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// Rainbow Dash (Prologue) 
// Story: Applejack's Starlight Drinks 
// by WannaBeLaika 
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Lately, Applejack had been feeling down. Winter often did that to her. Some days were worse than others. Today was one of the better days, but it wasn’t even close to being called ‘decent’ in Applejack’s view. The air was frigid and smelled like wet trees. Wet trees weren’t the worst smell, but it just felt wrong to her in the cold. 

Applejack had a mug of cider in her hooves. It was warm a few hours ago, but she had been outside so long that it had gone cold. She looked out at the snowy orchard, sighing as the wind picked up and blew loose snow onto her lap. 

The snowing had stopped, but the clouds still hung heavy in the night sky. Applejack watched the clouds shift and reshape as the wind pushed them around. She looked into the bottom of her mug. There were still a few swallows of cider left, but with how cold it was it didn’t feel worth the effort of moving the mug to her mouth to finish it off. Applejack set the mug down by her side and sighed. How many times she’d done that since midnight, she didn’t know. All she knew right now was that it was freezing outside. 

The clouds shifted more. As they did something else shifted too, inside Applejack. A patch of starry sky shone from where the clouds parted. It looked almost like ice, floating in a glass of a delicious drink. Not any drink she recognised, but something smooth and cool. Not cold, but not too warm, either. Just enough to comfort her in the snow.

At that moment, all Applejack wanted was a drink. Something alcoholic to take some of the sadness off her shoulders. Something to help her feel better. To give her a warmth she could use throughout the rest of the week, to be able to bear the winter months better. A warmth she could share. 
 
Applejack slowly took to her hooves. She went inside for a moment to get into something warm, then set out to find Rainbow Dash’s home. If anyone had the drink she needed, it was her. And if any other pony were up at this Luna-forsaken time of night, it would be her. 

Applejack called up to the giant cloud monstrosity. Rainbow almost instantly hopped down to greet her. Applejack was surprised. “Why are you outside so late? Awake, sure, but out here in the cold?” 

Rainbow shrugged. “I was kinda feeling depressed, so I figured stargazing would be a good way to kill some time while waiting to be tired. Thing is, even from up there I can’t see much due to the clouds. I’d buck them, but I was told to just let them dissipate. Dunno why, but I don’t wanna lose my job, so… yeah, I guess.” 

 “Over by the orchard, the clouds are clearin’ up some. Wanna grab a couple drinks and head on over?” Applejack smiled slightly as Rainbow contemplated the offer. “Well, sure,” she said. “What kind of drinks? Hot cocoa, or spiced cider, or were you thinking of something in particular that you think I might have?” 

Applejack hummed a bit before saying, “I don’t have nothin’ specific in mind, just somethin’ with alcohol in it. Been feeling down lately mahself, so if you have anything, that’d be nice.” Rainbow dashed off without bothering to answer, but came back carrying a bag with a few bottles of scotch and some glasses. She nodded in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, and the pair set off for the orchard. 

Neither spoke the rest of the night. They were silent, yet felt like they were having the deepest conversation of their lives. Everything was said using looks and gestures. They sat on a hill on the far west side of the orchard, facing east to get a good look at the rest of the apple trees across the snowy landscape. They sat there, drinking, being in one another’s company, silent, just feeling. It was one of the few highlights in Applejack’s life that happened during winter. They sat there until the sun rose. Neither cared that they’d been out all night. All that mattered, then, was that they were there together, having a good time. 

The sunrise that morning was breathtaking. The clouds left over from the night before made the sky look like an oil painting, blended together perfectly. Beams of sunlight shone through them, casting a golden glow across the snow that coated all of Ponyville. The orchard looked like heaven. It was no wonder the weather team wasn’t supposed to clear the clouds. This was perfect. 

The two ponies were asleep by the time the sun hit its peak around noon. Applebloom found them beneath the trees on the hill, sleeping peacefully, empty bottles and glasses in their hooves. She had Big MacIntosh bring them in. 

That night had been the first of many that Applejack and Rainbow had together. It was the only one, however, that they had been alone. And every time they had one of these nights, it was the same. Up at midnight, having drinks, no talking, and just feeling like the happiest ponies alive.