Cider had been acquired and drunk, and Applejack didn't lose her farm. It was truly a great day.
Rainbow Dash was curled up in a hay pile in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, napping with her empty mug propped in front of her nose so that she could dream she had more of the delicious apple beverage. She'd worked her tail off that morning, and while she normally would have selected a nice apple tree for napping, it was easier to get the cup to stay put in the hay. She discovered another benefit to sleeping closer to the ground when she awoke to feel a nuzzle at her cheek. The first thing she smelled was cider and the first thing she saw were those beautiful green eyes.
“Why isn't waking up this cool all the time?” She mumbled happily.
Applejack chuckled, “Dash, I got a surprise for ya.”
“Yeah? A good surprise?” Dash said, blinking and yawning.
“I reckon it's towards the top of a list of things you want.” Applejack said, backing up to give Dash room to get up.
“You and Spitfire in a tub of cider?” Dash said with a grin as she rose to her hooves and stretched her wings.
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Does that sound like somethin' I'm likely to have for ya'?”
“A pony can dream.” Dash said. Her eyes fully adjusted to being awake and she noticed that AJ was wearing two bulging saddle bags with a pot hanging from one. But most the most important thing was the small wooden cask strapped to her back.
Dash's eyes grew wide. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Yup.” Applejack said, grinning. “But ya' can't have any yet. We're gonna go down the Whitetail Woods and make a night of it.”
“Does making a night of it include. . .?” Dash asked hopefully.
AJ smirked, “Most likely.”
Dash flew into the air and did a small loop, grinning. “Yes! Sex and cider! You really do love me!”
Applejack laughed and shook her head. “I have never in my life seen a pony get so worked up over cider. I just don't get it. Now zap apples I could see, they're kinda special bein' magic and all, but cider's just pressed apples.”
“Zap apples are okay, I guess,” Dash said with a apathetic shrug. Then she grinned again. “But your cider is the best tasting thing in Equestria! So, what else do you have in there?”
“Stuff to really make cider. We sell it plain 'cause everypony likes it different, but if ya' really want somethin' special it just starts with fresh Sweet Apple Acres cider.”
Dash's wings stopped in shock, and she fell to the ground. “There's something more special than cider? What are we waiting for!?”
“Nothin', Sugarcube. Let's get goin'” Applejack said, laughing at Dash as she set off at a brisk trot. Dash was right behind her.
They made their way to the Whitetail Woods as the sun was setting. Applejack lead the way to a clearing in the woods and used her tail to sweep it clean. Dash helped her to gather wood and light a bonfire in the center of the cleared area, well away from any trees. The night promised to be crisp and cool, and the fire provided a comfortable warmth.
Once the fire was going, Applejack put the pot on and emptied the cask of cider into it. Then she pulled a jar of what looked like dirt out of her saddle bag. She opened the jar and started to pour it into the pot.
“WAIT! What are you doing to the cider?” Dash asked, her eyes wide.
Applejack finished pouring, then set down the jar and laughed, “Calm down, Sugarcube. It's just spices. All part of the recipe.”
“Okay,” Dash said, suspiciously. “But if you messed up perfectly good cider. . .”
Applejack raised her eyebrows with a smirk, “I think I know a thing or two 'bout cider, Dash.”
Dash rolled her eyes. “I guess so. We'll see.”
Applejack settled in next to the fire, and Dash sat down across the fire from her, staring intently at the pot warming there.
After a little while Applejack said softly, “Dash, I gotta thank ya'.”
“Huh?” Dash asked, looking up from the pot. “Oh, no problem. You don't think I'd let you lose your farm without doing what I could to help, do you?”
“No, I mean, well, thank ya for helpin' today, but I really gotta thank ya' for the talk we had on the train ride home the other day. If I didn't feel like I had you when I thought we lost, I. . . I can't even think what I woulda done. But it wouldn't have been pretty, lemme tell ya.”
Dash smiled. “Yeah, when Granny agreed to take them on I was a little afraid your head would explode.”
“No kiddin'. It may be that no one calls Granny a chicken, but I had a mouth full of words I wouldn't have minded callin' her at the time.” She sighed and shook her head. “I did not need that all that stress. What all did she think we were gonna do if we'd lost?”
“Take up cherry farming?” Dash said with a teasing grin.
Applejack gave a bemused stare.
“I hear it makes a nice change from apples.” Dash couldn't help snickering.
“And here I thought you wanted some cider. . .” Applejack said with a smirk.
Dash's face fell in an instant, and she responded quickly, “I'll never mention cherries again. There's no such fruit.”
Applejack laughed and picked up the ladle to stir the cider.
This brought Dash's attention back to the pot of cider, and she grinned eagerly. “Is it ready yet?”
“It takes time, Dash.” Applejack said with the ladle still in her mouth.
“You're teasing me. Stirring that right in front of me.”
Applejack lowered her eyelids seductively. She slowly circled the ladle around the pot, lifting it and letting the cider drip out.
“Wow,” Dash said, a familiar tension growing in her wings. “Now I want you and the cider.”
Applejack set the spoon aside and sat back down. “Give it time and you'll get both. What is it 'bout the cider that drives ya' so crazy?”
“I don't know.” Dash got a dreamy smile thinking of the drink. “It's just. . . really amazingly good.”
“So's apple pie, but I never see ya' try to eat it off the dirt.” Applejack pointed out.
“I can have apple pie any time. Cider is special. It only comes around once a year, and you can only get it here.”
“Other places got cider, Dash. Maybe not Sweet Apple Acres cider, but. . .”
Dash shook her head, “No, I mean. . . on the ground. I never had cider until I moved away from Cloudsdale.”
“Oh.” AJ said, mildly surprised. “Well, I suppose not. It don't keep well, that's why we sell it fresh.”
Dash got a far away look as she remembered her first mug of cider. “It's so different from anything I'd had before. The first time, I couldn't believe what I was tasting, it was like drinking the best apple ever. It's the weirdest, coolest thing in the world. Cider is like everything good about the ground in a cup.”
Applejack smiled a little. “I guess I never thoughta that. I mean, I been 'round cider my whole darn life. 'Course, I been on the ground my whole darn life, too.”
“Yeah.” Dash nodded. “Try to imagine moving to Cloudsdale. Think about how weird and different everything would seem. Stuff I grew up with, like lightning fizz or snowcloud slushies, might be amazing to you. I should have made you get some of that while we were there for the young flyers competition, but it seems so boring to me that I completely forgot that you've never tasted anything like it.”
“I guess somethin' that different would be awful special. Maybe we'll go again someday. I'm glad you like the cider here, though.” She was still smiling gently at Dash, and Dash smiled back.
“It's my second favorite thing on the ground.”
Applejack blushed a little, then looked down at the simmering pot. “I think this is done now. Now this is a family recipe, passed down for years. All the ponies in line just go and drink their cider up, they never bother to do it right. This is how the Apples do it, so you know it's good.”
She picked up the ladle, and scooped some into a mug for each of them. Dash grinned and picked up the mug with a reverence she usually reserved for items The Wonderbolts had personally touched.
Rainbow Dash stuck her muzzle in the top of the mug and breathed in deeply. The heat made the smell of the cider even stronger, and the spices added the scents of cinnamon and nutmeg and a few more subtle ingredients. But as if that wasn't enough, the faint scents of woodsmoke in the crisp air, the trees around her, and the earth they were sitting on mingled with the unbelievable beverage. To a pegasus more used to the smells of fresh air and clouds it was an exotic and powerful combination.
“What is this?” Dash whispered.
“Just cider and spices, heated up. You okay?” Applejack said, sounding worried. But Dash focused only on the cider.
“I'm. . . I'm. . .” Dash took a sip and a huge grin spread over her face, tears of joy in her eyes. “You. . . made. . . cider. . . better. Oh my gosh, I should have known you're the only pony who could make cider even better!”
“I'm glad ya' like it.” Applejack chuckled.
Dash looked at AJ, who sat illuminated by flickering firelight, smiling at Dash and drinking her own mug of cider happily. Around them the peaceful forest occasionally gave way to rustling and far away calls of animals going about their business. The fire crackled and popped, and the scents of the cider and clearing still filled her nose.
Dash loved clouds. She loved the air, and she loved flying more than anything in the world. But this seemed like a totally different world, like a dream or a story. Nothing in the sky, in her cloud house, or in all of Cloudsdale could offer this combination of sensations. For this moment, this forest clearing was a little world of everything amazing about cider.
She took a long draught, then set down her mug and walked over to Applejack. For some reason it felt like flying would break the spell. Applejack set down her cider, smiling warmly as Rainbow Dash leaned in and kissed her.
The taste of cider and Applejack's lips mingled on Dash's tongue, and she pushed the completely willing earth pony to the ground. After a long, deep kiss she pulled away and looked into AJ's eyes. She wanted to try to explain it, but she didn't think Applejack could really get how awesome this all was. Cider was normal to her. Woods were normal. Laying on the ground was normal.
Rainbow Dash reached over and picked up Applejack's mug and took a drink. She set it back down and as she leaned in to kiss Applejack again, she said the only words she could think of to get across how this felt.“I really love cider.”