Applejack had them quickly leave the cabin far behind after that, the sun not even fully in the sky yet as they followed the road, painting the clouds in bright oranges and pinks. They had left rather early in the morning so they could get a bit of a head start on their traveling for the day.
At least, it was early for Rainbow. "AJ, why couldn't we have just stayed there a little while longer?"
Applejack glanced back at her before rolling her eyes, even as a smile betrayed her feelings of amusement. "Ya know dang well why. We need ta get a nice jump on our travels, get as far as possible."
"Yeah, okay, that's good and all, but...where exactly are we going?"
Applejack stopped suddenly, causing Rainbow to walk right into her, the pegasus' face bumping into the back of her shoulder. The orange mare turned around to look back at her friend, the expression on her face neutral before she smiling softly, just a bit of nervousness detectable on her face. "Well, actually, about that-"
"You have no set destination in mind, do you?"
"No, I did! I mean, I do! It's jus' that..." She shuffled her feet a little. "It might be a big waste of time, ya know?"
"No, I really don't, because I still don't know where we're going." Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, looking up at the apple farmer. "C'mon, AJ, I'm going along for the ride, you gotta spill it. It's only fair."
Applejack was about to protest, but sighed instead. "Fair enough. I...I wanted ta find Canterlot."
Rainbow blinked, not expecting the answer she received. "Why do you wanna go there? There's probably nothing left."
"But what if there is, Rainbow? What if we could get answers about what happened?"
"AJ..." The blue mare stepped forward, placing a hand on Applejack's shoulder. "You're placing a lot of faith on a big 'what if' here. If there's nothing there, and we can't get answers, then what?"
"Then we go from there. We find a place to go and settle down and just try to survive." One glance at Applejack's face, one look into those green eyes, and the determination to go through with this plan was plain for Rainbow to see. She sighed a little, more in exasperation than anything else, then put on a grin.
"Alright. I'm down for that."
----------
The rest of the trip was shrouded in a blanket of silence as they continued on the road. It wasn't an awkward silence, however, the two of them just didn't have much more to say to one another, and simply enjoyed behind in each other's company once again. Applejack glanced over at the blue pegasus, her eyes absentmindedly looking over her friend's toned form as she walked next to her. Whereas Applejack was tall and stocky, built much more for strength and endurance than being quick (courtesy of working on a farm all her life), Rainbow Dash was just the opposite, short and lithe, her body conditioned for speed, nearly perfected for it over the years. Applejack couldn't help but admire the work her friend had put towards her physical training after a whole life of aspiring to be a part of the Wonderbolts. She was sure that if the world didn't end, her friend's dreams would've been a reality.
"Enjoying the view, AJ?" Applejack blinked her eyes at the voice, snapping out of her stare and immediately turning her head to look forward, her cheeks heating up. She didn't see the smirk her friend had on her face, but she could picture it perfectly. "Ha! Come on, I know I look good, you can look all you want."
Applejack snorted, looking over at her again. "Glad to see y'all bein' full of yerself doesn't stop at jus' yer flyin' skills."
Rainbow grinned, holding up her hands in a small shrug. "Hey, I'm not wrong."
Applejack rolled her eyes, grinning right back. "I suppose not."
Her friend moved in front of her, walking backwards."Whaddaya mean, 'I suppose not'? You're so into me. You think I'm the hottest mare around." That cocky grin seemed like it was here to stay.
"Man, y'all sure love a good stroke of yer ego, don'tcha?"
The cocky grin Rainbow was wearing on her face suddenly turned mischievous. "That's not the only thing I like a good stroke of." Applejack took a second to process that, and her cheeks turned red when she finally did.
"Nuh uh, we ain't goin' down this road."
Rainbow Dash snickered before she turned back around, facing the direction she was walking. "You're too fun to mess with, AJ. I'm gonna have to do it more often."
----------
After walking for a few more hours and having many stupid little chats about whatever came to mind, Applejack decided that they should find a place to sleep for the night. There were no buildings in the immediate area, so they settled for going off the road a bit until they found a spot that they could settle down in. Rainbow tossed her backpack onto the ground before she flopped down next to it, stretching as she got comfortable. "Man, my legs are sore."
Applejack sat next to her, digging through her backpack for something, but not having much luck in actually finding it. "That's because ya have no endurance."
"Oh, that's bullshit and you know it!"
Applejack chuckled as she moved her backpack behind her, setting her head on it as she lied down. One hand was behind her head, the other just resting on her stomach. "'M jus' teasin' ya."
Silence once again filled the air after that, both of them looking up at the clouds. A star or two poked through, but for the most part, they stayed entirely hidden behind the sky's fluffy cover. Applejack focused on one star in particular before a cloud moved to cover it. "I miss seein' all the stars at night."
Rainbow turned her head, looking at the orange mare. She didn't say anything back, and Applejack took that as an invitation to keep talking. "I mean, whenever I was done buckin' apples back in the day, I used to always look up at 'em. Look for certain constellations and whatnot. I did it so much that I guess I never noticed how much I liked doin' it, it was jus' a constant thing. Now...now even the stars ain't there for me anymore. It felt like no one or nothin' was, for a long time."
She closed her eyes, a small frown on her face. Rainbow's heart panged at seeing and hearing this, and she scooted closer, placing her hand on top of Applejack's. "I'm here for you, AJ. And I don't intend to leave you anytime soon. Pinkie promise."
Applejack opened her eyes, looking up into Rainbow's magenta ones. She smiled, moving her hand to take Rainbow's and hold it softly. "Thanks, sugarcube. That makes me feel loads better."
She saw the smile appear on her friend's face at her words, which made her heart thud against her chest. Her cheeks heated slightly, turning a light shade of red as she slowly leaned up, catching Rainbow's lips with her own. It took a second for Rainbow to process what was happening before she leaned into the kiss herself, deepening it and pushing Applejack fully down onto her back.
It didn't take much longer for things to get a bit more heated than that. The light kissing turned deeper and more rough as years of pent-up feelings were about to make themselves known. Tongues danced in their mouths as hands gripped and tugged at clothing and fur, heat rising to their cheeks and other deeper places. Rainbow found herself on top of Applejack, panting as the orange mare nibbled and licked at her neck.
"Sweet Celestia..." Her hands were still gripping the apple farmer's shirt, and she slowly tugged at the front of it, the buttons popping open and exposing Applejack's wrapped torso. The shirt was tossed off to the side as the orange mare moved her own hands, one gently resting on Rainbow's back while the other slipped under the front of the pegasus' shirt. She looked up at the flushed Rainbow Dash on top of her, smirking.
"Jus' shut up and kiss me."