FiMFriction

Rainbow Dash landed on one of her several napping clouds, the scintillating dew billowing around her toned cerulean body and the contractions of her lungs causing the slightest rippling among the surface. Her wings, normally erect in bold confidence or folded at her sides when relaxed, lay drooping across the cumulus, projecting the pegasus’ dejected spirits for all to see. Which strategically, was nopony, as she often preferred her naps to remain secluded and undisturbed. Dash rolled on her side, unable to find sleep as quickly as she was accustomed to. Her thoughts were haunted by the same questions. Why? What went wrong? She bit her lip, reliving her earlier brunch date.

Rainbow Dash sat across from the grey Earth stallion, his triplet of clovers folding nicely over his well-toned flank. Dash smiled contently, hoping he would play his cards right and earn his namesake, getting Lucky after a few more dates.

“I have to say, Rainbow, I’m surprised you invited me out of the blue for some food,” He said with a warming grin. “Your company usually tends to be more… well female.”

“Hey! I can hang with the guys!” She responded with a wink. “Besides, it’s a nice change from mares, and there’s certain things I can do with a stallion that I can’t with a mare.”

“Oh, I get what you mean,” Lucky suggestively said, an eyebrow confidently raised. Dash felt her heart racing, elated that everything was going according to plan. She’d have a roll in the hay, ask Lucky to the Gala, and show everypony how she didn’t need Rarity’s feminine ways to bag herself a stallion. It didn’t even need to be serious- Dash just wanted proof that she was attractive, and if she had a bit of naughty fun in the process, then all the better. Sure, some of her friends might see any promiscuous behavior as shameful, but Rainbow wasn’t one to let those particular judgments get to her. At least she would be getting-

“It must be awkward talking about mares when all of your friends are straight.”

She felt tears well in the corners of her eyes and quickly wiped them away before they could droop. Red, puffy eyes she could blame on a sleepless night, but tearstains were obvious and nopony got to witness evidence of Rainbow Dash crying and live to tell the tale. Dash sighed, mulling over the fresh, painful memory. In retrospect, she could have reacted better…

“…What?”

Lucky grabbed Dash’s hoof with his own, patting the top of it in what he attempted to be a comforting gesture. “Now now Rainbow Dash, you don’t have to play coy with me. If you wanted company to check out mares, all you had to do was ask. I totally get it-“

“No! You don’t!” Dash yelled, yanking her hoof away. She jumped out of her seat, hovering in the air as she jabbed the hoof to his snout. “Where do you get off making assumptions like that?!”

Lucky swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to rationalize the situation. “So, you just wanted to have brunch and make stallion friends?”

“No!” She said sternly, the words falling like lead. “I wanted a date! A date with you, idiot!”

Lucky felt his jaw drop. “A date with me?! But you’re… I mean everypony knows you like…”

His eyes widened as the realization came full force. “You’re straight?! But you’re so… messy.”

Rainbow Dash turned again on her makeshift cloud bed. The hospital bill came out pretty cheap due to Lucky’s health insurance, though Doctor Stable had commented that he had never seen a nose broken that badly by anypony ‘falling down the stairs’. Lucky promised not to press charges as long as Rainbow Dash promised not to tell everypony how she had broken his nose, but her original problem was ultimately left unresolved. It was always the same problem- Lucky was no outlier in the treatment she had received from stallions. She growled, annoyed by the continuous pattern in her attempts for a love life. The growling continued, surprising the Wonderbolt in training. Looking down, she realized the continuous gurgling sounds were in fact emanating from her stomach and remembered that she had actually never had the chance to order anything during her short-lived brunch date. Deciding her physical needs took priority over her emotions, she leapt from her perch, spreading her wings into a lazy glide. Dash squinted against the glaring sunlight, making out her destination as the tan gingerbread design walls began to fade into view.

Applejack bucked out, scattering leaves and red delicious apples into the waiting buckets. Beads of sweat collected on the farm pony’s brow, forming a larger collection that lost the battle against gravity and fell, tracing the form of her muzzle until it reached her lips. She licked the drop away, taking a bit of dirty pleasure at the salty taste of a hard day’s work and bucked again. Applejack had a lot to think about, but she was thankful that her worries often could be vented out in the form of physical labor. Land sake’s, she knew she needed to be at her most efficient with Big Macintosh on forced vacation.

Her brother wasn’t the only family Applejack had concerns for. She hadn’t seen hide or hair of Braeburn since she sent him off to Rarity’s boutique with her dress measurements, and she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t feel the slightest twinge of guilt gnawing at her conscience for not only the mess the hyperactive stallion probably made at the fashionista’s home and business, but for pawning her cousin off onto one of her friends. She grunted as her leg struck out again. It couldn’t be helped. There was simply too much work to do around the farm, and she couldn’t afford to waste any time entertaining her visiting family. While Applejack slightly begrudged her earlier decision to refuse any help from Braeburn, she knew he was a hard worker despite his cheery antics and shenanigans and deserved- no, needed his time off for rest and relaxation. She certainly couldn’t keep up the hard work around Sweet Apple Acres without a few fun days around her friends, and her family deserved the same. Even Applebloom, although less enthusiastic than herself, agreed that Big Macintosh and Braeburn deserved their rest, and was busy herself bucking apples in the north fields for harvest. Applejack recoiled her leg, preparing for another strike against the timber of the-

“Um, Ajay?”

She froze, looking up with obvious annoyance. Her frown deepened as she looked her brother in the eyes, the stallion’s placid expression unfaltering.

“What is it, Big Mac? Can’t ya’ seem Ah’m in the zone?”

“Eeyup,” He drawled, eyeing her up and down. “Ah still say ya’ let me help out, but Ah’m not willin’ ta’ take the tongue lashin’ ya’d give me for workin’ on… ‘vacation’.”

“Ah can handle it just fine, big brother,” Applejack said calmly, wiping the sweat off her brow. She gave him a confident smile. “It’ll be hard work, but it ain’t nothin’ me and Applebloom can’t handle.”

“Ah know, Ajay. If’n you two couldn’t do it, then nopony could.”

Applejack smiled at the genuine compliment, but still had her reservations. “Then why’re ya’ here? Go on, have some fun.” She said, waving him off. Big Macintosh held his ground, eyes downcast at the ground.

“Ah actually needed your help on a mighty important matter, sis.”

The orange mare sat back on her haunches, patting a hoof on the orchard soil for her brother to do likewise. He sat down with a heavy sigh.

“Ah paid a visit ta’ some of my friends the other day. Ya’ know, typical stuff ta’ do on a… ‘vacation’.” He practically spit the word out. The disdain quickly left his voice and he continued his story in a more somber tone. “Anyways, Ah paid Caramel a visit-“

“An’ he fergot ta’ bring his keys again and locked himself outta his house?” Applejack piped up, slightly smirking. Big Macintosh smiled gently.

“Na, not this time. We had a good chat, caught up with everything. Turns out he proposed to his girlfriend two weeks ago. Ya’ remember Sassaflash?”

“Well no kiddin’?” She said, surprised. “Well, good fer him! Bout time he took an opportunity ta’ improve himself. When’s the big-”

Applejack’s smile began to dissipate under Big Macintosh’s gloomy gaze. She barely croaked out the remainder of her question.

“…day?”

“Applejack, she said no,” The farm stallion began. He pawed uncomfortably at the ground. “Turns out she didn’t see a future ‘tween the two of ‘em. She had actually been datin’ other stallions fer the past few months and was waitin’ til somethin’ better came along before-“

“Enough,” She said coldly. Big Macintosh’s eyebrows raised in shock at the violent tone his sister took. She looked up at him with glazed eyes. “Go help him, big brother. Ah can’t even begin ta’ think of what that stallion must be goin’ through, but if’n there’s anything Ah learned over the years, it’s how important my friends are. He needs you.”

The stallion of the Apple family household coughed uncomfortably, ears pinning back in reflex to his emotions. Applejack took quick notice and was even quicker to berate him.

“Gimme one reason ya’ can’t go help-“

“Cuz it don’t work like that between stallions,” He said suddenly. His sister paused, her mouth slightly agape in shock at Big Macintosh’s uncharacteristic interruption. Her eyes pleaded for an explanation, and the crimson workhorse sighed wearily.

“Stallions don’t go ventin’ ta’ each other about their feelin’s- not to the extent mares do. We distract ourselves with somethin’ else and learn ta’ deal with it so that we can move on. Caramel ain’t no exception- only problem is he was workin’ for Sassaflash’s father and their split up put him outta a job.”

“Poor ‘Mel,” Applejack gasped, her own ears pinned back in empathy. They quickly perked back up as she caught a glance from her brother, his expression almost pleading. “….what?”

“Ya’ know,” He began. “There is an awful lotta’ work ‘round here, and you ‘n Bloom could probably-“

“No!”

Big Macintosh jumped back slightly at his sister’s outburst. Applejack coughed and straightened her Stetson nonchalantly. “Ah mean, Ah don’t think the poor colt is cut out fer farm work. He’s always losin’ things and-“

“Handiwork is his special talent, Ajay,” Big Mac said flatly. “Ah know he can be useful somewhere here.”

“But Ah-“ She paused, choking slightly in response to her brother’s piercing glare. On one hoof, Caramel could be quite useful around the farm. Another pair of strong hooves- well, regular hooves in Caramel’s case, could do a noticeable amount of work in a full day. That didn’t make it an easy decision for the young farm mare. Caramel had a bit of a temper, and it was practically destined that the two would get into a few scuffles along the way. He was always the first to berate her on cider shortages during the winter months- that is until Rainbow Dash moved to town. Applejack also considered the fact that Caramel probably wasn’t emotionally stable after all he had been through, yet these and other worries seemed to flitter away as Big Macintosh’s stare intensified. She lowered her Stetson over her face. “Just make sure Ah don’t regret sayin’ yes…”