Misfortunes

by Spectral

The calm

Chapter 2
As Applejack and Rainbow Dash left the farm, carrying a bag each with apple pies and apple cider, they passed Apple Bloom.
"Hey there! Where y'all goin with those bags?"
"Me and Dash here are headin to Whitetail Wood for a picnic" answered Applejack.
"Oh! Can I come?" Apple Bloom looked excited.
"No can't do, sugarcube. Why don't you go hang out with Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo instead?"
"Actually", she said, "I was just on my way to them now." And with that Apple Bloom walked past them towards Ponyville, the opposite direction they were going.
"See y'all later!" she said as she were walking by.
Rainbow Dash looked confused. Applejack smiled at her and said:
"She probably didn't even think she'd be allowed to come in the first place." Applejack's facial expression suddenly changed, now looking a bit excited.
"Hey", she said, "Dare race me?"
"You bet" was the reply as Rainbow Dash started flapping her wings and rose a half a meter in the air, but came to an abrupt stop as Applejack bit her tail to hold her down.
"Don't you dare use them wings of yours, that's cheatin" said Applejack between her teeth.
"Fine" Rainbow Dash said reluctantly. As she landed on the ground and Applejack let go of her, she immediately ran off, while laughing.
"Catch me if you can!"
Applejack smiled as she started running as well, feeling alive as her powerful legs brought her forward and as she started catching up with Rainbow Dash.
It took them about 20 minutes to get to Whitetail Wood, but they didn't stop there. Running next to each other they kept on running through the forest a good hour or so, and eventually came to a field, next to a steep, but not very high mountain cliff. In front of the cliff was a small stone plateau, raising a meter or so above the field. On both sides of the field, the forest came reached all the way to the cliff, and even a bit up on the plateau. Near the forest, the plateau was grassy, but further out it was just smooth stone. A small river was running down the cliff side, onto the plateau and then into the forest. The field was quite small, about 10 meters across and 30 meters wide.
When they came to the field, both ponies stopped exhausted, falling to the ground while breathing heavily.
"Draw?" asked Applejack while trying to catch her breath.
"Draw" answered Rainbow Dash. She was too tired too care, and though winning was usually very important to her, right now it didn't seem like a big deal.
The running had been really hard, both of them sweating in the sunshine, seeing as they both carried fully packed bags. After a minute or so, Rainbow Dash took a look around.
"Hey!", she said."This is the perfect place for the picnic!" Applejack couldn't do anything but to agree; The place was beautiful.
They walked up to the plateau, and upon seeing the small river they decided to take a bath. They put their bags next to the river and jumped in. The water wasn't even a meter deep, but it was cool and refreshing. The played in the water for about half an hour, before Applejack got cold and went up to the rocky part of the plateau to dry in the sun.
As Rainbow Dash watched the dark yellow pony lie down, eyes closed since she was facing the sun and the light yellow hair moving slowly with the wind, she felt a sting in the heart. She had always had special feelings about Applejack, but she had never told anypony. Neither was she planning to, of fear of what might happen. Instead, she got out of the water, shook most of it off, and started picking out stuff from the bags for the picnic, since she was really hungry. Applejack opened a green eye and looked at her, before giving her a brief smile and turning back to the sun. This made Rainbow Dash feel warm inside and she smiled while she put out the blanket on the ground and the food on it. Before she was finished, Applejack came and helped her with the last things. Together, they ate a meal consisting of apple pie and apple cider. Rainbow Dash loved it, but to Applejack, it wasn't really anything special. She ate that kind of food all the time, even though she had to admit she liked it.
After putting the plates and blanket away they went into the forest to look around a bit and play. It was when Rainbow Dash playfully flew up into the air above the trees to do a loop, that she noted the wind. It wasn't that strong yet, but it caught her with surprise and she spun around a few times in the air. Looking in the direction of Ponyville, she became terrified when she saw that big storm clouds had entered the area between them and the village.

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Thanks for reading!
Originally posted here
~ Rainbow Breeze