Appledashery Vol. Two

by Just Essay

Seguedash

"I gotta get up pretty early in the morning." Rainbow trotted down the center orchards of Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack threw a surprised glance at her. She cleared her throat and nodded.

"Cloud kicking business and all," Rainbow Dash explained, kicking the dirt with a foalish gesture.

"Oh yeah?" Applejack was curious what a pegasus considered to be 'early.' "At what time?"

"Eleven."

"Pffft... sure, alright," Applejack was already laughing.

Rainbow Dash squinted at her. "...what?"

Applejack immediately regretted her last few exhales. Avoiding Rainbow's gaze, she wheezed: "Just that one pony's definition of 'early' differs a mite bit from another's, I reckon."

"There are no plows in Cloudsdale," Rainbow droned. "Cuz there's no dirt."

"I dun mean no offense," Applejack said. He chuckled to hide the awkward tremble in her voice. "But just wait 'til they're fetchin ya at six in the mornin'."

"No way..." Rainbow blinked. "Six?"

Applejack smirked. "This is Ponyville, sugarcube. Ponyvilleans are gonna get up early."

"Whew... well..." Rainbow flicked her tail. The sun caught every spectral glint of her mane. "I'm gonna need a morning pick-me-up."

A silly thought entered Applejack's head. It closely resembled a tabby cat sleeping nose-to-tail on a fluffy cloud that dwarfed its petite stature. The cat had a colorful coat...

"Then—" She blurted. "—y'all should stop by Sugarcube Corner before ya head in for yer shift." She pointed towards town as if that would somehow explain it. "They've got plenty of treats and drinks that'll get ya perky as a frog clingin' to a stampedin' bull!"

"Minus the country tongue twisters, I'm guessing," Rainbow said, smirking devilishly.

"Uh..." It was Applejack's turne to be facetious. "I do believe the correct term is 'countryism,' thank ya kindly."

"Heheheh... Sugarcube Corner. Okay. Cool. Thanks."

"Just be on the look out for Pinkie Pie."

"Who?"

"The cafe owners' niece." Applejack smiled. "She's quite a doozy of a personality. But, that bein' said, she'll wake ya up!"

"I... will keep that in mind. And... uhm..."

Rainbow's ears folded. She came across as pensive suddenly.

Applejack locked up in place. "Hmmm?"

Rainbow Dash smiled. It was the most genuine curve of the lips she had given since arriving there. "Thanks for the apples... n'stuff, y'know?"

"Nothin' to it, sugarcube." Applejack gave a wink and a smile. "It's the least we can do for y'all. Ponyville's hospitality is the Apple Family's hospitality, after all."

"Heh. Okay." Wing stretches. A tail flick. Color and a cracking voice and more color. "I'll try not to crash land in any peach orchards by accident next time."

"Heh. Better not." Applejack took her hat off... realized it was too 'handsome' of a gesture—so she used it to wave instead. "Welcome to the neighborhood, darlin'."

"Yeah, I'm feeling it." Rainbow Dash turned to fly off.

Applejack's head went to the first moment she laid eyes on the curious scamp struggling to claw her way out of a fresh crater in the earth. "And Rainbow Dash..."

Rainbow Dash was momentarily anchored in place. She looked back, blinking cutely.

Applejack locked and loaded. "Happy birthday." Placing her hat back on, she turned around and trotted back to the farm house.

She heard a thunderous clap in the air—something too enormous and epic to belong to such a small pony. But, for some reason, Applejack knew better. It wasn't until she was back at the wagons and apple baskets that she allowed herself to look east towards the sky above town.

A swath of clouds had split in two, and she could scarcely make out a bluer-on-blue speck in the distance... trailing with vapors and rocketing through the troposphere at enviable speeds.

Applejack's ears rang. It took her a few seconds to understand why, but from the inhaling of her lungs...

...she realized she had just whistled.

Such a curious thing. She felt like she should have been embarrassed.

She smiled instead... and returned to her work with casual vigor.

Comments

[MidnightReflection]

Reading while walking back home. Great combination!

She liked Rainbow all along and just didn't notice it.

[Phoenix Kitten]

Well AJ, there's how love feels, so natural you don't even realise it.

[Lamplighter]

I wonder when AJ gets her little keepsake. I would have bet here, but I guess it comes a little later.

[DrEggnog]

i.ytimg.com/vi/8mZ7Ynfve1k/maxresdefault.jpg

[zaponator]

And then they both bottled up their feelings for years with no ill effects whatsoever!

[Sir Mediocre]

Ahhhh.

Impetus.

[Booster Spice]

And then Dash kicked her next hoof sized cloud and Pinkie appeared with her Welcome Wagon from behind it.

[Leftover of Saikano]

And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and lots of sexual tension.

[arancaytar]

"The cafe owners' niece." 

I somehow missed that Pinkie was related to the Cakes in this story.

Though I guess it makes sense. Pie, Cake...