Rainbow Dash doesn't do sappy. Mushy, cute, sweet, and romantic are also totally out. So of course she has a crush on an awesome pony who's none of those things: Applejack. Now she just has to find a not-mushy, not-romantic, totally cool way to tell her.
A trip for two to an island paradise seems like the perfect time. Swimming, volleyball, jet skiing, snorkeling-- plenty of chances for a really awesome moment. But when her dumb feelings only let her see sappy romance at every turn, her nightmares might just ruin everything.
(A retelling of Sleepless in Ponyville for Skeeter the Lurker's Switcheroo contest.)
Chapters (1)
Thanks for the entry!
I wish you the best of luck in it!
~Skeeter The Lurker
>She opened her mouth, and blurted out, “I have feelings!”
Yeah, and we always thought Twilight would be the awkward one in dealing with romance. RD has her beat in spades. And cuddlebugs.
lawls~ I want to see art of this so, soooo bad.
I'm more for TwiDash, so sadly I'm going to have to pass on this one.
I just have trouble reading AppleDash for some unknown reason. It just doesn't fit in my head I guess.
6219212
I just can't get into TwiDash. I mostly write AppleDash and TwiJack.
So that's what you ended up going with! Snorkeling ahoy!
6219212 That's fair. I have a raging hatred of some ships, so I won't read those at all. Everyone has their own taste :)
6219223
If you can get into TwiJack I don't see TwiDash being too hard on you. Just remove the accent from AJ, then remove the long backstory, add Boasting and other stuff that Rainbow has, and you have it.
Now that I think of it, I haven't actually read a TwiJack fic. Wow.
6219380
Removing the boasting is what makes TwiJack work differently. AJ is down to earth and level headed, like Twi.
TwiDash is actually more like AppleDash, just give Twi an accent and make her interests more athletic.
6219325
I thought most people's reaction would be something like this:
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
6219380
More info:
What's So Great About AppleDash
How TwiDash is the Most Romantic Ship
How TwiJack is the Most Romantic Ship... Pretty Much Ever
6219387
I think what I like the best about TwiDash is the "Nerd to Athlete" thing. Although most I've read has Dash going to Twi, it still plays a good role in it. I also like how Rainbow thinks a lot like Twilight; like the fact how she panics so easy to almost anything happening. Also Rainbows New Love of books. (I shouldn't say "new" in season 5, but still) I don't like AppleDash mostly because it feels like they are too much alike. They would probably fight all the time because of differing opinions on same subjects that they enjoy. For example: sports, or stuff like that.
I could go on how much, and why I love TwiDash, or why I can't read AppleDash, but if you really don't think that it could come to you to write it, then I won't bother you anymore. Smothering people to do stuff doesn't really work out, and I'm not a complete jerk either.
So, have a nice day!
6219405
Read those essays.
6219512
Sorry.
Air fish! Like birds, but not birds.
6219649
Air fish: Like birds, but cooler.
Wait, how would jet skis even work in—
In any case, a very Rainbow Dash story of burgeoning romance, and I mean that in the best way possible. I was kind of hoping Cadence would somehow be involved in addressing the matter. This is her domain, after all. Still, enjoyable from start to finish. Thank you for it, and best of luck in the judging!
A really cool story. It's always one of the funniest parts of an appledash fic see RD deal with "being romantic." In fact, I think it is one of the most important parts of writing Rainbow in shiping (It's whats makes " Love Means Having to Say You're Sorry " one of my favourites storys). This was a realy cool story, though I kinda feel that the appearance of Luna seemed a bit forced so that the story would resemble better " Sleeplees in ponyville " and would fit in the contest. Is not bad, on the contrary, it's quite funny, but I kinda feel it unnecesary and without motive, an opinion only, I love it anyway.
I was soo looking for this 
Also, another Appledash fic writed by Bookplayer
This was a bit awkward; the same character talking two paragraphs in a row, with such short little paragraphs and the same structure, with a back-and-forth on either side, threw me a bit.
This should have a comma after "him" instead of a period.
Disney called. They want their song back. I'll admit this kind of bothered me. But, I have to admit...
I actually laughed out loud here.
Poor Sebastian.
I loved the whole dream scene with Luna, though; it had a fair bit of funny, and made good use of Luna's, well, Luna-ness. And Rainbow Dash was pretty spot on.
Was this an accidental repetition? The next paragraph felt a bit weird when Applejack was already back on her feet for more hugs.
Anyway, I liked this overall. A bit rough in a few places, but it made me chuckle several times. Expect a full review from me when I get this set done.
6219725 I think that last bit you highlighted was deliberate Pinkie-ness.
Edit: Derp. Misread. Never mind.
Great idea, bookplayer
Your writing is engrossing as always, and your characterisation of Dash and AJ felt spot on (and I particularly love your AJ). It was paced really well, painted some beautiful scenes, and had me smiling pretty much the whole way through. Overall, this was an excellent read 
You also got me laughing with Luna's old-school courting advice, and (of course) the flamethrower comment
I haven't read any Appledash for a while (for shame), but I think you've reintroduced me just about perfectly. Let the Appledashing (re)commence!
6219725 6219726
The last bit was unintentional (gdocs import-- it missed the real line and I copy/pasted the wrong thing) but I'm going to leave it for now. Skeeter gave me permission to fix some typos, but I feel like adding a new line is a bit much. Besides, at least it kind of makes sense for Pinkie.
This is what happens when we finish and post within an hour, kids.
6219746 I think my eyes did a weird thing where I read it as Pinkie letting go and then launching right back into it, which would fit quite nicely for her. Either way, a couple mistakes aside, enjoyable story overall, BP.
WAIT, cuddlebugs are real???? What??? I will be hateing that things.
Good story. goes to favs XD
6219746
Bah! All these judges have to read the entry, clearly they're going to want to read the best entry possible.
Clearly I'm just talking gobbledegook and it was there all along, right?
Cute!
Also...
muzzles
Nice
Nice
I second Rainbow's need for a flamethrower. HEY PYRO! I'VE GOT A JOB FOR YOU!
Pyro: MMMMMM!
"Heavy: He say: Yuuup."
I reviewed this story!
My review can be found here.
Dash, there is no ecsapeing the cuddlebugs. No way at all.
This was the funniest fic I've read in a while. Your portrayal of Applejack was great, and Rainbow was hilarious. "I'm gonna have to get up for this, ain't I" was probably my favorite line.
I had some good laughs on this one. You did a great job showcasing the 3rd best ship.
Nice work, boss.
I love it. You are always the win. <3
This was really cute! Thanks for taking a break from rearing your ridiculously adorable spawn to bring it to us, bookplayer.
That was quite adorable. Not quite as engrossing as your Twijack stories I'm afraid, but very adorable nonetheless.
I bet you Rainbow is a champion snuggler though, once you manage to get her to actually commence the act.
d'aawwwwwwwwww! This was so cute! and I loved the ending!
So, I originally gave this story a thumbs down. I wasn't a big fan of the pairing and the plot, i don't know, just didn't appeal to me that much. General reasons, I guess.
But then I asked myself, 'Am I letting personal bias getting in the way? If this pairing was replaced with a Spike ship, would I have felt the same?' Not to mention, I actually chose to go out of my way to read it, so that was my fault.
Given these circumstances, I'm going to reverse my thumbs down. The writing is solid and just because I have a bias against mane 6 ships is no reason to dislike a story. My apologies.
6224618
I appreciate it. I'm not a fan of Spike ships (except SpikeBloom,) but I've never thumbs downed one just for that. Thank you for reconsidering.
6224633 Yeah, and that's cool. Diversity is what makes the site great. There are stories for everyone. I'm not gonna lie and say I'd read this story again or advertise it to everyone, but it certainly wasn't of poor quality, which is what the downvote button should be reserved for. Keep rockin' my friend.
This was a well written story, I just love loVE LOVE Apple-dash.
And others of corse, but its my fave.
Hnnnnggghgghhgg the adorableness... can't handle the adorableness.
Here lies Shining Nova
He read a fic so good he died.
Lol
. But my initial theory was wrong 
. Instead Luna comes to the rescue to finally get Rainbow to do what she should have done from the beginning.
Anywho I really did thoroughly enjoy reading this story. I feel like it has been quite some time since I have gotten to read a really awesome Appledash fiction.
Rainbow being a chaser is always fun to read and you did a good job fleshing her out.
At the beginning I got the idea that maybe Rarity had a hand in setting them up in the honeymoon suite
I liked that in the end AJ just didn't instantly reciprocate Rainbows love confession. Not that she completely rebuked it. But giving the relationship a chance feels more oragnic than just having them both admit they have always loved each other. I don't have a problem with that concept completely. But it just felt more realistic for one of them to have a hidden crush rather than both of them to have one.
Overall a really fun , cool and adorable story. Great writing, good emotions and a nice ending. The only thing I regret is that it leaves me wanting more.
P.S. sorry my comment got so long winded
Of course you'd write shipping for this contest. Of course you would. :B
6234380
The real question is why everyone else didn't write shipping.
I'll have to admit I wasn't a huge fan of the flamethrower line but I enjoyed the story overall.
6219746
It says a lot about Pinkie Pie that we can see the exact same paragraph two times and not know whether it was a mistake or whether it was simply Pinkie being... well, Pinkie.
If you wanted to, you could replace the 'she' from the second one with 'Applejack' and it'd work fine, but retain that essential Pinkie flavour.
Yeah, if I found out a creature from my nightmares had infested my town, I'd probably be searching for the first flame-producing tool and bottle of hair spray nearby.
Good story, this one.
Now that I read this again I have a question: Does Applejack was hinting on Rainbow for romance or something like that??? I think I understand that since the begining of the story. Is it just me then?
I've reviewed this story (and the other contest entrants, minus mine) here. Good luck tomorrow!
"Rainbow's"
Missing "a."
That was cute and well written. I give it a blushing rainbow out of ten.
6219223 so best background pony is your best pony overall
You can has review!