//------------------------------// // Carpe Dashem // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// “Rainbow Dash, I must say.” Zecora smiled as the two trotted across town from the fast food joint. “You have given me a most enjoyable day.” “You sure?” Rainbow squinted at her. “All you did was munch on salad while I prattled about like an idiot.” “It was nonetheless a wholesome blessing.” Zecora winked. “Both the meal and the storytelling.” “Hey, when I wanna show a mare a good time... I show a mare a good time. Heheheh...” Rainbow Dash blinked at herself, then winced. “Er, you know what I mean.” She squinted out one nervous eye. “Right...?” “You know, there was a time when I could never relax in this town,” Zecora said. “I used to feel they needed a shaman—and not a friend—around.” “Awwww... well... erm...” Rainbow dipped low enough in her hover to kick at a loose rock. She barely managed the laziest of gestures with the numbness in her limb. “I'm totally to blame for part of that.” “Hmmm?” “You remember.” Rainbow's muzzle hung between a smirk and a sigh. “We totally treated you like crap when you first showed up at the Everfree Forest. I can't friggin' believe none of us knew what a zebra was until Twilight came and told us.” “Ignorance is most poisonous when it persists indefinitely,” Zecora said. “I've since been blessed to earn your respect and friendship, thankfully.” “Oh, r-right on!” Rainbow Dash said. “And, y'know, it doesn't always have to come down to us extending a hoof of invitation, Zecchy.” She smirked. “You're free to stop on by Sugarcube Corner and hang out with us while we're around. Or—heck—my cloud home isn't all that far from the treeline. I know. I've had to kick squirrels out of it on occasion.” “It has simply been a worry of mind that I might inadvertently come across as a forward kind...” “Pffft. You?” Rainbow smirked. “You're the very definition of cool and snazzy, Zecora.” The zebra blinked at her. “You think so, Rainbow?” “It'd be a shame to not get a chance to hang out with you more. And... y'know...” Rainbow hovered in front of Zecora, fidgeting slightly. “Not to knock your shaman schtick any... but...” She glanced down at the dirt road beneath them. “Duty is one thing. Diligence is another. But nopony should have to be alone if they can help it.” She glanced up with soft eyes. “Life is an opportunity for us to catch the things that mean most to us and make a dull existence into—well—an awesome one. That's why I'm always zipping all over the place, Zecchy. I... I-I just can't friggin' stay still. I have my duty to Ponyville and to Cloudsdale and to the Elements of Harmony, but in the end... I-I still gotta be loyal to myself, y'know? I can't be afraid to chase after what's most important to me... and... and wh-what I know will change my life forever. And nopony—myself included—is ever gonna get to be the very best by just staying in one place... a-alone.” She gulped and bit her lip, waiting for a response. Zecora stared at her with thin eyes. “Is that a fact?” She raised an eyebrow. “And you believe that?” Rainbow sighed, smiling wearily. “I would like to...” She ran a hoof through her bangs and said, “It's what keeps me going, sunrise to sundown.” “A noble pursuit, my friend. And does that chase ever end?” Rainbow hovered in place. Eventually, she exhaled, “Someday it will. I... I-I'm sure of it.” Zecora's eyes had wandered past Rainbow's shoulders at this point. Her ears twitched as the zebra said in a far-off tone. “I think I finally contemplate your perception of fate. It is not enough to live and breathe, but go forth and seize.” “Hey...” Rainbow Dash shrugged with a grin. “That's certainly another way of putting it.” “It is, it is.” Zecora took a deep, deep breath. “Rainbow Dash, if you wouldn't mind.” Without looking at her, she shoved her shopping bag into the pegasus' grip. “You are so kind.” She marched firmly past her. “Uhhhh... Zecora?” Rainbow turned and blinked. “Where are you—?” Her coat paled as her ears drooped. The zebra shaman was trotting a straight line—like a black and white bullet—clear across the Ponyville marketplace... and towards a large, crimson stallion standing beside several barrels of apples. “Guhhhh... uhmmmm... Z-Zecora? I... I think... uhm...” Rainbow fidgeted. Zecora paused, turning to look back once and only once. A pair of soft eyes reflected Rainbow's gaze from afar. Rainbow fought the urge to sweat. Gulping, she hugged the shopping bag to her side with one hoof and saluted with the other. “G-good luck!” Zecora smiled, containing an inward squee, then cleared her throat as she stepped up to Big Macintosh. Rainbow watched, and she slowly... slowly hid her trembling face behind the bulging shopping bag.