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

Applejack's jaw hung agape.  She had no words to respond with.

Not that it mattered.  Something absolute had melted, and it showed across Rainbow's tear-stained face.  Her grimace had been replaced with a smile.  Anchored by sleep, the petite pegasus snuggled up to Applejack's chest... Applejack's tummy... Applejack's everything.  A few more tears trickled out, and then Rainbow's muzzle shuddered with the tell-tale signs of foalish slumber.

Her heartbeat had slowed to a gentle, relaxed crawl;  the same couldn't be said for Applejack's.

The farm mare collapsed there, pinned against a hard wall and a soft angel.  She struggled to breathe—but to do so would threaten jostling Rainbow Dash out of the moment, and then everything would be lost... everything that Applejack couldn't be bucked to understand.

So, she lay there... limp and confused... and yet solid and strong.  Rainbow Dash cuddled up against her like a dependent little sister.  But there was more too it than that.  Even a pony like Applejack wasn't immune to the electricity nipping at her nose.

She reached a hoof out... and stroked the back of Rainbow's neck.  Once again, she felt the heartbeat... the warmth... the pulsating tenderness that suddenly existed in that world.  It was frightening... paralyzing... but the unexpected softness of Rainbow's mane kept Applejack from falling apart.  She was mesmerized by it... glued to it... just like Rainbow was glued to her.  It would take a crumbling mountain to move the two of them from that position, and yet Applejack knew that they had to move... and yet...

And yet...

Applejack trembled.  She was afraid of waking Rainbow Dash.  So she let another fetlock join the carress.  Soon, she was holding the mare tenderly to her chest... cradling her.  It didn't help the situation, but it didn't make it any worse either.  There simply wasn't any other thing she could do.  Holding Rainbow so close... steadying her... anchoring her to the earth...

She couldn't tell if she was protecting Rainbow Dash anymore, or just herself.  She focused on the softness of Rainbow's mane, and a pit in her stomach joined the emptiness in her mind.  Applejack felt lost and found all at once.  There was no sweating... no crying... just shivers.

Pupils shrunken, Applejack gazed a million miles into the grayness of Canterlot.  The only thing that would keep her satiated was to carress those colors inexplicably gifted to her... rolling over in deep, wordless thoughts... waiting for the stars to shift.  Or something else.