Apples and Lightning

by Leaf Blade

05. Tentative Comfort and Nervous Excitement

Rainbow ran her thumb across the surface of a flat stone as it glistened in the moonlight, her eyes narrowing at the river in front of her and only for like a split second did they wander over to Applejack sitting nearby. She was gonna skip this stone across the river so hard and Applejack was gonna be so impressed.

Rainbow closed her eyes and breathed in. She winded back and achieved the perfect throwing stance. She was just about to let it loose when—

“Good luck, sugar!” Applejack said in a beautifully sing-song tone, totally throwing Rainbow’s concentration and causing her grip on the rock to slip, tossing the thing into the nearby bridge where— of course— it bounced off and hit Rainbow square in the forehead.

Rainbow stumbled back, totally sure that she could salvage this by striking a cool pose, but then she caught her foot on a rock and slipped, falling right on her ass with a spine-shuddering thud.

“Oh gosh, Rainbow!” Applejack stood up immediately and ran to Rainbow’s side, kneeling beside her and grabbing her hand; so even if Rainbow’s pride was a little damaged, her fall wasn’t a total loss. “Are you okay, hon?”

“Yeah, of course!” Rainbow scoffed, batting her hand at Applejack before poking her on the nose. “But you can’t throw off a girl’s concentration like that! Sheesh, what were you thinking!”

“I was thinkin’ I wanted to see you blush,” Applejack smirked ear to ear, and if she hadn't already succeeded at that goal, she sure had now. “Yeah, just like that.”

“Alright, alright!” Rainbow stuck out her tongue and pushed Applejack away, flailing her arms at Applejack until she stood up.

Rainbow planted a hand on the ground to lift herself up, but she’d tweaked her tailbone a little and let out a pained hiss as she tried to stand. Before she could think of how to better leverage herself, an orange hand appeared in front of her, and she looked up to see Applejack smiling down at her, hand extended.

Two weeks ago, Rainbow would’ve smacked Applejack’s hand aside, even knowing that it would be a stupid, terrible thing to do. But two weeks ago, Rainbow wouldn’t be hanging out with Applejack well into the evening after class, because the Rainbow of two weeks ago was a big cowardly jackass who couldn’t even be honest about how much she enjoyed AJ’s company.

Well, she was still that, but at least now she could take Applejack’s hand and let Applejack help her to her feet, with only a second’s hesitation and mild embarrassment. Which was progress, at least to Rainbow.

“It’s startin’ to get late, sugarcube,” Applejack sighed, putting her hands in her jacket pockets. “I guess we’d better getcha to the station, huh?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow looked away from Applejack, up at the full moon. She shook her head and sighed, “I guess I’d better head home.”

Usually Rainbow took the early evening train back to Fillydelphia alongside Fluttershy, but in the last couple weeks she’d started going back and forth between commuting with Flutters, and staying late to hang out with Applejack, and taking the more expensive night train home by herself.

And she couldn’t have been more thankful to her roommate, Fluttershy, and even Applejack, for all helping her out when she didn’t have the money for the night train.

“Mind if I walk to the station with ya?” Applejack asked, bumping her body against Rainbow’s.

“Uh, are you sure?” Rainbow asked, walking up the grassy hill onto the bridge and making sure to stay ahead of Applejack so she couldn’t see just how red Rainbow’s cheeks were. “Isn’t your place like in the total opposite direction?”

“I got strong legs,” Applejack chuckled, “I can use ‘em.” Applejack smirked and tapped Rainbow’s arm as they walked over the stone bridge, “I guess you could say it’s ‘no biggie’.”

Rainbow snickered and looked down at her feet. It’s not like she could just say no to Applejack’s offer, right?

“No,” Rainbow said, sticking her tongue out at Applejack and keeping pace even as Applejack stopped in her tracks. Rainbow walked a few steps before stopping to turn and look at Applejack’s bewildered expression and grinning at her. “I’m kidding, AJ. I’d love it if you’d walk to the station with me.”

“Don’t play with a girl’s heart like that!” Applejack shook her fist and caught up to Rainbow, who was cackling at AJ’s flustered reaction.

Rainbow and Applejack didn’t really talk as they walked to the train station, but Rainbow didn’t mind. They’d spent like the whole evening talking, so just walking next to each other, keeping each other company even without words, it was… exciting, somehow.

It felt really gratifying to know that Rainbow could just exist next to someone without trying to act cool, or be nervous about how she might be screwing things up. And it wasn’t just AJ either, she was starting to feel a lot more comfortable with her roommate and Fluttershy too.

It was like, ever since she met Applejack, she just had this drive to be a nicer, less bitchy person. And that was cool; she liked the person she was becoming. She wasn’t ready to get rid of all the bitchiness though; what would even be the point of having a relationship where she couldn’t rib her friends? It’d be boring!

“Welp,” Rainbow put her hands in her pockets and rocked back and forth on her tiptoes as she and Applejack stood on the train platform, waiting for Rainbow’s train, “I guess this is it. You should probably head home, huh?”

“Nah,” Applejack sat down on a steel bench and put her arms on the back, “I’ll wait for the train with ya. No one else is even here, I’d hate for you to feel lonely.”

Rainbow couldn’t be sure if that was a tease or a genuine sentiment, so she turned to face the tracks so Applejack couldn’t see her bite down a smile.

“I ain’t leavin’ ‘til the train does either,” Applejack yawned, and Rainbow really wished she hadn’t because it reminded her that she hadn’t slept a full night’s sleep in like three days, “just so y’know.”

“What, you’re just gonna wait here on that bench so you can wave at me through the window?” Rainbow said sarcastically, though when she looked at Applejack, she was just nodding her head quietly. Rainbow looked away, buried her hands in her pockets, and muttered “I appreciate that, thanks.”

“No problem, hon,” Applejack stood up and stretched her arms over her head, trying to keep herself awake.

“I thought I was the one who was supposed to have sleeping problems?” Rainbow chuckled, and even though she was just kidding, the lack of sleep was starting to catch up to her like a cheetah in the savannah. Are cheetahs savannah animals? Whatever, you get it.

“Don’t fret sugarcube,” Applejack put her arm around Rainbow, who seized up at the sudden closeness, “I ain’t gonna fall asleep on ya or nothin’.” Applejack perked up and looked down the tunnel at the light glaring in the distance, “Looks like I ain’t gonna have to, neither. Your ride’s here.”

“So it is,” Rainbow took a deep breath through her nose. She didn’t want to get on the train, she just wanted to keep standing there with Applejack’s arm around—

Wait what no I don’t that’d be weird it’d almost be like I have a crush on Applejack which I definitely do not have at all nope.

The train rolled into the station and Applejack kept her arm around Rainbow until she begrudgingly tore herself away to get on the train. She turned to look at Applejack— who waved and smiled at her— only once before heading inside the train and finding a spot by the window, where she could see Applejack still waving to her.

It made her heart warm, and made the ride home feel a lot less lonely.

****

Rainbow took deep breaths and bit down on her thumb as she admired herself in the mirror, looking super awesome in her new uniform. She’d been at the academy for two months now, and today was the day of her very first field test!

The first time she’d be seeing real combat, having real adventures, being amazing and a sight to behold for real! Well, not entirely real; it was basically just a training drill, and the route was predetermined by the instructors, and she’d only be fighting people who were hired by the Academy for this test, but still! It was a step in the right direction!

And more importantly, she looked awesome in the Cross’ official military student uniform; the dark blue and gold accents looked super rad on her.

“Rainbow Dash, are you still in the bathroom?” Rainbow’s roommate knocked on the bathroom door. “C’mon, all this extra estrogen is making me pee like crazy!”

“Yeah, just a sec!” Rainbow flashed one last snazzy grin at her reflection before bouncing from the bathroom, heading over to the living room and waiting for the roommate to finish using the bathroom so they could leave together.

Rainbow sat on the couch and tried not to grind her teeth together, but she could hardly sit still! A field test was a pretty big deal, especially since it was a team exercise, which meant she’d almost definitely be spending the whole time with Applejack, and Fluttershy too!

She just couldn’t wait, but before she could stomp all the way to the bathroom to give her roommate a hard time for needing to pee, the roommate wandered into the living room.

The lavender skinned, indigo haired girl yawned and took off her glasses long enough to rub her eye, before poking herself in the eye with the glasses as she tried to put them back on.

“You okay, Twi?” Rainbow asked, and Twilight nodded groggily.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Twilight sighed, sounding anything but fine. “How do I look?”

Twilight was dressed in a dark blue suit, tie and coat included, with her long hair tied behind her in a neat ponytail. She looked like she was going to a wedding or a fancy dinner, but Rainbow figured that was just the sort of Look that was expected of Twilight on the rare occasions she was seen in public.

If people saw the sister of the Holy Knights’ Commander dressed in her usual hoodie and cheese-stained sweat pants combo, they’d probably freak.

“You look rad,” Rainbow jumped over the couch and slapped Twilight’s shoulder, Twi giving a half-smile in return. “Not quite as rad as me, but pretty close.”

“Wow, that’s high praise,” Twilight said drolly.

“I know!” Rainbow beamed, throwing her arm around Twilight, who smiled, but Rainbow could feel her shoulders slump. “Twi,” Rainbow rubbed her fingers against Twi’s arm, “if you don’t wanna do this…”

“What? If I don’t want to do this, what?” Twilight barked. “I have obligations, Rainbow. I have to be here to watch this field test, because Shining and everyone else still thinks his dropout sister is going to inherit command someday, somehow.”

“Geez, could you imagine?” Rainbow asked, trying to change the subject for Twilight’s sake. “Commanding the entire Equestrian military?”

“Just the thought of it makes me ill,” Twilight groaned. “If I wanted to be a soldier, I wouldn’t have dropped out of the Academy. I just wish Shining would accept that already so we could both move on with our lives.”

“Well, today’s gonna suck for you,” Rainbow slapped Twilight’s shoulder, and she just croaked at Rainbow in response, “but I’ll buy you a cider tonight, okay? Will that make it a little better?”

“I guess,” Twilight grinned in that way Twilight always did when she thought she was about to be clever. “I suppose today won’t be all bad if I get to meet your girlfriend.”

“She is NOT—”

“Hey Rainbow time’s wasting!” Twilight chirped as she bounced out the door. “What’re you waiting for?!”

“You’re the worst, Twilight Sparkle!” Rainbow shouted, forcing herself to hold back a laugh.

“That’s not what your mom said!” Twilight cackled, Rainbow throwing her face into her hands as she followed Twi out the door.

It wasn’t long after Rainbow and Twilight had left their house that they ran right into Fluttershy; or rather, Twilight almost ran right into her if Rainbow hadn’t yanked her away by the arm first.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy gasped, cupping her hands against her mouth. “I didn’t hit you, did I?”

“N-no, I’m fine,” Twilight fretted with her bangs and couldn’t look at Fluttershy, probably a mix of social anxiety meets embarrassment from nearly crashing into someone. Luckily, Rainbow was there to do all the talking.

“She’s fine cuz I saved the day,” Rainbow flashed a gleaming grin and pointed at herself.

“Right,” Fluttershy rolled her eyes with a smile. “Good morning, Rainbow. It’s nice to see you, and you look really sharp today.”

“You too, Fluttershy!” Rainbow gently poked Fluttershy’s arm, getting a giggle out of her. Fluttershy was dressed in the soldier’s uniform just like Rainbow was, though the outfit for the Chemist class was dark green and bronze, and had a skirt instead of pants.

“Who’s your friend?” Fluttershy held her hands in front of her and smiled at Twilight, who just looked away awkwardly and rubbed her neck. Rainbow chuckled, finding it funny that Fluttershy was being the outgoing one here.

“This is Twilight Sparkle,” Rainbow put her arm around Twilight, which didn’t seem to help her nerves, “she’s my roommate, I’ve told you about her before.”

“Oh! It’s nice to finally meet you, Twilight Sparkle!” Fluttershy held out her hand, and Twilight—after getting a helpful push from Rainbow—took Fluttershy’s hand and shook it in the most clammy, awkward, uncool way possible.

Fluttershy’s smile had faded and she started rocking back and forth on her tip-toes, at a loss for what to say, and Rainbow felt like she was literally going to choke on the secondhand embarrassment.

“So anyway!” Rainbow loudly cleared her throat, walking toward the Fillydelphia station and dragging Twilight along by her arm. “You excited for the field test, Fluttershy?”

“Um, yeah,” Fluttershy coughed as she walked beside Rainbow. “I am very excited. So thrilled. Yay.”

“Wow you sound pumped,” Rainbow said flatly, arching an eyebrow at Fluttershy. She snickered and gently punched Fluttershy’s arm, “C’mon, you’re gonna be with me and Applejack! There’s no reason for you to be worried!”

“Oh, um, about that,” Fluttershy murmured, and Rainbow’s enthusiasm went down a notch. “I actually can’t team up with you or with Applejack. My brother’s in my class too, and I can’t, um… it wouldn’t be right, for me to leave him all by himself.”

“He doesn’t have anyone else he can partner up with?” Rainbow huffed. “What’re you, his nanny?”

“You haven’t met my brother,” Fluttershy sighed, slumping her shoulders. “He’s sensitive, and I’m worried that if I’m not there to help him with the field test, his other teammates won’t be able to put up with his… idiosyncrasies.”

“Meh, sounds like you should just dump him,” Rainbow shrugged, ignoring Fluttershy’s appalled gasp. “If he can’t handle himself, you shouldn’t have to babysit him.”

“It’s not that simple,” Twilight said firmly before Fluttershy could respond. “With family, it’s never that simple-“ Twilight locked eyes with Fluttershy “-isn’t that right?”

“It is,” Fluttershy nodded, and Rainbow just crossed her arms and puffed up her cheeks.

Rainbow didn’t understand any of it, but she wasn’t gonna try and talk Fluttershy into doing something she wasn’t comfortable with, so she just had to deal with the fact that Fluttershy wasn’t gonna be on her team this time.

“Eh, I guess that’s too bad,” Rainbow said casually. “Still though, I hope you and your brother do an awesome job on the test today!”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said, “and I hope you and Applejack pass with flying colors too.” Fluttershy blinked at Twilight, who was walking beside Rainbow now instead of behind her. “What about you, Twilight? I haven’t seen you taking the train with me and Rainbow before.”

Rainbow and Twilight exchanged glances, and Twilight just closed her eyes and shrugged.

“Twi’s coming to watch me be amazing,” Rainbow said proudly, putting her hand on Twilight’s shoulder.

“She’s dressed pretty sharply for a cheerleader,” Fluttershy giggled, and Rainbow wasn’t sure if she was trying to pry or just making a joke.

“My brother is Commander Shining Armor,” Twilight said coldly, and Fluttershy stopped dead in her tracks, “he wants me to watch the field test, so I’m watching it. That’s it.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy took a deep breath, “I see.”

“But mostly she’s just going to watch me be awesome,” Rainbow grinned, and Twilight laughed.

“Right,” Twilight rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

Rainbow stretched her arms over her head and arched her back as she and her two friends walked up to the Academy building. Sitting still for the whole train ride always made Rainbow so antsy, and every time she was super glad to be done with it.

This ride was more awkward than usual, since nobody said a damn word the whole time, with Twilight and Fluttershy both too awkward to talk to each other, and Rainbow didn’t have the patience or the energy to do the talking for all three of them.

Still though, now they were at the Academy, which meant the field test was almost about to start!

“Alright, I’m off,” Twilight muttered as the trio reached the front gate.

“Yeah? You’re not going into the Academy with us?” Rainbow asked, hands held behind her head.

“No,” Twilight shook her head. “I have to meet my brother as soon as possible, and if I walk through the main courtyard… it’ll cause a scene.”

“Riiight,” Rainbow groaned.

She always forgot that Twilight wasn’t just her friend and roommate, that other people might actually recognize her if they saw her. And here at the Academy she also had the baggage of being a dropout, and some of the third-years were first-years when Twilight dropped out; they’d recognize her for sure, and that’d be a huge mess.

“I’ll catch you later, Twi,” Rainbow clasped Twilight’s hand, giving her a thumbs-up and a winning grin to help bolster her confidence. “And I’ll treat you to a cider like I promised!”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Twilight smiled. She bit her lip and poked her head past Rainbow to look at Fluttershy. “Um,” she coughed, getting Fluttershy’s attention, “if I see you at the cider thing that me and Rainbow are doing later, uh, I’ll introduce myself properly. I promise. Sorry I didn’t do that already, you seem, uh… nice.”

Twilight cleared her throat, and Fluttershy just blinked at her. Rainbow meanwhile was trying not to suck air through her teeth.

“Anywaybye!” Twilight said loudly before taking off like a shot in the opposite direction, practically leaving a trail of dust in her wake.

“Yikes,” Rainbow grumbled under her breath. “I didn’t expect her to be that awkward.”

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy said. “I hope this is alright to say, but it actually felt nice to not be the weird one for once.” Fluttershy giggled, and Rainbow let out a little chuckle of her own. “I would like that proper introduction though, and I’ll definitely need a cider after the field test.”

“It’s on me,” Rainbow flashed a winning smile and pointed at herself proudly.

“We can split the tab,” Fluttershy chirped.

“You’re the best!” Rainbow grabbed Fluttershy’s shoulders and bowed her head. Despite Rainbow’s pride, she really couldn’t afford to buy everyone drinks, at least not more than one round.

“I know, I know,” Fluttershy laughed and pat Rainbow’s head. “Now, don’t you have somewhere to be? You don’t want someone else to snatch up Applejack before you get to her, do you?”

“Wh—she wouldn’t let someone else snatch her up!” Rainbow huffed, throwing her arms straight down at her sides.

Fluttershy bit down a giggle, “You’re probably right, but you should still hurry up and find her.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow nodded. “Good luck, Fluttershy.”

“I won’t wish you good luck,” Fluttershy said, “because I know you don’t need it, but I hope you, um, nail it. Is that okay?”

“That was great!” Rainbow gave Fluttershy a tight hug— which Fluttershy warmly reciprocated— before charging off into the courtyard to find Applejack.

Everyone in the courtyard was in uniform now, so it wasn’t hard to pick the Squires out of the crowd, what with their red and silver outfits. Even more than that, Applejack was way taller than almost anyone else in the Academy, and she had that ugly straw hat that clashed horribly with her uniform. Rainbow found her in ten seconds flat.

She thought about calling out to Applejack, but saw that she was talking to some other girl; some girl whose black trench coat also went hideously bad with her red uniform. It wouldn’t be cool to interrupt Applejack while she was talking, at least not without making a scene first.

So instead of calling out, Rainbow ran at full gallop toward Applejack and jumped onto her shoulders, lifting her legs off the ground and wrapping her arms around Applejack.

“What in the—” Applejack shrieked before turning to see Rainbow’s big grin and responding with the flattest scowl of bemusement Rainbow had ever seen in her life. “Oh. I should’ve figured.”

“Rainbow Dash, right?” the golden-haired girl Applejack was talking to laughed.

“The one and only!” Rainbow beamed. “Happy to see me, AJ?”

“Just beside myself, hon,” Applejack rolled her eyes, but she didn’t actually make any move to get Rainbow to get off of her, so Rainbow just… didn’t. “Rainbow, this is my pal, Lightning Dust.”

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow said, “she’s the girl you were fighting the day we—uh, that time. That other—uh, two weeks ago, right?”

“That’s correct,” Applejack wheezed, sounding as uncomfortable as Rainbow felt. She cleared her throat, “But yeah, you were there for that fight, so you saw me wallop Lightning somethin’ fierce!”

“Ha, that was two weeks ago,” Lightning scoffed, “if you think I’d still lose to an old-timer like you—”

“Old timer!?” Applejack sputtered. “We’re the same age!”

“Pfft, details,” Lightning shrugged, and Rainbow chuckled, taking utter delight in Applejack’s unimpressed frown.

“So hey,” Rainbow said, “Fluttershy’s not gonna be able to team up with us, she’s kinda wrapped up somewhere else. So we need a third, AJ.”

“Gee, where are you gonna find one?” Lightning grinned ear to ear.

“I dunno,” Applejack shrugged, “I was thinkin’ I might ask Caramel or somethin’.”

Lightning’s face turned bright red, and even though Rainbow was enjoying clinging to Applejack’s shoulders, it was worth getting down so she could pound AJ’s fist after that solid burn.

“Lightning, you wanna team up with us?” Applejack said, reaching her hand out to Lightning Dust.

“Uh, yeah I do!” Lightning firmly grabbed Applejack’s hand, the two girls beaming at each other. “The two best students at the academy on one team? And also Rainbow Dash is there I guess? We’re gonna leave every other team in the dust!”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, honestly,” Applejack said confidently.

“Applejack,” the voice of Flash Sentry caught Rainbow off-guard before she could snipe at Lightning for dissing her. Judging by Applejack’s concerned frown, she wasn’t sure what to make of the instructor calling her out either.

“Somethin’ wrong, sir?” Applejack asked.

“Not at all,” Flash shook his head with a smile, and Rainbow grinded her teeth because just looking at his smug, bearded face made her mad. One of the biggest perks of transferring out of the Squire class was not dealing with that chungus anymore. “There’s someone who wants to speak with you before the field test begins. It can’t wait, so if you’ll please come with me.”

“Ooooooohhhh,” Lightning Dust cooed, and Rainbow found it annoying even though she was thinking of saying the exact same thing.

“You’re not in trouble,” Flash chuckled.

“Why would I be?” Applejack rolled her eyes. “I’m a perfect student.”

“Please,” Lightning batted her hand dismissively, “if it were something really important, they’d wanna talk to me.”

“Sure, sugarcube,” Applejack grinned snidely at Lightning before walking off with Flash, leaving Rainbow and Lightning Dust alone in the courtyard.

Rainbow put her hands into her pants pockets and sized Lightning Dust up. She seemed pretty cool, and if she was friends with Applejack, she couldn’t have been all bad. But there was something about her that Rainbow really didn’t like.

“What’s the matter?” Lightning gave a smug little corner-of-her-mouth smirk. “You afraid I’m gonna steal Applejack from you or something?”

“What.”

Why does everyone keep assuming I have a thing for Applejack?!

“C’mon,” Lightning chuckled, “problem child keeps picking fights with the super talented girl, then transfers into the Lancer class so she can graduate into the same squad with her new ‘friend’, not to mention you two always taking time to spend together—”

“We’re friends,” Rainbow said through gritted teeth. “Why’re you making this weird?”

“Then what was that thing you did with the tackle hug just a minute ago?” Lightning arched an eyebrow and cocked her head. “Admit it Dash, you’re in lesbians.”

“Your mom is in lesbians!” Rainbow snapped, stomping toward Lightning Dust and pointing a finger at her.

“Why so defensive, Dash?” Lightning asked, leaning her head back and putting her hands in her coat pockets. “If I were wrong, wouldn’t I be the one getting all heated? If it was just a misunderstanding, why’re you making it weird?”

Rainbow’s cheeks burned up and she faltered for a second. She really didn’t have an answer for that.

“Whatever,” Rainbow sighed and turned her back on Lightning. “Think whatever you want.”

“Or are you mad because I’m the number two student in the Academy,” Lightning said coldly, “and you’re just a distant third, nowhere close to where Applejack is?”

Rainbow flicked her tongue against one of her canines, her fingers twitching in her pocket. She had her knives on her, it would be so easy to—

No. Not doing that shit again.

“It’s fine if you wanna be number two, Lightning Dust,” Rainbow hissed, turning her head to send a piercing glare into Lightning’s heart, “because I’m gonna be number one. Not you, not Applejack, me! I’m gonna be the Commander of the Holy Knights. So you take as much pride as you want to in your title of ‘second best’, because to me you’re just a stepping stone.”

Lightning grit her teeth into a snarl, that quickly morphed into a sinister grin.

“I guess we’ll just have to see who kicks more ass on the field test,” Lightning shrugged.

“Guess so,” Rainbow walked off.

As Rainbow walked away, a bitter and gross feeling sinking into her gut, all she could think was that she totally was not buying Lightning Dust any cider.

Author's Note:

A plot arc cometh.

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

Comments

[VampDash]

I miss when you did those 'What if AppleDash but X' little joke stuff.... guess it's up to me.

What if AppleDash but Lightning was a twit.

[Centurion Pike-Wall]

Alright: We got AJ in the squires, RD in the lancers, Flutters as a medic(?), and Twi as a dropout/junior officer. Wonder how Pinks and Rares will fit in. Also wonder what you'll do with LD. This is good; keep it up!

[Leaf Blade]

9407558

Fluttershy is a medic, yes. The Chemist class teaches the basics of magic and how to make useful items like potions (though Fluttershy's only interested in learning to heal, because she's Fluttershy).
Incidentally, Rarity and Pinkie will be introduced during this upcoming arc.
Anyway, thank you very much for the compliment. It makes me really happy to hear people are enjoying my work.

9406923
I was concerned it would get old if I did it too many times, but honestly I wouldn't mind doing it again. I like the uniformity.

[VampDash]

9408172
It's funny little gags and I like it.