“You’re bein’ paranoid.”
“I’m not being paranoid,” Rainbow Dash replied, before pausing to look over her shoulder again. “I’m being precautious.”
“Yeah, well, yer gonna break yer neck if ya keep craning it like that, Dash,” Applejack observed with a frown as she trotted alongside her marefriend through the park, a picnic basket resting on her back.
“Well, can you blame me? I mean…” Dash paused to look around, once again checking to make sure no one was looking or listening. “I mean, it’s our first date,” she whispered, keeping her voice low just to be safe. “I don’t want anypony to mess it up.”
It was indeed their first real date as a couple. It had been over a week since the family dinner at Sweet Apple Acres, and while they’d managed to hang out briefly several times over the last several days, they hadn’t yet had time for a real, proper date. Today was the first good opportunity they’d had to spend several hours together without interruption. Or so they hoped. Rainbow Dash had the day off from Weather Patrol, and Applejack had managed to finish all her chores early. Which meant it was finally time for the two of them to enjoy a nice, romantic picnic.
It had actually been Pinkie who suggested the idea of a private picnic in the park, well over a week ago during her mid-air conversation with Rainbow Dash. In fact, she’d not only suggested the idea, but had even offered to prepare and provide the meal, basket, and blanket for the picnic. And to her credit, Pinkie had managed to act completely natural and unsuspicious when Applejack had dropped by Sugarcube Corner to pick up the picnic basket. That is to say, there were lots of excited giggling and whispers of “Good luck!” and “Have fun!” from the hyperactive pink mare, which was perfectly normal behavior for her by most standards.
And now here they were, completely alone in a quiet little portion of the Ponyville park, with Rainbow Dash nearly beside herself with paranoia. Applejack looked into the pegasus’ concerned eyes for a moment, before smirking. “So ya want me to have the perfect first date, huh? Why Rainbow Dash, I had no idea you were so mushily romantic.”
Dash’s look of concern immediately turned into a look of indignant annoyance. “Hey, I’m not being all mushy! I’m just… y’know… trying to be a nice marefriend,” she huffed, crossing her forelegs as she hovered alongside Applejack. “I just figured you’d want our first date to, like, not go horribly, horribly wrong.”
Applejack chuckled. “C’mon, Dash, what makes ya think that-“
“Flaming pancakes,” Dash deadpanned, before quickly listing off: “Your brother trotting into the kitchen mid make-out session, that fiasco with your sister and her friends and Rarity, the whole family dinner thing, the blanket…”
Applejack winced. “Okay, yeah, we do kinda have a bad track record…” she muttered.
“I still can’t look your brother in the eyes, by the way,” the blue pegasus groaned. It had been discovered that Big Macintosh was the mystery pony who had put a blanket over Applejack and Dash in their sleep. He’d apparently gone out to look for them when they didn’t return from their walk after dinner, and had found them asleep in the barn. He had also apparently decided they were sleeping too peacefully and had looked too cute and happy for him to just rudely wake them up. So he tossed a warm blanket over them with the intention of keeping them warm and comfortable, and to also give himself something to torment them with for the rest of their lives.
“Yeah, he ain’t intendin’ to let me live that down any time soon,” Applejack grumbled. “Anyhoo, this looks like a pretty decent spot, don’t ya think?” The orange mare gestured at a small grassy knoll along the path, the hilltop shaded by a flowering dogwood tree. It looked quite peaceful and comfortable, and best of all, there wasn’t another pony in sight.
“Awwww yeeeeeah,” Rainbow Dash grinned. “This looks perfect! Race ya to it!”
Applejack snorted. “Dash, look at the basket on my back. If we race right now, our lunch will wind up in the grass, and the only folks who’ll be happy ‘bout that are the ants.”
The rainbow-maned pegasus gave a flippant wave of her hooves. “Excuses, whatever. Fine, no race. But we both know you would have-” Dash paused when Applejack gave her a sidelong glance, and smiled innocently. “Given me a run for my money, and the race likely would have ended in a draw. Or you’d have won. Maybe. Maaaybe.”
Applejack smiled in mild amusement, before cantering past Dash to ascend the hillock. “C’mon, Dash. Let’s have our little picnic.” Dash gave a nod of agreement, and hovered after her special somepony, eager to get the date properly started.
It didn’t take long to get everything set up. The basket contained a thick red-and-white checker-pattern blanket, several sandwiches, some freshly baked cookies, a few small bags of potato chips, and two large thermoses full of cold lemonade. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had both shared a short moment of mutual confusion as they realized the picnic basket shouldn’t have had enough space to hold all that stuff, but they both decided not to question it and just blame Pinkie Pie.
Soon the two mares were both relaxing on opposite sides of the blanket with the basket between them (Applejack insisted on keeping a safe distance between them, just in case of wayward interlopers) and enjoying their meals. While they ate, they also took the time to admire the scenery – and each other. Taking her eyes off Rainbow Dash for a moment, Applejack looked up at the sky and smiled. “Y’know, it’s a really nice day out today.”
“Yep! Suuuuure is,” the pegasus replied with a sideways glance and a smug grin.
Applejack snickered. “Lemme guess, you had somethin’ to do with it?”
Dash looked up at the sky and lightly shrugged her wings. “I may have given the skies around the park a once-over while you were getting the picnic basket. Y’know, just to make sure there were no stray clouds or possible conditions for a freak tornado or something.”
“You really are tryin’ to make sure everythin’ is all nice and perfect for your marefriend, ain't ya?”
“Yup!” Dash replied with a cheerful nod as she took a sip from her thermos of lemonade. Apparently she did not realizing where Applejack was going with this.
The orange mare smirked wryly at her special somepony. “Aw, we’ll ain’t that cute. And just a moment ago you were sayin’ you weren’t all cutesy romantic. Ya liar.”
Dash lowered her drink, and shot a slightly annoyed look at Applejack. After a moment of light glaring, she let out a sigh. “Noooooo, I’m not trying to be all mushy,” she huffed with a roll of her eyes. “I’m just, like, trying to give you the perfect little date thing that you deserve.”
“That I deserve?” Applejack asked, tilting her head to the side in curiosity.
The electric-blue pegasus suddenly pulled another sandwich out of the basket. “Oh wow, Pinkie really did a great job on these sandwiches, don’t you think? Totally awesome, huh?” she asked with a sheepish grin. She was clearly trying to change the subject. "Would you like another one?"
Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Daaaash?”
Dash sighed, and averted her gaze. A slight blush was rising to her cheeks. “Fiiiine. What I mean is… Well, I mean, you’re an awesome mare. Nearly… No. As awesome as me. So, I want this date to be as perfect as possible, so you’ll be as happy as possible. Because, y’know, you deserve to be happy. Or something like that. I’m bad at words, remember?” she muttered evasively, clearly embarrassed about having to explain how she felt on the matter. She even flicked her head to the side so that the short rainbow-hued bangs of her mane fell her eyes, in an attempt to hide herself from Applejack's and further embarrassment.
Applejack found herself staring, a blush of her own rising as she slowly processed what Dash had said. “Do… do ya really think I’m as awesome as you?” she quietly asked. She knew how big Dash’s ego was, and how highly she thought of herself and her “awesomeness.” For her to swallow her pride and actually consider another pony on the same level of awesomeness said a lot about both Rainbow Dash, and her feelings towards the pony in question.
Rainbow Dash tilted her head slightly, allowing an eye to bashfully peek out from beneath the protection of her mane. “Yeah…” she quietly replied, smiling shyly. “I… I really do mean that, Applejack. I think you’re as awesome as me.”
Applejack suddenly sat up and leaned forward across the basket, bringing her face within inches of Rainbow Dash’s. “Y’know Dash, if we weren’t out in public,” she whispered with a mischievous grin, “I’d prob’ly be pouncin’ on your right now, and makin’ out with you somethin’ fierce.”
Dash’s blush darkened by several shades. “W-w-what?” she stammered.
Applejack’s grin deepened. “What? That was probably the nicest, most romantic thing anypony’s ever said to me, all things considered. Makes sense that I’d wanna reward ya for it, right?”
Dash stared, dumbstruck. Clearly, she needed to make unexpectedly romantic remarks more often. The pegasus suddenly looked from side to side, checking to see if anypony was around. “Hey, wait, do we really count as being out in public if nopony is around?” she asked slyly.
Applejack chuckled, and leaned back to sit down again. “Sorry Sugarcube, but we’re playin’ it safe. No PDA or whatever ya call it ‘til we’re safely certain there ain’t no pryin’ eyes around.”
“Oh come oooooonnnnn,” Dash groaned, her shoulders sagging and wings drooping with disappointment. “We’re totally alone right now! C’mon, at least let me give you a quick kiss for being so awesome.” And with that, Dash quickly leaned forward in an attempt to kiss her awesome marefriend.
However, Applejack’s reflexes were just as sharp as the pegasus’, and she quickly dodged her head to the side. “Nope, sorry Dash,” she flatly told her. “No PDA. End of story.”
“Not even a kiss on the cheek?” the pegasus pouted.
Applejack smiled apologetically. “Sorry darlin’. Better safe than sorry.”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Yeah, yeah. I know. But still, there’s nopony around. I don’t see what the harm in a quick peck or a stealthy snuggle is. I mean, it’s not like somepony is going to just-”
Twilight Sparkle suddenly materialized out of nowhere, appearing in a vibrant flash of light just a few feet in front of the two love-struck mares. “Hi girls!”
Applejack’s eyes went wide in surprise, but she managed to maintain her composure. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, dramatically failed at keeping her cool. The pegasus let out a short yelp of surprise, before rocketing up into the air and hovering several yards off the ground. “I wasn’t doing nothing I swear it!” she exclaimed in nervous panic.
Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion and concern. “What?”
Applejack forced a smile. “What she means, Twilight, is that we weren’t doing anything important. As in, you’re not interrupting anything. Important. So, uh, what brings you ‘round these parts, by chance? Or did you know we were here?” In the back of her mind, Applejack decided that if Pinkie or Rarity had blabbed to Twilight or anypony else, she would be giving them a stern talking to. And maybe a few bucks to the flank. Probably both.
As Rainbow Dash recovered her nerves and hovered back down to sit on the picnic blanket, Twilight smiled cheerfully at both mares. “Oh, I put a tracking spell on you and the others, so I can always know where my friends are if we need each other!” she explained in an unsettlingly chipper manner.
Applejack and Dash both paled slightly, and in unison asked: “Wait you did what now?”
Twilight Sparkle raised a hoof to her mouth and giggled. “I’m kidding. No, me and Zecora were out gathering flowers, mushrooms, and other things for alchemy. She’s going to be giving me lessons later. I went ahead of her a bit, and happened to catch a glimpse of you two, so I thought I’d zap over to say hi.” The purple unicorn paused to look back over her shoulders, during which time Applejack and Dash both exchanged nervous glances. “She should be around here somewhere. I guess I may have gone a bit further ahead than I intended. Hmm.” Twilight turned back to look at her friends, just as they broke their shared looks. “Oh well, I’m sure she’ll turn up in a minute. What are you two up to?”
Applejack and Dash exchanged furtive, fleeting looks. Dash gave a small shrug of her wings, gesturing for Applejack to take the lead. Which was probably not a good idea due to Applejack’s inability to lie convincingly, but Dash was too frazzled to realize that in the heat of the moment. The blonde farmer looked back at Twilight and grinned anxiously. “Oh, uh, we were just… havin’ a picnic.” Technically not a lie!
“Really? Huh. Why didn’t you invite anypony else? Is this a special occasion or something?” Twilight playfully asked.
Applejack’s grin faltered slightly. Dash resisted a strong urge to facehoof as she realized Applejack couldn’t handle this situation. It looked like it was up to her to save the day. “Nope!” Dash suddenly exclaimed cheerfully, grabbing Twilight’s attention. “We just randomly decided to go on a picnic! Or rather, I did. Yep, no real reason for it! Just on a whim. I was all like ‘Hey AJ, let’s go on a picnic for no apparent reason!’ and she was all ‘Whyyy sure, Sugarcube, tha’ sounds like it’d be a hoot!’” the pegasus explained, giving a very enthusiastic but also very bad impression of Applejack’s southern twang.
“That ain’t at all what I sound like, durn it,” Applejack huffed indignantly, her accent as pronounced as ever.
Twilight once again brought a hoof to her mouth to contain her giggles. “Heh, it’s okay, girls. You don’t have to lie. I know exactly what’s going on here.”
Once again, Applejack and Dash both paled slightly and replied in unison. “You do?”
Twilight nodded confidently. “Yes! It’s obvious that you two just wanted to spend some quality friend time together as individual, rather than hanging out together with everypony as a group.”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash both resisted the urge to sigh in relief, and instead focused on smiling and nodding. “Uh huh. Yeah. Right. Yup. Totally,” they both began to mutter, just opting to go along with whatever totally-innocent-and-not-at-all-questionable-or-suspicious conclusion Twilight had arrived at.
“I mean, it makes perfect sense that with all the time we spend together in groups, you’d want to take the occasional chance to get to know each other on a more personal level,” Twilight explained factually.
In spite of the situation, Dash couldn’t help but smirk. “Personal. Right.” Applejack shot her a murderous glare.
Thankfully, Twilight missed both Dash’s innuendo and her lover’s death-stare of doom, and kept on talking. “Like how Rarity and Fluttershy have their spa days, where they get their manes done, drink tea, and share gossip. And me and Pinkie have done a few scientific projects and experiments together. So it’s only fair that you two should be able to have a little time to yourselves to enjoy each other’s company, in private and without interruption.”
Poor naïve Twilight. She had no idea what she was saying or implying. But the accidental innuendo was not lost on Rainbow Dash, who turned to flash a devilish grin at Applejack. “I like the way Twilight thinks.”
Applejack did not respond, instead opting to maintain a forced grin and resist the urge to berate Dash for being such a mischievous pervert.
Thankfully, further awkwardness and annoyance was quickly subverted by the well-timed appearance of Zecora, who came trotting out of a nearby copse of trees. “Ah! So this is where you went to, Twilight,” the zebra observed with a wry smile. “And two more friends? Such a delightful sight!”
“Howdy Zecora!” Applejack nodded in warm greeting.
“Yo!” Dash waved. “Hey there Zecora. Good to see you again.”
“Yes, seeing my friends is always a treat,” the rhyming equine beamed, before giving Applejack and Rainbow Dash a very knowing smile. “Seeing friends together? That is quite neat.”
While Twilight missed Zecora’s emphasis and subtext, Applejack and Rainbow Dash picked up on it all too easily. Both mares’ tried to play it cool, but there was no mistaking the hints of panic that immediately flickered to life in their eyes.
She knew.
Zecora suddenly turned to Twilight. “We should likely leave them both to their meal. Intruding too long would be rude, I feel.”
Twilight smiled and gave a nod of agreement. “Right, we should probably get back to gathering ingredients, anyway. I think I saw some flowers right over there that looked-”
Zecora gave a shake of her head. “We have enough to do alchemy now.” The zebra began to canter down the hill, back towards the path, gesturing with a smile and tilt of her head for Twilight to follow. “Come, Twilight; I shall teach you how. And as for you, Rainbow and Applejack, farewell, and please enjoy your picnic snack,” she told them with a subtle wink.
Twilight, having completely missed the wink, nodded in agreement and trotted after her friend. “Bye girls!” she called out to Applejack and Dash as she left their company.
“Bye Twilight, bye Zecora!” Dash and Applejack both waved after them as they left, awkward smiles plastered on their faces. Once the two other equines were gone, Applejack let out a deep sigh of relief, while Rainbow Dash flopped limply onto her back and let out an exasperated groan.
“How?” the pegasus flatly asked, staring at the clouds overhead. “How did she know?”
“Dark zebra magic? She’s an evil enchantress, who does evil dances?” Applejack deadpanned, before raising her hooves and shrugging her shoulders. “She’s probably just real perceptive. Recognized our body language or something. Subtle little things that told her all she needed ta know. She’s all smart and wise and stuff, it wouldn’t surprise me…”
“Yeeeeeah… Or maybe she’s psychic?” Dash theorized, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
Applejack shook her head. “Nah. I think she’s just smart.”
“You’re right. She’s so smart, her mind is powerful enough to unlock it’s psychic potential.”
Applejack gave her marefriend a flat look. “Do you even listen to yerself sometimes?”
Rainbow Dash grinned. “Why wouldn’t I? Everything I say is 100% awesome!”
Applejack gave Dash a deadpan stare for several seconds, before smiling to herself and giving a small shake of her head. “Why do I put up with you?”
Dash’s grin deepened, and turned rather roguish. “Because I’m awesome?”
The blonde mare rolled her eyes, and chuckled softly under her breath. “Yeah, sure,” Applejack idly remarked, before quickly giving a few furtive glances around to they were completely alone. She then suddenly leaned across the picnic blanket, and planted a soft kiss on Rainbow Dash’s cheek. “You are pretty awesome,” she whispered playfully in Dash’s ear, before darting back across the blanket and sitting down like nothing happened.
Rainbow Dash just sat there stunned for a moment, a dazed look of goofy satisfaction on her face. Eventually, though, she snapped out of it and turned to frown at Applejack, who was fishing another sandwich out of the picnic basket. “Heeeeey, I thought you said no PDA?”
Applejack shrugged aloofly, and gave a coy smirk. “It’s differ’nt when I do it.”
See, I told you I wasn't dead!
A thousand apologies for the long delay, but as I mentioned, things have been kinda rough on my end for the last few months. Family drama, lack of energy, writer's block, personal tragedies, issues finding motivation, side projects, other distractions, et cetera. BUT, I'm getting back into the swing of things. Hopefully it won't be another several months before the next update...
Sorry for the chapter being kinda short, but the next several scenes are still in the final stages of planning, and I felt these segments worked quite well on their own. So, sorry for the shortness, but I'm sure it beats waiting even longer for an update! Plus, the tone kinda shifts around a bit in some of the next few scenes, and I felt it'd be kinda bad if there wound up being a bit of a tonal clash between the first and second halves of the chapter...
Now, as you may have noticed, I tweaked AJ's accent. I toned it down a bit, and switched "Ah" for "I." I'd LOVE to have your feedback on this. Should I switch back to "Ah," or keep "I" instead? I'm planning to revise the earlier chapters, so if the readers prefer "I," it looks like almost all of AJ's lines will be getting a revamp. Daunting, yes, but if it makes the fic easier and better to read, then it's a task worth undertaking.
Anyhoo, thanks for reading! As always, feedback is greatly appreciated!
*sees update*
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My thought on "Ah" vs "I" is that it depends on the rest of the sentence. If you don't have anything else convenient to toss the accent onto use it, otherwise don't.
At last at last!!! It updates!
I have been waiting for this glorious day!
And it's just as good as I remember! I love the interactions between the two and AJ's double entendre with PDA XD
And Twilight: I implanted tracking chips in all of my friends... xD made my shitty day worthwhile
Ofc it was big Mac who threw on the blanket XDDD
Btw you should get an editor *coughs*I can help you*coughs*
Love the story and keep em comin!!!
DON'T MAKE ME WAIT THREE MONTHS AGAIN!!!
I prefer Ah, but that's just the way I write her.
Oh and as fer Ah vs. I:
I think AJ's accent on the show is ridiculous enough already (I love Ashleigh Ball but it's soooo unreal) that you can go full out with the accent in writing and I'll still believe it.
I gotta agree with ThatPinkPony... don't make us wait 3 months again!
As for the Ah VS I, if there isn't too much of AJ's accent clashing within the sentence (like her accent is too strong) then tone it down a but with the Ah's (and other -ing endings)
Overall, love it!
Do keep the jokes flowing
I have two opinions on the whole ah vs I thing;
Ah helps my hear applejacks voice in my head
What ever you choose to do with the accent, make sure it's consistent
It good that you finally updated this, because I really didn't want to kill you.
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I can't say i care much with the whole I vs. Ah thing. Either one works, so long as you do use Ah. I see it as part of who she is, i don't think you can just remove it.
Also, a pic i feel is very appropriate for this fic.
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Everyone seems to be trolling those two.
Adorable, as always!
I personally don't have a preference on the Ah/I thing. I think I only notice it if the rest of the sentence is super heavy on the accent. I personally us "I" for AJ, but that's partly because I forgot to make it "Ah" for the first bit and just continued on as I was. Either way's fine.
Loved Dash's awkwardness at expressing AJ's "awesomeness". By this point, there really aren't all that many people who don't know about them - they should just make an announcement and get it over with. Of course, that'd be too easy for them - Dash and AJ love challenges, after all
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For the love of Celestia, don't use "Ah". Did you even read that blog post I wrote a while back?
Great to see this update! Oblivious Twilight is best Twilight.
I personally think "Ah" is a very easy (and smooth to read) way of giving her a distinct accent. But of course, if you don't want a distinct accent you can just use "I". I always use "Ah", though, because I feel it adds to the characterization.
I have no idea what I'm talking about
Nice chapter, a bit of cute AppleDash never gets old. Keep it up!
I love it
Though I do suspect some TwiPie and RariShy building in the background with Twilight's explanation
Don't get me wrong, this chapter is funny and charming and all that, but when are AJ and RD going to learn they can trust their friends? How many times do they have to freak out about somepony finding out only for that pony to find out and be fine with their relationship before the lesson sinks in?
The horror, the horror!
I learned to not do this with this simple exercise – cut out the second person. Does "Me was out gathering" sound correct in any way, shape, or form? No, and Twilight would be pretty OOC to not twitch if someone else used it around her, much less said it herself.
Cute as can be! Two small fixes:
Apparently she did not realizing where Applejack was going with this. = realize
It’s obvious that you two just wanted to spend some quality friend time together as individual, rather than hanging out together with everypony as a group. = individuals
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Or better yet, TwiCora! Or is it ZeLight?
This is so funny. Twilight is so cluless
Poor naive Twilight.
I not ah
The Ahs don't really bother me. As long as a sentence doesn't get bogged down with twang spellings, it's not distracting. Looked at the blog about writing for AJ that Krazy posted and he made some good points there. It would be a pain to go back and change everything you've done already though...
'Ah' makes it sound more like AJ in my head.
But yay! New chapter, and a great one too.
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That's exactly what I thought about!
Fantastic! Can't wait for the next chapter.
NEED MORE!!!!! Your fanfic is AWESOME!!!!
Great Job on the story, I'm really enjoying it!
My vote is for "Ah," it defines AJ's accent, makes it clear who's speaking, and lend character to the entire style.
Seems like most people prefer 'Ah' , and so do I. Great chapter!
Started reading this fic after reading a comic on Equestria daily. Totally hooked! I love your writing style so much! Easy to read and very captivating. All I can say is MORE MORE!!! :moreemotestoshowhowexcitediam:
As for Ah vs I: I like the Ah. It helps me read it in AJs voice easier. Sometimes with AppleBloom it threw me off because to me, her accent isn't as strong. That and sometimes I'd mix the two up when they were both speaking. Maybe find a way to separate those two? To me, AppleBloom uses more "Ahs" than AJ does.
definatly have to go with ah as well also hun instead of hon thats another one i see
This story is incredibly cute. Amazing job with the interaction and characterization!
how is the next chapter coming? I am so excited to read the next chapter! (this is why I don't read fanfics until they are finished lol I am impatient)
PERFECT!
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Need.......update.........now......waiting.......becoming.......unbearable......
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...
Hopefully it won't be another several months before the next update... ...
Nice work on Zecora's dialogue. I know that a lot of authors have trouble with her rhyming couplets.
Twilight: "You think they bought my act?"
Zecora: "The false naivety was perfectly done, if you keep it up, you could have a lot of fun."
“Flaming pancakes,” Dash deadpanned
-Damn, I may need to make that a secondary avatar!
RariShy?
TwiPie?
APPLEDASH?!
I love this story so much.
4403806 OH MY GOD IK RIGHT!?! (Plus, I absolutely love your name )