Keep it Casual
Rainbow Dash tapped her foot impatiently against the ground and looked at her wrist.
Okay, she didn’t have a watch on, but it made her feel cool doing it. She whipped out her cell phone and looked at the stopwatch function. She had told Applejack she’d be timing her and she meant it.
Only thirty-seven seconds? It felt like it’d been longer than that. How long could it possibly take to switch clothes. The ones her friend had been wearing had been aching to just pop off of her if she so much as bent over wrong.
“Come on, AJ! Sometime before I’m ninety would be nice!” she snapped into the women’s changing room.
“Hold yer horses there, Lasermane. Ah’m havin’ trouble with the buttons on this thing.”
Rolling her eyes, Rainbow Dash turned and looked around the store.
It was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just your standard clothing outlet. “Breeze’s Beauty” they’d called it, though the choices were a little more plain-Jane than what she expected of the name. She’d thought lavish dresses and expensive over-the-top styles coming from across the seas.
Despite herself, Rainbow Dash was a bit disappointed. She had been looking forward to seeing Applejack in a zebra-stripe polka dot short skirt or something.
“Pick your battles, girl,” she muttered to herself as she shuffled through the clothes rack. Nothing really caught her eye except for perhaps a white vest that almost had her name written all over it. It had too much space in the chest, however, and she knew it’d only call out her lack of a bust when it flopped all over the place.
“Okay, whaddya think?” she heard someone ask behind her.
Rainbow blinked and turned.
Applejack was drapped in what looked like a giant pair of jeans that had been rearranged into some kind of dress. The skirt went down to about mid-knee and was slit up the sides. Sexy as that part was, it wasn’t enough to redeem the rest of the garment. The butt pockets, instead of being lined up on the butt, where they belonged, were instead located on the sides. Worst of all, it showed off none – literally none – of Applejack’s curves.
That could have been treated as a felony as far as she was concerned.
“No.”
Applejack gaped at her, hurt written all over her face. “No?!” she squeaked.
“No,” she repeated.
“Whaddya mean, ‘no’? What’s wrong with it?” the farmgirl asked, looking down at herself. “It’s comfy, it’s roomy, it’s got pockets in it-”
“And it’s the ugliest damn thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Rainbow smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. “Seriously, you look like a walking advertisement for Lee’s or something…”
“Ah like Lee’s…”
“AJ, seriously. No. Trust me, I’m doing you a favor.”
She hadn’t meant to hurt her friend’s feelings so harshly, but as poor as Rainbow’s sense of fashion was, she had been around Rarity long enough to know when something would crash and burn. The dress that Applejack was wearing, if you could call it that, was a nose-diving plane filled with fuel and dynamite.
Her friend looked down at herself and adjusted the dress so that it settled a bit better, but it was like polishing a dog turd.
“Well, Ah like it…” she huffed.
Rainbow quirked her brow and crossed her arms. “Full-body denim, AJ? Really? I’m no fashion expert or anything, but even I don’t think that bird would fly. You’d wear it once and get laughed out of school.”
Applejack pouted cutely and snorted, turning back to the dressing room and stomping inside. The effect was muted with her being barefoot and all.
She couldn’t help but smile and shake her head. What could she say? Applejack was cute when she was angry.
Rainbow Dash turned back to the rack she had been browsing with a couple people on the other side of the mall caught her eye. They vanished into the crowd almost as quickly as they had appeared, but their hair and body styles looked remarkably familiar.
Despite her eagle eyes, she never regained sight of them, and the crowd dispersed, almost like they’d vanished into thin air.
Pushing it to the back of her mind, she turned back to the clothing rack and plucked a burgundy t-shirt from the clearance section. The bright yellow letters spelled “EASY” bright and bold, and it had an equally-bright arrow pointing up towards the collar.
She smirked and quickly popped into the changing room, swapping shirts.
A moment later, Applejack came out wearing a white sundress with matching sandals, and a wave of nostalgia washed over her.
Her friend apparently noticed the look on her face and took it the wrong way. She turned a deep scarlet and scowled. “Don’t you say a word.”
Rainbow kept her arms tightly crossed over her chest and shrugged. “I didn’t say nothin’.”
“You didn’t need to,” the farmgirl huffed and marched out into the store proper for a better mirror.
Rainbow slid up behind her and draped an arm around her shoulders, setting the opposite on her hip. “Looks good. Way better than a blue-jean dress…”
“Ah, who asked you for yer-”
Applejack blinked into the mirror and quirked her brow. Her eyes traced to the right just so, and she could tell she’d caught the reflection of her shirt in the mirror.
She stared at the lettering, then gave her a quizzical look.
“You’re not laughing,” Rainbow pointed out.
She could see the faintest of twitches on the curve of her lip. “‘Cause it ain’t funny.”
“It’s a little funny.”
Applejack’s smirk grew. “No it ain’t.”
“Maybe not, but you’re smiling!”
The farmgirl chuckled musically. “Don’t tell me yer gettin’ that shirt.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Why?”
“’Cause Ah don’t know if Ah could be seen in public with ya if you wear that.”
“Who says it’s for wearing around? What if I wanted it as a nightshirt?”
Applejack quirked her eyebrow.
“Think about it. I’ve got somebody in bed with me one night, they roll over, they see this shirt and they’re all, ‘Hmmm!’” Rainbow said, tapping her chin with a finger in mock contemplation. “And then they’re all, ‘Yeah, I need to get me some of that.’”
Despite her smile, her friend facepalmed and shook her head. “Where they gonna find a hole deep enough to bury that ego of yours?”
“I think I’m getting it.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just go change back so Ah don’t have to see it.”
Applejack turned back to the mirror, and smiled, though whether it was her own reflection she admired, or Rainbow’s amusing japes. Much as she wanted to think it was the latter, she couldn’t deny the possibility of her being impressed by her own appearance; and she wouldn’t have even thought to call her out on immodesty for it if that were the case.
Applejack was gorgeous. The white dress hugged her body in all the right places, flaring out just a bit near the top to accommodate her impressive bust size. It draped over her midsection, and only flared out just above her hips, ending right above her knee.
Rainbow could feel her cheeks catching fire as she stared.
Her friend apparently noticed.
“Does it look that bad?”
Blinking, she shook her head out. “Huh? Uhh… n-no, I…”
Applejack frowned and blushed in the mirror. “It’s okay, Rainbow. Ah ain’t exactly beauty contest material.”
“No, no, it’s not that. It’s just…” She scratched her cheek. “You don’t see it, do you?”
Her friend looked up at her. “See what?”
“Well, just look at yourself for a minute,” she said, taking her by the shoulders and turning her back to the mirror. “Doesn’t it look familiar to you?”
The blonde stared at herself long and hard, face shifting slightly. “Ah ain’t sure what Ah’m lookin’ for.”
Rainbow frowned. “Yeah, I guess I’d remember it better…”
Applejack looked up at her again. “Remember what?”
Wrapping her arms around her friend, she rested her chin on the farmgirl’s shoulder and smiled at her reflection. “Don’t you remember the kind of dress you were wearing when we first met?”
Startled by the revelation, she looked at herself in the mirror again.
“See it now?”
Applejack shook her head. “No, Rainbow, Ah was wearin’ an orange dress when we met. It had the three little apples stitched into the pocket?”
“No, that was for Valentine’s Day a couple years later,” Rainbow grinned, squeezing her friend tightly. “You remember that one.”
Turning a deep scarlet, Applejack averted her green eyes. “Y-you got ‘em mixed up.”
“Do I?”
“Ah was wearing the white dress on Valentine’s Day. You saw me in mah orange dress when we first made acquaintances…”
Rainbow turned her magenta eyes to meet her gaze. “I don’t think that’s right. ‘Cause I remember seeing you the first time and thinking, ‘Holy crap. Is she an angel?’”
Applejack’s eyes widened and her freckles blended in with the blush that crept onto her face.
She grinned. “That is, until you decked me in the face.”
The farmgirl chuckled.
Rainbow squeezed. “Is it all comin’ back now?”
* * *
“Ungh! Would you… let… me… Put me down you big gorilla!” she squeaked.
“Eenope.”
She flailed vainly in her captor’s giant arm. It was impossible to discern any effort exercised by him in carrying her around in spite of her kicking and pounding. He had her slung over his broad shoulder like a hay bale, and didn’t even seem to take notice of her.
“You put me down, or I’m gonna get my dad to beat you up! He’s bigger than you are and he’ll call the police!” she shrieked as loudly as she could.
“Eenope,” he said again.
Her screams only grew louder the longer he lugged her around. The trees gave way to a shallow, green vale. She ceased her protests just long enough to peer around and look over his shoulder.
A farmhouse crept into view as he carried her and the looted bushel of apples up to the porch.
Rainbow’s eyes widened in fear. She’d be taken inside and never come back out again. In defiance, she resumed her healthy amount of screaming and tantrums.
As predicted, the giant freckled man ignored her.
Then, he set her down, dropping her to her feet and grasping her by the forearm, as well as tossing down the bushel of apples she’d raided just minutes before.
Despite Rainbow Dash’s attempts to pull free, his grip was vice-like. She only succeeded in giving herself a rug burn. Even pulling with all her leg strength yielded no results. He seemed unperturbed by her kicking him in the shins too; probably on account of his thick boots.
The scuffling of feet against a wood floor inside heralded the approach of someone. A short old lady of gray hair and wrinkles appeared at the screen door and peered out with squinting amber eyes.
“Hmm…” she hmm’d and opened the door, continuing to wipe down the giant bowl she’d been cleaning out.
The old lady seemed to contemplate her for a moment, rubbing her wrinkly chin.
Rainbow gulped.
“She the one that’s been stealin’ from the orchard?” the elderly woman asked with a smile, setting her bowl aside.
She didn’t know whether to be scared of her smirk or be reassured by it.
“Granny?” she heard a younger voice from inside. It sounded like a girl.
“In a minute, darlin’,” the woman named ‘Granny’ – wasn’t that a weird name? – hollered into the house. The lady turned her eyes back to her, looking her up and down. “What’s yer name, sugar?”
Rainbow pursed her lips and stood stiff as a board, refusing to answer.
“Granny?” came the soft voice from inside. A girl with blonde hair appeared at the door. She leaned against the screen, pressing her hands and freckled nose against the wire mesh. Rainbow looked her way but couldn’t see her all that well, except for a pair of curious green eyes.
“Whossat, Granny?” she asked in a cute southern accent.
“Well, Ah plum don’t know, Applejack!” Granny smiled over her shoulder. “She was makin’ plenty of racket earlier but she clammed right up when Ah asked ‘er name.”
‘Applejack’ ran out the front door and down the porch steps, hugging her grandmother from behind and peering around her side.
Her green eyes were pretty. They were like the jewels in her mom’s fancy necklace. She wore a Stetson atop her long and beautiful yellow hair that was far too big for her, and a white summer gown that swirled around her knees. She was barefoot, save for the anklet around her left leg, yet somehow she was still half a head taller than Rainbow Dash in tennis shoes.
“Rainbow Dash…”
Granny turned back to her. “Pardon?”
“Rainbow Dash…” she choked, trying to blink back the tears forming in her eyes. “My name’s Rainbow Dash…”
The old woman smiled and came forward to crouch in front of her, holding out her hand.
She felt the big boy let go of her arm. She thought about running, but she doubted she could get away. The big boy would just chase her down again.
She timidly took Granny’s hand.
“Well, young’un, mah name’s Granny Smith.” She pointed to her left. “You musta already met mah grandson Big Mac here.” The big boy tilted the brown Stetson he wore towards her. “And this here little lady,” she said, motioning behind her with her hand to the blonde girl shuffling her feet nervously in the grass, “is mah granddaughter Applejack.”
Applejack raised a hand and shyly waved.
Rainbow turned back to look at Granny, and sealed herself in the hearts of the Apple family forever with what she said next.
“You smell like old people.”
All three Apples blinked in surprise at her choice of words.
It was Applejack who walked forward and cold-cocked her right in the eye.
* * *
“And you’re all like, ‘You take that back! My granny doesn’t smell!’”
Applejack smirked as she adjusted her dress slightly, then leaned back against Rainbow Dash, smiling up at her. “Good times.”
“Eeyup,” she said with a wink.
Applejack chuckled and looked back at her reflection.
She leaned forward and smiled, wrapping the farmgirl up in her arms. “You look awesome in that dress…” she whispered in her ear.
Her friend turned red and giggled. “Yeah… and Ah guess you are easy.”
Rainbow blinked. "Hm?"
"T-to forgive, Ah mean. Uhhh... nothin'." She shrugged out of the hug and cleared her throat, padding towards the changing rooms. "Ah'll be back in a minute."
As she watched Applejack retreat, a flash of white off to her left caught her attention.
She was just quick enough to catch Rarity's flying hug and avoid falling over.
"Surprise, darling!" the fashionista chirped.
"Rarity?" she blinked and looked down through the purple head of hair at the seamstress. "What the heck are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question!" her friend replied with a wink. "Have you finally succumbed to the allure of fashion, or were you just a closet case?"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and pointed at the "easy" shirt.
Rarity scowled. "Charming..."
"This whole trip's not even for me." She shrugged. "Applejack was the one who wanted to look for something new and-" She froze. "It occurs to me that I wasn't supposed to tell you that."
"Applejack is here?!" the fashionista asked, her scowl one-eightying into delirious excitement.
Rainbow facepalmed. "Y-yeah... dressing room... trying stuff on... she'll be out in a bit..." She frowned. "Just don't tell her I told you."
"Mum's the word, dear!" She then smirked and edged closer with a predatory smile. "I don't know whether to be more impressed by you two being on a date together in broad daylight, or by the fact that she's actually trying to look nice... even if it does hurt a bit that she wouldn't consult me," she huffed.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Rares," Rainbow interrupted quickly, poking Rarity in the shoulder. "This? This isn't a date. This is just me and Applejack—"
"Applejack and I."
"Whatever... we're just having a day together. That's it. Two best friends hanging out. Nothing else to it. End of story."
A knowing smile crossed Rarity's lips. "Are you sure that's all you want of it?" she asked, winking a sapphire eye.
Rainbow didn't dignify that with a response. She rolled her eyes, unable to help the blush creeping into her cheeks, and lowered her face into the palm of her hand. Then, through her fingers, she spotted another familiar figure entering the store a moment later.
"Ms. Tia?" she asked, jerking to attention.
Rarity turned to look at her. "She's going out of town and wanted to have something new to wear. It seems my opinion carries some weight in the fashion world." She raised her hand and waved to the superintendent. "Over here, darling!"
Ms. Tia strode up with half a dozen shopping bags hanging off her left arm, and smiled at Rainbow Dash with only the hint of a smirk playing on her lips.
"I apologize for taking so long, Rarity. I saw a crescent moon pendant made out of jade. I thought I might buy it as a gift."
She turned fully to face Rainbow, causing the latter to squirm.
"'S-sup, teach?" she asked.
"Nothing I'd want to bother you with," the superintendent. "I'll be going out of town in the next couple weeks and wanted something new to wear when I go see my sister." She smiled at the fashionista next to her. "Rarity's always been highly-regarded for her sense of taste, and I thought I would see if she would indulge me."
Rarity grinned, all-too-pleased to have her expertise be called upon.
"Yyyyeah," Rainbow sighed. "She's pretty awesome that way, isn't she?"
Ms. Tia was about to say something, when the door to the changing room flew open.
Applejack strode out in the jean-dress and smiled at herself. "Ah still like this one the be—"
Time froze as Applejack and Rarity made eye contact. If Rarity had been holding a teacup, she would have dropped it on the suede boots she was wearing and not even had the thought to try and save them.
"Applejack... I... what on earth are you...?"
Cold sweat dotted her friend's forehead, and she was absolutely speechless. Even Ms. Tia had no words to spare.
"AHHH! Rarity!" Applejack shrieked, rushing back into the changing room to hide.
Rainbow Dash had never seen Rarity's face so angry. "Applejack! You get back here this instant with that travesty of a dress!" she demanded, charging after her into the dressing room.
Left alone, Rainbow Dash and Ms. Tia glanced at each other and, after a moment passed, chuckled at each other.
"Well, that was a thing that happened..." she muttered.
"Indeed," the superintendent replied.
A pause.
Rainbow scratched her cheek.
Ms. Tia shifted her weight to her other leg.
Silence. Then, "So you're goin' to visit your sister, huh? That's cool."
"Indeed."
Another pause.
"And what of your plans for the summer, Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow looked up and blinked.
"Have you an agenda for your vacation, or are video games and sports the order of the day?" she asked.
Hesitating, she leaned against a clothing rack and picked idly through the different outfits. "Well... I, uh... I was actually kind of thinking that maybe..." She paused. "Maybe I might hang out with Applejack a lot this summer..."
Ms. Tia smiled. "Oh? And what exactly might that entail?"
Rainbow chuckled nervously. "Uhh... y'know... just... stuff."
The superintendent smirked. "Sounds fascinating. So long as it's safe..."
Sighing, she looked up to the breezy-haired woman and frowned. "I dunno, what would you do if you had a summer to burn with the most awesome person in the world?"
Ms. Tia opened her mouth to answer, when a sudden ruckus came from the dressing room.
"So HELP me, Applejack, I'm going to buy this dress and BURN it just so you can't get your hands on it!"
Further sounds of struggle continued to emanate from the fitting rooms, and Rainbow and Ms. Tia looked at one another, edging away from them to continue their conversation.
"Well, that's largely up to you to decide," she said with a smile. "In my youth, my time was spent going on road trips with my sister in tow. We would go see relatives, see sites, go to the city, just do anything to spend time together. It's something we try to make time for every year if we can."
Rainbow blinked and looked at a picture on one of the coat racks, advertising bikinis, sun, fun, and vacation. She put a hand to chin and rubbed thoughtfully.
"Road trip, huh?"
Ms. Tia blinked.
"Hey, that's not a half-bad idea!" she grinned, looking up to the superintendent. "I've got the wheels for that! And she'd totally say yes!"
"Your spontaneity never ceases to impress me, Rainbow Dash," the older woman said, shaking her head with a warm smile.
"Hey! That's one of my best qualities!" she boasted.
Chuckling, Ms. Tia landed a hand softly on her shoulder. "It certainly seems to be something that Applejack admires about you a great deal." She paused, her face becoming a bit more neutral. "If you do decide to take this course of action, however, do promise me you'll be careful. It's easy to forget the rules when one is so far from home." She took hold of her by the shoulders and gazed at her with those deep, almost-cosmic eyes of hers and squeezed gently. "Don't get too swept up in the moment, Rainbow Dash. Applejack values you for your companionship. Don't try to force whatever you have in mind for this trip to work out the way you want it."
Rainbow blinked and frowned. "B-but... I thought you said to just be myself before..."
"I did, yes." Her hands felt comfortable, almost downy. It was almost like an angel's caress. "But sometimes... sometimes the thing you wish most... it can't be forced. Sometimes, it's something you must let happen."
She stared at her with a quizzical expression. "I don't get it."
"Give it time and patience, Rainbow Dash. You will," she said with a wink. "You will."
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ROAD TRIP, BITCHES! YEAAAAAAAH!
4639575
There. Be happy.
ROAD TRIP! ROAD TRIP!
Oh man have I been waiting for this! I'm so excited!
Whoo! So many places to go! I don't know about ya'll but I would drive to Disney World.
*GASP* CAN THEY GO TO DISNEY WORLD!?!
4744815 Hey dude how would you feel if I told you I only lived about an hour and a half from orlando
? I'm not joking either
4741905 Niceley done TwilightUcrazy
4741744 I love road trips
sorry for the last two random comments
4546367 okay, now I DEFINITELY know that the car you're using for the cover art is a '69 Shelby GT500, but I can't tell whether or not it's a GT500KR (king of the road). You are my new muscle car fanatic brother.
Just read to 'Here Come's the Sun' and I'm in love with it already! Personally, I thought that the dance scene could've used a choice song or two for background, but that's just me. (Also, I can see Dash and Mac conversing just like that; with her taking control of most of it with him wondering what the hey is goin' on!
)
I was wondering when it would get to the trip.
Dude, I can easily say that this is one of the best fics I've read, if not the best. Definitely in my top 5 favourites. Well done!
When are u going to update???
Give it patience O impatient rainbow.