//------------------------------// // The Falls and the Riches // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// Minutes bled into hours, and all of them covered in sweat. Rainbow Dash loved it. Or, at least, she wanted to. As her heart pumped and her temple throbbed, she found herself slamming her hooves into each subsequent row of apple trees with lesser and lesser intensity. Her wings never stopped beating for one single second. As always, they were more alive than the rest of her, lifting the beleaguered pegasus from one part of the orchard to another. As the sun began its downward plunge--casting hues of orange and scarlet across Sweet Apple Acres--she found her limbs dangling, swaying with each accelerated burst that her feathers had to give. At last, as Rainbow made her way down a final line of trees before the western half of the southern field, she could barely feel the sensation of her hooves impacting the thick wooden trunks. All that signaled through her legs was a slight tingle, followed by a dull throb of pain at the base of her spine. She had no choice but to hover to a swift stop, catching her breath--but helpless to catch her nerves. Clenching her teeth to stifle a deep-throated curse, Rainbow fiddled once more through the recesses of her saddlebag’s pouch. Eyeing the sunlight, she rattled the container and downed another pill, this time with no hesitation. Rainbow had just swallowed the capsule down when she heard Applejack’s voice warbling over the nearby hillside. “Rainbow? Rainbowwwww? You there, sugarcube?” “Uhm, yeah--” Rainbow hoarsely replied, then coughed until her voice was solid again. “Totally, Applejack! I wouldn’t have ditched ya!” “You over by the southwest orchards?” “Uh huh!” Rainbow Dash beat her wings and lifted up again. “Just about to--” “Good. Stay where you are. Reckon it’s time for a breather.” Rainbow’s ruby eyes bugged. She slumped back down to the ground, wincing as she actually felt the painful thud of her hooves settling against the rough soil. “Oh…” Her legs tingled over like a million ants crawling through her vains, and she gnashed her teeth. “Well, okay, then…” With remarkably soft hoofsteps, Applejack rounded the nearby hill, carrying two bushels of apples over her flanks. “Whew! Land’s sake, Rainbow Dash! Would you look at yerself?” “What?!” Rainbow’s voice cracked as she wildly hid her forelimbs behind her torso and saddlebag. “Wh-what?! Nothing special about me!” “You kidding? Of course there is!” Applejack smirked. “Yer my gul-durn savior today!” Rainbow blinked. “I am?” “Well…” Applejack spun and flung her hoof eastward. “Take a look for yerself, darlin’!” Rainbow Dash put her back to the sunset and squinted across the rosy treetops. Row after row of orchards stretched before view, and not a single one of them still glistened with apples. Baskets hung in clusters, all of them filled to the brim with fruit. Rainbow knew that she had bucked loose at least half of that produce, but she was currently incapable of remembering any of it--not through all of the sweat and the pain and the tingling in her hooves. “Oh…” Rainbow Dash fought the urge to wheeze. “Groovy.” “‘Spiffy’ is more like it, hun.” Applejack planted her two heavy baskets down with a groan then proceeded to stretch her loose legs. “Whew! Gracious! I don’t know how you do it, Rainbow! I’m plum tuckered out, and I only did about half the labor that you did!” “Oh, uhm…” Rainbow bit her lip. She tightened the satchel of her saddlebags shut and masked the rattle of the pill jar with her clearing throat. “You know. Good ol’ fashion pegasus versatility, eheh.” “Them’s too many syllables,” Applejack said. She took her hat off and began fanning herself. “Especially for you--” She suddenly jolted, glanced worriedly at her hat, and slapped it back over her blonde head just as swiftly as she had taken it off. Rainbow blinked curiously at that. “Ahem…” Applejack motioned with her head as she trotted towards the west end of the nearby hill. “Why don’tcha ditch the saddlebag, Rainbow. Take a load off.” “Oh, don’t worry about me.” Rainbow Dash cracked a nervous grin. “I’m tight.” “Suit yerself. I’m takin’ a bit of a breather. I suggest you join me.” “Right…” Rainbow Dash nodded loosely. “Join…” She gulped. “...you.” Applejack plopped down, sighing in relief. She brushed her bangs out from her eyes and folded her well-toned legs beneath her. With a contented breath, she stared out onto the sun-kissed fields west of them, smiling with muted contentment. Rainbow Dash fidgeted for a while, squirming from one set of hooves to another. At last, trying to keep her cool, she waddled over, squatted down… and sat a good three feet away from Applejack. The farm filly almost spoke up immediately. “What’s the matter, sugarcube?” She didn’t look at Rainbow. “Afraid of catchin’ somethin’?” “Huh? What?!” Rainbow’s ears folded. “No! No no no no no… eheheh…” She fought the urge to shiver but instead smiled proudly. “I worked up a total sweat just now, y’know? Murdering all those trees? Pffft…” She waved a hoof between them. “Don’t want you gettin’ downwind of pegasus funk, gurl.” “Heh…” Applejack’s lips curved. “Are ya kiddin’? I smell like sawdust and farm sweat all the gosh dang time.” Rainbow Dash sighed with delight. “I knowwwww…” Applejack’s head swiveled. Her eyebrow was raised. Rainbow’s pupils shrank. “I-I mean… I know. Whatever.” She leaned forward, resting her burning muzzle at an angle so that Applejack couldn’t see. “Don’t feel like you gotta boast about it to everypony. Not like we’re in some… friggin’ sweating competition.” “No, I reckon not.” “Uh uh.” Silence. Birds sang and fluttered overhead, drawing in black droves towards the melting horizon. The blades of grass blanketing Sweet Apple Acres swung in the last warm breeze of the afternoon, and then everything hushed into its gentle slide into a Spring evening. “Oh Rainbow Dash, I’m awfully sorry.” Rainbow’s eyes went crooked. She shook her head and turned to look at her friend. “Huh? For what?” Applejack had slouched so that her muzzle was resting on the tips of her folded hooves. “For bein’ such a sour apple to ya earlier. T’ain’t proper.” Rainbow blinked, then smirked. “Heh… I’d rather you apologize for all the darn apple jokes.” “I’m serious, sugarcube.” Applejack turned her head and gazed sadly at the pegasus. “I had no business tryin’ to shoo you away earlier like I did, especially when all you wanted to do was lend me a helping hoof.” “Well, if I recall, all I wanted was some apples for… erm… stuff.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Who says that’s changed?” “But yer always chompin’ at the bit to help yer fellow ponies. It’s built in yer blood, Rainbow. Loyalty and all.” “Heh… eheheh…” Rainbow kneaded the grass in front of her. She stared down at the earth. “Yeah, well…” “Figures it’d only be right if I was half as honest as I’m expected to be.” Applejack’s jaw was straight. “Instead, I’m growin’ more and more tense with each passin’ day, and I’m usin’ it as an excuse to shrivel and hide in my own troubles. Well, hidin’ the truth is just as bad as messin’ with it, and it ain’t true to my element. Nope, it ain’t true to it whatsoever.” “Hey, AJ…” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “You’ve got stuff to deal with. Best that you do it the way you know how.” “And just how is that helpin’ me, huh?” Applejack tilted the brow of her hat forward, sighing. “I’d not have gotten nearly as far as I did today if it weren’t for yer help, Rainbow. It’s about time I learned to stop bein’ stubborn and just… j-just share in the falls as much as the riches.” She grunted at herself. “Tchhh… Reckon that came out crooked. Ya see, this is why I tend to keep it to myself n’all. It’s always like dancing with four left hooves.” “You…” Rainbow fidgeted. “You don’t have to keep it from me, Applejack.” Applejack was silent. Rainbow Dash smiled gently. “You’ve been real with me before, remember?” Her head leaned to the side. “When we hung out at Canterlot?” She winced slightly, then added in a trembling tone: “You… do remember, right?” Applejack clenched her jaw tight. She stared off over the sun-melted fields. Rainbow Dash bit her tongue. She hesitated, producing a brief squeak at first, but ultimately murmured, “H-how bad is it, Applejack?” Applejack inhaled deeply through her nostrils. And then, at last… “Real bad, sugarcube…”