It was a day like any other on Sweet Apple Acres. The sky was blue and dotted with fluffy white clouds over the trees full of ripe fruit. Applejack happily bucked a tree, watching proudly as all of the apples fell neatly into the waiting bushels before moving onto the next one.
She bucked the next tree, and the apples fell as they always did. She smiled at those full baskets.
Thud.
An apple landed on her head, then bounced to the ground. Applejack's eyes went wide in shock.
She stared at the apple. Whenever she bucked a tree, she always knocked out all of the apples right away. At least as long as she was on top of her game, like today. And the apples never fell on her, not if she was bucking right.
She shook her head, wondering if her aim had somehow been off. Then she used her tail to whip the apple into a bushel, and walked over to buck the next tree.
She took a minute to compose herself and focus before she twisted to plant her hooves on the trunk. She felt the tree shake, and the apples fell perfectly into the bushels. She sighed with relief.
Thud.
Another single apple.
Applejack blinked, then quickly looked around. Something had to be wrong. She felt fine, and everything looked normal, apple trees, green grass, blue sky, fluffy white clouds.
A smirk slowly spread across her face. Fluffy. White. Clouds.
She grabbed her lasso and tossed it, aiming for the closest cloud above her.
“AAH!” Yelled the cloud. Or the pony laying on it who just got roped, more likely.
Applejack planted her hooves and yanked, tugging the cloud's occupant out of the sky and onto the ground.
“Heya, AJ.” Rainbow Dash said with a grin, picking herself up and shaking her head. She ignored the rope around her midsection and tried to keep from laughing. “Don't you know it's against the law to interfere with a weather patrol pony on duty?”
AJ raised an eyebrow, still smirking. “Well sorry there, didn't know there was a rain of apples on the forecast.”
“Apples? What ap-” Dash started, then noticed her open saddle bag, full of incriminating red fruit. “Oh, that's just, uh, my lunch?”
Applejack's knowing smirk didn't waver as Dash tried her hardest to look innocent before bursting into laughter.
Applejack shook her head and walked up to the pegasus. “You are the most irritatin', annoyin'-”
“Most awesome?” Dash added, still snickering.
AJ started to chuckle. “Most awesome, craziest-”
“Hottest?”
“Hottest.” Applejack nodded. “Goofiest-”
“Best.” Dash smirked.
“Best bunch of good for nothin' ponyfeathers in all Equestria.” Applejack finished, kissing Dash on the nose.
Dash grinned. “Yeah, I am. And you love it.”
“Celestia help me, I do.” Applejack said, her grin matching Dash's.
“So, I came over here to see if you wanted to go for a run. I need to stretch my legs.”
Applejack glanced at Dash's saddle bag.
Dash smiled sheepishly. “Okay, I came over here to throw apples at your head, then see if you wanted to go for a run.”
AJ laughed and nuzzled Dash. “I'm never gonna figure what to do with you.”
“Kiss me. A lot.” Dash suggested, returning the nuzzle.
“That sounds nice.” AJ said, planting a kiss on Dash's lips. “So does a run, if ya' gimme a bit to finish this row.”
“Awesome. I needed a nap.” Dash looked to her sides, where the lasso was still around her wings. “Can you untie me?”
“I dunno.” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “I think keepin' ya' on a leash might be a good idea.”
“We can do that later.” Dash smirked. “Right now there's a tree branch with my name on it right there.”
Applejack smiled and loosened the rope. “I'd love to know why ya' seem to think all my apple trees have branches with your name on 'em.”
Dash shook off the lasso and flapped into the air, landing on a branch. She smiled as she laid back and closed her eyes. “Because this is perfect. A nice sunny day, a comfy branch, and a beautiful farmer harvesting her crops nearby who wants to go for a run later. All that's missing is the awesome pegasus to sleep on the branch, enjoy the view, and keep her company. It's like there's a spot in your life just for me.”
Applejack smiled up at her pegasus. “There sure is, sugarcube. There always will be.”
***
Author's note: Season Three
Seasons one and two of The AppleDash Project are complete. If you're interested in following season three when it comes out you should either make sure you have this story favorited, or watch me. I'll be making a blog post announcing it and publishing it as a new story.
It will probably go up soon after the second episode (or third, in the case of a two parter) airs. I will be making some changes for season three:
Longer chapters – since I have an enforced waiting period between each episode, I might as well use that to make each chapter more of a story in it's own right.
More episodes covered – I hope to do all of them, actually. If AJ and Dash don't appear I'll use the slot to do a side story for them.
A larger story arc – This is a gamble, since I have no idea what each episode will bring. This is the reason I'm giving myself an episode for a buffer, so I have a little wiggle room there. But it should be fun to watch me flail when we get an episode that Josses everything I've been doing so far!
Other Stuff
I recently posted a meme to my blog, offering to do commentary on stories or chapters of stories I'd written. Two chapters of The AppleDash project were requested, so here they are with author commentary: Tough Ponies, and What's So Great About Cider. More might be added in the future, who knows?
Those of you who commented a lot, I was totally keeping track of you. I'd get worried if you skipped too many weeks, and extra happy when I saw your username again. Seriously, you guys, comments are gold and commenting as a story goes along means a lot to an author, or at least it does to me. So thank you.
A special thanks to DbzOrDie, who PMed me one day and has since become on of my best internet friends and the person who's always there to listen to my crazy ideas and help me to work them into something I can write. He's willing to read over what I wrote at the drop of a hat, and I can't express how useful that is.
Finally, DbzOrDie and I are the co-admins of the group AppleDash. We hang out on the message boards there along with other awesome AppleDash fans and writers. We also post art we find, and keep the folders completely up to date with decently rated fics. So if you ship AppleDash, you should check it out.