Following the Cutie Map, Applejack and Rainbow Dash head off to Whinnypeg to find a friendship problem somewhere in the convention center. A con is poised to start when they arrive and they check-in as attendees, ready to search high and low among the staff and the con-goers for whoever needed their help. The only real problem is that the con is a couples retreat, everypony is flashing Applejack and Rainbow Dash knowing looks, and the two of them aren’t together like that.
At least, they haven’t been together like that since they were teenagers …
A novella told in three parts.
Editing by JetstreamGW and bookplayer. Cover art by mousse.
Chapters (3)
I have a feeling that the Cutie Map planned to have those two come back together?
Kiss already!
Haven't read it yet but it looks really great.
Was this originally written for the AppleDash World contest?
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The original inspiration for it did come from the prompt for that, but the "contest" had already fizzled out by the time I started writing this thanks to other projects that were eating up my time. Couldn't let the idea go to waste, though.
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Better then nothing at all!
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I am in complete agreement, Mousse's work is always beautiful, and she really knocked it out of the park with this. I got it back from her and nearly had a heart attack.
OH MY GOSH, THIS WAS AMAZING !!!
😭😭😭this story makes me cry, so good
Loved this story! It was hooking throughout from start to finish, from the immersive descriptions of the convention centre (which I have a personal bias for since they make me feel as if I'm on vacation, something I've sorely missed since Covid) to the conversations with your lovable OCs Double and Party, the roller derby gals, many others, and of course the interactions between Appledash whose dynamic was just so fun and lively and humorous. Oh and the poutine too, now you have me craving poutine.
The best point of the story for me has to be how you handled their conflict and relationship, your skill really shines through those parts, clearly quite some thought was put into how both their personalities played into the conflict and it was also later resolved realistically. And I'd be lying if I said the Appledashing scenes didn't give me the warmest fuzzies EVER. 
Not too short, not too long, definitely a story I'm going to want to revisit more than once. Thank you, I'm really glad you wrote this 
Top tier AppleDash, honestly. On the level of Flapjacks. Nicely built back stories that are revealed in interesting ways. Just enough humor and emotion and in a story that really does hold up and doesn't just feel like an excuse for shipping. Very nice.
Eeeeey.
In all seriousness, just now got around to reading this. Quite a while ago now, we had the "second chances" appledash contest. This most definitely would have been a podium finisher. I'm hard pressed to say if the judges might have put it at top billing. This was absolutely excellent AppleDashery, without crazy convoluted situations or takes. This just felt very natural to read and learn about their shared history. Loved it.
Aw man, this was super cute!
It's so nice to see Rainbow and AJ actually talking about stuff and them being who they are is just so dang adorable.
I'm just starting the story, but for some reason I have the feeling that the map just wants them to get back together, that's probably an actual friendship problem but that's my projection
An extra quotation mark wormed its way in there. I know the story's been out a while but it's just something I noticed.
Anyway, I really like the setup! If this story is going where I can it is then I don't think I've read one where the map sends the two who are having the friendship issue, which is a lovely idea, especially when romance is involved!
My most favorite aspect so far has been just the little interactions between AJ and RD. The constant playful bumps and banter just feels so real here and is adorable!
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Thanks for the catch! Never too late to clean things up.
Glad you're enjoying it, and I hope the ending lives up to the beginning for you.
Extra space between the I and the '. I'm assuming that's unintentional?
Also, I'm amazed I've never seen the contraction: "to've" before today. I've got to start using that.
Great backstory! I can totally see that causing things to spiral out of control for them for a good while seeing how overly protective AJ is of her li'l sister in the show.
...Hmm, perhaps Cadence may have sprinkled some magic into the map to influence it just a teensy-tiny bit after having seen how the two interact with one another on one of her visits, or after she read the group's journal. I mean, if literally everyone could see what they couldn't, Cadence would certainly not miss it either.
Rainbow Dash was very mature in this fic for her, and I and I don't mean that as in she felt off—because she didn't—this felt like the natural progression for her character. Now, the way I see it that can be in part due to the company she's with; AJ's cool demeanor edging off the low-levels of brashness that remains in Rainbow at this point, anchoring her a little bit. They complement each other so well in this story and I'm all for it.
I must say that their worries and doubts about starting over again felt very real; their hesitation to talk things out and constantly having to ask "should we talk about it...?" but ultimately choosing to get things moving as soon as they realize they need to have the talk instead of constantly pushing it back. I loved how they had to have several talks in order for things to fall into place. I'm glad it wasn't all resolved all at once and that there were things that hadn't been put out on the table yet, so to speak. Applejack taking the lead in the talks, whilst Rainbow mostly listened and shared input but not sharing her biggest insecurities until the end felt very Rainbow.
Also, I know I already said this but... I really did love their constant playful pushes and bumps throughout the story, it was very sweet.
This was an absolutely wonderful read. Thank you.
A very well done story! I love the backstory of their small ‘fling’ and the real hidden quest of the plot: Poutine~
Cute.
Bummer of a name, “Bear Market”. I suppose she could trade options…
*say that I am.
I mean, the smart money was always on everything being Rainbow’s fault.
What kind of sick pony would do such a thing?!
Excellent excellent excellent excellent. I love the structure of this fic - the three acts work perfectly, and I am more delighted than I probably should be by the progression of their mission being coupled with their progression towards getting real poutine. Sublime stuff.
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Perhaps the real friendship lesson was the poutine we ate along the way.
Glad you enjoyed it. ^^
I love how various little minor details throughout the beginning of the story end up making sense by the end. My favorite part is when Applejack feels jealous of the idealized version of herself that fans of the friendship journal have in their heads. It's a very clever and meta comment.
I wonder why chose the word 'girlfriend' instead of 'marefriend'?
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Hi! Yeah, while marefriend is pretty common in fandom stuff, it actually isn't used in the show at all, the show uses special somepony and boyfriend/girlfriend. I used girlfriend in this story because I think it sounds better, and is also accurate to the actual show.