Rainbow Dash's Future

by scorpclawFF

Farm Work

Rainbow Dash’s Future
Chapter 1 – Farm Work

Today was a pretty normal day in Ponyville, and everypony seem to be keeping to their general routine. Fluttershy was nurturing her animals, Rarity was making a dress for an average client, Pinke Pie was working with the Cakes to make her favorite cupcakes, and Applejack was helping out on the farm. A normal routine.

Twilight was sitting at her table, reading a book entitled “Deep History, Book II” while the cyan pegasus, Rainbow Dash, was reading Daring Do on the library’s stairs. She was currently on the third book, and with every turn of the page, she enjoyed it more and more. It actually made Twilight happy that Rainbow Dash was reading, especially since it gave her a sense that she wasn’t the only who could read more than a few pages everyday.

The two of them continued to occupy themselves with their books until a knock came at the door. Rainbow Dash looked up from her book, but it was Twilight that got up and actually opened the door. On the other end of it was Applejack.

“Hello, Applejack,” Twilight said with her general sweet and intellectual tone. “What brings you to the library?”

“Hi, Twilight. I’m having some trouble over at the farm and I can’t get Big MacIntosh to help me since he’s hurt himself again.”

“That seems to happen a lot to him.”

“He’s a strong pony, but his bones just aren’t what they used to be. I was just wondering if you had any time to come and help me out. It’s okay if you don’t, though.”

Twilight shook her head and said apologetically, “Sorry Applejack, but I have a request from the princess to read up on ancient spells and other historical things, so I’m going to be busy with the books for the next couple of days.”

“That’s okay, Twi. You can go back to your readin’. Though, I was wondering if you’ve see Rainbow Dash anywhere. Fluttershy said she was too busy also, and I think a set of wings could help out a lot.”

Twilight nodded and pointed with her towards the stairs. “Yeah. She’s over here on the stairs reading Daring Do. She’s already on the third book, and it makes me glad that she’s actually reading all on her own.”

Applejack took a glimpse onto the inside of the library and noticed Rainbow Dash rolling her eyes as she approached the door. “Twilight, you don’t have to go around telling everypony about me reading Daring Do. It makes me sound like an egghead, and I don’t want to go there.”

Applejack chuckled and Twilight simply smiled. “Oh come on Rainbow Dash. You know you enjoy being an… “egghead” like me. You’ll just have to come to terms with it when your time comes.”

“Heh, yeah right. After Daring Do, I’m not even going to put a hoof into your library for as long as I shall live.” Rainbow Dash stuck her chest out with pride, as if she had just made some really bold statement.

“Then I guess it’s good that there’s another 22 books to go. You better get reading, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at Twilight again before looking over at Applejack, who was still standing outside of the library. “You needed something, AJ?”

Applejack smiled, because she liked it when Rainbow Dash called her AJ. It was the only nickname that her friends have given her, and she has grown quite fond of it. Though, it was less that the nickname made her smile, but the fact that Rainbow Dash was the one to say it.

Yes, it was true that Applejack could use some wings on the farm to help her finish even quicker, but that wasn’t the main reason why she wanted Rainbow Dash to help her out. She didn’t want to admit it to any of her friends, but she actually had a bit of a crush on Rainbow Dash, especially after their encounter with the Running of the Leaves. Although they showed each other a lot of competitiveness, Applejack definitely felt a connection with Rainbow Dash. She just hoped that Rainbow Dash would feel the same way about her.

Applejack, while concealing an even larger smile, managed to respond, “Yes, I was hoping you would help me out on the farm for a little bit today. If it’s too much to ask, I can always do it myself. I’m up to the challenge.”

Twilight shook her head and said, “Please don’t make yourself go through a ‘challenge’, Applejack. I’ve seen what you’re like when you do something like that, and it’s just not healthy.”

Applejack was going to respond with some arrogant statement that she could handle it, but Rainbow Dash interjected. “It’s alright, Twilight. I’ve been in here for too long and I need to stretch out my wings.”

“But you only got here a half hour ago.”

“I know. I’m surprised I made it that long. I guess I am becoming an egghead like you said.” Twilight rolled her eyes and decided to just go back to her reading. Rainbow Dash went outside of the library and closed the door behind her. “Besides, what are friends for? I’ve got your back, Applejack.”

“And I always have your back, RD. Even if I don’t make that quite clear on certain occasions, I really mean it.”

Rainbow Dash smiled and said, “Thanks, AJ. So what is it that you need me to do?”

“I’ll fill you in while we head to Sweet Apple Acres. It shouldn’t be too difficult, even for a pony like you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Applejack chuckled to herself and responded, “Calm down, sugar cube. I’m only pulling your leg.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled and walked with Applejack to the farm. Applejack briefly gave Rainbow a small description of what she wanted her to do. She basically just wanted her to help uproot a couple of trees that have long been dead and need plucking. Rainbow Dash was up to the task.

Upon arriving at Sweet Apple Acres shortly after, Applejack led Rainbow over to where the dead trees were sitting. “For some reason in this particular spot, the trees just didn’t want to grow. Though, I don’t care too much for them being gone. Their apples used to be the sour ones.”

“So… how are we going to do this?”

“Well… we can bring up every root to make taking this down easier, but we got two strong ponies here, so we can just do some tugging. I’ll push from one end and you’ll pull from the other.”

Rainbow Dash, feeling somewhat proud that Applejack called her strong, said, “Sounds like a plan.” She flew up and grabbed a piece of the shaft and made sure she had a good grip on it. Applejack below grabbed at the base and began to push at it hard, which signaled RD to start pulling.

Despite their best efforts, the two of them were only able to move the tree a few degrees before losing the energy to continue. RD slid down the tree and landed at the base next to Applejack. She leaned against half of the tree and half of Applejack for leverage. “I didn’t think that this would be so difficult. You said we had two strong ponies here.”

Applejack didn’t allow the fact that Rainbow Dash was leaning against her distract her from what was going on. (Even if she did enjoy the attention, something she didn’t quite want before in her life). “These here trees are a little old like the rest of them. Them roots must be deep.”

“Well… what do you think we should do?”

Applejack took a good look around the farm and noticed a medium-sized roped coiled up in front of the barn. She quickly went to retrieve and came back. “I have an idea. I can tie you up to this and connect you to the tree. Since you’re such a strong flier, then this should be a bit easier.”

Rainbow Dash got up from the ground and frowned. “I don’t really like being tied up, though. How can I even trust that you’re going to let me go and just leave me connected to the tree? You know I can’t handle your knots.”

Applejack put a hoof on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder and said reassuringly, “Stop being so paranoid, RD. You know I would never do something like that to you. I can tell you that you won’t be in the rope for very long, either.”

Rainbow Dash smiled again. “Okay, AJ, I trust you. Though, let’s make this quick.” Rainbow shifted her body to the left so that Applejack could easily tie the rope around her. She tied it tightly, but she didn’t realize that she was tying a rope to a pony.

Rainbow Dash flinched. “Not so tight, AJ. Loosen up.”

Applejack got uncomfortable and replied, “Sorry Dashie. Didn’t mean to hurt you like that.” She loosened the rope, relieving the tension on Rainbow’s body.

Rainbow sighed when everything didn’t feel quite so tight, though she did take notice to the “Dashie” nickname that Applejack carelessly slipped out. “What kind of nickname is ‘Dashie’? Only Pinkie Pie seems to be the one who says silly names like that.”

Applejack remained uncomfortable. “I didn’t call you Dashie,” Applejack lied. “If I did, it would’ve just been a slip of the tongue.” As the Element of Honesty, Applejack wasn’t the best liar, so Rainbow Dash caught onto it quickly. Though, she didn’t pester Applejack about that and just continued to go with the task at hand.

“So… are you going to tie me up to the tree?”

Applejack’s actions served as her answer. She threw the other end of the rope around the tree and tightened it as best as she could. “Alright, Rainbow, you’re all set. Let’s try this again and let’s see if we can get this thing to topple over.”

Rainbow Dash nodded her head and flew up into the air again. Without Applejack even giving a signal, she began to jerk herself forward as hard as she could. Applejack joined in shortly after. It didn’t take long for Applejack to notice that roots began to come out of the ground. “That’s it, Rainbow Dash. We’re making some progress, so keep it up.”

Applejack’s remark encouraged Rainbow Dash to push even more. The sooner that the tree went down, the sooner that she would get out of the rope. Though, it didn’t take too much more power and time before RD noticed a shift in weight. She turned her head around and noticed that the tree was at about a 45 degree angle. She got out of the way while Applejack did the final push to completely uproot the tree.

“Phew. I’ve been working on this farm for a long time, but these trees are just too stubborn to be knocked over.”

“Well, we got one. How many more do we need?”

Applejack pointed to another tree that had no leaves on it and was grey at the base. “That’s the last one. Me and Big MacIntosh got two others before one fell on top of him. I had to force him to stay in bed, because it really looked like it hurt.”

“It must be a bummer for something like that to happen to him. Hopefully he feels better soon.”

“Thanks, Sugarcube. I’ll be sure to let him know that you said that. Now, let’s get that last tree down so you can be on your way.”

“Alright.” Rainbow Dash flew swiftly to the adjacent tree and waited for Applejack to tie the rope around it. When she did, the two of them did the same process as before, with better results. This one seemed a bit looser, so it went down way easier.

“Well, that wasn’t that bad, Rainbow. Thanks for all of your help.”

“What about all of these dead trees lying on the ground? Do you need help with those?”

“No, I can deal with those in the morning. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Alright, well… can you untie me now,” Rainbow asked, feeling uncomfortable with the rope being on her for more than just a few minutes.

“Sure.” Applejack grabbed at the knot around RD’s body, and got the rope off. Though, what was underneath the rope made Applejack a little uneasy. “Oh my, I’m sorry Rainbow Dash. I afraid that the rope gave you a little bit of rope burn. I can call a doctor to patch that up for you. Oh… this is all my fault. I’m sorry Rainbow.”

Rainbow looked back at noticed the spot that Applejack was referring to. “What are you overreacting about, AJ? It’s just a little scratch. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Well… alright. If you say so.”

“Great! I’ll be heading off now. I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“But, don’t you want to stay for dinner? It’s the least I can do for helping me out.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No way. Like I said… this is what friends do. If you ever need me to help out on the farm, AJ, I’ll be there for you.” Rainbow Dash smiled and rolled her eyes. “At least your jobs aren’t all sappy and fru-fru like Rarity’s are. If I have to put on another dress…”

“I see. Alright, well then I will see you tomorrow. We can grab lunch or something.”

Rainbow smiled and responded, “It’s a date.” Though, both of their interpretations of what a ‘date’ is were completely different. If Rainbow Dash had any idea at that moment that Applejack had a little crush on her, she wouldn’t have ever said it. Though, she did, and Applejack was left the entire night with her conflicting thoughts.

Does a date mean a date-date? Or just a date with a friend? Oh… why is this so confusing? Why do I even like Rainbow Dash? She’s competitive, snobby… charming, friendly, has a nice smile… Oh dear Celestia, I’m not going to sleep tonight.

Comments

[barbeque]

Oh, I definitely want to see where this is going. Pacing seemed okay. Did notice one or two small things though:

She loosened the thought

dunno if that was meant to read rope or not.
and I think I noticed a "sugar cube" instead of "Sugarcube" somewhere, but apart from that, I'm following this to see what comes of it.

[SolidFire]

I like how this is going so far. I look forward to reading more of this as it comes out. Keep up the great writing!

[Salad king]

Seems like a simple yet decent concept that fits well with mlp:fim its self and could turn out nicely, i look forward to seeing where this will go

[nickhg123]

Pretty good for a first chapter, and im sure it can only get better. Keep up the good work!

[Coco-loco]

Well it's awesome all I can say! Great work keep it up. Looking for updates!

[scorpclawFF]

Thanks for all the nice comments and the favorites, guys. I wouldn't have expected to get so many in a single day.

[Yasturo]

2592310
A chapter?

Hey, guys. This is my first MLP fanfiction, so please be as critical as you like (as long as the criticism is constructive, of course). I have many plans to continue writing in the future, so I would like to improve as much as possible. :)

This is my first MLP fanfiction.

First MLP fanfiction.

So... Do you mean story or what?

As for the story itself, I dunno, I am an old school guy. Personally, in the past, this would be a featured story. But now-a-days I guess not. Good work.

[scorpclawFF]

>>Yasturo
He's commenting on the first chapter of my first fanfiction, I assume.
Thanks for the nice comment, though. I don't think this is featured material, but it's nice to know someone does.

[RoughSketch2]

I like More please!