chapter 1
The cold breeze cut through the sky as it banged against the soft exterior of the cloud manufactured home of the rainbow-maned, element of loyalty, Rainbow Dash. The temperature had been steadily dropping the closer the moons changed towards the next big holiday celebrated across pony kind– Hearts Warming. It was currently Hearts Warming eve, eve.
“Ah sure hope Twilight’s enchantment on these do what they’re supposed ta.”
Applejack stated, looking at herself in the mirror apprehensively. She was wearing a full-body pony suit that was made from a thin fabric that rarity had made up for her since she would be forced to wear the entire outfit throughout her cloudsdale holiday trip to visit the Dashes. It would be a three-day stay in the clouds, a place where Applejack had seen twice now, but never for a more extended period than a couple of hours to do a task or to attend a show. She was really nervous about it, but she knew that last year on their first holiday as a couple, they had stayed at the barn and let Rainbow experience an apple family heart’s warming…
**
“Did you take the fritters outta the oven” shouted one of Applejack’s aunts to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow could not remember the name for the life of her as foals ran around her hooves as she was holding two apple pies in each wing as she strutted around the tables trying to find a precise landing point for each of the circular pans. It made her wonderbolt weightlifting sessions feel like foal’s play.
“Not yet!” she exclaimed as she finally sat one pie down, then another, and
CRASH
The third and fourth pie flew up into the air, one of which Applejack came to the rescue and jumped up and caught it midair before rolling on her back. She had barely kept the warm pie upward as it left a crack on the firm layer of crust over the warm filling, but nothing that would ruin the specialty pie.
Rainbow flew to her and let out some deep breaths, “That was close; good catch AJ! Wait … I thought I dropped t...”
SPLAT
Rainbow’s cyan face was now a mixture of thick orange filling, full of spiced cinnamon, brown sugar, three types of apples sliding down her face slowly as the goops dropped from her mane, and she licked her lips … She gulped as she was worried she would be yelled at by granny, or any of the family… she messed up… They were never going to accept her no-…
Her lips were then met with Applejack’s, who kissed her deeply and passionately. This had left Rainbow nearly unconscious by the time they were done because the filling was thick, and she could barely take in any air from her nostrils as she let out deep breaths as their lips finally parted as she looked at Applejack, whose face was now messy as well.
“Tasted amazing,” She said with her bright smile that shined Dash’s world more than any trophy ever could.
“The pie?” She asked teasingly, as Applejack smirked back,
“What else would Ah be talking about.” She teased back as she licked her cheek and walked on, “Now go get hosed down, or granny will have a switch to yer rear if you mess up her carpet on the way to the bathroom. “She ordered, laughing.
“Yes, Ma’am!”
**
She sighed for what was probably the fifth time in the past three minutes as she tugged at the suit, trying to make it a bit looser. She was not looking forward to having to keep it on for such a long period but it was a necessary sacrifice. She smiled in the mirror as she calmed herself and soon felt hooves wrap around her neck.
“Are ya ready?” asked Rainbow, who had shown up in the bedroom after bringing the first bag to the chariot that had awaited them for the journey. While Rainbow typically flew solo to cloudsdale, it typically wasn’t with a non-pegasus pony, along with the luggage for two, so she called in the chariot service that traveled to ponyville, and that was the end of it.
“Heh, you look like a goof,” She teased as Applejack felt a blush of red appear in her cheeks, as she sighed, before feeling her head being turned towards her cyan lover and felt her lips on her. “I should say, an adorable goof,” Rainbow corrected as she took Aj’s hat off the bed and firmly plopped it on her head. She took her lover’s scarf that rarity had made them, they were apparently in style for couples to wear, and she had been giving them to anyone who had a special somepony.
The scarf was increased in size from a standard scarf, with apples and rainbows on a base of light purple to blend the mix of collars. The thick yet silk-like material felt warm yet also freeing as its increased length wrapped around the neck of the two ponies as they blew out the candles and headed towards the chariot.
“Mom and Dad’s, here we go,” Rainbow said cheerfully. Yet somewhere, and it may have just been a small feeling, but Applejack noticed a tonal shift in her voice, something that laid beneath that sound of cheer and excitement… She wondered what it could mean.
**
“RAINBOW! OVER HERE DEAR!” cried the voice of Windy Whistle, who was wildly waving her hoof back and forth to get the attention of the two mares who had just stepped off the chariot, while Bow Hothoof held up a large sign displaying the words “RAINBOW DASH” with a little tacked on piece of orange paper with red writing, “and applejack.”
AJ snickered as she looked at Rainbow, who was currently blushing from the attention as everypony around them was staring at the display of the two parents who clearly never understood how loud and excited they may have seemed, or possibly just didn’t care for as they were just happy to see their only daughter.
“Well Ah’ll be, isn’t that the sweetest little thing, having your family coming to pick us up, look how excited they are,” Applejack said smiling as she waved to them, and walked on the clouds, still somewhat hesitant due to getting used to the soft surface, when she preferred good solid dirt and rock. She approached them and stuck her hoof out, “Howdy, ma’am! My name is A–”
“Applejack! Yes, I know so much about you! Well, actually, I know nothing about you! But I know you’re making my sweet Rainbow the happiest she has ever been in her life! Well, she already was happy, we even got her a “happiest pony” award, but you helped her reach the happiness in love award!!” Windy cheered as Bow reached out a golden heart stature with a mini-figure of Rainbow dash on it.
“Aww, mommm, daddy!” She said, embarrassed as she took the trophy and shoved it into one of their bags as Applejack was having so much fun with all of this. She loved the power of family, and Rainbow’s parents were seemingly the most supportive of their child than any she had ever seen. There seemed to be no question on their relationship, which was a welcome change to how her conversation with granny smith went… She didn’t get upset, but she did not get the idea for a few weeks, but after a while, she came around, and she now seemed as if she had no qualms with the situation, or at least not enough of one to bring it up at supper. However, she was caught off guard by one thing, “Oh, so she hasn’t told y’all much about me?” she asked, raising her eyebrow towards Rainbow with a smirk as she wondered why she had not.
Rainbow gulped slightly, as she had forgotten this detail that may come up, but before she could come up with a clever excuse, her dad entered the conversation first, “Oh no! She never has, except that she was bringing her marefriend Applejack. Rainbow has often been secretive apparently, as she failed to tell us she was a freakin WONDERBOLT!” He said excitedly at that fact as he remembered the day the little orange pegasus had told him and showed her in action.
“Yes, our Rainbow sent us a letter last week saying that she was coming for Hearths Warming, and she would be bringing her marefriend, and hell, we didn’t even know our girl was a lesbian! Best darn lesbian there ever was, if I may say,” He said, nudging his daughter with his wing.”
Rainbow groaned, embarrassed, “mom, dad, can we please just go home….” She said, wanting to get home and at least be out of the light of the public as her parents continued their methods of humiliating her in any way they could despite meaning well… She knew that they loved her and they helped push her to be better; she had learned that lesson… but apparently, she was still bothered by the attention and the way they treated her… She had hoped things might be different, but it seems her parents were still how they were always.
**
“And that! Is how our Dash won the trophy for the messiest room and the reddest rump on the same day!!” Windy said as they had finally arrived at their home, with Applejack roaring with laughter as she had enjoyed each moment of this trip, while Dash slumped in the back of the quartet as she wished she could be anywhere else at that current moment.
“Can we please just change the subject? On to anything else? Please??!” She begged again, as she was patted on her back by AJ, who was still laughing but nuzzled her affectionately, Applejack was always able to give warmth of love in every form of physical contact, and this was no different as Rainbow felt a bit more relaxed, her shoulders lowering, and her ears lowering as she returned the nuzzle.
“Hey Dashie fritter, they are just proud of ya, and in the sweetest of ways, Are you telling me you can beat the most dangerous villains across Equestria and cant handle a bit of familial embarrassment?” She teased gently as she heard a small chuckle from Rainbow. However, both of their ears reached maximum height as a loud burst came from both of her parents simultaneously.
“YOU DID WHAT!!??”
Rainbow face hooved, as Applejack responded, “I mean, it comes with the job description, elements of harmony, comes with a lot of no good evil-doers thinking they have something to bring to make the world better for us all when it really often just means someone’s on a power trip thinking they’re better than everyone else.”
She turned around as she realized she was walking during her mini-rant but noticed Rainbow’s parents were just in shock…
“Our… Our daughter… is an element of Harmony!!??” They yelled out, gasping! They stared at Applejack, then to Rainbow, and then to each other. Their eyes fixed on each subject in their own Harmony, and then they started to pant… they were running out of breath, their chests heaving up and down until they finally yelled out, “OH MY GOOOSHHHHH!”
Rainbow was... A fast pegasus, one of the fastest in the world, at least she had always believed that. However, nothing could have prepared her for the speed records being broken by her mom and dad, who launched to her at a pace that left her unable to react as she was tackled to the ground, which she was thankful that it was made of clouds.
“How did you not tell us? “
“How long ago did this happen? “
“We didn’t even have time to bring a trophy? “
“Oh, I have some ribbon!”
“Amazing dear! But we don’t have a needle.”
“Oh, you know I never leave the house without a ne..”
‘MOM! DAD! Can’t breathe!” Rainbow gasped out as she finally freed herself off of her parent’s grip. She groaned as she heard their questions in a direct repeating lineup of what she had just heard when she was beneath them.
“JUST Bucking STOP!!” She finally yelled out as Rainbow’s mom gasped, and followed by her dad’s gasp, and then concluded by Aj’s gasp. All three ponies stared at her, as Rainbow was not done talking.
“This whole trip, not even an hour into it, and all you have done is embarrass me. We had talked about this last time with Scoots! I know you’re proud of me, mom and dad, but I can’t take all this talk on all the things you were proud of me for since birth! I didn’t tell you about the wonderbolts, and I sure as hell didn’t tell you about being the element of loyalty because you would have been on my back every day of the year!”
She sighed, “I love you both, but I don’t like telling you about my life, it’s mine, and I don’t want you ruining it for me, with your trophies and parades and megaphones at each event I go to in my life. I know you are proud of me, and it helped me; it really did, but I don’t care anymore!” She said as she bolted out the window in a fit of what was most likely impulsive rage.
Windy and Bow stood still, tears forming in both of their eyes, as they looked at each other. This was almost worse than the wonderbolts fiasco that had occurred… But they didn’t have to stare into each other’s sadness for long when the silence broke.
“Ima go an’ talk to her. Rainbow can be a bit of an idiot and dense, but let me tell you, she didn’t mean it. We’ll be back… and ah apologize.” Applejack said as she put a hoof on both of their backs, as she turned to run out the door, to catch up to the speedy pegasus, but fell down the stairs as she was still not used to walking or running on clouds, and the transition from the firm interior of the house, caused her to lose her balance, causing a small tear in her suit. Not that she noticed that detail.
**
It had been 20 minutes wandering through cloudsdale and Applejack had suffered from not knowing the terrain and way around the city of the clouds. She had jumped across large gaps that would mean a painful demise if she could not make them… She had learned that different clouds felt extremely different from each other.
Rain clouds were firm like a wooden surface, while clouds that were the lightest of white that one would see blowing in the wind felt almost like quicksand that even her suit would not allow her to safely walk on. And lastly, the snow clouds were frigid which she should have expected, but for some reason, she had initially thought they would all be the same on the surface.
“RAINBOW DASH!” She called out from the 18th time looking for her marefriend before she finally saw a rainbow tail sticking out of one of the clouds above her… She sighed in relief and made her way over there. “Rainbow? Rainbow, come down.” She said that the cloud that Rainbow was on was one that was higher than AJ could jump, and she didn’t think to bring her lasso on the journey.
“Go away…” was the answer that the orange pony heard in response, as she sighed, sitting down on the cloud beneath Rainbow… Applejack looked up as she laid down on her back and figured out what to say.
“Ya know sugarcube, and I understand ya being embarrassed. While the teasing was good fun, and their immense pride for you, ah’m sure it made you wanna crawl under the barn to avoid the waking rooster call before a long day’s work.” She said with one of her southernisms.
“But man Rainbow, you really chewed them out for embarrassing you….” She asked her as she was still a bit stunned by her marefriends actions, she had a temper at times and acted on impulse, but she hadn’t seen her act like this in a while and not in this type of context.
Rainbow finally popped her head out… She had tears in her eyes as well; she had puffy cheeks, as she clearly had been spending time thinking to herself as well, “You don’t get it Applejack… my whole life, its been this way, they helped me… be confident in myself, and while I appreciate that, they also caused the flaw that everyone loves pointing out to it's being overly cocky… Sure its a give and take, but I have almost lost friends over it and have had to give many apologies because of it.” She said as she sniffled.
She took a deep breath, “I, I love them, really I do, but I choose not to tell them this stuff because of how I know they will react. “She said but stopped as she saw Applejack’s face; she did not look super supportive.
“You’re right, Rainbow. Ah, I don’t know what it's like. I… I don’t know what it's like to be given trophies for every achievement of my life by my parents; I don't know what it's like to be applauded or told about how proud I make mah ma and pa because they died before I had a chance to. Ah, love my life, trying to make them proud, every action I take… Every lesson I learn… hoping that one day when I’m gone… I will be able to tell them Ah, love em, and that I hope they are proud of me. “
Applejack said as tears were coming down her face as well. She didn’t wipe them away. She kept each hoof planted firmly, as she was still not comfortable in the setting, “Ah never got to tell my parents that I helped save the world… Granny… She loves me, and everyone, but her mind has been going for a long time, she knows farmin… But she still gets confused about where I go for so long away from the farm when I’m off with the rest of y’all... “I wish I could be with my parents like you can be with yours, and tell them what I have done… Let them embarrass me in front of the mare I love most of all because I want honesty and communication to happen… And it breaks my heart how you have all that, and you’re trying to push them away!” She said loudly.
“Applejack… I” Rainbow tried to say, as she didn’t realize what Applejack meant until she said it… And it made her think of what she had that she did not realize the gift that it was to have.
“Ah hope you’ll come back Rainbow, Ah’m going back… “She said as she gave a small smile, “Ah still love ya sugarcube, no frets, but if this persists, we can work on it after the holiday… honesty and communication, remember?” She said as she started to walk back.
Rainbow watched her…. As she sat down, feeling miserable about herself…
Applejack was on her journey back, jumping the gaps between clouds and avoiding any of the softy ones as those terrified her. But she stopped in her tracks, as she saw the winds had shifted her way back… a simple meter wide jump had doubled. Theoretically, she should jump this no problem.
“Okay, Jack, ya got this, simpler than jumping the fence to do the chores ya forgot to do the previous night before granny wakes up for breakfast… Just, over a large drop… thousands of meters… to a plummeting demise…. “
She ran to get momentum and leaped across the gap. She flailed her hooves to reach the end and landed her front hooves on the cloud and her hindlegs close behind.
“PHEWIE! Man, that’s gonna be a story to AAAAAaaaaa…….”
The tear in her suit had sustained enough damage that it split, causing Applejack’s hooves to no longer be protected by the charm that had kept her afloat as she plummeted towards the ground, over the vast green lands of Equestria.
“AAAAHHHHH!!!”
She was falling in a rotated manner; every second, she saw flashes of green, white clouds, trees, blue sky, snowy grass, Rainbow, blue sky, Rainbow… Rainbow? RAINBOW!
She found herself falling in a straight path, as she looked in front of her, to see her being held tightly by Rainbow Dash, who smiled and booped her on the nose, before she said, “Alright, I can’t lift you back up, but we can slow us down for the fall, I’m going to let go, but I need you to spread your hooves in an X.
“This is not the time for bedroom talk, Dash!” Applejack yelled out, but Rainbow quickly responded.
“NOW!”
Applejack complied, and her eyes widened, as she saw the ground not that far away, as she spread her body, trying to grasp all the resistance she could to the air, and Rainbow wrapped her hindlegs around Applejack’s core and flapped her wings, to slow them down as much as possible, she flapped harder and harder than she ever had before, she had a veil of confidence, but she did not know if this would work, she could fly aways with Applejack holding on, but with speed and time Applejack had been falling, it made the process exponentially harder. She flapped as fast as she could as they saw the ground approach, and Applejack started aiming to the trees, hoping that the branches may also assist in the fall.
“Get ready to bite onto a branch!” Applejack cried out as she and Rainbow collided into the trees at a slower speed, but not slow enough for their dear to dissipate, as they landed in the trees, both trying to hold on to the branches and the trees as they were forcefully separated
“Rainbow!”
“Applejack!”
They both cried out mid-fall as both hit their way down, and finally, both landed on the snowy grass.
Applejack opened her right eye and saw the white of the sky as clouds covered her vision from above, and snowflakes were falling on her snout and body as she shivered, rolling over, trying to get up. She was met with her Rainbow maned marefriend as they looked at each other.
“You good?” She finally asked Rainbow as she reached her hoof out.
“Yea… I’m good,” she said as she held her hoof with her own, as they tugged each other in and kissed. Their lips met as the snow fell on the two of them, but neither of them felt cold, not when they had each other.