Trial Run

by UnlicensedBrony

Chapter Five: Hearts and Hooves Day

The following morning saw Rainbow Dash floating down the trail towards Sweet Apple Acres. Not darting, soaring or dashing—just floating at an ever steady pace and bobbing from side to side with a goofy smile on her lips. If it seemed alternate-universe-level strange to Rainbow herself, then she could only imagine what everypony else would think if they saw her.

There hadn't been anypony on the trail so far, which wasn't uncommon—especially not so early. That said, as Rainbow turned her eyes ahead again, she could make out a mare-sized white figure coming in the opposite direction. It wasn't exactly hard to guess who it was.

Rainbow glided down to the ground and alighted on the trail, shifting to a gentle walk as her friend drew closer.

“Hey, Rarity,” she said coolly. “Whatcha up to?”

“Good morning, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity chirped with a smile. “I just finished stitching up Applebloom's 'Crusader Cape' and thought I'd drop it off, since I didn't have anything else to do this morning.”

Rainbow grunted. 'Yeah, right. As if that's all you're up to.'

“But what about you, darling? Didn't you say that you were working all day?”

“Yeah, I was,” said Rainbow with a flick of her mane. “But not anymore. I got Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth to cover for me. If I was working all day, I wouldn't be able to keep my promise, would I?”

“Oh? And what promise is that?” Rarity asked.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Don't tell me you seriously forgot about our bet, Rare...”

“Ah, yes... about that,” said Rarity, adopting a sheepish grin. “I wasn't really trying to back out of our arrangement or anything like that, I was just... er—”

“Cheating?” Rainbow suggested.

Rarity at least had the decency to blush. “Well... yes. But, now that we're on the subject, would you mind if I asked how your dates went?”

Rainbow gave a short laugh. “What, have you lost touch with your gossip sources or something?

“Not exactly, but I've been getting... mixed messages. I'd prefer to hear it straight from the horse's mouth, as it were,” said Rarity.

With a huff and a little smile that betrayed how not exasperated she was, Rainbow looked to one side. “Yeah, alright, you won. Feel free to gloat.”

“I'm sorry, what was that, darling?” Rarity said with a grin.

Rainbow let out a sigh. “We had a 'thoroughly delightful and romantic time',” she deadpanned.

Rarity squealed. “I knew it! I knew you two were perfect for one another! What happened, darling? You must tell me everything! Are you two going on another date today? That's why you had someone cover you, isn't it? Oh, I—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Rainbow, hushing her with a hoof. “Another date? Why would we go on another date?”

“Well, it is Hearts and Hooves day,” Rarity said matter-of-factly. “I would think that, as marefriends, you'd be spending the occasion together?”

Rainbow managed to hide her smirk under a look of mock confusion. “Marefriends? What're you talking about, Rare? Trial run's over, right?”

Rarity blinked. “I'm... sorry? The two of you are together now, are you not?”

“Oh, you thought—Oh, no way!” Rainbow laughed. “Nah, we're not together.”

“What?! Why not?” Rarity gasped.

Rainbow waved a dismissive hoof. “Ah, we had fun dating for a while, but it just wasn't my thing. I mean, like, all the touching and being all fluffy and romantical all the time... bleh—” She gagged. “Y'know, this thing really opened my eyes. I didn't know romance was so... cutesy... I think I'm just gonna forget about it altogether.”

The slack-jawed look of shock on Rarity's face was utterly priceless. She stammered, her chin waggled and her eye twitched.

“Funny thing, too,” Rainbow continued, unable to help herself. “Applejack said that she was gonna ask me out next week. But, after your 'trial run', she and I are on pretty much the same page when it comes to dating. Hey, I guess we should thank you, right?”

Flashing her widest smile, Rainbow unfurled her wings and gave them an idle flap as she watched Rarity's shock play out on her face. It wasn't quite as much fun as the imagined pictures Rainbow had of the dirt-fearing unicorn working on a farm, but it was still almost impossible to keep from breaking out into laughter.

On that note, the pegasus shook her head and started walking again, right past the motionless Rarity.

“Anyways, I've gotta get going,” said Rainbow. “Like I said, I've gotta keep my promise. A week of chores... I guess the exercise'll do me good. Thanks, Rare, see you around!”

With that, she left Rarity behind on the trail and continued on her steady way to Sweet Apple Acres. The second that she was out of her friend's sight, a boastful smirk spread across Rainbow's face. 'I think that's payback enough,' she mused happily.

---

The trail brought her all the way up to the farm, and, as she drew near, she caught sight of a familiar, green-eyed knockout pulling an empty cart from around the back of the house. As her gaze met with Applejack's, the orange-coated mare offered a warm smile.

“Well, look who's up early again!” she called over to Rainbow. “You ain't here to ask me out on another date, are ya?”

They came to a stop beside each other and Rainbow rolled her eyes as Applejack slipped out from under her harness. “Yeah... I think I'll give the daily dates a break for a while, if that's cool with you.”

Applejack chuckled. “Well, good! I've got a list of chores building up so fast I can't even keep up. You're a bad influence, y'know that?”

Rainbow smirked and flicked back her mane. “Maybe, but you didn't have a problem with it yesterday.”

“Ain't saying it's a problem,” said Applejack lightly. “What're ya doin' here then? Come to help?”

“Uh, yeah,” said Rainbow, as if it was obvious. “I do owe you a week of chores, y'know? Where do I start?”

If Applejack tried to hide her surprise, she didn't do a very good job of it. “Ha! Seriously? Just like that?” she said. “Well, shoot, I thought you'd at least try to wriggle your way out of it. Celestia knows, I wouldn't blame you if you did, after what Rarity pulled on ya.”

Rainbow scoffed and waved a hoof. “Believe it or not, AJ, if helping you out with some chores means we can hang out a little more, that's cool with me. Besides, it's no big deal about Rarity—I got her back for it.”

“I'll bet,” Applejack grunted with a smile. She paused and cast her eyes over to the cart behind her. “Well, if'n you're sure, I guess ya could start by hauling this thing over to the west field. There's a bunch of junk over there I need to haul back to the barn. Wouldn't hurt to have a helping hoof.”

“Sure, whatever,” said Rainbow, trotting over to the cart. Even if the prospect of farm work wasn't exactly Rainbow's idea of a good time, helping Applejack with chores would be enough of an excuse to give them a chance to talk. As long as Applejack didn't ask her to clean out any pig sties, it wouldn't be so bad.

“Hey, RD?”

Rainbow stopped short of climbing into the harness and looked over. “Yeah?”

“I, uh... well, I've got something to ask you...” Applejack said. Rainbow nodded to show that she was listening, but Applejack hesitated. The look on her face made it pretty obvious what was going through her head, so she didn't actually have to say anything.

Rainbow would've rolled her eyes at Applejack's awkwardness, but she'd be lying through her teeth if she said she wasn't thinking along the same lines. Frowning in thought as she stared into Applejack's eyes, the impulsive pegasus cast about for something to say.

The answer came to her a second later and, after glancing around to make sure that nopony was watching, she went right ahead with it...

Rainbow shot forwards and kissed Applejack on the lips.

It was only a short, split second gesture, but it sent an incredible wave of fire down through her cheeks and across her body. As she pulled back from the kiss that was really more of a nip, Rainbow let out a content breath through her nose.

“...Well?” she said. “Is that what you were gonna ask?”

Applejack blinked dumbly a couple of times, going red in the face. It was awesome to have her on the defensive for once, when it came to looking embarrassed and totally cute.

Eventually, the farmpony managed to gulp and speak up, albeit in a very subdued voice. “...I was actually gonna ask about sleeping arrangements...”

Rainbow's jaw dropped. 'Uh... oops.'

Applejack blinked rapidly a couple of times before taking a step closer, so that their snouts were inches apart. “...But yeah,” she said. “I reckon that about answers my question.”

She leaned in and pressed her lips up against Rainbow's.

The surprised pegasus' wings shot out on instinct and her eyebrows threatened to jump from her forehead. Unlike the last time their embrace had lingered like this, Rainbow's mind started to race. 'Did she mean that how it sounded? No. No, she couldn't have. But what else could she have meant?'

The kiss broke with a muffled smack as Applejack started giggling, her lips still a matchstick's distance from Rainbow's. “Gotcha,” the orange-coated prankster chuckled.

With that, their lips met again, with Applejack still shaking a little from the giggles. Cheeks red and eyes narrowed in a pointless, dagger-filled glare, Rainbow seethed for all of a split second before Applejack's warm touch melted her completely. She closed her eyes, parted her lips and pushed back against her farmpony, determined to prove that she totally hadn't fallen for it...

Comments

[DbzOrDie]

Either I missed it or there still isn't an actual solution or talk about the reasons why they didn't think it would work out at first.
They thought they fitted together in the beginning but the thing holding them back was their seperate future choices. I don't really see that being adressed here.

I like the rewrite though =)

[djthomp]

Now that's the way to get Rarity back. And it's not like a week of doing chores with AJ is going to be that big of an imposition with the way it played out, so I'm not really sure I'd say Dash lost the bet. The only question is how many chores they're actually going to get done in that week.

[Avid Reader]

Commence read.

I was expecting a final day and then an epilogue.

[bahatumay]

I approve of this.

[Ponyzilla]

THAT EPILOGUE.
IT'S SO SHORT. D:

Well, at least it's still pretty cute because AJ & RD finally become fanon.

Not much to say here, but after I read...

I'm going to cheat and either write an Epilogue Part Two or simply extend this chapter to cover the necessary unresolveds.

I squealed a little bit. Really can't wait for that to come out.

Keep up the good work!

P.S. Grr, still February 14th here. Come on, why won't next Tuesday come already? D:

[UnlicensedBrony]

2118348 Thanks

2118580 Wow, well thank you very much! It's reassuring to hear that this version is actually an improvement (I always have my doubts )

2118599 Kind of creepy looking picture, but thanks!

2118798 Lots of cute and funny parts? Yay! Glad you enjoyed it! Now let's see...

1) That barn may as well get rebuilt every other episode, so it wouldn't surprise me

3) Hehe, I can picture that. Oh gosh, I got a little carried away with that kiss scene - I can't imagine how embarrassed I'd be to hear someone read it aloud, haha And in that case, I'm sorry about the sleeping arrangements tease in the epilogue - I bet he'll have a field day with that

6) I don't even know why I threw that in there, it was completely random... Darn Twilight, invading other ponies' stories!

7) Noo! That's an embarrassing typo, considering that it's an important line in the story. Thank you for pointing it out!

2119180 Thank you very much! The concept comes partly from something bookplayer (I think it was bookplayer) said once, about how conversations directly addressing the romance are ultimately less effective than when the two characters passively show their feelings whilst simply doing something 'normal'. Or something along those lines anyway.

2121308 I'm not done yet! This was originally going to be the final chapter, and I had a rushed version of said conversation ready to go. But... well, it was rushed. Since Valentine's Day has come and gone now, I think I'm going to take my time to write the 'real' epilogue, where those issues are addressed. I'm glad you like the rewrite so far though

2121549 That is the question, isn't it? Haha, well I'm sure they'll manage somehow. Thank you for the comment!

2121919 Thank you! Considering how much time I spend writing them nowadays, I should hope I know them pretty well Really glad you like it and I hope to keep it up!

2122470 That is actually a pretty good idea. I'm planning on either rewriting and extending this latest chapter and/or writing a new one entirely. When I do, I'll keep that in mind - I can already see how it would work. Thanks!

2123288 Thank you! And I approve of your profile picture - it's funny because it's true

2124918 Sorry it's so short and rushed! As you saw, I'm going to extend (and rewrite parts of) the chapter, to make the ending more awesome I'm going to take my time with it, now that Valentine's has passed. First I need to get back to the latest chapter of Eyes On You It has suffered for my obsession over getting Trial Run done for the 14th. Sorry!

>>Everyone: I'd just like to say an extra thank you for all your reassuring comments on Chapter Four, which I was more than a little anxious about. You are all awesome

[Karrakaz]

Short, but very nice.

Good job.

[SPart]

men the story was great so far, i'm just on standby for the last chapter update/rewrite/whatever

[Aragon]

You know that feeling when you discorver a writer that you like and then you start reading absolutely everything he's written and then you beg for more? Yeah, well, that's what has happened to me with you. Holy mother of fuck, you're, like, my favorite writer on the site right now.

I mean, Twixie and Appledash. Well, that's pretty good, but -no, way, you're writing well-written. wellcharacterized Twixie and Appledash. Hm. Okay. Can I marry you? PLEASE?

This story was very, VERY good. I found the characters somewhat real, incredibly cute and... Applejack was acting so Applejack-ish that I couldn't stop squeeing. I'm fangirling over this shit AND I'M A MOTHERFUCKING MAN.

So, yeah. Insta-fav, follow and comment. Man, this was awesome. I mean, I can't wait for the re-written chapter. I also think you need to expand it a little more, but even with thtat is great, so... yeah. Congratulations.

Pfffft. Trial run. I mean, how the hell do you think about something like that? You lucky bastard...

[UnlicensedBrony]

2142052 Thank ya kindly

2161541 Thanks! The update is done - I decided to go with a final chapter instead of a rewrite. Hope you like it!

2196410 Oh wow, that made me chuckle Seriously, thank you very much for the kind words, this brightened my morning. It's always great to hear that someone likes my characters, being an insecure writer person like I am Not sure what else to say, really. Getting comments like these on my stories easily makes up for all the work it takes to write them.

As for how I thought of the idea... yeah, 'Just lucky, I guess' The goal was to come up with an original way for AJ and RD to end up together - avoiding clichés where possible, like issues with fillyfooling, broken wings etc. - and this just sprung to mind (after about a week of trying to plan something out, that is).

Anyway, I decided to forget the rewrite and write a whole new chapter instead. It's up now, and the story is complete. Enjoy! And thanks again for your comment!

[Luminary]

“Hey, Rarity,” she said coolly.

Coolly, you say.

Rainbow waved a dismissive hoof. “Ah, we had fun dating for a while, but it just wasn't my thing. I mean, like, all the touching and being all fluffy and romantical all the time... bleh—” She gagged. “Y'know, this thing really opened my eyes. I didn't know romance was so... cutesy... I think I'm just gonna forget about it altogether.”

Sweet revenge. Made the chapter.
Rarity vs Rainbow is not exactly the prank war we usually see. But this is an awesome little thread in the story.

"...I got Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth to cover for me..."

D'aww. Sorry Pinkie. Looks like you gave Dash far too many secs to work with, and lost out on your Hearts and Hooves Day chance.

I keep going on about the tone of things, but it's still my favorite thing. Between friends or marefriends in this fic, you really captured how they're able to have fun. They tease and prod at eachother as they would, with someone like Dash in the mix. And since they're all having fun, so are we!

[Lucasmembrane]

After last chapter I was totally ready to hand Rarity the troll-of-the-year award, but damn, Dash totally clinched it. Best. Scene. Ever.