//------------------------------// // Waiting for Tomorrow (and Every Day After...) // Story: Hey, It's Me // by TwilightUCrazy //------------------------------// The past couple weeks had come and gone slower than Rainbow Dash would ever have liked. Class period by class period, test by test, hour by snail-paced friggin’ hour the remainder of the semester slugged itself on by. She saw Applejack less and less outside of class, and often the farmgirl would drag her lunch with her off to class. There were fewer phone calls, less shooting the breeze in-general, and even sightings became scarce. It was a bittersweet pill to swallow. Her friend’s absence made Rainbow long for her all the more, and the more she was denied her, the worse it got. Many times, Rainbow Dash had found herself on the basketball court, driving for a dunk shot, only to misplace her footing and slip when she imagined Applejack in the stands. She would swing at a baseball and strike-out when she never would have before, or kick the soccer ball and miss the goal entirely. And exams in which she shared a class with the blonde were a living hell… Maddened to the point of breaking, she was thankful when finals were over and done with. Another year skirted by, with disaster narrowly averted. She took a pass on the senior graduation ceremonies, and instead used that time to help Applejack pull out all the supplies for the upcoming harvest. A week had passed since. Big Mac had graduated with top honors in his class and the celebratory period for the Apple family was over and done with. Finally, Rainbow would get to have some quality time with her best gal. "Y'know what we need to do?" Rainbow grunted as she gripped her gloved hands on the underside of one of the stacks of bushels and unloaded it from the back of Mac's pick-up. Applejack looked up and dropped an equally-sized stack at the base of a tree. "Finish this here unloadin' and have a cold one?" she asked with a smirk. "Ya only mentioned a break three times the last hour." "I just figured – NNGH! – that you could use one!" Rainbow strained and barely deposited her stack successfully beneath another large tree. She quickly dabbed her forehead on the shoulder of her shirt to blot away the sweat. "Y'know, sugar, if'n ya lifted with yer knees instead of yer back, ya'd probably not wear out so quick." "What, are you kidding?" Rainbow voice-cracked, flashing a daredevil smile. Regardless, she collapsed against the side of the truck with sweat pouring down her brow and rubbed her fingers over her aching back muscles. "I could keep this crap up all day..." she whimpered. Applejack chuckled in that lyrical manner of hers and unloaded the last stack of bushels beneath the tree at the end of the row. She crossed over to the truck and slammed the tailgate shut. "Hurtin' a bit there?" her friend asked, pulling off her leather gloves and tossing them onto the truck bed. "Nnngh... nah..." she grunted. "Just a twinge. That's all." "'Twinge', huh?" Applejack grinned and walked around behind her. Rainbow's back became alive with the sensation of the blonde's angelic fingers slid up beneath her shirt and found the small of her back. In a single instant, all the pain of the labor-intensive morning was banished in a dance of amazingly soft hands across her bare skin. Magenta eyes rolling back into her head, Rainbow let out a nigh-erotic moan and turned to putty in the cowgirl's hands. "Yeah, that's a twinge alright," Applejack said in a strangely sarcastic-yet-soothing tone. The massage ended too quickly, but at least the pain had been banished and replaced by a lingering tingle. Rainbow did her best not to pout. She failed. "Th-thanks..." she stammered, feeling the heat rising in her cheeks. "You'll learn, darlin'." Applejack winked. "Especially if ya keep on comin' around like ya have been." "Yeah, well..." she mumbled, continuing to relish in her livened back even as her friend yanked the truck door open. "Not like I've got a whole lot to do right now." She shrugged. Applejack chuckled. "Awww, and here I thought ya were comin' over 'cause ya missed me." “Oh… well, I… I didn’t mean it like that…” Rainbow backpedaled quickly, running her hand back through her multicolored hair. “I mean, I… I guess I kinda missed ya… a little… sorta…” she murmured. Applejack smiled warmly at her and pulled the driver side door shut. Rainbow quickly slid around to the other side and jumped into the passenger’s seat. “I missed ya too, sugar.” Rainbow opened her mouth to say something, but with a twist of the key, the truck’s engine roared to life and gave her a chance to second-guess herself. Applejack skillfully maneuvered the slow pick-up in a half-circle around the row of trees and turned back towards the farmhouse with a twist of the wheel. The old truck growled and burbled across the landscape, idling across several hills and down shallow vales before Rainbow turned to her friend again with her ever-confident grin. “So… do ya have a guess?” Applejack looked at her a moment. “A guess about what, darlin’?” she asked, throttling up another incline. “About what I think we should do.” The farmgirl rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yeah, yeah. You’ll get yer cider.” “No, I – well, yeah, but I was thinking about something else…” “Well, I ain’t no mind-reader.” The truck crested the hill and the distant red barn hovered into view a mile or so downrange. “What’d ya have in mind?” Rainbow scooted across the bench seat and wrapped her arm around Applejack. “Vacation. We need a vacation.” Applejack glimpsed at her again. “Ain’t we already on summer break?” “No, no, no. I mean, like, a real vacation. We pack up a couple bags and just take off – see where the road takes us for a couple weeks, y’know?” The farmgirl’s brow twisted as she looked at Rainbow again, coasting easily down the hill. “Why would we do that?” Rainbow blinked. “Huh?” “I mean, what’s wrong with stickin’ close to home and just enjoyin’ our time off ‘round here?” Applejack looked at her again and smirked. “You in trouble?” Rainbow grinned again and lounged back in her part of the seat. “AJ, have you ever known me to not be in trouble?” Her friend smirked knowingly and focused her attention back on the path through the trees ahead. "Seriously, have you ever even left this town before?" Applejack considered a moment. “Hmmm… well, no. I reckon not. But why would I want to?” Rainbow looked at her friend, eyes blinking. “You can’t be serious.” The farmgirl looked at her quizzically. “What? It’s a nice town. The city's close, there’s lots of great campin’ places ‘round here, and the rail trail's always a great place for hikin'. What more do ya want?” “Girl… you just haven’t lived…” Applejack pouted. “I’ve lived plenty! ‘Sides, whenever I want somethin’ to go wrong, I can just invite you over.” “Ooooo. Catty.” Smirking, Rainbow reached over and poked the blonde in her ticklish sides, receiving a cute squirm and a playful smack to the thigh for her efforts. The two coasted a bit further in silence. “So you’ve seriously never seen a beach before?” she asked. Applejack shrugged. “I’ve been to the lake plenty of times. Can't say it's really all that special to me...” “Yeah, but that’s not, like, the beach, AJ. I’m talking like waves, surf, sand, sun, volleyball, seashells… Y’know. All that crap.” “Well, guess I haven't then.” Rainbow reached into her pocket and fished out her keychain, twirling it around on her index finger. One particularly small key wound to a halt in the palm of her hand, different from her apartment key. “My folks used to have a cabin down on the coast. They used to take Scoots and me down there for a few weeks every summer so we could all have some time together as a family.” Applejack looked at her a moment and smiled somberly. “Sounds nice…” Empathy. It hadn’t been what Rainbow was going for, but she could make it work towards her goal just the same… “It was,” Rainbow said warmly, laying back against the corner where the door and seat met. “Me and Scoots used to build the best sand castles together. Every summer they had these contests about who could build the best one. Me and her won every one we entered.” “Sounds like you two were a heckuva team…” “Yeah…” Thoughts of Scootaloo’s bright, happy eyes in the sunshine, that thrilled expression on her face when Rainbow passed her the trophy to hold onto flitted across the surfaces of her memory. No. Quit it, she thought, sucking in a breath and turning her attention back to her friend. “I still have the cabin. I mean… it’s not like I use it much – didn’t have any way to get there until I got my driver’s license last year.” She looked at the key again and ran her thumb over its silvery surface. “Dunno why I kept it. I mean, I always thought I might go back someday…” She bit her lip. It was time for one of her deceptive killing strokes. “But it’s not really all that fun to go by yourself, y’know?” She turned to Applejack as the truck glided to a halt and pouted. The farmgirl scowled at her from the corner of her eye, seeing straight through her fake, fake sympathy act. There was still the barest hint of a smile at the corner of her lip, however. Rainbow’s heart skipped a beat. Applejack said nothing and switched off the engine, leaning against the window of the truck and just staring at her. Rainbow knew the precise moment when to open up her cheeky grin to garner its maximum effect. Her friend shook her head, trying to maintain an indifferent facade. “If ya hadn’t been such a help on the farm the last couple of weeks…” she sighed, letting the smile on her freckled face. The truck creaked quietly as Rainbow leaned forward. “So… is that a yes, then?” “Rainbow, harvest is in two weeks…” “Well… how much is there left to do?” Applejack seemed to consider that for a moment and crossed her arms. “Well… not too much, really.” She smirked. “You’ve been a mighty big help… for a change,” she said with a wink. Rainbow’s grin returned. The farmgirl twisted her hands back and forth on the steering wheel. “When are ya leavin’?” “Whenever you’re ready.” Applejack looked down at her boots and scuffed a piece of dried mud off the toe. At last, she smiled and reached for the door handle, pushing the driver’s side open. “Lemme go ask Granny if it’s okay...” Rainbow sat upright. “Sure, sure! Take your time, girl!” Applejack rolled her eyes and charged up the porch steps into the house, leaving Rainbow alone in the cab. Rainbow’s eyes were at last drawn to the denim jacket left behind by the farmgirl on the vinyl bench. Reaching over for Applejack’s jacket, she smiled to find her friend’s body heat still lingering on it. She looked up, out the open driver’s side door, and at her Shelby parked not ten yards away. Her face lit up with a mischievous smile and she looked down at the jacket in her grip, brushing her fingers over its rough, salty-smelling surface. “Sure. Why wouldn't I?” *** Rainbow yawned and stretched for the ceiling of her apartment as she dragged herself inside. Her limbs hurt, her back hurt, and her pride was wounded from the thorough working-over her body had received. Every step she took in the door was agony, and even kicking it shut behind her was a test of her limits. Nonetheless, her spirits were high. She had a fresh bottle of the Apples’ cider to her name for all her troubles, and – best of all – a warm, denim jacket reacquired with the fresh, musky scent of working-Applejack lingering in the fibers. The sweaty smell hit her brain like a Mack truck wrapped in aphrodisiac, and the athlete shivered in her tennis shoes. "'Hint of Musk: The Smell of Applejack,'" she said to herself with a grin, clutching the jacket close and squeezing it. Her mind was busy with thoughts of it being filled with the girl who wore it, collapsing lustfully against her and accepting her indomitable embrace. Rainbow tore through the kitchen, grasping a bottle of Gatorade in her hand and tearing out of her shirt on the way to the bedroom. The jacket in her hands hit the side of her pillow and she dropped onto the mattress, and had just begun pulling herself out of her jeans when she felt the vibration of her cell phone against her thigh. Snarling in her heated frustration, she reached down into her pocket and grasped it. She sharply flipped the clamshell open and pressed the receiver against her ear. "Talk dirty to me or I'm hangin' up," she snapped. "What'd ya do with it?" Rainbow blinked. "AJ?" She released her jeans and let them hit the floor, looking over to the clock on her nightstand. "It's almost 8:30. I could've been asleep." "Quit dallyin'. What'd ya do with it? And don't ask 'do with what', 'cause ya know exactly what I'm talkin' about..." Grinning in realization, Rainbow replied, "Why, Applejack! Whatever do you mean?" "Don't be stupid. It ain't becomin'..." "Whoa... deja vu. Have we done this before?" "Yeah. Probably back when ya took my jacket the lasttime..." Rainbow, her frustrations forgotten, lay back on her bed and put on her smoothest voice. "Damn! How'd you figure it out so quick?" she asked playfully. "Uhhh... 'cause you're you?" The athlete pouted. "What's that supposed to mean?" "Rainbow... I want it back." Rainbow smiled, tickled by the irritation on the other end of the line. "No problem. I mean... Granny said yes, right? I could just give it to ya then." There was a pause. "Oh, right. That." A pout. "You're not changing your mind, are you?" "All things considered, I think it'd be safer to." "Come ooooon, AJ..." Rainbow said, adopting her verbal pout. "It'll be fun! We'll play volleyball, have beach races, swimming contests – you'll get to see me in a bikini..." "Oh, God above. Who'd wanna see that?" "Hey!" she snapped. In spite of the jab, Rainbow was all sunshine and smiles, because secretly, she knew that Applejack had the same playful expression on the other end of the line. And she absolutely tingled over it. "Heheh," her friend chuckled. "Sometimes I think you don't love me anymore..." Rainbow said with as much of a pitiful manner as she could inflect. "You'll bring it with ya?" Dammit. Right over her head... "You're no fun..." She sighed. "Yeah... I'll bring it," she said, pulling on a nightshirt. "Good." A pause. "So... seeya tomorrow?" "What time and place?" "Hmmm... How 'bout... seven in the mornin'? My place? Then we can take it from there." "I'll be there with bells on, cutie!" "I really wish ya wouldn't call me that..." "Awww, what? The goodie-two-shoes can't handle a bit of the truth?" Rainbow snickered. "I'm hangin' up now." "Sure." She smiled and hesitated. Then, "G'night, AJ," she said softly. "'Night, sugar." Click. Rainbow Dash closed her phone casually and dropped it on her nightstand. Reaching over to her alarm clock, she set it for six and laid back on her pillow. "I... am going on vacation... alone... with Applejack... to the frickin' beach!" Hugging herself, Rainbow let out a girly squeal that nobody but her could ever be allowed to hear. "This is officially the greatest day in the history of the UNIVERSE!" In her excitement, she forgot how to sleep.