AppleDash Group Collab

by DbzOrDie

Mistletoe - YoshiFawful64

"Do we really have to do this?" Twilight asked as she snuck into the Apples' living room. "Isn't it a little… I dunno, weird, to be doing this to our friends? Besides, how do you even know it'll work?"

"Nonsense!" Rarity whispered. "There's absolutely nothing strange about giving your friends a little shove when it comes to romance. And yes, I am sure this will work." The unicorn gestured at Twilight to climb over the couch and to the small space behind it, where Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were already hiding. "Applejack's far too traditional to ignore a mistletoe right over her head, and I highly doubt Rainbow will resist the chance to kiss her."

"And that's another thing! All this time you've been insisting that you're 'absolutely positive' the two of them are interested in each other, but how can you be sure?" Twilight said. Nevertheless, she crouched down next to her friends, checking to make sure none of their manes or tails would reveal their presence. "I certainly haven't seen anything that would suggest—"

"Oh, darling, are you the romance expert here, or am I?" Rarity interjected.

Twilight sighed. "You are," she reluctantly admitted. "Still, I think you're reading too much into things." Before Rarity could offer a rebuttal, she turned to the other ponies and said, "Okay, look, Pinkie. You don't think there's any point to this, do you?"

Pinkie Pie smiled. "Of course I do, silly! Either it's awkward and funny, or AJ and Dashie end up together! Maybe even both! It can't go wrong!"

"…Why did I even…" Twilight muttered under breath, before saying, "Alright, then. Fluttershy. Please tell me that at least you see what I'm saying here!"

Fluttershy began, "Well, I do see where you're coming from, but…"

Twilight exhaled in relief.

"…But I think Rarity's right about this. I've known Rainbow since we were foals, and the only other time I've ever seen her act the way she's been around Applejack recently, was when she had a crush on another pony in flight school. I think it's worth a shot."

After a moment's dismay, Twilight heaved a deep sigh in resignation. "Alright, alright, fine, let's get this over with. Just know that if this ends disastrously, it's all on you, Rarity. Now, where did you want the mistletoe to be?" she asked the other unicorn.

"Right there," Rarity pointed at the roof, "just below where those three roof boards touch."

As Twilight began to levitate the plant to the indicated spot, Fluttershy peeked over the sofa's edge to check the window, then quickly ducked back down with an eep. "She's here!"

"Quickly!" Rarity hissed at Twilight, who barely managed to get the mistletoe suspended from the ceiling before the door swung open.

"Hey, AJ!" Rainbow Dash called out, shaking some snow off her hooves. "Are you here?"

Rarity and Pinkie Pie wore almost eerily similar grins of anticipation as they listened to hoofsteps descending the stairs.

"What is it, Rainbow?" Applejack asked once she reached the bottom.

"Huh? What do you mean? You're the one who sent me this letter!" the pegasus answered, trotting forward and opening her saddlebag to take out a piece of paper.

Applejack approached to examine it, and Rarity nearly burst with excitement — they were exactly under the mistletoe. "'Come to Sweet Apple Acres, we have stuff to talk about. —AJ'," Applejack read out loud. She gave a quizzical look, then shrugged. "Sorry, Sugarcube, but it wasn't me who wrote this. It's not even my hoofwriting."

"Really? Weird. Maybe it was somepony's idea of a prank or something."

As Rarity spied on the scene, her enthusiasm kept rising. They were here together, alone (as far as they knew, anyway), with beautiful snow banks visible through every window, and they were perfectly in position. Now all they'd have to do was… look up.

Rarity's heart plummeted.

The conversation was nearing its end, and since Applejack and Rainbow were engaged by the fake letter she'd sent, neither of them had thought to look up. Her plan was failing.

Frantically, she whispered to Pinkie, "Quick, do something! Get them to notice the mistletoe!"

Without hesitation, the earth pony stood up, jumped against the wall, rebounded off, then landed on the top of the sofa and used her momentum to leap forward. Cannonballing through the air above Rainbow and Applejack, she yelled out, "Look up, Dashie, there's mistletoe above yooooouuuuuuu!" She bounced off somewhere.

Rarity buried her face in her hooves.

Rainbow Dash, confused, tilted her head upward and noticed the plant hanging from the roof. Applejack, however, turned toward the direction Pinkie had come from. "Is there somepony else there?"

Very sheepishly, Rarity raised her head. She was followed by Twilight, who was glowering at her; and Fluttershy, who was looking desperately like she would do anything to get out of the current situation.

"Alright, what are ya'll doin' hiding behind my couch?" Applejack asked in a stern voice.

"And what's that thing?" Rainbow inquired, pointing up.

"Well, eheh, you see…" Rarity said, "I had just kind of—"

Applejack continued to stared at her.

Rarity decided to change the subject. "What do you mean, Rainbow, darling? Don't you know what mistletoe is?"

"No?" Rainbow tilted her head to the side. "I've never seen one before. Why's it hanging from the ceiling?"

"You… you don't even know the tradition?"

Looking more and more confused by the second, Rainbow said "No. Is this like some kind of weird thing that ponies on the ground do, but never spread to pegasus cities? It's definitely never been a thing in Cloudsdale."

As Rarity sputtered, Applejack cleared her throat to draw attention back to herself. "Rarity, an explanation, please?"

"Er… um, uh… I… oh, would you look at the time!" Rarity said, trying to keep up a façade of normalcy and failing horribly. "I have a client that I must attend to. Right now." She made to climb back over the couch.

"A client? On Hearth's Warming?"

"Um, yes, well, this was a special case. You see, it's for… for… an orphanage!" Rarity exclaimed.

"An orphanage," Applejack repeated with a very flat stare.

"Yes, you see, they contacted me because they need lots of very warm and fashionable clothes for the winter, and they… need them right now, because that way they can give them to the foals as Hearth's Warming presents! It should be quite… er, heartwarming, if you'll pardon the pun."

"There's no orphanages in Ponyville."

Rarity floundered, "Um, yes, well, this is a special request from— from…"

Applejack facehoofed, sighing. "Just go, Rares."

"Oh, um, yes, I'll do that. Right, girls?" She turned back, only to discover that Twilight and Fluttershy had already left while she was distracted. "Oh." She finished clambering over the sofa, then cantered over to the front door. "Onward, to… save Hearth's Warming!" she exclaimed, then rushed outside.

A moment passed in silence as Rainbow and Applejack watched Rarity hurry away through the window.

Then, they turned to each other.

They burst out laughing.

It took a long time for their laughter to start waning, and whenever it did, Rainbow performed an over-exaggeratedly theatrical gesture and said something like "Onward, to save Hearth's Warming!" or "The orphans! They need fashionable clothes!" in her best Rarity impression. As a result, the two were reduced to hysterics again.

Still, they eventually stopped laughing. Their grins didn't disappear, however.

"Okay, that turned out way more funny than I thought," Rainbow said.

Applejack nodded. "I admit I was a mite dubious 'bout tricking them like that at first, but it turned out to be plenty entertainin'." Her face grew a bit more serious as she continued, "They seem to be catching on, though. Should we tell 'em we're seeing each other now?"

"I was considering spilling the beans over the holidays, actually, and now we'll definitely need to tell Flutters so she doesn't beat herself up about it." Sporting a wicked grin, Rainbow added, "As for Rarity… I kind of want to keep it from her for another two weeks and see if she tries any other contrived schemes to hook us up."

Applejack snorted. "You're evil, you know that?"

"Oh yeah," Rainbow kept grinning. "Did you know we're still under the mistletoe?"

The earth pony smiled. "That I do, Sugarcube."

She leaned forward and kissed her marefriend.

"Happy Hearth's Warming."

Comments

[TIAS-A1927]

Loved this one!