Sisters of the Sun and Moon

by Show Stopper

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Last haul for the day," Applejack said, giving the tree a solid buck. She smirked in satisfaction as the apples rained down into the waiting buckets. "I've got to go into town for a bit, so let's get these to the apple cellar and you can take the rest of the day off."

"You've got it, boss," said Dawn, flying over to grab one of the baskets. Taking it in her fore-hooves, she grunted as she flew it up to add it to the stacks of baskets that filled the wagon. It had been two days since Dawn had started working the Acres, and Applejack could already tell that she was a keeper. Despite her size, Dawn was keeping pace and hauling loads as well as any Apple. She didn't complain, didn't take long breaks, and didn't cut corners. In fact, she already seemed almost as dedicated to the orchards as Applejack herself.

She'd met the rest of the Apple family that first evening at dinner. Granny Smith had been delighted to meet Dawn, and had been happy to see that "such a cute little filly" would be helping out. Dawn had explained her stunted growth and resisted the urge to shout at her. Barely.

"Why don't you come into town with me?" asked Applejack as they unloaded the wagon. "I'll show you around an' introduce you to my friends."

Dawn shrugged as she set down the last basket. "Sure, I needed to talk to Dusk about something anyway."

"What about?" asked Applejack.

"Oh, you know," Dawn said nonchalantly. They began walking towards Ponyville, Dawn taking wing to keep up more easily. "Just how she's doing at the library. I haven't really had the chance to talk with her since we got here."

"I see," said Applejack, smirking. "Not about why you lied about your age?"

Dawn stumbled out of the air. She stared up at Applejack. "How did you..."

Applejack chuckled and helped her to her hooves. "I'll admit," she said, "you're darn good at lyin'. Probably fool everypony else you come across. But I ain't everypony else." They resumed walking. "I can smell out a lie faster than a worm can smell out a rotten apple. If you don't want to tell me somethin' you can just say so. I won't pry. But I'd keep the lyin' to a minimum around me if I were you."

"I'll keep that in mind," muttered Dawn, resolving to inform Dusk of the living lie detector as soon as she saw her.

"Hey! AJ!"

Dawn looked around, unsure of where the shout had come from until she saw Applejack looking up. Following her gaze, she saw an azure pegasus with a rainbow striped mane and tail flying towards them.

"Well howdy, Rainbow Dash!" called Applejack. "What's up?"

"Just heard you got yourself a new worker," Rainbow said, landing in front of them. "Twilight told me yesterday. Has she quit yet?"

"Pht. As if," said Dawn. "It'd take a lot more than two days to get this mare to quit."

Rainbow looked down at Dawn, surprised. "Wait, you're AJ's new worker?"

"Eeyup," replied Applejack proudly. "This is Dawn. She's the hardiest worker I've ever seen outside the family. Heck, I'd say she's a fair match for most of them, even."

Rainbow stared for a moment more before scratching the back of her head. "So, was it some sort of injury?"

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Too much coffee too young?"

"I hate the stuff."

"Not enough milk as a filly?"

"I drink plenty of milk!" snapped Dawn, confused and a little irritated by this interrogation. "What are you talking about?"

"Well," explained Rainbow, "I'm just trying to figure out why you're such a shrimp."

Applejack facehooved as Dawn's wings shot up in rage. "WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU BUCKING MULE!!!"

Rainbow's eyes widened in shock before narrowing into a smirk. "Ooh. Looks like somepony's got a bit of a short temper. What're you going to do about it, small fry?"

*****

"One o' clock!" called Spike. "Lunch break!"

"Thank goodness," sighed Dusk as her horn stopped glowing. "My magic's really getting a workout. Twilight, is it really necessary to bring down all of these books at once?"

"Absolutely," Twilight replied, shelving the last of them. "One must do their research properly, after all."

"Thirty-seven books for a three page paper?" Dusk deadpanned.

"And every one of them referenced," replied Twilight cheerfully. "Come on, let's go out to lunch. I want to introduce you to my friends."

Dusk stared off into space for a moment. "Sorry, sorry," she said, shaking her head. "It's still just so weird a concept."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Going out to lunch?"

"You having friends."

Twilight rolled her eyes as Spike and Dusk shared another laugh at her expense. "Come on."

She led them through Ponyville, heading towards the center of town. "We're going to Sugarcube Corner today," she said. "You probably saw it coming into town. My friend Pinkie Pie lives and works there. She told me last week that she finally perfected her chimi-cherry-changa recipe, and I've been meaning to-"

"YOU'RE DEAD!!!"

Twilight, Spike and Dusk looked right just in time to duck as two blurs shot overhead, a poly-chromatic one followed closely by a red and pink one. "That was Dawn!" said Dusk as they stood.

"And Rainbow Dash," groaned Twilight. "She must have teased Dawn about her height."

They looked up, watching as the two blurs sped around in the air above the town, quickly getting higher and higher. Suddenly, the chase became purely vertical as Rainbow led them straight up.

"Dawn sure is fast," said Spike, "but she's about to loose."

"What makes you say that?" asked Dusk.

Rainbow pulled a tight loop and dove for the ground, Dawn trailing right behind her. "Any second now," said Twilight. Dawn began to fall behind as Rainbow picked up speed, the air seeming to solidify in front of her.

"Wait," said Dusk slowly. "She can't really be trying to-"

*BOOM*

Dusk was interrupted as Rainbow went supersonic, trailing a solid rainbow behind her as a ring of prismatic energy spread across the sky in all directions.

Twilight nodded, continuing to walk. "A sonic rainboom," she said. "Rainbow's the only pegasus in a thousand years to pull it off. There's no way for Dawn to-"

*BOOM*

Twilight's eyes widened as she stared up at the slowly expanding ring of red and pink. Dawn had burst through the sound barrier herself and had caught up to Rainbow once again, the two streaks of light moving so fast that it was impossible to tell them apart.

"Um, Twilight," said Spike. "This may be the time for you to do something."

Twilight gulped and nodded, lighting her horn. "How hard a blow can your sister take?" she asked Dusk.

"About as hard of one as I can," she replied. "Why?"

A large wall of Twilight's magic appeared in front of them, with a giant arrow made of the same pointing down to it. The rainbow blur turned and shot for the wall, her pursuer right behind. Rainbow sped through the wall of magic, not even slowing down as-

*SLAM*

Everyone winced as Dawn hit the wall, cracking it a little. She slowly slid down until she plopped limply to the ground. She groaned, rubbing her head, and looked up to see a very stern-faced Dusk looking down at her.

"He he, hey sis," said Dawn, chuckling nervously. "Um, what's up?"

Dusk raised an eyebrow. "A ring of red and pink energy that can probably be seen from Manehattan. Do you have any idea how hard this will be to explain?"

"Um, a little?"

Dusk sighed. "Dawn, what am I going to do with you? You need to learn to control your temper. What would out sisters think if they saw you like this?"

"Don't know," muttered Dawn. "You only ever talk about one of them."

Dusk winced. "Dawn, I-"

She was interrupted as Rainbow flew down to land between them, grinning madly at Dawn. "That. Was. AWESOME! You did a sonic rainboom! Finally! Somepony who can actually give me a challenge! Name's Rainbow Dash. AJ said you're Dawn, right?" She reached down a hoof to the startled pegasus.

"Yeah," said Dawn, taking the hoof cautiously. "Dawn Sky. Um, you do realize that I was just trying to kill you, right?"

Rainbow waved her off. "Eh, I deserved it."

"I can testify to that," said Applejack, walking up. "As soon as Rainbow found out which buttons to push to make Dawn mad, she slammed her hoof down on 'em again and again."

"Of course she did," sighed Twilight. Her mouth lifted into a smile as her gaze turned back towards Dawn. "In any case, it's good to see you again, Dawn."

Dawn stared uncomprehendingly at Twilight for a moment before the gears clicked into place. "Twilight!" she gasped beaming from ear to ear. "Wha- what are you doing in Ponyville?"

"Princess Celestia sent her here a while back," explained Dusk. "Twi earned an apprenticeship with her shortly after we left Canterlot."

Dawn whistled, obviously impressed. "A royal apprenticeship, huh? You must have done something really spectacular for Princess Celestia to take notice." Her eyes fell on Spike and her smile turned to a quizzical frown. "Who's the dragon?"

Spike chuckled. "I'm what made the Princess take notice. The name's Spike. Twilight hatched me as part of her entrance exam."

Dawn blinked. Her eyes shifted back and forth from Spike to Twilight and back before landing on Applejack, who gave a quick nod. "Wow," she finally said, looking back to Twilight. "Hatching a dragon egg. Yeah, I guess that'll do it."

They all shared a laugh and, after Dusk and Rainbow had been introduced, headed off to Sugarcube Corner. Along the way they couldn't help but notice the large amount of attention being directed their way. Lots of ponies tried to hide their stares. Others had no qualms with staring outright.

"We seem to be drawing a lot of attention," Dawn said nervously.

"Gee, I wonder who's fault that is?" asked Dusk, rolling her eyes.

"Ah, don't even worry about it," said Applejack. "Ponyville's used to strange happenin's. The stares'll stop in no time."

They soon arrived at Sugarcube Corner, where three mares sat at an outside table waiting for them. "Met your match, have you Rainbow Dash?" asked the white unicorn as they approached.

Rainbow just rolled her eyes and took a seat. "So she can go rainboom too. Big deal, Rarity. She still wasn't able to catch me."

"Dusk, Dawn," said Twilight, "these are my friends Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Girls, this is Dusk Star and Dawn Sky. They're old friends of mine from Canterlot. Dusk's working with me at the library, and Dawn's over at Sweet Apple Acres."

"Wow!" said Pinkie. "Keeping up with Applejack, and pulling off a sonic rainboom? I'm going to have to throw an extra special party for you, you extra special filly."

"Who're you calling a filly, Cotton Candy?" Dawn asked darkly.

"I quite agree!" Everyone turned, surprised to see Rarity giving Pinkie a slight glare. "Just look at her posture. Her easy confidence. The very air she carries indicates that she is, if anything, our senior."

"Y-yes," said Dawn. "You're right. I'm honestly impressed. You're one of the only ponies I've ever met who's been able to tell."

Rarity straightened up, looking rather proud of herself ."Yes, well, I do have a finer eye for detail than most. Though I'm sure that I'm not the only one." She looked over at Fluttershy, giving her a nod. "You noticed it too, didn't you?"

"Oh, um, yes," Fluttershy replied, blushing slightly. "I've never seen a filly or colt walk with that much confidence while surrounded by older ponies." She smiled sympathetically at Dawn. "It must be hard, ponies not taking you seriously because they think you're so young."

Dawn looked away, glaring at the ground. "You have no idea."

"Oh. Idea!" sang Rarity. "I know just the thing to help! Come by my boutique after lunch. I'll whip something up that will destroy those age misconceptions once and for all!"

Dusk shook her head. "We've tried that already. It doesn't work. Make-up does nothing, and more adult outfits just make her look ridiculous."

"Which is why I shan't be using either." Rarity giggled at the confused looks she received. "Applejack, darling, how old would you say the various Wonderbolts are?"

Applejack blinked, confused at the sudden change in topic and focus. "Shoot, I' don't know," she said, scratching her head. "Maybe about 20? 25?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as Rarity raised a hoof. "What about you, Twilight?" she asked. "Does that sound about right to you?"

"I don't know," said Twilight, rubbing her chin. "They look a little younger than that, but I can't see anypony actually making it in any younger then 20." A throat was loudly cleared beside her, prompting a roll of the eyes. "Except for you, Rainbow Dash."

"You know it!" said Rainbow, smirking. "Just watch, one more year, and I'll be the youngest Wonderbolt in history. But you're all waaaay off. Most of the Wonderbolts are in their thirties. Heck, Spitfire's 46 and has a couple of grandfoals."

Jaws dropped all around. "You're pullin' our tails," Applejack accused. "Ain't no way they're that old. Spitfire don't look a day over 20, an' I only pegged them all as older 'cause I knew they had to be."

Rainbow smirked. "Ever seen them without their suits on? I'll admit, Spitfire looks smoking for a grandma, but the others? Take off their suits and you can see it easy. Why I bet if you put Dawn in one of those, she'd look like a newborn foal!"

"Actually," corrected Rarity, ignoring Dawn's simmering rage, "she wouldn't look any younger. No offence dear, but at this point it would be impossible." Grudgingly, Dawn nodded in agreement. "But if we did put you in such a bodysuit, everyone would do for you what Applejack and Twilight just did for the Wonderbolts."

Fluttershy's eyes widened as understanding dawned on her. "Of course, they'd add on a few years. Ponies have been seeing athletes in jumpsuits their whole lives and know that the ponies that wear them are older than they look."

"Not to mention how it'd make her muscles stand out," added Applejack. "If we get a tight jumpsuit like that on her, ain't nopony goin' to think those muscles belong to a filly."

Twilight looked over to the two sisters, seeing their jaws slack as these mares solved a problem that had plagued them for longer then they could possibly know. Twilight giggled, catching their attention. "Dusk, Dawn, I think you're going to like Ponyville."

Comments

[Show Stopper]

7433856 I am rather proud of it, yes.

[Fistfire]

I like this story, but you need to proofread it,find someone who will.