The Story of the Apple Spectrum

**Chapter 2:2:

The Author's Block and the Duke**

Only an hour after departure from Ponyville, the train sped along the tracks making making good time. The conductor was excellent at his job and was well liked. He earned it too. The train cars were clean and spacious, yet cozy. The food they served at lunch was nice, for a train ride.

Rainbow leaned back in the booth, staring at Applejack with cold, tempting eyes. She examined the Earth Pony's face; the way she looked down at the table, brow bent in concentration, eyes darting back and forth. After an eternity of staring at her apple bucking friend, Rainbow only grew nervous. Applejack smiled and raised her head to meet Rainbow's stare. She leaned forward, closing the distance between the two.

"Sugarcube," she spoke, almost whispering.

Rainbow gulped. "Yeah?"

A clacking sound was made below Rainbow’s field of vision.

"Checkmate. Ya'll owe me 20 bits." Applejack giggled, putting on a smug grin in the process.

Rainbow's eyes widened as she looked down at the table. Placed there was a foldaway chessboard; the white pieces all but annihilated with the black right-side rook, a pawn, and a bishop having cornered Rainbow's Sun-Princess piece, her Lunar-Princess piece being blocked by more pawns. Rainbow grit her teeth.

"Augh, y'know what? Fine. This game is dumb anyways," Rainbow lightly shoved Applejack back into her normal sitting position. Rainbow crossed her forehooves and stared down at her lap.

Applejack let out several smug chuckles as she quickly put away the small game.

"Well, ya don't have t' pay me. You’re my friend, and that’s payment enough," Applejack said as she closed the chessboard and placed it in a small box, then placing that small box in her saddlebags.

Rainbow grinned, still looking down at the spot where the chessboard was. Just being her friend is payment enough. Sappy, she thought.

"You're a great friend, Applejack," Rainbow said as she stretched her limbs.

She was smiling like crazy now. She unfolded her forehooves and looked up at Applejack. The sun illuminated her face while the darkness from inside the car blended perfectly, giving Applejack a golden glow. It was wondrous what the sun could do at times, and the darkness too. Rainbow would really have to thank Princess Celestia sometime for enabling moments like this to happen. It was midday and Rainbow let out a long sigh, deciding to end the moment voluntarily instead of a forced ending when she wasn't ready.

"So, do you have anything else you wanna do?" Rainbow asked Applejack.

Applejack put a hoof to her chin as she pondered. "Chess is out, since Ah curbstomped ya in less than 15 turns," Applejack said with a minor chuckle.

"Replace 'pay me' with 'ah kin gloat' it seems," Rainbow said as she let out a small chuckle of self pity.

"Heh, Ah'd say checkers is out too," Applejack said.

Rainbow sighed once more. They played Tic-Tac-Toe, Go Fish, and they hoof wrestled before stopping for lunch. Then they played Chess, and now this. She wished she had something else to do. Something Rainbow enjoyed more.

"'scuse me, ladies," a male voice said.

Rainbow and Applejack turned their heads to the aisle to see a tall pony with a way too slender body. He wore a white windbreaker and a red saddlebag with an "AW" on the flaps. He had a maroon coat with a shaggy, brown mane that went out to the sides. He had a dull, half-asleep look in his eyes. His cutie mark showed a pen and blank paper.

"Uh, yes sir?" Applejack asked.

"I was just wondering if you could let me draw you," the maroon pony asked.

"Draw us?" Rainbow asked suspiciously. "We better not be on the ‘uncrashable train of dreams.’"

The maroon pony stared down at Rainbow with no concern or confusion. "Not that I know of, but," he reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a black book with "Art" written on the cover in whiteout. He placed it on the table in the booth where they sat. "You see, I am an artist and, well, I'm okay. I just saw you two in the booth, and the lighting as well as your interesting mane colour... y'know," he said before trailing off, looking to his sides.

Rainbow scratched the back of her head, unsure if that was a compliment. She shrugged it off while Applejack dove right into opening the cover of the book.

"So I came to ask permission and stuff," he finally said after his short pause.

"Well, that's jus' dandy. Y'all are pretty good and ya seem like a nice fellow," Applejack said as she flipped through the art book. "Name's Applejack," she extended her hoof to the pony.

Rainbow was curious and as if on cue, Applejack pushed the art book over to Rainbow to flip through. Rainbow flipped to the first page and saw a Pony wearing a uniform with an olive theme.

"I'm Chibi Masato, but you can call me Mr. Masato," the pony said, shaking Applejack's hoof.

"Chibi Masato? That's an odd name," Rainbow replied rather bluntly, too engrossed in the art book to make a proper response.

Applejack gave Rainbow a dull glare before retracting her hoof.

"Heh, well, my parents gave me ironic names. In the far away land my father is from, 'chibi' means 'small' or 'runt' because I was a very small pony years ago, and Masato meant 'Pony of Truth'. Called me that because, well, I'd rather not say," Masato said as he scratched the back of his head.

Rainbow reached the end of the book; it was too varied to give the book a definitive genre.

"Well shucks, that's a fine name," Applejack said as she leaned on the table.

Rainbow licked her lips, noticing they were getting dry. "You're a good artist," Rainbow said.

"Thanks Applejack and..." Masato trailed off, looking to Rainbow.

She realized the set of eyes on her and looked back to Masato. "Oh, um, I'm Rainbow Dash. Best Young Flier of Equestria. Future Wonderbolt," Rainbow said with a cocky tone.

Masato chuckled. "I've heard about you. Thanks, Rainbow Dash," he cleared his throat. "Well, I'll just be sitting at my booth across from you two, drawing and stuff," Masato said, grabbing his art book before waltzing away.

"Alrighty then, have fun," Applejack said as she did a quick stretch.

Masato sat down and began drawing. With that out of the way, Rainbow and Applejack went back to talking.

"So anyways, I feel like expanding upon our barter, Apples," Rainbow said, getting a sly smile on her face.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "'splain, RD," Applejack said, giving Rainbow an honest smile.

"You give me a massage which, from all the training I've done and post competition, sounds amazing, give you my trust, which still makes no sense..." Rainbow rubbed her temples with both hooves as she said this. "And for another request of your choice," she then placed a hoof down on the table as she leaned her head on her shoulder, pointing her hoof at Applejack.

"I know this awesome place to celebrate our victory, and I’ll take you there," Rainbow said with a smug attitude.

Rainbow's eyes widened slightly. Wait, what? That sounds... She cleared her throat before slumping back in the booth.

Applejack only smiled as Rainbow said this before leaning back.

"Well, that's swell, 'bow. My half of th' barter fer this one—" she paused, obviously having an idea in mind. "Ya have t' wear one o' these when we buck," Applejack said as she tapped her stetson.

Rainbow smirked. "You're making this awfully easy, Applejack. How about another one? I wear a stetson but you have to get me the best one you can find," Rainbow said.

Applejack lost her smile and placed both hooves on the table. "An in return, ya have t' spend extra time on the clouds above Sweet Apple Acres. Pickin' th' best ones and such," Applejack said.

Rainbow also lost her smile, repeating Applejack's gestures. They stared at each other in silence, eyes locked on each others. Soon, Rainbow backed off, leaning back in her seat before letting a chuckle escape. She then started out in a full on laugh as Applejack slowly did the same.

"Ha, we were gettin' a little too serious there, RD," Applejack said as she calmed down a bit.

"Yeah, sorry," Rainbow said as she leaned forward, slapping her face against the tabletop out of boredom.

"Ah still totally expect that victory celebration," Applejack said as she removed her stetson, placing it on her seat and proceeded to imitate Rainbow.

The surface of the table was warm. Rainbow and Applejack were both staring towards the aisle of the train, their manes brushing against one another. They simultaneously let out a sigh.

Well, today has been fun so far, I guess, Rainbow thought.

They proceeded to not say anything, enjoying each other's company and the calm they had after their marathon board gaming. They finally noticed how loud the train was, how loud the kitchen was, and how quiet the artist's scribbling was. Rainbow stared into the aisle in a daze; feeling the heat of the sun's rays was actually rather relaxing.

Applejack had started eyeing the artist pony. He was holding the pen in his mouth, while the clipboard was suspended by magic. Her brow raised, and she looked to his head to see a maroon glow on his head; an antennae of hair being indication of a horn trying to protrude. He didn't seem to stare at Applejack and Rainbow Dash once as he drew, simply drawing non-stop. Rainbow noticed too.

His neck must be sore from all that drawing, Rainbow thought.

Finally, he stopped drawing, and placed the pen inside a case. He held up the clipboard as he examined his art. He didn't smile nor did he frown, or show any emotion. He stood up and walked back over to Rainbow and Applejack, clipboard suspended by magic. He turned the clipboard to the two ponies.

The drawing depicted Applejack and Rainbow Dash resting peacefully on the table. It had the perfect shading, giving the picture that warm atmosphere that the bright sun and the dark interior gave off. There was no colouring to it at all, just a light shading. The detail of shading was enough to show the wavelengths of colour Rainbow's mane had.

"Woah, that's darn good," Applejack said as she admired the scene.

Rainbow stared, starting a mad blushing. The shade of the interior train car prevented anybody from noticing without staring hard. It was a cute scene, she had to admit... mentally only. She didn't dare say ‘cute’ out loud.

"That's a good drawing," Rainbow mumbled.

He mumbled something resembling a thank you before looking back up at the two. “You want a copy?”

Applejack’s brow bent, humming in thought before speaking. "How long'll that take?"

Masato cracked a very small smile. "30 seconds," he replied while turning back to his saddlebags.

Rainbow's ears perked up. She would love to have that drawing copied.

"How much?" Rainbow asked, excitement in her voice but not all of it.

"Free. Figured its a drawing of you two, I'd say you're entitled to a free copy, eh?" Masato asked as he walked over to his saddlebags.

"Well shoot. That's jus' dandy. Thank ya kindly, Masato. Ah'd love t' have that in mah room," Applejack said as she picked up her stetson, placing it atop her head.

Rainbow grinned excitedly. Masato brought out a board slightly larger than the common sheet of paper, and he got out another piece of blank paper, placing it in the space provided on the board. He unclipped the drawing and levitated it over to the board, horn glowing a perfect red. He placed the drawing down and pressed it hard onto the piece of paper. After a few seconds, he pulled it back and repeated the process with another blank sheet. After he had them both done, he placed them on the table. There were very faint images left from the slightly damp markings made by the pen.

Masato levitated a small jar of ink from his bag and opened it up. He then took a deep breath and levitated the ink out of the small jar. It spread out and soon, there were two very thin "sheets" of ink floating in the air. He levitated it down and placed it onto the two sheets with the light outline of his sketch and the ink itself began building up in numerous areas and after a few seconds, the glow around his horn stopped. The jar of ink dropped, Masato having forgotten about holding it. He looked down and sighed. Another wasted jar, but he was satisfied. He looked down at the copies of his drawing, having perfectly replicated them. He reached into his saddlebag and grabbed two picture frames. He quickly wrote his name and the date onto the drawings. He then placed the drawings in the frames using magic and then handed them over to Rainbow and Applejack.

"Here you go," he said.

"Thank ya," Applejack said as she examined the replica and placed it in her saddlebags.

"Yeah, ta~nks..." Rainbow said, not thinking about her sentence.

"Want me t' hold on ta that, Rainbow?" Applejack offered.

Rainbow realized she had no bags and nodded in agreement. Applejack took the framed drawing and placed it with her drawing in the bag.

“I take it you’re Applejack from Sweet Apple Acres?” Masato asked after sitting down across the aisle. Applejack looked over to Masato quickly, nodding. “Well, you see, I’ve been hired along with some of my partners to do advertising for another team in the Market Harvest. You’re competing again, right?”

Applejack nodded. “Yup. Y’see, Rainbow Dash here is the model for our advertising,” she said while nudging Rainbow in the side.

Rainbow’s grin grew and she puffed out her chest in pride. “Yes! I’m the key to success this time,” she said with gusto.

Before a reply could be made, the train’s intercom system blared to life. "Attention: We have arrived at MacTier Train Station. All who are coming aboard, come aboard. All who are getting off, get off. Thank you, and have a nice day," a voice said, blaring out through the train car.

Masato gasped. "Oh, that's my stop. It was nice meeting you two," Masato said as he ran over, gathered up his materials and placed them in his bags. He then placed his bags on of back.

Applejack waved a hoof while Rainbow did a quick stretch in her seat. "You too," the two ponies said at the same time.

“Good luck, Sweet Apple Acres,” he said while trotting to the door of the car.

He stepped off the train onto the platform, and waved to Applejack and Rainbow Dash on the train. They smiled, waving back to the departing pony, and the train departed to finish its journey.

[*][*][*]

"Wake up, furry lumpkins. We're 'ere."

The southern accent assaulted Rainbow's ears. Through her tired daze, the regularly simple, soothing voice blared as if on a megaphone; it was that point after waking up where any noise was blaring loud. Rainbow covered her ears, rubbing them to drown it out. She let out a long yawn as she stretched her forelegs out. Her right hoof was warm... very warm. The right side of her head was too; obviously Applejack let her bake in the sun.

I’ll have to remember this. She slid out of the booth and stepped into the aisle and let her eyes adjust. Stupid sun, beating down on my eyes in my sleep. She fluttered her wings, fighting off the stiffness, and when she finished, her eyes had adjusted. She noticed Applejack walking down the aisle, tail bouncing with each step she took.

She stopped thinking and she trotted after Applejack, letting out another yawn. She didn't know how long she slept so...

"Hey Apples, how long did I sleep?" Rainbow asked as she followed Applejack off the small step.

"'bout 15 minutes," Applejack said, stepping onto the sturdy platform.

Rainbow nodded. "A'ight," she followed Applejack onto the platform.

Looking around, Trotonto had a busy train station. Being a heavily populated city set on the border made it a popular place to host the Market Harvest. All kinds of faces from numerous countries made it a point to stop here; the shops set up specializing in exotic and foreign goods made it one of the more popular tourist locations as well. Across the border lay the massive desert, a train track leading directly into the northern nation.

It wasn't visible but Rainbow knew that they were close to the Market Harvest grounds. How? There were signs literally five feet away from each other with an arrow pointing to the grounds: ‘Market Harvest 2 Weeks!’ Rainbow trotted up to Applejack and walked next to her.

"Note: I’m kinda hungry, and I have no idea where the restaurants are. Hint hint," Rainbow said, pointing at all the signs advertising food.

Applejack was humming as Rainbow asked her. She finished up her mild tune and looked around herself. "Well, it is gettin' close t' dinner.” She looked up to a clock tower. “'s almost five. Ah know this great restaurant close by, RD. Ah'll take ya there."

Applejack quickly picked up her pace, Rainbow following suit. They left the train station and proceeded to the busy streets of Trotonto. To Rainbow, this city was large. It wasn't fancy Canterlot large, or Cloudsdale "high storms" large, it was busy large. She looked to the right, she saw a bundle of ponies and mixed in here and there, a few Zebra, Donkeys, Griffons, a lot of different species.

"Maybe I should have moved here. Lots of spectators from the world to view my awesomeness. Take home tales of the incredible Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow said quietly to herself as she followed Applejack's steps.

Applejack herself looked to the right and smiled, look to the left and frowned. Turned her head around to frown, then looked down a bit to see Rainbow. Rainbow studied Applejack’s expression.

“Whatcha staring at?” Rainbow asked, looking around herself.

“Jus’ admirin’ th’ scenery, rememberin’ m’ time in Manehatten,” Applejack replied.

Rainbow bit her lip, resisting the urge to prod more about AJ’s past.

After a few minutes of walking, they trotted into a plaza almost packed full. Various faces stood up, announcing sales, specials, everything a salespony would do. Rainbow stared around, too mesmerized by the bustling city to notice Applejack's nudges to her wing.

"Earth to Pegasus Pony. We're there," Applejack said as she grabbed Rainbow's wing and tugged on it slightly.

Rainbow snapped out of her minor daze and looked back with a slightly annoyed look.

"Alrighty then, fine. What's this restaurant called?" Rainbow said as she followed Applejack through the crowds.

Applejack had only let out a few quiet chuckles, prompting Rainbow to roll her eyes. They passed several non-ponies, and came across a building with an exotic jungle theme. It had tropical trees and lots of colourful animals; the name was "Rainforest Cafe" Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the chaotic inside of the restaurant; statues of animals, effects on the walls. Ponies and creatures of all sorts were inside.

"This place was such a mess. Ah figured it would be too c'nfusin' fer me when Ah was first brought here by Big Macintosh durin' my first Market Harvest... not at all. Jus' startlin'," Applejack said as she lured Rainbow in.

Rainbow shrugged and trotted in after Applejack into the tropical restaurant. They were welcomed by a Giraffe, of all creatures. Rainbow quickly examined the Giraffe’s body, specifically the yellow body and brown spots. She didn’t even notice the Giraffe’s long neck. Don’t judge a book, Rainbow reminded herself. When they got into the actual restaurant, ready to be seated, a commotion started.

"You dare call this garbage 'Apple Cider'?" an enraged pony screamed.

The waitress Pony stared in shock as a wealthy-looking Pony let out his angry opinion of the drink in his hoof. He stood up out of his booth, leaving two other ponies in his company. He held the mug close to the face of the waitress pony.

"Um, sir y-" the waitress began but never finished.

"This cider from Sweet Apple Acres is better used as window washing fluid. It tastes horrendous," the pony said as he tossed the mug of cider to the ground.

The rest of the restaurant was staring at the spectacle. Applejack's eyes twitched. Rainbow looked to Applejack, spotting the twitch. Oh no, Applejack is going to kill this guy! she thought.

"Woah, Apples, calm down," Rainbow said as she put a hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "We can talk to thi-" Applejack shoved away Rainbow's hoof as she stomped her way over to the wealthy pony.

The pony in question turned his head and spotted Applejack. Spotting the apple bucker, his face twisted into one of sheer disgust.

"Well, speak of Discord, the ghastly excuse for a farm saw fit to send one of their so called 'workers' to the grounds the same as I," the wealthy pony said.

The waitress was already cleaning up the mess made from the mug which survived the slam. Rainbow had quickly followed after Applejack as she passed the various tables of the restaurant. Applejack stopped right in front of the wealthy pony who was taller merely by inches.

"And what in tarnation is that s'posed t' mean, Fullbody Moneybags?" Applejack demanded.

Rainbow leaned over to see around Applejack. The pony, named Fullbody Moneybags, had a hoity-toity atmosphere radiating from his appearance alone. Expensive suit covering most of his body, a top-hat, even the ever clichéd monocle. His cutie mark was a vine of grapes with a bag of bits behind it; pair that up with his name indicates this pony owned a successful winery. Rainbow didn't even have to learn more about him before realizing: this was a pony that exploited everything he had... and he’s a snooty jackass to boot.

"Oh, thank you for correcting me," he said with sarcasm strong enough to make Rainbow cringe. "Toilet cleaner is more appropriate," Fullbody said, ending with a snort that could make Rarity blush.

Applejack's frustration and anger were building up well enough to hype up an army of thousands. Her face was scrunched up, her brow bent, her leg twitching as it ached to buck this pony.

"As a duke, I cannot fool myself any longer; I didn't stop at this backwater place out of curiosity, I did out of pity," Fullbody said as he stared around the restaurant in disgust. Several ponies and non-ponies looked over with glares towards the outrageously loud wealthy pony before he spat on the floor of the restaurant. "But I can see that not even pity can make me stomach this place," he said.

Rainbow was attempting not to jump in herself. This pony thought he could just diss Sweet Apple Acres, their Apple Cider, *and** Applejack, expecting to walk away?* she thought. She looked over to Applejack, noting she was gritting her teeth to unhealthy levels.

The two mares Fullbody was sitting with stood up from their spots, trotted around Fullbody, and stood in front of him. They attempted to push Applejack out of the way, making room for Fullbody to pass. Rainbow almost lunged in right there, but Applejack stuck her hoof out, and nudged the two mares back. She stepped back, forcing Rainbow to back up as well.

"Good luck at the competition, Mr. Moneybags," Applejack spat through bared teeth as she quickly ushered Rainbow out.

Applejack cantered out of the restaurant, ushering Rainbow out as fast as possible. Unfortunately, Rainbow was still facing forward and shuffling backwards. They were in the centre of the plaza, surrounded by many before Applejack stopped, and allowed the two to rest. Rainbow frowned, shaking her head and clenching her eyes shut.

"You... just now, that... I mean, why'd you back down? He was being so rude. I mean, even I'm not that bad. We could totally have whipped his hindquarters," Rainbow said as she looked back, glaring at the Rainforest Cafe building.

Applejack sighed. "Ah can't get worked up. Ah have t’ be th’ better pony... that, an he an’ Fullbody Winery’s have won th’ competition th’ past five years. Ah can’t get on his bad side, he personally knows th’ manager. Even so..." Applejack grit her teeth again. "Ah have t' be the bigger pony," Applejack repeated, voice almost cracking while she sighed in defeat.

Rainbow’s face lost all grimace, but her teeth were still bared. Her brow was arched upward and she looked back and forth between Applejack and the cafe.

“But, well,” she stammered. She face hoofed, dragging it down her muzzle and she exhaled deeply. “You can’t just let him push you around like that. Even I know how badly it’s affecting you to have him mocking your product. You’re still okay for the most part, right?” Rainbow asked, placing a hoof under Applejack’s chin, raising her face.

"Ah am, Ah think." Applejack turned her face away from Rainbow before they started walking through the clouds.

Rainbow sighed, satisfied with the response for the time being. She swallowed her anger. I can’t go back and cold clock the guy, that will just cause problems.

"Ah can't believe he said that 'bout Sweet Apple Acres. Braggin’ ‘bout your own product is one thing, but goin’ an’ purposefully insulting other’s hard work? Ah did my darndest t' be the bigger pony, but that’s just wrong even if it is comin’ from an’ arrogant bangtail buckweed,” Applejack coarsely replied, choking back a few sobs.

Rainbow's temper began to rise. Applejack stopped walking, Rainbow nudging into her side gently. She took a step back. "But...?"

Applejack wiped her eyes with her hoof, and had one more sniffle. She turned her head to face Rainbow Dash directly. Her eyes were slightly red from the few tears, but they still shone brilliantly. Her face no longer stiffled anger, replaced with her game face.

"Rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked.

Rainbow took a breath before answering. "Yeah Apples?"

“We’re gonna knock Fullbody off his biggity bit house,” she responded with venom on the tip of her tongue.