//------------------------------// // Big Darn Heroes (Hearth's Warming Eve) // Story: The AppleDash Project // by bookplayer //------------------------------// Applejack was thrilled to have been in the pageant, and even more thrilled to have gotten to play Smart Cookie. She would have done her best if they'd decided she should play Puddinghead, but she was relieved when Pinkie Pie jumped at the roll. There weren't that many well known earth pony heroes in Equestrian history, and bringing Smart Cookie alive for a whole audience of all kinds of ponies, especially little ones like Apple Bloom and her friends, was a real honor. They were further honored with rooms in the palace, large tower rooms this time. Apparently after defeating Discord they had become those Very Important Ponies that other ponies had to make room for. Of course this meant that Applejack wasn't officially sharing a room with Rainbow Dash, but having a pegasus for a marefriend made sneaking between rooms easy. There was a tapping at her window about ten minutes after everypony had gone to bed, and AJ got up to let Dash in. “It's a little chilly out there.” Rainbow Dash said, shivering as she flew in. Applejack shut the window quickly. “I can tell, but what've ya' got on your- Dash. Why are you wearin' your helmet from the play?” Dash grinned under the helmet. “One: It's warm. Two: It's awesome. And three:” Dash landed on her side on the big bed, smiling seductively, “I was hoping you could show Commander Hurricane some of that earth pony magic you do so well.” Applejack chuckled and shook her head. “Bein' good in bed ain't really earth pony magic, and no magic of any sort is gonna happen while you're wearin' that silly hat. 'Sides, it belongs to the Princess.” “Aw, you're no fun.” Dash said with a smile, taking off the helmet and tossing it aside. Applejack trotted over and climbed in the bed, curling up next to Dash. The pegasus was still cold from the snowy flight between towers, so AJ pressed against her to warm her up. “You know it. The whole reason I'm in this world is to keep ya' from havin' fun, Dash.” “Well you messed up today. That pageant was so awesome. I always wanted to play Hurricane, but at school they always said I wasn't tall enough. Guess I'm tall enough for Canterlot!” Applejack smiled. “It was kinda neat to play the leads. I can't say how many times I played '2nd Earth Pony' back when I was in school.” “Hey, I never said I was a background pony. I got a lead in my school pagent.” Dash said with a smirk. Applejack raised an eyebrow, “You said you'd never got to play Hurricane before. . . you ain't tellin me you played Pansy.” “I'm not saying. But it was a lead!” Dash said, starting to get a little defensive. “Uh-huh. Sure. That don't sound like a pile of hay or nothin'.” “I did!” Dash demanded. Applejack smirked at her. “I still ain't hearin' any details.” Rainbow Dash was obviously trying to make a difficult decision, and finally she said, “Well. . . I went to school in Cloudsdale.” “So?” “Sooo. . . no earth ponies. Or unicorns. Pegasi had to play all the parts.” Applejack considered that. “Well that don't really seem in the spirit of things, but I guess it makes sense. You still ain't said who ya' played.” Dash tried to casually cover her mouth with her hoof as she muttered, “I was Pprumhruuf.” It took Applejack a minute to decipher the mumble. When she got it, a grin spread across her face. “Dash? Please tell me ya' just said you played Puddin'head back in Cloudsdale.” “It's a lead!” Rainbow Dash insisted, “Do NOT tell anypony.” Applejack laughed so hard she couldn't breathe. Occasionally she tried to pull herself together, then pictured it again and started laughing all over. Dash just laid back and pouted, “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. But I never played '2nd Earth Pony' or anything. Besides, everypony is gonna want to play Rainbow Dash when we get our pageant.” Applejack had calmed down enough to speak by that point. “What in Celestia's name are you talkin' 'bout?” Dash grinned at her, “Come on, you've never thought about it? We're the elements of harmony. The first time we did it, we got a stained glass window. The second time we got a big ceremony. I figure next time Princess Celestia has to give us a holiday. I can't wait!” “Dash” AJ asked dryly, “You do realize every time we do that it's cause somethin' is tryin' to destroy the world and everythin' we love, and that ain't exactly a good thing, right?” “Well, yeah,” Dash admitted “But a holiday would be awesome.” Applejack couldn't help but smile at her pegasus. “I wouldn't hold your breath, Sugarcube. The Princess don't go 'round handin' out holidays. I mean, we're important, but we ain't legendary heroes or nothin'.” Dash raised her eyebrows, “Uh, yeah, we kinda are.” “Didn't we just have a talk 'bout your ego, Dash?” “This isn't about me, it's about all of us,” Dash said reasonably. “You don't think that someday the history books will tell about how we saved the world, twice?” AJ smiled and gave Dash a little shove. “How would you know what's in a history book? Closest you ever got was one hittin' you in the head at the library.” “Hey, that thing hurt. And I might not read history books, but I know they exist, and I know they're usually filled with important stuff about history. I don't think they can skip the parts where Equestria was almost destroyed.” Dash pointed out. Applejack raised an eyebrow.“You really think we'll be in a history book one day?” Dash smiled. “I'm sure of it. We might even be in one now. How long ago does history start?” “That sounds like somethin' to ask Twilight.” She paused, and thought about being in a history book. “I ain't sure I like the idea of bein' a hero.” “I don't really think you can skip it.” Dash said with a grin. “I don't think they can list the elements of harmony as 'Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and 2nd Earth Pony.'” Applejack chuckled, “I suppose not.” “Besides, you know how few earth ponies make the history books. You really want it to be just Smart Cookie, Puddinghead, and Pinkie?” “There are a few more in there, but I get what you're sayin'.” Rainbow Dash smiled and wrapped her wings around Applejack, “You can act humble all you want, but someday when they're doing our pageant every earth pony is gonna want to play Applejack, the element of honesty. They'll put on a stetson, and probably do a really bad accent, and they'll be proud to have the chance to show little foals that there was a pony as cool as you.” Applejack laid there and held Dash close, thinking. Unlike Rainbow Dash, Applejack did read history books on occasion. In the winter when the sun went down early, she liked to curl up with a nice a biography or the story of great events of the past. She tended to focus on the great earth ponies, they were easier to relate to, doing it all with their four hooves. The ones who truly lived good lives made her proud. Ones like Smart Cookie, who never rested on their achievements, who went on to do great things and kept working to make things better. But there were too many who did something great, then fell apart. Who went on to fail at some dumb scheme, or threw away their legacy on salt or fancy things and died a laughing stock. Applejack already worried about failure, about letting down her family or friends or the ponies of Ponyville. Now the idea was planted in her head, what if she let down all the ponies who might read about her someday, too? What if she wasn't good enough to be a hero? She couldn't let that happen, as long as there was a breath in her body. If she had to be in the history books, and Dash made a pretty good argument for that, she'd give them a pony they could be proud of.