• Published 21st Oct 2016
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Appledashery Vol. Two - Just Essay



Rainbow Dash and Applejack have a long, joyous, arduous relationship.

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...Still Doing as the Sugarcubes Do

Pinkie gobbled down a tasty treat as she looked across the table full of friends. “What’d you do today, Fluttershy?”

“Oh…” Fluttershy smiled, her body curling and twisting with a feminine squeak. “Spring is the most wonderful time of year. You remember Old Jeremy?”

“Hay, yeah!” Applejack bore a sharp grin, relaxing in her seat. “That’s my favorite tree on your property! Such a strong, stately feller too.”

“Mmm…" Fluttershy nodded. "Well, this year there’ve been two nests built into the boughs of Old Jeremy’s branches. Which is pretty rare, believe it or not. So I spent all afternoon looking after the newborn baby birds while their mothers and fathers went out to fetch some more food. They’re just sooooo cute, and they make the most delightful high-pitched noises when they’re newly born. I can’t wait until they’re old enough to sing and actual melody. That’ll be a really, really… happy day.”

“Well..." Applejack nodded thoughtfully. "...if you ask me, it sounds like a regular ol’ drop of heaven.” She leaned back, scraping the ceiling with bright green eyes that pulsed with each word. “Golly, if there ain’t nothin’ in this world I like than layin back after a long day of apple buckin’ and just… listenin’ to the birds do their thang for nature’s symphony.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. The conversation had gone around the table in a perfect circle multiple times over the past twenty minute. Of all the ponies gathered there, all had joined the chorus. All but one.

Surely it wouldn't be too out of place if she... if she dared to—

"How about you, Rainbow Dash?" Applejack's heart shuddered as she produced those words. Nevertheless, with cavalier farm mare grit, she pierced the opposite end of the table "Ya do anythang today?”

Applejack expected lots of things: a sarcastic squeak. A declaration of boredom. A spontaneous tail of pegasus bravado.

What Applejack did not expect was abject silence. But it was precisely what she got.

That... and a tiny, breathy hum.

“Hmmmm…" Rainbow's figure shifted, nestled in her chair. The sunset was bleeding its way through the windows to Sugarcube Corner, and its glare temporarily obscured Rainbow's expression.

Applejack fought the urge to curse like a sailor. Maintaining a solid breath, she arched an eyebrow and threw a teensy bit of sass into the moment: "Hello, earth to sky pony?”

The stillness persisted. Even Rarity and Twilight were starting to squirm.

Fluttershy coughed for some reason—

Rainbow blurted something beneath her breath, then sat up straight with—as Applejack could finally see—a tired, wispy expression. “Wait, what?”

Applejack was genuinely amused. There was a flutter to her stomach again, and it faintly reminded her of a wayward soul—tiny and precious—that she had held and comforted in a dark alleyway.

“Whatcha doin’ in la-la land over there, sugarcube?” Applejack chuckled. Halfway through the chortle, she realized she was using the same tone of voice she used to tease Apple Bloom. Something about that froze her insides, and she switched it into a more casual gear: “We... were tryin’ to give it the gab! Or at least that’s what I thought we were—”

“Oh! My day! Yeah…” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Such a… good… good day! Full of… y’know… G-good stuff.” She gulped. She looked on the verge of sweating.

Applejack squinted. Was Rainbow still drunk? This long after the Gala? Surely she wasn't the kind of pony to constantly—

“Yaaaay!” Pinkie flipped across the table, flailing a spontaneous array of steamers. “That sounds like fun!” She paused. “I think?”

Rarity looked at Rainbow Dash. “What did you do that was so spectacular, darling?" she asked.

“Oh… y’know…” And Rainbow prattled on, her eyes meeting everypony else's... everypony's but Applejack's.

Or so Applejack thought. She couldn't tell. Her eyes were locked on the tabletop between them... and the tile floor below. When the conversation eventually swung back to her, she answered robotically, throwing in a few countryisms for good measure so her friends wouldn't suspect a thing... even though Applejack didn't know what the "thing" was. In truth, Applejack didn't know what to make of the moment. Everything about that day... about that moment was just...

...confusing.

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