bowtie across the room.

"Um, sugarcube?" she asked, swimming through the numbers. "You havin' a hard time with that?"

Rainbow turned and faced Applejack. "Oh. Yeah, ties suck." She pulled at her vest. "This whole get-up sucks. Eggheads look uncooler than a polar bear in the Marehave..."

"Mohave," Applejack corrected.

Rainbow bristled.

"Uh, yeah. In the Mohave desert." She looked around at the room. "Uh, sorry about the mess."

Applejack didn't know what to say. Part of her was filled with concern at the memory of Rainbow hunched over paper after paper, her mind moving faster than her already lightning-quick writing. Rainbow had never been good at math. She had never been good at physics or chemistry either. However, it turned out that when you were fast enough to go through several hundred equations in a minute, you could allow for some trial and error... and Rainbow was all about speed.

"I didn't know you took this so seriously," she said. "I just thought y'all were fussin' over nothin'."

'Seriously' was perhaps an understatement. When it wasn't about her day job with the Wonderbolts or anything Applejack-related, all she talked about were her 'theories'.

"I... Rainbow scratched her head. "I dunno any more. The dreams don't go away and I think I'm almost seeing something."

Crazy thing was, people were starting to think something of her crackpot theories.

Applejack wrapped her hands around Rainbow's waist. "Them professors from Switzerland seem to think you've got somethin' worth sayin'."

"Y-yeah," Rainbow muttered. "Because everypony takes me seriously when I talk about things like..."

Applejack leaned down to kiss Rainbow. Concerns aside... there was nothing that wasn't impressive about Rainbow balancing sports and her new 'hobby'. Even if it was nothing like the Rainbow she had found in highschool.

"You've worked real hard to prove what you're thinkin' now, right?" Applejack smiled. "You'll be fine."

Rainbow frowned. "...sure, right." She looked down at her ugly vest. "I just hope that this disguise works. I figure that if I look like a nerd, they'll listen to me more."

Applejack raised her eyebrow. "Yeah, 'bout that..."

"I based it off Twilight and then amped it up to eleven! Looks convincing, right?"

"It looks like somethin', that's for sure."

"I just can't get the bowtie right."

"I reckon' y'all don't need it."

"But Twilight wears a bow-tie."

"Twilight ain't you, sugarcube," Applejack replied. "Like I said, you've worked real, real hard to come up with your theories about gravity an' other... um..."

"I dunno what to call them either. 'Universe' sounds super lame." She shrugged. "I call it Earth Awesome 2."

"Earth Awesome 2?"

"Yeah. Because I'm on it, I think, so it's definitely awesome. It also looks like Earth, so... yeah. But it's only number two because on this one, I get to be with you."

Applejack smiled. "Ain't there an Applejack like me in Earth Awesome 2?" she asked, her hands running up Rainbow's lower back.

"No," Rainbow said, lowering her hands towards Applejack's and bringing them up to her chest. "I can tell the difference. And it's not just the hooves."

Applejack rested her head against Rainbow. The two were quiet for a moment.

"Speaking of hooves," Applejack said after a while, "Y'all can't go to an important science conference wearin' horseshoes tied 'round your feet."

"Huh?"

For some reason I always thought Rainbow was secretly good at math.

Speaking of:

Next prompt:

EDIT: Or not! Turns out I was around 50 seconds too slow.

5224553 Well, that's awkward. Less than a minute sooner than me.

Huh.

5224561 Can't really complain about Double AppleDash. I'll just change my "Next" prompt to match yours.

5224568 I dunno. I could live with reading about a mudpie.

Math is good too, though. My mind is math right now. I'm revising for exams so math is sort of my life right now. That and resins.

Resins become so fascinating when you get stuck in a room with a stereolithography 3d printer for a week inhaling ethanol fumes and sticking your hands into formlabs resins.

Wow, my prompt was so good it inspired two stories!

Although if the next writer was feeling particularly daring, they would write a story using both mudpie and math as the prompts

I think I'm gonna tentatively claim Math. I've at least got some idea where I could take it (plus, I'm such a huge nerd I couldn't pass up a prompt like "math" ).

Prompt: Math

It was the morning after Scootaloo's first sleepover at the Apple family house since Rainbow Dash and Applejack had gotten married, and the orange filly was heading to the kitchen, where a freckled Earth pony was just finishing up a pile of pancakes.

"Hey, Applejack?"

"What is it, Sugarcube?"

"Could you help me with my math homework?" Scootaloo asked.

"Sure," Applejack replied, making space on the table so the filly could place her textbook, notebook, and writing equipment on it. "What's got you confused?"

"Well, Miss Cheerilee just started teaching us about exponents, and I'm not sure I really understand them yet."

"Well, y'know how a multiplication is basically addin' the same number over and over?" Applejack grabbed a pencil. "Try thinkin' of exponents as a sorta step up from that..."

---

"Thanks a lot, Applejack, I think I get it now!" Scootaloo beamed. "You're really good at math!"

"Aw, shucks. I ain't nothin' special. I just need to be able to handle our finances, that's all."

"Well, Rainbow couldn't have taught me that as well as you did."

Applejack tried and failed to conceal a snort. "Sugarcube, don't take this the wrong way — I love Rainbow to bits, and all — but math ain't exactly one of her strong suits," she said. "In fact, she's… well, pretty bad at it, to be honest."

Scootaloo looking quizzically at the Earth pony. "Really? I mean, I know she doesn't like math, but I always assumed she was still average at it, at least."

The mare gave Scootaloo a look that was half-amused, half-deadpan. "A few months back, when we were plannin' our weddin', she tried to lend a hoof with the budgeting. Let's just say she wasn't very helpful."

"I'll take your word for it, I suppose. Oh, and thanks again for the help."

"Glad to help," Applejack said, then winked and added, "Especially now that we're sisters-in-law."

Scootaloo paused. "…Huh. We are, aren't we? Didn't realize that. Does this I'm part of the Apple family now?"

"Eeyup," Applejack answered. "Which reminds me — we happen to have a bit of a tradition that tends to come up when new ponies join the family."

"Oh?"

"It involves ponies who sleep in late, and a big bucket of freezin' cold water," the orange mare said with a smirk. "And wouldn'tcha know it, it's already nine o'clock, and a certain pegasus is still snoozin' away." She grinned at Scootaloo. "You want in on this?"

Scootaloo struggled to contain her laughter. "Do I ever!"

Not the best thing I ever wrote, but it turned out decently well. I kinda wanted to take a different approach into this, especially since Rainbow and Scootaloo's sisterly bond is one of my favourite relationships in the whole show. Speaking of which:

Next prompt: Scootaloo

…Did everyone suddenly get busy IRL, or did you all just forget this thread?

5293468 Soz. Can't write Scootaloo well. Tried three times.

Oh, also exams. And a three day long exhibition I had to attend. And picking projects for next year.

Busy busy.

5293468 Honestly...I didn't realise the next prompt had already been written. Whoops...

I'll claim Scootaloo if I can think of something. Just got to find a way to include her without her interrupting too much of the Appledash

5296543 My second attempt actually featured that as a problem.

"Jeez, I thought Applejack would never leave! Now you can tell me all about that new trick you did!"

"Yeah. Thanks a bunch, Scootaloo. Thanks. A. Bunch."

"...why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm thinking."

"What about?"

"About whether anypony'll hear the screams from here."

"...I'm not gonna hear about the trick, am I?"

Did not get much farther than that, though.

5296583 And she was never heard from again...

5296604 In other news, Rainbow Dash didn't run out of glue for months.

5296608
: Well hey Sugarcube, thanks for re-stuffin' that ripped pillow! S'one o' Granny's favourites!
: No prob! Just happy to help.
: Though I gotta ask...where'd you get the feathers to do it?
: Oh...you know...around...

5298321 Pfft, like Scootaloo's small wings would be enough to fill a whole pillow.

...

You notice there's been less pegasi in Ponyville these days?

5298386
Less pegasi in an earth pony town?