//------------------------------// // Rainbow Dash puts a hoof in her mouth // Story: Munching Rainbows // by Frozen //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash, still charging down the now broadening path towards the Apple families orchard, was getting anxious about her belated arrival to the training. This close to the harvest, Applejack had little time to spare - but being the competitive mare she was, she pushed her work around the farm back into the evening hours with pleasure. She slowed down as she ascended the mound, eagerly hoping to see Applejack's trademark hat. "Aww frick…!" she said, while she exhaled sharply. She ground to a halt and bucked at the cornerstone they usually met at before starting their warm up. Perhaps Big Macintosh, the monosyllabic brother of the earth pony she was looking to meet up with, could help finding her. She started into another sprint and veered off towards the edge of the orchard, where she could hear the rhythmic alternating sounds of strong bucks hitting trees and the rumbling of apples falling to the ground. She walked up to the stallion, as he lunged out to the apple tree again. "How I'd like them apples…" she whispered to herself, blushing ever so slightly as the cover of this months Stallion’s Health came to her mind. She had snuck a peek at it while waiting in Fluttershys cottage for the monthly polishing of Tanks shell - it had a quite racy centerfold. Shaking off her goosebumps, she got back to the task at hoof. "Hey there Big Mac! I've been wondering - could you tell me where to find your sister?" Big Macintosh blew his dreamy mane out of his eyes and answered. "Eeyup." He pointed a hoof towards the water pump. "She's a might' bit riled up about somethin' though… Could you do me a good one 'n' stop 'er from floodin' the orchard again?" Big Mac had taken a worried look while telling her this. The rainbow-tailed pegasus ran a hoof through her mane, biting back a comment on what she'd like to use the spare water for - in all shortness: it involved mud and wrestling. "Ungh… I knew she would throw a fit about that!" She headed towards the water pump that was squealing metallically while Applejack was running inside a half barrel that was attached to a crankshaft and a belt that moved the pump. Rainbow Dash set down her mask by the pump and flapped her wings, flying up to Applejack's eye level on the pump. Ignoring her tardy pegasus friend, the earth pony put on a stern look, gazing into the distance. "Look Applejack," the pegasus still had to decide what to say, she felt that just saying that she was sorry wouldn't cut it today. "Applejack, I'm late because I helped Twilight with something. You know, against those parasprites that ruined your barn last month… I really hurried back here as fast as I could!" The expression on Applejack's face softened as she jumped out of the driving wheel. "Ah' guess ya' won't need a warmup then?" Were the last words the lazily flapping pegasus heard as the orange mare left her in a cloud of dust. Stunned at how smoothly this was settled, she dropped to her hooves and sprinted to keep up with her. Usually the mares just circled around the borders of Ponyville, but this time Applejack cut through the orchard to show off her leaf-shaking talent. They skipped over the applecarts while weaving between the trees and ended up exhausting themselves quicker than usual. "It's a nice change, having soft grass and leaves under your hooves instead of gravel and dust, isn't it?" Applejack offered. "Yeah, it's nice… But the mud is getting stuck in my hooves, it’s kinda yucky to clean them out you know?" Applejack chuckled at that. "It' always somethin'…" Time passed by and Rainbow Dash noticed a tingling sensation in her right front hoof. Avoiding the discussion around being built to run, she came up with the second best excuse for returning to the farm and ending the exercise for today. "I worked up quite an appetite - do you mind calling it quits for today?" Dash called over to the earth pony that had just leapfrogged a tree stump, to avoid crashing into it. "Sure sugar cube! Last one's back at the pump gets to fetch tankards an' cider for both of us!" The thought of climbing up the steep stairs of the cellar with a pitcher of cider balanced on her head was enough to summon her last reserves and get ahead of Applejack. *** Picking clean her mud encrusted hooves with a stick, Rainbow Dash sat at the pump. She had outpaced Applejack a while back gaining a big edge. She suspected that Applejack gave away this victory to keep her motivated. A sudden glimmer on her cyan hoof, accompanied by another tingling sensation gained her attention. Eying her hoof closely, she could not make out any bruises or cracks. "Ya' sure you wanna fill up on mud before having apple pie?" The panting earth pony had a worried look on her face. Then it suddenly hit Rainbow - deep in her thoughts about the tingling hoof, she must have unconsciously chewed on the stick she had used to clean her hooves with. Rainbow Dash shrugged and retorted "Ehh - a bit of dirt won't hurt…" Applejack cocked her head at this statement coming from a mare that had once lectured her about the myth of the five seconds rule. When they reached the porch, Rainbow Dash laid down on a deckchair and put on her sunglasses. Before heading down into the cellar and stopping by the kitchen, Applejack adjusted the sunshade for her grandmother, who had dozed off in the sun again. The earth pony almost lost her balance when Rainbow Dash complimented her on the edible decoration she had spotted on the tablecloth. “What the hay?” the countrymare exclaimed. She set down the cider and cake before trying to shove her hoof down Rainbows mouth to make her throw up the decorative candles and gemstones. “I get why Sweetie Belle tryed to eat ‘em, her being a wide-eyed foal ‘n’ such, but you’ve got some explain’ to do! Now spit!” "Get off of me!" Rainbow struggled with her and shoved the earth pony back. "I'm fine!" Ashamed of her dietary mishaps, she excused herself and disappeared around a corner. "What is wrong with me?" she spoke to herself. She expected the candles to leave a bad aftertaste or at least make her stomach hurt, but instead she felt less hungry. She even had that urge to take a nap - just like after every meal she had since she was a little filly. Regardless how she felt right now, she had to cover up the events of this noon. The last thing she wanted to waste her time on was explaining this to Twilight Sparkle, so she went behind some bushes to rid herself from her uncommon meal. Applejack peeked around the corner and spotted a bush with rainbow colored mane that was producing retching noises. "That silly pegasus, I wonder what that was all about…" After sipping some water from a smaller hoof-operated pump on the side of the house, the bile taste was nearly gone. Rainbow Dash hoped that she would be spared of questions on this topic. She joined her friend on the porch, enjoying the sun and some apple pastries. Something was wrong. What she expected to taste of butter and sugar sweet apple slices with a hint of cinnamon and citrus, turned out to be almost flavorless and lacking the usual appealing consistency. She barely managed to swallow her bite, so she reached for the cider in an effort to wash down the sub-par pastry. As soon as she had lifted the tankard to her maw, letting the usually refreshing beverage flood her mouth, she was nauseated and had to keep herself from spitting out the revolting liquid. She turned around and emptied her mouth into a flowerpot on the porch. "Oh my gosh that tastes like a sweaty wing pit!" she exclaimed. Applejack apologized to her winged friend, reasoning that the cider must have gone bad in the now empty barrel. The sweet cider that she had poured herself was fine, so she went down into the cellar and fetched some fresh cider for Dash, even tasting it before heading up again. While Applejack was gone Rainbow Dash picked up a cupcake. It was a chocolate cupcake with bright red frosting and little caramel drops on top. Still a bit insecure about her luck with food today, she only touched the frosting with the tip of her tongue. Nothing. She tasted nothing. The frosting was merely soft to the touch and nothing else. She panicked and felt her tongue with her hoof. Now she was overwhelmed by an onslaught of different, indescribable but yet enticing tastes! Rainbow Dash ripped her hoof from her watery mouth, making a popping sound as she saw Applejack pushing open the door to the porch again. "There ya' go!" Applejack said as she pushed a tankard towards the pegasus. The earth pony had fixed her eyes on Rainbow Dash, waiting for her to taste the cider. Hesitantly she lifted the tankard and sipped from it. The taste was unbearable, but she didn't want to hurt Applejack’s feelings or raise any suspicions about her behavior, so she let the beverage flow out into the tankard again and forced a grin and said "Soo much better now!" "Well, feel free to nap on ma' porch for a while - I've got some chores to do. See ya!" As she laid down in the evening sun, Rainbow's stomach rumbled loudly. She snuck up to the table and looked around her - she was unobserved. Rainbow Dash scooped up a few decorative gems with her tongue and proceeded to eat them, barely able to contain her excitement about the taste.