With a dull look in her tired, half-lidded eyes, Rainbow Dash stared up at her same familiar ceiling. Her hands were folded over her chest and the blankets were kicked down a bit past her hips, and she drummed her fingers over and again. She was bored, but mostly, she was lonely. It was weird to think, but she actually looked forward to going to work, as that was where she would see Applejack. However, she grunted as she resentfully flipped onto her side, facing her back to the window. Applejack hadn't seemed quite so interested in seeing her.

She snuggled her head against the pillow in a slow and melancholy way, wishing for the plush and comforting embrace of someone rather than something. Closing her eyes and shifting her body against the soft sheets, she remembered just where she was in the middle of some fantasy. She had been stalled by the memory of reality, in the form of remembering how Applejack had brushed her off two days in a row like that, and how they hadn't spoken much since then.

Groaning out loud, Rainbow commenced playing a scene in her mind, as sad as it made her to feel that she could not actually live it. Applejack was there in her head, and as she pictured it, the two of them were behind the bar after closing, and the barmaid was all over her. Rainbow smiled and touched her neck where she imagined kisses would go, running her fingers along the smooth and hot skin.

The air around them would be thick and saturated with steamy breaths, daring them to remove their clothes. Rainbow Dash would be smooth as hell, undoing Applejack's lacy outfit with one tug and snapping the hooks of her bra apart. The blonde's breasts would fall right out, and she would moan when Rainbow would suck on them, squeezing and pinching as she desired. It would feel amazing as Applejack would grind up against her, considering the barmaid wouldn't be able to help herself around the skilful hostess.

Rainbow smiled as her hand slipped down her body, her trembling hands reaching down between her legs to gauge to arousal her imagined lover had given her. The slick and slippery moisture served only to drive her on, and she wished the barmaid would taste her once more, surely she would love the flavour and texture without fail. As her fingers perused her own most intimate of parts, she wondered how Applejack's might have felt.

Some noise creaked through the apartment: a door opening, some steps, rustling. Could it have been... her? It would have been a miracle considering she didn't have a key or anything, but Rainbow's hopes still stayed up as her body rose from bed, wondering if the noises had come from across the hall or been imagined. Her damp fingers ran along the covers until they were dry, and she tugged a loose shirt over her head before exiting through her bedroom door, leaving her lower body only concealed by her undergarments.

Creeping down her hallway, she scratched her messy hair blankly, her annoyed eyes drifting around as she searched for some source of noise, perhaps a heater kicking on or some argument down the hall that had floated under her door. The pads of her feet tapped the hardwood quietly, and she grumbled incoherent syllables as her annoyance from being interrupted became clear. As she turned into the living room, she was stunned to see the back of some older man just standing in the middle of her living room.

“What the—?!” Rainbow Dash nearly shouted as the man turned around, and his familiar face made her frown and bark louder while she glared at him, “Fuck, dude! A little warning?!”

“Damn it Dash, put some pants on,” the man yelled back, making a terribly disappointed and furious expression as he looked her over. “I should have expected nothing less from you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow and putting a hand on her hip, tilting her body so her loose shirt hung down low enough to cover most anything private.

“It means you have not matured at all, walking around looking like some cheap whore.” The older gentleman gestured towards her less than classy appearance, his fine and expensive suit flowing with his movements.

Rainbow shrugged lazily, scratching behind her ear as she replied, “Well I can't say I imagined my old man was going to be standing in my living room like a fucking coffee table robber.”

“Just as eccentric as ever,” he muttered as he rolled his eyes, adding, “You must get that from your mother's side.”

“I'll take that as a compliment.” She turned around at once, waving over her shoulder as she went to find some pants.

As his daughter went off from whence she came, the man let out a low sigh and looked around the room once more. He had been noting her choice in furnishing and décor when she walked in on him, and he went back to criticising it once she was absent. He slipped his hands into his trouser pockets as he creased a well-set line between his eyebrows, the wrinkles around his lips and nose being shadowed by his deep frown. Hardly a moment later, the brash young girl strode back into the room with a pair of pyjama bottoms hugging her hips.

“So,” Rainbow's loud voice broke the silence violently, and her father turned to look at her with those same old judgemental eyes. “What did I do to deserve a visit from the devil himself?”

“Maybe I just missed my little girl,” he tried for a calmer approach, but she laughed in his face.

“Little girl? Come on, she's been gone for a long, long time.” Rainbow scoffed and looked anywhere else in the room but at him, her body tense and uncomfortable. “Seriously, what's the deal?”

“You haven't been returning my calls,” the man told her sternly.

“Must have slipped my mind.” Rainbow played coy, crossing her arms.

“Just like etiquette, manners, and motivation, it seems,” her father took a verbal swipe at her, but it didn't bother the girl. With a long sigh, he stared at her usual lack of care for her appearance. “I don't imagine you're coming over for Hearth's Warming dinner.”

“Like you'd want me there. I'm an embarrassment, remember?” she reminded him at once, strolling over to the little liquor cabinet she had by the fireplace and looking at the bottles as if they were interesting in some way. “Go spend it with your other family, old man.

“It's been over ten years—fifteen, Dash, since she left. Moving on is part of growing up, you know,” her father told her evenly, watching her as her hands fiddled with some of the glasses and bottles she had set up over there.

“And apparently I know nothing about that, right?” Rainbow asked, glancing over her shoulder with a glare as she set a glass down and reached for a particularly square bottle. “I live alone now, dad, not with you. I'm an adult. That means you really can't tell me what to do, or lecture me or anything.”

“And yet you still live under a roof I pay for,” he mentioned, but didn't press the issue.

“Oh, we both know why that is,” Rainbow murmured resentfully as she flicked the lid of some bottle off, gently tipping it to the side and letting the coppery liquid slip out into her glass. “Can you leave already? I thought I told you I didn't want to see you. I almost liked you better when you forgot I existed.”

“You'll be alone forever, burning all the bridges in your life like that,” the man's voice was low and somewhat sullen or accusative.

“You don't even know me,” the girl spoke back, her voice getting higher in pitch as she took her glass and went into the kitchen for but a moment. “All you ever cared about was the way I looked. For pictures, for clients, for your business parties, all for you. Never mattered what I wanted, did it?”

“Must you always be so dramatic? I'm just trying to talk to you.” Her father groaned as his stern face set on the doorway which she had gone through.

“Talk, huh? Well, that's a first,” Rainbow Dash came back into the room, a few ice cubes floating in her glass.

“Isn't it a bit early for Scotch?” he commented lowly, his eyes tracing the glass she brought to her lips after he read the bottle she left open on the counter of the little cabinet.

“In the day, or in life?” Rainbow retorted with a smirk, finishing a large sip as she leaned against the wall by the kitchen entrance.

“Don't be a smart-ass.” It was obvious he was not in a joking mood, but that just made her want to mess with him more.

“Don't be a jack-ass,” came her aggressive reply, and she could visibly see his short fuse go off.

“Goddamn it, Dash!” he shouted at her, storming over and towering over the much shorter girl with a dangerous gaze. She just stood there under it, looking up at him and apathetically taking another sip in spite of him. “After everything I've done for you, you have the nerve to talk to me like that?!”

“All you've done for me?” Rainbow swished the liquid around in her mouth as if she was thinking about something. “Oh, sorry, I forgot. Ignoring me my entire life unless you wanted something from me, I really should thank you for that. You got the precious little daughter your associates adored, and I got to spend as little time with you as possible, stupidly low self worth, trust issues and zero desire to be happy. Glorious work there, paps.”

“You whine a lot, for someone who pretends not to give a damn,” the man directed an insult back to her, and she forced another careless shrug. “At least I'm here trying to make up for it, aren't I?”

“Is that what you're doing? You really could have fooled me.” She looked out the window passively, remembering the only other person who had been in her apartment, and how glancing out over the city had been a joy.

Her hand tightened around the glass as she realized just what had turned her towards alcohol in the first place: this man. She really should have thanked him, for sending her straight into Jubilee's Joint that fateful Thursday evening after a particularly heated conversation with the man. He had been yelling at her about wasting her life and isolating herself all alone, and so she had set off to prove him wrong, and found Applejack. Seeing the barmaid's face in her mind once more, Rainbow's expression softened, and she remembered the way she had felt when they were together.

“Your hair,” her father's voice brought her back to reality, and she glanced carefully over at him. “It's getting long again.”

“Yeah, so what?” she growled back, narrowing her eyes.

“I like it long,” his voice dropped into a low murmur as he leaned in close and ran his hand along it, tracing her ear and taking a few locks into his fingers. The soft strands gently fluttered back down as his hand moved through it, but Rainbow Dash was not pleased by the attempt at a compliment at all.

“Don't.” Her head dropped with a frown as she decided on another large gulp. Upon swallowing it, her raspy voice rose up again, “So, are you going to tell me why you're here already? Or are we going to keep playing this little game?”

“If you must know,” he began, and Rainbow tilted her head to listen. “I'm being considered for a very important promotion this upcoming year. I can't have that being screwed up.”

“So, in other words: pretend I don't exist again, right?” Rainbow leisurely asked, churning the liquid around and hearing the ice cubes clacking against the glass.

“That's not what I meant,” he told her simply, but it seemed true enough. “I just wanted you to know.”

“Right, got it.” Rainbow gave him a lazy salute before pushing off the wall and going over to the window, looking out over the snow-covered city as the dark clouds loomed over it.

“It is a nice view, don't you think?” Her father walked up behind her, she could see him in the dim reflection. His eyes trailed down to her as he waited for some response, which only followed after another painful sip.

“Am I ever going to meet them?” she changed the subject abruptly, her hateful eyes meeting his in the reflection. “Your new family, I mean.”

“Neither of us would want that, Dash,” he reminded her softly as he stepped closer, looking at her real face over her shoulder.

“You have another daughter, right? I sometimes wonder if she's anything like me. Probably not, though. Bet they're all pretty normal. They must do a fine job of looking good if you keep them around.” She looked back at him, and he huffed a silent amused laugh.

“They don't go around alienating everyone and making fools of themselves, if that's what you mean,” he said with a smirk that betrayed his otherwise stiff features. His hand touched her back supportively as he let out a slow breath and dipped into a more serious and hushed tone, “Rainbow, I wanted—”

“I have to go to work soon, dad,” she stopped him short, holding his gaze knowingly with the settling sternness of her own face.

“I never thought I'd hear you say that,” the man sounded pleased, though his eyes moved down to her hand critically. “With a glass of scotch in your stomach, too?”

“You taught me well.” She tipped the glass to him before swinging another mouthful down her throat.

“I suppose so,” he agreed, removing his hand from her body and stepping away. He turned from her and walked back towards the door, the sound of his keys jingling in his pocket. As he reached the door, he paused to look back at her. “I'll stop by again, when you have more time to talk.”

“Don't bother.” Rainbow Dash didn't care to watch him leave, she didn't want to see him any more than necessary.

As the door closed back into place, the rainbow-haired girl turned to face it, staring blankly at her solitude. With a growl, she glared at it for a few more seconds, making certain that man would not decide to waltz back in. Her legs carried her away from the bright window at last, and she dragged her feet into the bathroom. Placing the glass on the counter below the mirror, her eyes raised from her tightly fisted hands to her own reflected face.

She stared into that four-cornered eye of heaven, that thing so silver and exact. It seemed to her so honest, though false. A copy of her stood at her nose: hair falling in the same way, thin, pinkish lips pushing together in a scowl or frown, hands, too, gripping at the counter on the other side, eyes set on her own. Those eyes were murderous to her, those familiarly shaped things, arched and lidded just as his were, though the crows feet had not set into them yet.

How could anyone look at her, while she had his eyes? Piercing, persuasive, perverse: these eyes were like narrowed, sharpened shards of ruby; something that corrupt businessman could afford to set into her. If blindness wasn't so hard to swallow, she might have dug the things right out. But instead, something easier to change would keep him from her head, and a pair of scissors were conveniently within reach.

She hadn't been lying, she did have to go to work, after all. And considering it was a Friday night, she should have not been surprised to walk in to find the place already horribly busy. As the closing host, she wasn't obliged to start right as the pub opened, but that particular night, she knew it probably would have helped. Hurrying through the crowds with a look of wonder and bewilderment, Rainbow Dash made her way to the back of the pub to the coat racks. She took off all her extra clothing until just the uniform remained, and she got to work right away.

Upon reaching the pub once more, she dodged, ducked, and sidestepped all kinds of crowds, patrons, guests and servers, who were all rushing about in their own directions without pause. She finally made her way to the door, which was mostly empty as the guests had already shuffled into the pub by then. Glancing at the floor plan, she noticed it was entirely incorrect and frantically scribbled on. The humming and buzzing of the full house was deafening, and the mass of people dizzying, but among them she managed to spot a familiar face.

“Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow called as she rushed over to the girl, who was carrying a large tray with several plates on it and had another plate in her one hand. Following her as the server went on her path and barely managed to cast a glance back, Rainbow asked, “What's going on?”

“It's anarchy—anarchy!” she nearly screamed, sweat apparent on her face as she danced around obstacles with impeccable balance. She was stalled for a moment as she looked at Rainbow Dash oddly, her eyes jumping up to the girl's hair, but shook her head and got on with it. “Carrot Top didn't show up for her shift again, and Lyra called in sick. We're down two servers on, like, the busiest night ever!”

“No wonder this place is such a mess,” Rainbow murmured as she looked around, letting Pinkie drop the food off at the designated table.

She glanced up at the bar, but was surprised to see that her usual barmaid was absent. Instead, Twilight Sparkle was up there, struggling to keep up with the drinks, while Spike attempted to help her by organizing the printed slips with the drink orders and handing her glasses or ingredients as requested. Following the frizzy haired server as she rushed around again, Rainbow decided to speak up.

“Where's Applejack?” she asked, ducking under Rarity's arm as she zipped by with a large tray held over her head.

“Applejack? She's everywhere!” Pinkie cried in near hysterics. “She's been helping everyone with their tables: drink orders, food running, complaints, everything. And on top of that, she's in the service aisle expediting the food orders, cleaning our tables, sitting our tables, and helping Twilight at the bar when she gets overwhelmed. I even saw her in the kitchen cooking and dish washing!”

“Seriously?” Rainbow wondered, her heart swelling to hear such high praise for the girl she already admired.

“If it wasn't for her, we would have all crashed a long time ago,” Pinkie went on with a heave of exasperated breath. Rainbow knew the expression of 'crashing' as meaning someone on staff was overwhelmed and falling apart in the pub. “I have to go though, good luck out there!”

“Yeah, you too,” Rainbow replied monotonously, drifting back to the host stand as her eyes looked around for the girl in question.

Rubbing some of the scribbles out with the napkin she had handy for removing the wax pencil marks on the floor plan, Rainbow set to correcting a couple of errors and keeping it accurate. Her eyes shifted back up to the bar, as had become habit, and she was pleased to notice the very barmaid she was looking for, though she was standing on the opposite side of the bar she usually controlled. The blonde finished encircling her serving tray with drinks before tipping her hat to her supervisor and starting across the lounge. On her way, she dropped off several drinks to tables before starting down the stairs towards the host stand and the rest of the pub.

Rainbow tentatively touched her hair and flicked it about, trying to tuck some behind her ear, though it didn't stay. By then, Applejack was halfway down the stairs, and noticed Rainbow Dash right away. As their eyes met, two fond smiles crossed their faces, and the barmaid came right over to her and let her eyes tousle the difference of her coloured locks.

“Hey,” Applejack started in a pleasant hum, a tone Rainbow had not expected since the rest of the pub was chaotic. As the barmaid stepped closer, she continued with an obvious statement, “Y'cut your hair,”

“What of it?” Rainbow asked, meaning to come off as casual but possibly appearing irritable.

Applejack's smile melted wider as she reached out with her free hand and took a few strands into her fingers, feeling it in an adoring way as she admitted, “Ah like it.”

Her hand gently slid over Rainbow's cheek and jaw, stroking her subtly as the short locks of hair fell out from between her fingers. It was a good deal shorter, an inch or two above her shoulders, and somewhat messy and choppy, but it looked wonderful on her anyway. Smiling as she straightened back up, still balancing that wide tray with one arm, Applejack remembered her duties. The noise of the pub flooded back around them, and Rainbow Dash knew they both had to get on with her jobs.

“Right, well, Ah'll come by an' check up on ya later, honey, Ah gotta keep movin',” Applejack told her with a firm nod, and Rainbow returned it.

“Knock 'em dead,” Rainbow Dash replied with a thumbs-up.

Without even caring if anyone saw, Rainbow grinned widely as she watched the barmaid walk off, her eyes trailing the girl's body without pause. Her heart was beating up in her throat as she touched a hand to her cheek, where Applejack's fingers had traced her. Rainbow found herself nearly giggling, knowing how amazing the barmaid was, and recalling all their intimate encounters. She felt so lucky just to be friends with her, the infatuation was a whole other story.

Rainbow Dash could hardly stop staring the entire night, even after the few times it clearly distracted the barmaid. She was a natural leader during a rush, and even Twilight Sparkle, the supervisor, was glad to follow. Applejack was level-headed, hard-working, selfless, and had a good deal more experience with the service part of the job, while Twilight was much more adept at handling numbers and scheduling than rushes like that.

At long last, the influx of patrons slowed down, and after humbly fighting off gratuities and tips from her fellow workers, Applejack returned to the bar. The pub was still stuffed up with groups of guests, who by then were passing their limits and becoming somewhat louder and more obnoxious. Still, the barmaid hummed pleasantly as she calmly dried some of the still wet glasses and placed them in the frost box or stemware racks. After collecting all the menus from around the pub and organizing the stand, Rainbow noticed Twilight pass her and pause, looking at the stillness at the door.

“You're cut,” the supervisor told her before continuing down the stairs towards the office, meaning that she no longer had to remain on shift.

“Oh, 'kay,” Rainbow responded with a nod, pushing off the host stand and starting towards the back to get her stuff.

She clocked out at once and dipped into the back of house, collecting her jacket and belongings from the coat area. Once she was out of uniform, she went up to the bar and plopped down in her own familiar seat, noticing only one or two drunken old men around the rest of the wood counter, though they looked less than lucid. Applejack noticed her at once, and cast her a warm smile.

“Off already?” she asked simply, and Rainbow just shrugged. “A drink, maybe?”

“You know I can't turn down that offer,” Rainbow smiled sadly, finding something unsettling about the similarity of her habit. She would not have thought about it for a second, had her father not visited her that very day and reminded her of her troubles. Speaking of the man, she decided to order something that he himself was fond of, something strong enough to kick him out of her bothered mind just as she had tried to that morning, “Scotch, on the Rocks.”

“Whoa,” Applejack tipped her hat back with surprise, rarely hearing such a strong request from the young girl. “Somethin' wrong?”

“Guess you could say that,” Rainbow slunk down between her shoulders and teetered on the crooked leg of her seat. “I have a lot on my mind.”

“Ah s'pose Ah can relate,” Applejack shared the sentiment, turning around to start the drink and hide the shame in her eyes.

“I hear you were kicking ass and taking names out there today, Dolly,” Rainbow changed the topic, her voice lifting as she smiled at her friend.

“Well, Ah've been here for a good long time, y'see, Ah've filled in for most any position.” Of course, Applejack was always modest, Rainbow loved that about her. “Ah help out when Ah can.”

Grinning as a term came to mind, one relative to the barmaid's name in fact, Rainbow decided to slip it out slowly and with a teasing tone, “I guess that makes you... a 'jack of all trades, eh?”

“Somethin' like that,” Applejack chuckled as she got the joke, dropping a couple ice cubes into a glass before running the Scotch through it.

As she finished pouring the copper-coloured liquid through the ice, she gave it a spin with her wrist before placing it in front of Rainbow Dash. The liquid still shifted and the ice swayed in the glass, making light clinking noises against the sides. The girl at the receiving end stared at the familiar choice of liquor, the dark hue already making her tongue tingle. It was much too toxic and tempting to resist.

“Hey, Rainbow?” Applejack spoke up softly, leaning in close across the counter with a much more serious or forlorn expression. “'scuse me for comin' outta th' blue with this, but...”

“Mmm?” Rainbow hummed through her sip, looking at her barmaid over the rim of the glass.

“We hafta talk,” she started, nodding faintly. She winced at how awkward the words felt, and how painful it was to discuss, but went on, “About all this... stuff, we've been doin'.”

“Yeah, I expected as much,” Rainbow replied in a sigh, placing her glass down as her heart dropped down into her stomach. As much as it bothered her, she decided to act casual. “It's cool, Applejack. You don't have to explain anything.”

“Pardon?” Applejack pondered, tilting her head as she wondered just how much of her troubles the hostess knew.

Rainbow shrugged and leaned back on the stool a bit, though she avoided Applejack's eyes as she managed to say, “If you don't want to do it, we definitely don't have to. I can't make you like me in that way, if you don't. And don't get all awkward or anything, it's no big deal, honest.”

“That ain't it, that ain't it at all,” the barmaid argued adamantly, hurriedly reaching out and grabbing her patron's hand in both of her own and squeezing it tightly. “Ah do like ya, 'n fact, Ah like ya a little too much, Ah reckon.”

“Wait, you do?” the hostess perked up, noticing the blush in her friend's cheeks.

“Yea', Ah mean, Ah keep doin' that stuff with ya—even at work, which ain't like me at all—'cause Ah want to,” Applejack whispered, glancing around to make sure no one eavesdropped. She got back to being uneasy though as she went on, “But, as much as Ah like y'all, it really ain't right t' you t' keep leadin' y'on.”

The rainbow-haired girl swallowed nervously, slowly asking, “Do you have a... girlfriend, or something?”

“No, no, Ah really don't,” the barmaid denied furiously, hating the way the word even sounded when she thought of the woman who kept her from being happy. No, Miss Jubilee was no girlfriend. Applejack sighed unhappily, looking down at their hands as she affectionately rubbed at the girl's knuckles. “It's complicated, al'right? Ah just ain't in a good spot t' be doin' anythin' serious, much as Ah want to. An' Ah really, really want to. Ah just can't stand the thought o' hurtin' y'all or not bein' able t' give ya all y'deserve.”

“Well, if it's trouble for you, I understand. I like you a lot too, you know. Not to come on too strong, or anything,” Rainbow Dash muttered, flipping her hair coolly to keep a tough façade. “But we don't have to be anything serious, either.”

Applejack was surprised to hear such a thing, and looked up at the girl before her, “We don't?”

“Of course not. I can't ask you to give me everything, no matter how awesome that might be. Even if all you give me is... is your little pinky finger, to suck on.” Rainbow lifted Applejack's hand and placed her pinky finger right into her mouth, closing her lips around it and even running her tongue along it. “Tha's 'nough f' meh.”

“You're crazy,” Applejack chuckled, enjoying the strange intimate feeling of saliva on her finger.

“Mhmm,” the girl hummed on the finger, and the two of them met fond and familiar gazes. Applejack could feel the heat in Rainbow's mouth, and Rainbow almost lost track of heartbeats as she felt them pounding between her lips.

“But... Ah ain't in'erested in just screwin' around, Rainbow,” Applejack told her gently, her eyes softening as Rainbow released her hand and let her stroke her cheek once or twice. “Ah wanna be more.”

They were both silent as they let the statement sink in true. Applejack was embarrassed that she had said so much on the subject, as she didn't want to seem too forward, either. After all, they hadn't spoken much of each other or defined their relationship at all, and she did not want to be presumptuous. Rainbow just faintly nodded and took a sip as she tried to come up with something that let Applejack know how much she wanted things to continue, while still letting her remain cool about the subject. Clearing her throat, she tried to make herself seem a lot more secure than she might have been.

“No pressure, or anything. But hey, I'd love that. If it's not in the cards, I'll wait. Baby, deal me another hand,” Rainbow smirked a sly and suave grin, leaning back and holding the eye contact to convey her determination and diligence. “I'm not going to fold.”

The barmaid's heart fluttered as she heard that, and her glistening eyes fixed onto the bright ruby ones of the girl before her as she replied, “You sure are a smooth talker, y'know that?”

“I try.” Rainbow Dash smugly shrugged as her finger ran over the rim of the Scotch. As her mood lifted, so did her desire for something a little less strong and serious, “So, how about you pour me something a little less depressing than this Scotch, hmm?”

Author's Notes:

So now we see a little bit more about Rainbow's father. We will be seeing more of him, too, so don't worry.
Now tell me, how did you like it?