Rainbow Dash let out a huff as she rolled over onto her back on her puffy bed. She frowned up at the ceiling.
Days off were supposed to be fun. Sit around, napping, do whatever you want, all the time in the world—of the day off, anyway. Now, even napping didn’t sound interesting – she didn’t feel tired. She could do laps around her cloudominium, but that was hardly different from her Wonderbolts workout routine.
“Gah,” Rainbow groaned, rubbing her eyes. “I’ve gotta get out of the house. There has to be something to do around here!”
In the blink of an eye, she was off her bed and out the window, her prismatic streak angled towards Ponyville, darting among the pale blue clouds.
While airborne, Rainbow weighed her choices for activities. There was Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner – they could bake something, or maybe pull a practical joke on somepony. Whenever there was fun that needed to happen, Pinkie rarely let her down.
“No, wait,” Rainbow said to herself. “I think Pinkie said it was somepony’s birthday today – she’s probably going to be busy most of the day.” With a sigh, she returned to her choices.
The next promising option was Twilight. As a fellow reader of the most awesomest book series ever, surely Twilight would be down to hanging out. Maybe Spike could even make some cocoa with dragonfire-toasted marshmallows – it was just that something extra that made it better.
“Or, I could get caught up in whatever organizing Twilight’s doing, or princess duties, or she could even be off to Canterlot for all I know. Pass.”
Fluttershy, as a friend, was the next choice, but the prospects of fun with a pony who was scared of her own shadow seemed minimal. Rarity was worse – the last thing Rainbow wanted to be was a living ponequin or model for her dresses.
The last pony on the list was Applejack.
It made Rainbow take a moment to pause. Not that there was anything wrong with Applejack, mind you. Sweet Apple Acres stretched below her for miles – plenty of cozy apple trees to take a nap in. Sure, she’d been rather awake in her house, but the true napper knew a change of location might be more comfortable.
And there were all the tasty apple goodies that could be baking in the Apples’ kitchen, or better yet, cooling on a windowsill. Fritters, pies, tarts, turnovers – and the pastries were just the beginning, she hadn’t even started on the cider.
As she slowed the beating of her wings, Rainbow glided down into the canopy of one of the apple trees, laden with Red Delicious. Sure enough, as soon as hooves touched the branch, a warm coziness seeped into her.
Rainbow could never place it. It could be the roughest of branches and she’d feel as warm and relaxed as if she were under a dozen comforters. The puffiest cumulus cloud held no feather to a Sweet Apple Acre tree branch.
“If only I could figure out why it feels so homely here…” she groggily thought, already in stage two position of curling up for a nap.
“Rainbow Dash! Don’t think I don’t see ya up there!”
Rainbow Dash’s head shot up, bonking on the branch above her. As she rubbed her bruised scalp, she looked down at the flustered orange pony beneath her. She’d never admit it out loud, but Applejack looked cute with that face – all flushed and meant to intimidate, but seemingly failing.
“Hey Applejack,” Rainbow called back.
“Will ya stop nappin’ in my apple trees? It’s apple-bucking time!” Applejack called.
With a sigh, Rainbow fluttered to the ground. “Isn’t it apple-bucking time every other day around here?” she asked.
“We gotta keep on schedule, Dash,” Applejack said, nudging a large bin over to the base of the tree.
Rainbow Dash stood off to the side as Applejack backed up to the tree, lifted one back leg, and delivered it swiftly to the bark. Rainbow admired the view while Applejack was distracted with her work; she imagined it must be like watching her as a Wonderbolt: powerful, precise, practiced.
When she realized she was staring, she quickly blushed and averted her gaze to the tree across from the one Applejack was working on.
“Well,” Rainbow said, clearing her throat to regain her composure. She backed towards the opposite apple tree. “As long as I’m here, I may as well give you a Wonderbolt’s helping hoof.”
Applejack wiped her brow and raised a skeptical eyebrow at Rainbow. “Oh really now?” she remarked. “Since when do Wonderbolts buck apple trees?”
Rainbow backed fully into the tree, causing Applejack to giggle. The Pegasus flushed softly, but regained her cocky air, and stood tall. “I-It’s good for stretching,” she said.
She shot out one leg with a swift kick, and quickly received a smack on the top of her head.
However, as she rubbed her head yet again, the object rolled around in front of her, Rainbow’s eyebrows shot up.
Instead of a Red Delicious, it was a hairy brown coconut. Instead of rich, earthy soil, it was partially sunk into loose, pale sand.
As Rainbow looked up, she found herself on a beach, sparsely populated with coconut trees and vacationing ponies. The air tasted of salt and the air was full of gull calls and the crashing surf. Large, puffy clouds, almost pale blue as the sky, drifted lazily over, casting their sparse shadows on the seaside.
“Ya alright there, Rainbow?” Applejack called, running up the beach to her. Her usual Stetson hat had been replaced with a wide-brimmed straw hat.
“Y-Yeah,” Rainbow said. “It’s just a coconut.”
“Surprised it didn’t crack open on that thick head of yours,” Applejack teased with a giggle. It was warm enough to make Rainbow’s heart do a backflip. “Sorry. It was really nice of ya to take me to the beach on vacation.”
“Well, had to make use of those vacation days.” Rainbow smirked and shrugged. “Thought it’d be boring by myself. Besides, you do more work than I do – I know you need a vacation.”
“Yeah.” Applejack sat back on her haunches and picked up the coconut, looking it over in thought.
“You’re still worried about the farm,” Rainbow sighed.
“A little. Friendship business aside, I don’t think I’ve been away this long before,” Applejack admitted.
“Relax, Big Mac and Granny Smith can handle it, and our friends said they’d pitch in too. There’s nothing to worry about,” Rainbow said, setting a hoof on her shoulder.
Applejack sighed and smiled softly up at her. “Always something to worry about in the apple business, Dash.”
“Not on vacation there isn’t.” Rainbow said firmly. She looked to their right, at the crashing waves. There was more noise than power behind them – the surf itself was nearly calm.
The Pegasus smirked back at Applejack. “Hey, I got an idea.”
Applejack raised a suspicious eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“Last one in’s a slowpoke!” And with that, Rainbow Dash bolted skyward, kicking up a cloud of sand in her wake.
She arched over towards the ocean and outstretched hooves in front of her as she began to descend. The talented flyer angled directly as the deepest part she could eyeball and cut all wing power, letting gravity carry her towards the salt water. She shut her eyes.
What should have been a cold, salty splash tasted instead of frozen water and felt like a cotton ball. When she opened her eyes again, Rainbow found herself still in the sky, a cloud with a Dash-shaped hole trailing behind her.
The sunny beachside was gone. The wine-colored sky, dotted with sparse, pale blue clouds, and the darkened ground so far below her stretched on for eternity. Beneath her, she made out the landmarks: Canterlot, Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres, a small forest glade with a smaller glow. All lay below her – the target of her current trajectory.
Her heart angled her towards the glade, and soon she felt a familiar air pressure against the tips of her outstretched hooves. Faint, rainbow sparks flickered around the tips of her hooves, and she pressed against them, at whatever invisible force kept her from what she did best.
As the ground grew closer and closer, Dash pushed herself to go faster and faster, until something gave. The air around her rebounded away in a prismatic wave as her colors bled into the air – a Sonic Rainboom in all its glory. It was nearly invisible in the evening light, but then again – it was only intended for one pony.
Panting, she slowed herself and glided along the tree tops towards the glade. She found an anxious Applejack, standing next to a picnic blanket and basket, watching her. A breath of held air escaped the farmer as Rainbow touched down, a lantern by her hooves.
“Ya had me worried there for a second, Dash,” Applejack said as they returned to the blanket and took their seats.
“I’m alright,” Rainbow said, leaning towards her. Applejack leaned against her and Rainbow welcomed the warmth, draping a wing around her.
“Ya didn’t have to do that, ya know,” Applejack said, leaning away but only long enough to pull over their picnic basket.
“I wanted to, to give us some entertainment,” Rainbow said as Applejack offered her a sandwich. She wolfed it down without hesitation.
“Oh really?” Applejack raised that skeptical eyebrow of hers. That little signal that made Rainbow know she might’ve said something wrong.
“Oh, uh, I mean, entertain you, of course.” Rainbow grinned sheepishly. “You’re all the entertainment I need.”
Applejack blushed and lowered her gaze to the blanket. It gave Rainbow the perfect opening to sneak a kiss on the cheek, making the farmer giggle.
As Rainbow’s chest warmed from those honey-sweet giggles, a glint of moonlight caught her eyes. She spotted a small pond in the glade, and she got an idea.
“How about a quick little swim?” Rainbow asked.
“A swim? At this time of night?” Applejack asked. “It’s not gonna be light out much longer.”
“All the more reason to do it now!” Rainbow exclaimed, already running to the pond’s edge. She didn’t look back to see if Applejack was following her.
With her wings already tired from the Rainboom, Rainbow opted for a running leap instead. She left the ground as fast as her legs could propel her and flapped her wings a few times for added height, before letting gravity carry her to the pond’s surface.
She was met with the smooth touch of cool cotton; the scent of fresh linen, as well as an earthy-apple smell. Pillows flew around her as she landed with some landing on others scattering around the room. Her head covered, Rainbow Dash broke upwards on instinct.
Her head shot out of a pile of pillows, scattering a few more. She looked around to get her bearings.
It was an upstairs bedroom. Outside the window, a full moon looked down upon her, barely peeking through some pale blue clouds. The lights in the room were out. The only light in the room belonged to a lantern.
It cast a golden glow on the giggling pony by the bedside. “Ya know,” Applejack said. “I’m starting to see the appeal Apple Bloom finds in her pillow forts.”
Rainbow snickered. “Yeah, it’s like one big cloud, but nicer.”
“How so?” Applejack asked. She clambered onto the foot of the bed, slowly approaching the pillow pile that Rainbow occupied.
Rainbow locked eyes with Applejack’s stare and gulped. “W-Well, clouds are like, made of frozen water; they might be cozy for a Pegasus, but for any other pony, they’d probably be too cold.”
Applejack finished her advance on her and sat at the edge of the pillows, smirking down at the suddenly meek Rainbow Dash. The blush on the Pegasus’s cheeks was hard to hide, illuminated by the lantern light.
“I reckon these here pillows would be a lot cozier,” Applejack purred.
Rainbow let out a startled yelp as Applejack pounced on her, laying her out in the pillow pile. The Pegasus gulped nervously and looked up at Applejack, slightly nervous to meet her smoldering gaze.
“Ya know what they’re even better for, sugarcube?” Applejack asked quietly. She stuck a foreleg over the lip of the pillow fort, feeling around for something.
“Wh-What?” Rainbow croaked. Her heart felt like it wanted to pound its way out of her chest, and why not – its perfect match was a mere inch away.
Applejack covered the two of them in darkness as she closed the gap, pulling the pillow over their heads.
“Privacy,” the farmer said, as quiet as a breeze. And then there was nothing but darkness and warm lips on Rainbow’s.
The darkness shifted and the warmth shifted from Rainbow’s lips to over her eyes. Then, a pair of hooves lifted away, and the Pegasus blinked to adjust to the sudden change in light.
“Ta da!” Applejack said next to her ear, gesturing with a hoof to the object before them. “Happy anniversary, hun.”
Rainbow Dash blinked again and looked down at the object before them. It stood as tall as any ordinary trophy, made of wood with a hoof-painted finish. It was a golden lightning bolt like her own cutie mark, resting on a tri-colored base of red, yellow, and blue.
“Whoa,” Rainbow said as she walked over and picked it up.
“Hoofmade it myself out of Applewood,” Applejack said proudly. “Apple Bloom and her friends helped with the painting.”
“It looks great, AJ,” Rainbow said, smiling with pride. “I love it.”
She walked over to the vanity dresser and set it there. As she stepped back to admire the gift where it sat, and then the smiling Applejack in the mirror, she paused.
Her ear flicked towards something behind her. It was faint, but it had sounded like someone had seen a cute animal. There was nothing in the mirror, but when Rainbow turned around, she saw something at the window blocking the sunlight.
A pale blue cloud, too low to be natural.
“What the…?” Rainbow muttered, walking to the window. She was so confused that she didn’t see Applejack freeze behind her like a statue.
“Oh drat,” muttered a faint voice. “Ruined another good one.”
“Who’s there?” Rainbow demanded, puffing out her chest and flaring her wings.
There came a sigh from the cloud, and with it, the world around Rainbow melted like soaked paint. Even Applejack and the gift sank into the mire of the blackened world.
What was left behind was an infinite starscape, a trail of stars leading under Rainbow’s hooves where a pale disc of light seemed to keep her aloft.
And in place of the pale blue cloud was the Princess of the Night herself – Luna.
“Princess Luna?” Rainbow asked, looking around. “Wait – you mean I was dreaming?”
“Yes, you were,” Luna said, flapping her wings closed, holding a stature befit of a princess.
“But… that wasn’t a nightmare. Why are you here?” Rainbow flushed softly at the realization.
“On slow nights, when there aren’t as many nightmares, I like to linger in more pleasant dreams,” Luna explained. “I do my best not to interrupt them, but I’m afraid this time I was a little greedy and got too close.”
“So…” Rainbow’s ears drooped. “That was all… a dream? It wasn’t real?” Her shoulders followed suit, then her head.
Luna walked over and lifted Rainbow’s chin up towards her warm smile. “Ponies ask for my advice in their dreams all the time, and I always tell them the same thing – a dream is only a dream unless you act upon it.”
Rainbow blinked as Luna walked away, casting one last smile over her shoulder as she did. Then, in an instant, the room was back.
“Everything alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, draping a leg around her shoulders.
“Yeah.” Rainbow smiled at the cloudless window before leaning into Applejack. She buried her muzzle in the crook of her neck, inhaled, and sighed softly. “Everything will be.”
Author's Note
Date of Creation (D.o.C.): 8/5/20
So, as it is often happens with me, I was listening to cover of "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by annapantsu on Youtube and this idea came to me. So, here we are. It took my a while to figure out the transitions so they lined up: originally there was only orchard->beach->bedroom->reveal, but I added in the Rainboom scene to help space it out.
I didn't mean to, but I guess you say the story follows both the natural cycle of a relationship as well as a day and night cycle.
There might be more AppleDash stuff on the way, seeing as I have until the end of August for the event.
-yours truly,
The Legendary Bill Cipher, Equestria Enthusiast
