Orange and Blue, I Do (Book 3)

by LotusTeaDragon

Stormy Weather

CHAPTER SIX
“Stormy Weather”

The Sun beat down upon her orange coat as she used the sledgehammer to pound the wooden post further into the ground. Her only relief was the shade provided by the hat sitting atop her head, and even that began to protest the heat.

She stopped for a moment, and took off her hat as she looked along the fence that ran beside the northwest orchard, fanning herself. Noting with satisfaction that the fence looked far more secure than it did at the start of the day, she wiped her brow, placed the hat back on her head, and began tossing tools back into her cart. Finishing this task, she began to make her way back up toward the utility shed.

She acknowledged the howdy of every farmhand she passed, and was pleased to see that most of them didn’t pay her no heed, as they were too engrossed in their labors to stop and chew the hay, even for a moment. It wasn’t that she thought the ones who did were being lazy, but it was always a good sign when it seemed there was too much work to do. A busy farm was a happy and prosperous one.

Coming upon the large building, she pulled the cart inside, and backed it into the wall, where it gently came to a rest. Releasing herself from the harness, she took a moment to stretch, feeling a crick in her neck as she did so. She ignored it for the moment, knowing it would probably annoy her for the rest of the day, and made her way back toward the house.

As she approached their family home, she noted how quiet the place was these days. Ever since Big Mac and Granny Smith had decided to join family out in Coltorado, things had felt different. Applejack had practically begged them to stay, but Granny Smith had insisted that the family needed to prune its branches, and for new roots to settle down into the Apple Family Acres soil, and when Granny made up her mind, that was it.

She had taught Applejack, Big Mac, and Applebloom everything she knew about Zap Apples, about the family history, how to love and respect everypony, and how to live a good, and honest life, and even though Granny Smith was still around, that she wasn’t here, in this house, doing what she did every day, it was keenly felt. What made it all the more noticeable was the lack of her older brother; a stallion of few words, but even in silence, you could feel his presence. That’s what had made the place feel alien and strange. It felt like they were gone forever; far off in a foreign world never to be seen again, even if, in truth, they were only a couple day’s train ride away.

They say home is where your heart is, Applejack, but what do you do when your heart is in two places all at once?. The thought had come unbidden, but before she could answer the errant thought, she sensed a familiar presence.

“Hey, AJ. What’s up?”

Applejack turned her head and glanced over to where Rainbow Dash was now standing. In response, Rainbow sidled up to Applejack and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, Rainbow,” Applejack responded, giving Dash a nuzzle of her own. “Not much, really. Ah was just standin’ here, thinkin’.”

“Thinking about what?”

“Well, ‘bout the way things used ta be, if ya really want ta know.” Her voice had a bit of a hard edge to it. More than she had intended. “It feels lonely here, sometimes. Granny an’ Big Mac are gone, Applebloom spends most o’ her time at Rarity’s these days, and we’re always busy takin’ care o’ what needs takin’ care of. It’s like no one lives here any more. Like we all jus’ use it as a place ta sleep an’ eat. Home jus’ don’t feel like home no more.” Tears welled in her eyes.

Rainbow draped her foreleg over Applejack’s withers, bringing the mare close to her chest. “Hey, AJ,” she intoned softly as she wiped the orange mare’s tears, “I didn’t know you felt that way. Why didn’t you say something before?”

Applejack gave Dash a sideways glance, and raised her eyebrow. “When did we really have the time, Rainbow? We get up, eat breakfast, ya give me a little kiss, and ya head off to take care o’ the weather. I wash the dishes, get Applebloom off ta school, and get to workin’ here. We ain’t even got time ta spend together, we ain’t had time to even plan our own weddin’. We’re gettin’ married, soon, an’ we ain’t even sent any o’ the invitations or anything!”

“You’re not mad at me, are you AJ?” Dash asked, leveling a look at her marefriend.

Applejack met her gaze. “Nah, Ah ain’t mad, sugar cube. It ain’t nothin’ ya could do. It’s just the way things are ‘round here. We’ve always been a hard workin’ family. Ah guess Ah just miss havin’ all that family around at the end o’ the day to make it all worthwhile, ya know? Ah mean, when it was me, an’ Big Mac, Granny Smith, an’ Applebloom, gettin’ together and havin’ supper, talkin’ 'bout our day, that made all the hard work an’ struggle worth it. Now what do we do? Yah work, Ah work, and Applebloom goes ta school, comes home long enough for a howdy, and then she’s off ta Rarity’s.”

Rainbow Dash took all of this in, and it bothered her. She was a mare of action, and seeing that Applejack appeared almost helpless disconcerted her. She vowed to herself that she would solve their problems, and give Applejack the happiness she so needed.

“You know what, AJ? I think we need some time together. Just some time for us to go spend together without anypony around.”

“Well, what do ya suggest?”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “I think we need to have ourselves a picnic.”

***

An hour later, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were laying on a checkered blanket. Dirty cups and plates were stacked off to the side, next to a now empty picnic basket. They were huddled together, with the back of Applejack’s head against Rainbow Dash’s chest. The cyan blue mare was stroking her marefriend’s mane, as they marveled at the beautiful flowers surrounding the lake by which they had chosen for their picnic retreat. Not far away, a waterfall cascaded down a cliffside, offering a soothing background of rushing water as it gushed headlong into the lake below, the thundering of that collision becoming a peaceful drone further away along the lakeside.

The lush green grass was peppered with lilacs, peonies, daffodils, and marigolds. Here and there, daisies could be found in patches, their stark whiteness offsetting the gorgeous rainbow hues as the evening Sun of Celestia’s eternal watch cast it’s evening visage upon them, with several clouds turning a pink cotton candy hue and casting their shadows on the tall trees below. From those trees, the birds chirped happily as they flitted about, going from tree to tree, tweeting, and flapping, and climbing high into the sky, only to swoop down upon another tree top, surprising their loved ones with joyful chirrups, the warm breezes carrying that joy throughout the glade. It was a paradise in every sense of the word.

Applejack lay nestled up against Dash’s chest as the pegasus ran her right hoof through the farm mare’s mane, her braids no longer holding her hair back, leading to the creation of their own waterfall of blonde hair, cascading down around the mare’s shoulders.

Rainbow Dash stared silently at her marefriend’s freckles, highlighted by the Sun, as if it were to say, “look at this beautiful mare, in all of her unassuming glory. She doesn’t even have to try, and yet she is more beautiful than the flowers of the field.”

Dash could do nothing but silently agree with the Sun’s assessment. She watched as Applejack’s emerald eyes gazed out over the beauty of the landscape around them, a stalk of hay in her mouth.

This went on for several more minutes, and in Dash’s opinion could have gone on until the end of all time, but nothing gold can stay, and so it was Applejack who eventually broke the silence.

“Hey Rainbow?” she asked, not too loudly, lest she disturb the peaceful setting around them.

“Yeah, AJ?” Dash responded with equal measure.

“Ya remember that day we competed in th’ runnin’ o’ the leaves?”

“Yeah, I mean, how can I forget it?”

“Well, I just want ya ta know, I loved ya even then.”

“You know what, AJ?”

“What?”

“I loved you then, too.”

“Ya did?”

“I sure did. You know why?”

“Why did ya love me then, Rainbow?”

“Because I have a soft spot for ponies almost as awesome as I am.”

Applejack chuckled, reaching back to pop Dash in the shoulder. Rainbow Dash caught it with her hoof, and leaned down, kissing Applejack’s foreleg. She began to plant kisses up Applejack’s foreleg, taking a moment to move aside several stray hairs, and leaning in, gently kissed Applejack on her neck.

The orange mare inhaled a sharply.

Spurred on by her marefriend’s reaction, Rainbow Dash kissed the mare’s cheek, and nibbled on her right ear. The farm pony turned her head as Rainbow Dash came in for another kiss, and their lips met. Eyes closed, and hearts inflamed by the pure, intimate contact, they pressed into one another, with Applejack turning slightly in order to more comfortably reach her marefriend.

The kiss solidified as Rainbow Dash ran a foreleg down Applejack’s chest, tracing the countours of her stomach, causing Applejack’s eyes to snap open and draw in a breath, their kiss breaking, Dash’s lips forming into a smile instead, as her hoof traveled in lazy circles on her marefriend’s stomach. Applejack’s breathing quickened. “Rainbow,” she began.

Dash smiled. “Yeah?”

“I-” Applejack had began, but a clap of thunder interrupted her words.

Both ponies jumped from the sound, Applejack’s hat falling off of Dash’s head. Upon looking around, the pair noticed that their once ideal picnic spot had become an overcast portent of stormy weather.

Rainbow Dash scratched her mane in puzzlement. “There’s no storm scheduled for today.”

A flash of lightning and a peal of thunder told the weather pony that schedules were being ignored, and, with some regret, got to her hooves, helping her marefriend up in the process.

“Stay here, Applejack, while I check out what kind of storm we’ve got here.”

Applejack kissed her marefriend on the lips. “Don’t do anything foolish, now,” she said as she pulled back.

Rainbow Dash cocked her a confident smile. “When have I ever...” at which point she faded off and blushed a bit, as she saw Applejack raise an eyebrow, a frown appearing on her face. It didn’t last, however, and a moment later she just laughed and exclaimed “Exactly!”

Rainbow’s confidence returned. “Eh, don’t worry. I’ll just take a quick look around and come right back down before the storm starts.”

A drop of rain splashed on her muzzle.

Applejack noticed the errant drop. “Ya better hurry then, Rainbow. Looks like the storm’ll be here any second. Ah don’t mind sayin’ Ah don’t want ta be out in a field in the middle o’ no gullywasher.”

Rainbow Dash nodded her agreement, and took off like a shot into the air. Applejack watched as her lover’s form disappeared beyond the lower edge of a menacing cloud bank. She felt something bump her back leg. Glancing downward, she saw her hat laying there. She picked it up and dropped it back onto her mane, it’s presence offering little in the way of protection as the occasional wind began to kick up.

Fortunately, a cyan blur came into focus a few seconds later, and materialized into the sleek form of Rainbow Dash, who landed a hoof-ful of yards away. AJ trotted up to her as she got her bearings.

“So what’s it lookin’ like?” she asked the pegasus.

“Not good, AJ,” Dash replied, “the tops of the clouds are still building, and it’s looking like a huge rainstorm will start dropping here really fast. Maybe some lightning, possibly hail. If you’d like, instead of us running back to the farm, I can fly you there.

“You sure you can handle me and this wind at th’ same time, sugarcube?”

Dash’s air of cockiness appeared. “You’re talking to the fastest and strongest mare in Equestria. Of course I can.”

Applejack gave Dash a withering look. “Fastest? Sure, Ah’ll grant ya that one, but strongest? Ah’d say that’s up fer grabs, sugarcube.”

A bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree, causing a smouldering branch to crash to the ground, and a peal of thunder that rumbled beneath their hooves.

“Look, AJ, I think we can argue about this later. Right now, I’m trying to get us out of here before mother nature tries to kill us.”

Her look brooked no argument, and AJ quickly climbed onto her lover’s back, and gripped Dash’s neck.

“Hold on tight, AJ, this is going to be rough!”

“Ah’m holdin’ on, sugarcube! Wild ponies couldn’t pull me off’n ya!”

Gritting her teeth, Rainbow Dash flapped her powerful wings, and they were off the ground, on a path toward home, hoping to beat the giant storm before it decided to beat them first.

***

They made it to the front of the gate right as the storm began dropping it’s storehouse of water in the form of raindrops, both frigid and massive.

The two ponies hurried through the gate, up the front porch, and into the house. AJ slammed the front door behind her, the heavy rains beating against it.

“Ha! Made it in first!” the brash pegasus called out behind her.

Applejack turned around to see a triumphant look on Dash’s face. The pegasus was oblivious to the dripping water cascading from her mane, and the rest of her body, leaving a puddle on the hardwood floor.

“Well, that’s all nice and such, but ya might want ta do somethin’ about the mess yer leavin’ on the floor, Rainbow.”

Dash looked down, seeing the water begin to head toward the rug.

“Anything else I can do, Rarity?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow at the orange mare. “Maybe I can help you get into a frou frou dress and wear a pretty little bow, too.”

She stopped for a moment, a small smile playing at her lips. “You know what? I think I’d like to see you in a pretty little dress with pretty little bows. Highlight your sweet, dainty feminine side, you know?”

Applejack’s eyes went wide. “Dainty?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Oh yeah. Definitely dainty. We can get some tea cozies-”

“Tea cozies.”

“Yeah, and maybe some lacy white curtains-”

“Lacy?”

“Yep, the ones that gently waft in the breeze, and I can come home from a hard day’s cloud bucking, and see my pretty little wife in her nice little apron-”

“Did ya say ‘little wife’?”

“I sure did. My pretty little wife to kiss me on the cheek and say,” and for this Dash took on a high pitched voice, “‘Hello dear, Ah’m so happy ta have ya home to protect me from the big ba-’”

Before she could finish, Applejack pounced on her, the two of them jockeying with one another, rolling around laughing, each one vying for position on top of the other one. This continued until they rolled over far enough to bump into the coffee table, at which point the bowl of apples sitting on top decided to spill over and bonk them on the head.

At this, they stopped, and laid on the floor for a moment, catching their breath. Applejack could hear the pitter patter of rain falling upon the tin roof, creating a staccato pattern, one that was relaxing as much as it was noisy.

She turned her head toward Rainbow Dash, who was looking back at her, and before she knew it, she had crossed the distance between the two, and had planted her lips on her lover’s. They embraced one another, both sopping wet, they were, from their escape from the rain outside, and the sweat of their rough play. It didn’t matter. They were in each others’ forelegs, and they were alone. All in all, even with the rain cutting short their perfect picnic, it had still been a wonderful day.

A few moments later, they pulled away.

“I think we made a mess of the living room,” Dash said as she sat up, looking around, taking notice of the soaked and muddy rug upon which they were laying.

Applejack chuckled. “Now who’s actin’ like Rarity?”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “It’s not me. There’s no way I’d ever wear one of those frou frou dresses.

Applejack could hear Dash’s teeth chattering just a bit as she spoke. Being wet and covered in fur didn’t help matters, either.

“Hey, sugarcube,” she said, “why don’t we run upstairs and take a nice, warm shower? After all o’ what’s happened today, Ah’ll bet we’re mighty dirty.”

Rainbow Dash’s face lit up as Applejack gave her a peck on the cheek.

Applejack began to make her way up the stairs.

“Don’t forget mah hat,” Rainbow Dash heard as she watched AJ round the corner at the top of the steps.

Wasting no time, Dash grabbed AJ’s hat with her teeth, and clambered up the steps right behind her marefriend, whose unspoken promise to get her very clean kept ringing in her ears.

***

Comments

[LotusTeaDragon]

New chapter is up!

[appledashluv]

D'awwww so cute!

[Aderes7Storm]

aaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[Salad king]

There be a storm'a brewin.

When you said there would be a heap of appledash later on, you were certainly telling the truth and that....... Was great!!! It was one thing seeing an appledash update 10 minutes after waking up. But to see this! Updated, its already a great day!

And great chapter, i really enjoyed this one. So much Daaaaaaaw!

[Tarascha]

The chapter was too sweet, and now i have
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq1yf0r4sF1qap8npo1_500.png

[AppleFire-Fan99]

im glad rainbow is cheering AJ up. well i do hope home feels like home again for them both

[LotusTeaDragon]

2914549 (AppleDashLuv) - Thank you!

2915175 (Aderes7Storm) - Glad you like it!

2915967 (LollingTroll) - Thanks! Yeah, I like to keep my word. I had already planned on some A/D focus, and they will get more as the story progresses, so stay tuned!

2916217 (Tarascha) - That's just the risk you take.

2918333 (AppleFire-Fan99) - Thank you, yes. AJ is strong, and stubborn, but as you see, Dash is her rock. She is what gives AJ the drive to be her best. Of course, the reverse is also true, in that Dash needs AJ in order to provide herself purpose.

[AjandRd]

Yes! Appledash! I love that ship soooo much, I love the story as a whole also and Violet's character is incredible, but up until now I thought she was going to take over the Appledash trilogy. Regardless glad to see I was proven wrong anyway really cute chapter keep it up

[LurkingToRead]

“Well, ‘bout the way things used ta be, if ya really want ta know.” Her voice had a bit of a hard edge to it. More than she had intended. “It feels lonely here, sometimes. Granny an’ Big Mac are gone, Applebloom spends most o’ her time at Rarity’s these days, and we’re always busy takin’ care o’ what needs takin’ care of. It’s like no one lives here any more. Like we all jus’ use it as a place ta sleep an’ eat. Home jus’ don’t feel like home no more.” Tears welled in her eyes.

I was gonna say - the thought of SWA without granny or Big Mac is quite depressing. I could see Big Mac marrying and leaving to found a new farm, but Granny? That just crazy.