//------------------------------//
// Austraeoh - HapHazred 
// Story: AppleDash Group Collab 
// by DbzOrDie 
//------------------------------//

"What're you reading?"

"A book," Applejack replied, giving Rainbow her most unhelpful glare. "Which I'm readin' right now."

"Yeah, but... what's it about?"

"It's about... this guy. Who does things," Applejack said, folding her page as the reality of her inescapable situation dawned upon her. "It's a pretty popular series, y'know."

"Oh, it's a series," Rainbow replied, widening her eyes. Then she snorted. "Meh. I don't have time for them."

"You really should try 'em," Applejack said. Rainbow's tail flicked against Applejack's own as she rearranged the pillow to be more comfortable.

"Yeah, I tried long books once. Somewhere in between the Daring Do stories and the Starblaster books, I think. It was actually pretty cool."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. It was... kind of like this special kind of mare, y'know?"

"Oh?"

"Yeah. See, the story started slow, not giving me much to work with. The character was real cool, and I liked her. And she liked this other pony, right?"

"I follow."

"It was like I was being teased, right? Remember the metaphor I made? 'Bout the mare?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm still on that. Anyway. The story went on, an this pony started doing things. It was real cool, and each thing she did, she did for the pony she liked, but without anything really happening. It just... kept going, like I was being strung along. Like the mare knew I liked her, right, knew, and kept on showing off without ever letting me get close, and that only made her seem even cooler."

"Uh-huh," Applejack replied, a sly smile creeping on her lips.

"And then this one... bit happened. The story went into this weird adventure type tone and then, after loads of reading, eventually, the mare was back home, and the story looked like it was about to get good. Like the mare had finally invited me over to drinks. Like I was getting somewhere."

Applejack's grin was rather broad at this point, and Rainbow's hoof crept up Applejack's chest, her wings sliding across her sides. "Go on."

"And then," Rainbow said, "the story didn't actually do anything, and went on for another twenty chapters."

All of a sudden, Rainbow's hooves and wings were gone. In fact, they were flailing rather angrily about her head as she recounted her last experiences with the book. "It just went off on this other dumb adventure and I got fed up and read Starblaster instead. I was like, 'don't string me along like that, you silly donkey! I've got better things to do!"

Applejack's jaw hung open a second.

"And Starblaster was way cooler, and didn't waste hundreds and thousands of pages to get to the point! It was awesome in five minutes and didn't stop until the end. Not like that dumb mare who kept stringing me on." She tapped her chin. "Starblaster was more like you."

Applejack's left eye twitched. "I... I get to be Starblaster?"

"Yeah!"

Applejack's teeth ground against each other for a minute. "Y'know, I can't help but notice that your description of the first book was a mite more classy."

"Pfft. I'll take awesome over classy any day," Rainbow replied, sinking into her pillow. "You knew what you wanted enough to not waste your time to get it. And if you had wasted your time," Rainbow said, biting her lip. "I'd have been a lot less happy." She smiled. "So thanks. Thanks for being Starblaster."