5897537 And that's why I'm paranoic about knowing all possible escapes from my friends houses and my own!

Funny. Rainbow is going to need a lot of time outside. And it was an interesting way to let the family know

5897666 In one instance it was perfectly understandable. I had been changing into my martial arts gear and the trousers became misplaced.

As for the other occasion, I'm afraid I'm as clueless as you are. Student life, bby.

5897773 when in doubt, smash a ground floor window and pay for it later, that's what I always say

5897856 Now there's an idea for an Appledash prompt based on real life events!

You just know it wouldn't be an accident on Rainbow's part

5897990 It was less a case of theft and more a case of me waking up someplace I was not familiar with in a state of acute nudity. The reason I say I am clueless is because I am not certain why I woke up where I woke up, or what came before. I only remember what came after, which was me quickly leaving the immediate vicinity in such a rush I forgot to take my trousers with me.

There really isn't any feeling quite as depressing as going someplace and asking for your trousers (and mlp t-shirt, for the record) back in the morning with a hangover.

5897990
5898001

5898169 Looks like some people were getting dressed in a hurry....

5899358

"Now, to be fair, AJ, it's an easy mistake to make when you're in a hurry," Rainbow explained. "Your house is so cold. I'm just, like, I see a shirt, I go for the shirt, y'know? Your room is practically a big refrigerator, but instead of yoghurt, there's just shirts for days."

Applejack crossed her arms. "I disagree. I never felt that chilly."

"Yeah, okay, see, literally, I'm thinking of bringing a scarf next time. It's freezing. It's like you never even heard of, I dunno, heating. This thing we invented. It's pretty awesome."

"If you say so."

"So I really don't get why you're so surprised I kinda have to hurry to put some layers on, y'know?"

"I guess I'm just gettin' some real mixed signals," Applejack said. "'Cause normally, people take their clothes off when it's hot."

"No, I take my clothes off because you're hot. I am ice cold. It's completely different."

Twilight rubbed her forehead. "I like our little talks."

This isn't for a prompt. It was for fun.

5897990 unless they have a fancy security sistem... But they usually have cameras too, so Im safe in those cases, my aunt's house it's another different story, but I think I can manage, if I can enter my housr without keys then I can exit it.

5899407 this something that my friends talk from time to time. Or even dirty details, like most friends group from 30 something year old. Not kidding...

5899478 Oh, I have it worse. My housemate's voice carries pretty far in our house so from time to time I can tell her the dirty details. Which, frankly, is not a good sign for either of us.

5899504. I believe you.

5899407 Aw Rainbow. You don't have to steal A.J's shirts to beat the cold. You just need a nice,warm cowgirl to snuggle up to

She'd better hurry up and do it before it gets too cold. Looks like she's turning...

...a little blue!

...
...
...
I want an emoji with sunglasses on this forum

You people really suck at writing short prompts, y'know :p

5911578
Well, you suck at adding them to the collab on time!

5911578
5912343
FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!
Kiss, kiss, kiss!!

Prompt: Turbulence

Rainbow Dash gazed out the window of the airplane at the country beneath. Flying had always appealed to her, even if sitting in a plane paled in comparison to zooming around on magical wings of her own. She'd never be able to fly this high, of course, or for so long, due to the limited duration and capabilities of the pony-up magic. Rainbow was grateful for the chance to admire the world from such heights, though she couldn't help but wonder if sights like this — better ones, even — were commonplace for her Equestrian counterpart, and she felt a twinge of jealousy.

A slight jostle of the plane shook her out of her contemplation. The intercom turned on, and the pilot apologized for turbulence they'd be encountering for the next fifteen minutes or so. Rainbow exchanged a few words about it with her friends, but soon returned to looking outside.

At a second, slightly bigger tremor, however, Applejack — who was sitting next to her — suddenly clung to her waist, breathing rapidly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! AJ, calm down!"

"Sorry," the farmer responded. "This shakin' just don't sit right with me."

"Huh? You're usually made of stronger stuff than that. Like, you know it's safe, right?"

"I know, I know, I just can't help it." Applejack adjusted her position to a less awkward one, but held on. "Would it be alright if I held on to you for a little? Just 'till we get through this?" she asked — then added a stealthy wink that only Rainbow could see.

It was then that Rainbow realized Applejack's touch felt far more comfortable than she would've expected. Her hands were soft and warm, practically hugging her. "Uh, sure, I guess," she answered, doing her best to sound as natural as possible. "Who am I to turn down a friend in need?" She tried to act like Applejack's request was nothing more than a slightly odd favour, but she flashed the tiniest of smirks to the farmer in question, to let her know her true intent was understood.

It was clever, really: getting in some physical contact — cuddling, almost — without letting the others catch wind of their relationship. Rainbow had to wonder if that was something Applejack had planned in advance, or if it was an on-the-spot improvisation. For that matter, when had she gotten so sneaky? Rainbow wasn't a bad influence on her, was she? Or maybe it was just easier for her to lie when it meant not having to come out; that certainly was a strong motivator. Not that either of them really believed the response from their friends would be anything but positive, but those nagging fears still persisted…

Another light wobble of the airplane shook Rainbow out of her thoughts again. Smiling, she quietly put her hand around Applejack's shoulder. There'd come a time when they could tell their friends about their relationship openly and without fear: Rainbow was sure of it. But until then, this was enough.

Well, it's about time I got this done. I came up with the basic concept some time ago, but it took me until now to actually write it. Admittedly, I'm a tad nervous that I may be overstepping my bounds by involving homophobia in a fic (even if only to a minor degree), but I think I at least did a not-completely-horrendous job here.

But anyway, since I originally thought of this around the time I finished Breath of the Wild, and Metroid is my most recent Video Game Series to Obsess OverTM…

Next prompt: Explore

5974321
Prompt: Explore

I kept it nice and short for Dbz. You’re welcome, gentlemen.

The rope ladder creaked as Applejack painfully hoisted herself up to the balcony it was hung from. Pony bodies were not built for ladders, rope or otherwise, but with practice and effort, any physically inclined pony could get the hang of it.

Unfortunately, lacking any kind of practice, hanging was just about all Applejack could handle. She grunted as her hooves scrabbled on the balcony. Her special horseshoes slid on the smooth marble-like cloud as if it were ice. She pushed with her legs and her barrel caught purchase on the solid (almost) floor. Her horseshoes hummed as the magic kicked in.

“Jus’ lower the house a bit, I said,” Applejack grumbled as she slid across the ground, her rear legs catching up with the rest of her. “It ain’t hard, I said.”

Applejack grunted as she stood up, her forelegs aching. She looked up at the large, palatial mansion. Rainbow fountains flowed from small estuaries and pooled at the bottom of the house. Applejack whistled. Though she had visited several times, Rainbow Dash’s house still beggared belief. Most ponies in town thought that Twilight was the first to own a true castle, but that was only because they hadn’t visited the chief weatherpony’s outrageous villa.

“But no!” Applejack went on as she marched towards the front door. “Rainbow likes the house where it is, she says. The view is just ‘awesome’ from this altitude, she says. She’ll always be around to help me up, she says. Pfft.”

The door swung open, unlocked. The main hall stretched before her. Statues lined the walls, each of different pegasi ponies in full flight. A brisk chill swept through the house. Rainbow liked to keep the building perceptually cold. Something about pegasi, Applejack suspected. Thick, coarse fur and all that.

Applejack turned left. She had never admitted it to Rainbow, but she didn’t really understand the layout of the house all that well. It was something about the twisting corridors, endless balconies that required one fly to progress, and the way the house had a tendency of physically deforming to create more rooms as you walked down corridors. A clever way to make a house bigger than it actually was, for sure, but not great for Applejack’s sense of direction.

“Bedroom, bedroom,” Applejack muttered as she peered down a corridor filled with paintings of, predictably, Wonderbolts. A fair few were Rainbow herself, now.

Applejack recognised the corridor, and decided it must be the right way.

---

Fifteen wrong turns later, Applejack regretted every decision she had ever made up until that point.

“The hay is this room?!” Applejack exclaimed, stumbling into a square, large room with a tall ceiling. It was filled with wooden dummies, and strange weapons lined the walls. A martial arts training room, of some variety. “Why in tarnation does she even need this?” Applejack gave one of the dummies an experimental kick. It rattled and spun around, a studded arm swinging towards Applejack’s head.

The concussion added to Applejack’s disorientation, and she stumbled from the training room back into the corridor. Naturally, the cloud had changed shape in the meantime, and it looked nothing like it did before.

Applejack groaned, and holding her head, she tried the first door she could see. Beyond was a small, pleasantly shaped room with a large hot-tub in the centre. Applejack raised an eyebrow. “First good news I’ve had all day,” she muttered. “I’ll have to remember to get RD to share her things more often.”

Applejack circled the hot-tub and found a series of switches on the side. She flicked one. As expected, it began to bubble. She flicked another. Lights inside the tub turned the water pink. Applejack frowned. She flicked another. Music began to play.

The final switch lowered a large, Rainbow Dash sized mirror from the ceiling.

“Well, now, that there’s a lil’ creepy,” Applejack said, and turned the switches back. “Then ‘gain, if I were Rainbow, I’d want to look at myself bathin’ too.”

Applejack left the room, and caught sight of a balcony above her. Perhaps that would lead her to the bedroom. Or one of them, at least. Applejack jumped up and scrabbled on the ledge. Once on her hooves, she went through a passageway, and found herself in, of all things, a hangar.

Strange mechanical contraptions filled the room. Most looked broken. Many more looked like a horrifying mixture of steel, duct tape, and twine. A large workbench sat by the wall. Applejack approached, and read some of the designs that littered the table. They were mostly pictures of crudely drawn rockets and jet engines strapped to pegasi. They were annotated with such things as ‘awesome rocket boost’, ‘all i wanna do is boost’, ‘jet propeller goes there’, and ‘space boost’.

One design in particular caught Applejack’s eye. She picked it up. It was a drawing of an Earth pony in a hat. Next to it was a list, entitled ‘ways to make AJ more epic’. Applejack raised her eyebrow, and read on. Below were more designs of rockets and jet engines. Several appeared to be duct-taped to a depiction of Applejack’s hat.

“Speakin’ of,” Applejack muttered, and put the paper down, making a mental note to approach Rainbow about this later.

She left the hangar and stepped into a small closet filled with first aid kits. Applejack breathed a sigh of relief and applied a bandage to her injured head.

“Now, to find the bedroom,” Applejack grunted, and stepped out of the closet, then took a right. “Or the exit. Either or, I reckon.”

She reached another corridor. This one was filled with suspiciously similar looking paintings. Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. At least that ought to mean the exit was nearby. She could retrieve her hat later.

She reached the beginning of the corridor, and peered through. It was a bathroom. Applejack’s heart sunk into her stomach.

“Is there no darn end to this place?!” she exclaimed. “I’ll die of hunger ‘fore I get outta here!”

A small, green shape nudged her hooves. Applejack looked down at Tank. She sighed.

“Hey there, lil’ fella,” she said. “You know your way ‘round here, huh?”

Tanks head dropped slowly. Perhaps it was a nod. Perhaps he was just tired. Perhaps he was a tortoise, and didn’t understand standard Equestrian.

“Can ya lead me to the bedroom? I went and left my hat there.”

Tank, still a tortoise, did not reply, but with exaggerated lethargy, started to turn around. Applejack bit her lip. This might be a bit of an investment in time, but if Tank could show her the way, that would be the end of her troubles.

Applejack waited for Tank to reach the end of the corridor. It felt like it took hours. She tapped her hoof impatiently. For the first time in her life, Applejack knew what it was like to be Rainbow Dash. Waiting for ponies slower than her must be torture. Eventually, Tank reached a door.

Applejack opened it. She breathed a sigh of relief, and looked down at Tank. “Thanks, lil’ buddy.”

Tank blinked. This was a process that took a couple of seconds.

Applejack began to explore the bedroom. “Now, where’d I go and leave it?” she muttered. She looked under the bed, frowning. No sign of it there. She peered on top of the closet. Again, no hat.

Several minutes of searching revealed nothing. Applejack sighed, and stomped her hoof on the ground. Her horseshoe vibrated.

What a waste of four hours.

Applejack breathed in, and out. “Well, Tank, might as well lead me outta he...”

Applejack looked back at the doorway. Tank was nowhere to be found. She stuck her head into the corridor. It was empty. Devoid of life, some might say.

Applejack swallowed. “I’m stuck here, ain’t I?”

---

The sun had begun to set behind the mountains outside Rainbow’s window, and Applejack was still wandering the corridors, becoming increasingly desperate. She was starving, too. In all her considerable travels, she hadn’t even been able to find the kitchen.

“I ain’t ever gettin’ out,” Applejack muttered, and sat down. She looked to her left. Oh, hey, there was the hot-tub again.

Applejack breathed in. There was, she thought, one way of getting out. She bit her lip. Risky, she reckoned, but she had survived worse, right? Besides, who knew when Rainbow was getting back, if at all? Rainbow sometimes spent days staying over at the Acres, and other times would stay over in Cloudsdale in the Wonderbolts HQ whenever she worked there late.

It was a risk worth taking. Applejack lifted her hoof up and began undoing her horseshoes.

The first one went off easily. The other three began to shudder as the magic inside them became strained.

“Hopefully it ain’t too far down,” Applejack muttered, and began to undo the second.

Before the last nail came out, she heard hoofsteps. Her ears pricked up. Hoofsteps, and a wingbeat.

“RD?” she exclaimed.

From faraway, she heard a reply. “AJ? You’re here?”

Applejack immediately secured her horseshoes again. “Well, ain’t I glad to see you!” she shouted, and cantered towards the sound of Rainbow’s voice.

From a doorway, Rainbow emerged. “Jeez, AJ! I’ve been looking for you all day!”

Applejack immediately wrapped Rainbow in her hooves. “RD, you’ve got to get me outta here!” She breathed out. “It’s like a maze!”

Rainbow grinned. “Yeah, I keep it on the ‘randomise’ setting when I’m not here. Y’know. In case of thieves.”

Applejack held her head in her hooves. “I just wanted my hat back...”

Rainbow held Applejack’s hat out. “Yeah, I was just trying to return it,” she said. “Went all the way to the Acres. Actually got lost. Accidentally went into Big Mac’s room. Whoops.”

“Cry me a river.”

Rainbow’s smile turned into a frown. “So, uh, you didn’t see anything weird in here, did you?”

Applejack sighed. “Sugar, it’d be easier to tell you what weren’t weird.”

“Ah... Yeah. See, the rocket designs are just a pet project, right?”

“And the giant mirror in the hot-tub?”

“What’s wrong with my mirror?” Rainbow asked. She looked at Applejack, confused. “Do... do you not have one?”

Applejack stayed quiet. Rainbow hesitated for a moment.

“Do... would you like one?”

“I’m good. I just want out, thanks.” She sighed. “Least Tank helped me find the bedroom.”

“Yeah, I trained him to guide you there in case you got lost.”

“But not the exit.”

“I, uh, didn’t expect you to want the exit. Just the, uh...”

“You’re a real forward-thinker, RD.”

“Do you want a map for next time, or...?”

“I would like for you to get a lock and turn of the randomise settin’.”

Next prompt:

5977200

practise

Practice. Once is a typo, twice is not :P

5977206
Unfortunately I’ve started to second-guess my americanism-britishism spellings so much I’ve started being wrong on both sides of the atlantic. : C

5977210

5977211
I mean, there I am, sitting in France for ten years away from proper british schools, spelling practice with a c, and then up I go to Nottingham where it turns out, practise is spelled with an s, so naturally, I go all spanish inquisition on my Cs, but then it turns out that it’s only practise when it’s a verb, which I’ve just this second gone and found out.

It’s exhausting. Tyresome, some might even say.

5977218
So you're saying your spelling was coloured by going to Nottingham?
Sorry, that was a poor excuse for a joke, even by my standards.

5977521 Well, I mean, it’s been coloured by everything, by my Scottish origins, university living in England, all the american media I’ve consumed as well as being stuck in Europe for a decade. I refer to trousers as being pants, despite them being strictly underwear in british english, I spell words with ‘u’s when I can because I learned of knights in shining armour from storybooks from back home in Scotland, and sometimes my pronunciation of words gets alarmingly european. I once referred to a cracker brand called Jacobs as Yacobs, because my brain was telling me that german pronunciation of J was y.

It’s a bit of a patchwork mess, to be honest, which is why every time people tell me I’m making a mistake I have to go, check where I got my error from and figure out if I’m actually supposed to fix it or not. I’m trying to keep a british only spelling system whilst writing, since I live here. I’m less worried about my speech (like pronouncing ‘route’ ‘rowt’).

5977200
Prompt: Quote

Today was the day.
 
Rainbow Dash was gonna do it. No chickening out. It was gonna happen.
 
She flew toward Sweet Apple Acres with one goal in mind. She was finally going to tell Applejack how she felt.
 
Rainbow was ready. She’d given her coat a thorough brushing and made sure her bangs had that awesome messy look like she didn’t care but not too messy, with each row of color perfectly aligned.
 
It would definitely go fine… wouldn’t it? Of course it would. For weeks Rainbow had seen the signs: the glances, the innuendo, the way Applejack smiled at her, the swish in her tail. AJ totally had the hots for her.
 
Heh. Of course she did. What pony wouldn’t?
 
It would go fine.
 
Rainbow spied Applejack in a field behind the barn. She was working on an old, rusty water pump. Applejack wrapped her front hooves around the handle and began straining against it.
 
Perfect.
 
Rainbow silently landed in the dirt a few steps behind Applejack, careful not to alert the farm pony to her presence.
 
No doubt AJ would happily accept a little ‘help’ with the ‘chores.’ Now, all Rainbow had to do was gently slide her hooves around…
 
Applejack took a hard step backward, shoving Rainbow to the ground. Applejack glared at her.
 
“Hey, boss, I'm only trying to help,” Rainbow said, standing, ruffling her feathers, and dusting herself off.
 
Applejack returned to her work on the pump. “Would you please stop calling me that?”
 
“Sure, Applejack.”
 
AJ sighed. “You make it so difficult sometimes.”
 
“I do, I really do,” Rainbow said with a smirk. “You could be a little nicer, though. Come on, admit it. Sometimes you think I'm alright.”
 
Applejack snapped the pump into place, scratching her hoof in the process. She let go of the pump handle and rubbed her sore hoof. “Occasionally, maybe... when you aren't acting like a scoundrel.”
 
“Scoundrel?” Rainbow took Applejack’s injured hoof into her own hooves and began gently rubbing it, locking eyes with AJ at the same time. “Scoundrel? I like the sound of that.”
 
Applejack raised a sceptical eyebrow, but leaned ever so closer to Rainbow Dash. “You know, my hooves are dirty,” Applejack said, as Rainbow tenderly rubbed her hoof.
 
Rainbow moved closer. “My hooves are dirty, too. What are you afraid of?”
 
“Afraid?” Applejack moved in as well.
 
“You're trembling.”
 
“I'm not trembling,” Applejack said, trembling.
 
“You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life.” Closer and closer. Rainbow could feel her friend’s breath, could smell the earthy, sweaty amazingness that was Applejack.
 
“I happen to like nice ponies,” Applejack said, moving closer to Rainbow, their muzzles almost touching.
 
“I'm a nice pony,” Rainbow whispered, their lips inches apart.

“No, you're not. You're…”
 
Their lips met. An explosion of excitement rippled through Rainbow’s body. Rainbow closed her eyes and kissed Applejack deeper. She’d waited so long for this moment and it was happening, actually happening! Omygoshomygoshomy--
 
“YOU GUYS! I just invented a new flavor of cupcake!”
 
Rainbow whirled around and found Pinkie holding a cupcake in her face. It was magenta, glowed ever so slightly, and was covered in some kind of glitter that may or may not have been edible. Pinkie lifted one of Rainbow’s hooves and placed the cupcake on it.
 
Rainbow stared daggers at the confection and then leveled her gaze at Pinkie Pie. “Thank you,” she said, flatly. “Thank you very much.”
 
“Hee hee! Any time, Dashie!”
 
Rainbow turned back to Applejack.
 
But Applejack was gone.

Prompt: Unintended

Rainbow wiped sweat from her brow as she moved the final cloud into place. It was a painfully hot day and this rain shower could not have come soon enough. She paused from her work to peer down to the orchards below.

There she was. Applejack was stumbling back towards the farmhouse, exhausted after a hard day's work. Her coat was matted down with sweat. Her mane was barely contained inside its red hairband. The leather of her hat was curling up in the heat.

Rainbow moved one of the clouds up slightly, blocking the sun's harsh rays from Applejack's path. As the farmer looked up, Rainbow ducked down out of sight. She peeked through the cloud, cautiously waiting for A.J to look away again.

Okay. It was time. She zipped back up and with one powerful kick, that she totally hadn't learned from Applejack while being forced to buck trees from her, she hit the cloud with all the force she could muster.

The downpour began immediately. Within moments, Applejack was completely soaked through. Rainbow licked her lips and watched in anticipation.

There it was. Applejack knocked the hat from her head and allowed herself to be bathed in the cooling rain. She smiled. She laughed. She pulled the bands from her mane and tail and let her hair flow free.

And then she began to dance. Rainbow loved it when Applejack danced in the rain, when she though nopony could see her. Normally it was the kind of thing Rainbow would tease A.J about incessantly. But in this case she didn't. If she did, Applejack would stop. And Rainbow didn't want Applejack to stop. She really liked watching her dance.
 
As the farm girl jumped and spun and kicked out her legs, Rainbow reflected to herself. She might be a Wonderbolt now, but it still paid to pull a few favours from her former colleagues at the weather office. Helping Applejack cool off after a hot days work was important.

Getting to watch her dance in the rain at the same time was a totally unintended side effect.

...

Totally...

Next Prompt: Moulting

Prompt: Moulting

Applejack sighed and rubbed her temples. "Look, Rainbow…"

"…Yeah?"

"As much as I love to hear you sing, could ya maybe tone it down a little when you're in the shower?"

"Huh? Why?" Rainbow scratched her head a little. "Has Apple Bloom been listening in on me through the pipelines or something? I haven't been singing anything inappropriate, if that's what you're worried about."

"No, see, the thing is that you keep ponyin' up, and every time you do that in the shower, ya shed some feathers off your wings."

"Well, yeah," Rainbow shrugged. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that's normal. Just like when you have some hairs fall from your head in the shower, you know?"

"I ain't questionin' how normal it is. I'm talkin' about how your feathers keep clogging the darn drain! We've had to clean it three times in the last month alone!"

"…Oh."

"'Oh' is right. So would ya please be a tad more restrained in the future? Or at least pick up the feathers when you see 'em fall. 'Cause I'm warnin' ya, neither me nor Mac are cleaning the drain up again. Next time you get it stuck, you gotta clear it yourself."

Rainbow gulped. "Got it."

Applejack exhaled. "Alright, thanks. Sorry if I was a little too hard on ya, I've just had a long day of work. Bit exhausted."

"Would it help if I sang to you?" Rainbow asked, her mouth drawing into a small smile. "You did say you love my singing."

"You know what?" Applejack, likewise, was starting to smile. "I think it would."

Next prompt: Contraptions

6238860

"All I'm sayin' is that I grow my farms natural. Remember them brothers and their funky machines? Darn near ruined my business and tore up all my trees to boot." Applejack folded her hooves. "Ain't sure how happy I am with that thing producin' all my land's water," she grunted, pointing up at the large, looming clouds up above. Pipes and funnels could be seen jutting out from the top, and regularly, every minute or so, a pristine, assembly-line cumulus was spouted out.

Rarity sighed. "Yes, but you can hardly expect the pegasus ponies to... um, what is it they do? Fluff every individual cloud by hoof."

"You make all your dresses by hoof."

"Well, by magic, actually. Needlework is ever so tricky and I like having a bit of assistance, so to speak." Rarity brushed her mane out her eyes. "But that's quite besides the point, dear. I don't have to clothe all of Equestria. That's what clouds are, after all. Like a big woolly jumper for the world."

"Not to mention," Twilight chipped in, "Flim and Flam's machine did work quite well, up until they drove it past its limitations."

As Cloudsdale continued its journey over Ponyville, Applejack pursed her lips. Above them, a small army of pegasi picked the clouds up and assembled them behind the hills for storage.

"Also," Twilight went on, "I don't think clouds are fluffed."

"I just feel," Applejack began, collecting her thoughts, "Like I'm doin' customers a disservice by stickin' 'all natural apples' on my barrels if I'm going to be using factory made clouds and factory made rain, with factory made wind blowin' through the leaves. It ain't honest." She looked back up at the weather factory above. "Ain't needed no contraptions before. Besides, didn't we use to have hoof-made clouds back in the day?"

"No, the factory was just smaller," Twilight replied.

"Oh."

Both Rarity and Twilight looked over at Applejack. "You can always try finding special hoof-made clouds," Rarity suggested. "There's probably somepony out there who still makes them. Like... some pegasus monks on a mountain cloud or something that insist on doing it 'naturally'."

"I just mean... Rares, you don't like fake materials, right?"

"What, like nylon? It's not an allegorical material." Rarity put her nose in the air. "And I do use it when it's in fashion. There is a time and a place for artistically cheap materials."

Applejack sighed. "Well, I guess I just... don't know nothin'." She glanced at her trees, rustling in the wind. "I guess it hasn't hurt my apples in the past."

"The weatherponies do know what they're doing, darling."

"Yeah." Applejack shrugged. "I know."

---

Bossypants ticked a box on his check-list. It always paid to have a check-list, he thought. It made everything seem suitably important. "All right, gents. We're going to need three dozen clouds stored for sector fifty-nine. You know, the farm."

"Uh, belay that, mister Bossypants."

Bossypants's eyebrow arched. "What was that, miss..."

"Dash."

Bossypants's eyebrow arched further, threatening to embark on a interstellar voyage sans Bossypants. "Oh! I didn't recognise you out of your uniform."

Rainbow tilted her head. "I have rainbow hair."

"And I'm colourblind. What is your point, miss Dash?"

"Uh, I've got my own clouds ready for sector fifty-nine."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"Where are they?"

"Sector fifty-nine?"

"Ah."

"Yeah," Rainbow replied. "Fluffed 'em myself. The mare there only deserves the best."

"Well I'll take your word for it," Bossypants replied. "If you want to fluff three dozen rainclouds by yourself and drop them on your marefriend, that's your business."

"Not my marefriend yet!"

"She will be. Three dozen hoof-fluffed rainclouds?! You know how long it takes monks to fluff that?"

"Bet you it's five months of fluffing every evening," Rainbow said with a dead, empty expression playing her face.

"Probably." Bossypants looked over at the Cloudsdale factory cargo, and stroked his chin. "What am I supposed to do with all these clouds, though?"

"I dunno. Make a house with them. It's what I did."

Next prompt: Allergies _{In honour of what I did this afternoon. >: C}

6274856
I am the only one who want a chapter on weather mechanics? And pegasus making them by hoof? XD, no?

“Achoo!”
Applejack exhaled slowly. “Rainbow...”
“I'm fine,” Rainbow cut her off. She sniffled and dragged her foreleg across her muzzle. “Really.”
“Sure you are,” Applejack said flatly. “Look, ain't no shame in sitting this one out.”
“I am here and I'm going to see this through,” Rainbow said staunchly.
“It's just a corn maze.”
“Just a-!? I’m not losing to a corn maze. You can eat corn. I’m not losing to food.” To prove her point, she ripped off a leaf from a nearby corn stalk and took a defiant bite. She paused and chewed thoughtfully. “Needs a little salt,” she said... before sneezing again and spewing corn leaf everywhere.
Applejack shook her head. “It’s not about losing. You’ve got an allergic reaction to something.”
“I’m telling you, I’m fine.”
They continued walking. This was a great Apple Family Reunion. Far off in the country, so there was plenty of room for fun activities, like this corn maze. Not only did they have to go through the maze, they had to find five stations with letter cutters to stamp their cards, APRLE (so there wasn’t any cheating with double-dipping the P. Rainbow made sure to add a couple extra Rs to the card, just for her).
They came to a fork. “I’m feeling right,” Rainbow suggested.
Applejack nodded.
They crossed paths with a couple other ponies, who looked pretty thrilled.
“Ha!” Rainbow said excitedly. “Found another one!” She clipped the L and grinned. “Just the E left.”
Rainbow sneezed again, and a foal in the next row over let out a startled yelp and started galloping.
“You can fly out-”
“I’m not leaving,” Rainbow insisted.
Applejack rolled her eyes.

“There’s the exit!” Rainbow ran out, quickly followed by Applejack. She stamped the time card. “Alright! Did we win?”
The pony there checked the time. “Hey, that’s the best time! Smile for the camera!”
Applejack adjusted her hat and gave Rainbow a side hug.
“One, two-”
“Achoo!”

Applejack couldn’t keep the smirk off her face as she held the framed image. Rainbow had been caught mid-sneeze. “I’m never getting rid of this picture.”
Rainbow’s tail flicked irritably.

New prompt: leaves

I have never contributed to a forum thing before so here it goes. I claim leaves if it's alright.

Rainbow Dash frowned, her eyes narrowed and grip tightening around the rake handle. She stared across the yard, meeting Applejack’s gaze evenly. The farmgirl had a rake in hand as well and was staring down Dash as they readied for their contest.

“Okay, it’s all set to go! You ready girls?” Pinkie’s voice was loud and excited, glancing from Dash to AJ with a wide grin spread over her face and a stopwatch in one hand.

“Ah’m good.” Applejack said, shifting her hands on the rake. Dash nodded.

“Me too.” She tensed as Pinkie raised the stopwatch, there was no way she was going to let Applejack beat her, not after last time’s defeat.

“3..2..1...Go!” Pinkie shouted and the two competitors lept into action, rakes sending leaves flying as they tried their best to gather more than the other.  
“Hey, watch it!” Dash hissed as AJ scooped up a good portion of the leaves Dash was about to rake.

“Not my fault you were too slow, sugar.” Applejack retorted, a smirk playing on her lips, knowing full well the effect of adding anything to do with ‘speed’ in her taunt.

“I’ll show you who’s slow.” Dash snapped, raking faster and more erratically.  

“Only one minute left!” Pinkie all but screamed, her blue eyes wide and darting from Dash and AJ’s growing leaf piles.

“C’mon,” Dash whispered as she chased a few wandering leaves. Applejack was busy on the other side in keeping her pile together. With the girls’ combined running around and the slight breeze, it was proving difficult to keep all the leaves in one place.

“Time!” Pinkie giggled, jumping up and down.

“Who won?” Dash asked, eyes going from her pile to AJ’s. Both were quite impressive, though close in size...very close. Applejack leaned slightly on her rake as she caught her breath.

“I think mine’s a mite bit taller.”

“No way! Mine is!” Dash yelled, pointing at her pile. “See? I’ve got at least an inch over yours!”

“Ya sure about that? ‘Cause mine looks pretty big from ‘ere.”

“You’re just saying that because you don’t want to lose.” Dash crossed her arms and smirked at her girlfriend.

“Ah ain’t losing.” Applejack’s voice had a little more edge to it now and a scowl had made its way to her freckled face.

“You totally are! Pinkie help me out here, mine’s taller right?” Dash turned to her party-loving friend who shrugged and squinted at the piles.

“They are awfully close, but I do think Applejack has three more leaves than you Dashie.”

“Three leaves? How do you know that?” Dash exclaimed, gaping at Pinkie.

“I was counting, weren’t you?” the girl asked. Applejack shook her head and chuckled.

“Well, that’s why we have Pinkie here, ain’t it Rainbow?”

“I guess…” Rainbow said and turned away. Applejack sighed and walked over, wrapping her arms around Rainbow’s middle.

“You aren’t that upset over some leaves are ya?” she asked and Rainbow shrugged.

“You won last time,” she grumbled and Applejack smiled.

“Yeah, well there’s always more leaves out ‘n the orchard if ya want to try again.” Dash smiled and pulled away from Applejack’s grip.

“You’re on!”

Next prompt: Bass

Not that there's any real risk of losing out on this one, but in the spirit of the thread, I'm claiming Bass.

Prompt: Bass

Applejack’s head hurt—it pounded, in fact. It pounded with the steady, deafening, rhythmic beat that shook her entire body all the way to her bones. She could hardly describe the noise driving knives into her skull as music, but for whatever reason, Rainbow Dash seemed to like it. She clenched her eyes shut and willed the pain to go away, but to no avail. She’d been to concerts before, but never anything this loud. This “club” was something else.  Maybe that’s why Rainbow liked it so much: loud pony, loud atmosphere. Applejack couldn’t even hear her own chuckle.

A shout that somehow carried over the music got Applejack’s attention. She shook her head and opened her eyes to see a sweat-drenched Rainbow Dash, fresh off the dance floor, standing in front of her, eyeing her expectantly. Soft feathers brushed up against the underside of Applejack’s chin as Rainbow motioned at the forgotten drinks Applejack had clutched against herself with a foreleg, then to an empty booth toward the back of the club.

Right. Drinks.

The couple slid into the booth across from each other and, fortunately enough, the thin glass walls surrounding it seemed to provide some relief from the thunderous racket. Not much, but some. A sip of her cider calmed the throbbing momentarily and she finally focused her gaze on the mare sitting across from her, who looked back with a twinkle in her eyes and a wide smile.

Oh, how she loved that smile.

“How you holding up, AJ?”

“Jus’ fine, sugarcube. Little loud in here, but nothin’ I can’t deal with.”

“Pfft. What do you think the drinks are for?”

Applejack lightly checked Rainbow’s shoulder and grinned. “For makin’ certain pegasus ponies too drunk to fly home so their girlfriends have to ground them for the night.”

“Well, yeah.” Rainbow Dash downed the remaining half of her cider in a single gulp. “But they’re also to help you loosen up. And you, Applejack”—she nudged Applejack’s drink closer to her—“need to loosen up. I know this isn’t your scene, but I promise you’ll have more fun when you do.”

 Applejack’s hoof hesitated next to her glass. Aw, to hay with it. Not to be outdone by Rainbow, she, too, poured the remainder of her cider right down her throat.

...It was not good cider.

Rainbow Dash punched the air and cheered, “Atta girl, AJ! Now let’s go dance!”

Before Applejack could reply, she was dragged off to the dance floor.

---

The two finally departed the club so late into the night, Applejack was sure the sun would rise at any moment. The music had been terrible, the drinks cheap, her everything hurt, and the thought that her hearing would never be the same again crossed her mind… but the way the giddy, drunk, and cute pegasus—her pegasus—looked at her and whispered “thank you” with such admiration and appreciation as they stumbled home made it all so very worth it.

[version with formatting]

Next prompt: Revival

...someone do this one so I can do another. I forgot just how much fun these are to write!

7058561

"Please let me go! I'll never do it again!"

"Nuh-uh-huh, necro-whotsit. Keep diggin'."

Shallow levitated the shovel over his head and sunk it into the densely packed earth once again. Why hadn't it worked? The command spell was supposed to control any undead he had resurrected. It was flawless. He had studied the likes of Elderwood and the Musings of Smog the Wizard Dragon of the Eighth Sea. He was better than being ordered about by a renegade undead corpse!

"So, uh, what are those doing?"

Shallow glanced over at the six skeletons that were standing, eyeless and obedient, to the side. Each was standing at attention, dim purple light illuminating the joints between their bones where the ligaments ought to be. Useless! Without being able to reach the Control Rod they might as well be Nightmare Night themed paperweights, and this rebellious, uncontrollable pegasus skeleton was resisting all attempts to be bound to it and await instructions!

"They were supposed to help me take over Ponyville!" Shallow wailed. "Where did I go wrong?!"

It was all quite harmless, really. Revive a pony skeleton or zombie and tie them to the control rod. Their spirits were somewhere else anyway so it only took a tiny amount of energy to link the wisps of spirit to a handy little rod, and then the spirit could return to wandering about the same as it always would. They weren't supposed to make things difficult.

"Relying on egghead stuff for starters. You know we have a mayor system, yeah? You could have just tried to get elected..."

"Such pedestrian means are beneath me!" retorted Shallow indignantly.

"No, they're beneath me. 'Cause I can fly. Pedestrian stuff is way not my deal." The pegasus skeleton tilted her head. "Come on. Put your back into it."

"Well they were supposed to be beneath me too."

"But you can't fly."

"It was figurative!"

"Well I figure you should dig faster. Come on, get to it! If you hurry I'll forgive you for digging up my grave. Sheesh. No manners these days."

Shallow felt sweat form on his brow. Eventually his shovel hit something hard.

"Finally! A sound like that could either be a coffin or Applejack's thick skull. Either way we found it!" The skeleton pony gave Shallow a pat on the back. "Good job, uh... Callow."

"It's Shallow!"

"You thinks so?" The skeleton looked down at the hole. "Looks pretty deep to me. Anyway, come on, help me get this out."

"What do you want me to do with it?"

"Revive her, of course. I'm not spending the afterlife as a skeleton with nopony to bone. Heh. Wow, I wish Pinkie was here. She'd know all the good skeleton puns."

Shallow flailed his hooves. "Why aren't you taking me seriously?!"

"Because you're dumb, okay? Your job involves way too much digging and working at night for no pay. What a life? And that's me talking right now. I don't even have one of those!"

The skeleton began to use the shovel to pry the coffin open. Strands of rainbow coloured mane were still protruding from the top of her skull. Shallow swallowed. Despite his profession as a budding necromancer, he wasn't comfortable being this close to his undead servants. Especially when they were resisting all attempts to be controlled!

The lid sprung open.

"Okay, do your stuff."

Shallow began to sweat. What if this one was worse?"

"Right now?!"

"Yeah, quick. I'm bored of listening to you whine about pedestrians. Get me my marefriend back so I can go and get some cider and a doughnut."

Shallow's horn glowed.

A second passed.

"What'n the hay's goin' on here?!"

Oh dear. This one had an accent.

"Heeeeey AJ! You'll never guess what I've done!"

"Rainbow, I told you, I kept tellin' you, watch where you're flyin'!" A bigger boned skeleton than the first one, likely an Earth pony by Shallow's estimation, rose from the grave. "You know how upset I was when you died? And the funeral weren't cheap, neither!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, but I'm back now! So it's all good, right?"

"You think? You're a skeleton!" The new skeleton turned towards Shallow. "And who the hay are you? Don't tell me Rainbow's gotten you mixed up in all this..."

"Nah, this is Bellow. He's a necrothing. Necro..."

"Necromancer," Shallow said.

"One of those. He dug me up, Applejack!"

The new skeleton, Applejack, would have narrowed her eyes if she still had eyelids. "Yer a trespasser?"

"I want to go home. I should never have taken that course on necromancy in Magic Middle-School..." Shallow wailed.

"How'd you die, then?" Rainbow asked Applejack. "Pretty sure I went splat against the side of a building, so obviously I never got to see you go... Not that I'm too upset about that. I, uh, don't think I'd like that rollercoaster of emotions..."

"Tractor came outta' nowhere," Applejack muttered. "Don't laugh. It was a fast 'un."

"Gosh! Sounds messy."

"Yup." Applejack looked down at her bony body. "Looks like the family put me back together well enough though..."

"I'll say. Best skeleton I've seen today. Fancy getting a bite to eat?"

"Sure. I'll also have to check on whoever owns the Acres now." Applejack looked around her. "Trees need better keepin'."

The pair exited the grave together, leaving Shallow alone.

"You're always all about work, AJ. I always thought you'd work yourself to death, not through it. C'mon, let's have some fun."

Shallow clambered out of the grave, watching the two ponies walk away, a skeletal wing wrapped around a bony set of Earth pony ribs.

"I need to know," he began, "How did you resist the command spell?"

"What command spell?" Rainbow asked.

Applejack looked back at the necromancer. "Don't feel bad. She don't listen to me, neither."

Next Prompt: Bone

(too late for halloween, but we're all skeletons deep down, so technically every day is skeleton day..."

7058683
Well that was a lot more depressing than I thought I'd get from that prompt.

And it's never too late for Halloween. It's just early.

7058974 Always late, I think you'll find.

_{(As in deceased, lel.)}

Besides, RD and AJ get to kidnap shallow and bring all their dead friends back, yay! That's a happy end if I ever heard one...

7058982
Hah.

All I can think of is how devastated Applejack, the rest of their friends, and their families must have been. :P

7059044 What if you wanted to go to Pony Heaven...

...but the first thing you heard was 'heeeeeeey, AJ! You'll never guess what I've done!'

'Come on, guess!'

...but yeah, quite sad. Then again I like the idea that they both die in easily preventable accidents and end up being equally angry at each other in the afterlife... for some reason.

Claiming Bone!

Edit: Sort of unclaiming. Took longer than I thought to put together the contest announcement thingy. I'll pick this up again tomorrow, but if anyone wants to do it before then, feel free!

Edit 2: Re-claiming!

Prompt: Bone

Applejack scowled at her window. She hated that window right now. Sitting there, taunting her from just a few hooves away. The window through which she could hear the distant ‘thock’ of hooves on wood, Granny Smith’s snoring, the Crusaders giggling as they chased each other around the orchard… The window through which she saw the fading daylight. She longed to feel the sun’s rays on her back for even just a few minutes.

But no—fate had dealt her a cruel hand (or a slightly off-the-mark buck) and here she lay: in her bed, a propped-up hind leg immobilizing her, with absolutely nothing to do. She thumped her head back down on her pillow. This must have been how Rainbow Dash felt when she broke her wing several years ago. She’d thought Rainbow had just been being whiny, but this was pure torture.

The window swung open with a loud crash.

Speak of the draconequus.

“Dinner ish sherfed!” announced Rainbow Dash, floating through the window, clutching a tray in her teeth.

“I ain’t hungry, Rainbow Dash.”

“Aw, but I worked so hard to cook this for you.”

“Your cookin’? Now I really ain’t hungry.”

“Ouch, A.J.” Rainbow Dash looked more than a little hurt as she set the tray down. “I thought you’d be happier than that…”

Applejack grunted, “well I ain’t,” and smothered her face with a pillow.

A thick silence punctuated the moment. No shuffling of hooves, no scraping of the tray being lifted off her nightstand, and no flapping of wings through a window.

“Alright, Applejack,” spat Rainbow Dash.

The pillow was suddenly torn out of Applejack’s hooves and her eyes were forced to meet Rainbow’s glare, just inches away.

“I’ve cooked and brought you food, I’ve helped you get around, I’ve been taking care of all your chores, I’ve helped Big McIntosh with the harvest, and, on top of all that, I’ve been flying back and forth between the academy so I can help Spitfire vet our latest batch of recruits!” She jabbed Applejack’s chest with a hoof. “And you have been nothing but grumpy and ungrateful the entire time! For Celestia’s sake, Applejack, I’ve been getting up early!

“I get it—you broke your leg and you’re bored, but that doesn’t mean you get to treat me like trash. I’ve been working my flank off to keep everything going around here without you and I’m exhausted and all I want at the end of the day is to be able to spend a little bit of time with the pony I really care about before I have to go to bed and do it all over again tomorrow!”

Rainbow Dash huffed and puffed for a moment, finally allowing herself a proper few breaths, her glare softening with every exhale. Once she’d caught her breath, she searched Applejack’s eyes and let her wing tips droop to the floor. “I love you so much, Applejack… why are you acting like you don’t love me, too?”

When Applejack was certain Rainbow had finished, she reached up and wiped the spittle off her face, then wrapped a hoof around Rainbow’s neck and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash. I didn’t mean any of that. And I do love you. I just... I just feel so useless right now. I’ve been cooped up in this room for a whole week and the whole time I’ve had to listen to everyone else takin’ care of everythin’ round here. I’ve… never missed an applebuck season before and not being able to stretch my legs is drivin’ me up the wall. I should be the one out there with Mac, not you. And you’re right: it sure ain’t fair to be takin’ any of this out on you.”

Rainbow Dash relaxed into the hug. “A.J., I’ve never seen a pony that works as hard as you. You’re. Not. Useless. And don’t you dare think for a moment that you are. I know this is hard on you, but it’s been hard on me, too.”

Applejack nuzzled into Rainbow’s mane and exhaled. “I know, sugarcube. I’m sorry.”

Just as Applejack was starting to feel truly relaxed, Rainbow Dash pulled away and gave her a quick kiss and whispered, “apology mostly accepted.”

“Mostly?”

“Well, yeah. You have been pretty horrible to me for the past few days.” Rainbow struck a pose and grinned. “Luckily, you have a totally awesome girlfriend who knows just how you can make it up to her.”

“Oh yeah? How’s that?”

“You. Me. Ponyville Nightclub. Once your leg is better, of course.”

“I guess I do owe ya one.” Applejack almost managed to hide her grimace. “It’s a date.”

“...and maybe we could cuddle some more?” Rainbow Dash leaned in for another hug, which Applejack gladly provided with a chuckle.

“Sure thing, sugarcube.”

[version with formatting]

Prequel to Bass

I should be sleeping. I should have spent more time writing an actual fic that I want to get out. But sometimes you have an idea and just have to run with it.

While I was writing this, I thought "Up a creek" would have been a great prompt, then I remembered it's only supposed to be one word. So:

Next prompt: Feast

Greetings from 11 months in the future.
Hope my notorious lack of commitment won't show up, but claiming "Feast"!

I tried. *shrugs*

“Are you still sure you don’t need my help?”

“Pshawww.” Rainbow Dash scoffed. Applejack watched her flit around the cloud kitchen. “AJ, you’ve invited me to your place for dinner for like- a gazillion times. It's your birthday! I don’t want you working, ya hear me?”

“I cook every day,” Applejack shrugged. “I’m used to it. If you’re so against it, we can just get pizza.”

“Nuh-uh,” Rainbow peered intently at a cookbook, never mind that she was holding it upside-down. Her wings flapped excitedly as she slapped the book shut in a moment. “I’m going to prepare you a whole frigging banquet! You’re going to have the feast of your life without ever having to lift a limb!”

"Well…" Seeing her marefriend’s bubbly enthusiasm, Applejack couldn’t help but smile. She tipped her hat and turned to leave. “If you say so.”

---

Rainbow Dash’s living room was pleasant enough, the natural mists of the upper troposphere and tall cloud columns giving the place an airy, regal feel. Rainbow had done her best to make it cozier with pillows and blankets, as well as her entire collection of Daring Do and random magazines. But of course, her being Applejack, it didn’t stop her jitters from taking over. Her ears perked up at every little swish and clink coming from the kitchen, and each time it sent her on a nasty train of thought of all the things that could go wrong.

After a few minutes, she sighed and picked up a magazine. Rainbow wasn’t a kid like Apple Bloom; she could certainly take care of herself- even if it was preparing a full-course meal all on her own. No need for all this fussin’, she told herself, leaning back into the couch.

A big claaang resounded from the kitchen.

Applejack sat up immediately. “Rainbow, you okay there?”

“Yup!” A squeaky voice rang. “Everything’s fine!”

Three more clangs and a splat. A burning smell filled the room.

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Hang on, I’m coming.”

She galloped to the kitchen and flung the door open to be greeted by a smouldering stove, a floor of steaming yellow goo and a Rainbow Dash which looked like she had just battled chocolate fondue. Applejack shook her head, “Look, calm down. You put out the fire, I’m gonna go get a mop.”

Rainbow emptied a bucket of water over the stove. “I said it’s fine.”

The stove blew up.

“That was intentional.”

They had pizza for dinner that night.

Next prompt: Hide

Claiming Hide

7349203
Rainbow blowing up a stove? I've never seen her fail that bad at cooking before. This was very cute.

And happy 10th Anniversary to Friendship is Magic! It's been a wild ride all these years, and here's to many more!

I took the "Hide" prompt and used it to supplement the "Friendship is Magic" and "10th Anniversary" prompts from the speed writing server I'm in. So here's Hide/Hide/10th Anniversary/Friendship is Magic:

“Shoot,” cursed Applejack under her breath. “Where’s that damn pegasus? We’re gonna be late!”

Applejack had turned her back for only a few seconds to try to tame her mane, and, when she’d turned back around, she’d discovered her wife to be missing from their castle suite.

Having been convinced that it was just another one of Rainbow’s pranks, she’d searched under the bed, through the closets, in the pile of the previous day’s laundry… she’d even remembered to look up at the tall ceiling and out the window this time.

When it had become abundantly clear that this wasn’t a prank, Applejack gave the laundry pile a frustrated kick. Of all the days for Rainbow to just take off and make them late, their tenth anniversary was probably the worst possible one.

Applejack gave the room one last, quick search just in case, then donned her hat, left the suite, and made her way to the end of the hall, muttering all the while about tanning a particular blue hide.

A short conversation with the castle guards (well, more of an interrogation, really) revealed the direction in which Rainbow had headed—it wasn’t toward the ballroom as Applejack had hoped, but rather, toward the gardens. Applejack’s anger melted away, only to be replaced with worry. Rainbow was never much for stopping to smell the flowers.

Annoyingly, the castle gardener was very good at their job, and obviously had an enormous amount of funding… and real estate. It took Applejack a whole ten minutes of nearly running through the gardens and calling Rainbow’s name to find her sat upon a bench, tucked away in one of the furthest corners, fidgeting with her hooves.

“How’d you find me so quickly?”

“Quickly!?” Applejack spat out. “I’ve been lookin’ for darn near twenty minutes! We’re late to our own party, Rainbow.”

Rainbow wilted in place and avoided meeting Applejack’s eyes. “Sorry.”

Applejack sighed and sidled up next to Rainbow, putting a hoof around her, pulling her in close. “Alright Rainbow, what’s eatin’ ya?”

“That obvious, huh?” asked Rainbow with a half-hearted chuckle.

“Eeyup.”

Rainbow took a minute to put her thoughts in order (and maybe get some extra cuddling in) before speaking up again. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen everypony. What if they’ve changed?”

“‘Course they’ve changed, sugarcube. Everypony changes.”

“Yeah, but… like, what if we won’t get along anymore? What if they’ve changed so much we don’t like each other? It’s been three years since we last saw everypony!”

Applejack rubbed Rainbow’s back and lifted her head to pull her into a kiss. When the kiss broke, she gave Rainbow a little nuzzle. “I reckon y’all ain’t got nothin’ to worry about, Rainbow. Just a little pre-weddin’ jitters all over again. You may have changed, too, but ya haven’t changed the way you think about them, have ya? I think they probably feel the same way.”

Rainbow gave Applejack a small smile. “I guess you’re right.” She looked up at the sky. “Better get going, huh?”

“Eeyup. ‘Sides, one thing’s certain. Pinkie’ll be the same, no matter what.”

Rainbow laughed and helped Applejack off the bench. Together, they left the garden and trotted toward the ballroom, tails entwined.

As soon as Rainbow cracked open the ballroom door, she found herself tackled to the ground in a mess of pink fur and loud squeeing in her ear. Applejack was right. Pinkie hadn’t changed a bit, and maybe the rest of her friends hadn’t, either.

Next prompt: Famous

Famous

Rainbow started watching the unicorn in front of them. Like other ponies that came to congratulate AJ for breaking the Barrel Throwing record in Canterlot Rodeo that night, she ignored the pegasus standing next to them - a missed chance to meet somepony cool as her, in her opinion-  but she seemed better than the fat stallion that came before her, the one who tried to steal a lock of Applejack’s mane.

There was something off about Purple Velvet, or Violet Silk, or whatever her name was. Rainbow knew how fans acted - she had a lot of them all over Equestria, ‘cause she was awesome - and she knew how ponies looked when they met the Princess of Friendship or when they showed up to praise Rarity’s clothes.

In fact, the way Purple Silk played with her mane and touched Applejack way too much in ways that made Rainbow frown reminded her of the way Rarity talked to the stallions at Grand Galloping Gala every year.

Rainbow added two and two. Wait a minute.

She was flirting with AJ, right under her nose?

“I’m staying at Four Hooves Hotel until tomorrow. Why don’t you pay me a visit later?” The unicorn smiled, then whispered something in Applejack’s ear that made her blush down to her chest.

“What she said?” Rainbow asked when Violet Velvet left, disappearing down the street.

“Ya don’t wanna know that, trust me,” Applejack shook her head, adjusting her hat a bit. She met Rainbow’s scowl, lips as thin they disappeared from her muzzle. “What’s the matter?”

The pegasus didn’t answer. “C’mon, Rainbow.”

“That mare was flirting with you.”

“I reckon she was,” she agreed, “does it matter?”

Dash raised her brows. Applejack was in a good mood and laughed at the mix of emotions showing on her face - the what-the-hay eyes, like she said the sun was cold or that apples were a tuber.

“Ponies are all over me for the Barrel throwing tonight, but ya know what I’m really famous for.”

“Apple pies and saving Equestria?”

“Eyup, that too. But for being a mare of just one pony and very square about that,” she nuzzled Rainbow,” so don’t ya worry none, okay?”

“Alright,” she passed a hoof over AJ’s shoulders, pulling her close in her cool, totally not sappy embrace, knowing she was telling the truth.

Next Prompt: Almost

I made some drawings inspired by the Famous prompt and wanted to share them with y'all. If it's inconvenient or against the rules, I'll delete it, of course

7378580
I just saw that art reposted somewhere else (with credit)! No wonder I thought the context felt so familiar 😅

Anyway it's adorable!~

Anyyyyway, I'm claiming "Almost", if no one minds

Almost

The long day went by sooner than it should’ve, but Applejack was ready. She had no reason not to be. The cider was on the table, warm and freshly brewed; the windows were wide open, letting a cool breeze filter through the barn; the house was clean, but not too clean, in a way that looked the same as always but smelt slightly less of cow manure than usual. She had been even thinking of decorating the table with flowers, but she figured that it would be way too obvious. And not very appropriate for the guest today. So she just finished all her chores in advance, made sure Apple Bloom and her friends stayed very far away, and spent the next hour panicking to herself.

Then there came the familiar rapping at the door.

Awwww horseapples.

Applejack gulped and opened the door as slowly as she could. Rainbow Dash was hovering right outside, her silky coloured mane fluttering in the wind. She smiled when she saw her, her cerise eyes reflecting the sunset glow. “So, you wanted to see me?”

“Ahahaha.” Applejack had to peel herself away from the doorway. “Yeah. Come on in.”

Rainbow’s gaze flicked around the room and came to rest on only one thing. “Oooomigosh,” she swooped immediately for the cider like an eagle after a chicken. “AJ, you’re the best, ya know that?”

Applejack made an incomprehensible noise in response. She slumped down by the table and took a long swig, as if hoping to forget that she had a plan today. But when she finished the mug and looked back up at Rainbow- who was currently on her third mug, giggling and scooting closer to her with every second- it was impossible to wipe from her mind.

“Are you gonna say anything?” The pegasus, now next to her, poured herself another drink. “Or am I supposed to sit here and finish all your cider?”

“Um, yeah.” Applejack said. “Uhhh...”

Rainbow was looking at her expectantly.

“Uhhh...I was gonna say...” Applejack fiddled with her hooves. “How do I put this...” She wanted to smack herself at this point. She had confessed to her mirror tens of times, and even had her guitar in the back for an impromptu song, but now everything she tried to say came out in a jumble. “I...I...”

"......"

"I...I..."

By this time, Rainbow’s look of confusion had turned to weirded-out amusement. She leaned in over, copying her mockingly. “You...you...”

She was close enough for Applejack to smell her breath, scents of hot apple cider mixed with fresh rain. The room got unbearably hot, and her heart beat faster and faster. If Applejack just inched a little bit nearer, she could…

Then Applejack fell over backwards and pretended to go to sleep forever.

“Huh, her alcohol tolerance is usually much better,” Applejack heard her say. “Oh well, all the more for me.”

Next one: Strong

7379345
Thanks a lot!

7379925
Ooooomigosh SO CUTE (人*´∀｀)｡*ﾟ+ thank you!!