The Sweet Taste of Apple

by Icecane

Rainbow Dash's Training Regimen

Everything seemed to be against the tired pegasus. From the environment around him to his own exhausted body.

The thinner air passing in and out of his lungs, the comforting breeze that lapped at his body and the plush softness that was underneath his hooves. It added a heavy burden alongside how dead tired he was. The sun itself hadn't even begun to peak over the horizon yet, a cruel reminder how early it was and how little sleep he had received.

Much of Equestria expanded out before Rainbow Dash and himself. High atop a platform of clouds that the mare had set up for them. It was as softer than pillow and wide enough for them to work. The ground was far below them, making the landscape undefined.

Trader payed little attention to what was around him though. Even Rainbow's own words, undoubtedly the plan for what they would do, was nothing but an incomprehensible mess of fluttering noise. It was all he could do to keep himself from falling asleep. His eyelids felt as though they were made of stone, larger gulps of the frigid air passed through his lungs as every other breath was a yawn.

The world seemed to tilt back and forth ever so slightly, blurring in a fuzzy mass of different colors as Trader's battle with his own vision was being lost. Weaker and weaker his attempts to stop himself became, the world shrinking down into a blurred horizontal line.

Several times his eyes fully shut, submerging the stallion in dark emptiness. Each time was quickly ended with his lids flaring open, only to droop back down. But again, as his weariness took hold, his eyes falling shut, there was brief moment where he paused.

Abruptly, Trader's eyes opened to their fullest, and he was met with a surprise. The entire world had suddenly turned a full ninety degrees.

It wasn't until Rainbow Dash trotted up beside him did he realize he was now lying on his side, half of his body being smothered by the cloudy platform. “Finally, you're awake.”

“Wha...” the tired stallion murmured, looking at the mare in confusion. “I... I wasn't sleeping.” His words were quickly followed by another yawn.

A huff escaped the cyan pegasus as she stared knowingly down at her flier in training. “Actually, yeah,” she retorted. “You dozed off for a couple minutes, actually. No harm done though. You gave me a chance to get ready.” She beckoned the stallion forward with a simple gesture of her hoof. “Now, stand up and come here.”

A halfhearted nod was given as Trader shifted his body about to stand. Then, a sudden, unexpected gasp escaped him as his attempts were suddenly halted, his legs and head feeling as though they had just about been pulled off of his body. As he thought on it however, it suddenly felt as though his body had become heavier.

Realizing just how tired he was, the stallion's brow furrowed as he pushed himself up with all his might, using his wings to help bring him onto all four hooves. The moment he was balanced however, the sudden onset of weight became fully apparent to him, his legs buckling out from under him as he collapsed onto his stomach.

“What the... what's...?” he managed, looking about uselessly. His drowsiness made it next to impossible to discern what was wrong, a fact that wasn't known by only him. It was a rude awakening as, at that very moment, an ice-cold splash of water engulfed him.

A frightened yelp escaped the pegasus as he shot upward, or at least tried to, his heavy body keeping him planted to the clouds he was on. Several panic breaths were needed before Trader was even able to make out the laughing of a certain weathermare next to him, a suddenly emptied bucket of water next to her.

“The look on your face!” she cried out. “So priceless, ha ha!”

Growling angrily, Trader was moments away from speaking his mind to the mare before he realized just how alert he had become. Any sparked aggression was quickly extinguished by the acceptance of how effective the treatment was. Again however, it came as a surprise to the fully awakened pony that he did indeed feel much heavier. But it took mere moments for the source of it to become clear to him, his eyes drifting to his own body.

“What in the world is this?” Trader questioned, eyes fixed on the vest he was wearing. The material was rough and thick, covering most of his torso with small holes where his wings were able to poke free. It slowly dawned on him how out of it he had to of been for the mare to slip it on him without his knowledge.

Rainbow Dash soon calmed down, just as Trader shifted his body around to find how heavy it was. “It's a weighted training vest. Since you need all the help you can get, I figured it'd be great to use. Even the Wonderbolts use these thing in their training.”

“They used to use these,” the stallion corrected. His legs shook as he brought himself back onto all four hooves, not being caught off guard by it any longer. “They were banned years ago. Ponies would always injure themselves with these things.”

“Good thing you're not a Wonderbolt then, huh?” Rainbow Dash chimed in a matter-of-fact tone. “Who's the best flier around here?” She didn't give him a chance to answer as she quickly pressed a hoof to her chest. “That's right, me. I know what I'm doing. So hop to it. None of this will work while you laze around.”

Grumbling to himself, Trader resigned himself to obey the mare as he readied his body and tried to take off. It didn't last long, the pegasus' body crashing back down onto the cloudy surface, sinking into it slightly. The added weight made his own body feel different and uncomfortable, heavier than anything he had to ever carry while flying for the PDS.

He already knew that Rainbow Dash wouldn't allow him to quit so easily. So, with another deep breath, Trader flapped his wings with all of his strength and jumped upward. This time managing to hover into the air, if a bit erratically. There was no time to celebrate it however, his eyes close to bulging out of his skull as his wings ached from the strain, his lungs freezing over from the rapid breaths he had to take.

Continuing to flap, Trader tasked himself with moving forward. Eyes dead ahead, completely still, he began to shift forward ever so slightly, his elevation dropping and rising irregularly. Eventually though, it was all he could take, and the stallion's sudden crash was inevitable.

Panting heavily, the white-coated pegasus tried to regain his strengths as he heard Rainbow Dash cheering uproariously over his mediocre performance. “That was great!” she shouted, clapping her hooves together. “You managed to stay up longer than I had thought, especially for your first flight with the vest.”

No response came from Trader, still feeling his lungs burning as they remained filled with the cold, pre-dawn air. Lying there was his wings already began to ache, the constant weight of the best he wore apparent to him, there was a small part of his mind that was certain the mare was trying to cripple him. Or at least she was crazy enough that he'd end up that way. It didn't help his minors fears as Rainbow Dash continued talking.

“Okay,” she then said. “We can't hold back now! I think you'd do even better if you tried flying in open air. Give you that worry of falling for an extra boost.”

Trader barely believed his ears as he heart nearly stopped. “Wh-what?!” he blurted out as his eyes darted toward the pegasus. But to his shock, she was gone. Panic gripped the fearful stallion, but only for a few moments, as he then felt the cloud underneath him give way. The clouds having been kicked out from under him, Trader slipped through the stallion-sized hole made for him.

With every ounce of their strength, the pegasus' wings flapped desperately. Though it felt like his body would be yanked away from his wings, he managed to slow his descent, struggling to hover in the air and make it back up to the cloud platform and to safety.

But it was too much fore the already exhausted pony, his wings only able to take so much. They felt numb as Trader was too tired to keep himself in the air any longer, plummeting like a rock. The last thing he saw was Rainbow Dash's wide grin, before he splashed into lake that the weathermare had made sure they were flying over. A mighty explosion of water erupting upward in a blue column.

---

The sun was already hovering directly over the farm as Applejack paused from her near-endless apple bucking. Clinging to her coat was the sweat of hard labor, bringing a pleased expression to the mare as she looked on to see what she had accomplished. Beneath the ocean of trees that expanded outward in the fields, the piles of picked apples were as clear as bright red lights.

Even the hard working farmpony needed her rest though, as she took a quick breather and looked on to see how the rest of her family was doing. Applebloom was like a small streak of yellow, darting across area with the speed of her youth. She brought the baskets of apples to her grandmother, just as Granny Smith used her keen eye to inspect each and every piece of fruit for any flaws they might have.

She had become more picky than usual as well, tossing aside perfectly fine looking apples for one reason or another. But it was for good reason, needing the best of the best as the apples were brought to the grinder. There, Big Macintosh worked tireless, running across the belt to turn the massive wheel of stone. Each apple was smashed down, the juices that were freed then pouring into waiting barrels, which Applebloom quickly set aside and replaced when she wasn't delivering baskets.

It was like clockwork, each pony working in tandem with the other to help create their famous apple cider. Despite how much the ponies of Ponyville loved the stuff however, it wasn't meant for them, as sad as that was. They had other plans for the tasty beverage.

Looking on to see her family working however, made Applejack's thoughts drift to the one who was missing. Though she had told Rainbow Dash that they weren't in any true need for Trader, she was already thinking on how much help he would have been. But the pegasus seemed eager to offer a helping hoof to her foalhood friend, finding it hard to say no to her.

It certainly was a surprise to see how fond of Trader she had become. As they were, she didn't expect them to get along as well as they seemed to, given their obvious differences in attitudes. It was a welcoming sight to the mare, always happy to know that each one of her friends could get along with the other, especially for one she had known since she was little.

But the passing thought continued as Applejack wondered about Rainbow Dash's own interest in the stallion. Of course, she knew her friend was just being that, friendly, her eagerness did arouse some suspicion. Perhaps having a little too much interest with Trader, at least for Applejack's own liking anyway.

Applejack's pondering was soon cut short however, as she became aware of her own dawdling. There was still much to be done before nightfall, and they had a time limit on all things. So she took off to help carry the barrels of cider to the cellar where they belonged, abandoning her silent musings over her two friends.

---

Panting seemed to be the only thing Trader was capable of doing now. Sweat dripped down his face, the unforgiving sun now bearing down on him. The burdening weight of the vest he still had to wear certainly wasn't helping, but there was no mistake that he was getting used to it.

Given the hours he had been trying to fly with it, he was now able to keep aloft much longer than before. Though he was unable to keep steady for more than a minute or two, he had yet to fall into the lake again. It was still progress nonetheless, something that wasn't missed by Rainbow Dash. The rainbow-maned mare seemed eager to up the stakes whenever it seemed like he was getting too used to it.

Now, in addition to the heavy vest, two small sacks dangled from his sides. As the stallion moved about, he could hear the contents shifting along with him, sounding as though they were filled with seeds of some kind.

They were no longer by themselves either. How Rainbow Dash had roped her in was beyond Trader, but Fluttershy had come to accompany them. Across her own back, she wore two large baskets. Judging by how they moved about on their own from time to time, he was certain that whatever was inside was alive.

“Alright!” Rainbow Dash shouted, finished making her preparations. “Trader, you've been doing great so far. But now that Fluttershy's here, she'll help us start the next phase of your training.”

“A-are you sure about this?” the timid mare asked, looking uncertain.

While Fluttershy seemed to know what was going on, Trader had otherwise been left in the dark, a fact that he was disliking with each passing second. “So... what's going to happen?”

Silently nodding to her friend in encouragement, Rainbow Dash eyed the stallion deviously as she explained. “Well, Fluttershy here was nice enough to bring a few of her pet birds to help out. “

There was a long pause between the three pegasi as Trader digested the meager information he was given. “Um... okay. And how are birds going to help?” he asked, having nearly forgotten about what he was wearing.

Rainbow Dash noticed it too, a smirk on her lips as she hovered over Fluttershy, hooves resting on each basket. “The bags you have are filled with a special kind of seed they like,” she elaborated further. “These guys go crazy for the stuff. What better way to learn how to fly than when under a little pressure?”

Slowly but surely, it began to dawn on the stallion, his eyes widening as he stared at the mare in shock. “Wait... you don't mean...” Rainbow Dash merely nodded excitedly as she then lifted up the lids to the baskets. “No! Hold on!” But it was too late. As the words left hiss mouth, a swarm of small birds came flying out of the basket.

Immediately, their gazes were set on the stallion, or at least what was attached to him. In a matter of moments, Trader was consumed by a shifting mass of beaks and feathered wings. Though he cried out in terror, at the mercy of the hungry flock, Rainbow Dash watched with quiet anticipation while Fluttershy could only try and shield her eyes from the scene.

Trader tried to run, to escape from the ceaseless attack, the heavy burden around his chest not helping in the slightest. “You're crazy!” he shouted as he ran frantically around the cloudy platform, unable to get away from the ravenous creatures. “They won't stop! Somepony help me!”

Not looking where he was going, Trader ran straight off the edge of the clouds. The familiar feeling of falling came to him as his screams followed him down. Still spectating, the two mares looked over the edge where he had plummeted, only Fluttershy having a look of worry on her.

“Huh,” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself. “I didn't think he'd forget he could fly.”

No longer after their quarry, the unsuccessful birds flew back to their keeper, resting across Fluttershy's. “Is he going to be alright?” she asked, eyes still focused on Trader as he neared the ground.

The weathermare merely waved her hoof carelessly. “Oh, he'll be fine. He'll just land in the lake again.” As though on cue, the telltale splash of a pony hitting water sounded off, even loud enough for them to hear from their perch.

Fluttershy's gaze remained locked on the spot, seeing the massive ripples expanding across the waters surface and the bubbles floating up from below. “I... I don't think he's coming up.”

“Nonsense,” Rainbow Dash huffed, matching the caretaker's gaze. The ripples eventually stopped, as well as the bubbles that indicated where the stallion was. The lake became still. “Uh-oh...” An uneasy smile crossed the cyan mare's lips as she quickly jumped from the cloud and dove straight down. “D-don't worry, I've got him.”

Comments

[Icecane]

First update in a while, I know. Anyone who saw the blog post will know about it. Big sorries all around. Hopefully I can keep a steady update so it doesn't go stagnant again.

On topic though, I kind of hope Rainbow Dash never tries to train Scootaloo...