Letting Go | Appledash

Chapter One: A Helping Hand

Chapter One: A Helping Hand

Rainbow Dash was reminded of the day's events when she awoke to her alarm clock in the morning. It was the weekend, usually meaning she was allowed to sleep in. But not today. Today, she had plans.

Ever since last week she had noticed Applejack being especially stressed. The girl had appeared at school with dark bags under her eyes and constant yawns and fidgeting. In just a matter of days, she earned an impressive amount of annoyed glances from her classmates and concerned ones from her friends. Rainbow Dash really couldn't tell if the blonde didn't care or if she'd simply been too exhausted to notice, but whenever she tried asking her about it, she was hastily brushed off. It wasn't until Applejack came to see Rainbow after class one day that she realized what had been the cause of the girl's stress.

Applejack worked hard on her family's farm on top of studying. Rainbow never understood how the girl had the time and energy for it, but she did. Well, for the most part. Apparently not anymore, though. She had come to request Rainbow's help in pie-making for an upcoming party, and normally, Rainbow would've said no, but at that moment she couldn't. Applejack was her best friend and would normally rather drop dead than ask for a helping hand. Dash was in no position to reject her.

And so, her morning sleep had to be sacrificed. She groaned as she rolled off the bed to get ready. Truthfully, Rainbow was a little nervous; she'd never actually baked before. Or at least she didn't think she had. She could hardly imagine passing ingredients to a bouncing-off-the-walls-like-the-kitchen-was-Sky-Zone-Pinkie counted as baking.

Speaking of Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash couldn't understand why on earth Applejack hadn't asked her for help instead. The party girl was a great baker and would be more than eager to assist. She would no doubt be of more help to the blonde.

Rainbow ran through the options in her head. Maybe Pinkie was unavailable today? Too much party planning on her schedule? No, that couldn't be it. Pinkie Pie being unavailable was still no excuse for Applejack to ask Rainbow Dash. Quite literally anyone else in the entire world would be a more suitable choice for the position. Unless Applejack was into pies with the appearance of overcooked artichokes, that is.

Dash took a mental note to ask the blonde about it later.

—

It was later. Rainbow had just reached her destination after finishing a walk through the lively town. She was about to knock on the barn door at Sweet Apple Acres, but to her dismay, it flew open before allowing her the time to even raise her hand.

Applejack blinked at her in surprise before smiling. "Well howdy, Rainbow! You're awful early."

"I am?" Rainbow asked. She thought she was late.

"Yup, but that's great," AJ said as she trotted past the girl towards a row of barrels. "I was actually just startin' to get a bit worried bout all the things we had to get done."

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but take note of the blonde's upbeat demeanor compared to how she'd been acting at school for the past few days. Maybe she finally got to rest a little since the day Dash had promised to help.

"Well good for you, being friends with the fastest girl in town and all," the polychromic girl said with a grin. She proudly stretched her legs out as an act of display. Applejack rolled her eyes before bending over, and Dash curiously watched as she picked up one of the barrels.

"It's freshly picked apples," the girl explained. She nodded her head towards the direction of the other containers. "Care to give me a hand?"

"Sure," Rainbow replied, walking over. She tightly wrapped her arms around one of the barrels and lifted, surprised to find it a lot heavier than anticipated. She could obviously still carry it – I mean, no big deal since she's super strong and all – but the task had admittedly looked ten times easier when done by Applejack. Dash grunted lowly as she adjusted the heavy object in her arms.