Above All Else

by 8686

Taken for Granted

The morning sun shone its warm golden rays down into a bright, clear spring day, and onto the two peaceful ponies sleeping beneath. The clean scent of fresh pine carried on the cold breeze and birds chirped happily in the copse as Applejack, warm and content, reluctantly left sleep behind and returned to the world once more.

She gave a stretch and a protracted, undignified noise somewhere between a moan and a grunt, noting in the meantime that there was something wrong with the way her back was moving, as though some soft, warm weight were pressing on it from behind. Her smile grew as she relaxed from her stretch and she cozied down, pulling her warm, thick covers up a little higher, determined to have another hour in–

"Ouch! Hey, careful!"

Applejack's eyes snapped open to find that she wasn't in bed at home. Instead she was laid on her side on the hard, rocky ground of the plateau, using a log for a pillow. And yet, for all that, she was surprisingly comfortable.

She looked down at the blanket she'd tugged on to find it wasn't there. Instead, draped cosily over her middle was a wonderfully warm blue wing covered in luxuriously soft, downy feathers. The remainder of Rainbow Dash's body was snugged against her from behind, her belly against Applejack's back and the rest curled around her as best as she could manage, with Dash's chin resting gently on the back of her neck.

Applejack let her head drop back to the log and just enjoyed the feeling of her friend cuddled up against her for a moment, allowing sleep to recede naturally. Then, after a few seconds, she spoke up. "Uh, Rainbow? Is there somethin' I should know?"

Rainbow raised her head from Applejack's neck slightly, just to allow her jaw to work more easily. "The fire went out about two hours ago. You started shivering in your sleep. I had to keep you warm, so..."

Applejack smiled. "Thanks, Dash."

"Told you I'd be there for you," said Rainbow softly, resting her head once more.

"I never said you weren't," Applejack riposted playfully. "So, this is strictly a survival thing?"

"Yep. Just like Daring Do would have done. Body heat and such."

"Uh-huh," said Applejack, nodding sagely. "Well, we'd best get up then, I guess."

"Yeah yeah," said Dash faintly, nuzzling into the back of Applejack's neck, hugging her a little tighter. "Just... in a sec, okay?"

Applejack grinned a grin that Rainbow Dash couldn't see. "You know, if you'd woken me up, I could'a got the fire going again," she teased.

There was a split-second pause. Then, "Whatever, shut up. This is good too."

They lay together for a few long minutes, peaceful and happy and comfortable until at last, by unspoken agreement, and with no small measure of reluctance, they separated, roused and stood.

Having failed to remove her Stetson before sleep, it had fallen off in the night. Seeing it nestled against the other side of the log, Applejack stooped and picked it up, dusting it off and turning it over in her hooves, just looking at it. "Y'know, Dash... I never said thank you for findin' this, and giving it back," she said.

Dash winced a subtle, annoyed wince and looked around self-consciously at nothing in particular. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

Applejack looked up. She raised a deliberate eyebrow in Rainbow's direction.

Rainbow Dash looked back at her with a faint frown. "Look, you gotta stop thanking me for stuff, okay? It feels... weird."

Applejack put a little confused frown on. This, coming from the pony who never said it? "Whaddya mean, 'weird'?"

"I mean weird. I mean, 'Thanks' is what you say to that pony on the train who lets you have the seat next to them. It's what you say when somepony stops you to give you back something you dropped. 'Thanks' is what ponies who aren't best friends say to each other when one does something nice the other didn't expect. When you say thanks it's like you're surprised or something." Dash was scowling at her now, but beyond that her eyes had turned serious and her gaze meaningful. "I mean, you didn't really think I wasn't gonna give it back..." Her scowl dropped and just for a moment, a worried look appeared. "You didn't... did you?"

"No," Applejack admitted. "I guess not."

"Exactly! Just like I'd never leave you hanging on the side of a cliff. Or leave you stuck in a mud-hole. Or let you freeze solid in the night. And just like you wouldn't either. That's just what we do for each other, right? So what are you thanking me for?" Her expression softened. "You get it, don't you? It's not like I'm ungrateful that you stuck up for me with Rarity. Or that you pulled me out of that river. Or got me down from the epic spider web of doom. It's just, I know for a cold, hard fact that if there's one pony out there who's always got my back no matter what... it's you. So why would I act all surprised when you totally come through for me?"

Applejack stared at Dash and rolled her jaw. For the first time, she got an inkling of where Rainbow Dash was coming from... and surprised herself by deciding it made sense. When was the last time she'd traded gratitude with Big Mac for something he'd done for her? Or Apple Bloom or Granny Smith for something she'd done for them? She didn't, really. Family took care of each other. Without pleases. Without thank-you's. That was just what you did when you were family, because you loved and cared about each other and wanted each other to be happy. The gratitude might be implicit, but it was still very real. The words themselves were redundant.

She was as close to Rainbow Dash as she was to any of her family, and even as that thought formed, she slowly realised just what Dash was telling her: that she would do anything for her without hesitation, and what's more, Applejack could expect everything from her without asking. Even including ridiculously dangerous acts of life-saving bravery. And that she knew the feeling was mutual. Applejack would do anything for Rainbow Dash, and that came as no surprise to the pegasus. They were just that close. They were family.

She smiled. It was odd, wasn't it? There was nothing like being taken for granted to make you feel appreciated.

"I don't know why you're so obsessed with that thing anyway," Rainbow griped, nodding at her hat when Applejack made no reply. "I know you've got a whole closet full of spares."

Applejack flipped the hat onto her head with her easy, practised motion and seated it firmly in place. "Spares or not, there ain't no substitute for the original," she said. She met Dash's gaze. "I'm really glad to have it back, Dash."

"Ugh," Dash rolled her eyes deliberately. "Don't mention it. Seriously."

Applejack chuckled. "Okay, okay, I get it. You win," she said, finally walking towards the precipice and looking out towards home. Ponyville glowed like a distant beacon under the sun's touch this morning. "Well, guess we'd best get a move on before it gets too late in... Dash?"

Rainbow was still behind her, near the dead fire, looking pointedly back towards the thicket of pine trees and the cave beyond it. "I win?" she breathed. She turned her head to look back at Applejack. "You know, we came all this way. I think we at least have to do what we came here for."

"Huh?" asked Applejack, surprised. "Are you tellin' me, after all that talk about you, 'not wantin' to win by forfeit,' that you never even finished the race?!"

"Well excuse me, alright?!" said Dash defensively, "Pretty much my best friend ever had just started yelling at me, and then stormed off looking really upset. I kinda had more important things to think about!" She looked back towards the cave, and then back to Applejack. "You wanna?"

Applejack looked towards the direction of the cave beyond the copse. Then back to Rainbow with a smile. Maybe this was something they could finish as friends – rather than as rivals – after all.

"Sure."

* * *

They made their way through the pines, past Rainbow's failed campsite from the previous night, and stood before the cave side by side. With the sun now well up, its light shone a fair distance into the opening where it caught and glinted from various small crystals of quartz and salt lining the cave walls.

"Didn't you say that nopony who's entered this cave is ever supposed to have come out again?" asked Applejack.

"Uh... I think so," said Dash, with an uncertain expression.

"'Think so?'"

"Well, when I asked Twilight about it yesterday, she said it was that, 'everypony who'd gone in was still in there somewhere.'" She looked at Applejack. "That's the same thing, right?"

"I guess," said Applejack.

"Besides, we've already proved the legend wrong either way, haven't we?"

"Right," said Applejack. She stepped towards the cave and entered it with Rainbow Dash at her side.

With the light of day, the interior of the cave was much less foreboding than the previous night. The back wall was still cloaked in shadow as the light did eventually fade, but once they reached it their night-vision would take over. The two ponies advanced slowly, picking their way carefully around and over the series of silken webs strung across the cave tunnel; the half-repaired life's work of a poor, industrious tarantula currently cowering within a crevice in the cave wall, hoping that the two monsters would pass by without ruining its masterpiece again.

Then the far wall was there in front of them, their eyes beginning to adjust to the gloom this far back. It was a different material than the granite of the rest of the cave; lighter in colour and softer, as though it were soft limestone or hard chalk, part of a larger seam running through the mountain no doubt.

Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash. And smiled. "Go ahead, Dash."

Dash looked back with an exaggerated, offended expression. "Me?"

"C'mon, Dash. Most Awesome Pony? That's what you really want, right? To prove yer the best? Well, it's right there. Go on, I ain't gonna be all fuddy-duddy," she reassured. "Long as you promise not to start gloatin' too much."

"Yeah, I don't think so," said Dash. Then she put on a sincere look. "Maybe being the most awesome pony... isn't as important to me as being something else." She glanced at the wall, then back to her. "Wanna do it together?"

Applejack paused a moment, then nodded. She raised a forehoof and Dash mirrored her.

"Okay," said Dash. "Three... two... oh, one second,"

Applejack instinctively reached out and tapped the wall, expecting Rainbow to do the same. When Dash didn't, she looked horrified for a moment, until she saw Rainbow's grin. "Dash! You did that on purpose!"

"Yeah, maybe." Dash's grin grew. Then she gave a little shrug. "Oh well, now we're just gonna have to find something else we can... oh... wow," she said, suddenly indicating the wall in front of them. "Look." Applejack turned to look at the rock face.

Now that her eyes were fully adjusted, she could see that carved into the soft limestone surface were a series of pictograms. Maybe a dozen or so, of various sizes and complexities, dotted haphazardly around the wall itself with no apparent pattern. "Cave drawings?" she guessed.

"Looks like," said Rainbow from beside her. "Why is there never an egghead around when you need one?"

"These could'a been here for thousands of years," said Applejack in awe, her eyes scanning the images. She made out a sun, a moon, a group of three stars joined by a spiral, a compass... a thorned flower? An... hourglass? Why would ancient cave-ponies carve those? How would they even...?

Oh.

"Dash... they're cutie-marks," Applejack breathed. "Ponies' cutie-marks. Maybe the cutie-marks of every pony who's ever come lookin' for this cave. Like, a signature or somethin'," she reasoned, her eyes scanning the symbols. Celestia. Luna. Maybe Starswirl? Daring Do...?"

"Oh, I get it," said Dash in sudden realisation. "That legend. It's one of those... uh... things. Where it's true, but not like you think it is."

"A metaphor," Applejack offered.

"Gesundhoof," Rainbow responded.

The flier regarded the wall for a moment longer, then stooped and picked up a pointed rock from the ground, gripping it in her teeth. With a deliberate look at Applejack's flank, she pressed the tip to the crumbling surface of the wall, and slowly, carefully, began to carve a trio of apples.

Taking her cue, Applejack found her own rock on the floor and set to her own task, carving a cloud and lightning bolt, doing her best to get the curves right. It certainly helped that her point of reference was right there next to her.

It took only a minute, and then it was done. Applejack and Rainbow Dash's cutie-marks added to the wall, side by side. Two friends, together for all of eternity to come.

With a final, wordless look, they both turned and headed for the exit.

They emerged into the bright sunshine once more, walking slowly for the treeline, and the precipice beyond.

Applejack looked at Dash. Dash looked back at Applejack. Applejack smiled. "Just so we're clear, Dash. I ain't claimin' I won that."

"No?" said Dash with a grin. "But you didn't lose either. So... we tied?"

"Tied," Applejack confirmed, her own grin growing.

They emerged onto the cliff-top and made their way to the edge, looking out over the valley, towards Ponyville in the distance. Then Applejack fixed her gaze on the gorge below them, trying to gauge how far it ran. "Looks like it gets narrower about two or three miles that way," she said, pointing over to the west. "We might be able to find a way across."

"Uh... hello?" said Dash from beside her, prompting her to look round. Dash stood with her wings flared, flapping the tips deliberately, her face relaxed into an easy smile.

"Oh. Right."

Dash gave the requisite two-second pause. Then, "Well? Aren't you going to ask?" She grinned.

Applejack found her own cocky grin once more and firmly met Rainbow's gaze. "I'm waitin' for you to offer."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, then knelt down and nodded towards her back. Applejack climbed on, taking care not to impede the movement of Dash's wings. She settled herself comfortably and wrapped her hooves around the pegasus' belly, hugging her close.

"Okay, hold on tight," said Dash. She spread her wings and galloped for the cliff-edge. A flash of instinctive fear took Applejack as she saw the drop race towards her, but she steeled herself, breathed deeply and hugged her friend a little tighter. And by the time they reached the edge, there was no fear at all.

She was safe. She took it for granted.

They careered off the edge of the cliff, Rainbow Dash's wings catching the warm air and gliding. Then beating twice, powerfully, carrying them aloft. Two ponies, sailing effortlessly through the air in the midmorning sun, carried towards distant Ponyville and home.

Applejack rested her head against her friend's neck, feeling safe and secure on Dash's back as she bore them leisurely northwards. There would be other challenges, she knew. Other races, or dares, or 'deciders.' And she looked forward to them. After all, she thought with a grin, they were still rivals.

But they were friends first. Family even. Rainbow Dash would always be there for her, just as she would always be there for Rainbow Dash.

And this she knew to be true above all else.

Comments

[The Raisin Spazz]

The other two where Rose and the Doctor

In this universe better known as

Roseluck and Doctor Whooves/Time Turner

Am I right?

[Betty_Starlight]

She looked down at the blanket she'd tugged on to find it wasn't there. Instead, draped cosily over her middle was a wonderfully warm blue wing covered in luxuriously soft, downy feathers. The remainder of Rainbow Dash's body was snugged against her from behind, her belly against Applejack's back and the rest curled around her as best as she could manage, with Dash's chin resting gently on the back of her neck.

(Pony snuggles! Cuteness overload!)