A Very AppleDash Christmas
Applejack awoke to a pleasant warmth as her wife gently wrapped an arm around her body. She let a smile form upon her lips as she slowly lifted the arm up and snaked her way out of the bed. She let that smile form into a smirk as she pulled her phone from its charger and then it grew into a full-blown cheshire grin as she snapped a picture of her wife serenely snoring like a sleeping pig.
The flash went off and Rainbow slowly gained consciousness, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and letting loose a great yawn accompanied by a stretch before she even realized she was being watched. "Morning babe." she said with a few sleepy smacks of her lips.
"Mornin' sugar. Slept good?" Applejack asked as she hid the phone behind her back and leaned down to kiss her wife.
Rainbow openly welcomed the affectionate kiss. "I'll never have a night of bad sleep if I keep waking up to those." she said slyly.
Applejack let out a chuckle. "Oh please. We're married, no need for the smooth talk."
Rainbow placed her hands behind her head and shot off a cocky grin. "Listen babe, I can't just turn off my natural Dash-itude, it just comes to me natural and easy."
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Yea, that's not the only thing that comes easily." she said with a smirk.
Rainbow showed no shame as she let her smile grow even wider. "I'm known for my speed babe. 20% hornier in 10 seconds flat." she said with a thumbs up motion.
It was too early for Applejack to deal with this shit. She rolled her eyes again. "Alright, alright. C'mon, let's go wake up the girls. It's time to open up presents."
Rainbows eyes widened slightly. "Holy shit, it's Christmas! I completely forgot!" she said as she leaped up from the bed. She placed a hand behind the taller girls head and pulled her down into a deep kiss. "Happy anniversary babe." she said when they finally broke for air.
"Happy anniversary sugar." Aj said "Now come on, let's wake them up."
Rainbow nodded and the two left the room. The house was completely silent except for the random creaking of old wood beneath their feet. Applejack stopped by the bathroom where she did something that Rainbow didn't catch and Aj hid whatever it was beneath her shirt. She shrugged and continued to follow as they made their way down the hall until they reached the final room. Aj slowly opened the door and the view of two small girls sleeping peacefully together on a small bed. They could clearly see Appleblooms gigantic bow on the sleeping girls head, and Scootaloos pink hair could be spotted from a mile away with no problem.
Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash and placed a finger to her lips to signal silence. Rainbow nodded her head and rolled her eyes, she already knew that after all. Why else would they sneak in the room if they weren't going to stay sneaky? The pair tip-toed to the bed and Rainbow watched as Applejack pulled a spray bottle out from under her shirt.
"Wake up, Merry Christmas!" Applejack yelled out as she rapidly sprayed a mist of cold water over the two sleeping girls.
A pair of matching scream rang out as the young girls were violated by their icy menace. Applebloom rolled off the bed and tried to get away, quickly followed by a wildly laughing Scootaloo who grabbed Applebloom in a tight hug and used her as a human shield against the unending torrent of cold mist.
"Merry Christmas!" Applejack and Rainbow Dash both yelled out with hearty laughs as they looked at their soaked sisters.
"Merry Christmas!" Scootaloo said just as happily, while Applebloom wiped the remaining water from her face.
"Yea, merry." she said sarcastically, not being able to hide the smile that adorned her young face.
"So can we open up our presents now?" Scootaloo excitedly asked.
The two adults looked at each other and shared a knowing smile.
Rainbow spoke up. "Gee, I don't know kid. We had plans to go out on the town and open up gifts tonight. Don't you want to do that?" she asked.
"No!" the young girls replied in unison.
'Kids, may they never change.' Applejack thought to herself as she watched her wife herd the children out of the room and downstairs to the beautifully decorated tree. They had seen the damn thing every single day for an entire month, but there was always something different about a Christmas tree on Christmas morning.
Rainbow went to the kitchen and began to make hot chocolate, setting four mugs out for their little family here.
"Alright girls," Applejack began with a clap of her hands "go on ahead and choose a present. One at a time, and remember, read who it's from before you shred the wrapping to bits." she said.
The two girls nodded their head and immediately went to the biggest presents that had their respective names on them.
"Hey, this one's from you Applejack." Scootaloo said as Applebloom was able to wait patiently for her pseudo-sister to open the gift her real sister got her. Scootaloo wasted no time in ripping long gashes into the delicately worked wrapping paper, only getting stuck on a corner once. Her eyes widened as she could finally see the image on the big box showing what was inside. "A new scooter!" she exclaimed giddily as before getting up and hugging the older blonde. "Thank you Applejack!"
"No problem sugar cube, Merry Christmas." Applejack said as Rainbow Dash came back holding a tray with mugs of hot chocolate on it.
"Your turn A.B." Rainbow said to the little red-head.
"This one says it's from someone named Awesome McSpeedster." Applebloom said with a confused expression on her face, an expression that quickly turned into one of realization. "I guess that's you Rainbow." she said lethargically, not even needing an answer.
"Damn sure!" Rainbow said, receiving a sharp elbow to her side from Applejack. "Uh, I mean, dern sure!"
Applebloom shook her head at the antics going on with the older women and began to tear at her gift. She looked like a wild animal as she tore through the paper, bits and pieces flying all around and falling in various places. "An arts and crafts set!" she almost yelled as she hugged the giant package. "Thanks Dash!"
"No problem kid." Dash said as she took a sip of her hot chocolate and laid back in her seat, letting the warmth fill her. She smiled as she felt Applejack lay her head against her shoulder and the two watched as their sisters tore through package after package.
They got matching sweaters from Rarity, coupons for free snacks at Sugarcube Corner from Pinkie, and, of course, a book on wildlife from Fluttershy. Their parents had also gotten them a few presents, Granny and Mac in Appleblooms case, but most of the gifts came from Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
"You guys are the best!" Scootaloo said happily as she looked over all of the gifts she had, Applebloom nodding in agreement behind her.
Rainbow draped an arm around Applejacks shoulders and adopted her usual cheeky grin. "Yea, we are pretty awesome." she said. "Alright, now put this stuff away and get some jackets on, we're having a snowball fight in 30 minutes. Kids versus adults. Be there, or else you have to do everyone elses chores for a month!"
The two adults watched as their younger sibling went wide eyed before they scrambled for the stairs. They got up and balled all of the discarded wrapping paper together and threw it in the trash, and put the now empty mugs into the kitchen sink.
"C'mon, let's get ready." Applejack said as she began to make her way up the stairs. Rainbow followed suit and closed the door to the room behind them.
It didn't take long for everybody to get ready, and they all headed out into the blanketed front yard. It was absolutely pristine and nobody could wait to ruin it. Rainbow Dash turned to the small group and took charge.
"Ok, listen up. Girls, your base is next to that tree." she said as she pointed to the big oak off to her left. "We'll stay here and prepare. You get five minutes to prepare your ammo, and then war is on. Am I understood?" she asked, receiving salutes from the three girls.
"Yes ma'am!" came a chorus of voices.
"Good, now go!" she yelled and watched as the younger girls immediately ran off to their base of operations. She and Applejack dropped to their knees and began to hastily form snowballs and placed them to the side, forming an ammo cache.
"You guys are so slow!" Applebloom yelled from across the field.
"Keep talking squirt, we'll see who wins this!" Rainbow yelled back.
"Not you two! You're too old! Don't hurt your backs!" came Scootaloos reply.
"Ah'll show you a thing or two!" Applejack yelled back. "Times up! Charge!" she yelled as she scooped up a number of snowballs that she held in her arm. She had no idea how much time had actually passed, but there were no rules in war.
The younger girls began to throw snowballs at their oncoming assailant, almost missing every shot except for the one Applebloom threw that hit Applejacks knee. They made the attempt to dive for cover but it failed as Scootaloo took a snowball to the chest and Applebloom was hit in the arm.
They grabbed more snowballs and began unloading them at Applejack, covering her in bits of smashed snow, but Rainbow Dash wasn't far behind, and she had the better aim of the two.
Rainbow didn't need to get as close as Applejack did to be able to beam the younger girls nicely, and she was more than happy to get the job done. She threw one snowball at Scootaloo, hitting her square in her covered forehead, and then launched a second one at Applebloom. But Applebloom saw it coming, and decided it was the perfect time for some revenge from that morning. She grabbed the slightly dazed Scootaloo and used her as a human shield, allowing the snowball to crash against her chest.
Rainbow and Applejack each let out a hearty laugh. "Good one A.B!" Rainbow yelled out with a thumbs up.
The war continued in a similar fashion for damn near an hour, both sides refusing to go down. But eventually, the children got cold and hungry, and they forfeit.
"That was lots of fun!" Scootaloo said as they got back into the house and she began to shed her big winter coat.
"Told you we'd win." Rainbow said as she ruffled her sisters hair. "Now, you two go take a warm bath so you don't get sick. We'll get started on some food after we change." she said. The two younger girls nodded and all four went up their stairs and into the two separate rooms.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash shed their clothing and took a moment to relax on their bed, hand in hand as they lay together. The heat was on and it made Applejack feel so comfortable just laying there. She turned to her wife and let a tired smile develop on her lips.
"This has been the best Christmas Ah've had in a long time." Applejack said before a yawn escaped her mouth.
Rainbow chuckled. "Getting a little tired there babe?" she asked.
Applejack could only nod in response. Her eyes felt so heavy, she felt like she would pass out any minute now.
"Then go to sleep." Rainbow said. Her voice had a somber tone to it that made Applejack uncomfortable but, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move or even open her eyes. Rainbow spoke up again. "I love you Applejack, so so much, but you have to go to sleep so you can wake up again."
Applejack was confused, but she couldn't voice it. Then, suddenly, everything was quiet and still as she drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
Applejack woke up in her dark room. She was still in her clothes from the night before, not having bothered to change after she came from the bar. She looked at the clock and saw that it was only 5 in the morning. She shook the drowsiness from her head and felt the dull pain of a slight hangover rumble pass her brain.
She got up and the springs creaked in her empty bed. Her large boots made loud thuds against the old wood of her home. She walked down the creaky steps and pulled the front door open. The snow had stopped falling and she could barely see the footprints she had left the previous nights. But new ones replaced them quick enough as she stepped through the white powder and made her way around to the back of the house.
She slowly came upon a stone that was sticking out of the ground and brushed off the snow that had accumulated on it over the night. "Merry Christmas..." she said as she knelt down in front of the stone, letting her fingers trace over the words etched into its face. "and happy anniversary." she finished, tears welling in her eyes as she read the name on the stone once more. Snow slowly fell down upon the young woman and cold winds blew against her, but none of it mattered. The world was dead to her when she stood next to this stone, and she refused to have it any other way.