//------------------------------// // Of Horses and Hollers // Story: triple dog // by Ezrienel //------------------------------// 2. Of Horses and Hollers "I hate you all." Rarity said flatly as she got out of her parents' sport utility vehicle and slammed the door closed, crossing her arms defiantly and turning her nose up. "Come on Rare, you have to do it, that's the game." Rainbow Dash said as she jumped out of the back of the vehicle, leaving the door open so the others could get out. She glanced back down the dirt road they had just driven down, waiting for Applejack to arrive. "If I didn't have the threat of baldness looming, I would not even consider this." Rarity concluded, looking around at the blooming suburban area they had found. Even though it was late at night by now, certainly there would be people awake. "That's the point! Pushing your limits and shit. And trust me, it will be fun." Rainbow Dash tried to calm her nerves, but turned abruptly around when she heard trotting in the distance. She hurried out to greet her friend, and grinned as she came into view. Applejack rode up to the group in full gallop, riding one of her family's most trustworthy horses. Of course, if they were going to make Rarity do something so uncouth, Applejack had to make sure it was at least safe. She trotted to a stop in front of them, adjusting her hat as she looked down at the reluctant woman below. Swinging her boot over the side of the horse, Applejack dismounted and made certain the saddle was still on securely. "This is ridiculous." Rarity muttered as she winced, looking at the tall animal before her, while certainly she thought they were some of the most gorgeous of creatures, being so near or even considering riding one was unheard of. "Well, if you don't think you can do it, you can always challenge Fluttershy to do it instead," Rainbow Dash reminded her, but a smile ran across her face, "Of course, Fluttershy loves animals, so she would have no problem with this. And if she does do it, I'm shaving your head." "You're too cruel." Rarity whined loudly, cringing as Applejack directed her beside the horse. Applejack's hands were rather dirty from gathering the horse and riding up, and Rarity frowned as she gestured for her to climb up. "It'll be all right, just get on up slow like, anythin' goes wrong I'm right here to help." Applejack said comfortingly, and Rainbow Dash yawned obnoxiously as she waited for things to get started. "Just make sure you ain't tuggin' too tight on the reins or kickin' about, might make him a bit antsy, y'hear?" "Oh, he's the one going to be antsy, is he?" Rarity scoffed as she nervously stood in front of the animal, which flicked his tail about absently. "Just get up there already." Rainbow Dash barked, rolling her eyes. "All right, one foot right here, that's good." Applejack directed Rarity and helped her onto the horse's back, though her contorted expression made her seem utterly appalled. "You left the keys in the ignition, right?" Rainbow asked as she peered over her shoulder and stood on her toes, trying to see into the vehicle. "Yes, just as you asked." Rarity concurred as Applejack handed her the reins, rubbing the horse on the neck as if soothing it or warning it. "Sweet, A.J., you're riding shotgun and manning the camera." Rainbow nodded to her friend, who heard her though she was otherwise occupied. "Now it's important y'know how to stop, just try to make yourself seem a mite heavier and gently pull back on the reins, 'kay?" Applejack tried to show her with her hands, but Rarity didn't seem too keen on the idea. "Darling, a woman never tries to seem heavier." Rarity flipped her hair and adjusted herself on the hard saddle, dissatisfied with the circumstances to say the least. She played with the reins and seemed to get a better grip on them, and Applejack just hoped she didn't do anything too dangerous. "Ygot it?" Applejack asked as she stepped back, making certain her feet were securely in the stirrups. Rarity nodded and turned her nose up, looking out at the streets before her. "Awesome, you'd better hold on tight," Rainbow Dash grinned as she slipped around a curious Applejack, who watched Rainbow's devious smirk appear anew. "Giddy up!" Rainbow Dash slapped the horse on the rear, spooking it and sending it into a near full sprint. "Rainbow!" Rarity screamed as the horse carried her off, and Applejack just gaped and watched the diva cry out to the wind. "Game on." Rainbow Dash clapped and laughed loudly, jumping into a jog and climbing into the vehicle, "Move it, cowgirl!" Applejack ran around the vehicle and climbed into the passenger's seat, grabbing the camera off the dashboard. Rainbow Dash hurriedly started up the car and put it into gear, chasing after the still shouting girl down the seemingly empty streets. The other three girls squealed with excitement in the back, rolling down the windows to get a better look as they drove up right behind her. Her expression was sheer terror as the horse bolted down the streets, and she could barely keep upright with all the shaking and galloping. Rainbow Dash rolled down her own window and began to shout. "Come one, come all! Witness the fashion diva turned rodeo star blaze a trail through your neighbourhood!" Rainbow yelled into the darkness, "That's right, one night, and one night only! You can't get this sort of entertainment on triple-x pay on demand cable, people!" "I can't believe she's doing it!" Twilight Sparkle blinked in shock as she watched her friend race below the street lights, her hair blowing about behind her and messing up. "Never again will you see anything quite like this, folks, get it while it's fresh!" Rainbow Dash laughed and hollered as Applejack filmed it all, her own expression surprisingly impressed. "Oh my gosh," Pinkie Pie gasped as they passed an elderly man watering his plants, who gawked and stared as they rode and drove past him, "Ride, Rarity, ride!" The girls caught up right beside her on the horse and made out something of words through her shrill screaming, "I can't stop it, Applejack!" "Just ease up Rare, quit screamin' already," Applejack leaned over Rainbow Dash and called out her window, while Rainbow Dash just continued to laugh and cheer. "Look!" Twilight pointed as their attention returned to the road, where a new model red sports car turned down the street, honking twice as they saw Rarity rushing towards them. "Nice riding, Rarity!" A male voice called from the car as a cell phone emerged from the window, snapping a photo or two as they passed. The girls in the car noticed right away that the red convertible belonged to Blueblood himself, who was driving as his friend snapped the pictures. They all exchanged shocked and amused glances as Rarity began to slow down around the next turn, and Rainbow Dash drove right up behind her still howling. Finally the horse seemed to calm down and slowed to a trot, stopping entirely as Rarity tugged on the reins once more and sat there in shock. They pulled up right next to her and Applejack immediately jumped out, going over to make sure everything was okay. "That was so much better than I expected!" Rainbow Dash guffawed as she leaned back in the seat, shaking her head as she watched Applejack help the stunned girl off of the horse and over to the vehicle. Applejack went back to the horse and climbed on easily, turning it around with precision and gesturing for Rainbow to drive after her back to the farm. "First successful triple dog of the evening." Rainbow Dash leaned out the window as she called and extended her hand towards Applejack, who high-fived it on her way by. Rarity still held her breath with wide eyes as she sat in the passenger's seat, until a few simple words escaped her mouth. "That was the worst—possible—thing." "I can't believe you did that." Twilight told her as she leaned forward and put a hand on her pale friend's shoulder. "I have new respect for you, Rare." Rainbow Dash snickered as she followed Applejack back to the farm, watching the way she would look over her shoulder and make sure they were there. "I cannot say the same, you could have gotten me killed." Rarity complained as she fixed her hair in the mirror above her head that came down over the wind shield, "It's this sort of absurd and dangerous behaviour that got you suspended." "Suspended? I thought Princess Celestia just called you in to her office?" Twilight gasped as the truth was revealed, and Rainbow Dash refused to meet her gaze in the rear view mirror, instead intent on watching Applejack sway back and forth on the horse. "At first, yeah." She merely muttered like it was no big deal, leaning her arm on the still open window sill. Three days ago... Rainbow Dash obnoxiously blew a bubble in her gum and chewed it back into her mouth, reading over a book of mad-libs for fun. She flipped the page to start a new one and bit the cap off her pen, flipping it around in her hand. She sat with Rarity on one side and Fluttershy on the other, with Soarin and Spitfire across from them. Usually the groups did not mingle, but they were all together in study hall and there were few tables to choose from. Rainbow Dash didn't even bother looking up as Spitfire turned around and whipped a gummy candy at the back of a chair across the room. Rainbow Dash already knew who she was throwing them at, the same girl she herself had a grudge against, one Sunset Shimmer. She was the kind of girl who made a habit of making enemies. "Adjective." Rainbow Dash said blankly, moving the gum from one side of her mouth to another. "Adjective? What's an adjective?" Soarin asked, and the rest of them scoffed a bit at his ignorance. "And this is why you should quit skipping school to go to that pie shop across town," Rainbow Dash grumbled, though that story had no real fact behind it and was merely a joke, "Adjectives are like, describing words. Like fat, ugly, stupid." "I like that one, use stupid." Spitfire remarked as she nudged Soarin, who took offence to it but said nothing to defend himself. Rainbow huffed a laugh and jotted it down, leaning the book against her foot which was up on the table. "Noun." Rainbow Dash stated quietly, the library where study hall was held remaining quite quiet otherwise. "Apples." Soarin grinned as he doodled on his notebook, while Spitfire chucked another gummy bear at Sunset Shimmer only a few yards away, hitting her on the back of the head. "Dude, you're in deep." Rainbow murmured with a smirk as she shook her head and wrote it in anyway. He made it so obvious sometimes that he had a liking for Rainbow's best friend, sometimes it even bothered her, "Verb." "Screwing." Spitfire sneered, as she played with a gummy in her fingers, glancing over at her target again. "If you're just going to throw those, can I have one?" Rainbow Dash asked, and Spitfire shrugged. She grabbed a handful of ammo and pushed the rest across the desk. "Thanks." Rainbow offered some to Fluttershy, who nervously shook her head and put her nose into her book. Rainbow Dash spat out her gum on a piece of trash and grabbed a few of the candies, shoving them in her mouth. Spitfire turned around and chucked another gummy, hitting Sunset Shimmer once more. The girl at the other table paused before turning around to look at her aggressor, who was playing innocent and looking away. She eyed the bag of familiar treats in Rainbow's hand as she put it back down on the table and chewed, picking up the book again. Rainbow glanced up, noticing the attention she was getting from the short-haired girl. "What are you looking at?" Rainbow Dash asked loudly, shaking her head and displaying her palms like she wasn't hiding anything. "Getting kind of sour sitting there all by yourself?" Sunset Shimmer frowned and turned around slowly in her chair, looking at her foe with a deep set glare, "Why don't you tell your friends just how great of a person you are to be around? You know, about Gilda?" Rainbow Dash glowered and kicked her foot down off the table, leaning forward and returning the glare as she spoke, "What was that?" The others at her table exchanged glances but tried to keep their heads down. "Quiet down," The librarian told them as she looked up from her work, noticing the commotion that was stirring, "Get back to work." "Come on Dash, relax." Soarin told her as he ducked his head, glancing back to see Sunset Shimmer turning around and scoffing at the whole lot of them. Rainbow Dash was not someone to be messed with. She had a bad temper, and everyone knew it. She hardly waited a couple of second before she scooted her chair back across the carpet and stood up, going over to the source of the confrontation. She put her hands on her hips and chewed on her cheek a bit, waiting for Sunset Shimmer to turn around or go on, but she didn't. By now most of the library was looking over, and they knew what would come next. "What'd you just say to me, Shimmer?" Rainbow asked, though it didn't sound much like a question, more like a challenge. Sunset Shimmer just shook her head and stifled a laugh, ignoring her. "Sit down." The librarian told her, but it was as if she was silent and went completely unheard. "What the fuck, did you just say to me?!" Her temper flared and Sunset Shimmer finally realized just how angry she had made her. Not that she cared, she liked to stir up trouble. Before anyone knew what happened, Rainbow Dash grabbed Sunset Shimmer and yanked her out of her chair, throwing her to her feet. With a wild swing she punched her antagonist across the jaw, sending her stumbling backwards in shock. Rainbow did not stop though, she went forward again and hit her the same, getting everyone to their feet. The librarian raced across the room to try and stop it, but once again Rainbow Dash smashed her fist against the still dumbfounded expression of her foe. "That's enough!" The librarian called as she grabbed Sunset Shimmer and pulled her away, but Rainbow Dash went after her again. "Rainbow!" Fluttershy's voice rang out, and it nearly sounded like she was in tears. Rainbow Dash looked over at the poor girl, who had her eyes closed up tight and was clutching her bag in fear. Rainbow Dash's eyes softened at the familiar face, the meek and timid girl shouting was something of a wake up call. Fluttershy was one of her oldest friends, and she wouldn't risk that for someone like Sunset Shimmer. Rainbow scoffed a bit and shoved her hands in her pockets, looking away. Of course, she would have to explain her actions, and face consequences. Rainbow Dash read the name tag that adorned the desk in her principal's office, barely listening to what the woman was saying to her. She growled and leaned back in the chair, looking right up at the face of discipline in the school. Now, usually vice principal Luna might deal with misbehaviour, but Celestia herself took a special interest in this case. "Yeah, I busted her up," Rainbow Dash told principal Celestia, shrugging about it, "She deserved it." "What did she say to you?" Celestia asked, but Rainbow was silent again, drumming her fingers on the armrest of her chair like it didn't actually bother her. " Is there anything you want to talk about?" "Hmm," Rainbow Dash pretended to be thinking about it, tapping her chin with a finger, "God?" "What about God?" The principal inquired, tilting her head as if something profound might actually come out of the violent young lady's words. "Do you think that God ever gets bored?" Rainbow wondered, but it sounded more like she was trying to push buttons rather than discuss something real. Principal Celestia sighed audibly and chose her words carefully, "You know, I thought you were settling in better now. It's been a long time since I've seen you in my office, this is a big step backwards." "Blah, blah blah, blah blah. Listen, I'm sure you've got plenty to do around here: organize dances or fund-raisers or turn blind eyes to verbal assaults on other students. So, can I just get my detention slip now?" Rainbow Dash asked, raising her eyebrows with a dull expression. "Rainbow Dash, you should know that we have a no-tolerance policy about fighting. I'm afraid that I have to call your parents, and give you a three day suspension." Celestia picked up the phone with one hand and gestured the severity of the words to Rainbow Dash, whose eyes widened. "Who should I call to pick you up?"