The wind sauntered through the campsite. Rainbow Dash poked her head out of the newly set tent and inspected the grounds. They had set up in a small, circular forest clearing, placing their green tent in the center. Just outside it was a freshly dug fire pit, surrounded by stones, but without wood. Around it were three camping stools, but nothing else. Their food, sleeping bags, and other supplies were all stored safely away in the tent.
She drew back into the tent and faced Rarity, who was shoving her suitcase to the back of the tent. "Applejack's been gone for a while," she said, collapsing on the first sleeping bag in the tent--a blue, cushy thing, with her cutie mark emblazoned on the front.
"Indeed," Rarity said as she turned from her over-stuffed luggage. "Where has she gone again?"
Rainbow shrugged. "Eh, to get firewood or something. Um, Rarity, you knew we were going camping, right? Not to Canterlot."
"I know dear," Rarity said with a huff. She too sat on her own bright-white sleeping bag, lying back and stretching out. "Still, one can never be too prepared."
"Oh really? What if you had to run from, uh, a bear! And it was gonna eat you, and--"
"And wings mean nothing if they're magically bound," she said, waving a hoof.
Dash blinked as she took that in. "Rarity?"
"Yes dear?"
"Your jokes are so dry, I don't think we'll need AJ's firewood."
Rarity raised her eyebrow at that. "You're right. We can just use your wooden brain."
There was a silence. Then, Dash rolled off her soft, plushy mat onto the hard ground. She again popped her head out of the tent and looked around. Nothing. "I didn't have to invite you," she said behind her with a lick of good-humor sarcasm.
Rarity faked a gasp. "Oh, but then what would you eat? The best thing you two could cook is roast tree bark. Besides, this trip needed a little class. You should be thanking me," she said, also rolling off her sleeping bag.
Dash looked over her shoulder. With her best 'proper' accent, she said, "'Oh no Dash, it's so uncouth!', 'Never Dash, imagine the dirt!'. You really oughta lighten up sometimes, you know that?"
"Lighten up?" Rarity got next to Dash and thrust her head out of the tent. The two stared into each other's eyes, and Rarity grinned. "I am very laid back, mind you. I came. I'm here. And, despite being lumbered with you two brutes, I intend to have a good time."
"Brute? I think you mean awesomely talented bad-flank. Jeez Rarity, your vocabularium is terrible."
Rarity opened her mouth, then stopped and blinked. She looked up to the sky as strips of pink and orange began to rip across it. The breeze had grown warm, and the air held the dank smell of the oncoming night. "Applejack needs to get back soon."
Dash nodded. "She's been gone for a while... maybe one of us should go find her."
A grin crept across Rarity's face. "Correct." She gave a good kick to Rainbow Dash's flank, booting the mare out of the tent. "Tell me how it goes, won't you?"
Coughing from the dirt plume, Dash stood up and darted back at the tent, but Rarity simply zipped the flaps up, sending Dash back to her haunches as she bounced off the stretchy material. "Yeah, fine! You smell funny anyways!"
From within the tent, Rarity called, "It's called perfume dear! Try it sometime, won't you? Oh, and toothpaste helps as well!"
"Hey, I brush my teeth!" Rainbow Dash said, turning away with a grunt.
"With what? Burritos?"
"I'm going to find Applejack," she mumbled.
Rarity quickly unzipped the tent just enough to prod her head through. Giggling, she said, "Try not to get lost! Perhaps you should ask your ego for a map!"
"That doesn't even make sense!" Dash called back as she entered the forest.
Rarity flicked her eyes about in though, then retracted back into the tent. Dash just rolled her eyes and headed outward. "That pony's got a stick up her butt," she said as she stepped over a fallen log that was covered in moss. "Or a tree. She did fall on the way here..."
She maneuvered through the thick trees and around various pits of mud. The sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs followed her. Flying was an option, but the thought of it made her shake her head for once. "I may be the fastest pony in Equestria," she said as she leapt over a log, "but..." She shrugged, and her time-occupying conversation went on. "Eh, I'm lazy."
Soon she heard a grunt, that of a pony. Then, a snap, that of a twig. Then an explosion, that of her ego. She dashed into a clearing, where Applejack was lugging two bundles of sticks and twigs on her back.
"Hey AJ," she said as she approached her friend. The sky had darkened now to a deep blue, a sign that the final hours of day where fading. She treaded through the grassy clearing with a smug grin and a strong stride.
"Oh howdy there, didn't see y'all comin. Where's Rarity?" Applejack asked as she tossed another stick onto the bunch.
"Eh, back at the tent being... her. So you coming back or what?"
"Well yeah, I suppose I've got enough wood here to get a good size fire goin. I'll meet both of y'all back at the campsite, just need to finish up here."
Dash nodded. "Cool, we'll see ya then. Rarity said she's cooking, by the way," she said as she made her way back to the thick treeline.
"Cookin what? All we got are weenies and marshmallows."
"Well Rarity is a weenie in marshmallow form, so I dunno. Just hurry up won'tcha? I'm starving!" With that, Dash galloped back into the woods. Before long, she was once again in the thicket and brush, working her way over hedges and through tall roots.
The waning sun's beams shot through the treeline in small pillars of orange light, lighting up the ground with an enchanting glow. Not that Rainbow Dash cared, nor did her stomach, as it churned. "Chill," she told it, "I'm gonna feed you."
She continued onward, passing under the lights, over the roots, and through the forest, until she came upon a small, glowing area. She could not see the source of this light blue glow, but it was strong, as if it was lit by a lantern. Her head tilted out of curiosity. But then she stopped. "Twilight does say curiosity killed the cat... ah buck it, I'm a pony."
With that, she cantered towards the light, moving around a huge oak. What she found made her eyes bulge. Coming to an abrupt stop, digging her hooves into the soft dirt, she almost stumbled into a huge patch of a peculiar flower with curved, spiked leaves, and a small yellow pollen tendril in its center. She knew what this was--it wasn't easy to forget flying like that.
She backed away, and turned to leave, then froze. A smile slowly grew on her face as she let her devil inside blossom. Looking back at the glow, she muttered, "Lighten up, Rarity..."
Her head jerked left, then right, before her eyes befell a huge leaf in front of her. Gingerly, she picked it up with her mouth to protect her skin, and turned back to the flowers. With extreme caution, she bent down and risked herself to pluck one of the glowing flora from its roots with the leaf. Luckily she did it unscathed, and was soon cantering back to the campsite with the flower in her mouth, and an evil grin on her face.
The way back was slower than she had expected, but it was a continuous fight to keep the flower--which was already dangerously close to her muzzle--from going any lower. She fell from a canter to a saunter near the end. But before the sun had gone fully down, and the day ended, she made it back to the tent, where Rarity was still hidden behind the zipped flap.
Her face turned red as she struggled not to laugh with the flower in her mouth. She pressed her hoof to the tent, bouncing it as though she was knocking. "Yes yes, I'll unzip the flap if you'd just be patient," Rarity snorted from inside.
Dash watched as Rarity's figure, shadowed by a lantern, made its way to the front of the tent and proceed to unfurl the flaps. She stifled another giggle and positioned the flower just in front of the tent. There was a little zip, and Rarity poked her head out. "Some ponies have no--"
Her muzzle was buried deep in the flower. She clenched her eyes shut, snapped back, and began sneezing like she had snorted pepper. Dash quickly tossed the flower and the leaf into a nearby bush, poking her own head into the tent and watching Rarity give her girly sneezes. "Oh no!" she said, choking on her laughs. "You okay Rarity?"
"I *achoo* I shall hurt *achoo* hurt you if you did someth... *achoo*." She stumbled about and finally collapsed onto her sleeping bag, still sneezing and wiggling around.
"What? Pfft, I didn't do anything! Jeez, pull the stick outta your--"
"Don't you dare," Rarity said, taking in a deep breath as her face returned to its normal pale disposition. "Or there will be something up one of us, and I assure you I have good aim."
Dash rolled her eyes. "Please Rarity, you couldn't hurt a fly."
"You, however, are not a fly. Raising yourself to the same level is an insult to flies everywhere." Rarity turned back to the lantern and inspected its oil level. When she looked back to Dash, she found the mare giving her a pouty-face. "Oh come now Rainbow Dash," she said, giving a smile. "You know you're my friend."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and went over to the ice chest. She popped the lid open and began rummaging through it, filling the tent with sounds of shifting ice. "Applejack said she'd be back soon, if you're wondering."
"Ah, good," Rarity said, rubbing her belly, "I'm postitively famished. She's been gone far too long, what was she doing out there? Surely she had to have done something else than gather sticks."
Dash shrugged and continued her search through the cold storage. "I think you're just hungry. You turn into a timberwolf when you're hungry."
"I most certainly do not!" she countered.
Just then, Applejack slipped her head into the tent. "Gals, why isn't the fire goin'?"
Dash got out of the icechest with a bag of frozen vegan sausages in her mouth. "What?"
"The fire? I told ya to get a small one goin' with the logs we had here. Didn't y'all here me when ya went scurryin' off?" Applejack asked, raising her eyebrow.
"What? Uh, oh, yeah, I did. But Rarity started sneezing and stuff, so I figured I needed to keep an eye on her," Dash lied as she shut the icebox.
Applejack sighed. "Well are you all right sugarcube?" she asked Rarity. Rarity nodded and looked over to the food.
"I suppose some food would help as well."
"Right then, I'll get the fire goin'. Dash, if ya could bring them dogs out here that'd be mighty fine of ya."
Rainbow Dash hopped out of the tent and sat next to Applejack as she started throwing dried sticks, leaves, and starter logs into the fire pit. When there was a fairly large stack, she turned around to face the tent. The sun had just gone below the horizon, and the remaining orange light of the sky no longer had a source, so the lamp beside the tent's flaps was quickly taking on the job of lighting up the camp.
She took the lamp by its iron handle and dipped it into the stack, sparking a little flicker atop one of the sticks. With haste, she set it back down and began tending to the fire. It crackled, flickered, then moments later, roared as it burst alight, surrounding the campsite with a bright glow.
Dash sat on one of the camping stools, and Applejack took the one beside her. Between them was a small bag of long metal rods, perfect for prodding the juicy wieners with. Rainbow Dash tore open the pack, picked up a rod, and jabbed it through the vegan 'meat', pushing it into the fire. Applejack did the same.
"Hey Applejack," Rainbow said as she cooked her food. Applejack looked at her with curiosity. "Have you ever wondered how it's physically possible for us to do stuff like this?"
"Hey girls!" Rarity chirped as she exited the tent. Both ponies looked to her as she joined their roast. "I. Am. Starved. And this smells delicious."
"It better be. These are some premium things we got here," Dash said. "You have no idea how expensive anything like this is in Cloudsdale. Bit suckers..." She huffed and rotated her stick. The sun's light had disappeared quickly, replaced by a thin veil of Twilight. The sky was fading from purple to black, however, and soon the stars began to poke through. The warmth of the fire soaked into the three ponies, bringing small smiles to each of them.
Then, Rarity sneezed. "Oh my," she said, scrunching her face up like a squeegie, "I'm sorry girls. I must've gotten something lodged up there when I came out." She sneezed again, light and girly. "Oh dear. I best eat this then head inside. I'm deathly tired for some reason."
"I'll bet it's all that sneezin' your doin'. Ya look more tired than Rainbow Dash after I kicked her flank in the iron pony competition."
Dash sneered. "I won that fair and square."
"Sure ya did... cheater."
Rarity took the stick in her mouth and headed to the tent. "I really must lay down. I'll be eating this inside, if you need me. Goodnight girls."
"Night Rarity," was the collective response. Then, when she was inside, Dash turned to Applejack, who spoke first. "I tell ya, that gal needs to relax. I'm thinkin' that that sneezin's all because of the stress of gettin' dirty or somethin. She's a great pal, but she's too uptight for this. Why'd ya want her to come along?"
Dash grinned and took a bit out of her smoking sausage. "She needs to lighten up. So I thought we could do it, or actually, I could do it," she said proudly.
"And just how do ya suppose to go about doin' it?"
She chuckled. "You'll see. She'll 'let her mane down' soon enough."
Applejack eyed Rainbow Dash over suspiciously. "Right. Well just don't be... yourself. C'mon, I'm ready for the marshmallows."
"You should've asked sooner," Rainbow said with a dumb smile. "Rarity already went inside!"
The pair shared a laugh.
~X~One puffy transition later~X~
Rainbow Dash cracked her eyes open. The ground was rough, hard, and uneven, but her sleeping bag made up for it. She looked groggily around the tent, seeing Applejack still fast asleep in her own orange sleeping bag, and Rarity's sleeping bad. The strange thing was, it was empty.
With the fresh morning light flooding through the linen tent sides, she could see clearly that there was nopony in the silk bag. She pushed herself up on her stiff forelegs, stretching her back and yawning. When she was up on all four hooves, she approached where Rarity should have been. It was strange, the situation, because the tent flap was still zipped up tight, and so was the sleeping bag.
A long yawn came from behind her, a yawn that was drawled and country. "Hey RD, didn't think you'd be up so early. Where's Rarity? Finally convinced her to use a tree?"
Dash looked back to Applejack with a forced smile. "Uh, yeah, yeah I did. She said she really had to go though, so I don't think she'll be back soon, heh..."
There was silence. Applejack eyed the suspicious mare before her with a raised eyebrow, holding the gaze for a second, before reclining again. "Well, all right then."
"Hey Applejack, could you go, er, t-try and find her? Yeah, do that. She's been gone for a while."
"But you just said--"
Dash shrugged. "You listen to me?"
Applejack sighed and rolled out of her bag. "I ain't sure why. I'll go find her, you find somethin' to eat. Can ya handle that?" she asked as she patted her frazzled mane down.
"Yeah, uh, sure. Just go," Dash said, kicking her out. As soon as she was out, Dash zipped up the flap and ignored the curses that came from beyond. She instead rushed over to the sleeping bag and flicked her eyes about in search of Rarity.
"Hey, hey Rarity, you in here?" she asked softly as to not alert Applejack. There was no response. So, Dash unzipped her sleeping bag and tossed the front flap open. On the white, puffy cushions, there was no pony in sight.
But there was something.
Dash bent down and squinted for a better view. It was small, white, and... puffy. Almost like a marshmallow. She scooped it up with a hoof and brought it closer to her face. This was no ordinary marshmallow; this marshmallow had a mane and a tail, both a deep, vibrant purple and expertly curled.
"Oh sweet Celestia..."
Then it squeaked.
And Dash's heart skipped a beat. She dropped it, and it fell to the sleeping bag, bouncing slightly. She backed away from it, keeping her eyes on its details. It was, as any fluffed sugar is, puffy, round, and soft. The only difference was the mane and tail that were attached to it.
Dash bounced on her hooves. "Oh no oh no oh no."
The marshmallow squeaked again. Rainbow Dash took in a deep breath and stepped back up to the sleeping bag. "Applejack's gonna be back any second now..." she muttered as she bit her lip. Then, yet again, the marshmallow gave a little string of squeaks.
She bent down a bit, and soon, the squeaks became more defined. Lower and lower she went, and soon, they sounded more like words than anything. Her eyes shot wide. Rarity was speaking.
Quickly she picked it up and held it to her ear. "Rarity?"
"Rainbow Dash I shall throw your sorry flank into a volcano--"
She pulled it away. "Hey, don't be so... violent." The squeaks grew rapid and loud. "All right, all right, I'll listen," she said, pressing the sugar puff to her ear again.
Rarity--now a marshmallow--started slower. "What. Did you. Do?"
Dash lowered her for a second and looked up in thought. "Nothing."
"Stop screaming!"
She gulped. "Uh, yeah, sorry," Dash whispered.
The marshmallow huffed. "Now stop lying and tell me what you've done."
"N-Nothing, I swear." Rainbow Dash gave a weak giggle and a crooked smile.
"Ahem," said the puff, "Dash... I cannot feel my legs! Or my eyes, horn, not even my mouth! How I can do any of this is a mystery to me!"
"I bet," started Dash as she sat down, "that if I ate you, you'd stop complaining."
"That would be cannibalism, whether I am a diabetes lozenge or not. If you stick me in your mouth I swear I'll give you heartburn," Rarity said.
Dash rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't actually eat you. But... I wonder if you still taste like a marshmallow."
"No, Dash, no, no!" It was too late--Rainbow Dash pressed her tongue to Marshmallow Rarity and gave her a huge lick, covering her in drool. Dash sat back with an approving smile.
"Hey, you're not bad," she said with a grin.
"You really do use burritos to brush with, don't you? How pungent. How uncouth!"
"Chill! Jeez, um, okay. Let's think... what to do with you..." Dash placed a hoof under her chin as the other held Rarity up.
"What you can 'do' with me is change me back however you landed me here!" Rarity squeaked.
Dash sighed and hung her head. "Err, well, ya see... I can't."
"...And why not?"
"Cuz you got a face full of poison joke. Man, you snorted that thing too! It was pretty awesome!" Hoof-pumping, Dash inwardly cheered as a smile of success grew on her lips.
The marshmallow form of Rarity was not amused. "Stop that this instant! Rainbow Dash, you have made a royally huge mistake here if you thought this was going to be funny! I demand you find a way to change me back!"
"Yeah, uh, well... how?" Dash inspected Rarity closely with one eye. "Unless you have a plan, you're stuck with me until I figure out something to do. So quit griping."
"Do not tell me to quit griping! You wait! When I'm full size again, I'll--" Dash quickly dropped the marshmallow and covered it with her tail, suppressing the noises just in time to prevent Applejack from hearing them as she entered the tent.
"Oh, uh, hey!" Dash said with a forced smile. "Did you find her?"
Applejack shook her head and gave a defeated sigh. "Nope. I figured she'd be back here," she said, grabbing her brown hat from beside her mat and tossing it atop her head.
"Huh. Well that's strange."
"Eeyup," Applejack said with a nod. "What're we gonna do about this?"
Dash looked around. "Well we could, uh, huh, yeah."
"What?"
"How about we just... roast some marshmallows or something," she suggested with a forced giggle. Then, there was a loud squeal. Well, loud compared to the silence of the forest around them. It sounded more like a very small whistle.
"What was that?"
Rainbow Dash bit her lip. "Uh, hmm, I had gas."
"What?"
"Yup. Gas. Sorry about that."
Applejack rolled her eyes and headed for the tent flaps. "Well I'm gettin' outta here before you foul the place up. I'll keep an eye out for Rarity." Then, she was out.
Rainbow Dash sighed and tilted her head back in relief as her muscles relaxed. "Thank. Celestia."
"Rainbow Dash, get me out of here now!" Rarity called.
Dash reached behind her and picked up the marshmallow, once again holding it close to her ear. "So now what?"
"Now what? You tell Applejack, that's what!"
She shook her head. "Nope. She'd have a fit."
"I don't care! This is your fault, you fix it!" the puff demanded.
"I will, I just need some time."
"Time?!"
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Yeah. Time."
There was silence. "You best do something."
"I have an idea..." Dash huffed with a pouting face. "I could go to Zecora's and get some antidote. But..."
The marshmallow growled. "But what?!"
"But what are you going to do for me?" she asked with a smug grin.
"I'll tell you what Rainbow darling," Rarity said coldly, "if you fix this by tonight, I won't turn you into my next fashion statement. Sound fair?"
Rainbow gulped and set Rarity down. "Yeah, uh. Yeah, it does. You stay here, try not to get eaten," she said as she covered the marshmallow up. As soon as the squeaks died down, she stood up fully and trotted out of the tent, but not before digging through the icebox one last time and grabbing a sandwich for the trip. She put it in her saddlebags, which were next to the box, before slinging the dark blue satchels on her back and leaving the tent.
"Hey, I'm gonna go see if she wandered over that way," Dash told Applejack, who was currently clearing out the firepit.
She stood with wide eyes. "Into the Everfree Forest? You nuts? I ain't lettin' you go alone--I just gotta get me a sandwich, then--"
"No, er, you stay here, just in case she comes back. I'll just go to Zecora's, then if she's not there, I'll come right back. No worries. Besides, I'm too awesome to be eaten by the Rancore minotaur things," she said with a shrug.
"Nope. I ain't lettin' ya do it."
Dash looked her friend square in the eye. "If I get into trouble, I can fly out of it. What about you?"
There was a pause. The breeze of the day shifted through the trees, cooling the air. The fresh morning sun was slowly sloping up the sky; at its current position, it seemed to be just about ten in the morning. "Y'all better stay safe," Applejack eventually said. "And for the love of Luna, don't eat anything at Zecora's hut this time."
"Hey! That was one time. And I cleaned the bathrooms, didn't I?"
"No, we had to call in a royal fumagation squad in to clean it. Then, we went and called the paramedics 'cuz one of their suits burst. Don't. Do it. Again, ya hear?" She shot Rainbow Dash an evil eye.
"Fine, fine. But just so you know, it did say chocolate."
"Yeah, and it also said 'poison laxative'."
Dash rolled her head on her shoulders and groaned. "Whatever. I'm off," she said, and she turned and left into the forest.
~X~Yet another puffy-fluffy transition Later~X~
The trip to Zecora's hut was surprisingly uneventful. The forest was alive with birds, squirrels, and other stuff that made Dash want to hurl. She came upon the hut soon enough, where Zecora was sitting outside, reclined on a small cushion. The Zebra's mane was down today, a look Dash recognized from last Nightmare Night.
"Hey Zecora!" she said. The zebra snapped up with a jolt and looked at her with shock.
"My my, miss Rainbow Dash, startling a pony, you are so brash. What brings you here today, do you seek my medical ways?" she asked as she stood up.
Dash finished off the rest of her sandwich and belched as she got onto Zecora's porch. "Sure, I guess. Do you know how to un-marshmallowfy somepony?"
Zecora blinked. "What is that word you have spoken? Is your vocabulary broken?"
"Nah, my bones are all fine. Look, I... accidentally... turned my friend into a, well, a marshmallow." She sat next to Zecora and looked out at the swamp before them.
She shot Rainbow a strange look with widened eyes. "A marshmallow you say? How you ponies say, 'what the hay'?"
"I know right? See, I kinda figured she needed to loosen up. So I thought I'd maybe I'd hit her with some poison joke, and it might have backfired. So can I get some of that nasty antidote stuff to pour on her? It worked with Appletini," she said with a shrug.
"Do not fear, you are not in a rut, though I must say, your brain is your butt. Follow me, for I have a fresh batch of remedy," she said with a sigh, standing up and heading into her house.
"Did you just call my butt smart? Hey thanks!" Rainbow gave a genuine smile.
The two walked into the hut and Zecora proceeded to browse her shelves and various jars for the elixir Dash needed. Rainbow Dash went the opposite way, to the ingredient counter. Behind glass containers, in vials, and simply out in the open were a variety of flora and such, all for different potions and brews. Nothing really caught her eye today, though.
"Ah, here is the vial, to fix that mess you have riled. Take this, and pour it on your friend, to ensure, she has a happy end," Zecora said. She pulled a red bulb-like vial from one of her shelves and brought it over to Rainbow Dash. Dash took it and put it in her saddlebags.
"Thanks Zecora," she said as she headed for the door.
"Wait little pony, for you do not want to be bait," she said. Dash turned around, confused. But Zecora simply outstretched her foreleg, and in her hoof, was a banana. "There are many perils that you may not miss. It is dangerous to go alone, take this."
Rainbow Dash took the banana. "Thanks again, I was getting hungry." With that, she left.
~X~Screw it~X~
It was late when Rainbow Dash returned--so late, in fact, that the sun was beginning to fall behind the hills to the west, and the sky was purpling in preparation for the moon to take its place. Rainbow Dash discarded the empty banana peel with a shrug and stepped into the warm clearing where the tent stood before a raging fire that warmed the nearby air and set the twilight hours alight with an orange glow.
Applejack saw her come in and nodded as she pressed two graham crackers down over a piece of chocolate and a marshmallow. "Where's Rarity?"
"Oh, uh, she'll be here soon," Dash said with a grin. Then she quickly slipped into the tent, set the saddlebags down, and yanked out the vial. She gripped it in her teeth and rushed over to the sleeping bag. But when she opened it, there was nothing. No pony. No marshmallow. No squeaks of how her hide would be tanned and worn as a Lyra plushy. Nothing.
"Oh no..." She dropped the vial and rushed out to the campfire, only to see Applejack crunching down on the smore's slowly, yanking the white, gooey, crispy marshmallow in half. Tears welled in her eyes as Applejack chomped down on the bite. The warm chocolate was melting away, malted and soft. The cracker crunched with every bite.
"Applejack, stop!" she cried. She leapt forward, knocking her friend to the ground. With haste she pried Applejacks jaw wide and inspected the mush in her mouth.
"What in the hay?!" Applejack said, covering Dash's face with chunks of smore's. Rainbow didn't care though. As tears began to stream down her cheeks, she backed away and looked to the sky.
"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I thought it would be funny! I didn't know! I'm so sorry Rarity!" She buried her face in her hooves. "So sorry..."
"Dash, what in the world are you tooting your horn about?" Applejack asked as she swallowed the bite and stood up.
"You ate her!" she sobbed. "You ate Rarity..."
"Dear, no one has 'eaten me' in at least a year, not counting what you did this morning," Rarity said, coming out of the tent at full size. "Next time--Celestia forbid you make a next time--but should there be one, you ought to try looking under the pillow."
Dash rushed over to her friend. She was just about to hug Rarity, who also had her forelegs outstretched, when Dash suddenly licked her again. "You still taste like a marsmallow."
Applejack joined them as they stood in front of the tent, her half eaten smore's in her hoof. "Mind tellin me just what in the hay is goin' on here?" she asked as she tossed the last chunk of marshmallow into her mouth.
Rarity gagged. "Oh my..." she mumbled before rushing off into the forest.
"Yeah, I wouldn't eat marshmallows around her for a while. Hey Puffmallow, you all right?" Dash called.
"Quiet you flower brain!" was the response.
Applejack sat back down and rubbed her temples. "Y'know what, I don't wanna know. Sheesh, I ain't campin with you gals again. For once, I can't wait to be home tomorrow."
"I feel ya," Dash said as she too sat down. Rarity was still somewhere behind a tree, coughing up whatever pre-marshmallows did. So, Rainbow Dash quickly popped a sugary puff into her mouth. "Besides, I'm taking Twilight to a nightclub."
Continue the funny: Levitation
