The Elements of Discord

by Gabriel LaVedier

Second Thoughts

“Well ah am a rancher and ah’m proud to say, ah live to work hard all the long day!” Out in the apple orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, the day after the meaningful lunch with Rainbow Dash, Applejack was doing her normal thing, examining the trunks and leaves for signs of infestation or disease. As she walked the aisles of neatly-planted trees, she sang a country tune of her own invention. “Ah don’t take vacations, ah know what ah lahk…”

“But I am not proud I’m one giant DYKE!” Suddenly, a discordant voice screeched out from the heavens, growing louder towards the end of the line until at last it was screaming from right behind Applejack, revealing the form of Gilda, once more. “You were going to leave out that part, weren’t you?”

“Oh you! Y’know, t’aint polite t’ just barge in on a body while she’s workin’. ‘Specially when yer also trespassin’ on somepony’s land. Yer lucky ah ain’t aimin’ t’ teach you some manners. Ah left mah rope back at the homestead so y'all can jes get on yer way.”

“Yea, sorry, Applejerk, I’m not interested in your weird country bondage games. I’m just here to tell you, you’re not that special. But the hilarious thing is, you probably think you are. That’s the best part. Especially after yesterday. I know I said it already, but I have to keep saying it, so you never forget.”

“Yea, yea. Y'all jes keep sayin’ it. And ah don’t have the faintest idea what y'all mean. Ah ain’t nuthin’ special. Jes a li'l ol’ country pony what works hard to keep the farm goin’. With, y'know, the help of mah brother and sometimes sister. That’s not important. What’s important is, ah’m not like y'all. Ah ain’t like y' at all. Ah ain’t interested in bein’ all about me.”

“Nah! Not you. You’re too humble and country and hayseed for that. You’re above all those things that city folks like us do. You’d never think you were something awesome. No, no way you’d figure you had something worth loving, right?” Gilda smiled, her dangerous beak curled into a mocking grin. “Not you. You’re nothing special.”

Applejack shut out the initial insults. She was used to it. She had heard every insult in the book. Redneck. Hayseed. Bumpkin. Hick. Cornfed. Young ponies could be cruel to a late bloomer that wasn’t from the city. But the ending… All that previous talk had not fazed her. No one could hear anything. But her final mockery was VERY directed. Only one pony needed to hear that abuse. That’s what she was implying. “Why you..! Ah ought to tear out yer wings fer that!”

“Ha! Strike a nerve there, hayseed? You knew what I meant yesterday. And you know what I’m talking about today. You think you’ve got something that’ll make you different? You don’t. It’ll all be the same. Exactly the same. But, get your hopes up. Get them up really high. Nothing’s sweeter than watching them crash and burn.” Gilda spread her wings and launched herself into the air, laughing as she went.

“Gol’ durn griffin… Ain’t got an ounce’a common decency in her body. Ah don’t know what Dash ever saw about her.” Applejack went back to her examination of the trees, noticing something coming low in the sky. She braced for a parting volley from Gilda.

Instead, it was Ditzy Doo, doing what seemed to be cloud patrol. The only mar in that was her eyes were popped out of alignment, as sometimes happened. She looked different, however. Crimped mane and tail, leg warmers, cheap plastic watches on her legs above the warmers. She looked like 1980-something exploded. As she passed, rather slower than normal, she could be heard saying, “Man, we were so weird back then. How did we ever manage to stand this stuff? I guess we figured out we were ridiculous. Derp.”

Applejack traced Ditzy’s path, she was heading towards the Ponyville town center. Looking like that would be pretty silly. But Ditzy DID tend to act that way. She shook her head a little and went right back to her trees, feeling slightly better than before.

- - -

Twilight stepped out of her library-home with a small yawn. She had slept in, and enjoyed it. She wanted to say she had finally experienced a sugar crash, but she ran into that long, long before going to bed. She had just felt lazy and lounge-y. She even let Spike sleep in to his heart’s content. But on stepping outside, her eyes caught sight of something odd. Everypony clustered around in the square, in the sky and in the shops that she could see was kitted out like crimped hair and New Wave had returned with a furious vengeance. “What’s going on here? Did someone invent a time machine while I was asleep?”

“I knew it! I’m going to get that joke all day! Faceplate.” Tic-Tock walked past Twilight, wearing a wild white wig, a white lab coat and dark goggles.

“Yea, nothing out of me, lately. I mean… Nothing.” Behind Tic-Tock walked a brown stallion with feathered hair and an hourglass mark on his flank.

“Good morning!” From seemingly nowhere, Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared, with a feathered mane, fancy jacket, and a pink skirt. “Isn’t this great? I told everypony that it would be fun I we all dressed up like it was 30 years ago! And it’s great! A lot of folks still have all the clothes, even if they don’t fit. Mr. and Mrs. Cake look so funny trying to do their work with big hair and lots of chains on their clothes.”

“Yea, Twilight, didn’t you get the message?” Rainbow Dash flapped slowly from the sky, wearing a white suit that made her body look twice as large as it actually was, and a red hat with a circular stair-step design.

“You know, at first I was uncertain about such a hideous prospect as wearing the clothing of such a curious time. But I embraced the retro style and must say it seems to be an entertaining exercise in letting our inner rebel out.” Rarity was resplendent in a collection of layered t-shirts and spandex pants, along with about a hundred barrettes.

“Um… Rarity… Are you… Are you sure that this… I mean… I’m so embarrassed…” Fluttershy shyly moved up beside Rarity, tucking her painted face down, trying to hide the white makeup and black decorations. But nothing could hide her extremely high boots, with thick soles and spikes; nor could anything hide the very… Curious… Metal spikes that protruded, contextlessly, from either side of her lower abdomen.

“Oh, Fluttershy, never doubt you look FABULOUS! You must have CONFIDENCE if you are going to be my summertime mare and add all glory to my designs. You need to shine, inside and out. So, chin up now. Don’t be shy, just do your best.”

A remarkable change came over Fluttershy. Her head lifted up while a small, sincere smile spread over her painted face. She held herself in a more confident posture, taking a slow, deep breath as she displayed herself to the world. And unlike other instances of such, she did not collapse back into her normal shy ball. “Y-you’re right, Rarity. I need to be a little more confident.”

“Ok… Clearly this was the wrong day to not read my messages.” Twilight clopped her hoof against her forehead below the horn and shook her head a touch. “Guess I’ll be the odd one out again. It’s not like I’m bad at it. Anyhow… Pinkie Pie, would you care you join me for brunch? I’m having Spike lay out an impressive spread as soon as…”

“Eh, sorry, Twilight. Pinkie’s gonna be busy today. We’ve got some work to do and need to take all day on it.” Rainbow Dash quickly thrust herself between Twilight and Pinkie, shaking her head a bit.

“Yup! Prankster season is coming up fast! I’ve got the day off from the bakery so I need to spend time with Dash and plan. And scheme.” Pinkie looked shiftily from side to side, rubbing her front hooves together. “Yes… It will be a brilliant scheme.” She blinked, all eyes on her. “Did I say that out loud?”

“Pinkie Pie, you’re so random.” Rainbow Dash chuckled softly, and nudged Pinkie from the side.

“O-oh. Ok. Well then, I’ll see you later, Pinkie…” Twilight stepped back a little bit, as Rainbow Dash and Pinkie walked beside her, laughing and talking with their heads close to one another.

“Ladies…” Spike stepped out of the library with a flourish, sporting an open-chested white leisure suit with extreme bellbottoms, lots of gold chains, and a thick, black fake moustache hanging off of his upper lip.

“Uh, Spike, you’re a decade too early. Nice effort, though.” Twilight considered for a moment and then shuddered. “But I really don’t want to know where you got the hair for that thing.”

“Hey, I can’t help it if I make this look better than what’s going on. Besides, I had it in the closet. And this is all mine. I saved the hair left over from all your hair-growing experiments. Looks pretty impressive, don’t you think?” Spike slowly stroked the moustache while he popped his eyebrow ridges in Rarity’s direction.

“No luck there, Spike. She’s focused on her new projects. The Summer line and… Ugh… Whatever frill-filled monstrosity she’s going to inflict on me sooner or later. Anyway, you’re not going to make any headway on her today.” Twilight motioned with her head back towards the library. “Come on. We’ve got some work to do.”

“Still want me to make some brunch for you and Pi-”

“No.” Twilight cut Spike off rather quickly, though without raising her voice. “No, it’s just us, for regular lunch. Again.” She looked over towards Rainbow Dash and Pinkie, who were huddling their heads together, talking quietly and occasionally giggling while they focused on one another. “We won’t be having the company I thought we would.”

- - -

“Lunch is served! Canterlot special: asparagus spears, celery stalks and carved carrots, in a castle shape on a bed of bean sprouts and timothy hay. And for me, metal and gemstones in the shape of Princess Celestia’s crown. I decided to keep the special menu going. I had the ingredients.” Spike carefully set the plate of greenery before Twilight, who didn’t seem to notice. “And I still have all that pink icing if you…”

“No need for that.” Twilight looked at the plate of food without enthusiasm. “Plans change. I’ll try again later.”

“Well, I’m gonna have some…” Spike slathered on a big coating of bright pink icing, coating his crown with the sticky sweetness before he took a big bite, noisily crunching the gemstones, his teeth whining lightly as the adulterated gold was scraped and compressed. “Ready to admit this isn’t like those times at school and you’re actually in love?”

“Spike! This is hardly the time to be making those kinds of wild accusations. I just like it best when plans work out well is all. I told you, I do not love Pinkie Pie. She’s spastic and wild, and she has that Pinkie Sense no one understands, and there’s all the parties and spontaneous singing and random statements of non-sequitur thought. How could I possibly feel anything for someone like that?”

“I dunno. Maybe it’s because all the times you tried with girls just like you it failed. Whispering Wind and Cinnamon Cider were you with different colors, boring workaholic students.” Spike attempted to take another bite but found, suddenly, that his mouth was sealed shut by a zipper.

“That’s quite enough out of you. Can we drop this whole matter? Right now, I just want to eat and get on with proper cataloging.” Twilight looked down at her plate of food again. A sad, dispirited lump of vegetation that sagged tiredly on the plate. It needed sprucing up with some bright colors. The mere thought was enough to make her close her eyes and munch passionlessly on whatever made it into her maw.

- - -

“Now, as much as I may enjoy our quaint festivities in Ponyville, work will not wait for anyone. People need to keep their deadlines in mind and do all they can to keep to them. Of course, right now I set my own deadlines. So perhaps there’s a bit of leeway… No! I must muscle on.” Rarity nodded to herself, carefully manipulating a pair of scissors as they delicately cut, almost thread by thread, though a piece of black cloth. It was most lovely, with tiny embedded bits of gemstones, creating fantastic sparkles in many colors, much like the night sky itself.

“But what about me, Rarity? Can I help you with that? It looks like awfully delicate work. And you know how very careful I am.” Fluttershy came up close beside Rarity, leaning in to look closely at the slow, methodical severing of thread after thread.

“Oh, no no. This is a very special project. I haven’t quite had the design coalesce as I want. But I have some very broad ideas. That’s why I’m being so careful with this. That and it’s very important that every little detail be absolutely smashing.”

“Gee, Rarity. You really DO want this summer collection to be perfect. I’ve never seen you work this hard on anything before.”

“Oh this? This isn’t part of the summer collection. This is an order for a very… Special client. No, my summer collection is over there, in various states of work.” Rarity motioned towards the back of the shop to a collection of dressmaker’s dummies. They were variously attired, in nearly-completed outfits, partially sewn pieces, pinned-together bits of fabric, or merely draped in cloth with the patterns nearby.

“Goodness! You seemed so eager just yesterday. You’ve almost finished some of these. Would you mind terribly if I… Well, would you mind if I did the sewing on these for you? I don’t want to be a bother and as long as I’m here I can try to be useful.”

“Well, I didn’t expect to be so caught up in this project… I do suppose I require such help. Thank you, Fluttershy. You are truly a dear, dear friend.”

“Oh… It’s no problem. You know how much I love to sew. I’m very good at it. An I just love y- Helping you. I love helping you.” Fluttershy vanished into a dark blush, trotting slowly to the dummies, to see what she had to do with them.

- - -

“Ok, so you’re saying that after Mrs. Cake gets out of the tub of pudding she’ll pull on a cord that sends the bag of flour onto Ditzy Doo and then that gets her to set off the fireworks display? But I thought you were going to setup the fireworks on the other side of the town square. And how will she set off the flour when it’s chocolate pudding? I told you to use butterscotch.” High in the clouds, at Rainbow Dash’s cloud condo, Pinkie hovered, attached to numerous balloons while Rainbow Dash looked over the plans that had been, so far, concocted, commenting on the details.

“No, you see, Mrs. Cake LOVES butterscotch pudding. She HATES chocolate pudding. Which is weird since she loves chocolate cake. I wonder how that works. She’d probably hate chocolate pudding cake, if you could somehow get pudding into a cake. But would she feel the same about chocolate cake pudding? Sometimes I wonder because they can do all kinds of things with…”

“Pinkie Pie! Ugh. You’re SO random!”

“OH! Sorry! Anyway, she’d be eager to get it off of her. So, she comes out of the tank and finds a towel. She pulls it and sends the flour. Ditzy Doo does that eye thing when she gets upset and she can’t control herself. She’ll fly over to the other side of the square and set off the fireworks.”

“Huh. I never thought of that. I guess this is that weird part of your brain that lets you beat Rarity at tic-tac-toe.”

“Oh that! No, Rarity always tries to make the board look like a diamond. It’s easy to beat her.”

“I should have known. So, I guess we’re done for now. We might need to give this another look but… It looks good. Need me to help you back to the ground?”

“Nope! I’ve got it.” Pinkie whipped out a pin from somewhere on her person and jabbed a balloon, dropping down a bit. “Just gonna take me a while. But that’s ok. It’s my day off.”

“Ok. I need to go see AJ. Good planning with you.” With a quick nod, Rainbow Dash flew off towards Sweet Apple Acres.

- - -

“Ah don’t take vacations, ah know what ah like, but ah am not proud that ah’m… Gol durn it! Ah know ah didn’t have a rhyme but why did that pest’s one have to get inta mah head?” Applejack was nearly done with her sweep over the orchard, with all the trees looking healthy as ever. “Ah swear, she’s gonna drive a body ta…”

“Who’s gonna drive who to what?” Rainbow Dash zipped in from above, stopping short from ramming into Applejack, and sending up a rush of fallen leaves and dust.

“Ah! It, uh… It ain’t nuthin’ ta concern y'all, sugarcube. Jes a li'l situation I’m havin’ with a frequent visitor. But don’t you worry none. Everythin’s alright.” Applejack flashed a genuine smile to Rainbow Dash, savoring her presence.

“I told Scootaloo not to bother people so much. Man, it’s like she’s actually my little sister. Sorry about…”

“Oh no! No! It ain’t Scootaloo. Naw, she’s just as sweet as an apple fritter. It’s… Well, it ain’t important, that’s all there is to it. Ah’m jes glad you stopped by. Ah’ve been thinking’ ‘bout… Lots of stuff. And ah wanted t’ see you.”

“Oh really? Well… Here I am. What did you need?” Rainbow Dash finally stopped hovering, letting her hooves touch the ground slowly.

“Ah’ve been thinkin’. Thanks to some annoyin’ talk, ah’ve been considerin’ sorta…” Applejack clopped nervously closer to Rainbow Dash, head low. “Sorta… Tryin’ t'be less of a wild and lonesome mare down on the farm.”

“And what would that mean? I thought you loved taking care of this farm. Do you want to just give it up to your brother? I thought Musclehead Mac couldn’t do it all by himself, especially since Applebloom is doing her Cutie Mark Crusaders thing.”

“Hey now. My brother may be big but he’s not a dummy. He’s really pretty smart, when he feels like it. Naw, ah know Granny can’t do it, and Applebloom’s too young, and Big Macintosh needs help. But ah mean, well… ah don’t wanna be alone. And not just bein’ in town with everypony. Ah want somethin’ more.”

“Something more? What, are you going to turn into one of those whiney girls they always show on those movies on Equestria Broadcasting Organization? Do you want a bigger stable, and more bits, and lots of fancy harnesses and saddles and a man to make your life complete?” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and shook her head at the very thought of it. “Those are old pony tales that they keep modernizing so ponies’ll keep watching them over and over again. I thought you were better than that, AJ.”

“Naw! Oh that ain’t me, sugarcube. You ever catch me actin’ like that, well, you can jes put me out ta pasture right there. T’ain’t the sort of wantin’ more that ah meant. Ah mean that ah’m feelin’… Well, ah’m jes feelin’. Feelin’ things in me that ah ain’t felt befer. An’ ah mean ta express ‘em afore they right bust out.” Applejack had, by then, just reached Rainbow Dash.

“Well, spit it out already.” Rainbow Dash looked to Applejack, face just inches away, oblivious, and curious.

Applejack leaned in closer, nearly bridging the full gap, leaving just a hair of breathing room. “Well, sugarcube… Y’all know how ah like t’ call ponies that. See, thing is, ah never really mean it. Well, ‘ceptin’ a’course fer…”

“Applejack! There you are. I’ve been looking all over Sweet Apple Acres for you.” All of a sudden, Twilight was there, coming through some thick foliage, making both other mares leap back a bit. “I’m here to give another, probably futile, pep talk and informative speech to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But… I’ve never actually been out to that clubhouse they fixed up. You’re the only one that knows where it is. Think you can give me directions?”

“Ahhh… S-shore, sugarcube. Jes go down t’ th’ end of the apple orchards and turn down away from the homestead, follow the little path through some bushes and ya cain’t miss it.”

“Thanks Applejack. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Twilight smiled brightly as she left the orchard. It was good seeing Rainbow Dash. Somewhere other than around Pinkie. And looking very… Close, to Applejack. For whatever reason, it was a good sign.

“Heh. Sorta… Ruined the moment I guess. What were you about to say?”

“Uhh… Uh… Ah, it’ll keep. The mood IS sorta gone now. It don’t matter none. Plenty a time to do it again sometime. Anyhow, now that the orchards’re checked ah kin git ta irrigatin’ and such. Not much fun but, what is? Don’t le me keep ya if ya got someplace ta be.”

“Noplace to be. But a few more sprints never hurt. Gotta keep in shape. Sonic Rainboom shape. The Wonderbolts aren’t gonna take just anyone.” Rainbow Dash hopped into the air and started flapping her wings, hovering a short way off the ground. “I’ll see you around, AJ.” She started to take off, but turned around before she got too far and called back, “By the way, nice new hat. It was about time for one.”

“Whu..?” Applejack turned around to see Rainbow Dash getting further and further away. But the compliment still echoed in her ears. And brought a blush to her cheeks. “Aww. She noticed.” Applejack adjusted the hat, and started making her way, sedately, towards the water control.

- - -

“Girls, I’m here to help you out a little. Are you in…” Twilight located the tastefully decorated and painted clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and looked in the open door. She saw a rather nice backdrop that looked like some pseudo-Gothic locality, surrounded with lovely painted lilies. In the middle of the setting were Sweetie Belle, on the ground looking like someone in a swoon, with Scootaloo over her, looking properly heroic. “Here?”

“You’ll never steal our power to find what we want to do in life! Come on, I’ll take you on! Sword of Celestia, grant me the power to bring Cutie Mark location!” Scootaloo leaned her head down and bit something near Sweetie Belle’s chest, pulling out a prop sword made of polished wood.

“Girls? What’s going on in here? It looks like you’ve got a whole performance going on. I’m guessing Applebloom did the decorating for you. But… What is this?”

“It’s a play! Sweetie Belle wrote it. It’s all about finding our Cutie Marks no matter what.” Scootaloo dropped her sword and smiled brightly at Twilight.

“Aww… Well, I changed some of the lines. I still need a part for Applebloom.” Sweetie Belle got up from the ground, blushing.

“Speaking of her, where is she? Shouldn’t she be in here at least watching? Don’t tell me you’re putting on this play, with this background, with no audience.”

Scootaloo laughed a bit and motioned with her head. “Everfree Forest. You know. Besides, we need to rehearse before we perform it.”

“It seems… Interesting. The Sword of Celestia? Really?”

“That was just one of the choices. It sounded best, see?” Sweetie Belle clopped over to Twilight with a piece of paper in her mouth, with many pencil notes on it.

“Theos, Dieu, Deus, Abraxis… That one’s just a legend. I see what you were doing. Well, it seems… Interesting. I don’t suppose you want to listen to my advice right now? It wouldn’t really be fair without Applebloom here.”

“Sorry, Twilight.” Sweetie Belle looked down at the floor, slumping a touch.

“It’s ok. But the next time you three are together, come see me in the library. I’ve got all kinds of advice to dispense and a nice speech all worked up. “ Twilight smiled brightly and nodded her head. “Well, have fun. Try not to hurt anyone with that Sword of Celestia you’ve got there.” She strolled casually out of the clubhouse, as she heard the two girls going back to their playing. It reminded her of many old pony tales she had read. Just, there was usually a stallion involved somewhere. Maybe that would come later.

- - -

“I’ve finished some of the pieces you had almost completed, and got cutting done on the ones that only had the patterns laid out.” Fluttershy slowly approached Rarity, head down, voice as soft as ever, while Rarity continued to labor over cutting fabric. She had moved on from black to deep violet, and continued to cut a thread at a time. “I hope you… You like them.”

“Fluttershy, I am certain, to my core, that they are absolutely perfect. You’d never hurt my designs. You’re too respectful for that. You’ve been most helpful.” Even though she never looked up from her delicate detail-work, Rarity praised with all the passion and sincerity that she always did.

“Oh… My… Thank you Rarity. Umm… I need to go now, and feed the chickens. Thank you for letting me help you.” Fluttershy slowly turned around and walked out of the shop, burning with a bright blush as she went along. It had been a good day for her. A chance to stretch her potential, and a chance to be of help to Rarity, something more than a living mannequin. Surely, Rarity would notice her efforts and become… More friendly. The blush deepened as she considered it.

“Hey there, Fluttershy. Where did you get off to? You sure left pretty quickly. Were you really that embarrassed?” Rainbow Dash flapped down from above, settling into pace beside Fluttershy as her hooves touched ground.

“Eep!” Fluttershy leaped in place and pulled into a quivering yellow ball for a moment. “O-oh, Rainbow! It’s you…” She slowly pulled back into a normal posture and resumed walking towards her house. “Yes. I was a little embarrassed by… All of it. Oh! But Rarity selected it so I was happy to wear it. Actually, I spent most of the day with Rarity, helping her finish her Summer line.”

“Is she done with that already? Man, she’s really pushing herself. It takes her weeks to do that. She hasn’t been eating Pinkie Pie’s hot sauce cupcakes, has she?”

“Oh! No. Well, you see… She made the summer line with just one pony in mind. She designed for them alone, expecting that everyone else would have to accept it. That’s why she was so fast. But, I was also helping her. She had a lot of it already done. But I did some sewing and cutting while she did a special project for a client. And we both did a lot. I’m very proud of us.” Fluttershy smiled a sweet, small smile while a blush rose on her cheeks.

“I’ll bet you’re proud. And she must have been totally happy about this. I’ll bet she’s been looking at you all… Close.” Rainbow Dash winked at Fluttershy. “Am I right? I’ll bet you’re her favorite model and she does everything for you. You sure do enough for her.”

Fluttershy stopped again, ducking her head down and hiding behind her hair. “Oh! Rainbow Dash! You know I don’t think like that. Rarity doesn’t owe me anything. It would be wonderful if she… She… But… I just want her to be happy. And I think she is.”

“Ahhh, I knew it! You’ve got a crush on the fashion maven! I never knew you had it in you.” Rainbow Dash nudged Fluttershy in the side, actually succeeding in tipping the reticent lightweight onto the ground. “So, when are you going to ask her out? At your next spa date? When you go to moon at her while grooming her cat? Come on, spill!” With Fluttershy prone, Rainbow Dash could easily prod and tickle at her belly and sides.

“Ah! Stop! P-please!” Fluttershy dissolved into giggling hysterics. She wasn’t against a sudden tickle attack. Despire her very standoffish appearance and bearing, she really did love to laugh. And Rainbow Dash meant her no harm. Bu she wasn’t going to tell anything! Was her crush so obvious? She wasn’t like Spike, she tried to be subtle.

“Oh! Rainbow Dash. And… Fluttershy. Hello.” Without realizing it, the two ponies had engaged in the tickle-war in front of the library, which brought out Twilight to get some handle on the situation. “Is there a particular reason you’re laughing madly. In front of the library. In the evening?”

Both mares looked up from the ground, suddenly realizing where they were and what they were doing. Rainbow Dash stepped away, while Fluttershy got slowly back onto her hooves. “Uhhh… Nothing. Just trying to get some info. But, I guess I don’t need to know right now. Guess I’ll see you around.” Rainbow Dash nodded to the other mares and zipped off.

“I, um… I need to feed my chickens…” Fluttershy clopped away, hiding her burning blush behind her hair. She seldom let herself go like that. But after the day with Rarity, she was too willing to just let go and indulge. Of course, the cost of that was being in the eye of others. At least this time it had been her friend Twilight.

Twilight looked out at the two retreating mares. Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy. She certainly saw Rainbow Dash in all kinds of places in all kinds of situations. With all kinds of mares. That wasn’t too unusual given the gender percentages. But Twilight was inclined to believe negative things because Pinkie wasn’t able to recognize deceit. “Maybe… Just maybe there’s something here…” Twilight mused to herself before turning back into the library.

“Something where? What’s going on?” Spike was already in his basket-bed, looking up at Twilight with tired eyes.

“Nothing Spike. It’s nothing that anyone needs to make a fuss over. You go ahead and go back to sleep. Don’t mind me, I’ll just be doing a little work.”

“I’m already… Snnnnk!” With an attempted flourish, Spike fell asleep, snoring loudly while Twilight shook her head and smiled, before going to her shelves. She had a lot of reading to get through.

- - -

“Twilight?” Spike stood upon Twilight’s back, gently tugging on her hair. “Twilight? Twilight? TWILIGHT!”

“Wha- What is it, Spike? Can’t you see I’m reading here?” Twilight looked up from the book she was perusing, to cast an annoyed glare Spike’s way.

“That’s the problem, Twilight! You’ve been in that same spot all night. And all day. It’s practically bedtime again. You didn’t even eat.”

A loud gurgle from the mare’s stomach helped to hammer the idea home. “Err… Sorry, Spike. I’ve been very engrossed in this very important research.”

Spike looked at the titles of the books that were scattered on the ground. “’Legend of the Mysterious Power’, ‘A History of the Equestrian Quest for Might’, ‘The Dawn of Equestria’? This is research? These look like old pony tales. Kinda like that stuff about Nightmare Moon. Except, you know, that was real. Still! This doesn’t look like serious research.”

“Ok, it wasn’t very serious. But I got to thinking about things. And I wanted to look into… Some things. Never mind. Sorry. I promise I’ll be a bit more responsive tomorrow. I’m guessing you want to get some sleep.”

“I’m way ahea- Snnnnnnnk!” Spike had gotten into his basket and was down for the count before he had even finished speaking, as usual.

“Tomorrow should be better. After all, what could have happened?”

- - -

“Sorry, Twilight! I’m going to be busy with Dash for the next week at least!” Pinkie was her usual bubbly, cheerful self the next day, which made her statement all the more impactful. “We’ve got lots of things to do! Just getting all that chocolate pudding will be a major headache. Not to mention the mud, the oil, the feathers, five kinds of noodles…”

“Pinkie Pie, I think she gets it. Sorry, Twilight. But we’ve got a lot of things to do. And it’s not likely to get any less busy, especially as it gets closer to our time. I’m sure you understand.” Rainbow Dash clopped away, with Pinkie bouncing casually along behind her.

Twilight was left looking gob smacked. “Noodles? Oil? Pudding?”

- - -

Out at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was enjoying a rare moment of peace, her hat pulled down over her eyes, a piece of wheat stuck into her mouth to bob as she idly chewed on it. She could see why her big brother always had one in his own mouth. It was quite contemplative. She had no idea what she was going to do with herself. She was more comfortable, ironically, desperately trying to do all kinds of hard work. She was a farm filly through and through, and a hard-working contributor to her family.

There was no indication of anything about to happen, save the slightest hint of flapping. For the last few days, wings were never a good sign. That set Applejack to tensing, hat remaining pulled down. All of a sudden, there was activity. She was impacted with a solid, muscular weight, which set her legs to kicking, and her body to struggling. Her opponent wasn’t making an effort to do her serious harm, just get her down. “It ain’t gonna be that easy to get me down! You wanna mess with me, come get sum!”

At that moment, her hat fell off, revealing the grinning face of Rainbow Dash, who was deftly avoiding her dangerous strikes and doing her best to pin the struggling farm mare to the ground. “I’m getting all I can get. But you KNOW you’re no match for me. We may have bombed out at the Running of the Leaves, but I can still beat you here.”

The revelation actually left Applejack dumbfounded. She had been expecting a sneak attack from Gilda, not a wrestling match. That moment of stunning was enough to get her pinned to the ground, squirming slightly beneath Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash! Jes what in the name ‘a apple streusel is goin’ on here?”

“Cool your apple cider, AJ. I just couldn’t resist getting a jump on you. I figured this would show off my skills. Looks like it worked. You’re pinned, aren’t you?”

Applejack regarded herself. She could easily buck the fancy flyer off of her. But there was a certain delight in being pinned by the unknowing object of her affection. “Ah shore am, sugarcube. Took a sneak attack t’do it, but, ah’ll give it to ya. Ya did it.”

Shining eyes watched the scene, with a scowling face behind. But they did not belong to the raging Gilda. It was Twilight, safely hidden in a mobile shrubbery. Her horn glowed as a pencil scratched against a notepad. “Twelve-fifty-seven PM, Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow Dash seen physically contacting Applejack, with much wrestling and grinding. Further notation is needed.”

- - -

“Ahhh, yes, Spike. Tell me, is Twilight about? I have a great need to speak with her.” Back at the library, Rarity had arrived with a flourish, along with Fluttershy who had various pieces of cut cloth on her back, in many dark shades and materials. “Er, Spike? Spike?”

“Rarity…” Spike was off in his own world. Glazed-over eyes, slack mouth, hanging arms. It took him a moment to shake his head and focus on what was being said. “Oh! Right! Twilight. She’s out doing some kind of… research. I dunno. She’s been doing that lately. Anyhow, she didn’t say when she’d be back.”

“Goodness. How unfortunate. I needed to see these prepared pieces against her body. Pressed up tight, rubbing slowly against her with every move of her soft muscles…” Rarity shook her head with a hard breath, looking around at the other two in the room. “Oh! Well… I see… I do suppose I shall return another time. Come along, Fluttershy. We have more work to do.” With that, Rarity walked out, slightly rubber-legged, while Fluttershy stuck close behind, with eyes for Rarity alone.

To be Continued…

Comments

[Nanimonai]

She’s spastic and wild, and she has that Pinkie Sense no one understands, and there’s all the parties and spontaneous singing and random statements of non-sequiter thought.

non-sequitur

With that, Rarity walked out, slightly rubbed-legged, while Fluttershy stuck close behind, with eyes for Rarity alone.

I get the feeling as if this is supposed to be "rubber-legged" instead of "rubbed-legged".