Applejack cleared row after row of the southern orchard, filling her cart to the brim, emptying it, and starting again. She hummed as she worked, her awful morning forgotten as she replayed lunch in her head. The sun moved across the sky as she went, and by midafternoon, Applejack was fairly certain she had regained all of her lost ground.

Setting baskets up around a trunk, a flick of color caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Rainbow Dash’s tail swung in a lazy arc from the branches of a tree towards the end of the row. A mischievous grin spread across her face. She bucked her current tree and waited for the baskets to fill. As the last apple fell, she sauntered down the row. She kicked the tree and whipped around to stand on her hindlegs, sweeping her hooves wide to catch the tumbling Rainbow.

Rainbow slid sideways. Her back legs sprung shut around the branch, and instead of falling, she swung like a pendulum. Applejack caught a glimpse of Rainbow’s bright and playful eyes before hooves wrapped around her back. She yelped as she was hoisted from the ground, carried through the upswing, and dropped on the branch. Rainbow grinned at her.

“Hey, AJ.”

Applejack straightened her hat and gave her friend a bewildered look. “Were…were you pretendin’ to be asleep?”

“Only since you started the row; figured I could finally get you back.” Rainbow sat back against the trunk and crossed her forelegs behind her head. “Totally worth it.”

Applejack snorted and shook her head. “Welp, fair’s fair; ya got me good.”

“Damn straight.” Rainbow chuckled. She leaned forward and smiled at Applejack. “So how’s things?”

Straightening on the branch, Applejack tried to get comfortable. She smirked at Rainbow. “Fine ‘n dandy. Busy with the harvest, mostly. Ya know how it is. How’s things with you? Twi said y’all’re all settled in now, how’s that goin’?”

“Good. Little weird. Never lived on the ground before, but it’s cool; Twi’s awesome and it’s great to see her all the time.”

“That’s good ta hear. I was tellin’ Twi it was just a matter a’ time between y’all.” She looked off the side of the branch at the ground, then back to her waiting baskets.

Rainbow’s smile fell. “…You’re all busy, huh?”

Glancing back up, she offered her friend an apologetic shrug. “Sorry, Dash. It’s Applebuck Season an’ all.” She took a breath and hopped down from the tree. Rainbow settled on the ground next to her.

“Can I help? I was hoping to hang out with you a little.”

“Aw, did’ja miss me, too? Skippin’ a Saturday throws you two off somethin’ fierce.” Applejack glanced over her shoulder and winked at Rainbow. She grabbed a basket and emptied it into the cart. “Extra set a’ hooves never hurt. You know the drill.”

Rainbow helped empty out the baskets and set them up around the next tree. “And the thing that sucked the worst about it was we were pretty much done before dinner. We totally could have done stuff with you.” She shook her head, then smirked at Applejack. “But are you saying you weren’t bummed about Saturday?”

“Now, I didn’t say one word a’ that.” She bucked the tree. “Gettin’ to be that Saturdays are the best part of the whole dang week.” As she bent down to lift a basket, she felt Rainbow nuzzle her neck.

“Wanna fool around, then?”

An initial protest died in her throat; she found herself pressing into Rainbow without thinking about it. She closed her eyes and leaned away from the apples, rubbing against her friend, savoring the contact. “…Ya know, I’d really love to,” she murmured, “but I got work ta do.”

Rainbow’s voice dropped further to an inviting tease. “I’ll still help, let’s just take a ‘break’ first.” She spread her wing across Applejack’s back, drawing their bodies closer.

“Gonna eat up a bunch a’ time findin’ somewhere private.”

“Let’s just do it here.” She kissed Applejack’s neck from shoulder to jaw.

“H-here? In the open?”

“Who’s gonna find us? We’re all alone. Your brother’s on the other side of the farm, Granny Smith’s in the house, and I always see your sister hanging out with Scoots and Sweetie Belle ‘til after it’s dark. When’s the last time somepony bugged you while you were working?” She nibbled up her lover’s ear.

Applejack turned in the loose embrace to stroke Rainbow’s side, ruffling the feathers at the base of her friend’s wing. She tried to keep the amusement out of her voice. “My brother this mornin’.”

Rainbow shrugged, working her way back down. “Ever been bugged twice in the same day?”

“Then Spike showed up a little after that.”

“…Three times, then?”

Applejack’s smug grin widened. “Spike came on account a’ Twi invitin’ me to lunch.”

Rainbow breathed a grunt of frustration into Applejack’s neck. “Four. Four times.”

“I seem to recall gettin’ yanked into a tree not too long ago.”

Rainbow leaned back and caught Applejack’s eyes. “Ever been bugged five times in one day?”

Applejack snorted, hiding her laughter behind a hoof. “No, I can’t say that I have.”

“See?” Rainbow smirked and shoved Applejack to her back, climbing on top of her. “So stop whining and gimme some of that flank.”

Applejack wrapped her hooves around Rainbow’s neck. “Alright, lightnin’ butt, ya talked me into it.” She pulled her lover into a kiss and rolled sideways. Rainbow flopped to the ground and Applejack tossed a back leg over her hip.

Applejack could feel a smirk through the kiss as Rainbow continued the roll. Their lips broke apart with Applejack on top and Rainbow gripping her rump. “You keep calling me lightning butt…I’d call you apple butt, but there’s something missing…” She darted to Applejack’s neck, biting and sucking.

“Nn, what’re you gettin’ at?” She pressed against Rainbow’s wing, coaxing it to extend.

“It just doesn’t capture the glory of your ass…” She sat back, grinning wickedly at Applejack. “Got it!”

Running her hoof along Rainbow’s primaries, Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“What’cha looking at, cider butt?”

Applejack snorted and buried her face in Rainbow’s shoulder. “Cider butt? Really?”

“If I could drink a mug of your ass, I would.”

Applejack shook her head against Rainbow. She grabbed onto the giggling mare and rolled to the side, pinning Rainbow to the trunk of a tree. “Just for that, ya ain’t gettin’ any mercy.”

Rainbow struggled against Applejack and managed to roll over so her chest was against the bark, but couldn’t escape. Applejack had been paying attention over several Saturdays, and learned Rainbow’s weak spots.

Lightning butt never stood a chance.

Swiping her tongue across an extended wing, Applejack wrapped a hoof around Rainbow and pressed against her inner thigh in just the right place. She moaned in response, pushing into Applejack’s chest.

“Y-you’re cheating.”

“Tough.” She rubbed Rainbow’s leg and nipped her neck. “Got ya right where I want ya now, just like with Twi earlier. Real treat, gettin’ the both of ya all to myself.”

“Sounds just like my day. Twi’s, too, I guess.” She snickered as she shoved against the tree, but couldn’t free herself. Applejack chuckled and bit down on the leading edge of her wing.

Rainbow shuddered against her. She nibbled at Rainbow’s feathers, delighting in the weak struggling in her hooves. “I could spend all day touchin’ your wings, Dash.” She rubbed her cheek through the limb. “Wish I knew how ta preen ya.”

“Uhn…” Rainbow spread her wing wider under Applejack’s face. “I could teach you how.”

Smirking, Applejack gripped Rainbow’s thigh and nuzzled her neck. “Think we could get through it without gettin’ all bug-eyed?”

She grinded against Applejack’s chest. “You’re pretty damn good at keeping me still now.” She looked over her shoulder at her captor, her muzzle a dark red and eyes half lidded. “’Sides, it’s not hard. I trust you.”

Applejack’s smirk changed to a warm smile. She kissed Rainbow on the cheek and returned to the wing. “Alright, Rainbow, I seen you an’ Twi do this a couple’a times, but I’m sure I’m missin’ important stuff…”

“Okay, so…” Rainbow stretched her wing out fully. “All you’re doing is making sure all my feathers are straight and clean. Start with the primaries and secondaries—those’re the big ones—then the coverts. I’ll tell you when the first couple are straight ‘til you get the hang of it.”

“Sounds easy enough.” She gripped a broad feather in her teeth.

“You’re gonna want to hold onto me better.” Rainbow shot her a playful smirk. “I’m not good at keeping still for this.”

Applejack pushed into Rainbow’s thigh and wrapped her other hoof around her friend’s belly. Rainbow gasped and she hugged the trunk. “Nnn…” Licking her lips, Applejack bit down on the feather again, wiggling it back and forth. “Th-there; that’s right. Then just smooth it out with your ton—ohh…perfect. Okay, n-next one. Mmm, yeah, you’re getting it…”

Rainbow shivered and twitched under her hooves. She moved from feather to feather, teasing them straight and licking them smooth. Her excitement grew as she held onto the writhing mare, and she rocked her hips into Rainbow’s rump. Rainbow moaned as Applejack slid a hoof down her belly and caressed her sex.

She hugged the tree and grinned.

Applejack stretched to reach the end of Rainbow’s wing, when it jerked away. “Oh, AJ…S-save those two at the end for last…” Their eyes met and Rainbow flashed a coy smile. “I really like those.”

Applejack winked as Rainbow presented her wing again. She stroked Rainbow’s wetness while she worked her way back along the coverts, delighting in the moans and cries her attentions brought. Rainbow’s restlessness in her grip grew with each passing feather until they were frantic against each other, grinding and rocking, panting hot breaths, dripping their juices on the ground.

Struggling to get through the last of the coverts, Applejack could feel Rainbow’s marehood throb with need against her. Her hoof was soaked and slick, and Rainbow’s voice was raw and strained from a constant stream of cries. She lunged, biting down on the last two primaries and tugging them into place.

Rainbow shrieked. She shoved against the tree and the two tumbled backwards. Her hindlegs clamped shut and she humped Applejack’s leg. Applejack closed her eyes and nuzzled into messy mane as Rainbow rode out her orgasm above her.

“Oh, Applejack,” she moaned. Several waves of pleasure shook her body against Applejack before she unclenched her thighs. She rolled to face her lover and locked their muzzles with burning intensity. Rainbow invaded Applejack’s mouth with no restraint, and as fierce as she started, she broke away and snaked down Applejack’s belly.

Before she could register a thought, Applejack felt her hips lift off the ground and Rainbow’s muzzle sink into her sex. She bit down on her hoof and cleaned away the juices as Rainbow lapped at her, as brazen and wild as the kiss, mapping her insides with a greedy hunger.

Applejack arched her back, gripping Rainbow’s muzzle with her inner-thighs. Her hooves flew into her lover’s mane, petting and fondling wherever she could reach. Her desire, brought high by Rainbow’s lustful display, grew higher still under the assault. Rainbow’s snout bumped against her clit with every thrust of her tongue. Her walls flexed, trying to draw Rainbow deeper as her climax approached. She scrunched her eyes shut. “Oh, Rainbow, I’m so close!”

Applejack chomped down on her own leg. Every muscle in her back spasmed and she rocked into Rainbow’s mouth. Bliss flooded her body in waves, leaking down Rainbow’s chin and into her tail. She screamed around the hoof in her mouth.

Rainbow held fast, drinking in Applejack’s overflowing lust, lapping her clean. She set Applejack’s flank back on the ground and crawled forward, curling up on her chest. Applejack hugged her close and they snuggled, panting in tandem with each other. As they caught their breaths, they kissed again, slow and gentle.

Entwined under the tree, Rainbow nuzzled Applejack’s cheek. “I needed that.”

Applejack chuckled, hugging Rainbow tighter. “Glad ta be of service, Dash. Anythin’ to help a friend out.”

Rainbow sat back, grinning at her. “Always knew I could count on you to ‘lend a hoof.’” She offered Applejack a leg up and glanced down at herself. “…Yikes.”

Snorting, Applejack looked over Rainbow. Her lover’s inner legs were soaked almost to the fetlock. “That’s a dang good look for ya.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Hold up, lemme…not look like I just got rutted to death.” She scanned the sky, and took off, flying up to a small cloud.

Applejack’s grin grew as she watched Rainbow bury herself in the cloud, scooping up chunks of it to wash out her fur. Rainbow pawed at herself with the fluff, scraping away signs of their lovemaking. If somepony else were watching, very little would be left to the imagination concerning what Rainbow was doing.

“Ya keep that up an’ you’re gonna get me all hot an’ bothered again.”

Rainbow started and looked down at Applejack, and then at the position she was in. She waggled her tongue and resumed cleaning, rocking her hips as she went and twitching her tail from side to side. Applejack couldn’t help laughing, but didn’t look away.

After longer than strictly necessary, Rainbow flew down from the cloud and shook off the excess water. “Alright, AJ, good break.”

Snickering, Applejack picked up a full basket and emptied it into the cart. “Shut up an’ help me, ya crazy sack a’ feathers.”

“Yeah, yeah. So you said you met Twi for lunch?”

“That I did.” She set the emptied baskets around the next tree. “She was missin’ me, too, an’ my mornin’ kinda stank, so I went an’ saw her for grub.” She stopped suddenly and turned to Rainbow with a frown. “Ya knew about all that, right? An’ Twi knows about this? I, uh…I ain’t oversteppin’ anythin’ here, am I?”

Rainbow waved her off with a hoof. “I didn’t know, but Twi and me talked about it a while ago. It’s not a big deal.”

Shrugging, Applejack turned to buck the tree. “If’n ya say so. I don’t wanna be causin’ no problems.”

“Don’t worry, AJ. You and Twi both worry about everything.”

“Just the sorta gal I am, Dash. Just like how I’m the sorta gal who don’t like sneakin’ around anypony’s back.”

“Hey, if you wanna go right now and tell her we banged under an apple tree, we can. She’ll probably ask for details. She might even make that cute little grin she makes when she gets excited.” Rainbow dropped the empty basket to the ground. “In fact, that’s a great idea! Let’s go talk to her right now; I bet you we both get laid again!”

Applejack rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “I still got work ta do, Dash.”

“I’m just messing with you.” She set up the baskets around the next in line. “But seriously, it’s not a big deal. I’m living with her now, but it’s not like I’m home all the time for her to double-check everything with me, and I wouldn’t want her to, anyway.”

“…I was kinda wonderin’ why you weren’t along for lunch, but I guess it’s silly to think everythin’ would change after y’all moved in together.”

“Yeah, I still got work to do, and flying practice. Not gonna spend all day cooped up in the library.”

“That’s a good thing, I guess. I bet my trees’d get awful lonely without you wearin’ a groove in ‘em.”

Rainbow laughed as they emptied the baskets. “Can’t abandon Nap Spots Number Seven, Thirteen, and Thirty-Two.”

“You’ve labeled all of ‘em? Dang, Twilight is rubbin’ off on you.”

With Rainbow’s help, Applejack emptied and filled the baskets until the cart was loaded down with apples. They took turns dumping out the cart, and together, they worked through row after row of the south orchard, joking and laughing throughout the afternoon. As evening set in, Applejack looked back over their progress. Working by herself on the top of her game, she probably could have done more in a single day, but for a day that started with nothing, she had a lot to show for it. She sighed in satisfaction and fanned her face with her hat.

“Dash, this ain’t the most productive day I ever had, but it sure as heck’s been one of the funnest I can remember. Thank ya much for the help an’ the company; it was mighty swell of ya, sugarcube.”

“No problem, AJ. This is a good work-out, and it’s cool to just, you know, do stuff for a while. I can’t sit still all the time.”

“I hear ya.” She stepped forward and nuzzled Rainbow. “Thanks again,” she whispered.

“Any time.” Rainbow closed her eyes and pressed into Applejack’s neck. “And I know we got this whole Saturday thing, and you and Twi are all about schedules, but if you have any free nights…”

Applejack chuckled, leaning into Rainbow, relishing the closeness.

“Uhh…”

The two broke apart, looked down the row, and went rigid. Apple Bloom sat staring at them with an eyebrow raised. Applejack felt a shiver run up her spine. Several tense seconds passed.

“There’s that fifth time I been bugged in a day, Dash.”

Rainbow winced. She leaned a little closer and mumbled, “Sh-should I say something?”

“No…y’all just head on home; I got this.”

“Alright. I’ll…I’ll see ya, AJ.” She grinned awkwardly and leapt into the air, taking off at a fast clip.

Applejack cleared her throat. “Well, howdy, sis! How was your first day?”

“What, uh…what were y’all doin’?”

Applejack swallowed the lump in her throat and stepped forward. “Rainbow Dash helped me out ‘round the farm today, an’ I was just sayin’ goodbye ‘fore she went home is all.”

Blinking at her older sister in confusion, Apple Bloom scratched her head. “Y’all were…awful close…”

“Dash an’ me are awful close.”

“Isn’t…Rainbow Dash…Twilight’s girlfriend?”

Beads of sweat formed on her brow. “That she is, yeah.”

Apple Bloom looked down at her hooves, which she fiddled like she was trying to make heads or tails of a word problem. “Uhh…so…”

“So.” Applejack took a steadying breath. “I’m awful close with some of my friends, an’ sometimes we…hug each other…and stuff…on account a’ how close we are.”

Apple Bloom nodded slowly. “So…it’s like…what ya were sayin’ this mornin’! ‘Bout how y’all’re thick as thieves an’ all! I get it!”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Applejack nodded her head. “Eeyup, ya got it. So, AB, I got a little bit left to clean up, so why don’t ya go wash up for supper?”

“Alright, sis, I’ll tell ya ‘bout school then!” She jumped up and ran off to the house.

Applejack grimaced and rubbed her face. “Gosh, I hate doin’ that,” she muttered to herself. She strapped herself into the last load of apples and headed towards the barn. She replayed the conversation in her head. Even though she technically didn’t lie to her little sister, she still felt like she was being underhoofed. She let out a sigh as she pulled the cart up and unloaded the apples. “Gotta be more careful. Those two get me too relaxed sometimes…”

After fetching the baskets and dropping the cart off around the side of the house, Applejack went to the wash basin to clean off her workday. She scrubbed away the dirt, grime, and questionable patches from her coat, and when she upturned a bucket of clean water over her head, her good mood had returned.

Apple Bloom regaled her family with news of new faces, old friends, new subjects, and adventures in crusading over dinner, and Applejack joined in with the rest of her family’s laughter.

As Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh headed off to bed, Applejack sidled up at the sink to dry dishes as Granny washed. They worked in comfortable silence together for a a few minutes, while Applejack half daydreamed.

Granny rinsed the soap from a dish and set it in the strainer. “That lunch mend what ails ya a little too good, Applejack? You’re off in the clouds somewheres.”

She started, looking down at the plate she held that was well past dry. She chuckled and set in on a shelf. “I been gettin’ all sorts a’ visitors today, Granny. Saw Twilight for lunch, then Rainbow Dash came ‘round and helped out with the buckin’ for a while.”

“Well, I hope they make a habit of it; can’t rightly remember the last start of Applebuck Season where ya smiled so much. Does these ol’ bones good ta see.” She set the last plate in the drainer and scrutinized Applejack’s face. “...I can’t be puttin’ my hoof on it all the way, but there’s somethin’ real familiar ‘bout that grin a’ yours. Makes me smile, an’ think a’ your pappy.”

Applejack finished off the drying. “I been thinkin’ ‘bout him a lot, too.” She let out a breath and stretched her back. “Welp, I’m beat. Long day tomorrow, just like today.”

“Ain’t it always the way.” Granny stood from the chair by the sink and stretched to match, her back letting out several loud cracks. “Woof! I best be layin’ down, too. Ya have yourself some good shut-eye, Li’l Apple.”

“You, too, Granny.” She flashed a smile and climbed up the stairs. She shut her door and lit a lantern.

Applejack sat down in front of her mirror, took off her hat, and pulled the ribbons out of her mane. “Good day’s work again, daddy,” she told her reflection. “’Nother day, ‘nother load of apples, just like always. Think ya’d be proud a’ me…” Her brow knit as she slid a brush over her hoof and worked the kinks out of her mane. “Well…I know y’all would be proud a’ me for the work, dunno ‘bout that li’l fib to Apple Bloom. Ain’t too proud a’ that myself. But she’s just a filly an’ all, I don’t wanna be explainin’ ‘arrangements’ unless I have to.”

She chuckled at herself. “I knew ya’d understand, daddy. Ya had the best head on your shoulders. No nonsense an’ always wantin’ to help, just like Twilight. An’ ya had the best laugh I ever done heard, too; everythin’ was always smiles an’ fun, just like with Dash. I bet’cha you’d like the both of ‘em somethin’ fierce.”

Applejack set the brush down and leaned on her hoof, smiling into the mirror, playing back through her day. She remembered sitting at lunch with Twilight, watching her friend nibble at the tiny little salad, and the way her muzzle would crinkle from the dressing. She remembered working through the fields with Rainbow, how she’d be left in stitches and forget if she was emptying baskets or filling them, and how they still cleared a grove of trees anyway.

Applejack sighed in contentment and stood up. She cast one last look at herself, turned towards her bed, and froze in her tracks. She whipped her head back to the mirror, her expression locked in place, her mind racing. She had seen that smile before. That same exact smile, in four different faces.

“…Uh oh.”

She stared at her reflection, feeling her heart thunder in her chest, feeling her hooves tremble. The smile slid off her face and she paced in front of the mirror.

“Oh, Applejack, ya darn fool…” She grimaced and rubbed her forehead. “Alright, which one…” She cycled back through her memories and listened to herself. At first she thought it’d be simple: think about Twilight, then Rainbow Dash, and figure out which one made her smile despite her worry.

Both of them made her smile.

She paced faster, replaying the day, and days before, and months before, thinking about them both, grinning through her agitation, thinking about how she felt around either of her friends.

Both of her friends.

Applejack sat back in front of the mirror with a thud. “Both of ‘em? How can—” She scoffed, thumping her chin down onto the vanity. “Good Luna, I done made a mess a’ this.” She covered her eyes with both hooves. “Applejack Apple, how in Equestria did’ja manage to fall for both of them?”

Applejack sat lamenting for several minutes, shaking her head back and forth, and groaning. After a while, she took a deep breath and sat back up, fixing a piercing look on her reflection.

“Alright, enough feelin’ sorry for yourself. You got those same brains your momma an’ daddy gave ya, time to use ‘em.” She stood up and resumed her march around the room, her gaze directed inward.

“I ain’t throwin’ myself between either of ‘em; Dash and Twi both’re happy as clams together. Ain’t my place to be muckin’ them up, they don’t deserve it. Not one bit.”

She nodded sharply, changing directions and rubbing her chin. “So what do I do? Do I tell ‘em?”

She looked at the mirror, but she didn’t need it to feel the panicked expression on her face. She took a deep breath. “Ya coward,” she admonished herself, returning to her pacing. “Okay…I could start seein’ somepony else. Hearts’re fickle; find somepony nice an’ this’ll go away. Sure.” Her frown deepened. “Like I got a whole mess a’ time to go courtin’ somepony…”

She sighed when she realized how much noise she was making on the wood floor. She slowed her steps and cast a weary look at the door. “I could stop seein’ ‘em…It’d go away if’n I wasn’t jumpin’ into bed with ‘em every week…”

Her frown turned into a grimace. “They’d be askin’ me why, an’ they’d be so disappointed; I saw how much they like the way we got things set up today.” After a moment, she scowled. “Can’t lie to myself; I like it, too, an’ I don’t wanna stop. But I have to, don’t I?”

She turned to the mirror. “This was just us havin’ fun. That’s the agreement. It ain’t that anymore if’n I got feelin’s for ‘em…”

She stared at herself, long and hard. “…But it ain’t changed for them. It’s still fun for them.”

She felt bile rise in her throat as a wave of self-loathing passed over her. “…I can just pretend like it ain’t changed for me, have fun with ‘em like they like, an’ when winter comes ‘round, start lookin’ ‘round town for somepony to start chattin’ up. They’d be happy, I’d be…happy.”

Applejack dropped her head and sagged where she stood. She blew out the lantern and turned to her bed, dragging herself under the covers. “Great plan, Applejack. Lie to your friends for a few months, pretend Saturdays—no, any day I want, seein’ as they invited me—ain’t nothin’ more than fun, an’ hope neither of ‘em notice. This ain’t gonna blow up in your face, ya idjit.”

She let out another sigh and hugged a pillow to her chest, trying not to pretend it was Rainbow, or maybe Twilight. Her mind raced through different courses of action, each one seemingly worse than the one before, as she drifted into an uneasy sleep.

She had work to do in the morning.

Author's Notes:

tl;dr

Applejack branded Butt Cider: Rainbow Dash tested, Twilight Sparkle approved. Warning: consuming Applejack branded Butt Cider may result in giddiness, inflated sense of self-importance, and tented pants.