Tickling Try-Out

by Player 4

Applejack - Chapter 2

As the sky turns from black to blue, Applejack may have already come to a decision on what's happening in this new day, and the same plan is continuing to hold, but it was very much up in the air how her feelings would manifest as she entered today. Second thoughts can be a problem.

She wakes up without any such thoughts, having "Today's the day" and "I'm headin' to Rarity's place right after breakfast" as the first thoughts in her mind as the day begins, but during breakfast, and the rest of the pre-tickling period, the drawback thoughts mutate themselves into a modern-day version.

Gah, it's gonna be so awkward, though! I'm not sure if I can do it!

...Yup.

She is able to continue using the "You'll regret it if you don't" quote as a remedy, just like before, but, sadly, that tactic only works as a motivation to try the new thing in the first place. It wouldn't erase the utter awkwardness that is destined to come to Applejack with asking Rarity to tickle her and, if she agrees to AJ's request, having to make herself vulnerable like that.

By the way, note that "If she agrees to AJ's request" above sentence, particularly the word "if." That was bound to show up as a product of pure anxiety, even if it wasn't supported by evidence. As talked about previously, Rarity has been having some fun with tickling recently. She's immersed far enough into it that she now has a box of tools used for it.

And Rarity is absolutely no stranger to embarrassment and helping ponies get what they want despite it. Many, many of her clothes clients have blushed in the mirror right in her view while trying on dresses that they believe make them look too cute; she knows this kind of thing.

Between the combo of these two facts, there was no reason to think Rarity was not the best choice as the tickler for Applejack's situation.

I really hope this works, Applejack thinks to herself as she walks out of the barn's front door and out into her adventure.

Thinking "I really hope this works" while simply strolling out was as far as her plan for request carrying-out could go. She found herself unable to anticipate in advance how exactly she would ask Rarity to tickle her.

On top of that, it wasn't clear why, but AJ couldn't stop herself from proceeding through her morning routine at normal speed, so now she's thinking "Guess I'm just gonna wing it."

Except... how does she wing it?

This suddenly-appearing roadblock stops her walking in its tracks.

Can I really ask to be tickled? I don't know; I feel like my whole body will turn red and I'll pass out from embarrassment.

Hyperbole for sure, but the basic premise is definitely not a concern to be outright dismissed on the spot when it comes to Applejack's case here. This was going to be a tall task.

But again, she is determined to be tickled one way or another. She won't let this strong desire go unsatisfied, and she knows that bailing out will lead to regret. Is the tall task worth it? Absolutely.

It's definitely worth it, she reminds herself while continuing to walk forward.

---

After an on-hoof trip across the outskirts and through downtown, Applejack stands at the front of the place holding her fate; Carousel Boutique.

Rarity is in that building and not busy with any kind of work; she revealed her plans for this day at the most recent Mane Six gathering: "I'll be hanging out at home all day on Saturday, so feel free to come visit."

A piece of lucky timing that is, and Applejack continues to run her pattern of walking forward with the winging-it plans.

Here goes nothin', she thinks.

She pushes the front door open, to the ringing of the boutique bell, and an empty boutique room, but vibrant voice of her elegant friend in the distance, speaking the sentence "Oh? Do I have a visitor?"

Shoot, even without direct talking about the topic at hand yet, Applejack begins to blush at even the knowledge that she'll in general have to talk to her potential tickler.

"Yup. I'm here.", Applejack says in her instantly recognizable accent. She wasn't quite ready to reveal the precise reason for her visit yet.

That is, if she ever will be ready to reveal it! One way or another, it has to happen, but who knows if she'll ever reach a point where she can call herself "ready."

"That's so sweet of you, Applejack!", Rarity says as she comes into AJ's view. "What are you looking to do while you're here?"

Oh shoot. Here's where she is tasked with carrying out the reveal. It's of even higher importance right here for there to be an honest answer to the above question; we're talking about the Element of Honesty!

Applejack's cheeks start to turn red at the mere asking of this completely un-dodgeable question, signaling a high difficulty in responding. All she can muster up right now is "Uh, it's really embarrassin'."

Rarity, holding the job she does, is nowhere near any intimidation by that.

"That's no problem at all, darling.", she says. "I'm your best friend; you can tell me anything."

Yet, Applejack remains in silence. Reassurance is good, but it couldn't cause even a nudge in helping her move to the all-mighty sentence. The thought of her saying "I want you to tickle me" let in the old image from earlier; a completely red body laying down passed out on the floor.

But she can't bail out. She wants tickling. She can't.

Even still, though...

"I don't know if I can say it, Rarity! I mean, like, it's really, really embarrassin'!", Applejack says as she starts to shade her face with her hat.

Rarity could tell she had a harder-than-average task on her hooves here, so a bit of planning was needed, but not a whole lot. Rarity, completing the outline in a matter of seconds, walks over and places her hoof on Applejack's back, filling a first part of comfort in the physical side.

"I'm sure it's not as bad as you think, AJ. We see things differently than other ponies do. I've never once heard of anypony not giving reassurance to somepony asking for something embarrassing, and they never seem to agree that it's as embarrassing as the other pony is claiming it to be."

Whatever you're looking for, I will not be doing any judging, and I'm sure I will be happy to provide."

True that, and Applejack then gives herself enticement by once again imagining herself inside a tickle session. The scene of her trying it out, laughing it out, and discovering if she likes it. This scene brings her the happy feels at every appearance. Again, it is worth it.

Gah, but still, it's so, so awkward!

As much as she absolutely adores the idea of having her body tickled right here and now, that doesn't tone down the awkwardness!

Applejack wants to declare directly asking to be a lost cause. The idea of taking that route still leads to the idea of her body going completely red and passing out on the floor. She wants to try and find a way to beat around the bush, like giving Rarity hints.

But the thing is, Rarity would likely get annoyed with the bush beating. She's not really one for guessing games, and a good tickle session here hinges on Rarity's mood being positive.

Oh, what to do? What. to. do?

Well, AJ has the proper place and time to give it some thought.

"Take your time, Applejack. I understand this is hard.", Rarity says.

Good. Let's see what AJ is thinking:

Come on, Applejack. Your body being red all-over and passing out from this is completely unrealistic.

And again, what do you have to lose by asking? You chose Rarity here for a reason, and awkwardness, no matter how much, is not a good reason to bail on something you really want.

You'll only be rewarded for this.

Just like every other time before, these reminders succeed at getting Applejack to take a deep breath.

And for progress too, as she decides to go the route of simply asking for tickles. Just let it out, and see how things go. Which she is about to do right now.

Her body was shaking like she was in the Arctic right now (it's summer), her heart was racing a million miles a second, and her cheeks were red delicious apple-red, but nonetheless, here she goes.

"I... I want you to... tickle me.", she says out-loud, straight to the point.

---

Well, here we are.

Right after puffing out that sentence, Applejack snaps her head over to look towards the left, at an area Rarity isn't standing in, to anxiously wait for the response to her request. Despite all that is reasonable to predict of Rarity's response, Applejack's mind wanders nowhere but Rarity calling her a "load of sap" or something like that. The good old self-insult from last night.

And, sure enough, it does remain only that; a self-insult. Rarity's actual reaction:

"Tickle you? Ah, that's no problem at all, darling, and perfectly fitting, as it's something I've been getting into recently. Courtesy of Pinkie Pie, I discovered the beauty in it. Who doesn't love making your friends laugh? And it's a great way to bond too. We can have some friendship fun with it!"

"Anyway, you're perfectly fine, Applejack! Nothing wrong at all with wanting to be tickled! Let's go up to my bed. It's really soft, and there's plenty of room there, as my bed is quite big."

Huh. So Rarity didn't call her a load of sap.

And... she said yes? Yep! She did!

Applejack follows her friend up the stairs, with the line "Thanks a lot, Rarity."

---

The two mares tap their hooves into Rarity's top-floor bedroom, the setting of what's to come.

And here, with Applejack knowing how to position herself, the awkwardness floats back up.

Yep, even if the asking was accomplished, now she had to make herself vulnerable. She had to lay there, right in the grasp of tickling. That's no cakewalk either.

Well, Rarity notices this and knows what to do.

"I'd like you to remember this, Applejack. Know that you're in good hooves. I know how to tickle ponies. Pinkie Pie has been training me, and I've tickled her to good results. She says she always feels happy when I do it."

"I'm your best friend, and by allowing me to do this, you must feel comfortable with me."

"And you shall choose how this session goes. However you want it to go."

All that is definitely true, and reminding herself of the reward factor, Applejack forges along. She crawls on top of the purple canopy-covered bed and lays down on her back, to the sight and sounds of Rarity bringing out that box, then hovering behind Applejack's back legs, fully forming the "tickle zone."

"So, how do you want me to start?", Rarity asks. "Any tool or area in particular, or anywhere you don't want me to touch?"

"I'd say just tickle me in the areas that are most commonly ticklish.", Applejack says. "Bein' with Pinkie Pie, I'd assume you probably know 'em."

"And as for the rest, like tools used and order of area, surprise me.", she adds.

So Rarity has the choice. She feels Applejack would be better starting off slow, so she designates a feather as tool #1. This feather is dark-purple in color; in fact, it's the exact same color as Rarity's mane. It fits so well with her!

As for areas tickled, well, Rarity doesn't know what Applejack's most sensitive spot is, or if she even has one, but with the position of Applejack on her back and Rarity hovering over the back legs, one could only guess which spot was going to be tickled first.

With all the necessary questions answered, it's almost time. "Are you ready, darling?", Rarity asks.

Applejack, still with pure awkwardness rushing through her veins at turbo speed, sighs and says "I don't think I'll ever really be 'ready.' But I'm going to let it happen."

"That's perfectly understandable. I'll give you a bit more time.", Rarity responds.

Applejack feels the pressure in the complete heat of the moment. This was it. She was going to get tickled. She'd know what it feels like and if she enjoys it.

The anticipation plus the awkwardness really makes her shake.

She tries to calm it down by looking up at the white ceiling. Staring at nothing, something that's just... there, seems to be working for her.

Rarity gives off a timer. "I shall start tickling in 15 seconds.", she says.

Okay. 15 seconds. Here we go. Applejack still had awkwardness and anticipation pumping through at max, but she was going to move forward.

You'll be rewarded for this.

Countdown done, and here we go. Rarity points down the feather and starts by lightly stroking Applejack's belly.

She feels the familiar sensation bubble up. This soft, pointed feather running across her belly was without a doubt causing an "I remember this" moment and bringing out laughter... only for her to try and desperately hold it in due to awkwardness. She uses as much brute force as possible to keep her mouth shut, which Rarity notices and isn't going to let hold.

"It's okay Applejack, you can laugh. We're alone here and I'm your friend.", she says.

Determined to get Applejack to let the laughs go where they should, Rarity accelerates the feather's speed to nearly as fast as her hoof could go, starting to really tickle her friend. There's no way in the world Applejack could keep it contained; she bursts out into loud laughter in no more than two seconds.

"Heeheeheehee...hahaha!"

"Ah... you are ticklish!", Rarity teased.

Changing up the tickling, she moves the feather over to Applejack's right side, with the laughing in full flow now. The purple point strokes back and forth, left to right across her side, a sensitive area of hers.

"Hahahaha!" Applejack cannot stop laughing whatsoever and even jumps a bit. The feather then switches to her left side, continuing the pattern.

Aww, I love having her as a friend, Rarity thinks to herself.

For the third part, Rarity moves the feather back to Applejack's right side, but this time hovering in a narrow area towards the left. Applejack correctly reads the signal and lifts her foreleg up above her head, onto the pillow, allowing Rarity to tickle the area under. Her laughter even increases!

"Hahaha! Tha-at tickles! Heehee!" Applejack herself didn't even know she was so ticklish there. Memories of it are hard to come by. But now she knows, and continues to uncontrollably laugh and squirm around under the sensation, now knowing what it feels like.

After a fairly long spell of the under-foreleg tickling, Rarity shifts her body back to original positioning and says "Oh, I almost forgot! We haven't done your hooves yet!"

Applejack couldn't tell if that was a tease or if Rarity really did forget, but regardless, her hooves are crazily ticklish. She starts giggling even before the feather makes its first touch, and when it does, she lets out high-power laughter right then and there, even with only a feather! Rarity moves up and down and in circles across her friend's hooves, causing them to lightly kick up and to the tune of continuous laughing.

For Phase 2, after using the boundaries between phases to give Applejack a short break, Rarity moves on from the feather and puts her hooves into action. She uses them to dig into both of Applejack's sides at the same time. The double, and in general harder tickling only made her laugh even more than she already was!

Rarity then brought out an ordinary manebrush and used it on both of AJ's hooves. It's not only good for grooming!

Phase 2 was short-lived, and now comes Phase 3 that might be even shorter-lived. What's Phase 3? Just one thing. For the finale, Rarity blew a great, big, long-lasting raspberry on Applejack's belly.

"Hahahaha! Heehee! Aaah..haha!" The recipient of the tickles let the deep, deep laughter rush all the way through. She hadn't laughed at this magnitude in... as long as her memory can remember, it turns out. To her recollection, she's never laughed this hard.

And, as much as she didn't want to admit it...

...it felt good.

As did the experience itself, to her awaited discovery.

---

Rarity eases off the tickling for the end and Applejack sits up. Here comes the post-tickle interview where the burning questions are at last to be hosed down.

"So, did you like it, dear? Be totally honest.", Rarity says.

Applejack's cheeks still go red again. Gah, the embarrassment keeps moving itself to the next phase. No matter how many accomplishments crossed off, it's still there. Applejack didn't want to tell the uncomfortable truth.

But hey, she's already gone this far...

Applejack sighs and goes in for it. "Bein' totally honest with ya here, Rarity, I did like it!", she says. "I thought I didn't only because I was rememberin' only the times where I was tickled in a bad way, like that time with Trixie. But there's a whole other side to it, like what just happened today!"

"And it sure was fun to get the giggles again. I hadn't laughed that hard in ages.", Applejack says.

"Aww, that's wonderful, Applejack!", Rarity responds. "It sure was a fun way to spend time together too, was it not?"

"You betcha it was!", Applejack exclaims. "Ticklin' really is a good way to bond with somepony."

Rarity smiles.

"Well, since you liked it", she continues, "What are you thinking you should do in the tickling world next? Do you plan on going to any of the girls for more?"

Oof, this is a hard question; the awkwardness hasn't gone away, of course.

"I mean, I would like to continue, for sure, but as for goin' to the others, I'll get there someday. But for now, baby steps. I'll probably still ask you for next time.", Applejack says.

"That is perfectly alright.", Rarity responds. "Comfort is priority in tickling."

Absolutely.

---

Well, in any case, Applejack walked back out into the outside feeling as sunny as the sky was. She had finally satisfied that burning curiosity, and came out with a bright outlook on being tickled. She definitely wants to do it again someday.

And as she thinks about it, she does see things such as full-scale tickle parties and performing the giggly practice on the expert Pinkie Pie as part of her future. She has entered the game where the goal is becoming a member of the "tickle world."

I'm lookin' forward to the rest of all this.

As the loveliness of this walk continues, Rainbow Dash, who just so happened to encounter Applejack on a random Saturday outing of her own, notices said loveliness.

"Hey Applejack!", Rainbow says. "I've, uh, noticed how much you're smiling here, on a walk by yourself! You haven't looked this vibrant in a long time! What's going on?"

Under normal circumstances, AJ would have used her trusty competition techniques with her competitive partner to dodge uncomfortable questions like these, but today was anything but normal.

In fact, it was a new normal for her. With the level of happiness achieved from the series of red-cheek plunges she's taken today, she can answer this question with gusto, even when the asker is Rainbow Dash.

"Let's just say I feel very... tickled."

"Literally."

Author's Note:

Now it's Dash's turn!

For reference, the ending of this chapter takes place before Rainbow ever develops a desire to be tickled; it bears no relevance to her side of the story.

Comments

[Both Ends Of The Quill]

Dawwww, this was so sweet to read! After you commented on my blog I had to check out one of your stories and I was not disappointed. This is the kind of thing I aim to write as well.
Nice work, buddy! Heartwarmingly adorable~

[Player 4]

11156726
Thank you! A lot! I, uh, did not expect to receive this kind of comment. Lol