Comfortably Numb

It was a sunny afternoon in Ponyville, the birds were chirping, the town buzzing with life, the sky completely void of clouds. Rainbow Dash was slowly flying in the direction of Sugarcube corner to go see her friend Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to deny it, she loved Pinkie. She has had a crush on the pink mare for ages, but she never told her. Rainbow loved the way Pinkie was always so enthusiastic about everything, she was always happy and she could cheer up anypony who was down. She loved how random she was, how she bounced around everywhere, and her ability to somehow defy the laws of physics. Rainbow Dash wasn’t a shy pony, but when it came to love, she wasn’t the best mare to confess her feelings and affections for another pony, especially a mare. Especially Pinkie Pie. She had no idea how Pinkie would react. Rainbow had gotten so close to telling her what she felt, but every time it had ended with “uh…nevermind” or something like that, followed by a hasty escape. But today was different. Today she was on her way to tell Pinkie about what had happened to Applejack.

Rainbow Dash watched the streets below as she flew, seeing the Cutie Mark Crusaders running around after each other and crashing into things, Derpy Hooves flying sideways, and Lyra sitting funny. Ponyville was pretty crazy. So was Pinkie Pie. That’s why she loved her. Rainbow Dash dropped out of the air and landed softly on the grass in front of Sugarcube corner.

“Hello?” Rainbow called as she walked through the door. Mrs Cake was sitting behind the counter, but stood up when she saw the blue pegasus enter.

“Oh hello there Rainbow Dash!” Mrs Cake beamed. “What a nice surprise! What’s on your mind?”

Rainbow Dash trotted over to the counter. “Yeah, I was looking for Pinkie Pie, something has happened to Applejack and I need to tell her” she said.

“Oh my. What happened to her?”  Mrs Cake asked worriedly.

“Well she-“ Rainbow started, but was cut off by a loud rumbling noise coming from the floor above. She directed her attention to the stairs, where Pinkie Pie had just come shooting down them at high speed, crashing onto the floor in a heap.

“WHAT HAPPENED TO APPLEJACK?” Pinkie Pie yelled, jumping up off the floor and landing on top of the counter.

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Chill out Pinkie, it’s nothing serious, just a broken back leg.”

“IS SHE ALRIGHT?” Pinkie yelled again. Mrs Cake promptly walked into the other room, having being almost deafened by Pinkie’s frantic shouting. That was the only disadvantage of Pinkie being around. When she wanted to be, she was very loud.

“She’s fine Pinkie!” Rainbow said. “Big Mac came and told me about 10 minutes ago!”

“Oh goodie! I must visit her right away! I need flowers, a get well soon card, a box of choc-“

“PINKIE!” Rainbow shouted.

“Yeah?” Pinkie replied, jumping down off the counter.

“Applejack said you don’t need to bring anything. She just wants us to come down as soon as possible” Rainbow Dash said calmly.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie replied cheerfully, with her usual trademark acknowledgement.

“Now, let’s go!” Rainbow said, flying out through the door, with Pinkie bouncing behind, somehow managing to keep up with the speeding pegasus.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t nervous around Pinkie usually. It was only when she wanted to tell her how she truly felt, and then Rainbow would become more timid than Fluttershy asking for a refund. Rainbow wondered as she was flying; did Pinkie have even the slightest idea she had feelings for her?

Rainbow Dash slowed down and landed on the dirt ground in front of Sweet Apple Acres, then looked behind to see Pinkie Pie bounding along up the path not far away.

They walked up the path into the farm itself, and up to the front door of the house next to the barn. Rainbow Dash raised her hoof and knocked on the door.

“Applejack! We’re here!” Rainbow called, looking up at the windows.

After a brief pause the door opened, revealing Big Mac. “Oh hello you two. Applejack’s just upstairs, follow me” he said in his usual voice.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie walked in, closing the door behind them and following Big Mac through the hall and up the stairs. He went into one of the bedrooms, and the two mares walked in to see Applejack lying in bed, with a plaster cast around one of her back legs, supported by a couple of pillows. Her hat had been hung on one of the bedposts, and it was almost strange seeing Applejack without it.

“Oh my gosh, Applejack!” Pinkie gasped, running over to the side of the bed. “Are you okay?”

“Ah’m fine, just a l’il run down after the accident.” Applejack replied, looking up at her new visitors. “How’re you folks comin’ along?”

“I’m great!” Pinkie said with a grin.

“I’m alright” said Rainbow Dash. “What about you? How did you break your leg?”

Applejack winced. “Well, ah was in a hurry to buck all the apples the past couple days before the scheduled storm came, and ah guess I overdid it and lost my balance. Ah fell back on it funny, and now ah’m lyin’ here telling y’all about it. Apart from mah leg though, ah’m fine.”

“Aww, well I hope you get better soon” Rainbow said. “So what do you need us to do for you, Applejack?”

Applejack pulled herself up against her pillow. “Well, since mah leg is broken, ah can’t do any apple bucking. Ah was wonderin’ if you two could help Big Mac with it, because we wanna get all them apples before the storm comes later” she said. “Now ah know you two ain’t the strongest ponies in Equestria, but ah know you can figure out some kind of funny plan to get those apples down without having to buck ‘em.”

“That’s cool, but why us?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, Twilight was busy with her studies, Fluttershy is hardly apple bucking material, and Rarity is, well, Rarity.” Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie giggled.

“That’s cool, we can totally handle that!” Pinkie said enthusiastically.

“Yeah, you can count on us Applejack” Rainbow said, saluting with her hoof.

“Now, Big Mac is gonna buck the Apples closest to the barn so he can hear me hollerin’ if ah need anything” Applejack explained. “You two will go a little further up the farm to the trees near the back that haven’t been bucked yet.” She looked from Pinkie, then to Rainbow Dash. “You got that?”

“Yeah” said Rainbow.

“Yep!” said Pinkie Pie.

“Alright, good. Now make sure you come back as soon as ya can, we don’t want y’all getting stuck in a lightnin’ storm.” Applejack said.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie said as they turned to leave.

“Big Mac has already left an apple cart where ya need to be, so just go ahead and bring it on back when you’re done, okay?” Applejack said.

“Will do” Rainbow Dash replied.

The two mares walked out of the bedroom, down the stairs, across the hall and to the door before they heard Applejack call them.

“Be careful you two!” she called from upstairs.

“Don’t worry, we will!” Pinkie called back.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash crossed the yard in front of the farm.

“So Pinkie” Rainbow said as they walked towards the orchard. “Got any crazy ideas on how we can get the apples down off the trees?”

“Of course! I always have ideas! Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “We could try, uh…no…that wouldn’t work…” Pinkie thought for a moment.

It went quiet as the two mares entered the orchard. All they could hear now was the rustling of the leaves in the steady breeze and the rhythmic trotting of their hooves on the ground. Most of the trees were bare; they had already been bucked by Applejack sometime before.

“Well, we could…no wait…that wouldn’t work either…” Pinkie said, frowning. She stared at the ground in deep thought, becoming oblivious to the rest of the world as she figured out a master plan.

Rainbow Dash gazed at her as they walked on. She wondered just what went through the pink mare’s head when she thought up of all her crazy ideas.

‘Why don’t you just tell her?’ Rainbow said to herself. ‘Now is the best time to do it, it’s just you and her, and nopony else around.’

Aside from not knowing what Pinkie’s reaction would be, there were more reasons she wouldn’t tell her. What would other ponies think of her? The toughest pegasus in ponyville, the pegasus that pulled off a sonic rainboom twice, being in love with another mare? How would her friends see her? What would they say?

Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted in triumph. “I’ve got it!” she yelled, turning to Rainbow Dash to explain her plan.

Rainbow Dash was gazing at Pinkie, in a way she would only look at somepony she loved. She realised what she was doing and turned away, blushing deeply.

“Erm, Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie asked, putting her hoof on Rainbow’s shoulders. “Are you okay?”

Rainbow Dash turned back and looked at Pinkie Pie, who looked concerned.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine thanks” Rainbow said meekly. “So, uh, what was your idea?”

“Oh yeah! You go flying really fast through the tree leaves, knocking all the apples off, and then I will jump along and catch them!” Pinkie Pie said, as she stopped walking and started bouncing to demonstrate.

“Uh, sounds like a good idea, I think we’ll go with that” Rainbow Dash said nervously.

Pinkie Pie looked at Rainbow, with her head tilted at an angle. “I know something’s on your mind, Rainbow Dash. I can tell” Pinkie said calmly for the first time all day.

Rainbow Dash stopped. “I, uh…”

Pinkie Pie raised her hoof and placed it gently under Rainbow’s chin.

“Dashie, it’s okay, you can tell me anything.” Pinkie said lovingly.

Dashie. Only a select few of Rainbow’s closest friends called her that. Fluttershy called her Dashie sometimes, but they had known each other since they were foals, and they understood one another. She had never heard Pinkie call her Dashie though. But the tone of Pinkie’s voice reassured her, and gave her the strength to ask a question she wouldn’t usually ask.

“Have…have you ever been in love?” Rainbow asked, embarrassed.

Pinkie stopped bouncing and slowed to a walk. “Well” she said. “Yes, I guess I have, and I am in love with somepony now…but I don’t think they know that I do…” Pinkie Pie said, frowning. She thought for a moment. “Why, is there somepony you like?” she asked.

Rainbow Dash turned red. “Well, uh, I guess you could say that” she said, stifling a nervous laugh.

“It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it, Dashie” Pinkie said.

Dashie. There it was again.

“Yeah…I’d rather not tell you who it is…” Rainbow said, trailing off.

“Oh, okay then!” Pinkie said cheerfully, and started to bounce again.

Rainbow Dash frowned. Why was it so hard for her just to tell Pinkie how she felt?

“Oh look, we’re here!” Pinkie said, pointing to a wooden cart not far ahead. “Come on!”

And with that, Pinkie started to bounce faster, and further with each jump, so Rainbow Dash had to run to keep up with her.

‘It’s so cute the way she bounces!’ Rainbow thought, looking across to the bunny-hopping mare as she ran. ‘I wish I could do that’

The trees here had apples on them unlike the ones closer to the farm, they must be the ones Applejack wanted them to buck. Rainbow Dash stopped running and jumped up, extending her wings and gliding slowly to the wooden cart.

The cart was a decent size, not too big, not too small. It had two wooden beams sticking out of the front, with a horseshoe shaped piece on the end to allow the cart to be pulled easily. Next to the cart on the ground were four large baskets with saddles, presumably for holding and transporting apples.

Rainbow Dash hovered above the cart, where Pinkie was waiting for her.

“Okay Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow said, looking down on the pink mare.

“Yep!” Pinkie replied with a smile. She trotted over to the baskets, picked them up and put them over her back.

“You ready Dashie?” Pinkie asked.

Dashie. Again.

“Yeah” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Okay, let’s go!” Pinkie shouted, beginning to run off in a random direction, following Rainbow Dash who was flying ahead of her.

“Start knocking the apples off!!” Pinkie shouted up to her. Rainbow Dash obliged, and started strafing to the left and the right, bashing the trees. The apples came loose and started falling, creating a green and red blur before being caught by Pinkie Pie on the ground.

“Keep going!” Pinkie shouted up to her again. “We wanna make sure we get all these apples for Applejack!”

Rainbow Dash sped up, hitting the trees more frequently, and with more force.

More apples started falling, but Pinkie Pie was struggling to keep up with the blue pegasus, becoming increasingly tired as the weight of the apples in the baskets slowed her down.

Rainbow Dash kept going, knocking almost all apples off the trees as she knocked into them as she flew past. She looked down, to see how Pinkie Pie was doing with collecting the apples.

She wasn’t there.

Rainbow Dash froze in midair, and looked around. Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen. She looked around, and flew down below the tree canopy to see a floor covered in apples, but no Pinkie Pie. Had she flown too fast? Had she left Pinkie behind? She must have, or Pinkie would have caught the apples, and they wouldn’t all be rolling around on the ground.

Rainbow turned around and flew slowly back the way she came, scanning the apple-covered ground for her friend.

“Rainbow Dash!!” shouted a familiar voice.

Rainbow Dash looked ahead, to see Pinkie Pie lying on the ground, panting. She glided down to her, landing beside her softly.

“Pinkie, what happened?” Rainbow asked.

“I got so tired, the weight of all these apples were too much! I tried to call you but you couldn’t hear me!” Pinkie said, frowning.

“I’m sorry Pinkie, let me help you” Rainbow said. She pulled the baskets full of apples off from Pinkie’s back, so she could get up.

Pinkie Pie stood up and wiped the sweat off her brow. “Thanks” she said, panting. “But how are gonna get all these apples now? I can’t keep on going like this!”

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. “I knocked most of the apples off the trees before I realised you were in trouble, so all we really need to do is pick them all up off the ground” she said.

Pinkie Pie nodded her head. “Good idea! But I’m not carrying those baskets, they are really heavy when they get full!” she moaned.

“Alright, I tell you what” Rainbow Dash said. “We’ll both bring these baskets back with the apples and put them in the cart, and we’ll take one basket each. Then we’ll come back here and take as many apples as we can with them and keep going back and forth until the cart is full. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah! We’ll get it done in no time!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Okay, let’s bring this batch back first” Rainbow said, picking up one set of baskets and placing them on her back. “Can you carry the other ones?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s just that two sets full of apples were a bit much” Pinkie said, picking up the other set.

“Okay” Rainbow Dash said, and they started walking back through the orchard towards the cart.

“Well, you did a really good job of knocking down all the apples” Pinkie Pie laughed as they walked on, admiring the bare trees.