//------------------------------// // The Once and Future Past // Story: Appledashery Vol. Two // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Rainbow's reaction was as foalish as could be expected. “Pffft. Don’t you already have that, silly pony?” “Well, yes. And… n-no." Applejack gulped, her eyes wandering to the more familiar trees hanging out by the back of her house, barn, and hen house. "This here’s a different dream, sugarcube.” Rainbow cocked her head to the side. "Oh?” Applejack nodded. She opened her lips... hesitated... then finally poured the crystal clean truth out of her mouth, chest, heart, soul. “I wanna be a mother someday, Rainbow Dash," she said in a low, humming tone. "I wanna foal a kid… shucks… a whole gaggle of young’n’s. I wanna raise ‘em good’n’proper, show ‘em the ropes, give ‘em the love and attention that they deserve.” She shuddered slightly, feeling an undeniably tingling sensation from the core of her being. “And not disappear on ‘em, because of one really cruel hoof of fate or ‘nother.” Only the edges of her words had a bitter taste to them. The rest was sweet, wholesome, spreading. “Huh…” Rainbow Dash’s voice careened off to the side, eventually hooking back to the conversation at hoof. "That’s really sweet, Applejack.” “Course, t’ain’t all there is to it," Applejack murmured. Rainbow glanced at her again. "Oh?” Applejack shook her head. “Nosiree." She blew out the side of her muzzle, and the next statement came crooked, stumbling, adorable. "I gotta lasso myself a fine stallion sometime." She thought of the state of the farm and her ears drooped. "...And pretty darn soon, too.” Rainbow nodded again. Her breath came out in a windy fashion. "Oh..." Applejack went on: "“And I dun mean none of that ‘stallion of my dreams’ or ‘knight in shinin’ armor’ hooey that Rarity is always swoonin’ over.” The farm mare rolled her eyes, then smirked. "But rather… a simple, sweet, and down-to-earth gentlecolt. A stallion who knows the lay of the land, and yet is willin’ to learn new things… things that I can teach ‘em, cuz relationships are all supposed to be about give n’take. Ya reckon?” “Hmmm? Oh, yeah. Sure…” Rainbow struggled not to sound bored. She sat back down, stifled a yawn, and repeated: "Give and take…” Try as she might to deny it, Applejack was drumming up memories of her father... or at least memories she thought were true of her father. "He’d be strong and capable. But none of that macho… bravismo nonsense. A stallion who’s too preoccupied with showin’ off and tryin’ to woo me ain’t worth the time. I’d rather have a kind, patient, understandin’ sort of a special somepony. A pony who’d stick by my sides at all times, and yet… I-I could take care of him too.” Applejack blinked at her own words. The next question was as much to herself as it was to her best friend seated beside her. "You don’t reckon that sounds a tad bit silly, does it?” Rainbow's response was somewhat delayed. “Oh! No! Not… strange at all for you to want to take care of a pony…” “Yeah…” Rainbow rambled on: “To hold him close and make him feel safe and wanted…” Applejack giggled inwardly, thinking of nights where she cradled the feather, holding onto an idea that had infected her mind... reawakening the inner mother who checked on Apple Bloom in the middle of the night, that yearned for breaths beyong the tinge of moonlight. “Heheh… sure thang." Like all fantasies, it was nebulous and cyclical and impossible to track. But the feeling—the sensation—was undeniably concrete, and it anchored Applejack to the moment at hoof. Perhaps too strongly. She felt a lump in her throat forming, and she inwardly cursed the irony of sharing this with a scampy friend whose drunken shenanigans inadvertently reinvigorated the entire plunge to begin with. "Sure thang...” Rainbow—in the meantime—was carrying the narrative forward. "Cuddle him tightly in bed. Wrap your legs around him and nuzzle his ears… whisper to him that it’s okay to be weak sometimes, so long as you’ve got the strength to help pick him back up together.” “Sure—" Applejack did a double take. "—wait… huh?" Rainbow merely stared back. Applejack spoke on: “I… uh… think I’d settle for a stallion who could help me take care of the young’n’s…” Applejack clarified with a smile. “And the farm, of course.” Rainbow's next question was boldly brutal: “But AJ, what… what if you don’t get to salvage the farm, y’know?” Applejack kneaded the blades of grass in front of them. She searched back to memories of her mother, attempting to connect the dots and understand—or perhaps re-understand—what had gotten her to fall so heavily for her father to begin with. "I reckon in the end, it doesn’t matter. Trust… loyalty… commitment.” She felt pressured to choose a "masculine" quality all of the sudden. Without questioning it, she threw in: "A handsome scent.” She chuckled at herself. Rainbow chuckled as well. "Heh. Heh. Hehhhh.” Feeling better, Applejack gazed off at the lengths of the sun-kissed farmland. "In the end, it’s all about havin’ somepony special to come back home to." Silence. Applejack felt the seconds wasting away. She and her friend had been on break for far too long. Fantasizing about the future—about promises kept yet undelivered—wasn't helping her get anything done, and the farm was in enough trouble as it was. Some things simply weren't afforded, and it was difficult to explain that to anypony—even herself. “Yeah, well, yere a better dreamer than I am, Rainbow Dash," she ultimately said. "I’m ‘fraid it only gives me the blues somethin’ fierce.” “I… uh… I feel ya. Believe me.” “All that stuff—however charmin’—has gotta take a backseat to what I’m dealin’ with now. Once I’m done havin’ somethin’ to fret over… for better or for worse… that’s when I’ll get to relax.” Applejack exhaled lightly. “And settle.” She felt a tingle in her chest, rising up, manifesting moistly in her eyes. Her voice wavered slightly as she let the latest wave of truth unfold from her muzzle: "And, land’s sakes, I sure do look forward to settlin’ one of these days.” Once again, Applejack's gaze fell upon the stones resting atop the hill. She felt penetrated... encumbered by the grayness... the borders of everything she was and ever will be... like the faceless picture frames lining the walls of her home, forever collecting dust. When a set of blue hooves yanked her wildly upwards, it was downright startling. Applejack gasped, teetering in Rainbow's grasp. "Huh?!" Suddenly, all she could see was color. Bright and vibrant. "What in tarnation—???" “Come on, Applejack.” Gestured swiftly towards the orchards. "We’ve got some work to do!” “But… but Rainbow." Applejack gulped, motioning towards the setting sun. "I can’t ask you to sweat yerself anymore. Just look. We done gabbed the sun into hiding. Thanks for all yer help, sugarcube, but honestly, you don’t have to—” “Bite your tongue!” Rainbow Dash suddenly snarled. “Does that sound like the Applejack I know?” “Uhhhh…” Applejack gulped nervously. “Maybe?” Rainbow bore a devilish smirk. "We’ve got some apples to buck! It’s a full moon out tonight! We’ll kick trees until we collapse if we have to!” “Rainbow Dash, honestly, I appreciate yer spunk, but—” “But nothing! You wanna get a heads up on the Apple Buck Season while it may be your last?” “Well, of course!” “Then let’s get our flanks into gear!” Rainbow Dash soared downhill. “Rainbow, what’s gotten into you?" Applejack's voice was strung up between a growl and a guffaw. "Yer usually not this gung ho about farm work!” At the base of the hill, Rainbow spun about to look up at the mare. "Applejack, look at me. Are ya looking at me?” Applejack nodded, eyes narrow and studying. "I promise you," Rainbow said firmly. "Things are gonna be okay. You’re gonna have your farm.” The next part came in a gunshot. “And you’re gonna live out your dream. Ya hear me?” Applejack bit her lip. Her mind wandered back to another time in her life when everything was vibrant and bright. Somewhere in the colors, her parents smiled. They spoke warm things—just like Rainbow. And even if they didn't say the exact same words to her adolescent self, in the trailing warmth of Rainbow's words—Applejack imagined that they just as well could have. "Hmmmmmmm..." Applejack eventually replied. "Sure thang, Sugarcube.” “Save the sugars and cubes for the morning.” Rainbow Dash spun and flew into the next line of apple trees, blue muscles rippling. "Now let’s get goin’! Last pony in’s a rotten apple!” “Oh, jee… That’s soooo darn original.” “Your face is original! Now move it or lose it!”