Applejack yawned.
It wasn't a quick yawn, which was over and done with in a second. It was a long yawn, an interminable yawn, that began in the muscles under her jaw and stretched to accommodate her whole being. She breathed in first, silently, but that silence was soon replaced by the low moan that came with a truly epic yawn. If anypony within earshot was not yet aware that Applejack had had a long day, they did now.
As if to complement her fatigue, the sun hung low over the horizon, barely able to sustain its own weight. The air was warm and stifling. There was no breeze rustling through the trees, no other noise to keep Applejack alert and alive.
Her eyelids felt like lead. That was the most troublesome part of all, because she wasn't allowed to sleep. Not yet, at least.
As if by magic, she heard hoofsteps behind her. The promise of social activity banished her tiredness, and she span around with as broad a smile as she could manage.
"Hey there," Rainbow said, her muzzle and eyes poking through the doorway, the rest of her following with the velocity of a sluggish snail. Her eyes were drooping and her wings hung at her sides like they were lifeless. "'Sup?"
Applejack didn't reply right away, and as if on cue, looked around the house for some food. Rainbow knew their dance well, and followed her.
"Okay, I guess. I have loads of paperwork to do, though."
"That sucks," Rainbow replied.
Applejack opened cupboard after cupboard, looking for whatever might make for a decent late dinner. Her family had long since eaten. Applejack refused to sit down for dinner while there was still work to do. Even though she still hadn't quite finished, she was starving, and Rainbow was likely starving too, if the hungry look in her eye was anything to go by.
"Sandwich?" Applejack asked, throwing bread and butter on the counter. Rainbow nodded.
"Sure," she replied. "I'm famished. I didn't even get time for a snack before coming home. You'll never believe what WeatherCorp has gone and done."
Applejack raised an eyebrow as she got two plates out. "Eh?"
"They've done some stupid paperwork problem and now we're three whole cumulonimbi short. So then I had to blah-blah-blah, blah blah."
Applejack nodded, feigning interest as Rainbow's voice washed over her. She took out a sharp kitchen-knife and a small hoof-ful of daffodils.
"Blah blah, blah-blah-blah..." Rainbow went on, twirling her hoof around for emphasis. Applejack found herself cutting the flowers in tune with the 'blahs'.
"Blah..."
Cut.
"Blah, blah..."
Cut, cut.
"...blah-blah-blah, blah."
Cut-cut-cut, cut.
Applejack brushed the sliced daffodils onto the bread in a businesslike manner. "Sounds interestin'."
"It was far from interesting," Rainbow declared. "I wrote at least twenty letters. I can hardly feel my hoof." She nursed her foreleg. "I had to write so many complaints to the blah-blah-blah, then when he didn't have a solution, I sent some to his blah blah, and then blah, blah blah, blah."
Applejack folded the bread over itself, and then handed her completed sandwich to Rainbow. "Soup's up. One daffodil sandwich."
Rainbow stopped mid-blah and then dug in. It didn't matter that it was only made in five minutes and was crudely put together. It was dinner, and it was about time. "Thanks," she spluttered in between mouthfuls. "Y'know, if we can't get any blahs before the week-end, we'll have to get some water from the lake instead."
That last bit managed to slip by Applejack's mental filter. "From the lake?"
"Yeah, but the animals always get antsy when we take their water away. Even if they do have loads left-over. It messes up some plants too, but nothing serious if the blah-blahs get here in time."
"Ain't that a bit dangerous?"
"Nah, not really. Only if stuff goes wrong."
Applejack frowned, then shrugged. "So long as Ponyville don't dry up, I'm happy."
"That's sort of why we have to turn the lake into blah, blah-blah. Otherwise we're in for an unscheduled blah blah."
"Sounds bad."
"Only for farmers and people who like not dying of thirst."
"Sounds bad."
"Yeah, well, ponies probably won't actually die or anything. It'll just be really uncomfortable for a week or so until it gets sorted out." She wolfed down the last scrap of sandwich. "Anyway, I'm sure somepony will know what's going on by tomorrow. I just hate how stupid they get when they make a mistake. Like they're all so scared of admitting something went wrong somewhere."
"Sounds like a pain."
"It really is." Rainbow yawned, stretching her wings as she did so. "Anyway, I'm beat. I'm hitting the hay."
Applejack sighed before she kept eating. "I still have to read through more business papers," she confessed, her heart sinking in her chest. Rainbow shrugged.
"You can do that in bed, though, right?"
Applejack tilted her head to the side. "Only if I can stay awake."
"You can talk me through it. I don't mind."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, no problem."
Applejack smiled. "Fair 'nough, then. I'll be up in a second."
Rainbow's eyes were both closed. Firmly. She had spent the better part of the day staring blankly at letter after letter, when she should have been flying and actually handling the weather of Ponyville. All she wanted was to curl up around Applejack and sleep. The Rainbow Dash of tomorrow could handle sifting through the remaining letters from Cloudsdale in the morning. Whenever somepony actually decided to take responsibility, that is.
Her smaller, lighter body was draped over Applejack's. Her wings were folded under the sheets, carefully positioned to not get crushed or bent while sleeping. Her head was nestled between Applejack's shoulder and neck, her nose resting just under Applejack's chin.
The Earth pony was sat a little higher, using a pair of pillows to prop herself up. A pile of papers were balanced on Rainbow's lower back, and Applejack's hooves held a dozen more as she read them aloud.
"Blah," Applejack said, "this blah shall begin on the first of Mayfly Month, in the year one-thousand-two-hundred-and-nine. The blah-blah-blah reserves the blah to blah blah..." Applejack paused. "That ain't right," she muttered.
"Mmmf," Rainbow replied, as helpful as ever.
"Thanks," Applejack replied. Rainbow shifted her lower body and legs to wrap around Applejack's own, the warmth from her body making Rainbow even drowsier. "Let's see here... blah the blah to blah-blah in case of blahdy-blah..."
"You're sexy when you talk business stuff," Rainbow mumbled near-incoherently. Applejack snorted.
"I thought you promised: no interruptions."
"I can't help it if the blahs are so cool."
"The whats?"
Rainbow racked her brain. What was it Applejack had said again?
"The apples?"
Applejack smirked, and began stroking Rainbow's mane as she kept reading. "It's fine. You don't have to listen if you don't want to."
"I'm listening," Rainbow argued. "About as much as you were listening to me talk about cumulonimbi shortages earlier."
"Was I that obvious?"
"You do this thing where you..." Rainbow stopped to yawn. "...you nod your head when you're not really paying attention."
"Huh," Applejack said. "I'll have to watch out for that."
"It's cool," Rainbow said. "I really just like saying it out loud, y'know? You don't have to pay attention."
Applejack smiled, still focussed on her papers. "I like listening. Your voice is nice."
"So's yours." Rainbow shifted her head position slightly, her forehead resting against Applejack's cheek. "Y'know what... I think?" Rainbow said, her voice slurring as she began to drift off. "I think that you know you love somepony when you don't mind them talking about their boring, boring day."
Applejack smiled. "Is that just your real roundabout way of sayin' 'I love you'?"
Rainbow grunted. "...maybe."
Applejack kept absent-mindedly stroking Rainbow's colourful mane. "In that case, I love you t—"
Rainbow began to snore.
Applejack sighed, and moved her current paper to the side, and moved onto the next.
"I'll tell you in the mornin', then," she said. To herself, she muttered "Blah shall maintain blah-blah-blah, in an amount not less than blah bits..."
Blah, Blah, Blah
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed the blah blah blah. Feel free to blah-blah, blah, and blah. Blahs are always welcome, as they help me improve and consider what I could have blah blahed.
Have a good one, and if you enjoyed this blah, you may also blah blah blah-blah. It's also about blah-blah blah.
Have a good blah.
