To Jack a Rainbow

by Toraka

Chapter 3

Applejack stepped out into the fresh morning air. This was late for her. Usually, she'd be ready to work at sunrise, rather than when the sun had already been warming the orchards. Then again, it was her day off, so she could spend all day watching the lined up trees in the orchard if she wanted. The grass beneath them was still a bit moist with morning dew.

Applejack liked that. At least something looked like it was alive during those cold times.

For relaxation, amongst other reasons, she and Rainbow Dash were to have another friendly Iron Pony competition. Some ponies may have called the simple idea of such a competition exhausting, but not the two athletes.

Speaking of which, where was the second in the pair? They were supposed to meet at Sweet Apple Acres at sunrise, so Applejack had expected Dash to be already waiting.

Before she could wonder about her wherabouts too much, though, the pegasus dropped right in front of her, kicking up dust with an extremely forceful impact. Rainbow didn't seem to worry about it, though.

"Uh, don't that hurt, sugar? An'... why are ya all sweaty 'n' stuff? Ya look like ye've been ta Canterlot 'n' back, at least."

"Well, answer to both questions: I did go to Canterlot really early. Twilight told me there are some really good unicorn doctors there, and there are, so I could get a faster recovery on my ankle." She idly ran a hoof through her mane.

Slowly, a thought was processed in Rainbow Dash's still sleepy mind. Applejack cut it off before it could finish. "Is it just me not seein' it, or didya lose yer gem, sweetheart? Ya know it's really important fer when yer runnin' thru the sky an' don' hear nopony."

"Oh no! Must've been the impact. Where is it?" She never told anypony, but the gem reacting to a fitting calling spell served more than one group of ponies that'd call for her.

"Over here!" While it adjusted it's color to fit Rainbow's mane wherever she put it, the gem had turned a bright red, so it was easy to spot. Rainbow picked it up and worked it into her hair again.

"Ya know, Ah've always wondered if there's somethin' ta the shape. Pretty odd, like, some kinda double, angled J, but then those things on the outside."

"Eeh, that's just how it came to be when Twilight created it."

"Didn't ya request that shape? Nah, must be somethin' else Ah'm thinkin' 'bout... lil' Apple Bloom's dolly! Yeah, that's it." Unnoticed to Applejack, Dash's eyes flinched from side to side while she spoke.

"Yeah. As if I cared how it looks, like, really. I mean, everything I wear has to fit my awesomeness, but this kinda already does by itself. It's more about function, anyway."

---

It had been a month now since that very special party at the library. Winter had fallen, as expected. Applejack wasn't sure how she felt about winter. On one hoof, it meant she had a lot less to do. No plants to tend to. She had much more free time for a certain mare.

On the other, wasn't this what made her entire existance? Planting, treating, harvesting whatever grew on the farm? Now, everything was either black, seemingly dead wood or covered under a suffocating blanket of snow.

Cold. Lifeless. Dead. The white consumed all. It wouldn't be until spring that the world's colors and life returned. She paused on her way into Ponyville, leafless trees lined up left and right. She exhaled and looked at the sky.

As if the gray of the world down on the ground wasn't enough, the sky also was painted in the same, monotonous style. Applejack was about to continue her journey, burdened with depressing thoughts, when a flash of color suddenly broke through the clouds.

It was just like all those days in her foalhood when she would look up, hoping and sometimes managing to catch a glimpse of that little dot that occasionally had a rainbow trail behind it.

Fortunately, that dot now was a grown mare, much closer down in front of a gray, not equally blue background, and also headed towards Applejack. She decided to start walking again. Perhaps it'd create an atmosphere of obliviousity or disinterest, even though she knew Rainbow had seen her looking up.

"Hey. Whatcha doing?" Both mares spoke simultaneously as Dash came into talking distance.

"Nothing of importance. No work today." As synchronised as their greeting was, as was their response.

"Mind if I walk with you for a while?" Rainbow Dash retracted her wings, dropping to the ground.

"Not at all, sweetheart. Ah think Ah'm goin' ta Twilight's. She's got a book Ah think them Crusaders could use."

The bell above the door of Ponyville's library rang. "Hello! Who... Ah, it's you, Applejack. What can I do for you today?" Twilight immediately noticed she was not needed as a friend, but as a librarian.

"Hey there Twilight. Ah was wonderin' if Ah could borrow a book - well, obviously - fer mah sister an' her lot. Ah don' remember the title, but it's somethin' about a few safe things ta do when yer lookin' fer yer cutie mark. Saw it some time ago while Ah was waitin' here. Thought they could use it."

"I know which one you mean, AJ. It should be under F for Foals' Books. Let's see... Ugh, it's always this section that never gets reorganised. Suppose I'll have to." Twilight literally jumped into the pile of books that was the young pony section.

After some seconds, her head popped out, holding one between her teeth. She trotted back over to Applejack and packed the book into the earth pony's saddlebags with her magic.

"Thanks Twi'. Maybe that can distract them fillies fer some time. Celestia knows what they are up to again. Gravity defyin', Manticore wrestlin', ice skatin'... Hey, that last one don't sound so bad. Maybe Ah should ask Pinkie ta give 'em lessons."

"Not Pinkie. She's already a danger for reality on her own. Do you really want to give her three assistants?"

An image shot into Applejack's mind. Ponyville was burning. Pinkie sat on a throne made of skulls, cackling as Applejack had to turn a wheel. 'Keep going, AJ!' Applejack shivered as her mind shot back into reality. It would be either that or the universe would finally implode from Pinkie's impact.

She couldn't decide which was worse. "Eeh, ye'r right. Let's not take any risks. G'bye."

"Bye Applejack!"

Applejack had walked a fair distance away from the library when she remembered that, since it was Saturday, the three fillies would most likely be at their club house, which was almost in the same direction as her home, where she came from. She had been walking away from it since she left the library.

Just as she turned around, a medium crowd of ponies came by. *Heh, why not? Maybe Ah can catch Rainbow off guard with what she's been teachin' me.*

She, if just for fun, decided to apply her love's teachings and move with the crowd. Blending in. Becoming invisible in plain sight.

Things went fairly well for Applejack. Perhaps the group was moving a little slow, but it moved her way and was large enough to hide in. There was nopony in it that would know her and start a conversation, either.

Over time, she adapted. Her hoofsteps synchronised with those of the ponies around her. Her legs moved on their own, so Applejack lost herself in thought. Ever so slowly, she lost her body feelings. Instead, she felt connected. Not an individual or a part, but the whole mass of ponies around, at once.

Applejack snapped out of her trance quickly when she noticed how she had transcended her part to become the whole. She groaned, much louder than she intended. The reason behind that was her stomach, increasing the noise's volume with its complaint about emptiness.

She had skipped breakfast and not eaten since then. She suddenly remembered that. Applejack clenched her chest with a hoof from the pain coming with the hunger.

All of a sudden, something feeling somewhat like paper was shoved on the raised foreleg. The earth pony first inspected the object - it was a bag from Sugarcube Corner - then her eyes followed the light blue leg still supporting the bag up to it's point of origin.

Her survival instincts kicked in at last and made Applejack jump backwards.

Rainbow Dash stopped a golden stopwatch in the style of a traditional pocket watch. "Four seconds. Reflexes aren't yours, are they?" She threw the watch backwards, clearly not caring where it'd land.

"How didya..."

"Sneak up on you? Spot you in the crowd, even though you were perfectly following what I taught you? Operate a stopwatch that's smaller than my hooves without magic?"

"Kinda like that, yes."

"Your efforts are admirable. You looked like you grasped the principle of becoming one with the crowd, even. You're still at the rank of a fresh trainee, though."

"Ah'm in trainin' now?"

"Heh, not really. Only ponies that volunteer for our cause are taken in. At any rate, it is neither time for you to join, even if you wish, nor for us to accept another member."

"Iiiif you say so."

Rainbow exhaled. "Yes. It will all be revealed in time, I promise. As for the second question, pegasus eyes. Like an eagle's eye, you could say."

"Except that eagles are predators and you are a harmless herbivore, Dashie."

"Harmless... Well, herbivore for sure. Gilda made me try some of her rations once. I kept vomiting until two days after. Don't laugh! I bet the filly you would have done the same thing in my position!" Rainbow snapped as Applejack chuckled.

"Yeah... Sure would." The picture of a young Rainbow Dash trying to chew a string of salt meat with her blunt teeth didn't leave her mind. "He he he. Do Ah really wanna know how ya did that fancy thing with tha stopwatch?"

"Why did I even suggest that question? Well, I can't tell you. Pinkie Promise."

Applejack remembered when she had attempted to circumvent a made Pinkie Promise. It had been her last roundup for a long time. She decided to not push the point and instead open the bag. Two muffins with pinks frosting came into her view.

"Raspberry, right? Ah'd like ta know where Pinkie is gettin' those at this time of tha year... Oh well. Thanks, Dash. Good ta have a spot of color in this cold wasteland sometimes." Applejack took one of the pastries, then hoofed the bag back to Rainbow Dash, who took the other.

"You're welcome. I figured you could use a little pick-up since you didn't eat breakfast and all."

"How do ya know that? Yer not following me all day, are ya? Nah, can't, yer sleepin' way too long fer that."

"Yeah. I mean... Yeah. I simply guessed from how hungry you look." Rainbow Dash explained. A very attentive pony might have picked up the slightest tone of nervosity in her voice. Applejack did not.

---

"Hey girls! Whatcha doin'?" Applejack looked in through the window of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' club house. She felt it was more respecting to their privacy, as they could still deny her entrance through the door.

"Heya Applejack. We're jus' doin' some plannin'. Hey, do ya know how much a chicken weighs?" Her sister Apple Bloom responded.

"'Bout five pounds, those that we got. Why do ya wanna know?"

"We're calculating how big our catapult has to be. We wanna shoot Scootaloo into space, you know." Sweetie Belle answered.

"Isn't that a bit..."

"Totally not. We've tried about anything by now. Maybe the others can get their marks in physics, while I get it for doing tests while flung into space. Aerial faith, you know?" Scootaloo finished.

"Can Ah come in?"

"Of course, sis'. Tha door's open."

"Thanks." Applejack walked inside and up to the table where the Crusaders had a mess of paper spread out. "Is that magic writin'? Much too clean ta be mouth written. Yer makin' progress quick, Sweetie."

"Gee, thanks..."

"Ya do know that G is nine point eight, not seven, right? Sorry, jus'... jus' somethin' tha' caught mah eye."

All three of the fillies turned back towards their calculations and started to hastily recalculate. "Darn, nine point eight..." "Carry over the two..." "Gravitational constant multiplied by mass..."

Apple Bloom was first to let out a disappointed sigh, then the others joined in. "We don' have enough material fer it ta be that big."

"Heh, don' let that draw ya down. Reminds me, Ah got somethin' fer you. It should help ya in jus' that situation." Applejack pulled out the book she had borrowed earlier and laid it onto the table.

The Crusaders started reading the title page aloud. "'Blank Flank and Blank Mind?'" "'One hun'red safe ideas 'n' inspirations fer colts an' fillies still lookin' fer their cutie mark.'" "'Does not contain instructions on how to launch small pegasi into orbit.' Awww."

"Yep! Give it a try, it's been written fer foalies even more... active than you. If that is possible."

Scootaloo shrugged. "I suppose we could. But if it's all boring about doing what you can and love to do and such rubbish, you can return that to... wherever you got it from, Twilight?"

"Ah promise ya'll be a might busy with tha'." Applejack encouraged. "Gotta give Ponyville some time ta rebuild..." She added under her breath.

Sweetie Belle was scanning through the pages, with Scootaloo reading along in interest, even though the book was upside down for her. "'Basic and advanced chemistry. Sorry to disappoint you, but we won't be making explosives.'" She quoted. "Eh. Sounds interesting nonetheless, to be honest."

"Alright, y'all have fun with that, Ah'll be off. Gotta meet somepony... somewhere."

After Applejack was gone, the three Crusaders were still reading in the book she had brought. "Somepony... Who does she think she's fooling, she's with Rainbow Dash." Sweetie Belle started.

Scootaloo snorted in amusement. "Totally."

"Let her. Wha's wrong with her'n'Dash bein' together?" Apple Bloom stopped her friends.

"Gee, Bloom, we're just joking on her futile attempts at lying. No need to react like that."

"Sorry. Ah jus' love mah big sis' an' want her ta be happy, so nopony should stand between them two."

"That's a great attitude. D'ya wanna write a letter to Celestia about it?" Scootaloo joked.

"Hmm... nah. Hey, check out page fourty-two!" Apple Bloom responded, drawing the attention of the group back to their lecture.

Comments

[Toraka]

In case you're wondering, Earth's escape velocity is about 11200 m/s, so you'd need about 28 kN of force if Scootaloo weighs 5 pounds (or 2.5 kilograms, as real scientists say it.). That's without calculating air friction, which would make her KFC almost immediately after launch.
The fun thing is, you don't really need G in that calculation. Silly CMC.

[rainbowdash0301]

Toraka holy crap! How did u know that?

[Toraka]

797610 Uhm... physics? Like, having to suffer through two years of that subject? If you aren't referring to my own comment, please be more specific on what I knew.

[NikitaKitten]

Sorry, but your suffering in physics class wasn't sufficient. You are correct in that 28 kN of force would get her to escape velocity, but that is not the whole story. What you calculated was the force required to accelerate her to escape velocity if that force were to be applied for one second. I believe that you improperly applied F = ma, by confusing acceleration and velocity.

The acceleration needs only to be greater than zero if Scootaloo is to reach escape velocity. Now, if the required velocity is 11.2 km/s, then we get a = v/t, where v is the escape velocity, and t is the amount of time that the force is applied. For instance, if it were a catapult providing the force, t might be a second or so. If it were a chemical rocket, it would be more like 30 seconds. If it were an ion thruster (ignoring the fact that their thrust is usually in the single Newtons) then t is practically infinite. So then you end up with F = mv/t to get the required force. Of course you would have to add the force to counteract Scootaloo's weight, which would start at F = mg = 24.5 N and diminish the farther she got form earth, but I'm pretty sure you'd have a differential equation on your hands if you wanted to include that term. Plus as you mentioned, air resistance, which would be even more complicated to calculate as it has to do with several factors, the variables for which would change depending generally on how high she was.

But, as long as they had a way of generating more than 24.5 N of thrust constantly, they would eventually get Scootaloo to escape velocity. Or any other velocity.

Plus, they didn't say anything about escape velocity, only about getting her into space. The amount of energy required to go up 100 km is much less than the amount required to escape the Earth completely.