Twinkle/TOCP's Thirty Minute Ponies Stories

by Twinkletail

Prompt #13: Taking Flight

Prompt: Why is Applejack crying?

Rainbow Dash was absolutely ecstatic. She had been waiting so, so long for this day to come, but for some reason, it kept being put off over and over and over again. There was always one excuse or another that kept it from happening. Sometimes it'd be a viable one; Applejack did have a lot of work to do on her farm, after all. Other days, though, things just got silly. It was the day that AJ declined due to a need to wash her mane that the blue pegasus started to get suspicious. AJ never put that much importance towards washing her mane, and to decline the opportunity to spend some quality time with the Dash for such a reason just didn't sit right with her. Today, though...today, it was going to happen. The farmer had finally run out of excuses. Rainbow might have played a part in that; she did clear out AJ's section of the orchard in record time, and she miiiiiiight have paid Big Macintosh off to wake up early and get some of her other chores done before she could. She wanted this to happen so badly, and had no idea why the farmer was so reluctant, but her avoidance ended today. Today, AJ would fly with her.

Rainbow waited for AJ to leave her room, as she'd headed inside to drop her hat off. The pegasus was baffled as to why she was so reluctant. She'd always taken her significant others that didn't have wings out for a ride through the skies. She did it with Twilight...and that was it, really. Twi and AJ were the only non-pegasus ponies she'd dated. Regardless, she saw it as a nice bonding experience, and one of the few things she'd do for the sole purpose of trying to be romantic. She thought about this as her sweet Apple exited the farmhouse, sweating just a tiny bit.

"Hop on, AJ!" Rainbow said with a smile, kneeling down to accept her passenger. The farmer hesitated.

"How 'bout we jus' go fer a stroll?" Applejack offered. When it was apparent that Rainbow would not falter in her insistence on this plan, the farmer sighed and climbed aboard, resting her body down on Rainbow's back. AJ wrapped all four legs around Rainbow, clutching onto her as if her life depended on it. The pegasus grinned back at her, then flapped her wings and lifted off.

"Well gee that sure was fun Ah guess we can get back home now!" Applejack exclaimed a moment later. This elicited a flat glare from Rainbow.

"We're two inches off of the ground," the rainbow-maned pegasus said.

"Oh...right," AJ muttered. Rainbow snickered, then pulled up into the sky. She looked forward the entire time, remembering how she crashed into the side of a mountain the last time she'd taken her eyes off of her flight path. This allowed her to completely miss the fact that Applejack's eyes remained tightly shut the entire time.

"How's the view back there?" Rainbow asked as she flapped. AJ didn't respond. She just clung to Rainbow as tightly as possible. The pegasus continued to gain altitude, until she found her favorite cloud. It was a cloud that was vaguely shaped like a lightning bolt. Rainbow found it quite fitting. She laid down on top of it, then in a quick motion, rolled over onto her back, using her wings and eventually her legs to keep her lovely farmer on top of her. It was at this point that the pegasus finally noticed AJ's eyes clenched shut.

"The hay are you doing, AJ?" Rainbow asked. "How are you gonna see anything up here with your eyes closed? C'mon, it's really nice up here!" Applejack sighed deeply, then cracked an eye open. She took deep breaths, trying to keep herself calm. After a few moments of one cracked eye, she opened the other one slowly. It wasn't too terrible up here...it was just like she was looking up at the sky, only she didn't have to crane her neck as much. Maybe this wasn't so bad at all...

"There ya go!" Rainbow said with a smile. "And just check out what Ponyville looks like from here!"

It was possibly the worst thing she could have said. Applejack looked down upon hearing this. The ground was so far away...she'd only seen the town from this view once before, and that was when...

Applejack yelped and panicked. She flailed her legs frantically, unknowing of what else to do. This surprised Rainbow, but not as much as it did when the farmer slipped off of her and began to plummet.

"APPLEJACK!" Rainbow screamed. She quickly dove down, flying as fast as she could. Before long, she'd swooped down and caught the orange earth pony. She tried to speak consoling words to her, but it was pointless. AJ was a blubbering mess.

The blue pegasus made haste in touching down on the ground. When she did, she was quickly relieved of her cargo, as the panicking Applejack flopped onto the ground as soon as she knew it was safe. She laid flat on the ground, sobbing and hugging it as if she never wanted to leave it again. Rainbow frowned and laid next to her, resting a protective wing over her and nuzzling her cheek tenderly.

"Applejack..." Rainbow said quietly. "Why didn't you tell me you were afraid of heights?" AJ didn't answer. In truth, Rainbow didn't even need an answer, because the two of them were so alike. Rainbow knew that she would never want anypony to know about her own fears, and Applejack was likely just the same. Rainbow shifted positions and hugged the orange pony tightly, nuzzling again to wipe her tears away.

"Shhh...you're safe," Rainbow said. "I won't let anything hurt you." The farmer pushed her muzzle into Rainbow's mane, half out of remaining fear and half out of shame. Rainbow sighed lightly as she comforted her love. She guessed that romantic flights just weren't in the cards for them. At least not yet. Fears weren't always permanent, and she hoped that maybe she could help AJ overcome this one. For now, though, she just stayed by her side. The Element of Loyalty would do nothing less.

Comments

[Makokam]

Ha. I like this one for one of the same reasons I likd the Luna/Pinkie one. I've never seen something like it before. Specifically, a story in which one of the mane six, and had previously dated another of the mane six.

Funny you brought up the Element of Loyalty there at the end though, as you'd think the Element of Honesty wouldn't be making up excuses and hiding things like that.