//------------------------------// // Rainbows and Apples // Story: Tiaras and Parasols // by Starpony999 //------------------------------// "Just where do you think you're going?" The words hung in the air for a while without answer. The orange pegasus rolled her eyes before speaking again. "What, are you deaf? I asked you a question. Where. Are. You. Going?" Sweetie, having gained her composure, glanced sideways at the filly. "Since when do the acts of the unicorn concern the pegasus?" Having once been more than mere acquaintances with Scootaloo, the white filly knew how to press the pegasus's buttons. Scootaloo growled as Silver Spoon promptly flipped her hair and retorted, "Since you started hanging around with that unicorn. She thinks she's better than all of us. Are you starting to think you're better than us too?" Sweetie rolled her eyes. "Just because I like to get started on my projects as soon as possible does not mean I'm better than anypony else. To think so would be absurd, indicating that one believes herself to be below others for not getting a head start on school assignments." Silver Spoon was left speechless. She quickly shut her mouth (which was left agape) and glanced at Scootaloo with a look that said 'I have no comeback'. The orange pegasus hurumphed before making to take off. As she hovered a hoof off the ground, she countered "Yeah? Well you're a walking talking dictionary." "I personally prefer 'walking talking thesaurus'." The white unicorn answered, giving Diamond Tiara a 'watch and learn'/'see?' type look. The agitated pegasus blasted through the tree tops in a blur of orange and magenta lightning. The silver companion made her way after the blur, comparatively slow in pace, but still swift for a filly pegasus. All the while she gave the two unicorns an evil-looking glare. Once the two pegasi were gone, Diamond looked at her assignment partner in awe. "How'd you-" "Don't mention it." What normally would have been a phrase spoken in a friendly tone, was said with such ferocity that the other unicorn flinched. "O-Okay." The duo then trotted on towards Sweet Apple Acres. Sweetie Belle was the first of the two to spot their next target bucking apples in the orchard. "There she is. Hey! Rainbow Zap!" The white filly waved her hoof, trying to get the Element of Generosity's attention. The mare in question turned towards the voice, and upon spotting the source, trotted merrily towards the fillies. "What can I do ya for?" She asked, tipping her hat. "We were wondering if you could show us your work," Diamond Tiara asked timidly. "Or tell us about your cutiemark." Sweetie Belle piped up. "Well, I'm sure you've seen me work. I'm out in the orchards all the time. Just bucking apples away." The mare replied. Di's eyes wandered across the orchard. The bright red apples, deep green leaves, and sturdy brown trees blended together into such a beautiful scene and accented Rainbow Zap's color palette. "So that's why your cutiemark is an apple. But why is it rainbow-colored?" The white filly asked, nudging her partner back into the world of the living. "Well that's quite the story. Apple Jet actually had something to do with it..." ---------------------------------------------- While AJ was away at flight school, Granny asked Aunt and Uncle Orange to stay over. They brought along Orange Juice, my cousin, so I still had somepony to play with while Granny and Mac worked in the fields. Applebloom was still a foal at that time, mind you. One day, OJ and I decided to go out into the orchards to play hide and seek. "Alright, you go hide, and I'll count to twenty!" OJ proclaimed, bouncing on his hooves. "I bet you won't be able to find me!" Zap retorted, pawing at the ground as she readied herself to race off. OJ sat down and covered his eyes, "One, two..." And just like that, a cloud of dust replaced the young blue filly. She took off for the west fields, where the foliage was the thickest. Rainbow Zap skidded to a stop in the middle of the field as she looked for the best place to hide. She began to climb a tree when a bolt of lightning shot across the sky. Barely a second later, a sonic boom echoed through the air, accompanied by a large gust of wind. The combination of noise and force knocked the filly back to the ground. And she sat up, she found herself surrounded by tons of apple leaves. Zap looked upwards into the sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of the lightning bolt again. Instead, a blast of pink, purple, and blue exploded across the sky. Sparkles of blue fell like rain onto the trees and, the moment they touched, the leaves sprouted faster than they had left. The leaves were not alone, however, where the apples would eventually grow were odd, star-shaped flowers. My earthpony instincts tugged at me. I sat up and reached to touch the tree. Electric currents rushed through my veins, but I wasn't electrocuted. I felt connected, as if I was one with the tree. And that's when it happened. The clouds of pink and purple rolled away and the flowers zapped into Zap Apples. The blue filly turned around and bucked the tree in front of her. Zap Apples came raining down, but miraculously, they all landed in her saddlebags. Rainbow's eyes locked on the farmhouse in the distance. She galloped back to the homestead, almost as if she had been called, the game of hide and seek completely forgotten to her. Once inside, she began to make the Zap Apples into several different recipes; Zap Apple Juice, Zap Apple Sauce, Zap Apple Pie, and Zap Apple Cider, just to name a few. Over an hour passed by the time the side door slammed opened. Rainbow was jolted out of her whirlwind of opportunity. She turned to the door to see her cousin standing there, fuming and covered in mud and muck. "Zap! You're not supposed to hide in the house!" The orange colt complained. "Juice! I'm so sorry!" The blue filly apologized. "I got lost in the orchard and then the trees grew with amazing speed and I found these apples," She held up one of the rainbow-colored apples for her cousin to see. Orange Juice sniffed the air. "What are you making?" "Cake, caramel, cider, cobble, crumble, dumplings, fritter, honey, juice, pie, sauce, strudel, tart, and jam." "No kidding." OJ licked his lips. "Any of it done yet?" "Juice is, the pie is almost done." Rainbow chuckled to herself as she handed over a glass of Zap Apple Juice. "That's funny. Juice is ready for my cousin Juice." Both young earth ponies giggled together at that point. Later, as the two cousins sat at the kitchen table with all the zap apple sweets, Orange Juice noticed something. "Hey, Zap?" "Yeah, Juice?" The rainbow-named filly answered, sipping some cider. "You didn't have a cutie mark when I got here, right?" "No, of course not. What did you think it disappeared?" A few beats passed between the two as they looked at each other. Orange Juice made a point of looking at his cousin's rump. Rainbow slowly tilted her head down to see what he was looking at. There, in the spot where she had been hit with many apples but had always cleaned it out to find it was still just a lump of blue fur, was a zap apple. She rubbed at the picture as if to make sure it was real. It didn't budge. "I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!" ---------------------------------------------- "So, what exactly did your sister have to do with that?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Sounds more like your cousin helped you out." "Remember that lightning bolt?" The fully grown earth pony mare asked. "The one that made the zap apples grow?" Diamond guessed. "Yeah, that was AJ's doing." "Like that?" Sweetie pointed upwards with her hoof, where a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. "Exactly like that. That's her now." The lightning bolt did a loop-de-loop. Sweetie looked at Diamond. Diamond looked at Sweetie. An air of silence passed between the two before Diamond gave in. "I guess we should go ask her?" "Definitely." The white filly responded before taking off with her fellow unicorn. Rainbow Zap chuckled at the fillies before returning to her apple-bucking.