Author's Note: Is anybody in Canada? It's really cold in my area. Like, Pluto cold. It's freezing. I opened my back door and I was instantly blinded as the heat + outside ocurred. I also lost my ability to breathe for like, six hours. But yeah, it's cold and I'm writing this story in a warm setting. I'll be so damn confused.

Special thanks to user Civille/Bellum_Civille as my editor. Please check out his stories, especially the Pinkie-verse and Old Friends.

Chapter 2.8:

Bathing and Eating

Rainbow woke up with a shiver. She felt more chilled at the moment. These blankets had an odd layering. Her bed had several layers of blankets, this only had a bed sheet and a comforter. Applejack's bed had less layers than Rainbow's cloud bed, but she stayed warm somehow...

She sat up in bed, examining the room. The sky outside was blue; not yet sunrises. What gives? Now she's getting up earlier than the workhorse? Either she's got major anxiety and is totally eager for waking up, or her body just decided sleep was no longer important. Must be the latter, because she was already feeling wide awake. She looked around the slightly dim room and spotted Applejack's bed. Rainbow merely let her eyes adjust to the darkness as she thought.

Meanwhile, Applejack was lying in bed, wide awake and not getting up. She didn't wanna bother Rainbow Dash and wake her up but getting back to sleep was just out of the question. Then.. shuffling? Was Rainbow awake? No, she's just shifting in her sleep.

Back at Rainbow's rollaway bed, she merely decided to get up. She wasn't much of a morning pony but at least she could wash up early. She pushed the covers off of her and rolled out of bed, doing a stretch while letting out a long yawn. Applejack didn't know how to react to Rainbow being awake, but decided to say something.

"G'mornin', sugarcube." Applejack said quietly.

Rainbow flinched, having been startled by Applejack speaking. She looked over, not seeing Applejack sitting up at all.

"Did I wake you?" Rainbow asked as she gave her wings a stretch.

"Not at all, Rainbow. Ah've been awake fer quite some time but ah haven't gotten up since ah didn't want t' wake ya." Applejack said, sitting up slowly in her bed.

There was enough light to make out part of Applejack; left side of her face, left side of her body... again, the light glow of blue.

"I just sorta woke up, and I already feel awake." Rainbow said while she walked over and sat down on the edge of Applejack's bed.

Applejack quickly rubbed her eyes, letting out a yawn of her own as her body started to wake up.

"Same, but ah reckon my body decided it doesn't wanna wake up... but never mind me, ah think ya'll should go an take a proper bath. Ah won't be up fer some time." Applejack said.

Rainbow thought for a second. "Actually, could you try to get up now?" Rainbow asked as she looked back at her wings.

"What for... *yawn* sugarcube?" she asked, rubbing her eyes again.

"Can you help me scrub my wings? It's always a pain and takes me way too long. I don't scrub them often because of that." Rainbow said.

Applejack yawned again. This time, Rainbow herself yawned. Both let out a giggle as they finished yawning.

"Well okay. Give me a secon'. Could ya go an start runnin' th' bath?" Applejack asked as she shifted a bit in the bed, pulling the covers off of her.

Rainbow hopped off the edge of Applejack's bed and stretched her wings once more before walking over to the door.

"Alright then, thanks." Rainbow said before she opened the door, stepping out into the hallway.

Rainbow closed the door, hearing Applejack say "You're welcome" before she did so and walked down the hall towards the staircase, trying to make as least noise as possible. She approached the staircase and in her sleepy daze, attempted to remember where she had to go after. She looked to her right, spotting Granny Smith's room. To the right of her room was Big Mac, then on the end was Applejack's room. Across from Big Macintosh's room was Applebloom and inbetween that room and the staircase was...

"Ah, the bathroom." Rainbow said.

Rainbow quietly opened the door, unable to prevent the creaking caused by the old doorhinge. She stepped in and did the usual morning necessities; using the toilet,, rinsing off, locating a towel, flossing her teeth, and then walked over to the Apple family's bathtub. It was one Rainbow used a few times and learned how to set just perfectly. She turned the hot water tap, letting the hot water pour in first as it quickly dispensed the cold water left in the head of the faucet. After a while, the bathroom steamed up a bit from the hot water. Rainbow took this as her que to turn on the cold water and proceed to balance it. She placed her hoof under the water and immediately retracted it. The water was blazing hot. She turned the cold water a few centimetres, only to discover now the water was lukewarm. She sighed and adjusted the cold water tap ever so slightly and found it was right on the dot. She plugged the tub and proceeded to let it fill up. There were a few hoofsteps outside and the bathroom door creaked open again.

"Ya should prob'ly get used t' it faster if ya jus' jump in. A lil' chilly out this mornin', a lil' hot water could wake ya right up." Applejack said as she closed the door behind her.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and watched as the tub filled up. It slowly met the halfway point and she let it fill up a little bit more after that; 6/8ths at the most. Rainbow let out another yawn as she turned off the taps, stepping into the tub. The warmth in contrast to her chilled body sent shivers down Rainbow's spine. She stepped her other hoof in, not experiencing as large as a shiver. She placed her back hooves in the tub and did one more stretch before kneeling down, letting her body be coated by the hot water. Her wings felt a tingle as the feathers got wet.

"Ah, jeez, I don't usually have water this hot in my cloud home. It usually stays at the perfect temperature. I should get up early just to use your shower." Rainbow said as she dunked her head in.

Applejack just sat and waited for Rainbow to finish up her initial wetting. She giggled for a few seconds as Rainbow just seemed so out of character right now. She over to a small shelf next to the bath and picked up a small water scoop. After a few more seconds, Applejack's smile turned into an odd frown. Rainbow's staying underwater a little too long. Applejack edged towards the tub to check on Rainbow. She peered over the edge of the tub and Rainbow Dash shot her head upwards, her wild spectral mane yanking water out of the tub and flinging the warm water all over. Applejack let out a small shout as the warm droplets of water splashed onto her face and mane.

"Haha, you should see the look on your face Applejack." Rainbow said as she leaned back in the tub, stretching out her backlegs.

Applejack snorted and let out a few chuckles before starting to giggle. Rainbow only noticed now Applejack's mane wasn't tied up near the end as usual and hung out over her shoulders. It made Applejack seem more alluring than normal. More... Rainbow just wanted to nuzzle up next to Applejack and mess up her mane, just ruggedly move her hooves through it. It was so loose and free and... wow, now Rainbow was thinking about messing up Applejack's hair.

"Heh heh, okay, ya got me there." Applejack said as she stretched once more.

That's all this morning was. Stretching and yawning. Rainbow was starting to get aggravated. She heard somewhere that even thinking about yawning would make somepony yawn.

. . .

"*yawn*" Rainbow cursed herself mentally as she confirmed that small rumour. She ignored her thoughts afterwards because next thing she knew, there was a jug of water being poured on her head. Applejack let out a chuckle as she finished pouring the water atop of Rainbow's head.

"Y'know, this isn't really doing anything." Rainbow said as she leaned forward and grabbed a scrubby in her hoof.

Applejack shrugged as she placed the jug on the ground and sat on the lid of the toilet seat, watching as Rainbow began to scrub her body. Applejack intently watched as Rainbow washed herself. Rainbow's trying her hardest not to be nervous, but to no avail. She didn't know why, but her nerves are on edge.

Applejack was thinking hard. Rainbow really does act girly depending on the situation and bathing most definitely was one of them; Rainbow was taking her time the way Rarity would, she was checking to make sure she had the essential washing done in a fashion Twilight would praise her for... it almost made Applejack chuckle but for the moment, she held back. Applying various soaps and shampoos that were labelled "Applejack" (with permission of course) .Finally, Rainbow stopped scrubbing herself and lifted her wings up, her wet feathers making them heavy.

"Alright, only the wings left. Can you start?" Rainbow asked as she held one wing out.

Applejack was glad it was slightly steamy inside the room otherwise her light blush would be visible. Watching Rainbow was slightly hilarious as it was a contrast to her usual personality but Rainbow was still a girl. Applejack's usually the same. When it came to washing, it was probably the girliest thing she did.

Applejack reached a hoof into the tub, grabbing the scrubby with her hoof. She reached out and tapped Rainbow's wing, testing to see what bothered Rainbow. Rainbow didn't retract her wing but it did twitch at the quick contact. Applejack rubbed the cyan wing in an attempt to get more familiar with the feathered flying tool. She felt Rainbow's wing grow stiff. Rainbow's face wasn't visible but it was blushing. The repeated strokes to her sensitive wings felt good. They usually don't get much of a massage and are given a rather rough treatment most of the time due to the constant crashing and over-exhaustion. This stimulation is a nice break from all the chaos she causes to her wings. Applejack finally decided to stop prodding Rainbow's wings and began to scrub it gently from the base up.

Rainbow let out a sigh as Applejack scrubbed her wing. This was exactly like a massage and... and...

"This totally doesn't count as my massage." Rainbow said as she broke the silence.

Applejack continued to gently scrub Rainbow's wings up to the tips before moving in to the inner feathers. She cocked an eyebrow at Rainbow's comment.

"Ah didn' think this was a massage. Why, feel like one t' ya?" Applejack asked as she dunked the scrubby back into the soapy water.

"What! No!" Rainbow said defensively, her wings pulling out of Applejack's hoof as she stood in the tub. She didn't notice that her blush was fully revealed to Applejack. Applejack couldn't help but smile as she noticed Rainbow's blush and her reaction. It was... cute? Yeah, she could say that. "I mean, uh, kinda. It's relaxing." Rainbow said as she loosened up a bit, allowing her wings to be gripped by Applejack once more.

"Y'know, ah've always wondered what it feels like t' have wings an how sensitive they are." Applejack said as she began to scrub once more.

Rainbow felt each stroke to her wings as a gentle massage instead of a proper scrubbing. This is absolutely relaxing. She attempted to focus a little bit more so she could reply.

"Mmm... well, you could always ask Twilight to give you temporary wings." Rainbow replied absentmindedly.

Applejack gently scrubbed the remaining feathers before letting go of the wing.

"Next wing, sugarcube." Applejack requested as she held out her hoof to grab Rainbow's next wing.

Rainbow complied, lifting her right wing up, letting her left wing drop into the water again. The scrubbed wing felt an odd pang of numbness as it reentered the warm water. It was noticeably cooling off to Rainbow but at the moment, she didn't care in the slightest. Today, she was going to work hard... but fast. She had already acted so much different than her usual self that at this rate, she's going to be sporting an attitude resembling Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Hardworking, girly, and caring... but about what? She stopped thinking, the thought of a Rari...Flutter...Jack personality just sounded weird.

"So, t'day, ah was thinkin', we could buck faster an get th' job done early." Applejack said as she finished rubbing one side of the right wing.

Rainbow's ear twitched. Early? That sounded nice but Applejack wasn't one for breaking the schedule.

"Why? Got plans or something?" Rainbow asked as she began to adjust to the relaxation, thoughts becoming easier.

Rainbow could feel it; Applejack's almost done. She really should ask for more "help" with scrubbing her wings. Applejack was busy finishing up the scrubbing, putting as much attention as possible into scrubbing the last bit of wing still left. Rainbow simply enjoyed the rare sensation until finally...

"All done, sugarcube." Applejack said with a proud smile.

Rainbow let her wing drop back into the water. Enough time passed that the water was a cool temperature. She was busy focusing on the sensation in her wings to actually care about the water temperature.

"Thanks, Apples." Rainbow said as she moved her hoof through the murky water and unplugged the tub, the water starting to drain.

"Yer welcome, RD. Anyways, ah've got some plans an I was hopin' ya could join." Applejack said as she placed the scrubby into the same little basket Rainbow got it out of.

Rainbow stepped out of the tub, getting a slight chill from the air. The steam prevented a shiver from escaping. Applejack opened a cupboard up and grabbed a towel, tossing it at Rainbow. It landed atop her head just perfectly covering her face. Both ponies snorted at this and Rainbow grabbed it in her hoof by a corner, allowing it to unfold before vigorously rubbing her wet mane with the towel.

"Elaborate, Applejack. My schedule is already... actually, I don't really have much of a schedule." Rainbow said as she finished reducing her sloppy wet mane to a damp, crazed mess.

"Well, ah was figurin' we could take a break from all this Apple Spectrum an work stuff an jus' mess aroun'. Play a few games o' horseshoes, race fer a bit, heck, ah'd even be interested in some o' yer tricks." Applejack said as she sat back down atop the toilet lid as she waited for Rainbow to finish.

Rainbow pondered the thought as she began to scrub her tail with the slightly damp towel. She forgot there was a mat on the bathroom floor and was suddenly thankful for it. She was dripping a lot of residue water.

"Sounds good actually. I haven't earned any bragging rights in days." Rainbow said as she gave her tail a much more thorough scrubbing than her mane.

Applejack nudged Rainbow's left wing, letting out a few chuckles. "Heheh, don' get too ahead of yerself, Rainbow. Ya haven't won anythin' yet." Applejack said as she stood up, staring into the mirror.

Rainbow was feeling a little more cramped with both Applejack and herself standing up. The bathroom wasn't the worlds smallest but it sure felt like it at the moment.

"My track record speaks for itself more than enough." Rainbow said as she finished the initial dry of her tail and proceeded to rub the towel over her body.

"Track record o' cheatin' is somethin' t' fear, ah guess." Applejack said, obvious challenge in her voice while she quickly brushed her mane; a simple habit she started after her sleepover with Rarity at Twilight's.

Rainbow slowed her drying, staring at the golden Earth pony just as Applejack turned her head to meet Rainbow's gaze. Both had their game face on but were also blushing. Rainbow was certain it was just the heat of the room. The steam itself was dying down... dying down slowly.

Rainbow simply stared, before letting off a sigh along with a small smile. "Okay, fine. I cheat often, but no more." Rainbow said, stomping her hoof lightly.

Applejack simply stared coldly at Rainbow, attempting to hide a smile. Rainbow spotted this but still let out a giggle. Applejack eventually did as well.

"Okay, I'll try not to cheat. Just, kinda natural for me to use my wings so sometimes, it can't be helped." Rainbow said as she went back to drying off her coat.

Applejack smiled but didn't let out a laugh. She instead bore a somewhat sad smile.

"Ah guess there was a bit of sore loser durin' th' first Iron Pony... ah did think that usin' wings was cheatin' but it was natural so ah can't fault you fer that. Ah'm sorry." Applejack said as she sat back down on the lid of the toilet seat.

Rainbow stopped chuckling and had a similar expression to Applejack. "I should have placed myself in your shoes (Celestia knows I'm certainly trying now). It still wasn't fair... but we were both getting tired and I was pretty much using all I had. I'm sorry for... what I just said." Rainbow said, finishing off her drying.

"Ah, we both had ourselves a fit o cheatin' over those few days." Applejack paused. "So what do ya wanna do first after work?" Applejack asked as she waited for Rainbow to finish up.

"Um, how about..." she proceeded to start drying her hair again, this time doing it completely. "we go for a run first. Just around the acres. Start at your porch, run to the edge of Whitetail Wood, run over to the lake and run back to the barn. No tricks." Rainbow said as she finished completely drying her mane; her towel starting to get really damp.

"Sounds perfect. After, we can take a quick break, an how 'bout horseshoes?" Applejack asked as Rainbow finished up her mane.

"After horseshoes, there's something I wanna do over at the lake. That will probably be the last thing before dinner since the last thing I wanna do is best done over a while." Rainbow said, scrubbing her tail; her mane a frazzled mess of colours.

Applejack pondered, hoof on her chin and brow raised. "Huhn, sounds good but what is it ya wanna do?" she asked, rocking back and forth slightly to pass time.

Rainbow finished up with drying her tail and began to finish up with her coat.

"Go for a swim?" she half asked, half stated.

Applejack thought for a second before nodding her head.

"Soun's good, sugarcube. Ah haven't had a proper swim in a while unless you count our splash a few days ago as a swim." Applejack said.

Rainbow finished up her coat before tossing the towel into a nearby basket. She quickly shook her entire body for good measure. Now her mane and tail were just poofy.

"Splashing around like a fish out of water isn't swimming." Rainbow said as she picked up another brush that was much smaller than the one Applejack had. Probably Applebloom's.

Applejack continued to brush her hair without realizing she was far done.

"That sentence don't even make no sense. Fish don't splash like fish outta water when in water, Rainbow." Applejack said as she finally realized she should stop, setting the brush down on the shelf next to the tub.

"Whatev's. Let's get the show on the roooooad." Rainbow said as she aggressively brushed her mane and tail. A few seconds later, Rainbow was done, her mane and tail at its usual straight, Rainbow Dash style.

"Alright, let's get breakfast and get t' work. Ah'm all hyped up fer th' day, now." Applejack said as she walked back to her room to grab her hairbands and her trademark stetson.

The day progressed at the usual AppleDash bucking rate; Big Macintosh more or less got more free time, courtesy of Rainbow's help and Applejack's insistence since he works too much. Rainbow snorted mentally at the irony but didn't dare mention Applebuck Season again. The day was full of energetic bucking; both ponies were full of enthusiasm for the later day that the exhaustion was almost non-existent. Their hype was like caffeine, tricking the body into thinking it has more energy when it doesn't. That lunch better be packed full otherwise Rainbow Dash and Applejack are going to crash and burn so hard they can't even eat dinner.

When lunch did come around, the two ponies tried their best to burst in the doors to devour a hearty lunch they were absolutely certain was being made (Big Macintosh was quite visibly making a lot of things in the kitchen window). Instead, they slowly crawled up the steps of the porch and almost couldn't open the door. Both ponies were panting like they ran six marathons with no breaks.

"L... lunch... ready... please, dear Celestia, please..." Applejack begged as she dragged her hooves across the wooden floors, Rainbow doing the same except tripping on her drooping wings.

Big Macintosh merely watched as the two mares slouched in like zombies to sit at the table where he had an apple pie, several hay sandwiches, and apple juice waiting. Rainbow and Applejack practically teleported at the sight, Big Mac not bothering to question it. It was safer that way with Applejack and her friends. Applejack and Rainbow were both preventing drooling gazes at the food strewn about the table.

"... dig in." Big Mac said as he walked over to the table, sitting down at the end.

Applejack and Rainbow both went directly for a hay sandwich, grabbing each others hoof. A quick light blush and an instant separation of hooves later, they reached for sandwiches on the opposite ends of the tray. Rainbow brought it back and smelled it. The bread wasn't the typical crusted stuff but the kind she enjoyed most; panini. Everything couldn't have made this first bite any better... except for being swarmed by fans, maybe. She chuckled before taking a bite of the hay sandwich.

"So how did ya know I prefer panini bread?" Rainbow asked, swallowing a mouth full of hay and bread.

Applejack was just gnawing away at her sandwiches' crust while Big Mac finished his first sandwich already... of course.

"S'all ya pack fer lunch on trips, sugarcube." Applejack said in between bites.

Rainbow thought before shrugging. Sounded satisfactory. She proceeded to devour the small sandwich as her empty stomach filled itself. This continued for a few minutes, eating sandwiches. Rainbow gulped a bit of apple juice now and then, Applejack waiting until done a sandwich before taking a sip. Big Mac gulped down half a bottle every three sandwiches until there wasn't any left.

"So, we got a bit more buckin' t' do since Rainbow and ah worked extra hard t'day." Applejack said as she reached over to grab a slice of apple pie.

"Eeyup." Big Mac replied in his usual monotonic voice, mimicking Applejack.

"We're doing some... stuff after dinner." Rainbow said, not feeling like going into detail as she also grabbed a slice of pie.

Rainbow wasn't sure but only guessed; Granny Smith was taking a nap. She hasn't really been "in it" the past few days. "Senile old woman." she thought to herself, smirking as she bit into the apple pie.

It was exactly like in Troronto. The same sensation as she bit into the Apple Family's trademark baked good. The warmth, the cinnamon, the sauce... she wasn't even paying attention to the pie, already having been stuffed full of sandwiches. She regretted that because she almost fell out of her chair after very uncharacteristically swooning as the flavour hit her full force. Thankfully Big Macintosh and Applejack were busy talking to each other about their activities later.

"... some horseshoes, then a dip in the lake 'fore dinner." Applejack said, finishing a slice of pie.

"Eeyup." Big Mac said as he did the same.

Rainbow was far behind in terms of food eating at the moment. She just felt rather distracted and at the same time, ever so focused on events yet to happen.

"Ah'll put this in th' fridge so Applebloom can have some when she gets here." Applejack said, picking up the pie and walking back into the kitchen area.

Rainbow merely lay her head down to rest as she finished the warm pie, not objecting to Applejack removing it. Big Mac cleared off the table around Rainbow as time seemed to speed up for her. After a few seconds, Applejack walked back into the dining area and tapped Rainbow's mane.

"Let's go." she said with her trademark smiles.

Author's Note: Rushed ending. I won't finish by my birthday. Sorry guys.

Special thanks to user Civille/Bellum_Civille as my editor. Please check out his stories, especially the Pinkie-verse and Old Friends.