//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Apples // Story: No Need for Rainbows // by terrycloth //------------------------------// The freckled orange mare and the large red stallion stared at each other, silently, at the gate to Sweet Apple Acres. Behind Applejack, and her cart full of gems, were the other members of her partnership, most of whom were looking worried and/or confused, although Pinkie Pie was making faces. Behind the stallion were a small yellow filly and an old green mare, whose stoic expressions were so far proving invulnerable to the pink pony’s assault. Twilight Sparkle decided to make her own attempt. “Is that you, little Applebloom?” she asked. “You’re so much bigger than the last time I saw you!” “I reckon that’s because you an’ ‘Miss Apple’ never come to the family reunions, ‘less they’re in Manehattan,” Applebloom replied. “Is Mister Macintosh going to let us in?” Twilight asked. “We’re not going to hurt you or the farm, I promise.” “Ayup,” the staillion said, speaking at last. “You’re not going to hurt us, because you’re not setting one hoof on my farm.” “After all the bits I’ve loaned you over the years, it’s basically my farm by this point,” Applejack said, not breaking her stare. “Don’t make me regret leaving you in charge, Big Mac. I don’t like playing hard-ball with family.” “What do you know about family?” Applebloom said. “You ran off an abandoned us ‘fore I was even born.” “Wait just a Moon-damned minute! The Oranges are my family just as much as the Apples,” Applejack replied, lowering her head. “Please don’t fight,” squeaked Fluttershy. “We can find another farm, right? Right?” “Applejack,” Rarity said, “please. There’s no need to push the issue. I know you wanted to help them out because you feel a responsibility to your family, but if they don’t want to have their orchard bearing fruit again, we can pick some other farm to put back in business first.” “You’re here to help the trees?” croaked the old green mare, shuffling painfully to Big Mac’s side. “Yes,” Applejack said. “Save the trees, save the farm. Maybe even save the world.” “Granny?” Big Macintosh said, looking confused as the old green mare started hitting him with her walker. “Get out of their way, you damn foal!” Granny croaked. “If Applejack says she’s here to help the trees, then we’re not gonna stop ‘er. You know she couldn’t tell a lie to save her life.” Once through the gate, they got to work unloading the gems in the front yard. “Okay,” Applejack said. “Twilight, you and Rarity get the gem array all hooked up and ready for activation. Fluttershy and Pinkie, go survey the orchards so we know just how large an area we need to cover. I’m going to go inside and catch up with my family, and explain the new pricing structure we worked out.” “It always comes down to bits with you, doesn’t it,” Big Mac said. Applejack ignored him. “Rainbow – for Nightmare’s sake, where’s Rainbow?” “Um, she said she was going to check the clouds to make sure they weren’t too low,” Fluttershy said. “Hmph,” Applejack grunted. “Well, as long as she’s back in time for the big reveal. This was all her idea, after all.” “Oh man,” Rainbow Dash said, giggling to herself as she joined the others in the lounge, except for Twilight and Rarity who she’d left in the study to try to make sense of her latest ‘advice’. “This is great. Those eggheads are going to be in there for *hours*.” “So you *don’t* actually know how to make real sunlight?” Applejack said, repeating Rainbow’s claim as she’d led the unicorns off. Rainbow Dash gave her a look. “Everypony knows *that*. You make a light, that’s as bright as the sun. Easy peasy. I told them that for it to work properly, it had to be in the form of a rainbow.” Fluttershy’s eyes went wide. “Oh! Like a prism!” Pinkie Pie said. “Only in reverse! That’s really smart, Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow blinked. “Well, duh. Of course it was smart, it was my idea. That’s not the funny part, though. I told them that to make a *real* rainbow, they needed to include all eight colors.” She sniggered to herself. Applejack frowned. “Red Orange Yellow, Green Blue Purple. I guess you might count Indigo and… what?” “Pink?” Pinkie pie suggested. “It’d *hardly* be a good prank if I told them to make colors that *actually exist*,” Rainbow Dash said. “Like I said, they’ll be in there for *hours* before they figure that out. “ The door burst open, and Twilight Sparkle ran through excitedly, two enchanted gems floating over her head. “We did it!” Rainbow Dash whirled around, then squinted at the gems. “I don’t think you did it right. Those are black and white.” “Well, they’re not turned on,” Twilight said. “We had to extrapolate from your laymare’s explanation, and Rarity was *sure* you were just putting us on, but I did the math and it totally supported your claims! So I worked out a pattern, and – let me just show you.” Twilight’s horn glowed brighter for a second as she triggered the spell Rarity had placed in the gem, and the white opal started to glow faintly pink. Pinkie Pie smirked at Rainbow. “Um…” Rainbow said. “This one’s super-red,” Twilight said. “It turns out it’s not a color you can see – the pink’s just a side effect – but tell me what you *feel*.” Applejack closed her eyes, then opened them wide as she realized, “I feel warm!” “Yes!” Twilight said triumphantly. “Super-red is the color that makes sunlight warm! Can you imagine if we’d left that out?” “So what does the black one do?” Rainbow Dash asked, curious and a little scared. “Oh, the extra-purple?” Twilight said, with a wide grin. “You’re going to love this one.” The black gem lit up with a faint indigo, and everything in the room started to *glow*. While everypony was gawking at the strange black light, Fluttershy tapped on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, and led her out into the hallway. “Wow, I can’t believe they actually did it,” Rainbow Dash said, impressed. “That was some totally awesome magic, though – I don’t even care if it ruined my joke.” “I can’t believe you!” Fluttershy said in a quiet, but assertive whisper. “Telling them to make a rainbow?” “Huh?” Rainbow Dash said. “Nightmare Moon *hates* rainbows!” Fluttershy reminded her. Rainbow Dash grimaced. She’d known Fluttershy would catch onto that part, so she had an explanation ready, but this was the part where she had to lie to her friend. “Nah, she’s over that. I’m the official representative of all rainbows, and I’m on *her* side now. Besides, what choice do we have? If we actually put little suns up everywhere she’d freak.” Fluttershy still looked worried. “Trust me,” Rainbow Dash said, patting the other pegasus on the back. “She’ll love this.” “I guess as long as we don’t hit her in the face,” Fluttershy said, still looking worried. On the far side of Sweet Apple Acres, a squadron of Shadowbolts flew in formation, Rainbow Dash in the lead. After a few passes over the dark hills, they settled into one particular tree, and – save for Rainbow – reformed into Nightmare Moon. “This is it, your majesty,” Rainbow Dash said. “The very best spot in the whole orchard to watch us test our prototype without being seen.” “And the others don’t know I’m here?” Nightmare Moon said. “You cannot lie to me, Rainbow.” “They don’t know,” Rainbow Dash said. “They think this is just a test before they go public, but I figured you deserved to see it before any pony else, since we’ve been doing this all in your name.” “And I’ll be able to see it from all the way out here,” she said, skeptically. “This is quite a distance from the farmhouse.” “We’re working on a *big* scale, your majesty,” Rainbow Dash said. “Trust me, you’ve got a front-row seat.”