KAPOWWWWWW!!!
Applejack flinched. She leaned her head back with eyes shut and teeth clenched. Four heart-pounding seconds later, she squinted nervously in front of her.
The dust cleared, revealing Rainbow Dash standing in four tiny hoof-shaped craters just a few feet in front of her. The pegasus panted and panted and smiled. “Hi.”
“Uhhhh...” Applejack blinked, glancing up in time to see a few loose blue feathers fluttering to the ground around them. “You've been... erm...” She tilted the brim of her hat forward. “...takin' any of them fancy primate tranquilizers?”
“Nope!” Rainbow gulped and smiled again. “Pinkie's Pie's energy bars! Great stuff!”
“Yup. I-I reckon.”
“So... uh... you c-called?” Rainbow Dash gulped once more. “For me, that is. Just now? Like... seconds ago?”
“Oh, r-right.” Applejack smiled. “I couldn't help but notice y'all doin' some of yer finest weather flyin' for the town as I was trotting on by.”
“Heh. Wouldn't be a ripe day for sunshine if I wasn't on the job.” Rainbow Dash flexed her forelimb's muscle and tried not to wince. “Y'know...?”
“You betcha. So it got me to thinkin'...” Applejack tapped her chin as she spoke, “What would I have'ta do to get some clouds cleared directly over Sweet Apple Acres tomorrow morning.”
“Hmmm? You mean a farm cloud clearing job?” Rainbow Dash waved a hoof. “Pfffft!” she happily raspberried. “I could totally do it in my sleep!”
“Well, no doubt about that, sugarcube. But I reckon there's some flank-over-elbow hoops I gotta jump through with the system.”
“Buh?”
“Y'know, sendin' paperwork to the Cloudsdale Commission n'such?” Applejack dug at the grassy earth, smiling bashfully. “Reckon I didn't think about that part 'til the last second. Ya see, this year, Granny's hoofed the responsibility for settin' up the Sisterhooves Social to me. Not by her choosin', mind ya. I practically had to wrestle her to the ground before she agreed to take it easy this year. I mean, the farm's been doin' so good over the past month that it's a shame she should be stressin' over anything.”
“Right. It's all gravy!” Rainbow Dash nodded. “I'll just do a fly-by tomorrow and kick the clouds away!”
Applejack blinked. “Just like that?”
Rainbow whipped her prismatic tail. “Just like that! No way I'd be leaving you hangin', girl!”
“Cuz I sure dun wanna get you into any trouble with the legal eagles who be runnin' the meaty—... the meta—... the macaroni—”
“Pffft. Please. Only unicorns call it the 'meteorologist business.'” Rainbow winked.
“Heh...” Applejack tilted her hat back and smirked. “Well, lucky us, eh?”
“Yes. Heeheehee.” Rainbow giggled aside, tilting her rosy cheeks against the glinting sunlight. “Lucky us! Hehe! Hehehehehehehehehehe!” She smiled, smiled, smiled, then snapped her eyes open. “Erm... ahem.” She flapped her wings and hovered just high enough so that her facial features were obscured from Applejack's gaze. “So. Yeah. I'll totally do the flyby.”
“As early as possible would be a goddess-send,” Applejack stated. “I reckon no later than eight o'clock. It'd be a heapin' shame if the sisters of Ponyville who showed up for the event got rained on.”
“Don't you fret a freckle off,” Rainbow Dash said, immediately wincing. “Erm... n-not that there's anything wrong with havin' freckles...”
“Darn tootin'.”
“I'll make it the first thing I do tomorrow morning!” Rainbow Dash took a deep, proud breath. “I'd rather be plucked and glazed before I so much as think of leaving one of my gal-pals hanging!” She turned and made to soar back into the air.
“But why stop at just cloud clearin', sugarcube?”
Rainbow almost flew into the earth. She uprighted herself, took a heavy breath, and swung to gaze at Applejack again. “Huh? Wh-what do you mean?”
“It's gonna be an awfully nice event this year,” Applejack said with a warm smile. “Why don't you consider stayin'?”
“Staying?” Rainbow Dash blinked. “You mean... on the f-farm?”
“Mmmmhmmm.”
Rainbow gulped, then squeaked: “With you?”
“You betcha!” Applejack smiled.
Rainbow Dash sighed warmly, happily out her nostrils.
Then, after those two blissful seconds had passed, Applejack resumed speaking. “The kiddies are sure gonna lurve havin' the Awesome and High-Flyin' Rainbow Dash around! I bet you'll just make their day by spendin' time on the farm for most of the Social!”
“Oh...” Rainbow Dash's ears folded. “Oh.” Then they folded some more. “Ohhhhh.” She gulped and nodded, her gaze avoiding Applejack. “Yeah, I guess I'm... uh... something of a crowd-drawer.”
“Heheheh!” Applejack guffawed. “And we all know how much ya adore the spotlight!”
“Oh!” Rainbow Dash smiled with twitching eyes. “There's totally nothing better!”
“That is, so long as ya ain't got nothin' planned for the day tomorrow...”
“Nah, I'm totally game! I'd be more and happy to stick around Sweet Apple Acres!” Rainbow Dash exhaled. “...for the foals.”
“Well, thanks a ton, Rainbow!” Applejack winked. “Yer a real life-saver.” She turned and trotted merrily over the nearby hillside. “Whew-wee! Now I think I can actually sleep peacefully tonight!”
Rainbow Dash touched down, watching Applejack trot away. She tried flapping her wings... then struggled some more. “Nnnnngh...” She looked back at her iron-wrought appendages and groaned inwardly. “Speak for yourself...”