Trials of the Heart
Chapter Two
The Celebration
Applejack paused after passing through the doorway to let her eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting of the tavern. She didn’t need to see to hear the sounds of drunken revelry drifting out. It wasn’t loud enough to be overly annoying, especially once the cider started flowing, but the noise level would provide a consistent background buzz to any conversation.
After Applejack blinked a few times, the interior of the building slowly came into view. It had a fairly typical bar-style layout, with booths along three walls while the actual bar took up the entire far wall. Wooden tables were scattered throughout the middle area, except for a corner at the end of the bar that had a jukebox, pool table and dartboard set up. It wasn’t spacious, but there was enough room between the tables to avoid bumping into anypony while carrying drinks. A little more than half the tables and booths were full despite the relatively early hour.
Applejack noticed a teal hoof waving above a pair of pegasi making their way to the bar, and once they moved, she saw Lightning Dust sitting at one of the tables near the back of the bar. She glanced over her shoulder at Dash and indicated the table with her head, before making her way over.
“Hey guys, what took you so long? Did you get lost or something?” Lightning asked when the couple sat down. “I mean... I’m sure it’s been a while, but you should at least remember this place.”
“I didn’t forget.” The cyan mare huffed, ruffling her wings in annoyance. “I came here so often during Flight School that I could find my way flying blindfolded and backwards.” She crossed her forelegs and muttered to herself. “Forgot how to get here.” She spat.
Lightning snickered into a hoof. “Well, what took so long then?” She leaned back in her chair, and after a few seconds she grinned conspiratorially and bounced her eyebrows. “You didn’t sneak off for some ‘alone time’ did you? You know, you could have just asked and I would have given you some privacy.”
“That ain’t what happened, though it weren’t fer lack of tryin’ on somepony’s part.” Applejack glanced over at Dash, who was making a point of looking at the bottles of liquor behind the bar, then turned back to Lightning. “We were on our way here, but we ran into Spitfire before we left the Coliseum.”
Dust’s jaw dropped, and she sputtered incoherently for several seconds before she managed to form words. “You what? You just ran into Spitfire? After a tryout? How? Where?” She scooted around the table, grabbing Rainbow by the shoulders and shaking her. “Dash! Details, now!”
“H-huh?” Rainbow pushed Lightning’s hooves away and took a second to run a hoof through her mane. “Not much to say, really. We were getting ready to leave—”
“Sure we were.” Applejack interjected, making her marefriend blush.
“Ahem.” Dash cleared her throat. “Like I was saying, we were getting ready to leave, and she just shows up, saying she was looking for me.” She leaned forward, visibly growing more excited as she told the story. “She said she wanted to tell me what a great job I had done, and get this... She said ‘keep an eye on the mail, we’ll be in touch.’”
“No way!” Lightning shouted, earning a few curious looks from nearby tables, but she ignored them. “She might as well have offered you the spot right there.” She accentuated the end of her sentence by slamming a hoof on the table, again resulting in nearby patrons casting curious glances in her direction. She slumped back in her chair, shaking her head slightly. “Celestia, this calls for a drink.” Dust hopped down to the floor. “What’re you girls having? My treat.”
“Now, ya don’t need to do that, sugarcube.” Applejack protested. “Ah’ll be more than happy to pay fer me and Dash.”
“Oh no, tonight is my treat.” Lighting insisted. “Think of it as a ‘Congratulations on getting into the Wonderbolts’ present, and an early anniversary gift.” She smirked and leaned down to take a quick peek under the table. “Besides, how were you planning on paying? It doesn’t look like either of you brought saddlebags, so unless you keep your bits under that hat of yours...”
“Ah did too bring mah saddlebags, they’re—” Applejack stopped mid-sentence, squeezing her eyes shut and pressing a hoof to her forehead. “They’re in the basket of the balloon. Ah forgot to grab ‘em when somepony stole mah hat.” She shot a glare at Dash, who was looking off to the side and whistling innocently. She reached over and poked her marefriend in the ribs, eliciting a surprised squeak.
Lightning Dust snickered into a hoof, then turned toward the bar. “So, is cider okay?” Applejack and Rainbow nodded, and Lightning walked off to get the drinks. The farm pony leaned back in her chair, making it creak, pulled off her hat and dropped it on the table. She looked around the bar absently until the creak of her chair brought a question to mind.
“Uh, Dash?” She leaned over to her marefriend so that she wouldn’t have to yell. “Why ain’t these chairs and tables fallin’ through the floor?” She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, as though expecting it to disappear out from under her.
“I dunno. Magic, I think.” Dash shrugged, watching Lightning as she got three mugs from the barcolt behind the counter. “I know they taught us about it in school once, but I forgot. I bet Twilight knows, if you’re really interested.” She licked her lips as Dust came back to the table and slid the tray carrying the drinks from her back onto the table. She picked up the closest mug and pulled it closer to her, the sudden movement making a slosh of foam spill over the edge. “So, what’d we get?”
“The house brew, Skychaser’s Special.” Lightning grabbed a mug for herself and slid the remaining one toward Applejack. She took a quick drink, wiping away the foam that stuck to her lip and sighing. “Not quite Apple Family quality—” She raised her mug and nodded toward the farmer, who returned the gesture. “—but it’s still pretty good. Now, a toast. To Dash, future Wonderbolt and all-around awesome mare!”
“I’ll drink to that!” Rainbow exclaimed, grinning and holding her drink out over the table. The three ponies clinked their mugs together and took a drink. Applejack was the first to lower her cider a couple seconds later. She looked down at the mug, nodding slightly. Lightning had been right; the cider certainly wasn’t up to Apple Family level, but it was still a quality drink.
She looked up and saw that Dust and Dash were both still drinking, each watching the other to see who would give up first. “Come on you two, this ain’t a race.” Her words when unheeded, and the two pegasi tilted their cups ever higher. A few moments later, Rainbow slammed her now-empty mug on the table with a thud, and Lightning followed her lead a fraction of a second later.
“I can tell that tonight’s gonna be fun.” Dust grabbed the two empty cups and put them back on the tray before sliding onto her back with a wing. “Sit tight, I’ll be right back.” She Began trotting for the bar, but stopped and called back over her shoulder.
Applejack shook her head, not wanting to shout to be heard. Lightning weaved her way back to the bar and came back with two more mugs of cider. She and Dash both lifted their drinks and took long pulls, but both of them still had some cider left when they finished. The three of them settled in, chatting amiably about what they had been doing since the Wonderbolts Academy.
As the afternoon wore on into evening, the empty tables and booths filled up, raising the noise level from a buzz to a dull roar. Applejack and Lightning Dust both scooted their chairs around the table toward Dash to keep from needing to yell to be heard.
“So, after that—” Lightning paused to take a quick swig of cider. “—he comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, what was that about?’ and I said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want me to call your mommy now, or wait until I see her tonight?’” She and Dash burst out laughing while Applejack merely chuckled and took her own quick drink. The farm pony was nursing her third mug of cider, while the pegasi were both on their sixth.
“Ooh, check it out!” Rainbow nudged Dust with a foreleg and pointed toward the door. “Prime targets, incoming.”
“Hmm?” Lightning rubbed a hoof across her eyes and blinked, focusing on the door. After a second, her face lit up in a huge smile. “Oh, this should be good. Where do you think they’re gonna try first?”
“I dunno.” Dash replied, swirling her nearly empty mug of cider and scanning the tavern. “Probably over there.” She nodded off to the side. “Same numbers.”
“What in tarnation are you two goin’ on about?” Applejack raised an eyebrow at the pair or pegasi, who were still looking off in the direction of the front door. She turned and followed their gazes to a trio of pegasus colts who had just entered the building and were heading for one of the few remaining empty booths along the wall. All three of them looked around nervously, but had small hopeful smiles on their faces. They conferred privately for a moment before one of them made his way to the bar, returning a minute later with three mugs of cider.
“You don’t think they’ll try us, do you?” Lightning asked, leaning in to speak quietly. She swayed back and forth slightly, coming close to brushing up against Rainbow. “I mean, sure they—” She jerked her head toward a table near the colts where three pegasus mares were seated. “—have the right numbers, but so do we.”
As if on cue, one of the colts glanced over at their table before leaning in to talk to his companions. They spoke animatedly for a few moments, then the other two colts tried to discreetly peek at Lightning, Dash and Applejack under the guise of stretching or coughing. They went back to discussing amongst themselves, and one motioned to the table with the other mares, but his friends shook their heads.
“Uh oh.” Rainbow muttered, watching as the colts seemed to come to and agreement and one of them, with a brown coat, blond mane, and a cloud for a cutie mark, got up from the booth. She raised her mug and drained the last of her cider. “Well, desperate times, desperate measures.” She dropped her empty cup onto the table, leaned over and threw her foreleg around her marefriend. “Hey, AJ.”
“Wha—” Applejack’s words were cut off as Dash kissed her hungrily, forcing her tongue into her marefriend’s mouth. The earth pony’s confusion and halfhearted resistance quickly melted away when Rainbow pushed deeper into the kiss, probing her tongue deeper and entwining it with her partner’s. The world ceased to exist for Applejack, outside of the urgent and frenzied kiss, and she finally began to reciprocate, moving her lips and tongue in a well-practiced dance.
It ended as abruptly as it started. Dash pulled back and settled into her chair, a goofy smile plastered on her face and her cheeks glowing red. Applejack blinked a few times, as if coming out of a daze.
“Just what in the hay was that all about?” She asked, while her tone added ‘and why’d you stop?’ She felt her face heat up, so she picked up her mug of cider and took a long, slow drink to try and cover it. When she lowered her mug, it was empty, so she put it on the tray in the middle of the table.
“Sorry.” Dash lifted her own cup and brought it to her mouth before remembering it was empty and dropping it onto the tray with a sigh. “Those colts were about to come over here, and the fun part is watching, not experiencing.”
“Oh Celestia, Dash.” Lightning clutched at her sides, trying in vain to hold in her laughter. “You should have seen his face when you did that. It was priceless.” She wiped a tear from her eye and glanced over at the booth, where the colt had sat down again and was angrily whispering to his friends. She stood up and slid the tray onto her back, turning to head back to the bar. “I thought it was hot, too.” She winked and headed for the bar with a sway in her hips, but whether it was intentional or alcohol-induced, nopony could tell.
“Rainbow Dash.” Applejack glared at her friend, or at least tried to, but it was difficult since neither of them were very steady in their seats. “You tell me what’s goin’ on right now, missy, or so help me Luna, Ah’ll... Ah’ll...” She trailed off and realized she didn’t actually have a threat to finish with. “Ah don’t know what Ah’ll do, but ya won’t like it.”
“O -hic- Okay, okay. You win.” Dash held up her hooves in a gesture of surrender, but then she broke out in a sly grin. “First, check that out.” She pointed, and Applejack followed her hoof over to the table that Rainbow and Lightning had been talking about earlier. One of the three colts from the booth, this one with a blue coat, white mane, and an air gust cutie mark, was standing at the table, talking to the mares and visibly trying to maintain a calm demeanor. After a few more seconds of discussion, the mares giggled amongst themselves and two of them draped a foreleg around each other. The colt stammered out a few attempts at an excuse, then beat a hasty retreat back to his booth.
“Aww... did I miss it?” Lightning slid the tray back onto the table, complete with three full mugs. She plopped down in her chair and knocked a hoof against the table. “Darn. I thought I’d have more time after that little show you two put on. Are there any more potential groups?” She glanced around the bar, abandoning any attempts at subtlety and staring at any table with three mares. A few even smiled coyly and waved to her.
“A couple.” Dash grabbed her mug and took a quick pull from it. “After losing two in a row like that, though, they’ll probably take a while to work up the courage to try again.”
“This is what we came here for?” Applejack put a hoof on her marefriend’s drink and forced it down to the table. “You two brought me here to watch some poor colt get shot down?”
“No.” Lightning replied, rolling her eyes. “We brought you here to drink. The ‘colts getting shot down’ thing is just a bonus.” That earned her a glare from the farm pony. She leaned over, placing a hoof on Dash’s shoulder for support. “I think you might need to explain the... situation a bit.”
“Yeah, sugar.” Applejack said through clenched teeth. “Why don’t ya explain it to me?”
“Okay, calm down, AJ.” Rainbow shuffled in her seat uncomfortably. She swept a hoof around the tavern. “Look around. Do you notice anything a little odd?”
Applejack turned and looked out across the room. By now, almost all of the tables and booths were full. She tried to focus, scanning over a pair of colts in a booth, then a table of mares, and another, and another. She stopped and looked again, searching for any groups of colts. After sweeping the room twice, she only found the two booths, leaving a total of five colts in a room with scores of mares. Only one possible explanation came to mind. “Dash... is this a fillyfooler bar?”
Rainbow nodded, biting her lip to keep from snickering.
“Well, why in tarnation are colts comin’ to a fillyfooler bar?” Applejack picked up her mug and took a quick sip.
“It’s kind of a Cloudsdale Flight School tradition to tell the first-year colts that this is a great bar to come to and meet fillies.” Dash flinched a little as her marefriend hit her with a withering glare. “H-hey... it wasn’t my idea or anything, and after they came back we always told them about the bars where they can actually go to meet fillies.”
“Oh man, Dash.” Lightning leaned over and threw a foreleg around Rainbow, earning herself a scathing glare from Applejack that went unnoticed. “I bet when you came here, colts were lining up around the block to hit on you.” She made dramatic sweep with the hoof around Dash’s neck, but she wrapped a wing around the cyan mare to help keep her balance.
Applejack gritted her teeth as several choice words threatened to spill out of her mouth. She took a deep breath and stared at her cup, swirling the liquid and watching the foam slowly start to rotate. It ain’t nothin’, girl. It’s a pegasus thing. It’s the same as throwin’ a leg ‘round somepony’s neck. Just a friendly gesture. She swirled her drink faster as something Lightning had said during Dash’s Wonderbolt tryout came back to her.
Man, if I’d known she was into mares back then, I would’ve made a pass or two.
She lifted the mug to her lips and took several deep gulps, emptying it and dropping it back to the table. Calm down, girl. Yer makin’ a mountain out of a molehill. She stared at the table, hearing Dash and Lightning talk back and forth, but not paying attention to the words. Evetually, a laugh from her marefriend pulled her out of her thoughts.
“Hehe. Careful, Lightning.” Rainbow cringed away from her former partner’s wing, spilling a bit of cider on the table. “That tickles.” She looked down at the offending appendage, taking a few seconds longer than necessary to examine it. “I gotta say, you’ve done a great job preening it.” She scooted away and held out the other mare’s wing. “Primaries. Secondaries. Coverts. Axillaries. All straight as arrows. How long does it take you to get that done? An hour? Two?”
“Maybe after a night like tonight.” Lightning lifted her mug, flashing a conceited smile. “Usually, it only takes about thirty, maybe forty, minutes.” She flapped her wings once and folded them back at her side.
“Not bad, not bad.” Dash nodded appreciatively. “If you’re looking to win second place.” She smirked and extended her own wing, displaying her perfectly aligned feathers. “Takes me just fifteen minutes, eighteen on a rough day.” She rubbed a hoof against her chest and examined it nonchalantly. “I guess not everypony can be as cool as me, though.”
Applejack arched an eyebrow as their conversation reached her ears. Ain't that a personal thing? Dash had told her a lot about pegasus culture, and wingcare was typically a very personal thing, not usually discussed with anyone other than family or close friends.
“Oh please. Just look at this.” Lightning rolled her eyes and leaned down to peer at the cyan wing. “You’ve got misaligned primaries all over the place, and your secondaries are all out of whack.”
“What’re you talking about?” Dash lowered her head to look at her wing. “My feathers are all just as straight as yours, straighter even. It’s your eyes that are misaligned.” She folded her wing and shoved Dust playfully, giggling to herself.
“Hey now.” Lightning leaned back in her chair, pointing at her former partner. “I’m telling you, both of you—” Her hoof wavered between Dash and the empty air next to her. “—my eyes are just fine.” She lifted her mug to drink from it, but missed her mouth and splashed cider on her coat, making Rainbow burst out laughing.
“Shut up.” She muttered, taking a pull from her cider. She sulked for a few seconds before speaking up again. “Seriously? Only fifteen minutes?” She admired the other mare’s folded wing as Dash nodded, a smug smile on her face. “Dang, that’s impressive. I thought I was good at thirty.”
Applejack could hear her teeth grinding together, and she squeezed her mug between her hooves so hard that the wood was beginning to crack and splinter. She started counting to try and calm herself. One. Two. Three...
“No no. Don’t get me wrong.” Dash raised her hoof in a placating gesture, sloshing cider from her cup in the process. “Thirty is awesome. Hay, it’s the best I’ve heard from anypony that wasn’t me. It took me forever go get down to fifteen, too. I always had trouble with the axillaries.” She shook her head, then rolled and stretched her neck. “It took me years to get my neck flexible enough that I could reach and preen them quickly without messing up.”
It was Lightning’s turn to flash a smug smile. “Yeah, I never had that problem.” She craned her neck back and touched her chin between the bases of her wings. “I’m double jointed, so I’m super flexible.”
Rainbow just stared for a few seconds, her mouth hanging open, then she started snickering uncontrollably. “Oh jeez, I bet that comes in handy sometimes.” Dust just looked at her blankly for a moment before blushing and snickering as well.
Applejack’s mug broke with a crack, leaving a gash down the side that let precious cider spill out onto the table, though the pegasi were too busy trying not to burst out laughing to notice. “Rainbow!” She hissed, grabbing her marefriend by the shoulder and turning her around. “Ya can’t just go ‘round sayin’ stuff like that.”
“Come on, it was hilarious!” Dash managed to say through her dying giggles. “You can’t really expect me to pass up something like that, can you? Besides, she thought it was funny too.” She went to take a drink of her cider, but pouted as she realized her mug was empty.
“Ah don’t care.” Applejack retorted. “What if Lightnin’ here had said somethin’ ‘bout—” She stopped as she looked up and saw that the yellow-maned mare was no longer at the table. “Uh... where’d she go?”
“Dash!” As if on cue, Lightning’s voice carried over the tavern. Rainbow and Applejack, along with a few other patrons, searched the room for her, eventually finding her next to the jukebox in the corner of the bar. She was waving a hoof and beckoning the cyan mare over.
“Oh, heck yes.” Dash’s face lit up and she looked over and pieced together Lightning’s plan. She turned back to her marefriend. “You coming?”
Applejack grit her teeth and took a deep breath before responding. “Nnope. Ah’m fine right here, thank ya kindly.” She went to take a drink of her cider, only to find that it had all drained out of the crack in the side. She reached across the table and grabbed the mug that Lightning had left unguarded on the table, taking a quick sip and slumping back in her chair.
“‘Kay.” Dash hopped down onto the floor, smiling over her shoulder before trotting off to the corner of the bar where Lightning was scrolling through the songs on the jukebox. She extended a wing and tapped the other mare on her far shoulder. Dust looked off to the side for a few moments in confusion before turning the other direction to catch Rainbow snickering into a hoof. She punched the prismatic pegasus in the shoulder lightly, then went back to examining the song list on the jukebox.
After sifting through a few more pages, Lightning pointed to one of the songs with a hoof, nearly falling over in the process. She threw a wing across Dash’s back and used it to keep both of them steady. Rainbow nodded and pushed a few buttons on the control panel. The machine picked up a record and played it, sending a wave of music over the room that went unnoticed by most of the patrons.
Back at the table, Applejack took a deep drink of her new cider and watched as Dash and Lightning began singing. Between the distance and the noise from the rest of the bar, she couldn’t hear them, but based on the looks some nearby patrons were giving them, she could guess that they didn’t sound very good. She felt the twinge of jealousy from earlier return. She shook her head and sighed, a small amused smile on her face. Come on, girl. She’s just havin’ a bit of fun. Ain’t nothin’ to it. Her smile withered and faded as she watched the pegasi across the bar. As the song progressed, Dash and Lightning started swaying together in time to the beat. Lifting her cup to her lips, the orange mare took a pull from her drink, but nearly spat it out when she saw one of Lightning’s wingtips dip down and brush Dash’s cutie mark.
Applejack rubbed a hoof across her eyes, anger rising in her chest. She blinked and looked again, but saw that Lightning’s wing was firmly wrapped around Dash’s shoulders, nowhere near the cyan mare’s flank. She sat back in her chair, staring down into her half-full mug. Great. Now Ah’m seein’ things. Ah think Ah’ve had enough fer tonight. She dropped the cup onto the table, splashing some cider, and pushed it back across the wood to where Lightning had left it. Hopping down onto the floor, she slowly wove her way over to the jukebox, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw Lightning Dust teeter to the side and brush her cheek against Dash’s.
Alright. That’s enough of that. Applejack cleared her throat, but the singing pegasi didn’t hear her. She coughed into a hoof noisily, making Dash and Lightning take notice of her. “Say, RD, Ah hate to spoil yer fun, but ya think we could skedaddle? Ah’m gettin’ mighty tuckered out, and mah eyes are startin’ to cross. Ah could go fer a bit of shuteye.”
“Huh?” Rainbow blinked a few times as Applejack’s words sank in. “Oh, yeah, sure thing.” She slipped out from underneath Lightning’s wing, but her former partner barely noticed as she had already gone back to singing along with the jukebox. “Lightning... hey, Lightning!”
“Whazzat?” Dust looked around in confusion before finding Dash next to her. “Wha’s going on?” She belatedly realized her wing was still extended and tucked it back against her side.
“We’re heading out.” Dash threw a wing across Applejack’s back, pulling herself against the earth pony to keep from leaning too far and falling over. “AJ’s getting tired, and—” A yawn forestalled the rest of her sentence for a moment. “—and so am I. I’ll see you around, okay?”
“Lame.” Lightning droned, frowning for a second before smiling playfully. “I’m just messing with ya. That’s cool. We did get a pretty early start, didn’t we? Take care you two.” She extended a foreleg and bumped hooves with Dash and Applejack, then made her way back to the table, muttering under her breath. “Now, where’s that cider?”
“Come on, sugar. Let’s go.” Applejack nuzzled her marefriend and leaned against her, enjoying the familiar contact rather than needing the support to stay upright. They slowly wove their way to the front door, opening it and revealing the dark night sky beyond. Just as the door was closing behind them Lightning’s voice rang out over the bar again.
“Hey! Who drank my cider?”
*
“I’m -hic- serious, AJ.” Dash tried to assure her marefriend for the fifth time since they left the bar. “I’m gonna do soooo many things to you when we get to the hotel. You’re not gonna be able to -hic- walk straight tomorrow.” She pushed the cloud disc from the Coliseum, swerving through the empty air space while she talked. “I’ll even do that one thing with my wings that you like so much.”
“Sure thing.” Applejack responded a little shortly, though it went unnoticed by the other mare. She’d been through this particular rodeo before, and she knew that Dash was all hat and no cattle once she got a few drinks in her. Despite knowing that, she couldn’t help but get a little excited at the memories and images that Rainbow’s words brought to mind. However, she quickly quashed those feelings, knowing that following them would only leave her wanting in the end.
It’s a shame too. She looked up to see the full moon hanging in the sky. A romp in the hay’d be mighty nice right ‘bout now. She glanced back down just in time to get a face full of cloud as Dash pushed the platform through it. Though, Ah suppose up here it’d be a romp in the clouds. She let out a small sigh, remembering just how unlikely that was, given Rainbow’s current state. “How much further?”
“Um...” Dash pulled the platform to a stop and looked around, trying to get her bearings. After searching for a few seconds, she flew around to the front of it and started pushing it the way they had come. “Oops, we passed it a little ways back.” She looked up at the farm pony, grinning sheepishly. “Sorry, I was thinking about... things.”
Applejack smiled despite herself; she never could stay mad at Rainbow. “Ah know.” She leaned down and nuzzled the cyan mare’s cheek, edging her way higher until she could nibble her lover’s ear. “So was Ah.” She breathed, delighting in the shiver it sent through her marefriend’s body.
Dash bit her lip and flapped her wings harder, as though they were a little stiff. She focused on flying and guided the disc toward a large rectangular structure with several rows of doors and balconies. She headed for an attached building off to the side, the only one that still had light shining from the inside.
“Wait here, sug.” Applejack stood up and made her way over to the door. “Ah just gotta get us checked in and then we can head off to bed.” She pushed the door open, sending a bell above it tinkling.
“Welcome to the Cloudwalker Inn.” A grey-coated pegasus stallion behind the counter looked up from the magazine he was reading. He brushed a lock of his blond mane out of his face and grinned. “Well, this is a surprise. We don’t get many earth ponies up here. What brings a pretty young filly like yourself up to Cloudsdale, miss?”
“Ah’m here with mah marefriend fer the Wonderbolts tryout that was over at the Coliseum.” Applejack smiled as her chest welled with pride. “Ah got a reservation under the name ‘Applejack.’”
The stallion let out a low whistle. “Whoo. The Wonderbolts, huh? You don’t meet one of them every day.” He pulled a large binder from below the counter, dropping it onto the cloud surface and sending up a light spray of mist. He flipped through a few pages, mumbling to himself. “Applejack... Applejack... Here we go.” He tapped the paper with a hoof. “Room 106, one queen-sized bed.” He turned around and grabbed a round mass of cloud from a rack of cupboards on the wall behind him. He was about to set it on the counter when he scrunched up his face, clearly thinking to himself.
“Is somethin’ the matter?” The farm pony shifted on her hooves nervously.
The innkeeper let out a small sigh. “Forgive me for prying, miss, but just how are you staying up here?”
“Oh.” Applejack looked down at her hooves. “It’s some fancy cloud-walkin’ spell a unicorn friend of mine found. Mighty useful, if’n ya ask me.”
“Mhmm.” The stallion nodded. “How long does it last?”
“Three days.” Applejack smirked, knowing where he was going with the conversation. “Just had it cast this mornin’, so ya don’t need to be worryin’ none ‘bout me fallin’ through yer floor.”
“Maybe not.” He turned back to the mass of cupboards and replaced the round ball of cloud he had pulled out and moved to another slot, pulling out an identical looking puff of cloud. “Either way, I’ll sleep better tonight if I upgrade you to one of the special non-unicorn rooms. It’s got enchanted carpet and a nice real bed, king-size. Room 207” He put the cloud on the desk in front of Applejack.
“Oh, there really ain’t a need fer that. Ah’m sure the room we’ve got booked will be just fine.” She went to push the ball of cloud back across the desk, but stopped and peered closer at it. “Say, just what is this thing anyway?” She poked it with a hoof, and it rolled a short ways.
“It’s the doorknob to the room.” The innkeeper chuckled at Applejack’s confused expression. “You ever tried to make locks and keys out of cloud? It’s a nightmare. It’s like making them out of soft cheese. It’s easier to just pull off the doorknob.” He shook his head. “Anyway, take the room, please. It’ll let me sleep a little better tonight, and it’s rarely ever booked anyway.”
“Well, if’n ya say so.” Applejack picked up the doorknob and trotted back to the door, pausing before pulling it open. “Thank ya kindly, sir.” She left the building and found Dash sitting on the cloud disc, her eyes falling shut. “Come on, sug.” The earth pony nudged her marefriend in the shoulder, startling her slightly. “We’re in room 207.”
“Huh?” Dash looked around for a second, then focused on the nearby block of rooms. “Oh, right 207. Then, when we get there, the fun begins.”
“Ah’m sure it will.” Applejack smiled as the platform pulled away and angled for a room at the end of a row. After a couple missed attempts, the cloud disc merged with the room’s balcony and she stepped up to the door, popping the handle into the hole and throwing it open. She let out a low whistle as several magical lights along the wall flickered to life. The room was fairly large for being in a cloud building, stretching fifteen feet across and twenty from the door to the far wall. True to the innkeeper’s word, a lush violet carpet spanned the entire floor, and a huge king-sized, four-poster bed sat against the far wall.
“Wow.” Dash edged around her marefriend and made her way unsteadily across the room, flopping down on the bed. “This room is awesome.” Her voice was partially muffled by the sheets she was laying face-down on. She rolled over onto her back and beckoned the other mare over with a hoof. “Get over here, AJ, I wanna—” She let out a huge yawn, trying to cover her mouth with a hoof that ended up in front of her eyes instead. “I wanna... do things... sexy things...” Her words slowly trailed off as her eyes closed, and after a few seconds she began snoring softly, but it quickly rose in volume.
“Every time.” Applejack took off her hat and tossed it onto a chair near the door and trotted into the bathroom, looking around for a sink. After finding it tucked away on the other side of the shower, she splashed some water on her face and dried it with a towel hanging on the door to the shower. She went back out to the bed and laid down next to Dash, nudging the sleeping pegasus until she rolled onto her side and Applejack could snuggle up behind her. She stretched her neck out and kissed her lover’s cheek, drawing a contented sigh from the sleeping cyan mare.
“Good night, sugar.” She yawned and nestled down into the mattress, wrapping a foreleg around her marefriend’s barrel. “Ah love you.” The words made Rainbow stir a bit, snuggling back against the farm pony. Applejack let her eyes drift shut as sleep rose up to take her, but it was a fitful sleep, full of images of Dash and Lightning swaying together.