Epilogue: Sunny Skies
All over Ponyville, ponies trotted along merrily, conducting their business with an extra spring in their step. They smiled at each other, they smiled at the sun on their faces, they smiled during the light drizzle of rain, and they smiled at the clouds. They smiled particularly wide, and giggled a bit, at the occasional cloud shaped like an earth pony in a stetson. Pinkie Pie was reluctant to relinquish her record for making the most ponies smile at once, but she vowed to reclaim the title as soon as possible. Berry Punch smiled; she had been stone cold sober for a week.
‘Awesome’ did not adequately describe Ponyville’s feelings about the weather. It was still difficult for most ponies to say exactly why they were so gleeful, but everything just seemed to be perfect. There were exactly the right number of clouds in the sky. The sun and the shade were in perfect proportion and in exactly the right spots. The rain shower on Monday lasted not one second longer than it needed to and covered exactly the right areas of land. Everything was perfect... mostly.
Four ponies sat at the edge of a road on the outskirts of town. To their left lay Golden Harvest Fields, and to their right was Perennial Patch. All four ponies stared forlornly at the sky above their respective farms. A yellow coated, blue maned pegasus mare was busy positioning clouds in the sky. Each time she set a cloud in place, the group of farmers moaned; their worst fears had come true.
“You brought it on yourselves, you know.” Berry Punch trotted toward the group, accompanied by Applejack. “If you’d just left well enough alone and hadn’t tried to ruin AJ’s plan, you girls could have shared in all the perfect weather too.”
Carrot Top, Daisy, Roseluck, and Lily Valley all put on their best puppy dog eyes, looking over at their fellow farmers.
“Darn tootin’. An’ if ya ask me, Dash is lettin’ y’all off pretty light.” Applejack smirked.
“But look at what she’s doing to my potatoes!” Carrot Top wailed as Raindrops gave a tuft of cumulonimbus a kick. The small, dark cloud began to sprinkle rain down, most of it landing onto the half grown plants she’d intended to water.
“And our flowers!” Daisy, Rose, and Lily cried. Small wisps of stratus broke the full sunlight, casting thin shadows across the flower beds.
“Hey, Raindrops does a great job!” A flutter of wings and a scratchy voice signaled the arrival of Rainbow Dash. “She just needs a little practice if she wants to be as good as me.” Dash landed and gave Applejack a peck on the cheek. “She’s already up to 95% on the standard test, so I think three more weeks of practice should do it.”
All four distressed farmers collapsed to the ground in a swoon. Berry chuckled and rolled her eyes.
“I’ll see you later, Applejack. We can talk some more about the apple brandy.” At Berry’s mention of the beverage, Dash’s wings raised excitedly.
“Don’t go gettin’ all excited so fast, sugarcube. The good stuff’s gotta age fer a few years.” Applejack chuckled and pecked Dash’s cheek. “Now c’mon, ya promised me a run.”
While the swooning farmers lay in the grass, each contemplating three weeks of not-quite-perfect weather, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Berry Punch headed their separate directions to enjoy an awesome day.
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Revenge...
2982881
... is a dish best served with some not so perfect weather.
With a side of Appledash... but preferably Rarijack...
2982907
Go hit up Shipping Grab Bag, it has a RariJack chapter (the last one, since they're not yet labeled by ship).
Best revenge EVER!!!!!
That is the best revenge EVER!!!!!!
Tried to upvote again after this chapter. Nicely done.
Aaaaah You've done it!. You gave the perfect story... a perfect ending. I'll rant at Tcherno and the others myself if you don't get at least 2nd place!
10/10...
10/10
And, its approved.
deviantart.com/art/Mr-Meowmers-approves-389023620
2984407
Thank you for inspiring me. As soon as I read the word 'epilogue', my brain kicked into gear (and I was nowhere near a computer for six more hours
).
2985108
Haha, thanks! I'm feeling a bit more confident in my entry now that the epilogue is in place.
2985196
2986294
My OTP is FlutterDash but I love AppleDash too especially this one. I rate this 100/10
I mean the story was there, the plot interesting. The way you dealt with Dash and AJ felt canon. They didn't seem out of place in fact This could have very well been an actual episode of MLP:FiM if they weren't a bag of pussies afraid to have lesbians canon (besides Lyra/Bon Bon) So yeah while it isn't FlutterDash my good sir it's one hell of an AppleDash.
2992079
Thanks!
I was going for a sort of episode-ish feel, crossed with a bit of Hitchhiker's Guide when it came to the opening narration, so it's nice to hear that came across.
2992307
I love how natural Apple Jack sounds here. I can't for the life of me write decent Apple Jack dialogue. It shows, thought it is my first fic but still you write AJ really well. I liked how Pinkie was jealous of Dash;s ability to make ponies smile with weather. Spot on.
At first I thought the whole asking out part went a lot smoother and straight forward than it usually does.
Then I realised this is AJ we're talking about, that's exactly how she'd do it, straight forward and honest.
Good job.
I can explain my lateness! It was all the Doctor's fault!
And by the Doctor, I actually mean Civilization V.
Those poor goofy farmers. Alas for the slightly less perfect weather! They shall be awash in products that are only 10% better than the rest of Equestria, rather than 20%!
Oh what a world! What! A! Wooooooorld! 
I love me some background pony hi-jinks, yes I do.
2992364
It's taken a bit of trial and error, but I think I've finally worked out a system for capturing her accent and speech pattern. The AJ dialog in my other fics is not nearly as good or consistent... yet.
2994217
Eeyup.
2994371
Glad to hear you liked it.
Most fics are concerned with the reactions of AJ or Dash or the rest of the Mane 6, but what about the rest of Ponyville? AJ and Dash were pretty important ponies in town even before they unlocked the Elements of Harmony, it stands to reason their relationship might have even more consequences in the bigger picture.
3042967
Dawww, awesome! =D Happy, feel-good, and high quality; just what the doctor ordered!
I have conflicting feelings about alcoholism...
Man, I don't say that often. I just mean that Berry's alcoholism wasn't played for laughs, which is good (and unusual), but this piece was kind of fluffy and the seriousness of Applejack's support didn't really fit the tone.
3043756
I wouldn't say the story is exactly fluffy, though it does tend toward light-heartedness. But, I don't see how Applejack's offer to lend an ear doesn't fit the tone.
The intent was to set AJ and BP up in contrasting roles so that Berry could learn by example and get her absolution in the end. Berry has been unwittingly lending an ear to the troubles of her friends, but doesn't have the courage to stop them and instead turns to her vices as she watches the travesty play out. Applejack, on the other hoof, is directly affected by the cruel plot, and despite being just as torn up about it, still offers Berry support in her time of need.
Carrot and the flower trio were quite serious about their plan, although they had a bad strategy and completely failed in execution. Likewise, Dash was quite serious about cheering AJ up when she came along and saw a friend in trouble. Applejack did the same, offering support when she saw a friend (or at least a very good acquaintance) in trouble. It's the sort of thing the 'loyalest and most dependable of ponies' would do. But, opinions are opinions, I guess.
I thought it was a very good story and nothing really seemed out of place.
3045728
I guess but I think it's because she has to wake up early to set up all the crap the weather team needs to make the day pretty. Idk I just don't see Rainbow as truly lazy like the show tries to portray her with her constant naps.
3044302
As you say, to each their own. I didn't see Berry's internal conflict in the opening scenes with Carrot, I guess. Seemed like mostly gratuitous silliness.
3048364
It's the sort of situation where you have to read between the lines to realize that Carrot had been whining off and on about the weather all week, hence Berry showing up wine to help her deal with it. Granted, Carrot's whining would be nonsensical to any sane pony (and the audience), but as becomes apparent, she and the flower trio are off in their own little world with Berry wishing she were elsewhere instead of stuck along for the ride.
Show vs Tell and all that jazz.
3053757
Sheesh, that was supposed to be a joke!
3053774
Hey, the rest of the town got even better weather than usual.
Only four naughty ponies have to put up with Raindrops' practice sessions.
Ha, I'm glad they get what they deserve. Feh. Anyway, EqD said it was short and sweet, and it was right. Main characters were in character (I was a bit wary of Fluttershy, but given the context, I found it believable), Berry's little problem was an unexpected but welcomed element... and stuff. This is a good story.
And I see what you did there, with the Family Guy reference. I approve.
3056566
I was very, very tempted to name the first chapter 'A Few Sprinkles of Genius', but I wasn't sure I could get away with that much absurdity.
Aw man, this story is so unfair! Not only is it good, but you basically combined two plot points together for it! You're fighting us with two stories, man!
In all seriousness though, I enjoyed reading it. It's funny, simple, charming, and I wouldn't regret reading it all over again. I wish you lots of luck in the contest, Jondor!
That being said, I do have one complaint. Being as it is a shipping contest, I would have loved it if you had given the romance more word-love. Right now, it feels like it's just the subplot when it really should've had more presence. But, whatever! It's still a good read. You're a good candidate in my book.
3070160
That was the experiment, to be honest. Most people go into a Mane 6 shipping story to deal with the shipping itself and occasionally with what effect that will have on the rest of the mane cast. Hardly anyone ever thinks about the rest of Ponyville.
Here, I came upon an idea that not only put up a roadblock for AJ to overcome (or RD in this case), but also paid service to a few of the other town residents and avoided all the old tropes at the same time. Berry turned out to be the real hero of this story with Applejack following in a close second.
The way I looked at it, the destination was known; AJ and RD were going to get together in the end. The journey was what set this story apart, and that journey happened to be focused mainly on the other farmers. The actual romance really was just a sub-plot.
If nothing else, it's a unique approach.
Nice. Short and sweet and a fair tie-up for the story. Good seeing how a power pony pairing affects the rest of Ponyville, as others have said. Only complaint is that its too short, but I put that down to efficient storytelling rather than not having a lot to say :D
3056711
Ha, yeah. That might've been a bit much. :p
Haha serves you right for trying to stand in the way of love. A nice cute little appledash tale good job
oh my
I just loved this story!
short, but cute! X3
how Applejack have the plan to take Ranbow in a date and all that, sounds great and how she talks whit all the girls =)
and of course, XD so funny the ide that the flower girls and Carrot want to ruin the dinner because that silly idea XD
is a very great idea! for a story of course XD, not what they did XD hahaha
is was also..kinda sad when Applejack depressed because she couldnt get the stuff =( I was all awwww X3
but, Rainbow finally arrived, and she helped out! that was so nice! and the perffect way to confes tor ainbow that she was asking her to go on a date X3, (and I just loved the fact that seemed like Rainbow wanted that to happen X3) the way you writted it was very nice
and also, the Berry Punch part, it was something very sweet too! the guilt was eating her for dont tell AJ what was going on, and she just drinked...but a the end, Applejack show her understand and comprehension...that was sooo cute! X3
I reall liked the story Jandor, very good writted!
hehe
I hope that soon you writte the sequel!
My favorite part of this is definitely Applejack taking a moment to offer help to Berry. That was just the right sprinkle of 'friendship is magic' seasoning to an already-fine 'shipping' dish.
A close second is the fact that Rainbow has a secret gray market cloud-smuggling operation. I laughed pretty hard at that and its implications.
Excellently told!
In the end they got almost perfect weather
I feel sorry for them... Nah not really
i.imgur.com/6MrWqNZ.png
*Grins and applauds* Very nicely done.
It's always nice so see someone giving a bit more love towards the background ponies. It was a funny, entertaining story and yes, their plan to 'ruin' AJs date with RD was rather silly...
And Berry was just sweet.
Thank you.