Her undershirt stuck to the small of her back, sweat rolling down her neck as she trudged across the parched grass to the blocked entrance, where a giant slab of igneous rock stretched its thin shadows in order to stop her.
Rainbow Dash coughed and raised her arm to chase away the fumes rising into her nostrils. “Who the hell thought it was a great idea to put a princess at the top of a castle guarded by volcanoes?”
She could feel the heavy bronze armor weighing her down and trapping the battering heat inside that would have left burn marks if she hadn’t had the forethought to add an extra layer of undergarment beneath the regular knight uniform. Nevertheless, the pegasus knew it would be suicide to just carelessly toss the suit away on a whim. Even the helmet, which she had very much wanted to rip off and stomp into a million pieces, would be useful in the upcoming battle with the so-called ferocious dragon residing in the volcanoes. At the thought of fighting a humungous dragon, the iron lance slung over her side seemed to grow heavier with every plodding step.
Before solidly cracking the giant rock into two, Rainbow Dash paused to appreciate the surroundings around her, everything bathed in an ominous red light cast by the boiling hot lava pouring from the faraway volcano. The castle’s outer surface was impressive, she had to admit, the walls endlessly reaching far into the once-white clouds tainted by ashen smoke. That was partly the reason why Rainbow Dash couldn’t just soar straight up on the roof and retrieve the princess easily—the deadly sulfur would sooner clog up her lungs and cause irreparable damage to her health by the time she could safely transport the princess to fresh grounds.
Besides, she thought as she ventured further into the castle, it was her duty to follow through with the mission Lord Discord had sent her on. His part-dragon lineage and amazing ability to topple numerous foes at a time with a flick of the wrist had gained him much respect from ponies all over Equestria—including Rainbow’s. It wasn’t every day she got a special summon to work under Lord Discord’s name, and she did not intend to screw up the task like a blithering idiot.
“Knight Dash,” Lord Discord had said, “I have heard many good things about you. That is why I should hope to be having the pleasure of being in your company henceforth to aid me in completing assignments. My old age is finally catching up to me, and it is getting increasingly harder for me to do the things I once deemed were easy.” A thoughtful pause. “For each completion, the pay shall be double whatever you are receiving now. Do you accept?”
Of course she immediately accepted. Only a foolish pony wouldn’t, looking at all the benefits Lord Discord brought with him. Fame, glory, and a bigger bag of golden bits to spend on better weapons and armor—all of it had sounded extremely tempting. He was virtually shoving mounds of good fortune upon her, which was why Rainbow Dash hadn’t wasted a single moment to hastily bow and answer with a quick “I am in your service.”
Being a lone traveling mercenary had its perks, but it had felt entirely uplifting to finally get a permanent job as a high-ranked soldier; not only that, but Lord Discord’s soldier. That sort of influence surpassed even a duke’s level of authority!
Rainbow Dash suppressed a wild grin at the memory, wiping soot off the edges of her vision with a wary hoof.
Sobering now, she could hardly make out much in the dim light shining through the cracks of the dark corridor and forced herself onwards, gulping back the rapid breaths coming out through her open muzzle. The armor encasing her body felt stiff and noisy with each step she took, clinking and grinding together in a terrible array of sounds she would never have had a problem with had the environment not been so still and tense. While treading, she kept a valiant hoof on the right side of the wall to be sure not to accidentally get lost in the dark and—hopefully—not stumble over the debris spread all across the speckled ground. Dignified knights did not pathetically trip over rocks.
Eventually, after what felt like forever, the corridor opened into a large circular chamber. Without a roof, faint rays of moonlight began protruding from tiny cracks in the ashen clouds hanging overhead, and inadvertently illuminated the figure of a giant dragon laying coiled in a tight bundle in the center of the floor. Its scales, a blood-red color, matched perfectly with the faint spots of lava she could see spewing from the large volcano outside.
Hitching her breath, Rainbow Dash stiffened and drew her lance immediately, dragging it out in a well-timed manner with her strong teeth.
Dragons had the most impenetrable skin ever, the beasts’ titanium-hard scales said to have been wrought from the very lands of Valhalla, the mythical place these equally mythical beings were rumored to have existed in before gaining an undeviating attraction to the strange land of ponies. That sort of attraction led many devoted dragons to fly an exhausting number of light-years to reach their desired destination—Equestria.
Only a fair number had managed to cross the gaps of realities, however, and many a ponies gossiped about the failed dragons who had never the chance to experience Equestria themselves, forced to aimlessly wander the plane of existence between the land of ponies and the land of the slain.
Dragons from Valhalla were easy enough to believe, but stories of a plane connecting the two lands together? They were just rumors, Rainbow Dash liked to think. Still, that ridiculous “stuck between dimensions” fable made absolute sense to her the more she thought about it, noting the dwindling numbers of the flying beasts scattered around Equestria.
The knight had always wondered why ponies couldn’t just walk up to a dragon and ask it of its lineage just to make everything crystal clear and completely uncomplicated. Why must equines make a big fuss over theories and fables?
Oh, right. Because dragons were feared. They didn’t speak either, simply bellowing deep and vicious cries that could shake the very mountains and leave a lasting impact on a pony’s mind. The roars spoke for them enough, communicating the sounds of defiance, ferocity, and simple but utter freedom.
Standing at the foot of the four hundred feet tall dragon’s dozing body, she couldn’t help but trust all the stories she’d heard concerning dragons. Through the iron lance gripped tightly in her jaws, Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of mesmerizing awe at the massive dragon before her, drinking in exactly how majestic the beast’s features were. Never had she ever seen one up close, and all of the wild pictures her mind had fabricated over the years didn’t amount any to the sheer jaggedness of the dragon’s claws, or to the intricate marks lining the entirety of its scales, or even to the sharp spikes poking out from its head to the tip of its tail.
Yet the dragon did not stir when the knight took a tentative step forward. Rainbow Dash tried not to flinch at the horribly loud noises her armor made as it clinked together like rocks to glass, her arm guards grinding against the main body part as she advanced unsteadily. Dear Celestia, it was times like that where she’d wished for better, quieter armor. It was a wonder that the dragon didn’t just awaken and snap her up from all the ruckus she was making. At the very least, Rainbow Dash knew a hefty pay would soon be headed her way as soon as she completed the arduous task of rescuing Princess....whatever-her-name-was.
Bile formed at the back of her throat, warning the dangers of a fight such as this, and the knight simply forced it back with a glower. She was only there to slay a dragon, save a princess, and then go back to report the news to Lord Discord—nothing more. Even better, the dragon was asleep and currently prone to attack. In her opinion, it was a little too vulnerable. Still, one should never underestimate an enemy as tough as that of a dragon.
Prepping her hind legs a fraction back and squaring her shoulders, she prepared to engage in a joust with the mighty beast.
Before she could land a single blow, a voice above yelled, “Stop!”
She almost dropped her weapon in surprise as her gaze zoned in on an orange earthpony who was rapidly clambering down the dragon’s body, jumping first onto its nose, then leg, and then abruptly finished by effortlessly sliding down its tail. How did she end up atop the dragon in the first place? Rainbow Dash tried not to gape at the approaching figure and instead cast a questioning look at the coiled up dragon, completely motionless and still in its prior position, having never moved from its place.
As if reading her mind, the earthpony nodded and said, “It’s dead.”
The mare in front of her held a regal-like aura, from the agile way she handled herself to the carefully analytical expression showing on her countenance, yet in contrast, her lush golden-blond mane, tied into a hasty ponytail with a simple red band, spoke of another, gentler side to her. The pony’s tail was the same way, tied almost as if to not get in the way of any heavy-duty work. Rugged and rough with specks of grime, her face showed pure hardship and a genuine softness to its edge, and Rainbow Dash could see forever in those fierce emerald eyes of hers that were staring back with a gleam brighter than the sun itself. Unquestionably feminine and yet unquestionably powerful at the same time—that’s what the pegasus could discern through a temporary lapse in the functioning side of her thoughts. Beautiful.
Gathering her senses, the knight bowed deeply, and with a swift motion, put away the lance. “I am Knight Dash. And you?”
“I’m Applejack. Pleased to meet ya, Dash.” The mare curtsied.
“Apple...” A faint memory dragged itself out as she struggled to remember where she’d heard the name from.
And then it suddenly hit her. The unexpected revelation flew straight through the pegasus’ unguarded thoughts and almost knocked the wind out of her. With a slightly widened eye, Rainbow Dash said, “Princess Applejack?”
Princess Applejack winced. “Just Applejack. I prefer not bein’ so—“ She made a face and switched to a more formal speech, completely blocking out her former accent. “—elegantly regaled in such a manner. You may rise, Knight Dash.”
Rainbow straightened. It almost surprised her at how familiar and unstuffy the princess in front of her was. Usually, if she forgot the title in an important pony’s name, they would have a huge hissy fit and sometimes even refused to be in her presence afterwards, throwing their important heads up in the air and remarking about the unimportance of “talking with a commoner.” Stewed, Rainbow Dash had briefly wondered if she should’ve reached over and seen their reaction to being socked in the face by an “unimportant commoner.”
Furthermore, Princess Applejack ranked far higher than those bigot nobles. And more beautiful, even with a load of filth stuck to her coat. Why did she subject herself to talking with a fool-hearted knight like her?
Said knight cleared her throat nervously. “So, uh, how did the dragon die?”
“I killed it,” came the curt response. There wasn’t a gloating tone laced in, however, and Applejack seemed more sorry about it than proud. It was merely the statement of a fact, not a challenge, and the matter-of-fact tone that came with it impressed Rainbow Dash even more, the knight trying to hide her growing fondness with a nonchalant nod of understanding.
Turning away, the princess humbly gestured toward the dragon’s lifeless body. “Its weakness was the small crack in the neck. If you pierced it, the dragon would not be able to breathe, and this one rolled itself into a tight ball and accepted death willingly, albeit a little sorrowfully.”
Rainbow Dash bit back a curse. Damn it, she was supposed to do the saving, not the damsel in distress herself. That way, she would be the one to carry the burden of killing in cold blood and not the other way around. The former mercenary had already known the despairing feeling of having bloodied hooves; Applejack, however, probably didn’t, being a sheltered royal pony and all.
Apologetically, she bowed again. “I am deeply sorry for not being here sooner, your highness.”
“Worry you not, valiant knight—I survived, have I not?” With a disapproving frown, she gestured for Rainbow Dash to rise. “Truly, it is okay to not bow.”
The knight arose mechanically. Or maybe she wasn’t a damsel in distress as Rainbow Dash had previously assumed. Applejack obviously seemed to know how to fight and find weaknesses in her enemies, so perhaps it was not her first time after all. The toned muscles aligning Applejack’s build hadn’t escaped Rainbow Dash’s notice, either, and with how sturdily she moved about, it was difficult not to notice. Oftentimes, the princesses she met were usually frail and scrawny, but Princess Applejack had utterly astounded her by being the complete opposite: strong and bold.
Even more awe-inspiring was the princess’s current casual demeanor, like slaying a colossaldragon was something she did as a sport.
Dragons lived a long time, even longer than ponies’ lifespans. Killing was never the best way to end things, and the pegasus herself could admit that the thought of murdering a great dragon in its own home didn’t sit well with her, standing before its massive titanic stature just a few moments before. Applejack had killed a dragon more than ten times her height one-on-one—something Rainbow Dash doubted even she herself could do; the chink in the dragon’s armor would have most likely escaped her notice and she would have ended up six feet under (or maybe she’d, for the day, somehow scrounge together enough sense to use her keen eye for detail for something other than shamelessly leering at the passing mares in the streets, highly unlikely as it was)—but even so, the princess didn’t have the appearance of a killer at all. In fact, with Applejack’s sort of innocent face, Rainbow Dash bet if they weren’t in a decrepit castle and standing near the corpse of a dragon, anypony who had been looking in from the outside could have guessed that the reason for Applejack’s coat being so dirt-filled was because she was frolicking in a lush, green garden of angel ponies before accidentally tripping over a villainous rock and comically landing in a pile of leftover dirt.
Somber was Applejack’s expression, and in an attempt to lighten the mood, Rainbow Dash drew out a big grin and placed a reassuring hoof on her companion’s shoulder, to which the princess surprisingly accepted and did not make a move to pry her arm off.
“Where’s your accent you used a minute ago? Did you lose it in Valhalla?” She cheerfully bantered.
Poking fun at a princess was probably dangerous—suicide even—but Rainbow Dash could scarcely control herself as she let out a bark of laughter. To hell with formality, she decided then and there. Princess Do-Good sorely required loosening up, and what better way to do it than to spend spare time with a new friend?
Applejack stiffened, but the knight saw a fraction of a smile shine through. “I am not allowed to use it, Knight Dash.” Forget returning to Lord Discord; Rainbow Dash wanted to stand there forever and just stare into the mare’s bright eyes, which seemed to be brightening even more at her prior remark. Damn, was she really smitten with somepony who probably wasn’t interested in her in the first place? They’d barely even met!
“Just good old Rainbow Dash can do, your highness.” The knight chortled mirthfully, lifting the heavy helmet from her head and instead let it hang from the crook of her arm. It felt good to finally let her mane out, cramped as it was in the folds of the iron helmet. “Well, as long as we’re not around everypony else, you may as well use it. I haven’t heard your kind of speech in a while, but I think it’s a nice change from the usual talk we use nowadays. It’s cute.”
As she stole a glance out of the corner of her eye, Rainbow Dash could swear the princess was a tiny bit redder in the face. Anger? Embarrassment? She’d never know.
When Applejack stayed silent, the knight went on. With a flourish, she subtly snuck in a playful smile. “You know, I could use a reward for my efforts. Maybe a kiss?”
The glare Applejack shot her was enough to make Rainbow Dash take a step back and broaden her smirk. To her, it was utterly worth it.
Finally, after a few excruciating minutes of unbroken silence, the princess spoke, and her accent showed thickly. So she’d deemed Rainbow Dash’s advice worthy of being followed. “I reckon you’d want to know more ‘bout my circumstances ‘fore anything else. That lord of yours is probably gonna want a written report.” Then the princess slowly inched a little closer, her breath hot on Rainbow Dash’s face. Was she trying to be seductive? If so, it was definitely working, wholly entrancing Rainbow Dash and gaining her undivided attention. The knight’s heart beat wildly in her chest as Applejack hesitated, appearing to carefully choose her next words. “...then we’ll see ‘bout that kiss, seein’ as I saved myself.”
Rainbow Dash harrumphed, barely concealing the goofy smile plastered on her face. “A late knight is better than no knight.”
...
Sitting atop the red dragon’s back, Rainbow Dash listened intently to the story being told by the mare sitting beside her. Despite the way her skin itched under the bronze armor, she kept a lid on reaching over to scratch it in favor of delving deeper into the interesting tale. Though, it did nothing to stop her from occasionally fidgeting and readjusting her breastplate just to have an excuse to fidget.
Staying still was not one of Knight Dash’s virtues, evidently.
The dragon’s immense height barely reached up to level with the room’s peak, and without a ceiling, Rainbow Dash could plainly see the outside world, from the scorched grass surrounding the area to the rest of the dilapidated castle’s outer walls. The faint moonlight, paired with the ominous grey clouds and blood-red lights flickering from the volcanoes nearby created an odd sort of environment, and Rainbow Dash couldn’t decide whether to be amazed, frightened, or enthralled at how composed Applejack seemed, the princess casting a cool eye over the surroundings as she laid out her story.
From what she soon learned, the princess was stranded in the castle for weeks. Of course, the dragon had been killed on the first week, when the princess had grown tired of huddling in the corner and hoping the slumbering dragon would move from its long nap—and by long, it was longer than any regular pony would sleep, reaching up to over four days—and dug the sharpest rock she could find into its weak point. The dragon, reeling from the shock, had briefly snapped its eyes open in surprise and then proceeded to thrash about for a few seconds before accepting death with a wet gurgle, and Applejack added that it didn’t make a move to harm her during the scuffle—probably something to do with being too concerned about staying alive than killing.
Smart, Rainbow Dash thought. If Applejack hadn’t slain the dragon then and there, she would have most likely either died of starvation or thirst.
Afterwards, Applejack had found that dragons never truly turned icy cold, even upon death. “Turns out the stories ‘bout an eternal fire burnin’ in dragons’ bellies were true,” she said, and tapped her hoof on the warm surface of the dragon’s back to indicate her point.
Rainbow Dash’s brow furrowed. “You sure it isn’t the lava heating things up here?”
“That’s what I was thinkin’, too. ‘Cept when the volcanoes stopped eruptin’ for a few days, everything but this here dragon cooled down.”
“Oh.”
Applejack smiled wryly at the dumbfounded expression showing on Rainbow Dash’s face. “Smoke finally gettin’ into your brain?”
Recovering, the knight responded with a lazy smile of her own and impatiently waved for her to go on. Rainbow Dash was still a bit surprised at how lax and utterly unroyal Applejack could be and had consequentially forgotten to dish out a smart comment in return, missing her big chance to woo the princess. Damn.
To make up for it, she attempted to subtly scooted closer to Applejack’s side, her armor clunking together noisily as if to spite her, and stopped just short of an inch, only a brush-width away.
Applejack, noticing this with a slight blush—this widened Dash’s smile—opened her mouth to continue her account.
“...It may not look like much, but livin’ on a warm dragon and bein’ able to stare at the black sky, pretendin’ there’re stars behind them clouds can do wonders to a pony’s imagination...‘cause, y’know, I ain’t seen no proper sky in weeks.” Applejack tilted her head up to face said sky. Rainbow Dash watched as the princess raised her hoof wistfully, almost sadly, as if to grasp the invisible stars in the heavens.
The knight resisted the urge to somehow comfort the mare and forcefully averted her eyes, instead lifting her gaze to the monotonous sky. “How did you end up stranded here anyway? Since the dragon’s dead, can’t you leave?”
Applejack soundlessly dropped her hoof. “This castle was once owned by my brother, Duke McIntosh—before the mountains started to spit fire an’ make everypony turn tail an’ leave. They told me Mac was hurt bad while tryin’ to evacuate everypony, so after makin’ sure he was okay, I hightailed it over here to help, fast as I could. Only, I when I finally arrived, I found this castle empty ‘cept for some burnt bodies in them other chambers.” She paused. “Soon as I came into this here room, the dragon tore a hole in the ceiling, landed, and went right off to sleep—didn’t notice me at all.” Applejack unconsciously clenched her hoof, as if she were remembering those events which had come to pass, and as quickly as her apprehension had arrived, it disappeared as soon as Rainbow Dash patted her shoulder consolingly. Burnt ponies...that must have been a startling find.
“Guess it woke up the same time as the mountains an’ was too tired to see me hidin’ in the corner.” The princess sighed, her eyes considerably duller than before. “I can’t leave ‘cause I’ve been waitin’—waitin’ for somethin’ to change. Maybe I was hopin’ for the sun to shine and scare the volcanoes back to sleep or somethin’.”
“I...see.” Rainbow Dash closed the distance between them and wrapped her arm around Applejack, pulling her into a tight embrace. She hoped the princess wouldn’t mind being hugged by heavy bronze armor covered head to toe in sweat.
Lord Discord hadn’t said anything about the mission other than there being a princess in dire need of rescuing. Not a single word about Duke McIntosh’s castle, not how capable of combat Princess Applejack was, and definitely nothing about Duke McIntosh being injured. She understood how riling it felt to learn of a loved one being harmed, even if years of being a traveling mercenary had taught her the ways of a remorseless pony. But even so, she had simply refused to turn a blind eye at the sufferings of others and even helped ones whom she’d toppled back to their feet with an encouraging pat on the back and a proud smile. “It’s okay,” she soothingly said into Applejack’s ear.
Applejack grinned and didn’t push her away, showing no traces of the former gloomy expression on her face. “It ain’t that bad. I’m fine,” she said. “Anyway, I reckon I’ve been givin’ too much extra information for your report. S’pose that’s all you need, right?”
“Yeah, and—“ She was abruptly interrupted by Applejack’s lips crashing against hers. Flushing a deep crimson, the knight returned the effort with a surprised set of mind. Immediately, a pleasant feeling radiated throughout her whole body, lulling her into a state of giddy bliss.
However, before the kiss could be pulled deeper, Applejack pulled away with a broad smile. “The tables have turned. How do you like them apples?”
“Aw, you know you enjoyed it too.” A slow smirk spread over the knight’s complexion as she leaned in closer and added in a low voice, “Actually, I like them very much. Especially if you add ‘jack’ to end of it.” To her satisfaction, she noticed Applejack’s cheeks slightly coloring and reached over to gently bop her on the nose, making a note of the deepening shade of red. “You’re adorable, you know that?”
Then she closed the distance. The tables have been turned indeed.
...
Knight Dash frowned. “My lord, are you certain?”
Lord Discord nodded and leaned back in his wooden chair. “Yes, yes. It is true. Time withers all good minds as it flows, and, as you may have already known, spared no mercy on mine—it was simply negligence on my part that I had allowed it to momentarily hold my memories back whilst assigning your task. Apologies if it has caused you any inconvenience.”
She almost wanted to reach over the desk and strangle him. How does somepony just forget vital information like that? Duke McIntosh—somepony extremely important—being wounded would not have left somepony’s mind as easily as Lord Discord’s, what with him the mighty warrior he once was. He was using excuses, no doubt—Lord Discord looked anything but old and frail, no matter how deceivingly white his facial hair was. Nevertheless, the newly-acquired heavy bag of bits slung over her side reminded her of who did the paying, and she reluctantly let go of her tension.
“Alas, it has done nothing to aid my mission,” she murmured. “And it has also done nothing to jeopardize it.” The knight respected him, yes, but there were times where even high reverence would not bind her fury back. Love, for example, even if she had not admitted it to herself yet.
“Excellent to hear.” Lord Discord raised his right arm, which embodied the shape of a lion’s. “If I may be so bold,” he said in a completely serious tone, overshadowing the previous joking one he’d used a moment before. “Would you be kind enough to tell me what is on your mind? Your face tells me much, but it cannot describe the trouble that has besotted you.”
Rainbow Dash looked up. This took her by surprise, as his reputation had always portrayed him as a jester—an equally dangerous and good-humored jester. “It is simply a question, Lord Discord.”
“What is it?”
“Valhalla...does such a place exist?”
Since he was the closest thing to being a dragon, with his long, slender body and mixed body parts of various different animals connected to his pony-like head, it seemed logical to assume he would know. Although his appearance would normally intimidate all standing in his presence, Rainbow Dash did not feel in the slightest bit frightened. The dragon-pony sitting at the head was not dangerous to anypony but his enemies, who had probably bitten the dust by then. Lord Discord was not exactly known for sparing his foes.
Lord Discord paused, thoughtfully stroking his snow-white goatee. “No...I don’t believe I know. What a pity.” Then he sighed melodramatically.
“If you cannot enlighten me, no dragon can.” She abruptly turned on her heel and began her decent.
Halfway to the doorway, she faltered as Lord Discord cheerfully called out, “Please send Princess Applejack my congratulations!”
Huh?!
“Wh-what?” Rainbow Dash sputtered as she inclined her head toward him, catching herself off guard. “Meaning...?”
“The two of you are...” He crossed his index and middle fingers imploringly. “...like that, right?”
A second passed while she hurriedly scrounged together a response from her hazy thoughts. “No—I-I mean, yes...err, I...I am not sure.” Suddenly, her eyes lit up in surprise as the knight struggled to maintain a proper grip on her cool. How did he know that in the first place? “How...?”
“Lovestruck ponies are not hard to discern, my valiant knight.” He guffawed, grinning gleefully. His eyes twinkled in amusement, adding, “Let us hope that you would continue being in my service as well as being in the princess’s.”
She bowed. “I would not dream of it, Lord Discord. I look forward to my next mission.”
With that, she strode out.
Author's Note
When the prompt for this story was sent to me, and I immediately thought 'Bloody hell, I may as well hold off on writing chapter 5 of Learning to Soar in favor of writing AppleDash romance!'
That's my twisted logic right there, folks. Deal with it.
I've contemplated having Rainbow Dash and Applejack use two different ways of speaking depending on the situation; RD being more laid back on her manner of speaking in front of familiar company, whereas AJ has her Southern accent activated at any opportune time (which, admittedly, is not very often due to her reputation of being a high-strung princess) and just went with that idea.
Also, you know how difficult it is to mix in a country accent with the traditional way of speaking? The answer is "very." Since Applejack's spoken the traditional speech in public more often than her Southern slang, it's pretty obvious that those two'll somehow mesh together in her "regular" way of speaking that she uses with her family (Duke McIntosh and Duchess Apple Bloom) and close friends.
Comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.
