Chapter Text
One month, $40k. Applejack couldn’t afford to pass this up. The harvest hadn’t been as plentiful as usual this year, and they were missing that extra money they were used to having on the farm. It was hard to leave the family for a whole month, but she figured $40k would solve any issues the family ran into on their own while she was gone. Besides, shepherding was one of Applejack’s specialties.
The field was only a day and a half horse ride from the farm. Applejack and her steed, Winona, reached the acreage on a Wednesday, just as the sun was cresting the horizon. Ponyville had transitioned into spring two months ago, but up on the mountain, snow still covered most of the ground, and bleached the skies with clouds.
Her and the other hire were to meet at the stable near the foot of the mountain. Applejack arrived on the frost-crusted scene at eight am, bags packed and ready. Twenty minutes passed, and no one else showed. She circled the area on Winona to get a lay of the land. According to the note, there was a cabin and another stable a few miles East, up the mountain. When ten more minutes passed with no sign of a partner, Applejack decided to find the cabin and start settling.
With spring arriving, the forest already showed signs of life; a few birds sang, and rabbits darted off at the sound of Winona’s hooves approaching. Applejack breathed in the cool, fresh air and sighed with relief. It felt good to be alone, and outdoors. Home had just felt too warm and cramped lately.
Applejack immediately chastised herself for saying it. Sweet Apple Acres was everything to her. It was family, work, decades of tradition, and most importantly, it was home. The thought occurred to her then, that “home” would have a very different meaning in two months' time. She shook the thought away as the cabin came into view.
“Shack” described it better. Someone had painted the outside a light blue at one time, which now was almost entirely peeled off. It sat unevenly on the frozen ground, the door wide open, just a few meters from a rickety looking stable.
After the blinding sun reflecting on the snow, the inside of the stable seemed uncommonly dark. As Applejack’s eyes adjusted, she thought she heard something coming from a stable to her left. Whispers, and the distinct crunch of horse teeth.
“Who’s that?” she asked loudly. The whispering stopped. Applejack’s eyes adjusted as she stepped further in, and saw a young woman feeding a dappled horse. She seemed strong- not bulky like Applejack, but lean and agile. Her skin seemed darker, too, though it was hard to tell in the dim lighting. It was the multi colored hair that gave her away. She squinted at Applejack through the darkness with narrow, bold eyes.
Now, Applejack wasn’t friends with Rainbow Dash perse, but she had known her, and seen her around Ponyville. She was a semi-professional athlete, so they only ever had time for glimpses. She was a runner, if Applejack wasn’t mistaken.
“Rainbow Dash?”
“Yeah.” Rainbow. “And you’re…” she snapped her fingers. “That cowgirl that just got engaged to that wealthy woman.”
“Applejack.”
“You’re marrying Applejack?”
“No, dumbass, I’m Applejack.” She walked Winona in by the reigns and led her to a stall opposite Rainbow’s. “So you’re the other hire I’m gonna work with?”
“No,” Rainbow scoffed, “I just like to ride Tank into the mountains, miles away from civilization for fun.”
Applejack nodded to Rainbow’s horse. “Tank?”
“Yep.” Rainbow patted Tank’s nose. “And what’s yours?”
“Winona.” Applejack closed the gate and grabbed a pitchfork leaning against a wall and began heaping hay into the stall. “You didn’t wait for me at the first stable.”
Rainbow shrugged. “Didn’t seem necessary. And I wanted first dibs on beds.”
“Ah. So I assume you’ve already marked your territory?”
“I wish. There’s only one bed in that dump, and it’s fucking broken.”
Applejack finished scooping hay and sighed. “Good thing I brought my tools.”
“Oh, you’re a carpenter?”
“I dabble.”
“Thank god. Maybe you can fix the door.”
Applejack frowned. “Doesn’t close?”
“Doesn’t exist.”
Applejack curled her lips in and nodded. “Got it.”
“Yeah. Sheep are kept in the shed down that way-” she nodded toward the stable’s exit, “And their pasture is right next to it. I explored it a bit before you got here.” She patted Tank once more and turned to leave the stable. “Do you think you could get that door done by nightfall? It’s gonna be fucking freezing, I just know it.” And with that, she left.
While Applejack tended to Winona, Rainbowdash began unpacking. Why did her partner have to be Applejack? Wasn’t she busy with some apple orchard or something? Didn’t she have a fiance to tend to?
Rainbow remembered seeing Applejack over the years- she remembered watching her grow older and stronger, and - well, hotter. Applejack was Ponyville’s butch darling, and everyone knew it, most of all Rainbowdash. Being a couple years younger than her, she used to follow her around when they were kids. She looked up to her, in a way. Applejack was the toughest pony she knew, and she never could decide if she wanted to be her, or be with her. She never got to form a proper bond, though, as Applejack was always working, and Rainbow always training. Besides, Rainbow always suspected Applejack wouldn’t want her company. Despite being an athlete, Rainbow was known for being lazy, and arrogant. Not to mention masculine. Surely, Applejack preferred more delicate, graceful women. Like Rarity.
No, no part of Rainbowdash wanted to get closer to the cowgirl. Not even a little bit. Not even the part that had never fully recovered from falling head over heels in love with her at eleven years old. Nope, not even her.
So, hoping to erase her past of being her little tag along as children, Rainbowdash had pretended not to know her. Whether it worked or not hardly mattered. They would talk as little as possible, and at the end of the month, they would part, Applejack would marry rich, and neither would ever think of the other again. Hopefully.
As it turned out, doors could not be built and hanged within the span of a few hours. Applejack spent the day chopping down trees, both for more firewood for the furnace inside, and to build the door. Rainbow kept to herself in the cabin, much to Applejack’s frustration. She carried the last bundle inside and set them on the floor with a huff.
“Sure you don’t want to give me a hand, SugarCube?”
Rainbowdash sat on the broken bedframe with a book on her lap, creating a dent in the opposite wall with a baseball she had found under the dresser. “Nah,” she said, “I’m no good at that.” Then, clearly feeling some remorse, added, “But uh… hey, you can have the broken bed. I’ll sleep on the floor tonight.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow at her, but when Rainbow refused to look away from her book, Applejack gave up, and began getting ready for bed.
“I’m gonna change.” she said at one point. She had to say it twice, as Rainbow was still engrossed in her book. “Do you care?”
“Ok.” was all Rainbow said.
It was clear to Applejack at this point that her partner would perceive very little while reading, and since the Cabin was one room, she changed into her pajamas just two feet away from her.
Rainbowdash saw an array of back muscles from the corner of her eye and did, in fact, glance up from the book, but only for a moment. As soon as she registered that it was Applejack’s body she was seeing, she snapped her gaze back to the pages, and tried to fight the blood rushing to her cheeks.