The Rain Will Fall
Applejack rubbed her cheeks against her partner’s soft, scruffy mane. She mumbled sleepily, pressing her face between the hairs, feathers brushing against the slope of her back. After a while she was drawn to by the cold bite of air, but she ignored it, preferring to snuggle closer. Finally, she cracked open her eyelids to the sight of a grey, grassy landscape. The shadow from trees above cast a shadow over her and who she could now see was Rainbow Dash. The surface of the pool shimmered in the pale light, her view of it partially blocked by a purple Alicorn.
Applejack yawned, carefully ducking out from under Rainbow’s protective wing. She stretched her forelegs out in front of her, waiting for the satisfactory pop of weary bones. Gently pressing her lips against Dash’s mane, she stepped away from her marefriend, trotting over to the the pool.
Applejack sat next to Twilight, curiously observing the distant gaze in her purple eyes, as if she was seeing something that Applejack was blind to. Deciding not to bother her about it, she turned to look at the dark clouds rolling across the pale grey sky.
“It’s going to rain,” she jumped slightly at the quiet sound of Twilight’s voice. “Look. You can tell.”
“Ya’ll alright, sugarcube?” Applejack reached out gingerly to place a hoof on Twilight’s tense shoulder. “Ya’ll cain’t no fer sure it’s gonna rain. Jus’ a lil’ cloudy is all.”
“No, I cast a spell,” Twilight shook her head. “It is going to rain, and soon.”
“Oh,” she said simply. “Well shucks, we’d better get a-goin’ then, don’t we?”
She stood up to go wake the still snoring Rainbow Dash when she felt her foreleg gripped tightly, Twilight’s voice rising to high a pitch of desperation. “Applejack! It’s hard to travel in extreme weather, we could be in danger.”
It’s th’ stress gettin’ to her, Applejack reasoned calmly with herself in her mind. All I gotta do is calm her down and we’ll be a-okay again. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, Twi’. A lil’ rain never hurt nopony. Heck, it’d be a welcome change from the darn heat.”
“But what if it’s a storm?” Twilight’s eyes were wide with terror. “We’re completely isolated out here. If one of us was to be struck by lightning, there would be no one to help us.”
Applejack’s skin crawled, and she bit her lip. “Calm it, Twi’. There ain’t gonna be no storm, I say. An’ if there is, we’ll jus’ find someplace to wait it out.”
“What if we don’t find a place to wait it out?”
“We will.”
“How do you that?”
“I jus’ do,” she said firmly, stomping her hoof on the ground. “Now, stop frettin’ already. We’re gonna be okay.”
“Alright, alright,” Twilight got to her hooves shakily, leaning on AJ for support. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just worrying.”
She smiled softly, lovingly, down at her partner. There ya go. She’s okay. “‘Course, sugarcube. We’re all a lil’ bit worried ‘bout this journey.”
“I’m not.”
Applejack jumped in surprise, spinning round with a yell to spot Rainbow Dash casually sitting behind them, her hooves folded over one another and a cocky smirk splayed across her face. “Danger’s my middle name, you know. I can handle anything Life throws at me. Heck, Life’s going to be cowering with her tail between her legs by the time this whole thing is over.”
“Darnit, Rainbow!” Applejack scowled at her angrily, causing Dash to grin sheepishly. “Now ain’t the time ta scare the life out o’ us an’ then start spoutin’ ‘bout how great ya are.”
“But I am great,” Rainbow whined, her bottom lips tugging downwards. As Applejack further narrowed her eyes she sighed, pulling herself from her curled position on the grass. “Fine. Just for you I’ll shut up.”
Applejack chuckled, ducking in for a quick kiss. “S’alright. I like hearing ya yap on. It’s cute.”
“I’m not cute.” Rainbow protested, pulling away with a glare.
“Actually, you are rather cute,” Twilight chimed in, brushing against the blue mare’s side.
“Ugh!” Dash groaned. “Why does everyone always gang up on me?”
Applejack suppressed another bout of laughter at Rainbow Dash’s expense, preferring to briskly trot in the other direction. She paused, winking at the two. “Ya’ll comin’, mah cuties?”
Rainbow mumbled something else about not being cute before following Twilight’s cheery bound towards her. The trio stepped out from the leafy cover of the trees, exposing themselves to the full force of the swirling wind outside.
Applejack shivered as the cold breeze tugged at her coat. She paid it no mind, crushing the soft green stalks beneath her hooves. It wasn’t long, however, before the first drops of rain began to fall. She felt the first one landing on the tip of her ear, absentmindedly flicked off, not to be worried about. Then, a couple more fell on her back. Before she knew it, a light spray of rain had soaked her as they continued their walk.
“This is stupid,” Rainbow muttered rebelliously over the slight hissing of the rain as it fell. “I hate the rain.”
“That’s strange,” Applejack teased her, swatting her wet blonde tail against her flank. “I always thought ya’ll were an ‘extreme weather’ type o’ gal, as ya’ll say.”
“Well, yeah, when flying,” she complained. “This is just getting wet. I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it either, Rainbow,” Twilight her mane, heavy with the extra weight. “But all we can do is hope it doesn’t get worse.”
As if those words were the trigger it had been waiting for, the rain suddenly lashed down with a roaring intensity. The three ponies all yelled and moaned their complaints, trying to be heard above the pouring rain. Eventually they decided to find a place as quickly as they could.
Applejack scowled at the wet ground beneath her, squishing beneath her tiring hooves. Time had flown as they had run, for once not for fun of it. Hours must have past, only succeeding to make them all wet, cranky and likely to catch a cold as Twilight constantly yelled out.
“Look!” Rainbow Dash’s shrill, excited cry caused Applejack to jerk her head up expectantly.
There, just on the horizon, was the dark smudge of a border or dry, welcoming trees. She pushed as much strength as possible into her legs, closing that final stretch out of the rain. Finally, she reached the shade and felt the spray lighten up, hitting her only from holes in the branches above.
Applejack doubled over, her chest heaving as she tried to fill her lungs with the necessary amounts of air. Rainbow landed next to her, her wings fluttering weakly. She gulped, turning to give the Pegasus a shaky smile. “H-hey… Rainbow.”
“Yo…” Dash gulped, collapsing onto the leaves. After a moment’s pause, AJ joined her.
They lay there in silence, the only sounds being their ragged breaths. Rainbow turned to her, eyes wide. “A...AJ. Where’s… Twilight?”
She froze. “Tw-twilight? She… ain’t ‘ere?”
“N-nope.”
Panicking, Applejack jerked upwards just in time for a purple blur to crash into her. The wind shot out of her chest and she fell downwards, Twilight clinging on top of her.
“Su-sugacube…” she wheeze, struggling under the weight. “Ya’ll mind… gettin’ offa me?”
“S-sorry!” The Alicorn flailed, falling backwards.
“Okay,” Rainbow exhaled. “Okay.”
“So…” Twilight said. “Where… are we going to sleep?”