Dear Princess Celestia,
It's a tad easier to be proud when you come in first than it is when you finish further back. But there's no reason to hide when you don't do as well as you'd hoped. You can't run away from your problems. Better to run to your friends and family.
Applejack finished her letter to Princess Celestia just as the train pulled into the station at Ponyville. Sticking her head out the window, she waved to her family, Mayor Mare, and the few other ponies who'd come give her a warm welcome home.
As the orange earth pony stepped off the train, Winona was the first to greet her, virtually tackling Applejack to the ground to smother her in kisses. Everypony smiled with Big Mac even shredding some stallionly tears before he dog-piled onto his sister, with Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom quickly following suit.
Once the hugging was over, Applejack apologized profusely to her friends, and family for not coming home just because she couldn't face her problems, and to Mayor Mare for failing to get any prize money to fix town hall. Everypony forgave Applejack, for they were just glad to have her back at last, and Mayor Mare assured her that they would just find another way to raise the money they needed.
At last, it was time for everypony to go home, and they all started to leave the station...
But then, Fluttershy suddenly stopped in her tracks, and put a hoof to her chin in deep thought.
"Fluttershy? What is it?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know..." the yellow pegasus said, "I've just got this funny feeling that we forgot something..."
"Huh?" inquired Applejack.
Rainbow Dash scoffed, "Oh, come on! What are you talking about? What could we possibly have..."
The sky blue pegasus stopped in mid-sentence, and her face went pale as it suddenly dawned on her, with her friends all coming to the same realization mere seconds later:
Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were missing from the group. They hadn't forgotten something; they had forgotten two someponies.
"Uh-Oh." was all Rainbow Dash could say.
----
Back out in the middle of the desert, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, having missed the last train back to Ponyville, had appropriated a hoof-operated rail cart to get themselves back home. While Pinkie Pie had remained cheerful in spite of their present situation, Rarity was not even remotely happy.
After the two of them had fallen out of the cart, Rainbow Dash had declined to go back for the two of them in favor of chasing after Applejack, saying that there was no time, and that her friends knew what they were getting into.
As if that weren't enough, afterwards the sky blue pegasus and the others had apparently forgotten all about them, and just gone home, leaving the two of stranded in Dodge Junction until they'd found the rail cart.
"What do you think, Rarity?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Chimicherry or cherrychanga? Chimicherry, cherrychanga? Chimicherry, cherrychanga? Chimicherry, cherrychanga? Chimicherry, cherrychanga?"
Rarity huffed, "When I get back, you're gonna get it, Rainbow Dash!"
The white unicorn mare could only grumble as Pinkie kept asking the same question over, and over again while they continued to pump the cart.
----
Celestia's sun was setting when Pinkie Pie, and Rarity FINALLY pulled into Ponyville Station. At last, they'd made it home. And a good thing to, because Pinkie Pie had not shut up for the entire journey, and if Rarity had had to listen to her for even one more minute, she seriously would've strangled the pink earth pony.
Needless to say, Rarity was tired, and in a foul mood by the time she and Pinkie stepped off the rail car onto the station platform, and she needed a moment to catch her breath.
"Rarity! Pinkie Pie!" came Twilight's voice.
Looking up, Rarity saw the rest of the Mane Six coming towards them. The others had been waiting for her, and Pinkie for hours.
"Thank goodness you're okay!" said Fluttershy, "We're so sorry. We didn't mean to leave you behind..."
But Rarity barely acknowledged them as she glared daggers at Rainbow Dash.
The sky blue pegasus chuckled nervously, "Yeah...heh heh...slight mistake..."
"You..." Rarity seethed.
Rainbow quickly tried to take off, and fly away, but Rarity used her magic to grab her by the tail and drag her back over to where she was standing.
"Do you have ANY idea what I've BEEN THROUGH?!?!" Rarity asked in a fury.
"I'm-I'm sorry! I really, REALLY mean it!" Rainbow babbled, "I swear I'll somehow make this up to you!"
"REALLY?! WILL YOU?!"
Applejack quickly ran up to them, "Calm down, Rarity! It weren't all Rainbow's fault. Ah was th' one that got y'all dragged into this mess in th' first place. None o' this ever woulda happened if it weren't fer me runnin' off like that. Ah shoulda just told y'all th' truth ta begin with."
Pinkie Pie glared at her; she hadn't forgotten about the "Pinkie Promise" Applejack had wormed her way out of fulfilling.
"Yes, you should have..." she said in a deadly serious voice, lacking any of her usually cheerfulness.
Ashamed, Applejack lowered her eyes, unable to meet her friend's gaze, "Ah got some powerful explainin' ta do Ah know...
----
Applejack filled Pinkie Pie, and Rarity in on what she'd already told the others, about how she'd failed to win any prize money at the rodeo to fix town hall and hadn't the nerve to come home empty-hooved after the send-off Ponyville gave her.
"Ah'm so sorry." the orange earth pony said, "Ah realize now that Ah was just runnin' away from mah problems, an' Ah hurt mah friends an' family doin' so. Ah can't take back what Ah did. Friends should never do that ta friends, an' friends should always keep their promises, not weasel their way out of them. What Ah did was wrong, an' it completely went against my element of honesty ta boot. All Ah can do is say is Ah'm sorry, an' hope that one day, y'all will find it ta forgive me..."
Rainbow Dash suddenly stepped up next to Applejack to have her own say.
"Me to..." the sky blue pegasus said sincerely, "Friends don't abandon friends, especially not when they bear the element of loyalty. I guess we were just so eager to get Applejack back home that I... Oh, what's the use? I know that's no excuse, and I really hope you'll give me a chance to make it up to you."
After a very long moment, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity shared a look, before finally nodding to one another.
"Well, that WAS a pretty good apology." Pinkie Pie said.
Rarity grumbled for moment, but ultimately relented, "Yes...Yes, I guess it was..."
"Honestly, Rarity..." Rainbow Dash implored, "I do feel terrible for leaving you out there. I really want to try to fix this."
"And Pinkie Pie..." Applejack addressed the pink earth pony, "That goes for me to. If there's anything Ah can do ta make things right, y'all name it, an' it's half done."
"Well..." Pinkie thought for a moment, "I do probably have a lot of lost time to make up for at Sugar Cube Corner."
"Say no more! I'll be there first thing in the morning!" the cowpony said.
Pinkie Pie found herself smiling, "Okay! As long as you aren't so tired that you end up making baked bads again!"
"Ah promise ta get a good night's sleep!" Applejack assured as she and Pinkie started to laugh.
Rainbow Dash looked at Rarity, "How about it, Rarity? Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
After a long moment, Rarity sighed, "All right. But I'm going to need to sleep on it."
Rainbow nodded, "Okay, that's fine. I mean, we've had rough day, right?"
Rarity glared at Rainbow for her choice of words.
"Err, uh, I mean YOU'VE had a rough day!" Rainbow quickly corrected herself.
"All right, all right, everypony..." Twilight said at last, "It's really getting late, and we're all exhausted. How about we all just head home now, and worry about this tomorrow?"
In the end, nopony could argue.
----
And so, it was early the next morning that Applejack was making her way to Sugarcube Corner to fulfill her commitment to Pinkie Pie, when she heard the flapping of wings, and looked up to see Rainbow Dash hovering just above her.
"Hey, Applejack." the sky pegasus greeted.
"Howdy, Rainbow. Applejack greeted back, "Off to see Rarity?"
"Yeah. And I guess you're off to meet with Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash replied.
"Eeyup." said the orange earth pony in imitation of her big brother, "Ah guess Ah got a day o' bakin' ahead o' me. How 'bout you?"
Rainbow shrugged, "I have no idea what Rarity will want me to do. And I guess there's only one way to find out."
"Well, Ah guess we'd better get on with it." said Applejack.
"Yeah." Rainbow agreed, "I guess we'd better. Good luck."
Applejack nodded, "Same ta y'all."
With that, the two of them parted ways, with Rainbow Dash taking off in the direction of the Carousel Boutique, and Applejack continuing on her way to Sugarcube Corner.
Arriving at her destination shortly after, Applejack headed up to the front door, and started to reach for the door handle when the door suddenly burst open by itself.
"Good morning, Applejack!", Pinkie Pie almost shouted in her friend's face, almost causing her to jump in surprise.
"Oh! Uh, mornin' Pinkie Pie."
"Good to see you looking so well rested, and ready to go!" the pink earth pony said as she led her friend into the sweet shop, "Because we've got a busy day ahead of us!"
"Yeah...Ah'm sure we do." Applejack suddenly got a slightly unsettling feeling, but she wasn't sure why, because after all, she could bake anything from fritters to pies in the blink of an eye.
"So where are Mr. and Mrs. Cake?" she asked.
"They'll be back later. For right now, it's just us." Pinkie answered, "And in that case we'd better get started! Besides all the usual business, we've got a big order to fill."
"A big order? Fer who?" asked Applejack.
"Filthy Rich!" Pinkie said cheerfully, "He's got a big company event coming up, and he's ordered 500 cupcakes just for the occasion!"
"FIVE HUNDRED?!" Applejack exclaimed in shock.
Needless to say, the orange earth pony was beginning to wonder what she'd gotten herself into...
----
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, having just arrived at the Carousel Boutique, gave the door a brisk knock. Despite herself, the sky blue pegasus couldn't help but feel a little anxious about this. She hoped Rarity had had enough time to cool off, because she honestly couldn't blame her friend for being furious with her the previous evening.
Though Rainbow was glad that Rarity had accepted her apology, and offer to make it up to her, she could only wonder what sort of "favor" the white unicorn had in mind.
Within a few moments, Rarity answered the door, and Rainbow was somewhat surprised to see that, in stark contrast to the day before, she actually seemed to be in a good mood.
"Ah, Rainbow Dash! Please do come in!" Rarity said in a rather cheerful voice.
"Oh, hey, Rarity..." Rainbow said as she stepped inside, "Nice to see you in such a good mood. I mean, after how things were last night I figured..."
Rarity casually waved it off, "Oh, pshaw, my dear. You may be surprised at how much a good night sleep can accomplish. If nothing else, I at least got a marvelous workout on that hand cart, and so I slept like a foal."
Rainbow Dash grinned sheepishly, "Well, at least you, and Pinkie getting left behind was good for something."
"Well, enough of that now." Rarity insisted, gesturing the sky blue pegasus to follow, "Come; there is much for us to do."
As Rainbow Dash followed Rarity upstairs however, she found herself suddenly unable to shake a strange sense of unease. Was it just her, or did Rarity seem to be in too much of a good mood? Rainbow had expected her to still be at least a little sore after yesterday.
Upon entering Rarity's inspiration room, Rainbow Dash quickly deduced that what her friend had in mind involved her fashion work. And unfortunately, Rainbow Dash had little-to-no knowledge, experience, or interest in that type of thing.
"Uh, Rarity..." the sky blue pegasus said, "I promised that I'd make it up to you, but I'm really not the right pony for fashion work."
"Never fear, my dear." Rarity assured, "I will be doing all of the actual work. The only thing you will need to do is stand still for me."
Needless to say, this confused Rainbow Dash, "Wha... Stand still? How is that going to help...?"
Rarity just smiled knowingly.
Alarmed, Rainbow Dash instinctively hovered in the air as she held out her hooves in defense as it finally dawned on her just what Rarity had in mind: she wanted Rainbow to MODEL for her.
"Oh, no. Wait a minute. Hold it. I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. Don't even--No!"
Rarity's smile only grew wider.
"Don't look at me like that! You're getting 'no' from me!" Rainbow asserted, stubbornly crossing her hooves across her chest, "You understand? NO! I will not EVER be a fashion model for you!"
Cut to just a few moments later, and Rainbow Dash was modeling was for the new dress Rarity was making, while a smirking Rarity measured, and sewed.
"Aww, nuts!" the sky blue pegasus grumbled.
She should've known that Rarity wouldn't have let her off so easily...
----
Back at Sugarcube Corner, Applejack soon found herself working like a dog. While Pinkie Pie worked at the front counter, it fell to the orange earth pony to do the majority of the work on fulfilling Filthy Rich's huge order of 500 cupcakes. And that was only the half of it, as Pinkie Pie would often suddenly call on her to bring one of the boxes of baked goods up front, or some other odd job.
In fact, it was just as Applejack was putting another batch of cupcakes in the oven that Pinkie stuck her head in the kitchen again.
"Applejack, would you please bring the box on top of the stack out to the counter?"
Applejack sighed, "Be right out, Pinkie."
"Okey, dokey, lokey!" chimed the pink earth pony.
Closing the oven, Applejack promptly headed over to the stack of boxes containing baked goods, and retrieved the one on top, before heading out of the kitchen.
Upon reaching the front counter, Applejack found Pinkie Pie waiting on a rather long line that led all the way out the door, which could only mean that there'd be more boxes to bring out sooner or later.
"Here ya go, Pinkie." Applejack placed the box on the counter.
Pinkie nodded, before turning her attention to the customer, "Here you go! Please come again!"
The customer smiled, and opened the box, but then looked up with a confused frown.
"But I ordered chocolate chip muffins." the pony pointed out.
"Oops! Sorry about that." Pinkie apologized before turning to Applejack, "My bad, Applejack. It was the box on the BOTTOM of the stack, not the one on the top. Just be careful not to knock the whole stack down!"
Rolling her eyes, a slightly annoyed Applejack headed back into the kitchen to get the right box. Thankfully, she DIDN'T knock the whole stack down.
Once that order of business had been taken care of, Applejack began to head back to the oven to check on the cupcakes when...
"Oh, and Applejack..." called Pinkie again, freezing the orange earth pony in her tracks, "While you're out here, could you go fill those two empty candy jars by the front window?"
Giving her friend a somewhat half-hearted salute, Applejack took a bag of candy out from under the counter before heading over to fill up the jars...
Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass caused her to jump!
Turning in the direction of the sound, Applejack saw Dinky Doo, and Button Mash standing over by the candy shelves at the far wall, and on the floor at their hooves was a broken candy jar with its contents scattered about.
Dinky looked mortified, "Uh, we didn't do it! I mean... It's not our fault. I mean...", At last, the little filly gave up, "We're sorry!"
Button Mash said nothing, but tears were clearly welling in his eyes.
"It's all right, sugarcubes." Applejack reassured, "It was an accident. Just help me clean it up."
Visibly relaxing, the little filly, and colt eagerly nodded in agreement. Retrieving a broom, Applejack carefully swept up the broken glass into a dustpan, before giving Dinky, and Button Mash a new jar to replace the scattered candy on the floor into.
"Just watch what yer doin' next time, okay?" Applejack advised as she placed the new jar on the shelf once it was filled.
Dinky and Button Mash both nodded happily. With that taken care of, the orange earth pony headed back over to Pinkie Pie.
"Great work, Applejack!" praised Pinkie.
Though weary, Applejack smiled, "Anythin' else that needs doin' out here, Pinkie?"
"I'll call you if there is." her friend assured, "For now, you can head back to the kitchen. We still got orders to fill, and several hours of work to make up for!"
"Great..." Applejack muttered sarcastically, for this was turning out to be more rigorous than she'd expected.
It woulda been easier fer everypony if Ah'd just told th' truth in th' first place. she mused, this is what Ah get fer breakin' a Pinkie promise, an' lyin' ta mah friends. This is mah penance, Ah guess...
But then, Applejack was abruptly shaken out of her thoughts when a strong odor reached her nostrils...
"Hey, Pinkie, you smell something?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.
"Oh, uh, it wasn't me!" the pink earth pony quickly said.
Applejack scowled in annoyance, "No, it ain't that! It's smells more like somethin's burnin'..." Suddenly her eyes went wide with realization, "SOMETHIN'S BURNIN'?! Oh, no! Th' CUPCAKES!"
"FIRE!" Pinkie Pie shouted out, causing all of the customers to rush outside in a panic.
At the same time, Applejack raced back inside the kitchen, and yanked open the oven only to be met with a huge cloud of smoke. Coughing, she quickly took off her hat, and used it to wave the smoke away. Unfortunately, a quick look inside the oven showed that she'd been too late; the cupcakes were burnt to a crisp.
"Dang it!" grumbled Applejack, knowing she'd now have to bake another batch to replace this one, but at least nothing was on fire. "Well, Ah guess it coulda been worse."
But the orange earth pony had spoken too soon, for no sooner had she said those words, that the kitchen door burst open, and Pinkie Pie rushed inside carrying a bucket of water.
"Stand back, Applejack! FIRE!" she yelled as she threw the contents of the bucket in the general direction of the oven without even looking.
When she finally did look, however, she saw that the only thing she'd managed to drench was Applejack.
"Oh... Uh..." said Pinkie meekly, "So, I guess there's no fire?"
Wet, and dripping, Applejack just glared at her in utter exasperation.
----
Rainbow Dash was NOT having a good time. By now, the dress Rarity was making had taken proper shape, and the sky blue pegasus was fully clad in silk, lace, and velvet. It took literally all of Rainbow's resolve to remain still while Rarity did her work.
To make matters worse, the white unicorn had ALSO insisted on doing Rainbow's mane, and even applied some makeup to "complete" the outfit. Rainbow had been THIS close to putting her hoof down at that, but her inner voice had reminded her that she was doing this in order to make it up to Rarity. Maybe so, but that DID NOT mean she had to like it, and as such, she'd done her best to just mentally retreat into herself for the duration.
At last, Rarity was finished, and for a moment, she just stood there admiring her work, before then pulling a large mirror over so that Rainbow could also see the results.
Rarity was beaming, "Oh, Rainbow Dash, you look so...so...!"
"Stupid?" Rainbow all but growled.
"Nonsense, darling! You look so BEAUTIFUL!" said Rarity.
The sky blue pegasus was NOT amused, "I feel ridiculous."
"Oh, come now!" Rarity insisted, "You should feel honored! This is some of my best work!"
"I'm sure it is. Can I take this thing off now?" Rainbow asked somewhat impatiently.
"Well, all right." the white unicorn agreed.
Finally... Rainbow said to herself as she began to tug at the garment.
"Ah ah ah! You'll ruin it!" Rarity stopped her, "We must do this carefully."
Rainbow could only let out an exasperated sigh as she grudgingly allowed Rarity to undress her. In the end, what should've only taken a few seconds took what felt more like almost five minutes as the white unicorn took extreme (and almost excessive) care in taking off the dress. After all, the last thing she wanted was for it to get torn, stained, or wrinkled. Once it was finally off, Rainbow Dash wasted no time in shaking out her mane, and rubbing off the makeup.
"Okay, now what, Rarity?" she asked.
"Well, now that our work is done, my dear..." Rarity said, as she carefully hung the dress on the wall, "All we need to do is clean up after ourselves."
Rainbow Dash gazed at the huge mess that was strewn all about Rarity's inspiration room.
"I thought you said that our work was DONE!" was all she could say.
And so, the sky blue pegasus, and white unicorn spent the next hour cleaning up. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, this job would ALSO prove to be no cakewalk, as Rarity had a certain rules for cleaning her inspiration room.
For one thing, not EVERYTHING was meant to be picked up or put away, and Rarity had tell Rainbow to pick several things back EXACTLY where she got them as not to screw up the room's "organized chaos". As for the things that WERE supposed to be picked up or put away, Rarity made a HUGE deal about being careful with them, and putting them away properly, which to the white unicorn meant something more like putting them away PERFECTLY.
In the end, what SHOULD have taken less than HALF an hour, ended up taking more like one WHOLE hour. But Rainbow Dash took some comfort in reminding herself that this would soon be over. It was almost done.
It had better be in any rate, because something was telling Rainbow Dash that Rarity was getting a bit too much of a kick out all this.
----
After the "false alarm" with the oven, Pinkie Pie had gone outside to assure the customers that everything was under control, while Applejack went to dry herself off. Before long, business had resumed at Sugarcube Corner with no real harm done.
Finally, at long last, the last batch of cupcakes was done, and Applejack placed the last box on the now massive stack that made up Pinkie Pie's, or rather Filthy Rich's big order. And just in time to, for Filthy Rich arrived shortly afterwards with several delivery ponies in tow to pick up his order.
"I gotta say, you're a real lifesaver!" he said as his entourage loaded the boxes of cupcakes in their wagons, "I was afraid it was too big an order to get ready in time. Especially with Mr. and Mrs. Cake gone!"
"Well, I think Applejack deserves most of the credit." Pinkie Pie pointed out, "I couldn't have done it without her!"
"Ah doubt it, considering that Ah did all th' bakin'." Applejack snarked.
Pinkie just laughed, "Oh, Applejack, you're such a kidder!"
Before either of them could say another word, Filthy Rich suddenly turned to Applejack and gave her sincere look of gratitude.
"I really appreciate this, Applejack. You really do take up after your Grandmother."
Applejack found herself smiling. It had been a hassle, and she was tired, but it always felt good to see the results of a job well done.
Once Mr. Rich had left, she and Pinkie got back to work. Now that most of the major orders had been fulfilled, it was just normal business as usual at Sugarcube Corner, and it seemed like the worst was over. This was especially so when less than an hour later, Mr. And Mrs. Cake came through the door, having returned early their outing.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" exclaimed Pinkie, "You're back!"
Mr. Cake nodded, "Yeah, we got done earlier than we expected."
"Well, it looks like everything has gone well..." Mrs. Cake observed.
"All big orders are taken care of, Mrs. Cake." Pinkie confirmed.
"Wonderful!" said Mrs. Cake, "In that case, why don't you girls take the rest of the day off?"
"What?" questioned both Pinkie and Applejack.
"We can take care of everything else." Mr. Cake agreed with his wife.
"But... But what about...?" Pinkie Pie started to say.
Mrs. Cake just smiled, "It's all right, Pinkie Pie. You both have done more than enough. And besides, I understand you two have some things you need to work out."
Ultimately, both Pinkie Pie, and Applejack found themselves smiling.
"Thank you, Mrs. Cake!" was all Pinkie Pie could say.
Applejack couldn't agree more, "That's mighty kind o' y'all!"
And so, with the Cakes' blessing, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie headed out. For a brief moment, Pinkie Pie wondered if Applejack would take this opportunity to leave, but to her surprise...
"So what do ya wanna do now, Pinkie?" asked Applejack.
Pinkie Pie looked thoughtfully at her friend, "You mean you'll still stay with me? Even though we been relieved of duty?"
"Ah don't think Ah'm off th' hook just yet." the orange earth pony said.
"No, I guess not." Pinkie Pie grinned, "How about we go see how Rarity, and Rainbow Dash are doing?"
Applejack nodded in agreement, "Sounds good ta me."
The two ponies promptly set out for the Carousel Boutique. As they walked, Applejack felt rather relieved. It had been rough going, but it had been a job well done, and they'd been let off sooner than expected. It now seemed like the hard part was over, and that things were starting to look up...
"While we're at it..." Pinkie Pie interrupted her train of thought, "You never did give me an answer."
Applejack blinked, "Answer?"
"To my question from the day before yesterday!" Pinkie clarified.
"What question?" Applejack asked, before a look of horror spread across her face with realization, "Wait! Wait a minute! You mean...?"
Pinkie nodded eagerly, "Yeah, that one! Which do you think sounds better? Chimicherry or cherrychanga? Chimicherry, cherrychanga? Chimicherry, cherrychanga?"
"Oh, no...!" Applejack moaned as Pinkie Pie went on, and on, and on.
She should have known that it was too good to be true...
----
Rainbow Dash's ordeal was over yet either. After they'd finally gotten Rarity's inspiration room reorganized exactly to Rarity's satisfaction, the white unicorn had insisted that Rainbow Dash accompany her for a meal in the downstairs kitchen as they had both missed lunch due to their work.
The sky blue pegasus guessed she couldn't complain about that, as she hasn't realized how hungry she was, and Rarity was basically giving her a free meal, though she felt it was a small wonder that she even still HAD an appetite after this whole farce.
"There is nothing quite a like a fine day's work, wouldn't you say, Rainbow?" Rarity asked as she took a sip of tea.
"Whatever you say, Rarity." replied Rainbow Dash as she chewed a piece of her sandwich.
"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity said suddenly, "Mind your manners!"
The sky blue pegasus swallowed, and wiped her mouth with her hoof before defensively asking, "What?"
The white unicorn pointed a hoof at her, "Don't you know that it's impolite to chew with your mouth open? And please remember to use a serviette, darling!"
"Use a what?" Rainbow inquired.
"A napkin, my dear!" Rarity clarified.
"Right, sorry..." Rainbow sighed in annoyance.
"But I do hope you enjoy your meal, Rainbow Dash." added Rarity, her voice softening, "Once we're done, we need to head back upstairs."
Rainbow looked up, "What? Why?"
Rarity smiled, "Because we still have another dress to get done."
"WHAT?!" her friend cried.
"Kidding!" laughed Rarity, "I'm just kidding, Rainbow."
Rainbow however, while relieved, was not exactly amused. She couldn't take much more of this, and was starting to lose patience.
"Very funny..." she scowled.
"Oh come now, Rainbow." Rarity said, "Can you not take a little joke?"
"A joke is one thing, and I get that I owe you after yesterday..." argued Rainbow Dash, "But I'm getting the feeling that you're enjoying all of this. Like a little too much."
"Why, I never...!" Rarity began to say in indignation.
Before the conversation could go any farther however, Rarity's little sister Sweetie Belle suddenly rushed into the kitchen looking very distressed.
"Rarity! Come outside quick!" the little filly said.
Rarity was alarmed, "Sweetie Belle? What is it?"
"It's Opal!" Sweetie Belle blurted out, "She's stuck!"
"What?!" her big sister exclaimed, scrambling up from the table.
Rarity, and Sweetie Belle quickly rushed out the front door of the Carousel Boutique, and Rarity saw to her horror that her cat Opal was huddled up on the branch of a high tree next to her house, and she really was stuck. At the sight of its owner, the white cat let out a distressed meow.
"Opal!" Rarity cried, before frantically looking around for anypony who could help, "Help! Please help! Somepony save my poor little kitty!"
Right at that moment, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were just making their up to the Carousel Boutique. However, Pinkie Pie had not shut up since they'd left Sugarcube Corner, continuing to talk Applejack's ear off, so neither of them heard Rarity's calls at first.
"Chimicherry or cherrychanga? Chimicherry, cherrychanga? Chimicherry, cherrychanga?"
At last, Applejack stopped dead in her tracks, and covered her ears with her hooves.
"DEAUGH!!! Cherrychanga, Pinkie! There! Are ya happy now?!" she screamed.
But then, the orange earth pony looked up, and saw Rarity, and Sweetie Belle standing in front of the tree, with Opal stuck up in it.
Applejack pointed towards the scene, "Pinkie, look!"
Pinkie Pie did so, and her bubbly demeanor instantly faded, "Oh, no!"
"Come on!" urged Applejack.
The two earth ponies quickly rushed over to Rarity and Sweetie Belle.
"Applejack! Pinkie Pie!" Rarity wailed, "Opal is stuck up in the tree. She can't get down!"
"Uh, we can see that, Rarity." said Pinkie Pie in a deadpan voice.
"Pinkie! Not helpin'!" Applejack snapped before turning her frustration onto herself, "Oh, if only Ah'd thought ta bring mah lasso with me!"
Rarity was beside herself, "Oh, what shall we do! WHATEVER SHALL WE DO?!"
Suddenly, everypony felt a slight breeze ruffle their manes as a flash of color zoomed overhead. Before any of them realized what happened, there was none other than Rainbow Dash hovering in the air right next to the branch Opal was stuck on.
"Come on, Opal. I got you." the sky blue pegasus coaxed, "Come on. Good, kitty."
Gently taking Opal in her hooves, Rainbow Dash carefully lowered herself, and the cat back onto the ground. Grateful, Opal took a moment to nuzzle one of Rainbow's forehooves before running back over to Rarity.
"Opal!" the white unicorn joyfully cooed, before turning her attention to Rainbow, "Oh, Rainbow Dash, thank Celestia you were here! I truly don't know what I would've done it you hadn't been!"
"Oh, I don't know..." Rainbow replied sarcastically, "You COULD have just used your magic to get her down."
Rarity blinked, then began to blush, "Oh, yeah. Right. I...didn't think about that..."
"Well, in any case..." Applejack said, "Way ta go, Rainbow Dash!"
"You're a real cat saver!" declared Pinkie Pie.
"Honestly, Dashie..." Rarity asked, "How can I ever repay you?"
Rainbow looked at her thoughtfully, "Could you maybe let me off the hook now?"
"Of course!" Rarity nodded, "You've earned it. Really, you have." she paused, flushing again, "And I'm sorry for being so hard on you. I guess I did go a little overboard..."
Rainbow Dash shrugged, "Well, I DID leave you behind in Dodge Junction, so it's not like I didn't earn it."
"Don't take all the credit, Rainbow Dash..." Applejack interjected, "Y'all never woulda been in that situation if Ah'd just kept mah pinkie promise, an' told y'all th' truth."
"Yeah, let's not forget about that!" Pinkie Pie put in, but then her voice softened, "But I know that you're really sorry, Applejack, and I think you've been through enough. I'm letting you off the hook to."
"Really?" Applejack's eyes lit up.
"Under one condition..." a VERY serious Pinkie clarified, before poking Applejack in the chest to punctuate every syllable, her eyes staring into Applejack's soul, "Don't. EVER. Break. A Pinkie promise. AGAIN."
Everypony stared at Pinkie Pie, for she was really starting to scare them.
At last, Applejack nodded, "Y'all got it, Pinkie."
Then, just as soon as it had come, Pinkie's unsettling demeanor vanished, and she was back to her usual bubbly self.
"Good! That's all over now! Doesn't everypony feel better? I do! That was getting very tense!"
The others just sighed and roll their eyes. At last, Rainbow Dash broke the awkward silence.
"Well, how about it, everypony?" the sky blue pegasus asked, holding out her hoof, "Friends?"
Rarity, Applejack, & Pinkie Pie all smiled warmly, and joined hooves with Rainbow Dash.
"Friends." they all said together.
And so, after all that hassle, there were at last no more hard feelings between anypony. As the old saying goes: "All's Well That Ends Well".
"So, Rainbow Dash..." Applejack asked, "Just what all did Rarity have ya doin' fer her?"
Rainbow Dash flushed, and after a very long moment said, "How about you go first?"
Needless to say, they had some stories to tell...
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THE END