Apples and Lightning

by Leaf Blade

02. Frustration and Confusion

Rainbow struggled to lift her head as blood dripped from her nose and mouth onto the concrete for the twenty-third time.

Twenty-three days since school started, twenty-three fights with Applejack, twenty-three failures.

She coughed up a bit of blood as she shakily pushed herself up onto her feet, jumping into a standing position and taking a wobbly fighting stance, fists raised at Applejack, who just looked at her like she was the biggest idiot in the academy.

“You’re not serious,” Applejack rubbed her forehead.

“I’m not done yet,” Rainbow breathed heavily, blood dripping down her chin. “I’m not beaten yet!”

Applejack took a deep breath and looked around. She was always so concerned about what other people thought, and about looking all good and dignified and crap. It irritated Rainbow to no end; she’d have no problem fighting Applejack right in the center of the Academy courtyard like their first day, but Applejack only agreed to fight if it was somewhere that didn’t draw a crowd.

Lucky for Rainbow, she knew just the place; a strip of town with nothing but empty, boarded up and falling apart houses. They used to belong to soldiers, ones who left to fight during the Scarlet Rebellion, and the few soldiers that came back from that mostly went to hospitals or the morgue instead of back to their homes.

Applejack put her hands in her plaid jacket pockets, and the reminder of the winter chill made Rainbow regret throwing her own jacket on the ground. She couldn’t just pick it up now and admit that she needed it, that’d make her look super lame.

“Well, I’m done,” Applejack sighed. “I’m tired of havin’ this same fight with you every single day. You’re a great fighter, Rainbow Dash, there’s no doubt about it, so why’s it so important to you to beat me, anyway?”

“It’s not about me!” Rainbow sneered and spat blood at the ground. “It’s about you— miss high and mighty important family over here— knowing that you can’t just waltz into the Academy and expect everyone to throw themselves at your feet because of your name! You’re probably sooo used to nobody ever challenging you, and I’m gonna make sure you get that you aren’t better than me just because of who you were born to!”

Applejack shifted her weight to one side, cocking her head and giving a super bitter scowl. Rainbow grinned and clenched her fists harder, sure that Applejack was gonna throw another punch.

“That’s not what I think,” Applejack said coldly.

“Yeah?” Rainbow scoffed. “Cuz I think you just keep accepting my challenges cuz it bugs you that somebody would challenge you! You just can’t stand that I don’t care about your pwestigious famiwy, right?!”

“I keep acceptin’ yer challenges cuz I thought it meant somethin’ to you,” Applejack grit her teeth and shook her head. She tilted her straw hat over her eyes and stomped her foot on the ground. “But if this was all just a big exercise in tryin’ to stick it to me cuz of my family, then you can forget about it. I don’t need that kinda stress in my life.”

Applejack started to walk away, and Rainbow got ready to chase her down and prepare some other witty quip that would make Applejack wanna take a swing at her, but then Applejack stopped and turned her head, giving Rainbow an ice-cold glare that’d make Cerberus stop in his tracks.

“And lemme make this clear,” she said in a measured, but eerily angry tone, “I ain’t come to the Academy to represent my family. My name and its history matter to me, but at the end of the day, I’m here to achieve my dream. And if you think I’m just some spoiled rich kid cuz of who I come from, you couldn’t be more wrong, and you got the bruises to prove it.

“Now go home, Rainbow,” Applejack sighed and walked away, “and clean yourself up, you’re a mess.”

Rainbow wanted to do something; to scream, or run after Applejack and punch her in the back of the head, or… something! But she had nothing, so her hands just fell limp at her sides, and her legs gave out right after.

She bit her thumb. Twenty-three times she’d fought Applejack and lost. And what was all that crap that she said about Applejack’s family? Did she really believe someone like Applejack— who was built like a mountain, could keep up with Rainbow’s speed after only their second fight, and who had access to magic—was really just some silver spoon kid?

Maybe at first she thought that, and maybe Rainbow started challenging Applejack because she wanted to get under her skin, but she couldn’t possibly believe that anymore. But to admit the real reason she kept challenging Applejack— to admit how humiliated she was that she kept losing, and that she couldn’t bear the idea that she was weaker than Applejack— that just… she couldn’t do that.

She took in a deep breath and got back on her shaky legs, putting her hair back into a ponytail before grabbing her jacket, taking a quick look around to make sure nobody was watching before she put it back on. It felt good to wear it though; it was cold out.

Sun was setting by now, and Rainbow had to hurry to catch her train home, but it was no biggie. Even if she wasn’t the strongest person at the Academy, she was still the fastest and would have no problem making that evening train. Which was good, cuz she couldn’t afford the night train, and she really didn’t wanna get stranded in Canterlot for the night.

Rainbow wiped some blood from her face and grumbled. Applejack was right, she was a mess. She’d just have to do better next time.

Tomorrow she’d win for sure.

****

Rainbow yawned herself awake and wrinkled her nose at the little rays of sunlight peeking in through her curtains. It was too early to be daytime already.

She hadn't slept much, but time waits for no one so she crawled out of bed. She definitely didn’t fall out of bed and land face-first on the floor. That would be embarrassing, but it didn’t happen.

Rainbow groaned under her breath and pinched her nose at the sight of herself in the bathroom mirror. Her face was all jacked up from her fight yesterday, with cuts and bruises pretty much all over. She looked down at the unused makeup kit sitting on the counter, and she wondered if she could use it to hide her injuries.

Honestly, she’d never touched the thing before. It was a gift from her roommate; both of them were still pretty new to the whole ‘being a girl’ thing, and neither of them really knew how to makeup, but at least the roommate was trying and wasn’t too self-conscious to even give makeup a shot.

So that was a ‘no’ on the whole ‘using the makeup to hide the bruises’ thing too. Rainbow figured she’d get around to learning how to do makeup eventually, probably, but then again, why did she even need makeup when her face was already awesome? Even if she had a few nicks and scrapes, it just made her face look cooler, if anything.

Rainbow ran out the door of her tiny apartment, said goodbye to her roommate on her way out, and saw Fluttershy standing at the end of the path, waving to her. Rainbow waved back before running up and slapping Fluttershy’s hand bombastically, though Fluttershy yelped as their hands collided.

Fluttershy was cool. On top of being a pretty gifted Chemist, she was also super nice and patient to everybody, including Rainbow. Plus they had the whole trans girl thing in common, so that was rad.

They’d managed to strike up a nice little arrangement; walking to the train station together every morning, Rainbow would point knives at anyone in school who looked at Fluttershy wrong, and Fluttershy patched Rainbow up after she got beat up by Applejack for the bazillionth time.

“Oh, Rainbow!” Fluttershy gasped, and Rainbow looked behind her to see what was up before realizing Fluttershy was just reacting to her jacked-up face. “Your face is all—did you get into a fight with Applejack again?” Fluttershy sighed and crossed her arms, shaking her head at Rainbow like a disappointed mom. “What am I saying? Of course you did.”

“Is it that obvious?” Rainbow asked sheepishly, flinching as she ran her fingers over some of her bruises.

“I’m afraid so,” Fluttershy muttered, looking over Rainbow’s injuries as the two walked down the quiet, misty Fillydelphia road on their way to the train station. “I wish I could help, but my Alchemy isn’t quite at the level where it can fix cosmetic damage. Turns out that potion I gave you when we met was a bit of a fluke, and I’m not allowed to make potions at home anymore after I blew up the greenhouse.”

Rainbow sucked air through her teeth, “Sorry to hear that.”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy brushed some hair out of her face and looked away.

“Don’t sweat it, though,” Rainbow slapped Fluttershy’s shoulder while grinning confidently, although Fluttershy’s yelp and jump combo didn’t quite relay the same level of enthusiasm, “I’m sure you’ll be making awesome potions and stuff in no time! Cuz you’re amazing, Fluttershy!”

“I’m not,” Fluttershy pressed her fingers together, “but thank you for saying it.”

“No problem!”

“Are you going to be okay though?” Fluttershy asked, biting on her fingernails. “People are probably gonna say stuff about your injuries. They’re worse than usual today.”

“Whatever,” Rainbow shrugged. “It’ll be fine.”

It was not fine.

“Wow, looks like someone got jacked up!” a chestnut-colored, brown-haired ape guffawed at Rainbow in the hall.

“More like applejacked up!” one of the dude’s goons— a dark-brown goober with a mop of pale-brown hair— added with a cackle.

“How do you like dem apples, Rainbow Trash?” another dude— a gray ogre with scruffy black hair practically covering his whole upper face— chimed in.

Rainbow put a hand on her hip and arched an unimpressed eyebrow.

“You guys done?” she said dryly. “Or do you have more sidesplitting material to share? Super original too, you guys, never heard those ones before.”

Rainbow swore if she heard the phrase ‘how do you like dem apples’ one more time, she’d find a way to blow up the sun.

“Hey, don’t get salty with us,” the chestnut guy, named Hoops, scoffed, “just cuz you’re the class laughingstock!”

Rainbow grinded her teeth together and caressed the hilt of a knife with her finger. The goon squad had blocked most of the hall and were starting to draw a bit of a crowd, and sure enough there were people watching that were snickering under their breath or pointing at Rainbow’s face and laughing.

She tapped a nail against the knife handle. It would be so easy to show these guys exactly why you don’t make fun of Rainbow Dash. But the last time she drew knives in the hallway, she was stuck on janitor duty all day and nearly missed her train home.

Was it worth the risk, just to show up a couple of chumps? Honestly, it might’ve been. Hoops thought Rainbow’s face looked back? He should just wait until she was done with him.

“Get to class, y’all,” Applejack walked by the fight-in-progress without stopping, only muttering those words and piercing Hoops with an icy glare. She was good at those.

Hoops huffed and tugged on his shirt collar. He didn’t say anything as he turned his back on Rainbow and gestured for his buddies to follow him, and as him and his bros headed for the class, Rainbow looked around to see everyone else who had gathered suddenly had somewhere else they needed to be, and not one of ‘em wanted to look Rainbow in the eye.

Funny that.

Rainbow yawned as she slumped into her chair in the classroom. She barely slept three or four hours last night, and probably just as many the night before. Insomnia was kicking her ass harder than Applejack could ever dream to.

She wasn’t totally dumb, and she knew getting into fights when she was this tired was only gonna make everything worse. Besides, she needed to focus on the class. If Flash Sentry caught her sleeping in class again, he was gonna be furious.

Stay awake, Rainbow. You gotta stay awake!

Rainbow slapped her cheeks a few times and looked around the room, her face turning into a grisly frown when her eyes locked on Applejack, ever so dutifully scratching away at a piece of paper.

Teacher’s pet.

That said, at least she hadn't said anything to Rainbow about her wounds. And especially she didn’t make any insufferable apple puns at her.

“You’re a great fighter, Rainbow Dash, there’s no doubt about it.”

Actually… Applejack hadn't really been anything but nice to Rainbow. Annoyed usually, but… but that was the plan, wasn’t it? Get under her skin and all that?

Fluttershy got along with Applejack really well too, on the few times that they talked; usually while Fluttershy was fixing up Rainbow’s wounds.

Looking around at a classroom full of other students, Rainbow could count on one hand the ones she hadn't gotten into a fight with in her three weeks at the Academy. And of those, Applejack was the only one who didn’t seem to have a bone to pick with her.

Or maybe she did. Applejack sure hated when Rainbow fell asleep in class, but it was hardly Rainbow’s fault that she had insomnia. Then again, she never told anyone she had it, and whenever Applejack chided her about sleeping, Rainbow always blew her off.

Aw crap, I’m the problem, aren’t I?

Rainbow yawned and folded her hands on the desk.

Maybe…

She rested her head on her arms, cuz a couple winks of sleep before the teacher got there wouldn’t be so bad, right?

Maybe I owe her…

Someone would wake her when class started.

…an apology…

A palm slamming onto her desk caused Rainbow’s head to jolt up, and her eyes widened to see Flash Sentry’s scowling face peering down at her, and not Applejack’s cool, freckled face. A glance over at the window, and the pale orange glow of the setting sun filtering through, alerted Rainbow that she’d slept through the whole class.

Welp.

“How many times have I told you,” Flash snarled, “not to sleep during classes?!”

“And how many times have I told you to bite my ass?” Rainbow crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue, trying to play it totally cool like she wasn’t humiliated to have slept through another class. At this point, she’d probably slept through more classes than she’d been awake for.

Hell, she had more than one class that day, and now school was over! She slept through the whole day! And no one bothered to wake her before sunset?! What gives!?

“You’re not leaving this building,” Flash said through gritted teeth while he got a mop and bucket out of the nearby closet, “until the halls are all spotless. Understand?”

“Uh,” Rainbow glanced at the setting sun, “I kinda have a train to—”

“I’ll lend you the money for the night train,” Flash said sternly. “You can come see me in my office, after you’ve cleaned the halls.” Flash pushed the mop and bucket into Rainbow’s hands. “Understand?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Understand?” Flash cleared his throat, and Rainbow clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes.

“Yes, sir,” she growled, and Flash looked like he wanted to start something, but instead he just shook his head and meandered on his way.

Rainbow got up from her desk and arched her back, groaning in frustration and from being sore after sleeping in a bad position all day. She took the mop and bucket and let out less of a ‘groan’ and more of a disgusted sigh.

She hated cleaning, and she wasn’t too good at it either. She knew she’d probably have to go over all the halls three or even four times before they were ‘spotless’ enough for Sentry, and she’d probably be there well into the night.

Nothing to be done for it though, and the night wasn’t gonna come slower if she moped around, so she headed out into the hallway without really paying too much attention, until she walked right into Fluttershy.

“Ugh, sorry,” Rainbow grumbled, “wasn’t paying attention.” Rainbow blinked at Fluttershy, who just kinda awkwardly stood there. “What’re you doing here, Fluttershy? Don’t you gotta catch the train home?”

“Well, we usually take the train together, but, um,” Fluttershy cleared her throat and tugged at her clothing as she slowly mulled over what she wanted to say, “I, um, I overheard Flash Sentry just now, scolding you.”

“Oh,” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck and curled her nose at the feeling of her cheeks burning up. “So yeah, I can’t go home quite yet, so if you just wanna head out and I’ll see you tomorrow, that’d be—”

“Do you want help?”

“What?” Rainbow blinked, and Fluttershy bit her lip. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I, uh—” Fluttershy cleared her throat again and exhaled sharply. She tried to stand up tall, but she still hunched over a bunch and her eyes nervously jittered every which way. “There’s an awful lot of halls for one person. If you want, I could stick around and help you clean up?”

“Why would you wanna do that?” Rainbow laughed and started to walk away, figuring that’d be the end of it, but Fluttershy followed her.

“What I want, is to help out my friend,” Fluttershy gave a bright smile as Rainbow froze in her tracks, “if she’ll let me.”

“Uh,” Rainbow put a hand on her cheek, sure that the heat was gonna sear the skin right off her fingers, “I mean, i-if you want to, I guess that’s fine.”

Rainbow wasn’t used to ‘the f-word’. She figured she got along just fine with Fluttershy, and she admitted she actually really liked her and admired how brave she could be even though everything made her so nervous, but for someone cool like her to consider Rainbow a ‘friend’? She never would’ve thought that could be a real thing.

But she didn’t hate it.

“Holy crap,” Rainbow cackled as she looked at the tidied up halls that her and Fluttershy had finally finished cleaning. Fluttershy rested on the ground, her back to a bunch of lockers, and Rainbow stared over their handiwork with her hands on her hips.

“It looks pretty good now, I think,” Fluttershy smiled sweetly, and Rainbow had half a mind to shake her by the shoulders.

“Pretty good?!” she exclaimed, aghast. “I bet this place is cleaner than it’s ever been! And it’s all thanks to you!”

“Oh, don’t say that,” Fluttershy covered her bright red cheeks with her hair. “You were cleaning just as much as I was.”

“I never would’ve managed to make it look like this on my own,” Rainbow beamed at Fluttershy and gave her a thumbs-up. “So thanks, Fluttershy.”

“Y-you’re welcome. Thank you for the compliment.”

“Hey,” Rainbow snickered, “what’re friends for, right?” Fluttershy smiled brightly and nodded, and Rainbow flashed a proud grin and pumped her fist. “I swear, if this place isn’t ‘spotless’ enough for Flash Sentry, the dude’s got problems.”

“I dunno,” the voice of Hoops from behind Rainbow made her stomach drop, and she turned around quickly to face him, “I think you missed a spot.”

She turned around just quick enough for the pail of red paste to splash all over her face and down her chest, and onto the floor around her feet.

Dumbbell and Quarterback snickered as Hoops just stood there, holding the empty pail and grinning smugly. Rainbow thought she heard Fluttershy gasp, but she couldn’t quite make it out past the intense ringing in her ears that sounded distinctly like a boiling tea kettle.

Rainbow inhaled sharply.

She grabbed Hoops’ head and smashed it into a nearby wall, then threw it downward where it collided with her knee, and if that didn’t break his nose, hitting the marble floor face-first as she threw him to the ground sure did.

Rainbow’s speed was way more than the slow-witted apes could keep up with and they were still snickering by the time Hoops was on the ground, but they both stared with gaping mouths at the paste-soaked Rainbow as she drew her knives on them.

Rainbow jumped forward and punched Dumbbell in the nose, forcing the charcoal-brown oaf to bumble backward, and cut a gash across the bridge of Quarterback’s nose, the gray-skinned caveman moaning in pain as he clutched his face.

A flurry of punches met Quarterback’s face next, and before the dude knew it, he was bleeding from his nose and mouth, and Rainbow had decorated his cheeks with a couple new cuts to boot.

Dumbbell tried to grab Rainbow’s arm, but his clumsy attempt at a grapple was met by Rainbow’s fist right in his eye, and a stab to his shoulder that sent him awkwardly stepping back as he hissed in pain.

Rainbow slammed the back of her hand into Quarterback’s head, knocking him off balance, and swept his leg out from under him, the big dullard collapsing to the ground with a painful-sounding thud.

With two dudes down, Rainbow took a sec to glance behind her and see how Fluttershy was faring, and her heart sank to see no pink-haired cutie huddled in front of the lockers.

Rainbow couldn’t blame Fluttershy for bailing on the fight—Fluttershy wasn’t in any of the combat classes, after all—but it kinda stung that her new ‘friend’ didn’t even wanna stick around to see Rainbow ace these guys.

Oh well, no sense in dwelling on it, so Rainbow focused on Dumbbell, locking eyes with the dude even as his stupid front-swept hairdo made it hard to even see his eyes. She glared at him, and he grit his teeth and slowly crept backward, walking a step back for every step Rainbow took toward him.

But he was way too slow.

Rainbow dashed behind him before he could even blink, and she winded up a punch that rocked the base of his spine, the loser screaming bloody murder from that hit and the follow-up punch that slammed his head into the wall.

Dumbbell slowly slid down the wall, leaving a bloody trail in his wake, and Rainbow locked her fiery eyes with Hoops and Quarterback, who were struggling to their feet.

“You got somethin’ to say?” Rainbow sneered as she walked over to the trembling pair, knives pointed their way. “You got some kinda problem with me? Then let’s settle it, right here!”

“P-please, it was just a prank!” Hoops quivered. “We didn’t mean to set you off like this, honest! It was just a joke!”

“You have a bad sense of humor,” Rainbow growled, pressing a knife up against Hoops’ neck.

It would be so EASY. No one would ever bother her again after these guys suddenly showed up in the obituaries.

Rainbow glanced back to see Dumbbell on his hands and knees, coughing up blood. Served him right, but did he deserve to die?

No one ‘deserves’ to die.

Rainbow took in a sharp breath and stepped back, putting the knives back in their sheathes.

“Go home, you idiots.”

Rainbow might’ve gone a little off the handle there. She didn’t take kindly to bullies though, and while what they did to her— after she’d gone through so much trouble to clean this place up— really stung, it was the fact that these were the same losers who were picking on Fluttershy during orientation that really set her off.

Still though, if she just flew into a rage at every challenge, what would people think of her? She didn’t care, of course, but…

But…

…

Okay, maybe she cared a little.

Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen. Rainbow probably scared her off, and she couldn’t really blame Fluttershy for that. These guys may have been jerks, but Rainbow didn’t need to be so aggressive. She should’ve just played it cool.

She sighed miserably as she walked away from the oafs, and decided she’d better head to Sentry’s office and grab her train money.

At least, that was plan A before Hoops threw his arm around her neck, grabbing her in a headlock and yanking her back. Quarterback got in front of her and punched her hard in the stomach, making her hack up air, and then Dumbbell landed the last blow; a heavy punch right to her head that knocked her to the ground.

She barely even registered what was happening as she struggled to her hands and knees, but a firm stomp onto her back sent her flat against the ground. The bullies cackled as she tried to reach for her knives, but one of them kicked her hard in the ribs while another stomped on her hand, Rainbow biting down a pitiful yelp of pain.

This is what she got for trying to show some mercy. But then again, Fluttershy bailing on her is what she got for being too aggressive, so maybe fate just had it out for her.

Maybe she deserved this.

Rainbow’s hand twitching got met by another solid kick to her ribs, and she painfully rolled over onto her back, which she instantly regretted as Hoops stomped hard on her stomach, knocking all the wind right out of her.

“This is what you get, loser!” Hoops cackled, and Quarterback and Dumbbell gave each other a high-five. “This is what trash like you deserves!”

Honestly, Rainbow found it hard to disagree.

Maybe she did deserve this.

“Hey, y’all.”

A cold voice cut through the hallway, and the Rainbow’s blood froze over. Judging by the distraught faces of her tormentors, she guessed she wasn’t the only one.

Rainbow could just barely see out her peripherals, a pair of black boots that belonged to her favorite rival, and she could also make out a pair of pink slippers that belonged to Fluttershy.

Wait… she didn’t abandon me after all? She just went to fetch Applejack?!

Rainbow wanted to joke about how that was actually worse, but honestly… she kinda appreciated it. Especially right now because OW getting stomped on is painful and it sucks!

“I dunno what y’all think yer tryin’ to pull,” Applejack cracked her knuckles as she walked forward, and the bullies all skittered away from Rainbow’s prone body, “but if y’all don’t beat it, yer gonna have a problem.”

The bullies didn’t need to be told twice, practically tripping over themselves to get away from Applejack, who just sighed bemusedly as she walked over to Rainbow, holding a hand out to her.

“You alright, sugarcube?” she said with a sweet smile, and Rainbow’s brain almost tore itself in half trying to decipher why Applejack was being nice to her.

“I don’t need you help, thanks,” Rainbow scoffed and tried to bat Applejack’s hand away, but she didn’t realize she needed both hands to keep herself up until she fell flat on her face. “I don’t need… your help…” she wheezed, blood pooling in her mouth and dripping down her lip as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

Applejack took a deep breath, and if she had any other keen insights or words of wisdom, Rainbow didn’t hear them as she drifted off into unconsciousness.

****

As class dispersed for the afternoon, Applejack looked over at the sleeping figure of Rainbow, still hunched over a desk with her head resting on her arms like always, and Applejack bit down on her thumb.

Rainbow wouldn’t be happy to be woken up, but Applejack knew that despite Rainbow’s protests that she didn’t care about ‘boring, stuffy classroom junk’, it bothered her that she was so far behind everyone else so early into her training.

Applejack approached her, but was stopped when the voice of an instructor, Abacus Cinch, reprimanded her.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked coldly.

Applejack drew herself up and cocked her head toward Rainbow, “I can’t just leave her. We got another class today and—”

“You will leave her be,” Abacus harrumphed. “If she thinks sleep is more important than learning, then let her sleep, and she can see what Flash Sentry has to say about it this evening.”

“But I—that doesn’t seem ri—”

“Are you questioning your instructors, Applejack?” Abacus tilted her glasses down and glared.

“N-no, ma’am,” Applejack swallowed her nervousness and slowly made her way out of the class with her head hung, looking back once more at Rainbow before she left, “sorry, ma’am.”

Applejack shook off the memories and tried to focus, breathing a slow, steady sigh as she walked down the moonlit street to home, carrying a sleeping and bloodied Rainbow Dash on her back.

According to Fluttershy, Rainbow couldn’t afford the night train home, but that was kinda moot to Applejack, who didn’t like the idea of Rainbow trying to commute all the way back to Fillydelphia with her injuries anyway.

So Fluttershy returned home with a promise from Applejack that she’d take care of Rainbow, and Applejack headed to her place with Rainbow in tow.

Applejack wasn’t about to just leave her. She wasn’t about to just abandon someone who needed her help.

That said, when Rainbow started to groggily groan as she woke up, Applejack grit her teeth and felt a knot in her stomach, cuz she knew Rainbow wouldn’t be happy.

“What happened to Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked weakly, and Applejack found herself surprised at Rainbow’s first choice of question.

“Uh, she went home,” Applejack said. “Poor girl was worried sick about’cha, and neither of us felt too good ‘bout you gettin’ on the train in your state, but she needed to get back or her family’d be mad at her.”

“Did she get you?” Rainbow asked. “Like, is she the reason you came to stop the fight?”

“Yeah,” Applejack chuckled as she recalled Fluttershy’s frantic, gibbering plea to come help, and how long and hard she tried to justify Applejack helping Rainbow, when Applejack would’ve done it with no convincing at all. “She’s a good lady, Rainbow, and she cares ‘bout you a lot.”

“That’s cool,” Rainbow muttered, and Applejack stopped.

“How ya feelin’?” Applejack asked. “I don’t mind carryin’ ya, but if you’d rather walk—”

“Yeah.”

Applejack let Rainbow get onto her feet, then looked down at the poor wreck of a girl, still banged up from their fight yesterday and blood and some kinda red paste coating her whole face and clothes. She looked a mess.

“You didn’t have to help me,” Rainbow said.

“I guess,” Applejack shrugged, “but how could I not? When you needed—” Applejack bit her lip and tried to cut herself off, knowing Rainbow wouldn’t like what she was gonna say, but she was a mite too late.

“I didn’t need your help!” Rainbow snapped, and Applejack took a step back and threw up her hands.

“Rainbow, I get it,” Applejack tried her best to stay calm and not escalate things with Rainbow; that was the last thing either of them needed. “You wanna do everything yourself, cuz you want everyone to know how strong you are, and that’s kinda admirable.

“But everyone needs help now and again, and there’s no shame in takin’ it when it’s offered. C’mon,” Applejack let out a little, nervous chuckle, “how would you feel if it were Fluttershy gripin’ about you tryin’ to help her?”

“W—that’s not—” Rainbow’s cheeks turned redder than the paste on her chest and she puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms. “That’s different.”

“How so?”

“I can accept help,” Rainbow coughed, “sometimes, but… I don’t want you helping me.”

“And why not?” Applejack couldn’t help but smile at the tantalizing knowledge right in front of her.

“Cuz then I’d have to admit-” Rainbow groaned loudly and rolled her head back, “-that I was wrong about you. That all that stuff I said, about you being a silver spoon kid or whatever, that was all bullcrap I made up to hide the fact that I was just super embarrassed that I kept losing to you. And that… you’re actually not the worst.”

“I don’t think you’re the worst either,” Applejack smiled warmly, and she couldn’t help feeling endeared to the little smile Rainbow gave in return. “Honestly, I think Hoops is the worst.”

Rainbow cackled, and Applejack beamed at that. “Yeah,” Rainbow said, “you’re totally right! They’re the worst, not me—er, I mean you.”

The pair’s laughter petered out after a sec, which left the two standing quietly together in the chilly winter night. No fists raised or sharp-tongued barbs flying between them, just a moment of peaceful silence.

“So,” Rainbow broke the pause with a nervous clearing of her throat, “we’re headed to your place, I guess?”

“Yep,” Applejack said as she resumed the trek, Rainbow following behind. “I hope that’s okay with you.”

“It’s-” Rainbow sighed and ran a hand through her hair, offering a hesitant smile to Applejack “-not the worst.”

Author's Note:

What if Appledash, but Rain's a little troublemaking gremlin.

Please feel free to alert me to any typos or errors.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Giving you fair warning here, that title is going to make people think of Lightning Dust, not Rainbow Dash.

[VampDash]

There we go!

[Gypsy Heart]

You tag Main 6, so it means that we will see other characters, right? This story is nice so far. I'm waiting for the next chapters

[Leaf Blade]

9364856
Yes, the rest of the mane six will show up by the end of the first story arc, and will all have a stake in the main plot going forward (tho of course Appledash will remain the central focus).
And thank you kindly for the compliment, I'm very glad you're enjoying the fic.