It Pretty Much Is Blue-Green
Applejack stared at the wall. The walls of the main floor living room were done in varying shades of green. Greens and turquoise, she supposed, or was that green, green-blue and turquoise?
They were barely three weeks into winter, and already Applejack doubted she’d make it through with her sanity intact. It was always like this; every winter she struggled to fill her days, the inactivity gnawing on her brain. Being free to see her friends more sounded nice, but she always made time even during applebuck season anyway. Having the entire day off simply didn’t work. Besides, that all assumed she went beyond her doorstep half as often as she’d like—that she wasn’t cooped up in the farmhouse with nothing to do for fear of running into a pony she named one of her best friends.
A quiet snort escaped Applejack. What kind of colour was “turquoise” supposed to be, anyway? It sounded like something that came with ruffles and what-not on a Prancian dress.
Twenty-three days of winter. Nearly a week and a half since last she saw Pinkie Pie. Pinkie, who turned winter from drudgery to cheerfulness, made days go from too long to too short. Pinkie, who left Applejack hiding not from Pinkie’s spirit and antics, but from the intensity of her own feelings. A week and a half without Pinkie Pie, and now two hours of the morning spent sat on the living room floor, listening to Granny Smith’s rocking chair creaking as it went back and forth.
For all the hours, days, weeks and years spent in Sweet Apple Acres’ farmhouse, she’d never had the time to consider the walls she herself had painted years ago. All she’d ever needed to know was that the walls were familiar. The pictures, the paintings, the scent of the Apple family’s earlier meal, all were familiar and safe things. Constants, Twilight would call them.
Her family was one such, and Granny Smith stood out as the most solid of the bunch. Predictable. Stable. Changeless. Whenever Applejack or one of her siblings sat down in her presence, she would say something, suggest a thing that needed doing. Right now, Applejack needed that more than anything. She needed her elder to say something, to tell her that she did the right thing. That it was silly to take risks, that she ought to stay home rather than chase change. Sage words about the future of the Apple family. Anything.
Nothing. Every chore imaginable had been done twice over and half again. Usually that meant it was time for a story or an anecdote. Failing that, the family album would come out, but today, Granny Smith did none of these. Applejack sat on her haunches at the side of her gran’s rocking chair, and the older mare stared ahead saying nothing. If she opened her mouth, it would be only to yawn.
Granny Smith was wiser than anypony else, and Applejack had decided the venerable pony knew what she was thinking. If Granny Smith was tired, she’d take a nap without so much as a word on the matter, but she was fully alert. Her gran was awake and knew Applejack waited for her to say something. To distract her. To absolve her. Granny Smith would give her no such thing for free.
“D’you ever think maybe you’d like some things to be different?” Applejack asked.
“Try again, but with words what mean somethin’ this time,” Granny Smith said without even looking at her.
She was right. It was a dumb, empty question. The only thing Applejack knew for sure was that she owed somepony an apology. Applejack shook her head. “Never mind it. I just think I mucked stuff up something fierce, and I don’t know how to make it better. It all went wrong.”
“‘Course you did, and ‘course it is. You wouldn’t be sittin’ here hiding like you’ve broken the plough otherwise, but if you can’t figure out what you want ‘ter say, y’ain’t talking to the right pony.” A kindly smile lurked now as she looked down on Applejack with one eye. “Hiding from your problems ain’t ever been the Apple family way.”
“Yeah. That ain’t right of me,” Applejack said, folding her ears. “I don’t think it’s something where a ‘sorry’ will fix nothin’, either.”
“I believe you, young’un, but if you can’t speak more clear than some two-bit fortune teller, it ain’t me you need to see. Go talk to your friends. They’re fine folk, all. I ain’t going nowhere in a hurry if you need me.”
“Don’t know if I much feel like heading down to town. I’d rather just stay here, or head on up to my bedroom,” Applejack said, and the realization hurt. She knew she couldn’t wait forever. Give her a stampeding herd of dragons and she’d happily take to the field—but risking running into one particular mare now, that was a prospect that made a coward of her.
Granny Smith scoffed. “That’s a darn fool notion if I ever heard one. Y’know what I got to say to that. We all deal with things in our own way, but there’s but one way what’s always wrong.”
“Being alone,” Applejack finished in chorus with her gran. “Yeah. I know. Maybe I’ll head to town tomorrow, but not today.”
“Well, I know one filly who’ll be darn happy t’hear that,” Granny Smith said, grinning. Applejack followed her gaze to where Apple Bloom’s head was poking down from the second floor as if on cue. Only her bow and eyes were visible, but still Applejack could hear the huge smile on her face when she spoke.
“Oh! I think that’s a great idea, sis. You should probably just have a rest. In fact, you deserve to, uh, have a nap for about, say, an hour? Two?”
Applejack facehoofed. “Right. I plain forgot I was takin’ you to the dentist for your checkup. What time—aw shoot, come on, let’s get movin’.” A quick glance at the clock above the mantelpiece confirmed exactly what she had suspected; they were already running late.
“Aw, but—”
“Now. Zecora can make you I don’t care how many fancy magical drinks, but Colgate is a friend of the family. Let’s go.” Applejack trotted over to the door and held it open, ignoring Apple Bloom’s sullen look. If she held her head any lower, the floorboards would give her muzzle splinters. Applejack cast one final glance at Granny Smith before they left, but the older earth mare said nothing, waving with one leg as if to shoo her out the door.
“Right, we’re gonna have to hurry if we’re to make it,” Applejack said, starting them at a brisk trot. “Your appointment’s for noon, sharp. Come on, let’s move it.”
Apple Bloom made one wonderfully terrible attempt at pretending to twist her leg as she fell, toppling into a ditch in a puff of snow.
“Oh. Oh no, I think I got hurt bad. I ain’t gonna make it,” Apple Bloom said, crawling back into view. She held up a foreleg and pouted. “Maybe we should just turn around. In fact, you should probably better drop me off at the clubhouse. Scoots is working on her doctor cutie mark!”
Applejack sighed and leaned down to flip Apple Bloom onto her back, launching herself into a gallop as she made for Ponyville’s dental clinic.
“There you go,” Applejack said, nudging a still pouting Apple Bloom into the waiting room. “Now you be good. You try anything funny, I’ll know of it, y’hear?”
“You can head right on in,” the stallion in the waiting room said, grinning wide to make up for Apple Bloom’s smiling deficit. Applejack chuckled and headed back out, letting out a huge sigh of relief as the door shut in her wake. Despite six evacuation attempts, one Cutie Mark Crusaders Rescue Squad and a host of other minor delays, she’d made it on time.
Applejack turned her head left, then right, turning on the spot. The second part, and the greater challenge of this whole ordeal, was getting back home herself. Trotsworth Lane would take her close to Sugarcube Corner, but Farrier’s Road ran by Carousel Boutique. She was sure she’d caught Rarity giving her a look the last time she’d visited only to leave on account of learning Pinkie would come by later. If she headed south around the centre of town, perhaps—
No. This had gone on long enough already. Applejack took a deep breath and put one hoof in front of the other, moving straight down the middle of one of Ponyville’s main thoroughfares. Skulking about wouldn’t do, and she couldn’t stop living her life on account of her unruly brain. That silliness ended here. She would head straight home with her head held high and then—then, she didn’t know. The resolve evaporated before the first minute was up. Then what? Go back to hiding? Pretend nothing happened? Pretend nothing’s gonna happen?
“Hey, Applejack!”
Twilight stood by one of the fountains dominating one of Ponyville’s many intersections. Next to her, perched on the rim of the drained and snowed-down fountain, Rainbow Dash waved. Applejack gave them a polite nod and carried on, trotting past. She put on her best business face, trying her darndest to appear busy.
“Applejack!” Rainbow Dash this time, louder by far. The pegasus hovered up in the air as if she thought she hadn’t been seen. Applejack sighed inwardly and turned around, winding around the other ponies in the square to head over to her friends.
“Hey. What’re you two doing out and about?” Applejack asked.
“Just hanging out,” Dash said, landing again and hopping off the fountain. “Hey, we were thinking about heading over to this new shop on the other side of town. You wanna come?”
Applejack didn’t know what to make of Twilight’s little sigh. The earth mare reached up to scratch one of her own ears. “Say what? I ain’t heard of any new openings.”
“Yeah, well, wanna go get Pinkie and check it out? I bet she’d love it.”
Twilight shook her head. Rainbow Dash was less discreet, eyes hard as she frowned at Applejack, waiting for a reply. Of course the others would have picked up on Applejack avoiding Pinkie.
“Can we not talk about this here now?” she asked, staring right back at Dash. “Great. ‘Cause I need to head on home.”
“We’re just three ponies talking in the middle of town. Nopony’s looking,” Dash said. “Why does it matter? Are you ashamed?”
That last word made Applejack halt in her tracks. She’d managed all of two steps, and now ice shot down her spine. She was quite honestly too shocked to be truly angry, but still she advanced on Dash, and when the pegasus refused to yield an inch, she ground their foreheads together with a growl.
“You got somethin’ you want to say?” she asked.
“Well, now they’re looking,” said Twilight, her first words coming alongside a roll of her eyes. “Break it up, okay? Please?”
“You saw it!” Dash said, pulling away so quickly that Applejack flopped to the ground. Dash hovered up in the air and pointed at her. “The second Pinkie Pie is mentioned, she’s out!”
Applejack would’ve loved to deny it, but she didn’t know how. Instead, she got back up and reached for her hat. Before she got that far, her trusty stetson hovered up in a sheath of magic, and Applejack gratefully accepted it.
“What Rainbow Dash means to say, or should have said,” Twilight said, her voice far more gentle. “Is that everypony’s noticed. Rarity told me she thought something was wrong, and it’s clear she’s right. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s up between you and Pinkie Pie?”
Twilight’s face was pleading. It was infinitely easier to feel compelled to answer to that than Rainbow Dash’s angry look—but then, she knew she deserved both, and in spades.
“We’re friends. What more do I gotta say?” Applejack heard herself say.
“Yeah,” Dash said, though she didn’t sound half as angry as she looked with forelegs crossed mid-air. “And friends can still get hurt when you pretend they don’t exist at all.”
Something inside of her hurt like she’d been stabbed, and Applejack didn’t need much help in recognising the sting of truth. She only meant to close her eyes for a moment, to bid for time, to think, to find something to say to assuage her friends and herself. Mostly herself. She searched for something resembling a plan.
She usually always had a plan. There was a reason ponies looked to her. Looked up to her, she sometimes fancied, though she tried not to let it go to her head. If Twilight was away, they would ask Applejack how to proceed, and her backup plan was always the same: A straight line to what made sense, towards honesty and truth.
Now, she had no endgame. She wanted to head back to the farm, to the safety and warmth, but she knew it offered no solutions. She wasn’t just hurting herself with all this nonsense. In her fear of facing Pinkie Pie, that impossible pony she’d come to love more than she should, she was hurting Pinkie, too.
They weren’t tears, she told herself. The last in a long line of lies. She felt a hoof on her withers, and then a wing’s touch on her back. She drew a shuddering breath, but still she didn’t know what to say.
“Hey, Twi? Did I, uh, did I say something stupid?” Dash asked from close by. “I didn’t—I mean, ugh. I’m sorry, okay? Sorry.” The last word was mumbled more than spoken.
“Applejack?” Twilight asked, lowering her voice still. “Do you know why Pinkie Pie is heading home? She went to see her parents for the weekend and she wouldn’t say why. Normally, I wouldn’t question it, but with things being the way they are...”
To that, she couldn’t not react. Applejack wiped her eyes with the back of a leg. Rainbow Dash stood close enough to touch, and Twilight was almost snout to snout with her, one wing wrapped around Applejack’s back.
“No. I don’t rightly know exactly why, but maybe it’s a good thing,” Applejack said, hanging her head. “Or—no, no it ain’t. Ain’t nothing’s gonna get better by itself. I don’t know.” She looked over at Dash. There was no challenge or anger in the pegasus’ eyes, but still the words she’d spoken lingered. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I hurt her bad. Maybe this ain’t something that’s gonna go away.”
“What isn’t going to go away?” Twilight asked, leaning in closer still. Applejack caught herself thinking they must’ve made for an interesting centrepiece in the town square now. She also knew that she didn’t care. If she caught anypony looking, she’d send them packing with a clout over the head.
“Ain’t it obvious? I fancy her. And when you fancy somepony, you ask’em out.” It was easier to say than Applejack had feared.
Twilight’s mouth hung open, and a faint blush adorned her cheeks. “Oh. Right. Obvious,” she said. “I thought—I, okay. Right. Fancy. As in, like her a lot. Okay. Right.”
“Duh.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “So why haven’t you? Jeez, if I ever found somepony half as awesome as me and wanted to ask them out, I would, so why haven’t you?”
“Yeah. I’m sure,” Applejack said with a bark of laughter. “No, that’s the problem. I just plain can’t.”
“Great answer.” Dash snorted.
“It doesn’t matter!” Applejack said, sighing. “Can’t we just leave it at that? Pinkie Pie’s got nothing to do with exactly that. It’s all on me.”
“Oh yeah. Pinkie has nothing to do with this,” said Dash. “That’s why she’s leaving when she could be having awesome snowball fights with me. Sounds right.”
Applejack rubbed her face and stepped to the side, giving herself some space. “Yeah, much as I’m sorry for ruining your precious snowball fights, I didn’t exactly order this here mess, did I? This isn’t at all something I wanted.”
Twilight tilted her head. When she spoke, her words came slow, carefully picked either out of concern and fear of misspeaking—or with the precision of a scientist. Perhaps both.
“The way you’re saying this, it makes it sound like this is not something you control. Like you have fallen in love against your will. Unless there’s a potion involved, that’s not how it works.” She cleared her throat noisily, scratching at one foreleg with the other. “At least, not from what I’ve read in my books. My research books.”
“Guess it just ain’t always that simple, huh?” Applejack said, sounding exactly as bitter as she felt. She cast a glance over her shoulder down the lane that would take her home, but she already knew it would change nothing. “It’s just my problem right now, alright?”
“Yeah. Explain nothing, and call it your problem,” Dash said. Applejack was taken aback by the venom in her voice, expecting at worst another half-annoyed tirade, but there were no half-measures about the way Dash glared at her, wings fully flared.
“Guess what, Applejack. It’s not just about you,” Dash said. “You were the one who talked about how Pinkie Pie is just like us, so how do you think she feels about all of this, huh? About one of her best buddies hanging out with her a lot, and then suddenly treating her like she’s dirt? It’s been over a week of ‘oh, sorry, I gotta paint my apples, can’t make it’ whenever Pinkie’s planning something!”
Rainbow Dash pointed a damning hoof at Applejack, letting out a snarl. “And you can’t even tell us why, you can’t tell us anything because you’re so busy blaming yourself!”
“Rainbow,” Twilight said, but her voice was a gust against a hurricane.
“You were the one who complained about secrets, how dumb it all was because—guess what? We’re friends, and we care about each other. That’s what friends are supposed to do.” Rainbow Dash rolled her jaw, working her muzzle soundlessly for a few seconds. She flapped her wings once before folding them on her back.
“It’s Pinkie Pie.” Applejack kept her voice even and refused to drop her gaze. Rainbow Dash could get in under her skin like nopony else sometimes, but there was no point to fighting when she knew she was right. “I got duties and I got a family that needs me. I’d love nothing more than to ask her out, but—”
“There!” Dash snapped, throwing her forehooves up in the air. “You just said it! You want to! Why does anything else matter?”
“If you’re gonna ask me to speak, then shut your trap and listen,” Applejack growled. “But what the heck are words gonna do at this point, anyway?”
Twilight’s horn took on a soft glow, enveloping Rainbow Dash’s tail as she pulled her back a smidgen before she was head to head with Applejack again.
“Alright, I don’t know a whole lot about love, but I like to think I’ve learned a thing or two about friendship. I will be happy to listen if you want to talk, really. As will Rainbow,” Twilight said, glaring at said pegasus. “But perhaps right now, there’s somepony else who needs you more than we do. If there’s a chance Pinkie Pie is hurting, well.” Her voice trailed off.
Applejack took a deep breath and let it all out again. “I guess if nothing else, I owe it to explain this all to her. An apology and an explanation sounds about right,” she said, fixing Dash with a look. “I never meant to hurt her just ‘cause I’m a numbskull.”
“Right. Good,” was all Dash said.
It hurt. By all things good, how much the idea of talking to Pinkie Pie hurt right now, but she also knew it put her back on track. If she didn’t believe that the honest truth would help, she may as well give up and become a pear farmer instead. The next few days would be a special kind of torture. Penance.
“First thing she comes back,” Applejack said. “I’m gonna—”
“Whoa, hey, no, you’re not waiting,” Dash said. The pegasus crouched low and spread her wings, wiggling her hindquarters. “The train left like, I don’t know, half an hour ago? I’ll catch it in three minutes, tops. You got Equestria’s fastest pony here.” Those last words were punctuated with a grin at Twilight.
“Yes, well, I could always have teleported the sled and myself down the hill and won the race.” Twilight huffed.
“Still wouldn’t have helped, and you know it,” the smug pegasus said, jerking her head towards her own back. “C’mon AJ, hop on!”
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3082689
Lol
! Well it'll be interesting if you ever do come with a side, cameo ship. But it's cool that your fic is so awesome that it brings out the shipping goggles and turns the setting to 11.
And *cheers
* new chapters! I'm going to get started on those. 
.
Nice couple of chapters. Do we ever find out what Pinkie Pie meant when she said she wasn't a bubble?
3083084
Think of the nature of a soap bubble. Poppable.
She simply said she's not those things. There's no "Handle-With-Care" sticker that needs to be seen.
More than that, though. Bubbles are flighty. Transparent. It's actually a pretty deep metaphor if you look into it more, examining Pinkie's own emotional vulnerabilities about being annoying and one dimensional.
...Huh. Good job Cloud. And good job keeping up with posting chapters. Seems like you've got yourself a schedule or a strategy that really works.
3083770
Ah! Deep.
I'm really liking how this author is doing Pinkie Pie. And with how most make her one dimensional, annoying, and more flighty than most pegasi. It adds even more to that bubble comment even more deep.
WHYYYYY APPLEJACK WHYYYYYYY
She's so honest and yet so good at lying to herself.
Ok so I agree with most of what Dash said but drop the tone, there are ways to explain problems that don't involve spitting Alien blood on the reciever, jesus! Calm the fuck down Dash! All praise the voices of reason, Granny Smith and Twi
(enter granny smith pic).
Woah, good, good!! I can feel the doubts in Applejack, her pain for hurt Pinkie's feelings... Keep going!! With a ride in the fastest pony in Equestria!!!!!
3082723 Oh wow, I didn't even realize I did that. Now I wanna slap myself.
Is it a bit strange that I started giggling and clapping at the mention of the dentist in this chapter? I have my reasons, but without the context that's gotta sound like one of the weirdest reasons to squee out loud.
MLP in general needs about 90% more granny smith. She's best granny.
The chase is on.
3084732
She's pretty legit. I wanna meet Granny Pie though.
3087218
Someday, maybe. I wanna meet her too.
3084732
"But she's just a kooky old lady!"
-Diamon Tiara
// Sphex
3088173
I don't care what Demon Tiara says! Best granny will prevail!
3083080 Glad you like! Still a bit left though!
3083084 3083770 I do love reading discussions and thoughts like these--I shall say nothing on the subject just yet m'self!
3083985 Gotta express those latent lies somewhere, I guess! Better to herself than her friends, right?
Naw seriously, I really tried to get across the dissonance, the fact that it really doesn't sit well with AJ, either.
3084246 In my eyes, she just really takes any threat to their friendships very seriously, and AJ&RD have always been good at arguing without it touching their friendship, so I don't think AJ takes it that hard!
3084399 There're ponies out there that'd kill for a Rainbow piggy back ride, hah. I don't know if AJ is that excited by the prospect tho!
3084565 Now I'm curious. What are those reasons?
3084732 Granny Wars: Season 1. Pie vs Smith!
3084890 She's stupidly good at making people sad when she herself smiles, sometimes. :|
3084899 Tap the A button to fly faster! The train is getting away!
Aggh, so much Twidash plugs in. Other than that, interesting chapter. Seems like the story's at an end though.
Dashey being a hypocrite. Love it.
Good read so far, great characterization, intriguingly original for a shipfic, and Pinkie Pie because Pinkie Pie.
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