Though their lives had proved to get fairly hectic time and time again, there were nevertheless moments when the girls simply kicked back and relaxed whenever they could. Today was just such a day, as Rainbow Dash and Applejack were sitting quietly together on a bench in the latter's back garden. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and there was a gentle breeze flowing right through the place. Bottom line, it was a good day, and exactly the kind of calm situation that was needed when you didn't want anything too exciting in your time off. Together, the two girls were currently downing a pair of sodas, which, of course, they had to turn into some sort of competition. But, today at least, it was Applejack's turn to come out victorious, as she not only finished her drink first, but also used her magical strength to crush the can down to a minute size in her hand, smirking slightly to Rainbow as she did so. Rainbow, for her part, finished her own drink first, then chuckled to this display.
"Hehe, nice one, AJ."
Applejack adjusted her hat slightly.
"Ain't nothin' to it, Rainbow."
The two gave each other a brief fist-bump afterwards, then leaned further back into their bench. Though they were, arguably, two of the most active girls in their group, even they wanted a quiet day every now and again, and so were content to just sit here for a while. However, as time went on, Rainbow soon noted something in the corner of her eye. It was the renovated tour bus she and her friends had used for their band, the Rainbooms, some time ago, quietly parked on the driveway of Applejack's home. And while she obviously felt pride that they'd managed to get the thing in proper working order, and get it looking good too for that matter, there was still something that stoked curiosity in her mind. After a long while of silence, the young athlete turned to her farmer friend, speaking up.
"Say...AJ?"
Applejack looked to her.
"Yeah?"
Rainbow used her thumb to gesture to the aforementioned vehicle.
"Where did you even get that thing?"
Glancing over, Applejack noticed the bus, then smiled slightly.
"Well...me an' Granny found it out by an old junkyard, jus' outside o' town."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
"You...you went to a junkyard to find our tour bus?"
Applejack nodded.
"Eyup."
Rainbow looked from her, to the bus, and then back again, before asking the obvious question.
"Um...why?"
Crossing one leg over the other, Applejack tapped her chin a little before starting to explain things.
"Well...believe it or not, there's actually kind of a story behind that old thing."
Curiosity returned to Rainbow's expression.
"Really?"
Again, Applejack nodded, and she turned her head, looking to the bus in earnest.
"Eyup. Way back when, when Granny first started work at Canterlot High, she started out being the driver fer that thing."
Rainbow's eyes widened.
"Seriously?"
Applejack chuckled.
"Sure thing! Ah think she was about our age when she started that job too."
As before, Rainbow turned, looking to the bus.
"No wonder she was so eager to drive it."
Applejack tipped her hat to that.
"Eyup. Old Rusty's still got some vigour in him."
Looking back to her, Rainbow took on a slight look of amusement.
"She named it?!"
Raising an eyebrow, Applejack promptly pointed to a particularly large tree in the orchard next to them.
"Hey now, if we Apples are gonna name our trees, is namin' a bus really all that bad?"
Thinking on that, Rainbow nodded, acknowledging that point, before looking to that same tree and giving a slightly nervous chuckle.
"Um...sorry, Bloomberg."
The tree's only response was a random apple that just so happened to fall out of it at that very moment. The two girls looked to one another, taking a small measure of amusement in that coincidence, before getting back to the conversation they'd been having before.
"Anyways...Granny loved drivin' that thing. Oh sure, it broke down a whole lot, but it was thanks ta her always havin' ta fix it that she was able to get as good with engines as she is today."
A smirk crept onto Rainbow's lips.
"Well, if nothing else, I guess breaking down is something Rusty's still good at."
Applejack chuckled in response to that.
"Yeah...no argument there, Rainbow. It was a pretty big fix we needed, wasn't it?"
Rainbow nodded, then looked back to the bus yet again.
"Still...I've gotta say...it's pretty amazing it still works after all these years. I mean, that would have been, what, fifty years ago? Sixty even?"
Applejack nodded back.
"There abouts. An' heck, Rusty was old even back when Granny started drivin' it!"
Then, a look of fondness came to her.
"But, ya know what they say. Folks knew how ta make em last back then!"
Raising a hand, she gestured to the spruced-up bus nearby.
"That thing's been dented, broke down an' left ta rot fer years an' years, an' yet, there it is, still working after jus' a bit o' elbow grease."
Rainbow thought on that.
"Good point. If a new bus today was left out that long, it'd probably never get going again."
Applejack smiled to that.
"It's like our old family pick-up truck. Jus' because it's old don't mean it can't still be good years later."
Leaning back into her side of the bench, Rainbow slowly looked back to Rusty, smiling slightly. She let out a brief chuckle, then took her empty soda can and raised it up.
"Well then...here's to you, Rusty. Keep chugging along for years to come!"
Looking back to her friend, she let out another brief laugh before carrying on with that.
"At least...for all the times we’re going to need him anyway."
Thinking on that, Applejack gained a warm smile.
"Ya know...it might be worth talkin' ta Principal Celestia bout it. Ya know, maybe give Rusty another chance ta cart students around?"
Tilting her can in her hand slightly, Rainbow mused on that thought, then smiled.
"Yeah...sounds pretty good. I mean, it may need an old hand like your Granny to drive it properly, but...yeah, a new lease of life might be good for it."
Then, just as she's said that, there was a loud "thunk", and both girls turned their heads just in time to see that, unfortunately, Rusty had just lost its front number plate, which had fallen to the ground just now. A look of slight nervousness came to them, and they slowly glanced to one another, laughing nervously.
"Um...maybe we can get him back into service...you know...after he gets a service," Rainbow admitted.
Folding her arms, Applejack smiled affectionately to the old vehicle.
"Eyup...he deserves that much."
