“Heheheheh!” Rainbow Dash hugged her tummy as she floated down the street. She hovered at second-story level above Applejack as the two exited the restaurant of Canterlot’s Upper Diamond District. “I can’t believe it! And yet Filthy Rich still did business with you guys after that?”
“Oh please, Rainbow.” Applejack rolled her green eyes with a chuckle. “I was just a lil’ filly then! And Mr. Rich is certainly a forgivin’ stallion! It’s not like he was gonna take a little ol’ thang like that personally!”
“But you looked up at him with your little tiny filly freckles and said ‘Wow, your mane looks like a throw rug!’” Rainbow Dash hugged herself harder, snickering until tears squeezed out her eyes. “Hooooocrap! Ah ha ha ha!”
Applejack sighed. “For real, sugarcube, yer makin’ a scene.” She glanced left and right at the indignant pony glares that they were receiving. “Lightin’ up on the yucks, won’tcha?”
“Wow, AJ… I knew you were honest! I had no idea you were friggin’ brutal!” Rainbow Dash hovered a little lower so that her wavering chuckles could be heard by just the two of them. “Whewwwww. You didn’t hold back bucks in that day and age, did you?”
“Fraid not. Granny had to teach me some pretty smart lessons after my folks passed away so that I could learn to speak proper with ponyfolk.”
“Smart lessons, huh?” Rainbow squinted. “Like, she homeschooled you?”
“No. Meanin’ she tanned my backside until I learned to trot right!”
“Ha!” Rainbow Dash smirked as she fluttered ahead. “I knew they got shapely for a reason!”
Applejack was too busy chuckling to hear. “What was that?”
“Erhm…” Rainbow Dash clear her throat. “Nothing! But still…” She smirked devilishly over her shoulder. “I would have liked to know that AJ.”
“Really, now…?”
“Yeah. The AJ who was too driven to spare any hurt feelings.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, it’s not like you tell the truth all the time.”
“You sassin’ my good name, Rainbow?” Applejack’s brow furrowed. “If I wanted some of that, I would have hung out with the other girls!”
“I’m just saying…”
“Fine. Gimme one single instance where I said somethin’ to make my muzzle grow long!”
“Uhhhh…” Rainbow Dash glanced out the edge of her vision. “How about that one time you told Rarity that her mane was gorgeous--like--right after the Great and Powerful Trixie zapped it and made it all green and yucky?”
“Oh… uhm…” Applejack’s freckles swam in a blushed sea.
“Or how about that one time you made Apple Bloom and her friends think that their talent act was actually pretty snazzy and not a total meltdown?!”
“Erm…”
“Oh! And just two weeks ago! On Pinkie Pie’s birthday! You lied about the whole lot of us hiding out in your barn--”
“Hey! T’ain’t fair!” Applejack stomped her hoof on a loose piece of cobblestone, making nearby pigeons flock towards the upper rooftops. “That was to help put together a surprise party for our friend!”
“Still!” Rainbow’s voice cracked as she chuckled some more. “It’s not exactly what I would call a perrrrrrrrrfect recorrrrrrrrd.”
“Now yer just stretchin’ the issue.”
“It’s okay, Applejack!” Rainbow Dash smiled with her eyes happily shut. “I still love ya--uhhh-uhhhh…” She blinked wided, sweating. “We all love ya! The gals all love ya regardless, y’know!” She brushed her mane back, fidgeting. “Eheheheheh…”
“Standin’ for honesty and bein’ a perfect example for it aren’t exactly the same darn thang, Rainbow.”
“You don’t say?”
“It’s all about strivin’ to be an example to others.” Applejack gestured up at the pegasus. “Take you for example. Yer loyal as all get-out, but there’s still times when you sneak out of a get-together to see a Wonderbolts Show! And don’tcha deny it!”
“Pfft! As if I would!” Rainbow Dash smirked. “Thing is, I know that I’ll always be there for my friends when push comes to shove, so why sweat it?”
“Exactly…”
“But I like to think I’ve got the lying thing all beat.”
“Oh really?” Applejack smirked.
“Yup! In fact, I bet I lie less than even you do!”
“Ohhhhhh is that a challenge?” Applejack grinned.
“Hah! Sure. Whatever.” Rainbow Dash spun a loopty-loop in the air. “Just try me, girl!”
“Well, okay then.” Applejack leaned forward by the weight of her smirk. “Just why is it yer always floatin’ around yer friends when you could just as well be walkin’ on yer own four hooves?”
Rainbow Dash’s face paled. Her lips pursed, and she spun in a cold sweat to face Applejack.
Applejack wasn’t there. She had vanished, freckles and hat and all. Instead, darkness spread through the street like a wintery fog. It settled in on Rainbow from all sides, clouding her, suffocating her…
...until at last she shot out of bed, gasping. She hugged the sheets to herself with chattering teeth, then glanced around her bedroom… only to discover that she was hovering eight feet above her mattress, dangling blankets and all.
A minute passed.
Rainbow sighed. She hovered back down and sat on the edge of her bed. Her legs dangled over the side. She tried to inch herself forward, but her legs dangled even more.
A frown crossed her muzzle. With a muttering breath, she flapped her wings again and floated over towards the far side of the room. Picking the container off her dresser, she looked inside and rattled the thing until a pill ran loose. Tonguing the inside of her mouth in thought, she ultimately sighed and fluttered over towards where a miniature thundercloud was parked.
“It’s gonna be one of those days, I swear to Celestia.”
She bucked the wall, opened her mouth, and drowned the pill in cold water down her throat.
Part Two: Remaining Appletimistic
(Where Rainbow Dash Life Sucks and yet it Doesn’t)