Appledashery Vol. Two

by Just Essay

Letting It Out

"Hmmm..." Applejack hummed, if only to prolong the moment. She had dug herself a deep trench with her last statement, and the waters of Rainbow's curiosity was pouring in on all sides. There was no reason to bother the mare. Applejack considered changing the subject, but the lack of truth was just as much a lie as outright contradicting herself. So—after a firm breath—she casually rolled her eyes and droned: “T’ain’t no big deal.” It was cheating, but still true. In a sense.

But then Rainbow's voice swiftly cracked. "No. No, I wanna know.”

Applejack had given herself an out, but Rainbow wasn't having any of it. In some strange way, it was actually comforting. "Well..." She spoke slowly, breathily—so as not to inflect too much and suggest something dreadfully ominous. "I had to give up an awful lot of apples to prepare for… y’know… my ‘special sale’ at the Gala.”

“Oh?” Rainbow blinked. Then her ears drooped. She understood. “Oh…”

“Yeah…” Applejack gulped. “I only have myself to blame.”

“Huh? For what?”

“Well, it was somethin’ of a nasty gamble on my part.”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “We all put our hopes and dreams into that Gala! It wasn’t our fault that it royally crashed and burned!”

Applejack wanted to wince, but she couldn't afford to. Not in front of her friend. She took the moment to avoid Rainbow's gaze. “Wasn’t it, though?"

“Yeah, well…”

Applejack didn't like the awkward lilt in Rainbow's voie, so she shifted the conversation. “Makes no difference,” she said. “I feel bad for ya gals. Really, I do. Especially Rarity and her dream of romance come true.”

Rainbow smirked. “Pfft… yeah, well… That mare dug herself in deep.”

“Not as deep a hole as I dug for my entire family.” Applejack’s ears drooped, realizing that she had inadvertently steered the conversation back into the flooded trench. “The apples don’t just belong to me, y’know. They represent the cream of the crop of Sweet Apple Acres." She almost felt like she was whining, but then she remembered who she was talking to. If this was any other mare, Applejack would undoubtedly hold back. But somehow—Rainbow Dash's realistic approach to everyday circumstances made Applejack relaxed. After all, the petite pegasus had a knack for it herself. The farm mare found her words rolling out quite naturally, without any hint of melancholic inflection. "When I invested the bushels for the sample table, I took a big cut out of what could have earned us regular profit. Now we’re behind in stock for the upcoming harvest. I’m still not sure how I’m gonna break it to Granny Smith and Big Mac. Someway, somehow, we’re gonna have to preserve some of what we have in store and bank on a really big cider season.”

“Wow, AJ.” Rainbow sounded more worried than Applejack had expected. The air around them and the patio grew thick. “I didn’t realize how involved all of that was. Though, I guess it makes sense…”

Applejack should have stopped then and there. She didn't. It felt too good to share it with someone... anyone.

But this wasn't just anyone. This was Rainbow Dash, her friend.

Possibly even her best friend...

“I had so much bet on this Gala earnin’ us the bits,” Applejack spoke with greater and greater ease. “I was bitin’ off more than I could chew. It’s only my fault, of course. I just wish the whole family didn’t have to flounder around because of it. Just because I did it for them don’t make it proper.”

All was still. And the euphoria with which Applejack expressed her feelings was swiftly drowned out by anxious silence. She wondered if she had overstepped her boundaries... if she had burdened Rainbow Dash with her troubles. Applejack had always sought to be a strong, self-supportive pony. Dishing her troubles out on others—especially during a vacation—felt downright foalish. Regret stacked up by the second, and just when Applejack felt she had reached the choking point...

...she heard a cartoonish series of gulps from her side.

Curious, Applejack turned her head and stared at Rianbow Dash squarely.

Rainbow Dash was chugging away at the contents of her "sandpaper" cider. After a long, long guzzle, the mare slapped a hoof over her chest and exhaled: “Phweeeeee!” Then, with bloodshot eyes, Rainbow leaned forward and bravely hissed, “If a bunch of Canterlot hackjobs could sell this crap for bits, then I know for a fact that you’re gonna sell the heck out of all your friggin’ apple juice, Applejack! Don’t you worry your big blonde head over nothin’, girl!”

Applejack blinked. What Rainbow Dash had said was undoubtedly the dumbest thing ever voiced by an equine being in the history of the world.

It was precisely what she needed to hear. "Heheheh..." She chuckled in time with the suddenly warm thumps of her fuzzily-contained heart. “Yer somethin’ else, Rainbow. You know that?”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Rainbow Dash winked.

“I dunno, sugarcube, but it feels mighty fine to have a loyal marefriend believe in me so much.” She reached over and playfully punched the pony’s shoulder. “Thanks a bunch.”

Rainbow let loose a wheezy chuckle, rubbing her shoulder with particular zeal. “Don't mention it.”

Comments

[DrEggnog]

“I dunno, sugarcube, but it feels mighty fine to have a loyal marefriend believe in me so much.”

I just peed a little.

[Phoenix Kitten]

 “Phweeeeee!” Then, with bloodshot eyes, Rainbow leaned forward 

and....it begins.

[Lamplighter]

All was still. And the euphoria with which Applejack expressed her feelings was swiftly drowned out by anxious silence. She wondered if she had overstepped her boundaries... if she had burdened Rainbow Dash with her troubles. Applejack had always sought to be a strong, self-supportive pony. Dishing her troubles out on others—especially during a vacation—felt downright foalish. Regret stacked up by the second, and just when Applejack felt she had reached the choking point...

I feel like this speaks so much to Applejack's character. After her parents death when she saw what was happening with the farm she felt a great sense of emotional abandonment.

Her grandmother and brother were so wrapped up in their own sorrow that they couldn't help her overcome hers. And more importantly, deep within her heart I feel that Applejack felt abandoned when her parents died. They left her forever and would never come back. To a young child that must be the most devastating thing of all.

She tried to make an island of herself. She stands like the trunk of a great tree, holding up all the important things in her life. Her family, her Farm and her friends. But over time, the emotional Solitude of being the foundation for everything around her, of having no true Peer or equal to share her burdens and her love and laughter with, has started to erode the Earth under her roots.

[Thursday]

OMG

[DrEggnog]

8390696
This dude here is paying attention.

[zaponator]

We've almost reached the start of Rainbow's totally-not-Austraeoh adventures!

[Jern]

Rainbow smirked. “Pfft… yeah, well… That mare dug herself in deep.”

I groaned and then laughed.

I love oblivious Dash.