//------------------------------// // Courting? // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// "Mmmmmmmmm...!" Apple Jewell squealed, eyes clenched shut as she curled up into a frightened, orange ball. After several prolonged seconds, she gasped for breath, then blinked at her surroundings. "... ... ..." Rainbow Dash stared at her dully from where she perched on the edge of a random skyscraper's lofty balcony. Muzzle agape, Apple Jewell exhaled, then straightened her golden bangs. "My stars and garters! I thought that would never end! Have we arrived?" "No," Rainbow droned. "No?" "We're about halfway there," Rainbow said. "Why d-did you stop flying?" "So you could stop screaming." Rainbow frowned. "For real. You were like a friggin' sissy siren the whole way here." "Yes, well..." Apple Jewell sat up, prim and proper, smoothing out the folds of her gown. "The advent of certain peril does leave one feelin' noticeably excited-like." "Don't you even hear yourself?" Rainbow murmured, her prismatic bangs blowing in the nightly wind of the canyon. "Even when you try to sound fancy, you've still got... got..." "Poise?" "Hardly!" Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "It's like someone shoved a whole bunch of country twang straight into one of those sappy romance novels that Rarity keeps lying around the Boutique!" She instantly grimaced, fidgeting. "Erm... n-not that I've ever... glanced through any of them, or nothin'..." "You are not quite what I expected, Blue Jay," Apple Jewell said. "There's a certain chivalry about you, but it's off-set by a brutish demeanor. Why, I'd say if you weren't quite so adorably tiny, I'd be in much more fear for my—" "I'm not gonna hurt you!" Rainbow snarled, making the Cider Princess flinch. Her eyes rolled. "Celestia on a bike, girl! That's not how this game is played, so stop using that lame card, will ya?" She stared off, nostrils flaring. About five seconds later, she bit her lip, glancing sideways at Apple Jewell with a tiny blush. "You... y-you really think it's adorable?" "Ermmm..." "Guhhh..." Rainbow Dash deflated, groaning into her forelimbs as her fake wings dangled at her side. "What's the use? This whole situation is bucked... at least until I get Epcot to look at you." "And who is this Epcot, pray tell? Some sort of roguish thief like yourself?" Rainbow stole a lethargic peek at the elegant mare. "You really... really don't have any of AJ in there, do you?" Apple Jewell slowly shook her head. "My deepest apologies, darlin'. I'm afraid I ain't got no recollection of this... this—" "Applejack." The Cider Princess gulped. "Right. Is she a friend of yers?" "Hmmmmmm..." Rainbow exhaled, staring at the hovering cityscape with melancholic eyes. "...that's one way of putting it." "A sister?" "HAH!" Rainbow grinned wide, her ears twitching as he rolled her eyes again. "Haaaaah hah hah hah hah! Ohhhhhhhhhhh noooooo. No no no no no... not a sister." She slicked her bangs back. "Whew..." "Well, I can't imagine what would ever have gotten you t'think that we're one in the same, sugarcube," Apple Jewell said. "I ain't got much to go on, and somethin' tells me you dun either." "Pfft! Don't be crazy! I—!" Rainbow turned towards her, blinking. Apple Jewell stared back, gracefully silent. Rainbow gulped. "It doesn't matter. I would... do anything to get her back." She took a deep breath. "And whether you believe it or not, you're my ticket to doing just that." "Sounds like yer the one who wants to use me, not Shindig, darlin'." "Mrmmff... yeah, well..." Rainbow pawed at the balcony's edge. "I'm sorry that you feel that way." "Just what is this 'Applejack' like?" Rainbow jerked her a blank glance. Apple Jewell gently shrugged. "Well, if I'm to help you in retrievin' her somehow, than I reckon I ought to know why." Rainbow stared at the mare. She opened her lips, hesitated, then waited until a gust of wind had finished blowing before she finally spoke. "Applejack is... by far... the best pony I have ever known," Rainbow Dash said. "Her honesty makes me honored to be her friend. Her courage gives me a challenge to improve myself everyday. Her... loyalty puts me to shame... but also makes me feel super crazy blessed to be her friend. I... I'm an awesome pony, and I love to win. But my life is... well... it's pretty messed up in places. And... erm..." Apple Jewell cocked her head to the side, listening calmly. Rainbow Dash bit her lip. She looked off, her voice low and breathy. "...sometimes, winning hasn't felt all that it's cracked up to be, because if I'm still the same pony with the same life at the end of the race, then no matter how awesomely I've managed to get there, it just doesn't seem any less lame." She shook her head. "Not without her. Cuz... there's nothing higher... nothing and nopony higher worth winning. And... and even as senseless as it sounds... I just can't not believe in that." She gulped. "With every fiber in my being." If it was silent after Rainbow's rambling speech, she couldn't tell. Her pulse was beating too loudly against her eardrums. About three breaths later, her body had calmed in time to hear Apple Jewell speak. "It's a shame yer friend ain't around to hear ya say that, darlin'." "I know," Rainbow muttered, eyes dull and dead. "It's why I said it." Apple Jewell smiled. "But, for what it's worth, I do hope you find Applejack." Rainbow looked up. "Yeah..." Her voice wavered sightly, and she sniffled. "I hope I find her too." Apple Jewell stood up, wobbing slightly in her crystalline heels. Then, after gathering a breath, she stood up straight with her nose upturned. "Okay. I do believe I have properly collected myself for the rest of this here abduction." "Hrmmmf..." Rainbow Dash smirked, getting up and cracking her joints. "There you go again." "Oh?" With a sigh, the mare grasped the Princess with her forelimbs. "Just try not to scream the rest of the way, alright?" "Ermmm..." Apple Jewell's powdered freckles went rosy. "No promises, darlin'." "That makes the two of us." Then, holding her breath, Rainbow kicked the two of them off the balcony and glided for the clock tower in the distance.