Did she have everything?
Applejack went through her packing once more. The picnic basket was fine, it had cutlery, and a blanket, and a spare blanket just in case. She then checked the clothing. A quick check confirmed that her hat sat securely where it always was, no need to pack it.
She opened the food pack. "Let's see, apples, cider, pasta, salad, camping stove, cast iron skillet, knives…"
"I think you have everything." A voice announced from behind. An amused voice, and a thoroughly beautiful one. Most would call it raspy, but Applejack loved that voice.
"Dash!" She spun around and greeted the pegasus with a huge smile on her muzzle.
"That's me." The prismatic mare confirmed and struck a pose. She then bowed as if expecting applause. "But don't yell it out or they'll all want a piece."
Ah, Dash’s ego had been an endless source of frustration for Applejack through the years, but she had eventually come to appreciate that without it, this amazing mare wouldn't be who she was. That didn't mean AJ never felt the need to take her marefriend down a notch however.
"Surprised me is all, not like you to show up early." She muttered.
This ruffled a few feathers. "Hey, I'm fashionably late as usual." Rainbow shot back.
A look at the kitchen clock proved her right, darnit.
"It's you who are being unfashionably late." Rainbow pointed an accusing wing at her marefriend. "Now hurry up or I'm sicking Rarity on you."
Applejack opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again. If Rainbow carried through on that threat they'd never leave the house, and quite probably get a makeover.
"Alright." She said, hefting one of the bags up on her back. "Grab a bag and let's get going."
Rainbow, not wanting to be outdone grabbed two and struggled under the weight.
"Why are we even bringing all this stuff? I thought we were just going to, I dunno, have dinner or something." Dash asked. She then grinned and imitated Rarity’s voice. "When a lady is asked out on a date by her paramour, she expects to be treated like a princess, not roped into performing manual labour."
"Haha, very funny." Applejack rolled her eyes and stepped outside. "Like you should talk, your last date was a buckball tournament."
"Which we won." Dash smirked back. "You're welcome, princess."
Applejack decided not to comment, it had been fun, but she wasn't about to admit it.
"Anyway." She said as they rounded the corner, revealing her surprise. "You won't have to carry me anymore, this will." She proudly indicated the pink hot air balloon that was anchored in her backyard.
Rainbow seemed neither surprised nor awed. "Neat." Was all she said as she trotted over and dumped the bags in the wicker basket.
Applejack felt a bit cheated to not get a bigger reaction after all the work she had put in to set up this surprise. She had hoped Rainbow would be overjoyed at the idea of getting to fly with her wingless marefriend. Maybe she had guessed wrong?
"Uhm, Ah borrowed it from Cherry Berry." She began. "I was hoping to surprise you with it since, you know you said you wished I could come with you to the clouds more often." Maybe it had been silly, and now she was rambling. Rainbow was even rolling her eyes.
"I got it." The pegasus mare replied. "I saw it from the air when I flew here."
Applejack resisted the urge to facehoof. How could she not have thought of that? Of course Rainbow would have seen the balloon from the air. Dating a pegasus meant you had to start thinking three dimensionally.
Rainbow seemed to notice her marefriend's dismay however. She walked over and draped a wing over the earth pony go cheer her up.
"So maybe it wasn't a surprise, but flying with you will still be awesome, okay."
"Ya like it then?" Applejack asked hopefully.
Rainbow’s smile was infectious. "Duh, of course I like it. I get to fly with my marefriend, how can that not be awesome."
"We are pretty awesome." Applejack agreed, giving Rainbow a soft nuzzle.
"Exactly. So get your plot in that basket and Rainbow Dash will show you how to conquer the skies." The pegasus said with a sweeping gesture upwards. She then gave AJ a nudge toward the basket and helped her climb in. Rainbow herself of course needed no help.
"Yeah… I don't know how these things work." Rainbow admitted when, faced with the complicate looking gas burner that supposedly made the balloon fly, somehow.
"So much for conquering the skies." Applejack muttered good humouredly and gave the cocky pegasus a nudge with her elbow. "Now sit back and enjoy earth pony engineering."
She began fiddling with the machine, Cherry Berry had shown her how it all worked when she borrowed it.
"First you turn this valve, then you throw out the ballast." She dumped out one of the sandbags. "Then you click this button…"
SFWOOOSH!
A huge gout of flame blew her hat off as it burst out of the contraption and disappeared up in the pink envelope above them.
"Awesome!" Rainbow dash clapped as the balloon started to rise.
"Yeah." Applejack agreed, doing her best to pretend that near-incineration was a feature of balloon design and not a nearly fatal mistake on her side. "Or you could push the ignition button right after opening the gas valve… to save on fuel, obviously."
"Sure, but that fireball was cool!" Rainbow said, totally missing the irony of her statement.
"It was, but let's not do that again." Applejack mumbled as she felt to make sure she still had her eyebrows. She did, even if they were a bit sooty.
"Fine." Rainbow sighed and slumped down against the side of the basket. "So where are we going?" She asked, while making herself comfortable.
"Well, Ah figured I'd leave that as a surprise for now. Let's just enjoy being in the air for a while." Applejack explained and marvelled at how small the buildings of Sweet Apple Acres looked from the air. She could just make out the tiny red dot that had to be her brother as it made its way along the path to Ponyville. "Not so big now eh, Macintosh." She chuckled and steered the balloon along the same road. She wondered what her favourite town would look like from this angle.
As expected, Twilight’s castle completely dominated the small town's skyline even from the air, but it was still a sight to behold.
Same went for the Town Hall. Though as they passed by it Applejack noticed the shoddy repairwork that hadn't been visible from the ground. She chuckled at the memory of how she had promised to pay for it. She'd been devastated at the time when she didn't make the money she had promised, but looking back it was just a fun memory. Like most of the adventures she'd had with her friends. Speaking of her friends, her very closest one was still resting on the floor of the basket.
"Are you just gonna lie there?" Applejack frowned down at the 'friend' in question.
Rainbow stifled a yawn. "Come on AJ, I see this every day." She flopped over, using one of the sandbags as a pillow. "It's nothing special."
Applejack sighed, so much for taking her marefriend on an exciting trip. She glared out at the town beneath them. It had been special to her, but now she wasn't feeling so excited anymore.
Then she felt something else. A pair of wings wrapped themselves around her from behind and she felt Rainbow nuzzle at the nape of her neck.
"The special thing." The pegasus whispered, her breath tickling Applejack’s ear. "Is that I get to share it with you."
"That's better." Applejack muttered and pressed her back against the comforting embrace of her marefriend. She felt her annoyance with the mare evaporate as they stood there and watched the landscape together. Feeling a bit mischievous she leaned back and nuzzled Rainbow’s chin and whispered.
"Take it easy okay, it's my first time."
Rainbow’s answering smirk sent shivers down her spine.
"No promises."
But it turned out to be a gentle trip after all. They entertained each other by pointing out how different their home town looked from this angle as they floated gently above it. Things that Applejack hadn't seen from the ground before, strange roofs, hidden gardens, and of course several of Rainbow’s napping spots.
Eventually they felt themselves start to get hungry and Applejack steered the balloon away from the town below.
"So, where are we going?" Rainbow asked once more as they left the town behind.
"Patience." Applejack chided her.
"Nah, that's never been one of my strong sides." Rainbow blew a raspberry and then kissed Applejack on the cheek. "Pretty please?"
"Alright." the earth mare chuckled, returning the kiss.
"We're going there." She pointed when they broke apart. Her hoof indicated the mountain range that surrounded the valley where their home was situated. One peak in particular stood out.
"Is that…?" Rainbow began, faint recognition in her voice.
"The cave where you bucked a dragon in the face?" Applejack replied smugly. "Eyupp."
"Wow." The pegasus marvelled. "That's like back when we became friends. Feels like a lifetime ago."
"Eyupp." Applejack replied again. "Ah remember that obnoxious pegasus that I somehow ended up on a quest to save Equestria with, and that crazy unicorn who called us all together again when smoke threatened our hometown." Her tone was gruff, but her smile betrayed her true feelings.
Rainbow jack joined in. "Yeah, and remember that stubborn earth pony, what a bore."
AJ raised an eyebrow and looked at her marefriend. "You mean Pinkie Pie?"
"Nah, she's cool, we're still friends. I meant that other one, orange, obsessed with apples and honesty… gee, what was her name…" Rainbow Dash joined in, pretending to rack her brains.
"Applejack?" Her partner suggested.
"Yeah, that's the one!" Rainbow cheered. "She was sooo annoying."
"Kinda like a certain pegasus Ah remember." AJ replied drily.
"Fluttershy? Nah, she barely said a word. Easiest girl to get along with in the world."
"Unlike a certain somepony."
Rainbow flared her wings and touched a hoof to her chest. "A certain special somepony?"
Applejack couldn’t keep her face straight. "Yeah, my special somepony."
"Oh shut up and kiss me." Was the reply from the pegasus.
Kiss they did, it was after all a most enjoyable way to spend the last bit of their journey, and soon the balloon touched ground near the peak of the mountain. They recognised the ledge where they had made plans to fight a huge adult dragon and the disastrous results.
"Look here." Rainbow called over as Applejack secured the balloon by filling the basket with heavy stones. "This is the rock that we broke in the fight with the dragon, right?" Applejack looked at the rock in her hooves, it did indeed look like it had been cracked recently. At least recently in geological terms, for them it must have been what, 5 years?
"Huh, I believe you're right." She let the stone fall back into the basket. "The one Fluttershy was hiding behind."
"Yeah, wasn't that lucky." Rainbow chuckled, throwing her rock on the pile. "I was sure we would have been toast if it wasn't for her."
"Same here." Applejack admitted as she began to unpack. "Who'd have thought she had it in her after all the trouble we went through to drag her there."
"Oh my gosh yeah!" It was Rainbow’s turn to chuckle. "She just talked to him and he packed up and left. Now that was badass."
Applejack chuckled with her as she began to set up their field kitchen.
"Not as badass as just rushing in there and bucking the dragon."
"You know." Rainbow began as an evil smile began to spread across her face. "I wouldn't mind taking you in there for some bucking." The pegasus smirked and stretched, showing off her lean muscled body. "But I am in no rush this time."
"Is that so?" Applejack replied, a blush spreading across her own face. Suddenly all plans of a home cooked dinner forgotten.
"Ah think I am."
And if the smoke from the cooking fire wasn't enough to alert the people of Ponyville, the noises that echoed from that cave surely would be.
Author's Note
So, this was my last minute entry into the Appledash Fuzzy Feelings Event. I had intended to skip it, but I got a last minute prompt and push from a friend. The prompt was "Skillet".
