//------------------------------//
// Perspire 
// Story: Appledashery Vol. Two 
// by Just Essay 
//------------------------------//

"...and so then we was both pretty much a barrel of hootin' and hollerin', and before we knew it we was stumblin' from one pub to another.  Drinkin' our fair share of cider—for sure.  But not to excess.  Mind you, we ain't fixin' to ruin any other ponies' night on the town... especially the ponies who spend all their nights here.  Even still..."  Applejack took her hat off and smiled apologetically at the mares assembled in Twilight's living room.  "...I'm mighty sorry for not waitin' for the rest of you gals.  I reckon we got carried away, what with this bein' a lazy sort of vacation and all."

"Ohhhhhhh Applejaaaaaaaack," Rarity cooed, then giggled.  She also seemed inebriated—albeit with friendship moreso than liquor.  "Don't be so hard on yourselves!  We're glad that you and Rainbow Dash got to have some friendly catching up with each other!"

"Especially after we dragged you both around to shop after shop... salon after salon..."  Fluttershy hid part of her face behind her mane.  "...you must have been so very bored."

"We didn't want to interrupt your reverie," Twilight said, squatting playfully on the sofa besides Pinkie Pie.  "To be perfectly honest—we started talking about our old school days and one thing led to another and..."

"Hurricane Gossip led us back to here!"  Pinkie Pie giggled.  "You know how it gets!"

"Heh... reckon so..."  Applejack plopped her hat back on.  "Where's Spike?"

"Already fast asleep, the poor dear," Rarity murmured.  "Tomorrow, we're going somewhere the precious little Spikey-Wikey wants to go first!  Seems only fitting."

"And you and Rainbow should get your say too!"  Twilight Sparkle smiled.  "Say... just where is Rainbow Dash anyways?"

"Oh... she felt like goin' for a bit of a stroll," Applejack said with a shrug.  "You ain't the only mares who got to squawkin'.  Reckon she feels like airing her head out a bit.  That's how pegasus do things."

"We do?" Fluttershy blinked.

Applejack blinked back.

"Oh!  Well... uhm..." Fluttershy fidgeted.  "If Rainbow Dash feels like being alone for a bit... who are we to stop her?"

"She... uh..."  Applejack gulped.  "She just seemed fine and dandy to me!"

"Well, if you think so, then so do the rest of us, Applejack," Twilight said.

"Yeah!"  Pinkie Pie grinned. "Because the last thing we'd ever expect Dashie to do is go skulking around the streets and back alleys of Canterlot at night, causing all sorts of trouble and ending up lost in a ditch somewhere!"  She smiled.  That smile twitched.  And then—"Who wants more caramel popcorn?"

"Oooh!"  Rarity jumped in her seat.  "I do!"

"Me too!" Twilight chirped.

"Heehee..."  Fluttershy flapped her wings and fluttered gently across the room.  "Everypony relax.  I'll go get some."

"Awwwww... that's so sweet of you, Fluttershy," Twilight said.

"Well, it's the least I can do."

"Rarity, where were you last?"

"Oh!  That's right!  My high school prom!  Oh... you won't believe how many strapping young beaus were lining up to ask me out to the great Enchantment Under the Seahorse Dance!"

"Heeheehee!  Now this I'm just dying to hear."

Applejack chuckled.  "Well... uh... I think I'll be taking a shower now."  A breath.  "Might... get a nightcap early, y'all."  Another breath—also virtually ignored.  "Some of us... fancy 'skulking' in dreamland."  She smiled nervously.  Only she could have heard that last bit.  When she finally stumbled off to the Sparkle family restroom, she did so stumbling... her eyes gazing miles beyond the opaque walls around her.

When she finally stood beneath the cool cascade of water, it wasn't enough to outwash a strange curtain of cold sweat overcoming her...