//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: Tell the Tooth 
// by The Lord Thunder 
//------------------------------//

"Thank Celestia, it's finally over," Rainbow Dash muttered to herself the following morning when the majority of the pain had at last faded. "I never want to go through that again." She pressed against her tooth with her tongue. There was still a hint of tender soreness, but it was nothing compared to the unending agony she'd been in the last couple of days.

Ready to seize the day after her last forty-eight hours of inactivity, Rainbow soared out her window after having her breakfast of hay and buttered toast. How good it felt to soar through the air and scan Ponyville from the sky again! She zipped this way and that, streaking through the sky, savoring her freedom from that awful pain.

Side-by-side were two familiar figures on the ground, one orange, the other white. Rainbow Dash's attention swiftly averted to them. Hey, there's AJ and Rarity. Wonder what they're up to? Dash looped around and descended to greet her friends.

"Hey AJ, Rarity, what's happenin'?" she asked once she'd landed in front of them.

Applejack gave Rainbow a friendly smile, tilting her head questioningly. "Where ya been, R.D.? Nopony's seen you for a couple days."

"Yeah, I've been," Rainbow Dash averted her eyes, hesitating to come up with a good excuse. "Sick. Feather flu."

Applejack gave Rainbow a stiff but well-meaning pat on the back. "Well, glad ta see ya up and at 'em again!"

"Indeed," Rarity chipped in. She was wearing a saddlebag lined with silver studs, or at least Dash thought they were silver. "In fact, your timing is impeccable."

Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"We was just about to go lookin' for ya," Applejack explained, indicating her ivory partner. "Rarity here says she's got somethin' for us."

This new news made Rainbow forget all about her recent pain and fear as she widened her eyes in excitement. "Really? What is it?"

"Feast your eyes, girls." From her saddlebag, Rarity produced two small slips of paper. “Tada!” she exclaimed through clenched teeth.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack  moved in for a closer look and examined the slips, both giving a gasp as they realized what those papers were.

"Those are-" Applejack started.

"Tickets to the "Iron" Mane Neighson vs. Hoofander "Crunch Punch" Grazingfield II fight in Manehatten!" Dash finished.

"Yes. I won them in a raffle,” Rarity replied. “They're yours now. I do not intend to go, so I have no use for the silly things. I was hoping I'd win the flower bouquet made of pure diamonds."

"Why wouldn't you want to go?" Dash practically spat the question out. "This is the match of the decade!"

Rarity turned up her nose indignantly and waved the idea off. "Two brutes punching each other and daring to call it a sport? It's nothing more than glorified violence if you ask me.” Her look of disgust turned to a smile as she looked back at Rainbow Dash and AJ. She placed the tickets in her front hoof, extending it to the two of them. “However, I could think of nopony who would enjoy this event more than you two."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at each other in silent disbelief for a few seconds before AJ turned her attention back to the unicorn. "Rarity, do ya have any idea how much some ponies would pay for these tickets? The fight's just three days away and it's been sold out for months!"

"Applejack!” Insistently, Rarity stretched her hoof out farther. “Knowing that two of my closest friends get to attend something like this means more to me than money."

With a negative shake of her head, Applejack pushed Rarity's hoof away. "Ah can't accept it, Rarity. You could get a thousand bits for each ticket if ya sold 'em."

"Now, Applejack, it's rude to refuse a gift. Take them and say nothing, I insist."

Rainbow Dash stretched out her neck and quickly grabbed one of the tickets with her teeth, corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. "Nothing, I insist!"

After shooting a glare that could only be one of disbelief at Rainbow, Applejack turned back to Rarity and accepted the other ticket. "Thank ya kindly, Rarity. I'm sure this is gonna be one of the most memorable fights in the history of boxing."

"You bet it is!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Thanks, Rarity! This is gonna be so awesome!"

"You're both quite welcome.” Rarity bowed politely. “Oh! If you'll excuse me, girls, I need to get back home for another engagement. Enjoy your little boxing show!"

"I can't believe we're gonna see it live!" Rainbow trumpeted as Rarity walked off down the dirt road. Perhaps this was the payoff for her recent suffering! "It'll be even better than the first Neighson-Grazingfield fight! The rematch of the century! Only this time, Neighson's gonna win!"

"Ah think Grazingfield's gonna mow him down, just like the first fight."

Rainbow clicked her tongue and scoffed. "Oh please. The only reason Neighson lost was because Grazingfield kept headbutting him."

"That was just Neighson makin' excuses."

"Wanna bet on it?" Rainbow Dash stopped walking, allowing AJ to move ahead a few feet so she could look her in the eye. 

Applejack turned around and matched Rainbow's glare. Neither pony so much as blinked. "How much?" 

"Fifty bits."

"Yer on, Rainbow!"

Both ponies spat on their front hoof and bumped them together. Without a word, Applejack started ahead. Once she realized Dash hadn't taken the initiative to follow, Applejack looked over her shoulder and waved her hoof, motioning for Rainbow to come along.

"Come on, Rainbow. This calls for some apple pie!"

Rainbow Dash licked her lips and rubbed her belly. "Boy, that does sound good." A sudden though ruined her elation, however: I don't know how my tooth will take it, though. It's still a little tender. Nonetheless, she knew she had to act natural. Applejack, like any good friend, would notice her pain and goad her to get it taken care of. Nopony could know she was afraid of the dentist.

“I can't believe you were going to refuse that ticket!” Rainbow said, changing the subject as she followed Applejack to Sweet Apple Acres.

“It's called bein' MODEST. Ya should try it sometime!” Applejack fought back with sarcasm.

“Yeah, yeah,” Dash retorted and chose to end the discussion there. After all, Applejack DID have a valid point. Rainbow Dash had a tendency to let her ego get the better of her at times. Still, she hadn't built her reputation on being modest.

Sweet Apple Acre's barn came into view, and as luck would have it, a piping hot pie was sitting on a window sill of the old farmhouse to cool. Rainbow's mouth watered at the sight of it.

“Wouldja look at that?” Applejack said as she pointed at the steaming pastry. “Looks like Granny Smith's already got one ready!”

Granny Smith's old, wrinkled mug peeked out the window, giving a smile as she saw Rainbow and AJ approaching.

“Howdy there, yung'uns!” she called out. As if she knew what they'd come for, she clenched the pie tin in her teeth and carried the dessert outside to one of the picnic tables that dotted the farmyard. “Come and get it while it's hot!”

“Granny Smith, you make the best pies in Equestria!” the little red-haired filly following beside her said. She looked longingly up at the pie, eager for a slice herself. Then she pulled herself up to a seat on the picnic table. Applejack and Rainbow sat on the other side. 

Granny Smith passed each pony a plate. “Well, shucks, Apple Bloom! That's 'cause yer old Granny Smith was taught by the best!” The old mare pulled out a pie cutter and sliced a cross into the pie, then cut the cross into ten more slices. “Why, MY Granny...”

Applebloom had now lost any semblance of excitement as she propped her elbow up on the table and rested her cheek on her hoof. “Oh no,” she moaned, “not this story again.”

“Eh?” Granny placed a slice of pie into Applebloom's plate, then rubbed her chin in thought. “Did ah tell ya'll 'bout mah Granny?”

“Only about eight dozen times, Granny Smith!” Applejack said with a good-hearted chuckle as Granny plopped a slice of pie into her plate.

“Well, dagnabbit,” the wobbly old pony went on as she gave Rainbow Dash a slice, “mah memory ain't what it used to be! Ah won't be a burden on ya young folks. If'n ya need me, Ah'll be inside!”

Slowly, the old mare walked back for the farmhouse. Rainbow Dash could almost hear her hips squeak like rusty old hinges!

“Heh, that Granny Smith's a hoot,” Applejack commented with a chuckle.

“Yeah,” Applebloom answered, the tone in her voice very much one of sarcasm. “Remind me ta never get old.”

The sweet smell of apples and cinnamon turned Rainbow's attention back to her pie. After licking her lips, she scooped the slice up in her hooves and took a voracious bite. She jolted, grimacing and doing her best to stifle a yelp as a wave of pain shot through her broken tooth all the way down to her hooves.

"Ya okay, Rainbow?" Applejack asked, crumbs flying from her mouthful of pie.

"Mm-hm!" It's that sugary pie filling. I knew it!

“Well, eat up! There's plenty ta go around!”

For a few seconds, Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack and Applebloom, both of whom were smiling expectantly at her. Inwardly, the pegasus groaned. Despite what her attitude would sometimes suggest, she had no intention of hurting her friends' feelings by not eating the rest of her slice. Not finishing your food, especially something as delicious as pie, was something the Apple Family took as an insult.

Rainbow Dash gulped, and took another bite. Immediately she squeezed her eyes shut and stamped her front hooves in pain.

“Lookit that, Applebloom!” Applejack said. “It's so good she can hardly stand it!”

For a few moments, the pain was blinding, but Rainbow Dash steeled herself enough to come to her senses. “Wow!” she yelled to block the pain. “That is... some GOOD pie! I'm stuffed!”

“But ya only took two bites.” Applejack raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“I ate a big breakfast,” Rainbow Dash lied. “Come on, let's have a race!”

The apple farmer just kept staring at her with that raised eyebrow.

“Horseshoes?” Rainbow asked, her effort to get out of finishing her pie. “Hoofball?”

Applejack's gazed turned questioningly to Applebloom, who only shrugged at her sister. AJ looked back at Rainbow. “Are ya sure you're okay? Maybe you still got a bit of that Feather Flu hangin' on.”

“I'm fine! Perfectly fine!” Rainbow yelled. “Race ya!”

With that, she shot into the sky, leaving Applejack to watch her departure in mass confusion. “What in Equestria is up with that pony today?”