Chapter Eight: Poetic Justice
The old adage went ‘all is fair in love and war’ for in both there was no prize for second place; no solace to be found in defeat; and no pride to be had in giving it your all unless you emerged victorious. Dash had never been one to yield to the hoof of fate. This was just another battle to be won, and another opportunity for her to demonstrate her absolute superiority. Make no mistake, Dash was at war with Spitfire and Applejack was the prize.
Yet as tempting as it was, Dash could not simply charge out of the gate and put herself between the two. What grounds did she have to challenge Spitfire when it already appeared that Dash had been, in fact, supporting her? Nonetheless, so long as everypony thought that Dash was behind Spitfire then they would not suspect her when she stabs the Wonderbolt in the back.
Putting the kibosh on their pie-date would be a difficult task. She had already promised to watch over the library for the afternoon so she would have to remain unseen by the pair. Thankfully, Dash had the advantage that Applejack would slow Spitfire to a trot’s pace at best. Even taking a long detour around town, Dash could pace herself and still reach Sweet Apple Acres with enough time to squeeze in a victory lap and a quick nap. Once she was certain that Applejack and Spitfire were out of sight, the pegasus locked up the library and took to the sky. The only thing that Dash wished she had at the moment was more time. Whatever her plan was going to be, it would have to be quick and easy. The wisest course of action, then was to go for the weakest link - the apple pie. If she got rid of the pie, then Applejack would have no reason to spend time with Spitfire and her strong sense of work ethics would force her back to the library.
“Ha! Brilliant,” Dash thought with an ego-inflating grin. “First you get the pie, then you get the mare!”
Before she landed at the farm, Dash did a few quick fly-overs to make certain that the coast was clear. Seeing no sign of any big, red stallions, the pegasus made her approach and infiltrated the Apple family homestead through one of the upper floor windows. As she had hoped, the earth pony family had carelessly left the upper floor windows unlocked. The window that Dash happened to choose led her straight into the bedroom of the pony she sought. As the bed was positioned just next to the window, in her haste Dash landed atop it by mistake.
Strange, the pegasus thought, the bed had yet to be made, and judging by the warmth, it had been occupied only until recently. Applejack had never been the type to sleep in, especially given the chores that needed to be done in the morning.
“Maybe she just stayed in to read,” Dash noted when she saw a familiar book sitting on the bedside stand. Judging by the bookmark, Applejack was almost finished with Lasso and Stars, which meant she had gone through a couple hundred pages in just a few days. “Maybe it’s a better book than I thought.”
Distractions! Rainbow Dash couldn’t afford distractions at this critical juncture. Forcing herself back on task, the pegasus skulked into the hallway with her body pressed low and her ears perked high. Every few steps, the pegasus halted and took in her surroundings. At the opposite end of the hall, she could hear faint hoofsteps. They were sparse...slow but light...
Granny Smith, no doubt.
That meant Dash was safe. With the Apple family matriach’s hearing, she could have strode through the homestead with a ten-pony marching band and remain undetected. But that didn’t mean Dash was going to relax. While the aging mare posed no threat, that did not exclude other threats from lurking in the wooden halls. Dash kept alert for the characteristic ‘thud thud thud’ of the Big Macintosh’s hooves that pounded against wood like a heavy drum. But aside from the brittle tacks of an geriatric mare, the homestead remained silent.
Upon reaching the top of the stairs without encountering any signs of occupation, Dash made the bold move to fly the rest of the distance. If there was any moment to have second thoughts, Dash blew past it as she swooped down the stairs and into the kitchen. The pegasus allowed herself the briefest of moments for a self-congratulatory grin before she continued to her objective. It stood to reason that the easiest way to stop an apple pie from being made was to simply deprive the cook of the most vital ingredient - the apples.
Having been corralled by Applejack into helping on numerous occasions, Dash knew her way around the kitchen and was able to locate the Apple family’s store of apples. All the times that she had to endure listening to her friend talk about apples and their infinite uses had finally proven useful for the pegasus. With that knowledge, she knew exactly which bushels to take out. Applejack would never bake a pie without the proper cultivar, and without the pie, there would be no need for Spitfire.
To no surprise, there turned out to be a lot of apples that Dash needed to take care of. A pair of barrels overflowing with the fresh produce stood between Dash and her goal. Alas, with no convenient means of disposal, they may as well have been lit firecrackers just seconds from betraying her schemes to the world.
But then a miracle occurred in the guise of a tiny red-headed filly whose hoofsteps were too light to pique the pegasus’ attention. “Dash? What’re you doing here? And what’re you doing with our apples?”
“I...uh...” Dash hesitated for an instant, paralyzed by Applebloom’s inquisitive gaze. She just needed time to improvise a palatable cover story. “I...can explain.”
“This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with why Spitfire came by for this morning?” Applebloom asked as she walked over to one of the nearby barrels.
Sometimes, the best cover story were the ones spawned by a presumptuous imagination and wrapped in a blanket of half-truths. Rainbow Dash saw an opportunity to exploit the situation and capitalized on it. “Oh shoot, you caught me...” Dash mock lamented in order to sell the story. “I suppose I should probably leave before you spill the beans to your sister.”
“Hey! I did everything I could!” Applebloom insisted with a hint of indignation. “But she knew somepony else was involved and she had Big Macintosh dangle me by the tail until I ‘fessed up.”
Dash gave the filly a scrutinizing glare, as if re-evaluating the worth of her continued presence. In reality, the pegasus was just giving herself the appearance that she was taking Applebloom’s words into consideration. Ponies were always more enthusiastic if they thought they were being granted the mercy of a second chance. “Well...I’ll give you one more chance, but you have to promise me you’ll not breathe a single word of this to anypony! Ever!”
“I promise!”
Dash had to consciously resist the urge to grin once more in triumph once she had succeeded in wrapping the little pony around her hoof. “Good. Now help me hide these apples.”
“Oh! We can hide ‘em in the barn,” Applebloom suggested as she hurried over and began pushing one of the barrels towards the backdoor.
Since that seemed as good a place as any, Rainbow Dash hurried to get the remainder of the apples out of the homestead. With the filly’s assistance, Dash was able to stash the apples away in the Apple family’s barn. And it was just in the nick of time as a quick glance outside confirmed the impending arrival of the Wonderbolt and apple farmer. They were far enough away that Dash didn’t have to worry about being spotted but that meant her time was running short.
“So how exactly does hiding the apples help AJ?” Applebloom inquired. “She can just get more from the field.”
The more lies she wove, the harder it would be for Dash to keep from tripping over her own words. But the impending arrival of the aforementioned pony meant that she had a valid excuse to avoid Applebloom’s questioning. “No time to explain - just trust me on this,” Dash said as she hurried out the barn’s rear door. The filly had a point, though; removing the apples from the kitchen was only a temporary solution that could be circumvented by only a short trip out into the orchard. Thankfully, the pegasus had a contingency plan for that as well...
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“Ah thought the farm was finished at that point. But it turned out while they might have made more cider than us, ain’t no pony in town was willing to drink the stuff, let alone buy it. You shoulda seen how fast those two charlatans skedaddled away on their silly contraption.”
Though Spitfire was used to getting from point A to point B with all speed, the opportunity to take a slow walk back to the farm with Applejack was too tempting to pass up. She didn’t even care that she barely got a word in; she was perfectly content with listening the entire time.
“With that kind of loyalty, I’m surprised you don’t make cider all season long.”
“Ain’t got the right apples for it all season,” Applejack explained, which left the pegasus confused for a moment. “You can’t just put any old apple into a cider or a pie...ya gotta use the right cultivar for the right job. For example, Granny Smith apples are good for eating and baking, but one of the best features is that they keep well. That makes ‘em great for storing and selling over the winter months. But the apples we use for our cider come in late season.”
“This farming stuff is way more complicated than I remember.” Then again, as a child, Spitfire never had a need to pay much attention to the particulars of the farming business. The only thing she ever needed to know was when the fruit was ready for harvesting, at which point she would join her foalhood friends in the orchard and help them in exchange for a few bushels afterwards. “So what shall the master chef be using to bake her world famous pie?” she inquired with a playful undertone.
“Ah’ve got some nice n’ juicy McIntosh that’ll do just the trick,” Applejack answered as the pair arrived at the homestead. “Heh...Ah mean the apples, not mah brother.” The farmer was surprised to find her home deserted for the most part. Though she could faintly hear Granny Smith upstairs, there was no sign of either of her siblings. This discovery came more as a relief to the farmer as she figured it would be easier not to have to deal with an over-inquisitive little sister or a potentially overprotective big brother (not that she expected her brother to act in such a way). She led Spitfire into the kitchen and motioned for the pegasus to head over to the nearby pantry. “Ah’ll need both the brown and white sugar from there, as well as some flour,” she instructed as she headed over to the neighboring pantry. “And we’ll need about eight or ten good-sized app-what in the hay?”
Applejack’s cheerful demeanour made an abrupt halt when there was a gaping vacancy in her pantry where the McIntosh apples should have been. At first she thought she had simply been looking in the wrong area but a quick sweep through the kitchen came up empty.
Spitfire was quick to take notice and abandoned her search for the sugar. “Is something wrong?”
“They’re gone. They’re all gone!” Applejack replied. “ The McIntoshes, the Granny Smiths, the Baldwins...even the Spartans and the Ginger Golds!”
Now Spitfire didn’t understand half of what had just been spoken but she was smart enough to guess that the other pony was referring to kinds of apples. “I take these apples are no good?” Spitfire said as she pointed to the first pantry, which contained a few small bushels of the fruit on the lower shelves.
“Those are Golden Delicious and Galas,” the farmer said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “Ya don’t bake with those kinds.”
Spitfire suspected that was the answer - she would be the first to admit that her understanding of apple varieties was limited to red, green, yellow, or bad.
“This don’t make a lick of sense,” Applejack muttered to herself as she started pacing across the kitchen. “Me and Big Macintosh brought in a heap of apples yesterday. Ain’t no way we could’ve run out so quickly...” Somehow, Applejack couldn’t consider this a mere coincidence that her apples supplies had run dry at the precise moment that Spitfire had stopped over. But could Rainbow Dash have organized this all the way from the library? Applejack wasn’t going to dismiss that possibility but that didn’t change the situation - Spitfire still needed her pie. Unless...that was a facade as well.
“Couldn’t we just go and get some more apples from the orchard?” Spitfire asked to interrupt the farmer’s train of thought.
“Right...of course. We’ll just buck a tree or two and get all the apples we need,” Applejack agreed. Since it would only take a few minutes to get enough apples from the trees to make a pie, perhaps the disappearance of her apples was due to something completely unrelated to rainbow-maned ponies. On her way out the back door, the farmer grabbed a set of baskets and slung them across her back. “Come on, this shouldn’t take more than a minute.”
But while Applejack’s attention was focused on the trees ahead, when Spitfire exitted the homestead, her attention drew elsewhere. “Umm...those clouds look rather unfriendly,” she said as she motioned for Applejack to turn her gaze skyward. Above Sweet Apple Acres, a curtain of black clouds had blanketed the sky and shrouded the farm in darkness.
“That’s funny...Ah don’t remember seeing any rain in the forecast,” Applejack responded with a raised eyebrow. However, while Applejack’s memory may have been serving her true, it didn’t take into account the interference of a certain weather patrol pegasus.
Nestled above the pair, hidden behind her nimbus curtain, Rainbow Dash kept a close eye on the developing situation. Fast-talking her way through procurement to get an extra-large order of rain clouds for the orchard had been quite the challenge, but it was worth the month-long supply of muffins she promised the procurement clerk in exchange for this favour.
“Time to rain on your parade, Spitfire.” So saturated with water were the clouds that all it took was a gentle tap of her hoof to open the floodgates. In an instant, the air above Sweet Apple Acres went from a cool overcast to an overwhelming downpour. The two ponies below were caught in the open field when the rain hit, forcing them to flee to the relative shelter of a nearby tree. “No pie...no need for Spitfire...” Now all Rainbow Dash needed to do was sit and wait for the two to part ways.
“So much for bucking apples,” Appljack said with a quiet sigh as she looked to the torrents of rain around them. Even if she could find the particular apple trees she needed, she and Spitfire would be soaked to the bones by the time they got back to the homestead. Still, Applejack wasn’t the sort of pony to be put off by a little rain, or in this case, a lot of rain. “The McIntosh trees shouldn’t be too far from here - no more than a five minute walk at best.”
“Forget the apples,” Spitfire insisted as she wrung some water out of her mane. Despite having only been caught out in the open for a few seconds, the pegasus was already drenched from tip to tail. “It’s just a pie...it can wait for another day when the weather’s better.”
“But you said-”
The farmer was ready to charge out into the rain but a restraining hoof upon her shoulder kept her in place. “I know what I said,” the pegasus interrupted, “but it’s okay. I’m not going to have you run out into a rainstorm on my account.”
“Well okay then,” sighed the farmer in resignation. While it may have been okay with Spitfire, it didn’t stop her from feeling like she had disappointed her new friend. “Ah suppose Ah should get back to the library then - ain’t no point in making Dash watch over it for no reason. You should probably head on home too...”
It was hard for Spitfire to hide the look of disappointment on her face. A quiet sigh, drowned out by the cascading rain, escaped from her lips and her eyes drifted down to a spot on the grass between her hooves. “Yeah...I guess you’re right,” she begrudgingly murmured. “No rain in the forecast, huh?”
“Ah know, Ah know,” Applejack replied. “Ah don’t get it. There wasn’t any rain in the forecast for the whole week. And Rainbow Dash always tells me when there’s any rain in the schedule and...oh.”
“Oh?”
“Rainbow Dash,” she murmured under her breath. A realization dawned upon the earth pony. It was nothing new or earth-shaking, but it confirmed something that she had suspected for a while now. There were too many convenient occurrences for this to have been the product of mere coincidence. “This never was about the pie, was it?”
Suddenly put on the spot unprepared, the pegasus only managed a nervous chuckle at first. “Wh-what do you mean? Of course this is about the pie. What else would it be about?”
“Listen, Spitfire...Ah know about the plans you and Dash schemed up - tricking me out into that auction so you can win a date with me. It was a mighty kind thing that Dash did and it was mighty kind of you to go along. And Ah can’t thank the two of you enough for it - truly,” Applejack said with a patient but firm tone. “But Ah’m a grown pony, and while Ah’ll be the first to admit that romantic stuff ain’t mah strong suit, Ah don’t need to be corralled like a stubborn sheep into a relationship.”
Now Spitfire was confused as to what plotting Applejack was referring to - the only thing that Dash had done, as far as she knew, was tell her about the auction in the first place. But the pegasus held her tongue for the moment as she didn’t want to interrupt the other pony. Applejack’s voice held a mix of restrained annoyance and genuine appreciation - she could tell that the farmer held no ill-will against what Dash and Spitfire had supposed done, but her patience with the perceived plots had reached its limits.
“Ah needed a kick in the haunches to get moving, Ah get it...but there ain’t no need to keep with all the secret plans and schemes,” she continued as her tone became more gentle. “Ah don’t want any more charades or deceptions, okay? Please, just be honest with me.”
When Applejack phrased it like that, it just made Spitfire feel like a fool. Her take on the situation may have been different than the pegasus’, but it didn’t make it any less true. “I swear to Celestia, I had nothing to do with this rain or any missing apples,” Spitfire began, “but the pie isn’t a lie. It was a...convenient excuse. I just wanted to spend some times with you.” The pegusus paused for a moment and took in a deep breath to calm her nerves. The fact that she was getting nervous over this despite having performed before crowds of thousands only confirmed the validity of what she felt. “Because the truth is...I like you, Applejack. I haven’t met a pony like you in ages, and you’ve been dancing on my mind ever since last night. I even broke a vase during my morning training because I was so distracted.”
Applejack couldn’t help but give a bashful smile as she listened to Spitfire’s admissions. She never imagined being the type to leave such an impression on anypony, let alone one as famous as the Wonderbolt captain. The pegasus could have any choice of pony in Equestria, and yet the only mare she had eyes for was the humble apple farmer from Ponyville. It was hard not to feel flattered at such sentiments. And it would be a lie to say that the pegasus hadn’t been on Applejack’s mind either; in fact, she wound up oversleeping that morning as a result of a Spitfire-ladened restless mind the night before.
“I know that who I am and what I do can seem...a bit intimidating,” Spitfire continued, feeling more confident with each passing moment. The fact that Applejack wasn’t stopping her was taken as a positive sign. “But take away the money and fame and you’re left with just another pony who’s offering her heart to another. Unless...I’m being too forward...”
“Y’ain’t being too forward at all,” Applejack reassured. If anything, she appreciated the straight-forwardness for a change. The farmer began a slow trot back towards the homestead and motioned for Spitfire to follow along. “Would you like to come inside and wait this nasty storm out?”
“I would like that very much.”
Up in the clouds, deafened to the conversation by the roar of the downpour, Rainbow Dash had grown impatient with the other ponies. They weren’t planning on spending the entire day under the tree, were they? She was just about to bring out the thunderbolts when she saw the two finally emerge from beneath the three...except they were both heading towards the homestead.
“What are they doing? They’re not supposed to be heading inside together!” Dash exclaimed, though her words were drowned out by the rainfall. When she saw the bright smiles upon their lips, she realized she had done nothing but make things worse. “Noooo! Nonononononono!” When the homestead door slammed shut, the pegasus let out a heart-wrenching cry of despair before unceremoniously bashing her face several times into the storm cloud. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” she admonished to thunderous chorus. “Why did I think this was a good idea?”
For a brief moment, Rainbow Dash wondered if perhaps she was just misreading the situation. She didn’t know for certain what it meant so she decided to go in for a closer look. Grabbing a sizable tuft of cloud to hide in, the pegasus made a cautious approach to the homestead. Peering through a window, Dash saw Spitfire tending to the fireplace.
“Okay...they’re just drying off. Nothing to be get worried over.”
Once Spitfire got the fire blazing in earnest, someone called her away from the fireplace and Dash briefly lost sight of the pegasus. When she returned, it was in the accompaniment of Applejack, and they were both carrying...
“Cider?”
Dash couldn’t believe her eyes at first but the truth was undeniable - both ponies had, in their hooves, a tall, frothy mug of cider. It wasn’t cider season! How could she have cider outside of cider season? A part of Dash had always suspected that the Apple family had their own secret stash for their personal enjoyment. But she had often told herself that had such a stash existed then surely Applejack would have shared it with her best friend in all of Equestria, right? Was this the sign of who held the greater place in the earth pony’s heart? To Dash, this revelation felt like a knife through the heart - the painful realization that somepony else held a closer spot in the heart of a pony you cared deeply about.
“I guess...I was just imagining everything.”
Dash lingered by the window for a few more minutes, watching as Spitfire and Applejack curled up together in the warmth of the fireplace. Applejack was smiling. A faint red fluster began to highlight the freckles across her cheeks. She looked...happy.
“I’m such an idiot,” Dash said with a defeated sigh. “Should’ve known from the start I was no match for her...” With all sense of will and purpose within her now drowned in a sea of bubbling, golden cider, the pegasus grabbed her tiny storm cloud and slunk off. There was no point in subjecting herself to further heartache by lingering...
Inside the homestead, the pegasus had yet to even take a sip from her mug. She took her time, allowing the fragrant aroma to fill her nostrils. “It smells wonderful, Applejack, but...I thought you said you didn’t make cider until late into the season.”
“Ah’ve got a bit of a confession to make then,” Applejack said with a faint chuckle. “It ain’t exactly our cider. You remember how I said that Flim-Flam pair scampered off in a hurry? They were in such a hurry that they left behind all the cider they made.”
“Right...and you said that the townsfolk hated it.”
“Correct - but not all the barrels of cider were bad,” Applejack said before pausing briefly to swirl the contents of her mug. “They only got sloppy when they realized they were going to lose. So once all the mess was over, we were left with about a dozen or so barrels of perfectly good cider. We’ve been storing them down in the cellar ever since.”
“And because your family didn’t make it, you didn’t feel right selling it, correct?” Spitfire hazard a guess based on what she had learned about Applejack’s rigid sense of work ethics. She was a little disappointed that she wouldn’t get the opportunity to try the family’s famous brand of cider, but it was a minor issue in comparison to the company she now held.
Applejack only nodded to confirm the pegasus’ suspicion. It may have been made using her family’s apples but it just didn’t feel right profiting off the work of somebody else, no matter how malicious their intentions had been. Besides, it would be a lie to call it Apple Family cider and she wasn’t going to give those two charlatans any kind of advertisement.
“Mah cousin Braeburn from Appleloosa sent me a couple of recipes that call for apple cider,” she commented as she continued to stare into her bubbling beverage. A part of her still held apprehensions over drinking cider that had been made with the intention of putting her out of business. “Ah thought about maybe giving a few barrels to Rainbow Dash but...well, again, it felt wrong giving her some second-rate brand of cider.”
“I know what you mean - when people expect the best from you, it just feels wrong to give anything less,” Spitfire agreed. The pegasus decided that she had admired the brew long enough. She held her mug out to Applejack and smiled. “A toast...to new beginnings.”
“To new beginnings.”
The two mares were just ready to tip their mugs when their eyes locked in a challenging glare. “Bet’cha I can finish my pint first,” Spitfire proposed with a sly grin.
“Yer on!”
And thus what began as a simple toast to their fledgling relationship turned into a cider-chugging competition with the two mares loudly gulping down their beverages in a fashion most uncouth. Despite the pegasus’ bravado, she was no match for the farmer’s experience and fortitude.
“Ah win!” Applejack trumpeted her victory as she slammed her mug down.
Spitfire was still struggling to finish the last few mouthfuls and by the time she was done, the pegasus was coughing and gasping for breath. “Why did I think that was a good idea?” she lamented once she caught her breath, which only prompted a burst of laughter from the other mare.
“Ain’t nobody that can top this pony in a drinking contest,” Applejack explained once she suppressed her laughter. The reprieve, however, was brief as she soon found herself desperately trying to suppress a second round. “Heh, you don’t drink much cider, do ya?” she snickered.
Spitfire was confused at first as she wondered how her inability to win at a drinking contest implied such inexperience. Also, the pegasus was oblivious as to what the other pony found so darn funny. “N-not really...why do you-”
“Cause yer face is as red as Big Mac’s behind,” Applejack interrupted as the laughter began to surface once more.
“I...it is not!” Spitfire tried to insist but to no avail. Trying to fight down the rising heat to her face only intensified the cider-induced blush. “I can’t help it - it’s genetic!” As her whining only spurred Applejack on, she attempted to hide the evidence by burying her head beneath a pillow. Only when the other mare had finally calmed down did the pegasus brave a peek from beneath her cover. “Heh...you know, Snow Pea used to tease me about the exact same thing.”
“Who’s Snow Pea?”
“He was a colt who lived on a neighboring farm,” Spitfire answered as she moved her pillow so she was resting her chin upon it rather than hiding under it. “He was strong...dependable...an absolute stud if there ever was one. He was such a sweetie too - I would call him Sweet Pea all the time. It used to drive him nuts.”
As Applejack had shared several stories about her life with the pegasus already, she felt that it was due time for her to be the one lending their ear. The more time Applejack spent with the pegasus, she more she became fascinated with her. Like her friend Rainbow Dash, the pegasus was equal parts daring and foolhardy, but was counterbalanced by the modesty that came from her years of experience. Applejack could understand why Dash made such a hero out of the Wonderbolt captain - regal, yet approachable; larger than life but still attainable. “I take it you two were close?” she asked as she shifted her position so that she lay alongside the other mare.
Spitfire gave a solemn nod. “We were...once upon a time. But when I started spending more time at flight camp, it just became harder and harder to stay in touch. Last time I saw him, we got into a huge fight about all the time I was spending at camp. He wanted me to stay at the farm - he hated the idea of me throwing everything I had away just so I could fly off to Cloudsdale to be a ‘fancy, flying circus pony.’ After he said it was a stupid, crazy dream, I may have lost my temper...”
Applejack noticed the pegasus averting her eyes in a fashion akin to when they spoke about her temper the night before. Her shame was palpable, but Applejack just reassured her with a gentle pat on the back. “Ya didn’t hurt him too badly, right?”
“No...but I said a lot of things I wish I hadn’t.”
“Should I bake a second pie?”
“Heh...no,” the pegasus replied with a small smile. “For starters, he hated apples.”
She knew it couldn’t have been easy for Spitfire to part ways with a long-time friend on such poor terms, but rarely did life afford one the opportunity to pick and choose its departures. And she had to admire the pegasus’ willingness to stand up for what she believed in. Without dreams, life could get bland in a hurry. It reminded her of her own departure from Sweet Apple Acres when she wanted to live the fancy life in Manehattan. Her family had resisted the notion initially but soon realized that the more they tried to keep Applejack at the farm, the more she wanted to leave. For a brief moment, the farmer wondered what would have happened had she found what she was looking for in Manehattan. Would she still be the same, loyal and down-to-earth pony she was? From what she could see in Spitfire, though, it took more than a change of scenery to change a pony.
As a question had been nagging on Applejack’s mind since the night before, she saw this as a prime opportunity to bring it up. “So...how did a big-shot flier like you wind up growing up on a tiny farm near Trottingham?” Ponyville may have had a significant pegasus population but from she had heard, mostly from Twilight, this was due in part to the town’s proximity to Cloudsdale. Trottingham, however, was quite the distance from Cloudsdale.
“I was born there,” Spitfire said. Applejack had expected a more cheerful or perhaps prideful tone to her voice, but instead met with a sombre one. Her amber eyes stared listlessly into the crackling fire as the pegasus explained further. “Mum and dad were originally from Cloudsdale. Dad worked in upper management in the weather factory, but my mum was a stunt flier.”
“Like mother, like daughter, eh?”
“Something like that,” Spitfire nodded, the sombre look still in her eyes. “Dad said she was a great flier. She wasn’t ‘Wonderbolts’ good but she still managed to win a few competitions. They actually met at a celebration party when my mum won her first Young Flier’s Competition.”
“Was it your mom that taught you how to fly the way you do?”
“Actually...no, she wasn’t. I’ve never even see her fly before.” The Wonderbolt fell silent for a moment as her face fell sullen. Shifting onto her side, the pegasus rested her head on her forehooves. “She had a bad crash long ago. Mum never talked about it so I don’t know much of the details other than the fact that she took out five or six trees on the way down. She...tore both her wings up pretty bad - never flew again...and she was never quite the same.”
The pang of sympathy hit Applejack like a sledge hammer. The near empty seats at the breakfast table were a daily reminder to Applejack about the two ponies that should be at that farm. She regretted having brought the subject up and turning what had been a pleasant evening into a sullen one. “Ah...Ah’m so sorry to hear that.” Words felt empty but they were all that she had.
Spitfire managed a half-hearted smile in response. “It’s okay,” she replied. “Anyways, as you can imagine, Cloudsdale isn’t the best place to live when you’re a flightless pegasus. Dad took the first transfer he could get his hooves on, which took him and mum all the way out to a tiny little farm just outside of Trottingham. A few years later, I came along.”
“So how’d you get into all that fancy flying stuff?”
“Stories mostly.” Spitfire’s mood took a turn for the better, as Applejack had hoped the subject change would accomplish. “Dad used to tell me about mum’s old flying days - the old medals...trophies...newspaper clippings. It made me want to be more like her.”
“How’d she take this?”
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Spitfire sighed. The pegasus rolled onto her back and began to stare aimlessly at the ceiling. “She never opposed it but...she never really gave approval either. I guess it was just hard for her to see me doing something that she couldn’t. I bet she used to dream of the day when she could teach her kid to fly...and instead she had to sit on the sidelines and do nothing.” As much as Applejack disliked how the conversation was dragging the mood down, she knew she had to see this through or her curiosity would be harassing her forever. “Either way, dad worked his hooves to the bone so he could afford to send me to a decent flight camp. You could say that my first real time flying in the clouds was an eye-opener for me. Once I got a taste of the sky, farm life just didn’t seem to measure up anymore.”
“Hey! Ain’t nothing wrong with the farm life,” Applejack remarked with feigned indignity. “It might not be as fancy as yer flying tricks but it requires the same kind of dedication, hard work, and attention to detail.”
“True, but can you imagine me with a peach for a cutie mark?” Spitfire suggested, followed by a round of laughter from the two. There was no denying that Applejack had a hard job and Spitfire admired the pony for her dedication and tenacity. “I’ll admit there have been days where I’ve wondered how my life would’ve turned out had I stayed home instead of going out on a limb and trying my luck in Cloudsdale.” In all honesty, though, such days were long gone - a relic of her earlier years when her future was still in doubt and she was, at best, a rising star in the aerobatic circuit. She hadn’t thought about the farm life in years, but she decided against adding that little caveat in. “Maybe one day I’ll settle back down on a farm and enjoy the quiet life.”
“Ha!” Applejack couldn’t help but laugh at that notion. “If you’re anything like Dash, the only way you’d give up flying is if you were dragged down kicking an’ screaming.”
“Oh...I can think of a few things that could make me reconsider,” Spitfire replied with a sudden sultry curl upon her lips.
As her heartbeat began to quicken, Applejack slid ever closer to the pegasus until she could feel the feathers brushing against her side. Each time the wings twitched, they tickled at her sides and drew short, sharp breaths. She flustered under the intensity of the pegasus’ amber gaze, enticing her closer until the pegasus had her ensnared in a tender kiss.