//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Freedom // Story: Flying Without Wings // by FierceRainbow //------------------------------// Freedom The loud caw of the cockerel echoed across the empty farm, reaching through Applejack’s window, ringing out with a clear sound that easily broke through the peaceful fog of sleep. She groaned, trying to grasp onto the precious threads of rest that were steadily slipping away from her, replaced by the morning’s warmth and a pang of hunger in her stomach. Well, she was hardly going to miss breakfast. Reluctantly, she pushed aside her duvet, sitting up and rubbing her eyes with a yawn. She really wasn’t ready to get up, plagued by strange dreams of flight and losing her marefriends all night. Her bed lay just beneath her rump, tempting her back to dreamland. But she was never one to give into temptation, so she resolutely stumbled onto the wooden planks, running a brush through her mane and tail, before binding them with her normal hair ties, finishing with her worn stetson. Happy with her appearance, she headed out. As soon as she made it to the top of the stairs, the warm scent of apples floated up her nostrils. She sniffed appreciatively, following the smell to the kitchen, where Big McIntosh stood, a pink apron tied around his middle, plating up some steaming apple pancakes. “Nice apron, Mac,” Applejack teased him lightly, punctuating her words with a friendly nudge. He turned to face her, laughter sparkling in his eyes. “Eeyup.” Leaving him to his work, (there was no use offering help, he always denied it) she returned to the main room, where an elderly pony lay snoozing in her slowly moving rocking chair, quite creaks protruding from it. “Granny? Granny, it’s time fer breakfast.” Granny Smith showed no signs of hearing her, twitching slightly and mumbling something about ‘stopping the war’. Shaking her head, Applejack leaned closer to the floppy ear. “Granny! Breakfast!” “Wh-what?” the old mare jumped in surprise, startled out of her slumber. “Applejack! Ya’ll should treat ya elders with more respect.” “So ya want me to jus’ leave ya’ll to sleep all day?” she snapped, her thin patience with Granny Smith bending under pressure, though refraining from the shame that was breaking. “Yes! I can do what I want!” With a disapproving sniff, Granny Smith began to move towards the table, her worn-out bones making a creaking sound worryingly akin to that of her rocking chair. Applejack sighed, her head drooping slightly. Although she got on her nerves, she often fretted about long she had before she passed on. She tried not to think about it, as was the circle of life, but it was hard. Shaking off her discomfort, she took her seat at the dining table as her brother put plates full of apple pancakes in front of them. “Oh Applesauce, ya’ll work too hard,” Granny Smith cooed, shoving a mouthful of pancake into her mouth, chewing it up with her false teeth, clearly exposed to any who were forced to look. “Uh, Granny? His name’s Big McIntosh.” “Oh, whatever. I knew that.” Ignoring her confused words, Applejack contemplatively chewed her own pancakes, her thoughts elsewhere. Those dreams last night… they weren’t nightmares, but they were weird, unhealthy. Why should she want to be a Pegasus, when she was just fine as an Earth Pony? “Me and Scoots are gonna go get our cutie marks in exploring caves today,” Applebloom said, her voice laced with excitement at the prospect of yet another chance to discover her special talent. “Sweetie was gonna come with us, but she’s afraid of th’ darkness, so she’s gonna play with Twist. I feel kinda bad ‘bout leavin’ here to play with mah new gals, but I’m sure she’ll have a lot of fun with Sweetie.” That’s right, I stopped seein’ her little friend ‘round here once she met Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Hmm, Twist, was it? I hope she’s okay. “Now Applejack, ya’ll being awful silent,” Granny Smith piped up, leering at her from across the table. “Is it because of those cute fillies yer datin’? Bet they did a number on ya last night.” “What?” her cheeks felt like they’d just been set on fire as the implications settled in, leaving her to splutter in embarrassment. “We didn’t do nothin’ of the sort, I swear on the farm! We were jus’ havin’ a normal date is all…” She broke off as realized Big McIntosh and Applebloom were muffling their giggles, while Granny Smith was chortling away happily. “Oh Applejack, ya’ll are gettin’ flustered,” she said with a wide grin. “Now, jus’ what are ya gonna do if they really pull some moves on ya?” “Granny, don’t talk about that with Bloom here!” she blushed furiously at the idea, cutting of her little sister’s protest. “I gotta go. Bye!” “But Applejack, ya’ll didn’t finish ya breakfast!” Applebloom called out desperately, but she was already gone. With a shrug, she forked the dripping pancakes onto her plate, preparing to dig into her bigger than ever breakfast. “Oh well, more fer me.” ~~~~~~~~~~ Although her cheeks were still slightly warm from the earlier conversation, Applejack had calmed down well enough, courtesy of a few deep breathes as she trotted briskly past the rows of apple trees. Maybe leaving had been immature, but she couldn’t bear to suffer through that conversation any longer. She needed to talk to Rainbow Dash, anyhow. Her cheeks lit up again as thought of the mare seducing Applejack entered her mind. Cursing her own mind under her breath, she continued on past the farm. Luckily she didn’t have to look far, spotting a rainbow-colored tail hanging off the edge of a straggling cloud hanging long above the rolling green landscape. Bending down in preparation, she leaped with all her might, managing to grip the tail in her teeth and give it a strong yank. With a yelp, the rest of Rainbow became visible, tumbling down atop Applejack in a flurry of limbs. She shifted uncomfortably under the light weight of her Pegasus marefriends, shoving her off. “Gah! Uh, sorry ‘bout that, sugarcube.” Rainbow Dash stumbled briefly from the shove, but quickly regained her balance to fix her with a glare. Her mane was slightly more scruffed up than normal, sticking out at odd angles, rather than the somehow orderly disarray it was normally in. It was pretty cute. “What the hay, Applejack? I was having a good dream as well.” “I said sorry, I didn’t mean ta wake ya’ll up,” she ducked in, stealing a little nuzzle. “What was yer dream about?” A sly expression slid into the place of her angry one, batting her eyelashes suggestively. “It was about you.” Yet again, she felt the heat rushing to her cheeks. “Uh, I…” “Ha! You should see the look on your face!” Rainbow fell about laughing, throwing her legs up into the air as she chortled. Applejack rolled her eyes in annoyance, before chuckling as well, looking down fondly at her. “Alright Rainbow, that’s enough now. I wanted to talk to ya.” She straightened up, the laughter subsiding from her with only a few joyful tears left for her to wipe away. Finally serious, she wrapped her warm hoof around Applejack’s, to her pleasant surprise. “Okay, okay, c’mere.” Curiously, she followed her lead of nestling down on the soft grass, staring up at the cloud-spotted sky. She glanced over at Rainbow to see her gazing up intentently. After a few more seconds, she began to speak. “You see that cloud over there, Applejack?” she followed the direction of the blue hoof to see the indicated cloud, seemingly drifting apart. “It looks like a cat, don’t you think? It wasn’t meant to look like that, it was supposed to just look like a, well, a cloud. We did everything, from getting the water to Clousdale to make it, to carefully shaping and positioning it. But when we leave it, it drifts apart and does it’s own thing.” Applejack blinked as Rainbow Dash finished her speech. Am I like a cloud, then? Pushed to be an Earth Pony, and thinkin’ that’s what I should be, when really I should be a Pegasus? But how does Rainbow know about this? “Dash, that’s… actually kind of deep. I didn’t know ya’ll could be like that.” Rainbow glanced over, raising her eyebrow. “Nah, I just felt like talking about clouds.” Applejack mentally face-hoofed. Of course. “So, what was it you wanted to talk about?” “O-oh,” she felt her voice failing as the attention was directed to her. “I was jus’ wondering… what’s it like ta have wings?” “Huh?” Rainbow Dash seemed surprised at the question, giving her an odd look. “Why?” “Nothin’ important,” she said awkwardly. “Jus’ wonderin’.” “You’re cute when you get all flustered,” Dash leaned forwards, planting a kiss on her cheeks, drawing away to take to the sky, landing on a cloud and splaying her wings out for Applejack to admire, and she greedily did so, always rather in awe of the magnificent feathered limbs. “It’s only natural that you’d want to know about these bad boys. When ponies hang out with me, they soon find they want to be just like me, especially my awesome talent at flying.” Applejack playfully rolled her eyes, smirking up at her. “Would ya’ll get on with it, Rainbow?” “Aw, you know you love it,” she winked suggestively. “But whatever. Anyway, wings are actually require a lot of work. You have to stretch them out so they don’t get stiff and preen a lot as well. Seriously, like every day,” maybe it ain’t so good after all. “Still, nothing compares to flying. Every day, spreading my wings, soaring across the sky, just me and the birds up there. It’s the most wonderful sense of freedom I’ve ever had, the wind in my mane… I love it!” With a flourish, she dived off the edge of her cloud, heading straight towards Applejack. She yelped in surprise, having no time to duck before Rainbow Dash barreled into her, pushing down firmly on her shoulders and pressing their lips together. As she drew away, Applejack was left breathless. “R-rainbow? What’s gotten into ya’ll?” “What? Don’t tell me you didn’t like it,” Dash smirked, wettening her lips with a prolonged swipe of her tongue. “I was just getting excited, I guess. Talking about flying does that me. Sorry, I have to go now. But I’ll see you later, right cowgirl?” “Definitely,” she finally responded to the kiss, returning it roughly with one of her own. “Ya’ll go play around an’ have fun. Then come down to the barn later, an’ we’ll have some real fun.” Rainbow Dash shivered slightly. “Damn you’re hot. Uh, bye!” With that, she shot off, leaving her trademark bright trail behind her. With a wide grin plastered over her face, she watched until she had disappeared from view, and then a bit longer. After a while, she got up to begin her walk. To where, she didn’t know, as her plan had been to hang around with Rainbow. I guess I’ll go an’ see Twi’ then. A plan in mind, she headed off.