Hot sunlight beat on her orange skin. She riffed a hand through her slick, hay-colored hair, admiring its fresh buzz cut. A miniature formation of militaristic persons marched behind her through the Griffinstone National Fair. A myriad of rides and games splayed across acres of designated city ground. Most fairgoers and tourists give them an eye for a split second but ignored them otherwise. Such was the unappealing sight of an official Canterlotian envoy. Indeed, she noted, one would best enjoy the festivities by leaving the bureaucracy to do its work uninterrupted.
Multiple pairs of iron-tipped boots smooshed over the soft ground. They soon reached a darkened cabin tent. Some of them went in. It was buried in the middle of the fair’s sea of temporary structures. Its gray skin muffled the sounds of the surrounding festivities. The makeshift nature of the structure was apparent; it leaned at an awkward angle and the squareness was slightly off. The tarps and metal poles it consisted of were wrinkled and rusty, respectively. Soil and grass complimented as the floor.
It was going to be a somewhat boring day of shuttle diplomacy.
On the other hand, she enjoyed such breaks from monotonous paperwork.
Five entrants stopped to guard the entrance flaps as it swished closed again–their firearms ready if needed. The sixth member cracked her neck, grumbling about the annoying, if faint, pop music playing. Striding a few feet further, the high-school-aged official plopped into a creaky wooden chair near the tent’s center. Stacks of files and documents littered the table before her. A dangling lantern shone over. Aside from rays peeking through the cracks, it was the only illumination.
As she adjusted her business suit’s collar, the flaps of the other entrance, directly opposite her, whished. In entered a lean, yellow-skinned teenager, with her own formation of militant guards. She, too, wore a spectacular and professional outfit. Though, it was a sharp purple to her black. The gold-colored tie stood in contrast to her own granny smith green. A knowing smirk crossed the new entrant’s expression as she seated herself on the other side of the table.
“Hello, Adagio,” the first entrant greeted, her tone full of suspicion.
She returned fire with vigor. “Hello to you too, dear Applejack.”
Scintillating, violet nail polish emblazoned Adiago’s rather dainty hands. Adiago cupped her own face and rested her elbows on the table, waiting. Applejack took a long inhale and exhaled to calm herself. The polish’s intoxicating black cherry scent almost caused her to tear up. Though Applejack had to admit, internally, it was a delightful scent to whiff. That mattered not. She had a job to do. And she could not trust this seductress.
She took another deep breath. Adjago's demeanor, her pure snark, was absolutely infuriating. But she could not let that get to her. Hot steam smelled from the recent ironing of the other girl’s curly carcass of cinnamon orange hair. All-out war was possible if they couldn’t resolve this incident, as she had for other problems in the past. Much more was at stake than before. She could not be distracted by this sole-faced fiend from the opposition’s ever-shifting rotary.
“Let’s just move to the point,” Applejack gruffed.
“That’s a shame.” Adagio mocked a saddened expression. “I thought we were friends.”
Taking a stance, an authoritative tone set. “Cut the cutie-pie crusades. We've hardly interacted in our lives.”
“Dawwww, she hates me, doesn’t she?” Adagio struck an offended pose.
“Oh, please, I’ve dealt with dozens of you Seaquestrians.”
“What?” she asked. “You’ve never been told to see us as people?”
“No,” Applejack said. “But I trained and taught myself to see the humanity in others.”
“While still taking advantage of them.” Adagio toyed with her side hair, fingers twirling around.
“And you are not different. Listen-” Applejack bit her lip, “-Our job is to resolve this missile crisis peacefully. So why don’t you help me help you?”
“Blah blah blah.” The enemy mimed a mouthing hand. “All you folk ever do is get straight to the point.”
Applejack brushed clings of rising sweat off her tense shoulder. “That’s because it is important to do tasks relatively by the book, and avoid unnecessary things.”
Adagio kicked her feet onto the table, leaning in her chair. “Yeahhhhhh, well,” she took a smile. “I’m not as stuffy as my dad was.”
“My father and yours resolved situations efficiently.” Applejack grit her teeth. “We must live up to their model.”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t have fun.” Snapping a finger, one of the guards flicked out a red lollipop, unwrapped it, and quickly flashed it over to their boss before retreating.
Applejack, for once in her life, contemplated a slap. “That’s not really how this works. We talk, discuss, and find a compromise so we save lives.”
“I get that and all.” Adagio shot a bored glance. “But honestly, a lot of it is just political jibber jabber when it could be so simple…”
“Then let's avoid it by talking about the problem already,” Applejack tried.
Adagio glanced over, struck an annoyed look, and flipped up the midde finger alone. “No thanks.” It proceeded to retreat back.
“No one else from your country has shown so much... gall.” Applejack tried not to raise her voice.
Popping the cherry-flavored ball in her mouth, Adagio shrugged. “I’d rather live as I please, not how the old dudes before us did it.”
Exasperated, Applejack found herself struggling to keep her tongue restrained. “We’ve hardly been on the job for two months since our dads passed!”
“And your point is?” Curt and to-the-point attitude rang true from the yellow girl. Carefree slack flowed in every tiny bodily movement.
“How are you so chill?” Applejack’s voice strained her slightly high-pitched question, wringing any chance of sounding unbiased.
The other girl tapped her hard black shoe on the table’s edge. “I don’t know, maybe because I know how to choose my targets?”
Danger slithered into Adiago’s rather pristine eyes. A most loaded question. This was their first meeting ever, and within minutes it’d become a tenacious personal hotbed. Any wrong move, and the other delegation could have reason to pack up and call it off. But Applejack could not tell if Adagio was bluffing or not. Scanning her lavish, smooth skin revealed no sweat to give clues. Years of training allowed them to read each other like a book.
And yet those experiences did nothing to prepare her for the enemy’s tactics. She knew Adagio from an early age, from afar and close through their fathers, but almost always silently. It’d been a double tragedy for their fathers to pass simultaneously in proxy wars. Even so, she’d never expected her to be as disrespectful as this. Every one of her meetings with Seaquestrians had been, so far, of monumental importance, straightforward and not casual.
Applejack angled her head. “You’re just lucky that we’ve known each other since before.”
“That, and I have the protection of being amongst the highest ranking in the diplomatic hierarchy.” A yawn escaped.
“Anyone else, and they would've walked away now if I were acting like you.” Applejack made sure to sound stern. “So don't think you can push your corruption and luck.”
Adagio sighed. “Nah, I shall. And that's because they are all cowards, our nations are mutual jerkwads, and,” she waggled her eyebrows, “I'm a little pretty, aren't I?”
Applejack ignored a flush feeling, hoping she wasn't red in any manner. “You are… brazen with your words, Adagio.” She had to admit that.
“Why, thank you!”.
“So, let’s brush off now, and move on-”
“To prevent nuclear war? Pfftttt.”
“What are you-”
Before shock could register, Adagio continued on. “Let’s chat a bit. Then we can draft a lousy, still fair deal, and buy ice cream. Mmkay?”
Slamming her fist on the table, Applejack stood up. “How are you so self-centered, selfish and ignorant of the world’s plight?”
“We know each other, in some sense, I guess,” Adagio suggested. “Hence, let's just be girl friends for once in our careers.””
Applejack tried not to fumble her words, waving her arms about. “You're ignoring every protocol! I could be charged with treason and exiled because of you!”
Adagio returned her chair to its normal state. “Not my fault our leaders are in a measuring contest. At least our personal guards let us be ourselves.”
“It’s not that simple!” Applejack tried to simmer down. Keyword tried.
Crunching the lollipop hard, Adagio smacked her lips. “You’re merely jealous of how easy I get it.”
“I-
“Come on, buttercup, cheer up!”
“You are so rude-
“You’re so stiff, loosen up the collar.”
“I do not-”
“Your reason for coming to a fair wasn’t to have fun?”
“No, it isn’t-”
“Why are you denying it, hm?”
“What kind of diplomat are you-”
“One who does what she pleases.”
“No other of you fish folk-”
“Insulting leads to incidents, farm stock.”
“How did you know-”
“Basic research. And you nicknamed me first.”
“You started this-”
“No, I was being nice.”
“Gahhhh!”
“Bring it on, if you dare.”
“I’ll have you beaten-”
“Then do it!”
Adagio quickly dismissed her concerned guards with a subtle wave. Accordingly, each group backed down to let their leaders duke it out. Next, Adagio wiggled her digits back and forth in an outstretched hand, outright inviting Applejack to let loose. Normally, Applejack would restrain herself. It’d been a good few years since she’d outright punched someone. But something about this arrogant brat ticked her awry in every way. Fire ran in her blood.
Unrelenting fury literally kickstarted Applejack’s tirade, With a mighty howl, she swung her boot up. It contacted with the table. The iron-tip splintered a hole to the other side as it flew up and over to the edge of the tent. By a miracle, the spaciousness allowed the furniture to land, as well as crack in two, without going outside and causing a disturbance. The same leg, fueled by adrenaline, bucked her chair out of the way a split second later. Then she shot forward.
Apparently expecting this, Adagio awkwardly rolled out away onto the soil. Unable to stop, Applejack barreled into the chair. She tumbled alongside, landing squarely on top of it, nestled in the squishy earth. Everything inside and outside hurt. A squeaky giggling burst out to her right. A snapping look revealed a dazed and dirtied, but otherwise sitting up, Adagio mocking her failed attempt. This served only to further enrage Applejack.
Not even a jiffy passed between her fumbling off the rickety chair and charging. Caught off guard by the quickness, Adagio's chest whumped upon the dive bombing. For whatever reason, it felt good to fully unleash her problems. Before she could contemplate countering, Applejack quickly tried to ground herself into staying there. However, Adagio found just enough leverage to twist Applejack to the left, sending the pair swirling in an interlocked roll.
Applejack threw flurry after flurry of punches wherever she could. Adagio did likewise. The two kept the other embraced to the other through constantly reversing hand grapplings. Grips as strong as titanium assisted. Some hits missed, and some hits succeeded. Incomprehensible shouts, grunts, and growls exchanged. Tumbling about the tent, treating it akin to a wrestling ring, they went.
Blissful euphoria raged for Applejack. The red river’s enriching torrent bled out of her accumulating scrapes. Yet she cared not. Tear after tear ripped up and ruined her suit. She delivered a hearty bruise to Adagio’s shoulder as the other flipped her over. If it was any consolation, the fish girl’s expensive clothes were also getting entrenched in filth. For some odd reason, Adagio flashed a smile. Mysteriously, Applejack felt herself returning the favor.
The import and export and heaves and blows lasted Faust knows how long. Applejack simply felt good to give Adagio a heaping of farm life and street fighting experience. A great weight lifted in going at it, beating the crap out of a fine-looking equal. Before she could process the sudden thought, the eventual realization flashed in Adagio’s look to use her curvaceous legs to twist her way to freedom. A forceful roll did the trick.
Confounded by the slam of a heavy boot to her thigh, Applejack recoiled the leg a bit inward. Before being able to correct the mistake, Adagio grasped outward to crawl a foot away. This gave the distance to direct a kick to the opponent’s stomach. Unprepared for the unexpected move, an explosion ripped Applejack’s brain of any thinking for a pure moment. On the edges of her frozen vision, Adagio seized the chance to swing right back into action.
Adagio popped up off the ground to gain a height advantage. Applejack managed to get her body in command again. Yet too little, too late. A mop of messy orange hobble plunged atop in a hasty maneuver. Nonetheless, the momentum continued. Applejack bore her arms behind her to try to and shuffle slide out of the way. The effort only partially succeeded before Adagio pounced straight onto her.
The impact of the landing forced every molecule of air out of Applejack’s lungs. Adagio straddled her lower chest, locking her down entirely. The boots planted solidly into the mess of earth and plant matter beneath them. Her wrists were held far apart by unbreakable grasps. Applejack attempted to wriggle her hip from side to side, ceasing no traction whatsoever. Kicking Adagio’s back did not falter the girl. Exhausted, she collapsed.
Adagio leaned her face close to Applejack’s. “Give up, yet?”
Feeling the hot breath, Applejack felt a shudder run through her.
“No.”
“What-”
Instinctively, on an urge and at whim, Applejack sprang her lips upon Adagio’s. Warm lips met warm lips. A gasp was cut off by the intensity of the delivery. Immediately, all thoughts of fighting this girl burnt to ashes. Like chocolate heating up, Adagio melted into a passionate embrace with Applejack. Neither tried to fight it. Instead of remaining in position, they teetered sideways, sprawling all over.
A few minutes passed before they had to absolutely stop to breathe. Applejack remained laid down. Gazing at beautiful violet stars. Fingers ruffling through precious orange hair. Thinking about how to best replace Adagio’s disastrous outfit at her own expense. Never mind her own. There was no doubt in her mind she’d be fired now. Against all odds, in spite of it, Applejack cared for nothing except this girl in this moment.
Everything everywhere hurt. Except for her now thrumming heart. Screw finding a deal to avoid a conflict some way, somehow. None of it mattered in relation to caring for Adagio. Being a diplomat was a stiff, boring life. So many hours of her life wasted when she could be having worldly adventures with a girlfriend. That didn’t make Adagio right about all things. Nevertheless, she had a very strong point.
Their personal guards stood there, unsure of what to do. And, if they accepted the money, they’d stay that way. Anyone who didn’t would find themselves in a dumpster. Applejack silently vowed as such to herself. If they were reprimanded, they could take their money and run back here to truly love. Thought after thought poured in and out of contemplation. Applejack shut them down to focus on the present.
“So,” Adagio spoke, breaking the trance, “I guess you win?”
“Nah.” Applejack struggled to breathe.
“Who does, then?” The question communicated a hesitant, unsure tone.
Applejack took a yellow hand to her own and smiled. “We both do.”
A massive blush covered Adagio. “Th-thank you.”
“Don’t know–” Applejack gulped for air, “-why it took us this long-”
Adagio cut her off, finger pressed to her lips. “Save your words, gorgeous.”
Applejack rolled her eyes while also blushing.
“Ice cream?” Adagio suggested, allowing speaking once more.
“Mint, vanilla, and Ferris wheel.”
“Didn’t know you were such a romantic,” Adagio complimented.
“Now you do.”
With that plan in mind, Applejack helped Adagio wobble up. Telling their compatriots to stand behind and clean up, they hobbled away. Sunlight hazed their weary bodies. Applejack cared not for how others saw them, injured and messed up. Her heart was beating. Adagio was snuggled right beside her. Their totally unbiased deal could wait. Delicious flavors of treats and girlfriend alike awaited.
