Southern Skies

by Jondor

*Celebrity*

The hot summer sun beat down on the rickety arena just outside the town of Appleloosa. Rainbow Dash sat in the stands beside three fillies, all four ponies nursing their apple slushies to get some relief from the heat. As they waited for the first event to start, a familiar voice caused Dash to turn her head.

“Yo, Dash! You’re a long way from Ponyville!”

Rainbow smiled and waved her over, indicating the empty seat next to her. “Hey, Spitfire! You’re a long way from Cloudsdale!” After several rounds of cadet training at the Academy, Dash had finally gotten over being starstruck over her hero.

Both mares shared a hoof bump and a wing slap as Spitfire sat down. “All those fillies yours?” Spitfire smirked. The three fillies in question sat stunned, not quite able to share Dash’s casual attitude at having a Wonderbolt address them.

“I’m not that old.” Dash scoffed, sticking out her tongue. “Sweetie Belle is the sister of a friend and best friend to these two. Apple Bloom is my sister-in-law and Scoots here is technically my adopted daughter, but we prefer little sister. Right?” Dash finished the introductions by ruffling Scootaloo’s mane playfully.

“Yup.” Scootaloo grinned wide and stuck her tongue out at Apple Bloom. “No way I’m your niece if I’m three months older.” Apple Bloom pulled a grim face in return while Sweetie Belle just facehoofed at both of them. The two older mares let the fillies playfully squabble amongst themselves as they engaged in conversation again.

“Look at you, all responsible family mare now.” Spitfire said with a smile. “I’m guessing you married into the Apple family.” She indicated Dash’s apple cutie mark ear studs with a hoof. “Who’s the lucky pony?”

Before Rainbow could answer, the murmur of the crowd was cut by the magnified voice of the commentator, bellowing into his megaphone.

“Howdy, y’all, and welcome to the 48th annual Equestria Rodeo Competition! Princess Celestia’s given us one doozy of a bright sun today, so don’t forget ta stop by the concession stands for yer complimentary apple juice and apple slushies in between events! Y’all won’t wanna miss any of the rough and tumble action, of course!

“Now, if y’all direct yer attention to the center ring, our first event today is the Bronco Buck. And, our first competitor is trotting out right now! Hailing all the way from Ponyville, stomp your hooves for the Apple family’s very own Applejack!”

Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and the three fillies next to them all stomped their hooves and whistled louder than any other pony in the crowd.

“I totally forgot, Applejack is one of your friends, isn’t she?” Spitfire asked, once the noise had died down and everypony was watching as one by one, a line of trained armadillos hopped onto Applejack’s back and were given a very rough ride. Each one was thrown off in record time, bouncing roughly on their hard shells before crawling over to a medical pony waiting with ice packs.

“More than that.” Dash grinned and her smile was as bright as any Pinkie could hope to produce as she twitched her ears, making the apple ear studs glint in the bright sun. “She’s my wife.” Dash’s enthusiasm was only marred by a faintly suspicious look in her eye as she awaited Spitfire’s reaction to the news that she had married another mare.

Spitfire positively squealed in delight and Dash breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh my gosh! Applejack is the whole reason I started following rodeo! Congratulations!” Catching the rapidly changing emotions on Dash’s face, she quickly added, “don’t sweat it, Dash. When you’ve been on the road as much as I have, you learn that just about everything is normal somewhere, so long as nopony is getting hurt by it.”

“Awesome!” Dash beamed as the two mares shared a hoof bump.

They watched as the rest of the contestants were introduced. Most of them were earth ponies, mare and stallion alike, but one pegasus mare as well as a unicorn stallion had entered to try their hooves at the sport as well. Each contestant did their best to buck off the armadillos, but even though the critters were still a bit dizzy from the rough ride Applejack gave them, no pony else could quite match her performance.

“Whoooeee! That sure was excitin’! An’ don’t y’all worry none about them armadillos. Ol’ Doc Hoofmeyer’ll have ‘em patched up in no time. Now, it’s time for a short break while we set up fer the hurdlin’ competition! Ye-haw!”

After a short break for fresh drinks, the two mares and three fillies whistled and stomped enthusiastically as Applejack trotted back out to the arena and took her place at the starting line. She pawed the ground, readying her powerful hindquarters for a fast takeoff at the sound of the whistle. Dash was almost surprised not to see a gold contrail behind her wife as Applejack tore around the oval track, leaping each hurdle with practiced ease.

“So, how long have you been a rodeo fan?”

“A long time now, since just before I became captain. Aside from Applejack, I just got hooked by how passionate all the earth ponies are for it.”

More cheers erupted from the stands, especially from one particular group of five, as Applejack finished the course in record time.

“Well, dang if she ain’t givin’ the other contestants a run fer their money! The judges are tellin’ me that Applejack has just set a new track record!”

Applejack beamed and waved to the crowd before trotting off to the competitor’s break area for some water and shade.

“It’s sort of a shame they don’t get much press coverage, but that’s really a double-edged sword.” Spitfire grimaced and couldn’t help notice Dash doing the same. “So, is that why you haven’t been back to the Academy lately?” Her fiery orange eyes peeked sideways as she sipped her apple slushie.

Dash’s ears immediately drooped. “One of them.” She sipped her drink for a moment, trying to steel herself. “Did you know you’re the reason I always wanted to be a Wonderbolt?”

Spitfire shook her head.

“I remember when you joined the team, you looked so cool, so awesome, so radical. I had posters and magazine clippings of you all over my bedroom walls. I even had an action figure that I took everywhere.” Dash smirked at the stupid grin on Spitfire’s face.

“I never believed any of the nasty stuff the tabloids wrote about you. Heck, I got into a few fights at flight camp over it.” Dash shook her head and laughed at herself. “But, I was still really relieved to find out that most of it wasn’t true.”

“What about the stuff that was?” Spitfire smirked.

“Eh, everypony is a little weird.” Dash shrugged and grinned, then frowned again. “But, that’s the thing. Whether it’s true or not, they still print that garbage. I’ve already had one run in with a gossip column, courtesy of those three.” Dash jerked her head at the three fillies still absorbed in the action down on the track. “That’s twice too many for one lifetime. Especially if it spills over onto AJ and her... our family.”

Spitfire was silent for some time, thinking things over while they watched the rest of the competitors finish out the hurdling competition. During the next break, Spitfire finally spoke.

“I understand, Dash. Heck, I’ve lived that life; I know it isn’t easy.” She put a consoling hoof on Dash’s shoulder. “But, I have an idea.”

“Oh, yeah?” Dash’s ears perked up and she looked inquiringly at her idol.

“Keep this to yourself.” Spitfire leaned in to whisper into Dash’s ear. “I’m going to be retiring as captain pretty soon. Oh, don’t look like that; I’ve had a really good run and I’m not leaving the team just yet.” Spitfire grinned at the look of shock on Dash’s face. “I’m actually moving up the chain to be team manager, and maybe do a guest appearance every now and then.

“That also means I’ll be able to schedule guest fliers.” Spitfire grinned even broader. “Can you think of a better guest than the youngest filly to perform a sonic rainboom who just happens to be an Element of Harmony as well?” Dash grinned in return. “As long as we don’t do it too often, the tabloids will leave you alone.”

“Awesome!”

Author's Note:

I borrowed a few elements from bookplayer's Celebrity prompt over in the prompt tag game.

Comments

[Jackie]

I practically had a smile on my face the entire time I read this due to the heart felt moments and references

[Jondor]

2987620

Thanks! I've had this scene in mind ever since I wrote the 'Wonderbolt' prompt chapter, but one thing or another always distracted me from finishing it.

I'm really kind of surprised I haven't seen anyone else using the Gabby Gums incident as a reason for Dash not to want to join the Wonderbolts and avoid the tabloid coverage.

[SIGWolf]

Very nice. Needs more cider, though.

[Jondor]

2988782

Cider's a fall thing. This was the middle of summer.

[The Yaoi Mistress]

4011615
Ooohhh! Clever! and loved it!

[HyperMonica]

Spitfire positively squealed in delight. “Oh my gosh! Applejack is the whole reason I started following rodeo! Congratulations!”

...This IS still Spitfire we're talking about here, right?

She squealed.

....She said oh my gosh!! .....

[Jondor]

4897276 This was written before S3 and Wonderbolts Academy came along, but I still stick to the idea that she turns off her drill sergeant mode when she's not on duty (as in Best Night Ever).

[Eclipse Moonshine]

I hope there's another one soon!! XP Thid is a very good little story!!! XP

[LurkingToRead]

How can you consider this complete? Gotta have at least one more where Dash is a guest flier, right?