• Published 25th Jul 2018
  • 6,066 Views, 557 Comments

Rainbooms and Royalty (New) - Trinary



Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom garnered her plenty of attention—including from Celestia, who made Rainbow her student! A re-imagining of the events "Friendship is Magic" (New version!)

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Chapter 3

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings as she rode the warm morning air. Canterlot was just a silhouette on the mountainside. Looking below she saw farmland and homes set out in a sprawl. She waved idly at the ponies below her, but none of them looked up. She tried to recall where Ponyville was in relation to Canterlot, but was only able to remember the vaguest directions.

It wasn’t long before her stomach politely reminded her that she hadn’t had breakfast—or anything since last night’s disastrous dinner party—and if she didn’t do something about it her stomach would quickly become roommates with her backbone.

Rainbow looked around for someplace where she could grab a bite. Since she was flying over an enormous apple orchard, she decided not to look a gift pony in the mouth and settled down in one of the trees. She looked around to see if there was anypony around she could ask for food or directions, but found nopony. The only thing around her were the richest, fullest and most delicious-looking apples she’d ever seen. Licking her lips, she yanked an apple off the branch and tossed it up in the air, catching it and taking a bite in one smooth motion.

She settled back in the branches and helped herself to a few more while she waited for somepony to come by. When she was full, she patted her stomach contentedly and belched. “Heh, no need to excuse myself for that here!” Rainbow Dash soon found herself drifting off into a peaceful nap.

All too soon, that came to an end. The tree shook violently, jarring her from her siesta as a red hail of apples fell down all around her. “W-whoa!” She grabbed for the branches, a split second too late. The next thing she knew, she was tumbling out of the tree towards a yellow-orange earth pony beneath her. “Look out belooow!”

The earth pony looked up. Her eyes widened, and a brief exclamation escaped her lips before Rainbow flattened her.

Rainbow groaned, rubbing her back. “I’ve had softer landings,” she muttered.

The pony beneath her grumbled something.

“Huh? What?”

“Gerroff!" The orange pony grunted as she bucked Dash off her. She groaned as she climbed to her hooves, cracking her back. “Landsakes! How’s a skinny little thing like you weigh so much?”

“Hey! For your information this is all muscle, and everypony knows muscle weighs more than fat!” Dash protested. She sprang to her hooves, flapping her wings to straighten them out. “Who are you, anyway?”

“I’m Applejack and y’all are sleeping in my apple trees!” She stomped her hoof. “This here is Sweet Apple Acres, not a motel! Now, y’mind telling me who you are? Never seen you ‘round these here parts before.”

“The name’s Rainbow Dash.” The pegasus grinned, slipping her hooves behind her head as she 'sat' in midair. "I’d be glad to tell you more, but I’m just passing through. Think you could point me towards Ponyville?”

“Passin’ through, huh?” Applejack frowned as she looked at the apple cores that littered the ground. “An’ helping yourself to a bunch of my apples while you’re at it?”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Well, they were really delicious!”

“Thank you kindly,” Applejack deadpanned. “I’d sooner you paid for yer apples with bits than compliments.”

“Right, well, I can totally pay for those.” She mentally facehoofed a second later as she realized she left all her money back in Canterlot. “Buuuut I might need some time on that.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “How’s that now?”

“I—um—” Dash sheepishly patted herself down. “I, uh, kinda left without any bits.”

Applejack snorted. “That right? You left your home without any money?”

“It was a bit sudden.”

Distressingly, Applejack seemed to see right through her. Her expression even softened a touch. “Sugarcube, are you runnin’ away from something?”

Dash shook her head vehemently. “What? No, I’m not! I’m just … I needed a break and decided to see some old friends in Ponyville. That’s all.” She raised herself up in the air a bit more. “Sorry about your apples, I swear I’ll pay you back. I have some friends in town I’m looking to visit. If you could point me in the direction of Ponyville, I’ll get out of your mane…” A sudden tug on her tail yanked her back down to earth.

“Woah there, not so fast!” Applejack said around a mouthful of tail, quickly spitting it out. “Listen hun, I don’t rightly know what your story is, but you’re in Ponyville. And if’n you don’t have any bits, then I don’t see how you’re gonna find yourself a place to stay or food to eat. If you need to rest a spell, we got plenty of room here at Sweet Apple Acres.”

Rainbow blinked, temporarily taken aback. “I thought you said you weren’t a motel?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “We ain’t—you’re gonna pay us back for them apples.” She gave her a brief, stern look that almost immediately softened. “Besides which, me and my kin always have a door open to anypony who needs it. In fact, we’re about to have a passel of relatives over for the family reunion.” She offered Rainbow a supportive smile. “You can help us with the set up so we can get to the vittles that much faster! We’ll have apple pies, apple fritters, caramel apples, apple brioche, apple brown betty, and heaps of good old Apple Family Cider, saved special for the occasion!”

Dash scratched her head. “Cider huh? Sounds neat. Never had any.”

“Oh, you don’t know what you’ve been missing!” Applejack grinned.

Rainbow Dash found herself grinning too. There was just something about her … perhaps it was her lack of airs, her country manners, or just her down-to-earth attitude, but Dash found herself liking Applejack. Just the way she dealt with the whole apple business. She didn’t get bent out of shape about it, but wasn’t about to be stepped on either.

“Deal!” Dash spat on her hoof and was pleasantly surprised to see that Applejack did the same without hesitation. The two ponies bumped their hooves together. “Sounds like it’ll be a blast, AJ!”

“Heh, it sure will, RD. And if you want to talk about whatever it is you’re ‘taking a break’ from, I’m all ears.”

Rainbow hesitated before nodding. “Thanks. So, you look pretty fit. Do a lot of work around here?” She casually changed the subject.

Applejack raised her eyebrow and looked out over the wide apple field they were standing in. “You might say that.”

“Ever compete in anything athletic?”

“Sugarcube, you are talking to the athlete ‘round these here parts. Anytime Ponyville needs somepony to represent her in a competition, they look at ol’ Applejack.”

Applejack's confidence and poise promised Rainbow Dash something she'd been aching for: a challenge. Better yet, a rival. She couldn't help but grin.

“Is that so? Care to put your money where your mouth is?”

“Big talk coming from somepony without any,” Applejack quipped. “But if you’re asking for a throwdown, I can’t right now. I’ve got chores to do. After all, these apples gotta get harvested, and grub for the reunion won’t cook itself!”

Aww. “Lame.” Rainbow’s disappointment was palpable, her wings flumped down in the dirt. “Maybe later?”

“I promise, I’ll whoop your flank at whatever contest you want.” Applejack patted her withers comfortingly. “Look, I’ll be a while. Why don’t you head into town for a bit and we’ll catch up later?”

Rainbow’s ears perked up. “Hmm, there any place where I can grab a snack or something?”

Applejack scratched her muzzle with her hoof. “Well, if my apples weren’t enough, there’s always Sugarcube Corner. Big ol’ sweet place, looks like you could literally eat the walls. I know the pony who works there, she let newcomers have one free snack. But—”

“Sounds good! Catch you later, Applejack!” Rainbow Dash called as she took to the air. “Better step back ‘cause I’m gonna show you why I’m the most awesome pony ever!” Flapping her wings quickly, Rainbow zoomed through the orchard, slaloming through the tightly-packed trees and then burst up; through the canopy and up into the sky, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. She did a quick turn to bring her back towards Applejack, grinning at the slack-jawed expression on her face.

After taking a small bow, Rainbow lazily let the breeze carry her towards Ponyville. She thought she spied Applejack trying to shout something up at her, but it didn’t carry over the wind.

Rainbow shrugged. It probably wasn’t that important anyway.