//------------------------------// // A Slip of the Tongue // Story: AppleShy: The Series // by solsticebrony888 //------------------------------// A Slip of the Tongue “No, Fluttershy!” Applejack exclaimed with a hearty giggle, just escaping the grasps of the Pegasus’ hooves, “Not mah mane!” Just two weeks after getting her cast off of her leg, Applejack was running around as if it was never injured in the first place. It took longer than expected to have her cast removed, and when it was finally removed, nopony could stop her from bucking a record amount of trees in Sweet Apple Acres, and just running around in general. She never felt so free in her life just from running. Aiming at the hairband that Applejack kept on her hair, the shy Pegasus attempted to take it off, “I just want to see how you look with your hair out,” Applejack jumped up the stairs in several long leaps, Fluttershy playfully flying after her. “Yer not gonna get me! Ah’m too fast fer ya!” The earth pony stated, nimbly jumping from side to side to avoid Fluttershy’s advances. “Please?” She begged, giving Applejack her signature smile, “I think you would look pretty,” Trotting down the stairs again, Applejack responded with a laugh, “Oh so Ah’m not pretty already? Ah see how it is, Sugarcube,” “No! I mean yes! I’m sorry…you’re pretty, I just um,” Fluttershy lost her voice as her cheeks turned red. After flying down the stairs, she settled on their couch as her way of giving up, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I just think that you would look more pretty with your hair out, I think you would look really cute,” Fluttershy said meekly with a tiny smile. The orange pony couldn’t help but admire how adorable the Pegasus was when she was apologetic. At their front door, Applejack put on a cozy wool hat that had been hoof-stitched by Rarity, with her name embroidered in an emerald green that matched her eyes. She tossed Fluttershy’s over to her with a swift whip of her tail. “Ah have my mane like this fer convenience, Ah’d be plum useless if ah took so much time on my mane every day,” Applejack trotted over to Fluttershy, giving her a soft kiss on her nose, “Ah reckon’ it’s ‘bout time we meet up with Rarity and the rest of our friends, we can’t be late,” Returning the little peck, Fluttershy put on her wool cap and 4 little wool boots to keep her hooves warm for their trip to Canterlot. They left side by side, looking forward to the day ahead. After such a vast amount of time Rarity has put into her line of work, she was finally invited to have her art featured at a prestigious competition called ‘The Divine Equine Fashion Show’. It was less a competition and more of a way for young fashion designers to get their products noticed by the richest of ponies from all across Equestria. Rarity was recommended by Hoity Toity himself, which was quite an accomplishment itself. All of the elements of harmony would attend the event because it was finally finally there was a reason for all of them to go somewhere together again. Things have changed for each pony as they have matured and it left little time for all six of them to gather and spend time together. Pinkie did the convincing with one simple line, “We saved Equestria twice, but for the love of cupcakes we can’t even find time to hang out anymore? That’s crazy talk and I want some cupcakes now, too!” Though ecstatic and bubbly with comments that come out of nowhere, Pinkie made a very valid point. Nopony could find a flaw in Pinkie’s logic that time, so they all willingly agreed to join in on the adventure. What harm could come in a visit to Canterlot in support of a friend? Arriving at the train station, Applejack and Fluttershy were first spotted by Spike, who was perched upon Twilight’s back, “Hey Applejack and Fluttershy, you’re just in time!” “Ah reckon’ we coulda been earlier Ah ‘spose,” Applejack said with a chuckle, “How’re y’all doin’? It’s been a mighty long time since we all been together in the same group together like this!” “OH!” Pinkie Pie said, gaining everypony’s attention by leaping athletically into the air, “I’ve been nothing different at all! I’ve been working with Mr. and Mrs. Cake, hiding in trees trying to catch frogs while playing my tuba to lure them! Everypony knows frogs love the sound of a B-flat! BROOOOOOMMMMMMMPPPP!” Pinkie Pie imitated the noise, completely oblivious to the higher class ponies waiting beside her to return to Canterlot, “So, yeah! Normal Pinkie Pie stuff!” The pink pony said with a smile from cheek to cheek. Fluttershy shook her head to disagree with Pinkie Pie’s frog theory. “How ‘bout you RD?” Applejack questioned, as the train loudly made it’s stop in Ponyville, in front of them. “Oh, nothing, I’ve pretty much been practicing all of my tricks and partying every night. Scratchie sure does host a lot more parties than I would’ve guessed she did. But they’re no match for a partying pro like myself!” “Ah’m willing the bet there are more reasons tha ya go to the parties than yer lettin’ on, Rainbow,” The orange pony said with a chuckle, getting a mean glance from the blue Pegasus. “Wuahaha! I’m so excited, girls! This is going to be a simply MARVELOUS chance for me to get my name out there in the fashion business. The Divine Equine Fashion Show only shows the best of the best, I never would have expected for me to be featured in it!” Rarity said, carefully levitating some fantastically detailed dresses above her head with magic. The six friends soon were boarding the train; the trip to Canterlot was to be less than half an hour. “Oh Rarity, it was only a matter of time for somepony to notice your abilities,” Twilight Sparkle said, with an enthusiastic nod from Spike, “We’re just glad to tag along to support you,” “Oh, I could not go without my best friends! That’d just be silly, I’d be a nervous wreck. In fact, I still am a nervous wreck, however, I am a confident nervous wreck because you all are here,” As they took their seats only several feet away from each other, Rainbow Dash suddenly looked over towards Applejack and Fluttershy, who were leaning into each other for warmth in their seats after exiting the cold climate outside of the train. “Hey Fluttershy,” The blue Pegasus started, sitting comfortably next to Pinkie Pie, who was marveling at Rarity’s dresses, “I’ve been thinking, do you think that if your parents named you FlutterConfident, that you wouldn’t be such a scaredy-pony?” “I um…I don’t know,” The yellow Pegasus responded, “Being shy is just natural, um, for me,” “Rainbow Dash, if yer name was…um...Greybow Slow, do ya think ya woulda been grey and slower than Tank?” Applejack added with a giggle, “Ah think shy bein’ in her name is just a coinkydink, it’s not like mah name has anything to do with mah personality, sugarcube,” “I don’t know,” The blue Pegasus said, lying in her seat on her back, “Maybe it’s because we’re the elements of harmony that our names were fated to be our names,” “Fate? Well…Ah guess ya have a point there, you bein’ the reason we’re all friends anyway,” As the train started off, Applejack found herself catching the fancier ponies on board giving her and Fluttershy odd stares, due to how close they were to each other. She was used to this, and it was something that Lyra and BonBon had warned them about at the beginning of their relationship. Recently, though, every time it happened, Applejack found that it bothered her. However, she decided to ignore them and enjoy being with her friends for the first time in quite a while. Nopony could understand what Pinkie Pie was so enamored with through the window she was staring through, all they could see was a thick sheet of white snow all the way to horizon. Then again, she was Pinkie Pie. Maybe she was just looking to see Canterlot, which was a very close to begin with. When arriving in the royal city, Rarity felt more excited, garnering the attention from her friends to keep her calm. She put more effort to making sure her outfits weren’t accidentaly dropped during her short moments of excited bursts. Pinkie Pie hopped merrily in the snow, adorning the pink and red wool hat made by her fashionista friend, while the other walked closer together, amongst the rest of the crowd of what were mostly unicorns. “Hey Twilight, why do the unicorn’s here always seem to have longer horns than you and Rarity?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying above them, almost losing the rainbow wool hat she was wearing. “My oh my, Rainbow. You’re quite the observant one today,” Twilight Sparkle mused as the group walked into the middle of town, “It’s quite simple, my dear Rainbow Dash. Genetics, is the answer. I had also pondered this while I lived here, I honestly had assumed I wouldn’t be as good at magic as everypony else because of it!“ “Ah reckon yer bein’ more random than Pinkie Pie today, Rainbow,” Applejack said, getting the group to laugh for a bit, though Pinkie Pie was too distracted by making a snowpony to even notice. When the group came upon a gathering of the high class ponies, Rarity informed them that she would have to leave them to meet with the ponies that will be modeling her dresses. In the building that they would be in, there would be a higher-up section for the audience, while below was where the fashion show would take place. There would be some ponies on the lower level, however those ponies would only be the most famous in Equestria, like Sapphire Shores, Photo Finish and ponies on their level in Canterlot society. The five friends, after parting with the fashion-crazy unicorn, waited in the crowd of Canterlot socialites until it was time for everypony to enter and find their seats. There were several tough looking guards awaiting the signal to let everypony in, and there were a lot of ponies coming to join the crowd right after them. “Ah reckon’ they better hurry. Just ‘cause Ah say that Ah’m used to the cold, doesn’t mean that Ah like it,” Applejack chided. Fluttershy leaned into the mare as a gesture of helping her warm up. Applejack wasn’t cold, she just wanted her mare to snuggle into her more as they waited. She ignored the glances they were getting from some of the ponies in the crowd. “HOW DO YOU NOT LIKE THE COLD?” Pinkie Pie said, jumping up and frightening some Canterlot citizens, “Cold is great! And with cold, comes SNOW! Snow might be the best thing in Equestria! Next to Cake, Cupcakes, Muffins, FOOD, Strawberry frosting, Candy Apples…Yeah! But snow is great! Should I sing a song about it?” “Now’s not the time, Sugarcube,” The orange pony said with a chuckle as she adjusted her snow cap. “SNOW!” Pinkie Pie sang anyway, “The fluffiest whitest funnest stuff in Equestria! If you don’t like snow, I wouldn’t wanna be ya! Snow is so soft and fun-“ Rainbow Dash shoved a hoof in her mouth to shut her up, due to the ponies around her staring at them. “Pinkie, now’s not the time to be so random!” The rainbow-maned pony scolded. “That’s OK!” The spastic pony said in response, “It’s a work in progress anyway,” When they finally made it into the massive building, a group of guards told them where to go. They handed each pony a ticket to where they would sit and unfortunately they wouldn’t be able to all sit next to each other, having ponies in between each of them except for two spots. Pinkie Pie graciously traded her ticket for Fluttershy’s so that the couple could sit next to each other. There was a wall between the actual walk-way and where they were, so nopony could see it until they went up to the audience area. The five ponies, amongst a crowd of others, went up a long flight of spiraling stairs until they entered where all the seats were at. They gazed around them as the area was about as big as a stadium for the Wonderbolts, filled up with the classiest of ponies. “Alright everypony, let’s meet here when the show is over so we can go down and see Rarity afterwards!” Twilight Sparkle said with a smile. The group agreed accordingly, then went out to find their own seats. Walking beside the orange pony, Fluttershy marveled at the intricate details in the arena around where the fashion show would be, “Wow, Applejack, I bet if I yelled, there would be an echo!” The earth pony giggled as they edged through the crowd, looking for their spots, “’Shy, I doubt ya could make yer voice echo if this here room were empty!” “Maybe if I…okay, you’re right,” The shy Pegasus responded as they found their seats. Applejack was a little more conscious of the surrounding ponies, but tried to act natural with her marefriend beside her. They had been together for nearly 5 months after all, things as trivial as other ponies judging them ceased to bother her and Fluttershy a long time ago, it was just one of expected things when mare is with a mare. However, it didn’t seem like anypony was even trying to hide their sly remarks, as if they were meant for Applejack to hear. The ponies behind them whispered almost loudly about how they were ‘filly-foolers’, which was a term Applejack didn’t take kindly too. However, The orange pony kept her cool, and nuzzled into Fluttershy a little more as a silent act of defiance to the socialite ponies around her. Soon, the lights faded, and each and every pony grew silent waiting for the announcer’s voice, and for the friend to finally see their friend shine in front of the most important ponies in Equestria.