//------------------------------// // C // Story: Apple Loader // by shortskirtsandexplosions //------------------------------// "Well, I for one am glad for some peace and serenity for once!" Rarity slapped two halves of a foamy cast onto the table and grinned. "So, while we are here for this most delightful 'Cast Removal Party' that Pinkie Pie has so graciously thrown us, allow me to propose a toast before some unforeseen calamity of metallic nature rudely interrupts us!" "Awwwwwwwwwwwww shucks, Rarity!" Applejack rolled her eyes inside Sugarcube Corner. "Must you rub it in?! I done gave that thang away for over a week now!" "I know!" Rarity grinned. "Hence, the toast. Now let's see... ahem." Her facial muscles tightened as she spoke in a serious tone: "'To the mending of ponies—their legs as well as their souls, for both are fragile when it comes to fractures as well as support! But, in the end, it is family and friendship that serve up the best medicine!'" "Agreed!" Fluttershy smiled. "Amen!" Twilight lifted her glass. "I'll drink to anything!" Pinkie Pie grinned. "Even Gummy's eye boogers!" "And on that wonderful note!" Applejack raised her glass against all of the other girls'. "To havin' fun the healthy way!" "Here here!" Cl-Cl-Clink! All five mares took mighty sips and leaned back in their seats, exhaling blissfully. "Hmmmmmmm..." Pinkie grinned stupidly. "That's some good suds!" Applejack cleared her throat. "I know that we're here to celebrate Rarity's leg bein' healed n'all—" "Almost healed," Rarity said with a wink. "Doctor Horse says I should stay off it for at least another week." "Oh dear..." Fluttershy winced. "How will you be able to get around town?" "You need not worry!" Rarity grinned. "Sweetie Belle is on rickshaw duty for the time being." Twilight and Pinkie giggled. "Heheheh..." Applejack grinned. "Like I was sayin'. I realize now that I was bein' a real big pain in the patooty these last few weeks, and I'm awful sorry." She sighed, staring melancholically at her hoof as she drew invisible circles on the table-top. "Honestly, I am." "And honestly, we can forgive you!" Twilight said with a smile. "I appreciate it, Twilight. But how can y'all do that so easily?" Applejack looked up sadly. "After the way I was carryin' on all chaotic-like?" She sighed. "I sure gave Discord the run for his money." "Applejack, we all realized that—deep down—you were having fun!" Fluttershy said. "Perhaps the first true, real fun you've had in a long time!" "If ever!" Rarity added. "But I have plenty'o'fun all the time just by bein' around y'all!" Applejack exclaimed. "Not to mention helpin' y'all around town! And... j-just being there for you when you need a pony you can depend on." She gulped. "Like my family." "We know that, Applejack," Twilight said. "You're one of the kindest, most thoughtful ponies we know. We all rest easy knowing that you're always willing to be there for us in any scenario." "It's just that this... well..." Applejack bit her lip. "This apple loader thingy was a different kind of fun. And... I-I reckon it went to my head a lot faster than I was willin' to admit at the time." "Applejack, it's okay to be a little bit selfish from time to time," Rarity said. "I certainly have experience in that department." "We know!" three of the girls chanted at once before breaking into a chorus of giggles. Rarity smirked and rolled her eyes. "Yes, well... There's no problem with indulging in some 'me-time.' It's only when it turns into a calamity for the ponies around you that you need to reassess your priorities." "Just like we've had to," Twilight said, her lavender face flickering with regret. "When we realized that you were enjoying yourself so much, we hesitated in coming to you with the full truth! We somehow thought that by giving you something you would enjoy more, then you just might get bored of the apple loader and move on!" "We should have had the wherewithal to know that lavishing you with even more luxury wasn't a way to fix the problem," Rarity said. "So..." Applejack squirmed slightly. "You ain't sore about me passin' up all them glittery, fancy dresses you made for me?" "Mmmm..." Rarity took a deep breath, then said through a practiced smile. "Not at a-all!" "Oh, whew!" Applejack fanned herself. "That's mighy fine!" She rolled her eyes and smiled. "'Cuz I'd much rather hike my way up a volcano than see myself in any of them silly over-laced dishrags! Eh heh heh heh!" Rarity clenched her teeth as her temple pulsed. "I see..." She clenched her glass to the breaking point. "You are... back to your usual, honest self..." "Oh Applejack..." Fluttershy spoke up. "I only hope you can forgive us for not respecting you enough to realize that you would make the right decision when you heard the truth." Her ears drooped. "We're sorry." "Awwwww... no big whoop, sugarcubes." Applejack sipped from her glass as she leaned against the table with a smirk. "To tell the truth, I'm not sure any of y'all would have gotten through to me even if you tried! I was enchanted mighty hard by that there mech-suit." She shuddered. "Yeesh, I hate to admit it, but I still feel goosebumps when I think about all the work around the farm I could have gotten done." "Well!" Rarity grinned. "It's a good thing you trashed that horrible, animated bench and its gang of cursed miscreants who tried to squash Sweetie Belle and her friends! I imagine that shook the goosebumps clean off!" "Heh! It sure as sugar did!" "Say, that reminds me!" Pinkie Pie blinked at the others. "Have any of you girls seen Lyra Heartstrings lately? She seemed really sad all of the sudden..." "What matters is that everypony at this here table has everythang to be happy for!" Applejack proclaimed, slapping her hoof down. "I ain't ever lettin' something like that apple loader get to my head ever again!" "Nnnngh..." Rarity winced, stretching her leg. "Easy on the t-table, darling." "Whoops..." Applejack's freckles swam in a blush. "Sorry..." "Uhm, forgive me for nuzzling a sore subject, but..." Fluttershy squirmed. "Just where is the apple loader at this point? It's not still in Ponyville, I hope?" "Heavens, no!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. "I had Spike wheel it out of town starting the day before yesterday!" "What?!" Fluttershy gawked. "All by his little self?!" "Well, it was that or let Applejack help him!" Twilight snickered. "And there's no way in Tartarus we're letting her hear that loader again!" "Darn tootin'!" Applejack sipped, gulped, and pointed. "Besides! I've been busy as a beaver these last few days! Helpin' around town!" "That's right!" Twilight nodded. "You've been back to the friendly neighborhood Applejack we all know and love!" She pointed out the window. "Mending the hotel roof!" She pointed out the other window. "Volunteering to sell Octavia's musical instruments!" She pointed at the wall right beside them. "Patching up Sugarcube Corner so that it's good as new!" SMASSSSSSSSSSSSH! A hole exploded in the wall, showering the party table with chunks of wood and plaster. Fluttershy and Rarity shrieked while Twilight squinted through the mess with a beam of violet magic. "What... in th-the heck?!" Twilight stammered. "Hey!" Pinkie bounced. "Rainbow, you're back!" WHIRRRRRRRRRRR! "You can say that again!" As the smoke cleared, the silhouette of a metal valkyrie came into focus. Rainbow Dash hovered directly outside the shattered eatery, her body clad in a rocket-propelled suit with dual spinning rotary blades. Wreeeee-Chtung! She loaded another rocket into a shoulder mounted launcher, hissing through the vaporous spray of fuel exhaust. "And I'm totally not here for tea and cookies!" "Rainbow...?!" Twilight coughed and waved away the smoke in front of her fuzzy muzzle. "Where in Equestria did you get that mech suit?!" "In Stalliongrad!" Rainbow's eyes instantly darted towards Applejack, glinting with menace. "Where I landed!" "N-now now, Sugarcube..." Applejack backed up nervously, waving a hoof. "Y'all ain't still mad over that lil' st-stunt I helped you with days ago, huh?!" "No no no no..." Rainbow Dash grinned crookedly. "Not mad at all!" Sch-Sclankkk! She launched a metal cable forward that lasso'd around Applejack's chest. "Grkkkk!" Applejack wheezed as she was hoisted off the ground. "I just came here to return the favor!" FWOOOSH! Rainbow Dash ascended past the rooftops above Ponyville with Applejack in tow. "Let's teach you a new trick, AJ! You're going to learn how to buck trees... from the Stratosphere!" "Con sarn it! I've learned my lesson, Rainbow! Guh! Rainbow, stop!" Flailing, Applejack reached a hoof down towards the hole in Sugarcube Corner. "Rarity! For Celestia's sake! Help me!" "Sorry, Applejack." Rarity daintily lifted her glass to a pair of smiling lips while she wriggled her leg. "A lady needs to mend from all her wounds." She winked and took a sip. "After all, I'll be busy with the 'dishrags.'" "Here's the wind-up..." Whirrrrrrrr-Clank! Rainbow pulled Applejack back in the grip of the hover-mech's cable. "...and the pitch!" "Darn it, Rainbow! No! 'No' means no—!" "Play ball!" FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! Every pony's head in Ponyville turned, watching an orange streak become a tiny speck along the horizon. "Raiiiiiiiiiiiiiinbowwwwwwww Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaa-aa-ash!" (Ping!) "Hah!" Rainbow spun in her hoversuit and spat onto the ground below. "Let's see them sell that in Fillydelphia!"