//------------------------------//
// Sugar Cube Cutscene 
// Story: Appledashery 
// by Just Essay 
//------------------------------//

	Rarity took a dainty sip of tea and glanced across the table at Sugarcube Corner.  "Is it just me, or has Fluttershy been in... remarkably good spirits as of late?"

"Hey!  'Remarkably' good!  I like that!" Pinkie said between heavy bites of even heavier doughnuts.  "Mmmm!  Adverbs with four syllables to describe 'good' are like an evolved form of happy happy!  Heehee!"

Twilight rolled her eyes and smirked.  "What I think Rarity means, Pinkie Pie, is that Fluttershy is a lot happier than she normally is."  She glanced over a stack of books at Rarity.  "At least on the outside.  Right?"

"Erm, yes.  She's quite ecstatic for being such a... skittish specimen of maredom.  Ahem."  Rarity struggled to crane her neck and look over the books.  "Twilight, darling, is this monument to research truly necessary?  This is a casual get-together.  Surely the homework could have stayed... at home."

"Uu-wee... I'm so sorry," Twilight said, stifling a grimace.  Her lavender ears folded back as she scooped her notes and tomes towards her side of the table.  "I've just been in such a rush to get everything prepared for the experiments we have planned."

"Now, is this the royal 'we' or...?"

"Oh, no no no..." Twilight Sparkle smiled bashfully.  "A group of scientists from Trottingham are coming over to test teleportation spells at the library.  Spike and I have got the lab all set up.  I'm just trying to brush myself up on tertiary knowledge regarding elaborate trans-dimensional leyline fusion."

"Heh..." Rainbow Dash nibbled on a raisin cookie, her wingtips fluttering.  "What could possibly go wrong."

"Well, a little faith wouldn't hurt, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said with a huff.  "If we learn enough from the data we're about to collect, we might unlock the secrets to teleporting objects at long distance.  Even across Equestria!"

"Hey!"  Pinkie Pie lifted her crumbly muzzle, grinning.  "That'd put Dashie out of a job!"

"Erm..."  Rainbow Dash blinked.  "Which job?"

"Heehee!  The boring one!"

"Ohhhhh..." Rainbow smiled.  "Yeah.  Buck that job."

"But Rainbow!" Rarity protested.  "Your livelihood!"

"Eh... but if I didn't have to deliver anything anymore, I could finally kiss the dang yellow apron good bye."

"Ah.  But of course."  Rarity winked.  "Good riddance."

Pinkie giggled again.

"Weren't we talking about Fluttershy?" Twilight said.

"Yes."  Rarity looked over her shoulder at the window stretching before Ponyville's Main Street.  "Just where is she?  It's not like her to be late."

"Yeah!" Pinkie nodded.  "That's Rainbow's job!"

"Shhhh!"  Twilight hissed, brow furrowed.  "Pinkie?"

"What?"  Pinkie shrugged.  "At least I didn't say that she 'barely shows up at all like a total stranger!'"

The unicorns at the table cringed.

"Heh... it's okay, guys," Rainbow said, finishing the last of her cookie.  She gulped and folded her forelimbs from where she hovered.  "I know that I've been pretty bad at... being around."

"You have a lot on your plate as of late," Twilight Sparkle said.  "And we respect that, Rainbow."

"Yes.  We have no doubt that you are a mare of your word," Rarity said.  "Loyalty and dedication are prime elements of a hard worker, and we couldn't be any prouder."  She smiled.  "All in all, it makes you a lot like Applejack."

Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but lacked the breath.  She gawked at her friends, feeling light-headed.  "You... you r-really think so?"

"You're certainly absent a lot like Applejack!" Pinkie said, giggling.  A doughnut ricocheted across her head.  "D'oh!"  She blinked across the table.  "Twiiii?  You missed my mouth!"

"Unnngh..." Twilight slumped in her seat, sighing.  "I give up."  Rarity gave an airy laugh.

"Heheheh... don't fret, you guys."  Rainbow Dash took a deep breath.  "One way or another, things are going to change.  I just... I just feel it."  She felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Glad I'm not the only pony," spoke a stallion's soft voice.

Rainbow Dash spun around.  She did a double-take.  "Sharp Quill!  Sonuvagun!"

"Ahem."  The stallion smirked, brown wings coiled tight.  "I'll have you know, Ms. Dash, that my mother was a saint!  She never dated any guns!"

"Heheheh... friggin' lame-oh."  Rainbow Dash swatted his shoulder.  "How've you been?"

"Oh, peachy keen, girl.  Peachy keen."  He smiled.  "And you?"

"Whew... let me count the ways."

"Yes."  Sharp Quill smirked as she flew closer to converse.  "Let you."