//------------------------------//
// Warm Apple Fritter 
// Story: Winning 
// by Botched Lobotomy 
//------------------------------//

“So after that, me and your grandmother did some, heh, talking, and in a roundabout sorta way you could say that’s how it happened. How all...” Rainbow Dash waved a hoof vaguely around the room, the photographs, the filly sitting in front of her, “...this came about. Eventually, anyway.”
Pippin frowned. “Huh.”
“Huh? That’s all you have to say?”
“I didn’t know apple cider could get you so...” she waved a hoof vaguely. “...y’know.”
“I’m really not sure that’s the message you should be⁠—⁠”
“It sounds weird. Is it fun?”
“Absolutely not. No fun at all. Don’t even think about trying it until you’re at least sixty-five.”
Pippin narrowed her eyes. “You weren’t sixty-five.”
“And look where I ended up. With little insolent granddaughters giving me trouble I don’t deserve. I was the fastest pony in Equestria, you know.”
“Wow, really?”
Rainbow Dash sighed. What had she done, she wondered, to merit such things. “Well, anyway, the thing to remember here is not the cider. Not a word to your mother, either. Here, have an apple fritter to seal the deal.” She went to reach for the plate, and met only empty air. The cloth the treats had been sitting under lay flat upon the table, and a trail of crumbs led away down the hall. She blinked. “A distraction?”
Pippin only winked, and darted down the hall after the fritters.





“That filly,” said Rainbow, as they settled down for the night, “is going to be the death of me. She’s too clever by half.”
Applejack grinned. “She gets that from her mother. And her mother sure don’t get it from you.”
“Hmph.” Rainbow stuck her tongue out. “You know she wants to be an athlete? A runner, she says.”
“That’ll go down well.”
“Well, you never know. Maybe she’ll come to her senses. Become an architect, or something.”
“Hah! There’s too much stubborn in her for that. Too headstrong.”
“Wonder where she gets that from.”
Applejack nipped her gently, pushing her over with a hoof. “Get to sleep, you.”
Rainbow smiled, settling down against her wife in the warmth and the glow of the covers.
“Hey, AJ,” she said, when she thought she was asleep.
“Mmh?” asked Applejack, the familiar voice rumbling through her body.
“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash said, and kissed her wife goodnight.