Rainbow Dash lives an exciting life and is swiftly becoming the most daring, awesome pegasus in all of Equestria. She would gladly give it all up, though, just to confess her love to Applejack.
Rainbow Dash gulped.
"So... uh..."
She bore a crooked smile.
"So you're back together?"
Applejack gazed off down the orchards.
Rainbow blinked. "No?"
Applejack smiled. She looked at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash looked back.
"I told him..." Applejack took a deep breath. "...that I would give it some thought." The corners of her mouth curved and curved. She winked at Rainbow. "But yeah..." She mouthed, "We're back together."
Rainbow Dash blinked.
"He sure did throw me for a loop, did he?" Applejack shuffled around the barn, breathing. "Most self-respectin' mares would toss him flat on his flank and tell him to get lost after what he did."
"But... you're a self-respecting mare, AJ."
"Reckon so. But I also know when a pony's bein' honest with me. And Stu?" She sighed. "I've never seen him so honest before. So vulnerable. He ain't pullin' a fast one. Ain't like him. But... it's more than that. He's shown me a place where he needs help. And... I suppose I need to help him more than he needs to be helped... because there's a part of me that's missin' when he's gone."
"Oh yeah?"
"Mmmmhmmm..." Applejack nodded calmly. "Past all the tears and the anger and the fussy apple buckin'... I plum missed the dag-blame'd fool." She chuckled, glancing over at Rainbow. "But I wasn't about to give him all that on a silver platter."
"So... uh..." Rainbow cleared her throat. "What did he do after you said you'd 'give it some thought?'"
"Heh... dang varmint smiled, then keeled over and passed out."
"Snkkkt!"
"Slept the whole darn day on our couch. Ya shoulda seen Big Mac. He wanted to elbow drop him at every blink. Granny and I had to take shifts playin' bodyguard to the slumberin' fool."
"That... sounds awesome and yet it doesn't."
"Shoot..." Applejack shrugged. "Big Mac will get over it. That's just the thang. Life is short and dang complicated. If we dun get over our hang ups... all we'll ever do is hang ourselves and nothin' will ever get done... and nopony will be any the wiser." She exhaled. "Stu Leaves may be wishy-washy... but that's okay. He's... a part of me now." She gulped. "And... I-I just can't... let him go without givin' him a second chance. Especially now that everythang's all clear-like."
"Yeah, well..." Rainbow bore a nervous smile. "Good thing the moron came around, huh?"
"He didn't do it on his own."
"Huh?"
"Before he passed out... he managed to tell me the whole story about what happened the other day with them nasty twisters." Applejack turned to face Rainbow Dash. "He told me that you coached him on... practically threw him into the eye of the storm."
"Well, he was second tier on my team, AJ," Rainbow Dash said. "We were in the right place at the right time to stop that mess. If we couldn't do it... who would?"
"Yer many thangs, Rainbow Dash," Applejack said. "The least of which is modest."
"Huh?" Rainbow blinked.
"In the end, when all was down to the wire, it was only you and Stu inside that tornado. Now..." Applejack leaned her head to the side. "...are you gonna tell me that this here town's biggest and most boastful flier willingly let a silly stallion from Cloudsdale soak up the spotlight in her place?"
"What... are you getting at, AJ?"
"Heheh... all day and every day, I'm surrounded by varmints." Applejack bore a teary smile as she crossed the distance between them, then scooped Rainbow Dash into a tender hug. "What I'm gettin' at, sugarcube, is that you broke the mold around Stu's heart. It's all thanks to you that he found his courage... and... and I'm plum grateful." She sniffed, holding Rainbow Dash close. "You swept in and saved us... the two of us. Could... c-could there ever be a better friend than that?"
Rainbow Dash fought the mother of all lumps in her throat. "You... you know me, Applejack." She closed her eyes and cuddled the mare back, shuddering in the warm embrace. "I'm never gonna leave ya hanging. N-not for anything..."
Applejack sniffled. A tear or two trickled out onto her freckles. "It's... it's like I finally know where I am in life, Rainbow."
Rainbow bit her lip. "That's a darn good place to be. I'm... uh... I'm happy for you, AJ."
"Mmmmmm... reckon you are." At last, Applejack parted the hug. She shuddered and rubbed her cheek dry. "Whew... heavens to betsy, what a week."
"Well, thanks to Stu, at least you've got a day or two to relax, huh?" Rainbow smiled nervously.
"Pffft. Hogwash! I'm only ever relaxin' when I'm fussin' over somethin'!" Applejack winked. "Why don't you hang out for a while. I'll go fetch ya some grub."
"Heh..." Rainbow waved a hoof. "I'm okay, AJ. Believe me—"
"How 'bout some fresh cider for the tornado chaser?"
Rainbow's eyes bugged. "Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr that."
"Heheheheh..." Applejack led Rainbow Dash back to the farmhouse.
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6944745 That makes two of us, as I know what you mean.
6944909
You went there, didn't you?
6944911
Those two psychos? Let it go?
Not a chance.
6944915 Yep. I'm starting to think so, too.
Hence why I was wondering why I was even still reading this big long monster of a fic.
Like a lot of readers, I signed on with this for "AppleDashery", not "AppleStuery".
I honestly don't get it at this point, Applejack is VERY perceptive. I don't see anyway she could sensibly think Dash isn't in love with her.
Three chapters in one day again?!
You're going to spoil us doing this, Skirts.
Or could it be that you're moving things along to get to the "AppleDashery" bit of this whole thing faster?
Hmmmmmm.........
Nah.
There we go folks. It ends now. Please exit via the doors on the left and right of the screen and place your 3d glasses in the bins before you go.
I'm so done with this story
6945088 Even though we're never going to get any Appledashery whatsoever in this story at least it had cool fights and story arcs
6945086 That is the question, isn't it?
Unless this is some roundabout plan of hers to get Dash to 'fess up?
I do seem to remember her getting all moody and going on some tangents when Dash was off on some of her trips way before a certain idiot stallion came into the picture.
So there's that, too.
And on another note:
I know I've said this before, but.........
Best. Lines. Ever!!!
6945091 Nope.
That's just one of Skirts' nefarious red herrings.
Again.
6945099 I'm coming close to that myself, sadly.
6945108 Well, I'm withholding judgement and holding on myself.
Skirts has thrown us more curve-balls than a major pitcher in the last inning of Game 7 of the World Series in this thing, so we'll see.
6945091 I'm laughing so hard at that.
I love how this story is drawing out all the pessimism and saltyness in some of us.
It's amazing.
But really, the payoff is going to be huge.
as much of a rat bastard as Skirts is at this point. We all seem to forget that he can do really really good heart warming and string tugging along side his magnificent bastardry and epic action.
We should make a shirt when this is over, print an image of some Appledash cuddles with the words "I survived Stu Leaves" on the back.
After this chapter, I think I'll go reread Background Pony to cheer me up.
6945099 Hey cmon, this arc has to be over soon, don't go. The next arc is gonna go back to Rainbow kicking flank and we can forget all about the pain and rampant alcoholism this chapter caused.
Here's a very satisfying video to take your mind off this fic and its heartbreaking narrative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=51&v=4pceVKtXEoY
No... Why did you use that word... One-way cuddles? We got one way cuddles? That's not teasing... That's just cruel. I honestly have to consider if those were random cuddles or The Cuddles.
6945108 Honestly, I would have stoped reading Appledashery if not for the Austraeoh series. I'm used to reading them one after the other, and really, I have more hope to fInd appledash in Austraeoh than in Appledashery.
Anyway, in moment like this, is always good to make a little of catharsis wth this fragment from "Pony World Problems" a great SS&E fic.
6945109 You know what i'd like if we found out what's in her fucking hat
6945198 Ill probably keep reading it while i wait for advent of applejack updates, at least that has confirmed appledash in i
6945204 Yeah, me, too.
What does she keep in there, that she doesn't let anyone else see?
A picture if her parents?
A picture of Dash?
One of her feathers?
What?!
6945125
I wish I could give 100 likes for that shirt idea.
6945218 The only times she got defensive about it was when Dash went near it, but who cares anymore she probably tore up a picture of Dash and replaced with it with one of Stu or traded out Dash's feather for Stu's because fuck this story
6945218 knowing skirts, it's either the most generic thing it could possibly be, or something that absolutely NOBODY could guess.
6945125 Background Pony was heart warming and string tugging, yet people still curse his name for that story up to this day.
Not saying Background Pony is bad (I love it), but Skirts can take in a completely different path than we expected in a story, and he does it well, so we can only accept it. I wouldn't be surprised if Dash dies and AJ and Stu name their first filly after her, and we could just go "this was the best ending after all".
Anyways, I'm in this train till the last stop. Those leaving can contact me to ask if the reason that made them leave is still there.
6945043
Close enough. I'm from Wales; the unimportant, nigh-unnoticeable country that looks like an old lady jutting out of England's West side.
Aww, that was both heart-wrenching and adorable.
Come on you idiot. Now's your chance! Sweep her off her hooves and show her that you could be just as good for her!
6945643 Jesus fucking christ I'm just glad you said that so skirts for sure won't do it now. I'm just gonna start "Calling" depressing endings so Skirts won't do any of them.
They're having a cider together?
Hm...
I feel like this is gonna be one of those stories that has everything go really slowly until the end, where it's like, "And then they ****ed. The end."
Hopefully not.
Uups.
Well at least Rainbow Dash got acknowledged for one of her good deeds. By Applejack, of all ponies.
You know at this point the commenters' lack of basic reading comprehension annoys me far more than Stu Leaves ever did.
Like... am I the only one who looked at the title of the story? Am I the only one who knows what a 3-act narrative is? I'm genuinely deeply confused that anyone could honestly believe the absurd things folks in the comments are saying about StuJackery.
6945916
B-but Zap!
t-the appledashing....
/s
6945281
Well, that right there tells me something about what's actually in there, because if it was just a picture of her parents or the rest of her family, then why would she get so pissy, hostile and protective of it and not wanting Dash finding out what it actually is?
I'm still going with a pic of Dash and/or one of her feathers.
Her current "relationship" with Stu-pid Leaves be damned.
My blowing, bitching and aggravation aside, I still do.
Somehow I don't think so, in either case.
Well, like I said above (or a slight variation of that, nope.
6945312 Good point.
6945326 Hmmmm, true, and good point.
6945678 Again, good point.
And 2000 chapters?!
Oh, heavens! As much as I actually do like this story, I really do hope that it ain't quite that long!
Besides, I think someone on here in these comments said that Skirts said something in an interview that there were only something like 500 chapters left to go (which is still a heckuvva lot!), so I'm sure that the end of this is more in sight now that it was several chapters ago.
So, however disgruntled that I may get from time to time, I'm still in this til the end of it.
Frustrations and aggravations at certain events be damned.
6946136
Which was me. There's no need to rely on my somewhat questionable memory. Here's the interview. Go to the 39:15 mark.
[youtube=5Gv8crQgKJ8]
TL;DW version: at the time of the interview, 3 months ago, there was about one and a half years left to go, and it was approaching the end of the first of two and a half phases. He does have a plan.
6946272 Oh, okay.
Yeah, you're right, Sharp. I had forgotten that it was you.
Thanks for the reminder.
And thanks for the video. I've been meaning to find it and watch that bit of it.
Much obliged for you posting it here.
Thanks again for confirming all this, Sharp. I had a feeling he did, but it's just human nature to get aggravated and impatient and gripe about things when they aren't going a certain way (the way that the reader feels that they should, that is).
So, by the time reckoning of this, given that this interview was three months ago, the story only had like (approximately) 15 months (a year and three months) left to go before that Grand Finale.
That's still aways to go, and who knows what's going to happen to Dash and the gang next in the next chapters and months?
That said, I look forward to finding out along with everyone else.
6945916 Bah,,, we humans love to whine, It's just part of the show, I don't think It should be taken too seriously;, Skirts nows that mostly of us love his work and this fic, (wich is why we still read it and comment it), but he also likes to makes us suffer with chapters like this, and it seems just right that we make our part whinning profusely about it and wishing painfull deaths to Stu Leaves.
6946272 I'd be pretty surprised if people honestly think that skirts could write a 900k fic (so far) without having the story set out ahead. To me it's just a smaller austraeoh that isn't crushingly depressing at times.
derpicdn.net/img/2012/7/1/27899/large.png
Music starts at 00:20
Hold on to the girl you used to be
Don't forget who, who you're meant to be
I find it hard to watch you slip away
The colours surrounding you slowly fade to grey
I won't watch you walk around
Thinking you're not perfect
And tearing yourself down
And I can't stand to watch you fall
Keep on falling further
Until you hit the wall
Pick yourself back up
Turn it all around
The demons that surround you
Are buried in the ground
Forget all of your fears
And wipe away those tears
I need you to remember
I'm always here
You're fighting through the problems you can see
You're overwhelmed and all the other girls are mean
I won't watch you walk around
Thinking you're not perfect
And tearing yourself down
Pick yourself back up
Turn it all around
The demons that surround you
Are buried in the ground
Forget all of your fears
And wipe away those tears
I need you to remember
I'm always here
I know it's not easy
Being who you wanna be
But anybody else can see
You're perfect naturally
I know it's getting harder
But it'll only make you stronger
Take it from me
Pick yourself back up
Turn it all around
The demons that surround you
Are buried in the ground
Forget all of your fears
And wipe away those tears
I need you to remember
I'm always here
6945091
I would not be surprised, at this point, if JE just marked the story as complete. Cuddles have been achieved, GG.
6946577
Which parts of this story haven't been crushingly depressing? The adventure arcs I suppose?
6946136 actually, on the trip to Fillyda, she snapped at Stu when he tried to pick it up once.
Edit: Found it!
Chapter 388: Heads Up!
6947731 Okay, thanks.
I'd actually forgotten about that bit.
6945916 Right, to my knowledge, a 3 act narrative goes as follows:
Part 1 Is exposition and sets up the rest of the story, establishing characters.
Part 2 Is when the major Drama happens, and the protagonist(s) will often be at their lowest, all hope is lost etc.
Part 3 Is when the protagonist(s) work to solve the problems and overcome the drama.
So I guess we're on the cusp of 2 and 3 now. Dash has been at her lowest (we friggin hope) and is growing as a character.
We know that AppleDash is gonna happen later, we're just getting caught up in the story. It's like when you go to a play, you don't sit there the whole time thinking "meh, everythings gonna be fine in the end, whatever," you get involved in the performance and embrace all the twists and turns.
6948253
Yeah, getting lost in the story is cool and I understand that. I take no issue with people complaining about Stu or Applejack or any of it, because all of those things exist within the story. So it's totally understandable for people to get caught up in the story and want to vent about those things.
The trend in the comments that's been bothering me lately is complaints about the story itself and towards the author. If people are going to step outside of the story to complain about stuff like that, then they're no longer simply caught up in it. When you're at a play, you don't sit there thinking about the playwright and the title. Not if you're involved in the performance.
So yeah, if people want to hate Stu they can feel free (just as I'll feel free to disagree vehemently with them. )
But folks need to stop being all vaguely passive-aggressive towards the author himself and whining about what they think the ending might be even though it would go against the very title of the story! Just stop worrying so much about an ending that's probably two years away, and allow yourselves to get caught up in the story for a change.
Peace
6948633
6945916 While I entirely agree with you, I do feel you're not giving other commenters enough credit. I'm sure many of them (including me) are joking/having fun we they post the typicall "studashery" comments. I can only even recall one comment where someone directly called out the author in a non playful way.
6946272
That was real interesting to listen to. Where's my interview! /rabblerabble
I'd love some spice to go with this story, but all I can find down here in the comments is SALT. DELICIOUS SALT.
6945086
Does Applejack know that Dash is a mares only gal though?
6945172
Wow. That comment was STUNNING. I approve.
Whoo this story has been a ride. Even now, with things working out for AJ and stu... I don't know how this is gonna work out for Aj and Stu, let alone Dash. things shift in so many unpredictable ways Heh.
6948326
technically we don't know the ending so there's that plus one of the most interesting things about skirts is that you can almost never know what the guy has in store for you. This could end up being a StuJack story even though the title is different. This could go any way Skirts/JE wants it too, and that's what the fun is about.