//------------------------------// // Dang It, Scamphorse // Story: Appledashery Vol. Two // by Just Essay //------------------------------// "How did you even end up in the tree to begin with, kid?" "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh..." I blinked and squirmed and blinked and squirmed and—"I... uhhhhhh... uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." "Just take a few breaths!" She plopped me down on the ground and brushed my bangs aside. "Heh... I know it's hard to breathe straight in the presence of awesomeness... but maybe you can start from the ground up. Erm... no pun intended." "I was... er..." I fiddled my fetlocks together, still trembling. Just a bit. "I-I was trying to do this really cool trick and—" "Whoah! A cool trick? Sounds cool!" "Well, it almost was." I gulped and pointed at a dirt mound situated before the tree. "See, the scooter kinda hit that at a wrong angle—" "Whoahhhhhhhh!" The pegasus spun—gawking—and pointed at my trusty wheels suspended from a lofty branch. "You mean to say that's your scooter?" "Errrrrr..." I blushed deeply. "Yeah..." "You got a lot of air there, kid! Hah!" She zipped up to the branch in a blink and grasped the scooter by the handles. "That must have been some speed! Super cool!" My ears folded. "You r-really think so?" "Rainbow..." I heard the farm mare mutter in a deep voice behind us. "Pffftchhyaaaah!" The pegasus smirked, flapping her wings as she gently coasted down to the ground with the scooter dangling in her grasp. "I mean, your body went flying and yet you lived! If that's not cool, then I don't know what is!" "Heh... y-yeah!" I hopped in place, grinning from ear to ear as my heart pounded. "Super cool!" "Super killer bodaciously cool!" "Yeah! What you said!" "Rainbow... ... ..." "What's your name, squirt?" "Uh... Scootaloo. It's Scootaloo." "Pffft. No it's not." "Huh?" "For managing to hit such a crazy ramp at your age?" The mare leaned on the scooter's handles and tapped her fuzzy chin in thought. "You should be knighted! Like... Sir Thundersplosions! The Tumbler!" A devilish grin. "How's that for a friggin' upgrade?" She winked. "Heeheehee..." I toed the ground between us with my "awesome" hoof. "But I'm a filly." "Heh. Yeah, sure." "Well—Sir Thundersplosions the Tumbler it is!" I jumped with fluttering wings and pumped a hoof. "Woohooo!" "Haaaah! Yeah! That's the spirit, dude!" "Rainbow Dash!" the mare growled. "Hmmm?" She looked over. "What is it, Applejack?" "Whoahhhhhhhhhhh..." My jaw nearly hit the grass as I gawked at the pegasus. "You mean you're Rainbow Dash?" "Yup!" "The new cool weather flier from Cloudsdale?!" "Yup yup!" "The most awesome pegasus who's been keeping Ponyville's skies clear nonstop for days on end?!" "Yup yup yup!" Rainbow winked at me again. "Careful, kid. You're about to carve my friggin' epithet!" "AHEM!" The freckled mare was frowning. "Wuh oh." Rainbow nimbly spun the scooter towards me. "Time out. Adult time." "Heeheehee..." I caught the scooter and hugged it towards me, staring at her. "Sure thing, Rainbow Dash." Rainbow slithered her way towards Applejack. "Yoloooooooooooo..." She grinned. "You coughed, madame?" Applejack whispered hoarsely... perhaps not to be heard by me. She may or may not have succeeded. I wasn't really paying attention to anything with my ears at the time. "What in tarnation's gotten into you?!" Applejack hissed. Her eyes aflame. "You nearly killed this poor lil' filly!" "No I didn't." "Yes you did!" Applejack gestured wildly. "Dive-bombing the dang tree when the poor varmint's danglin' from it like a fragile Hearth's Warming ornament?!?" "Hey! Lookatyou!" Rainbow Dash gestured with a teeth-glinting grin. "You can metaphor!" "Stop changin' the subject!" Applejack frowned. "With a wreckless stunt like that you coulda killed the poor thang! You should be ashamed of yerself!" "Uhhhhh... only I didn't kill her?" "But you almost—" "But I didn't." Rainbow's brow furrowed. "Look—I knew that I had her saved the moment I saw her." "How could anypony possibly be so confident about anythang?" "I am." She smirked. "Every minute of every day." She smirked again. "What's the matter? Aren't you?" Applejack blinked. "Uhhhh..." Her ears folded as she avoided Rainbow's gaze. "I... uh..." "Well, you should be." Applejack gulped. "I should?" she squeaked. "Heck yeah, girl! You buck apple trees all day and carry a family on your back!" "Huh?" "Heeheehee." Rainbow's giggling voice cracked. "I've been asking around town. You're the backbone of this village. Has anypony ever told you that?" "Well... reckon most folk are mighty complimentary, but—" "But nothing! You're as awesome as awesome gets, AJ. You should... y'know... swallow it down with a tall glass of liquid pride. Not the sissy kind, of course. I mean spunk! Eh..." Rainbow waved her hoof from side to side. "You get what I mean, right? Meh. Guess I can't metaphor today." "Err..." "Whelp, it's been fun." She reached for her saddlebag of things and threw it back over her flank. "But I can't stick around and entertain you guys much longer. I've got a lot of sleeping-in-tree-branches to do. Very... very important nap-time. You dig?" "Errrrrrrr..." Rainbow spun to face me. "Hey squirt! Fuzzier than what!" I blinked, still dazed. "What?" "Hah hah hah hah!" Rainbow laughed and ruffled my mane. "We'll work on that. Stay aerodynamic. It suits you." SWOOOOOOSH! She took off like a prismatic rocket. "Woohooo!" I hopped and waved both forelimbs. "Thanks a million, Rainbow Dash!" "Words to sleep by!" Rainbow saluted, then spiraled towards the distant horizon. "Zoop!" "Hey! Hey!" Applejack stomped a hoof beside me. "Get back here, varmint! I ain't done yellin' at ya!" "In... my... dreams...!" A raspy voice echoed, then faded in the wind. "Grnnnnngh..." Applejack titled the brim of her hat angrily forward. "Consarn it... who does she think she is?" "Heee-heeheehee!" I spun to beam at her. "Is she awesome or what?" Applejack grumbled. "What." "Awwwww..." I stood on my scooter, reached up, and ruffled a few of her blonde bangs peaking out from the hat. "'We'll work on that.'" More giggles, and I glided away on blurring wheels. Applejack merely sat in place, forelimbs folded. Her muzzle hung between displeased and confused and... something else.