Appledashery

by Just Essay

Something to Drink About

Glug glug glug glug glug glug!

Rainbow Dash slapped the empty cider glass down.

"Mrmrkk!" She belched inwardly, then slurred across the bar table. "I don't get it! I spent... like... an entire friggin' road trip with the two of them! I had conversations on both sides!" Rainbow gestured with her hooves. "AJ wasn't interested in anypony. Stu was interested in AJ... but decided to stick to simple friendship!"

"Did he say that himself or did you convince him of that?" Vinyl Scratch asked from across the table.

"Does it matter?!" Rainbow's voice cracked. She slumped back with a sigh, staring sideways at her dull reflection in the night-swept glass window of the pub. "Anyways, I dun flippin' remember. All I know is—last time I checked—Stu and Applejack were just friends."

"But now things are different?" Caramel asked.

"Now things are... kinda different?" Rainbow Dash nervously twirled the glass in her hooves, staring into the tabletop. "I mean... she seems pretty interested in hanging out with him. And I-I don't think this evening is the first time."

"You didn't..." Caramel leaned forward, his eyes blinking. "...follow them, did you?"

"Pffft! Buck no!" Rainbow scowled. "Who do you take me for?"

Caramel and Vinyl Scratch both raised their eyebrows.

"Okay... okay..." Rainbow sighed, folding her wings in tighter. "So I... mmm... obsess over her just a bit."

"Just a bit?" Lyra spoke up, looking over the magazine she was perusing. "Holy hoof grenades, girl. You're practically her fuzzy doormat."

Rainbow pointed. "Applejack has never walked over me."

"Heh. You'd let her if she wanted," Lyra said, smirking.

"Rainbow Dash..." Bon Bon leaned forward with a smile. "It's perfectly platonic for two ponies to enjoy a dinner out together."

"I'd say!" Lyra chuckled, gesturing. "Hell. Bon Bon and I do it all the time!"

Bon Bon clenched her jaw... unclenched... then exhaled. "Right. Anyways, my point is that you just... might be overreacting. You've said it yourself. Both ponies haven't had a reason to be more than friends in the past, right?"

"Well..." Rainbow Dash sighed. "Stu's wanted... something out of it before."

"Didn't you three go through some very intense stuff on your trip to Orlandoats?" Caramel asked.

"Whew!" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Girl, did we!"

"Well..." Caramel smiled passively. "If Stu came out of that respecting the distance between him and Applejack, then I can't imagine him falling back on it."

Vinyl spoke up while scribbling notes on a music sheet. "Unless, of course, the two of them went through something else that was intense later on..."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "You mean when Applejack's sister got super-super sick?"

"Mmmhmmm."

Rainbow squinted. "You know about that?"

Vinyl looked up, glancing over her shades. "Who doesn't know about that?"

"Rainbow Dash, everypony in town visited the farm at one point or another to pay their respect and give their well wishes," Bon Bon said.

"Even I showed up once or twice," Lyra said. "A few of my students are close friends to the Apple family and their little raddish sprout."

"In fact, there was a brief fundraiser that was set up to try and support Apple Bloom's recovery." Bon Bon giggled. "Still, after she... y'know... miraculously got better on her own, the Mayor offered to reimburse everypony. The town collectively voted to put it towards research on Tartarusian snake venom."

"Yeah, wasn't that sweet?" Caramel smiled.

"Apple Bloom didn't get better on her own," Rainbow muttered. "It was the iced lavenders that cured her."

"Oh?" Bon Bon blinked. "So you were there, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow paled. "Uhhh..."

"Cuz I didn't see you each time I visited. I figured you were being aloof... not trying to bring any attention to yourself. Which—I suppose—is tasteful."

"I... erm..."

"Is that what the stuff is called?" Vinyl Scratch asked. "The stuff that cured Apple Bloom?"

"Where do you suppose they got it?" Caramel asked.

Rainbow huddled lower in her seat. She bit her lip.

"Eh... either the zebra or the bat pony found it, I bet," Lyra muttered.

"Uhm..." Bon Bon frowned. "Their names are Zecora and Noir."

"Hah! For real?" Lyra grinned. "Then I refuse to call 'em that until they come up with something more original."

"Ungh..." Bon Bon rolled her eyes.

"Was... uhm..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "...was the whole town actually there at Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Well, in spurts, here or there," Vinyl remarked. "It's not like everypony in Ponyville just house-crashed all at once."

"I figured you were inside with Applejack the entire time," Bon Bon said. "I saw her with Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Stu, Pinkie Pie and—"

"Did you say Stu?"

Bon Bon blinked. "Well... yeah. What did you not see him?"

"Well... a few times..." Rainbow Dash coughed. "Sure..."

"He was there every time I showed up to visit and donate things," Bon Bon said. "In fact... I don't remember a time when I didn't see him."

Rainbow Dash bit her lip. "With Applejack..."

Bon Bon only nodded.

"Now Rainbow..." Caramel smiled. "In times of trouble, we often find ourselves surprised by who shows up to lend a helping hoof."

"Or a shoulder to cry on," Bon Bon added.

"Right." Caramel nodded. "I think Stu was just the kind of pony Applejack needed to share her grief and anxious thoughts with. I'm sure that... if things had gone far worse... then Applejack still would have been thankful for the support of a friend. Just as she's happy to have had Twilight's support or Rarity's... or yours."

Rainbow clenched her jaw. She glanced aside.

Caramel blinked. "Is... is something wrong?"

"It's just that..." Rainbow gulped. "Times have changed. Apple Bloom's healed. So... like... why is Applejack still hanging out with Stu?"

Caramel sighed. "We can't answer all of your questions, Rainbow Dash." He smiled. "But I bet I know who can."

Rainbow fidgeted. "Stu."

"It's worth a shot. After all..." He giggled. "...you both are friends too, right?"

Comments

[Aatxe360]

This is going to get ugly.

[RoboRed]

Typo:

"Did he say that himself or did you convince him of that?" Vinyl Scratched asked from across the table.

6623141
Yeah...pretty much this.

[MidnightReflection]

So Rainbow decided to drink her problems away without becoming too drunk to be rational? Good job, Rainbow! But you could have drank that frosty beverage from a certain stylish chalice...

[Phoenix Kitten]

Caramel sighed. "We can't answer all of your questions, Rainbow Dash." He smiled. "But I bet I know who can."
Rainbow fidgeted. "Stu."
"It's worth a shot. After all..." He giggled. "...you both are friends too, right?"

Something tells me that's going to change very very soon.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

6623141
6623172
... I'll get the popcorn.

[YoshiFawful64]

You know, after The Things Tavi Says, it's kind of weird to see Vinyl speaking.

[Lightning Bearer]

Unless Stu found the letter, which my gut says is unlikely, I don't see this going well. If I had to guess, Stu will have some rather strong opinions about Rainbow's absence. Unless, of course, he'll be the one to guess that Rainbow's the anonymous savior.

[CommanderCuddle]

My prediction for coming chapters.

New villain shows up no progress is made with the whole lack of Appledashery.

Or maybe the flim flam bros somehow make it out of that hell hole wasteland... who knows maybe sunshine pays a visit, there's of loose strings floating around with regards to story development.

[Salad king]

Huh, I would of thought that they'd cstch on that rainbow got it from the way she was acting.

[Tchernobog]

Oh boy...

[Phoenix Kitten]

6623343 They're mostly drunk, they couldn't catch a pizza sitting in their laps.

[Leftover of Saikano]

Now that the world isn't ending
It's love that I'm sending to you
It isn't the love of a hero
And that's why I fear it won't do

[zaponator]

Why is she still hanging out with Stu? Because Stu chooses to hang out with her. Something Rainbow hasn't done in a long, long time.

[Hestia]

Stu, please stay on my good side. Please. No moves on AJ. Don't unknowingly make things hard for Rainbow. Don't do anything that'll make me fly into a furious rage.

Ugh, I just really want to like the dude.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

6623141 I think that that is a vast understatement.

[I Thought I Was Toast]

Okay... Am I the only one wondering if Celestia is in troll mode here? Sunset ported back. I'm assuming she took Dash's advice and tried to reconcile, so the fact that Celestia isn't trying to find out what's going on from Dash seems out of character unless she knows more than she's letting on... In which case, it's kind of a jerk move not to let the other Mane 6 know. With letters on friendship flooding in during the season 2 equivalent of the timeline, there's sure to be an alternate letter regarding friends who grow a little more distant over time because of Dash's activities...

[BabySkittleMonster]

"Rainbow Dash..." Bon Bon leaned forward with a smile. "It's perfectly platonic for two ponies to enjoy a dinner out together."
"I'd say!" Lyra chuckled, gesturing. "Hell. Bon Bon and I do it all the time!"
Bon Bon clenched her jaw... unclenched... then exhaled. "Right. Anyways, my point is that you just... might be overreacting. You've said it yourself. Both ponies haven't had a reason to be more than friends in the past, right?"

Lyrbonnery.

Also, I'm going to fetch my armour and BB gun. Just in case Stu lives up to his nickname.

[arancaytar]

Rainbow pointed. "Applejack has never walked over me."

At least outside of Dashie's dreams.

"I'd say!" Lyra chuckled, gesturing. "Hell. Bon Bon and I do it all the time!"

Hehehe

[arancaytar]

"I figured you were inside with Applejack the entire time," Bon Bon said. "I saw her with Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Stu, Pinkie Pie and—"

"Did you say Stu?"

And this is how I felt the first time I saw not-Shimmy Glimglam show up between the mane six in the credits.