It hadn't taken Rainbow Dash very long to learn the days and times that the barmaid worked, as she frequented Jubilee's Joint quite often after that evening. It became clear that Applejack only worked on weekdays, as weekends were taken over by some burly man whose name was quite painfully simple as Joe. Rainbow wouldn't go up to the bar more than once, she never liked the way he made a Rum and Coke.

Tuesdays were her favourite, as they were some of the slowest nights it seemed, but she would come in several nights a week when it suited her. Applejack didn't mind the company, and she hadn't even felt nervous or awkward after what happened between them the first night. Not that they ever mentioned it again, even though Rainbow was always eager to slip in a flirtatious line here or there.

On a night like any other, except perhaps the more prominent than usual frost coating the outside of the windows, Rainbow Dash was pulled right up close to the counter and trying to remove her quite obsolete gloves. Keeping her teeth from chattering loud enough to hear, Rainbow watched her favourite barmaid come around from the back of house with a rack of dripping-clean bar glasses of all shapes and sizes. The two greeted each other casually: a tip of the hat here and a rosy-chinned nod there. Applejack noticed the familiar irritable grunt from Rainbow as she negotiated unsuccessfully with her gloves, her fingers bright red and numb. Placing the rack onto the back counter, she turned around to her now dear friend.

“Looks t'me like someone needs new gloves,” the barmaid muttered as she reached out and helped pull them off the grateful patron's hands.

“But I love these, they look badass and I've had them for like, ever,” Rainbow argued simply, clenching her hands and opening them again as they broke free from the fabric. “It's just too damn cold out tonight, you know I prefer to walk here than try and catch any lame bus.”

“Ah know that.” Applejack smiled fondly and folded the girl's gloves beside her. She took both of Rainbow's shaking hands in her own, squeezing them gently and trapping some heat between them. “Ah just hate seein' y'so chilly.”

Rainbow looked down at their hands for a moment, the feeling slowly returning—and then some. As the barmaid's warm thumb rubbed her knuckles, a smirk melted across her face, though that too was numb around the cheeks, nose and chin. Her frisky and intense pink eyes flashed up to Applejack's comforting green ones, and the two locked gazes.

“You making a move on me, Dolly?” Rainbow asked with a quirked eyebrow. Applejack didn't really know how to respond, but she didn't pull away either. “Because, you know, my lips are feeling a little cold, too.”

“Hot Apple Cider should do th' trick,” Applejack said with an innocent smile, avoiding the obvious play for another kiss.

Rainbow's puckered lips turned to pouted ones, and she let out a low hum as Applejack released her, patting her hands twice before turning back to mix the drink. Leaning her cheek onto her palm, Rainbow's tilted head watched her barmaid carefully. Her eyes dropped down to the low hem of the skirt, as often they played around down there, and a perverse smile hid itself half under her hand.

“It's better when you do that fire thing,” Rainbow whined as she watched Applejack pluck a glass from the lines of different styles and begin heating some cider.

“That was a one-time treat, honey.” Applejack chuckled as she cut an apple right in half, slicing a clean, even circle from one half and cleaning the seeds out. “B'sides, m'boss sure wouldn't be too happy if Ah burned the bar down.”

“Worth the risk.” The patron shrugged as Applejack gathered a stick of cinnamon and felt it between her fingers before slipping it into the glass.

“Y'know, Ah used t'serve cider in a hollowed out apple,” the barmaid told her as she felt the cider heating up.

“You always do the coolest shit,” Rainbow agreed, smelling the mix already.

“Yea', but it made for small portions an' a lotta time lost.” Applejack chuckled to remember it.

Rainbow Dash let out a cool breath and took in the faint scent of apples and cinnamon, loving the distant flavour as it blushed her tongue rosy and wet. If Applejack was not enough to keep her coming around, the warm atmosphere certainly was. The building had an old, rustic charm to it, the brick and stained-dark wood shielding them selflessly from the weather. The tall chairs that scattered the lounge were all of similar make, though the tables varied in shape from small and round to square. Rainbow Dash always liked to sit in that particular stool, as one leg was shorter than the others so it rocked back and forth as she tipped her rear from side to side.

“Say...” Rainbow cleared her throat a bit as Applejack glanced back and she had to avert her incriminating gaze. “What do you do when you're not working, anyway?”

“Me?” The barmaid tilted her head and thought about the question carefully. “Well, Ah s'pose Ah work some place else.”

“Seriously?” Rainbow scrunched up her face in confusion as Applejack bashfully blushed and forced a nervous smile.

“Ma brother owns a farm jus' a ways outside'a town,” Applejack modestly said as she turned back around, the cider just about warm enough now. “It's a family thing, he's th' older one, so he takes care of it most'a th' time.”

“That's weird,” the patron stated bluntly, and Applejack laughed some more at the sentiment.

“Ah spend m' weekends out there, helpin' out 's much as Ah can,” Applejack's voice sounded solemn as she spoke of it, and she stared at the steaming cider while she poured it into the glass. She sliced a corner of the round apple piece and slipped it over the rim, extending it to her friend.

“You really are something else, Dolly,” Rainbow said reverently as the drink was placed in front of her on the counter, and she eagerly groped it.

“You're one t' talk.” Applejack laughed, and Rainbow could only dispute it with a passive shrug and a sip of the warm apple cider.

Suddenly the whole pub seemed to grow warmer around her, stuffing it up to the wide, low-hanging wooden rafters with what seemed like gentle waves of heat rolling off a fireplace in some desolate cabin. Rainbow tipped her head back and glanced at the hanging orange lights, which seemed oddly modern in contrast to, say, the ancient casks that had been cut in half and affixed to the wall behind the bar. With a casual and comfortable lean of her folded arm over the counter, Applejack placed the tip of her finger on the opposite rim of the hot cider, returning Rainbow's attention to it.

“That cider you're drinkin'? Tha's made right outside th' city, at m' farm,” Applejack explained in a simple tone.

“Wait, wait, wait,” the patron spoke as she pulled herself back into conversation almost too quickly to give her a head-rush. “You actually make this stuff?”

“From scratch,” the barmaid tipped her hat as the words came out of her mouth.

“Damn, you are awesome.” Rainbow huffed an amazed laugh and shook her head. Her eyes dropped to the sweet liquid between her hands and her expression fell with it. “And here I am, lazy as all hell.”

“Y'ain't nearly that bad, sugarcube,” Applejack debated as she leaned further against the counter, peeking up at Rainbow and lowering herself to catch her sunken gaze.

“I haven't had a real job in years,” she admitted with a frown, feeling suddenly not worthy of drinking the cider in her hands. “My dad paid for my place, he's one of those businessman types who thinks buying his daughter's affection will make up for lost time. Works for me, I guess.”

“Y'lookin' for one? A job, Ah mean.” Applejack tilted her head curiously.

“Yeah actually, but with no experience it's not exactly easy.” Rainbow rubbed her neck nervously, chewing on her cheek a bit. “I'm training to join the Wonderbolts eventually, but they don't have any open spots right now. So I train in the mornings, and, well, you know what I do at night.”

“Wonderbolts, the national track team?” Applejack was surprised to hear such a big dream from the girl, but she loved to hear it. “Well, if you're serious 'bout a job, Ah'm sure Ah could pull a few strings 'round the Joint, if you're interested.”

“Wait, you'd do that? For me?” Rainbow's head raised and her pleading and admiring eyes hit Applejack's.

“O'course Ah would!” The barmaid broke into a grin and flashed the girl a thumbs-up. “Now drink up, 'fore it gets cold.”

“Yes ma'am!” Rainbow nodded certainly and brought the flavourful liquid back to her lips, taking in big, amorous gulps.

Needless to say, it took her a visit or two more before she actually remembered to bring her resume along with her. At least, she had told Applejack that she forgot. For the most part, she was nervous about it. She really did want to spend more time with the barmaid, but she didn't know anything about having a job, and it would have been awkward to hand the girl her resume in person and have her scrutinize it. Not that Applejack would have done that, but Rainbow was still nervous.

In the end, Rainbow came around on a busy night—Friday—and sort of slipped it behind the bar while Applejack was pouring a highball. She was back out the door without even saying hello.

Seconds later, Applejack noticed the odd piece of paper left crooked on her back counter, and immediately looked around for the girl who left it. Finding no familiar face besides the rowdy few patrons who seemed particularly interested in the cocktail waitresses, Applejack shrugged and looked it over alone. She smiled as she did, running her thumb over the typed letters and reading along.

Applejack blinked and grunted as the piece of paper was plucked from her hands, giving her a nasty paper cut along her thumb. She narrowed her eyes at the girl who stood before her, who held the paper at a short distance and knocked her reading glasses off her head and onto her nose. While the woman before her hummed, who Applejack now recognized as her shift supervisor, Applejack opened her mouth and placed her wounded thumb between her lips, sucking on it carefully.

“What's this?” Her supervisor skimmed it over.

“A res'me, wha's i' look like?” Applejack spoke over the thumb in her mouth, her words somewhat muffled. She removed the obstruction as she spoke again. “Remember that girl Ah said was lookin' for a job? That's her.”

“She has no experience at all.” Her supervisor's eyebrows dropped lower as she read more thoroughly. “I know I said I could try and figure something out, but I'm not sure.”

“C'mon Twi, Ah ain't never steered y'wrong b'fore, y'trust ma judge'a character, don't ya?” Applejack argued, stepping closer and meeting the girl's eyes with a look of honesty and certainty.

“I do, Applejack.” Twilight nodded slowly. She pursed her lips in pause, but let out a slow passive sigh. “If you're sure about this, I guess we can give her a chance.”

“Thank ya, tha's all Ah ask.” The barmaid snatched her supervisor's hand with both of hers and vigorously shook it.

“All right, I'll give her a call.” Twilight laughed lightly and pulled her hand away, nodding as she went out from behind the bar towards the stairs.

“Thanks again,” Applejack said with a smile, taking a moment to pleasantly sigh before getting back to her work.

Twilight was indeed a woman of her word, and Rainbow Dash got the call before she even arrived home. She was told to come in the next day for a brief orientation and to collect her uniform, her training shifts would be decided shortly thereafter. Since she didn't have any experience, they would start her off as the host, and if she liked it enough she'd be able to advance higher.

At first, Rainbow Dash hadn't known what to wear. Not only had she never had a real job before, but she didn't have that many nice clothes and had no idea what to expect. She had finally settled on a pair of nice-ish slacks in a charcoal grey, a collared casual blouse which she left mostly undone, and a beat-up old blue blazer-style jacket, which she was tugging on by the sleeves anxiously.

Waiting to talk to the shift supervisor, Twilight Sparkle, proved to be quite unnerving. Rainbow Dash shifted her weight from foot to foot, glaring down at her old black sneakers. Once she was certain her sleeves would come no further down no matter how often she tugged at the wrists, she proceeded to fiddle with the folded-flat-down, angular collar. She felt overdressed in the goofy garment, but it was one of the nicer articles of clothing that she owned and even so, it was worn and torn and screamed casual.

Plumping her lips outward and letting a long breath blow through them, she tried to dry her sweaty palms along the parts of her jacket that ran over her sides and stomach. The buttons on her cuffs clicked against those that held the jacket together, so she stopped bringing them so near. The blue of her jacket seemed to dull under the orange overhead lights, which made it seem like dusk no matter the time of day outside.

“Talk about a Blue Blazer,” a voice mused from behind her, and she froze still at the familiar accent.

Before thinking, Rainbow spun right around and nearly ran into— “Dolly!”

“Well howdy.” Applejack had to lean back due to how close Rainbow's turn had brought them. “You sure clean up nice.” She chuckled as Rainbow's face neared her own, but occupied herself with trailing the girl's body with her eyes.

Applejack had been standing right up close behind Rainbow Dash, leaning one outstretched arm against the overhang wall that separated the rest of the pub from the lounge. Rainbow seemed genuinely surprised to see her, especially since she wasn't wearing the usual gussy get-up. Her nervousness forgotten, Rainbow slicked some of her hair behind her ear and set to checking Applejack out, no matter how uncomfortable it seemed to make her.

“Look who's talking, I actually can't even see your cleavage,” Rainbow stepped somehow nearer and took hold of Applejack's collar, undoing a button or two as if to peer inside.

“Quit that, y'vermin.” The barmaid laughed and pried her wandering hands off.

“What are you doing here? It's Saturday.” Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow suspiciously, tilting her head as the question came out.

“Yea', Ah'm workin' for th' farm right now, Ah'm deliverin' some cider; th' Joint's a mighty fine customer o' mine,” Applejack explained with a tossed glance back up by the lounge, which carried Rainbow's attention to an ginger-blonde-haired man with several boxes of cider in his arms. “Y'here for orientation?”

“You bet,” Rainbow concurred as she flashed her a thumbs-up. “Just waiting on, uh, Twilight Sparkle. She's on the phone or something.”

“As usual.” Applejack huffed a laugh as the sentiment rang true, the phone did seem to be attached to Twilight's hip. As the supervisor, she had to deal with all kinds of employee troubles or customer relations. “Well, why don't ya let me show y'round? Ah'm sure Twi wouldn't mind.”

“You think so?” the new girl asked cautiously, not wanting to screw up already.

“Oh yea', she'll be glad for th' help.” Applejack swung around Rainbow, up a few stairs and hung out into the lounge by the handrail, waving the cider-slinging man over. “Tha's ma brother, Mac. Hey, Mac?”

“Eeyup?” The man tipped his tweed flat cap, which by no means matched the seemingly hand-made wool scarf that was knotted around his neck something like a loose tie.

The man was much larger than Applejack in size, and Rainbow had to admit she was a little intimidated. Applejack herself was quite toned, anyone could tell that much, but her brother was built. It must have been because he still lived on the farm, and muscle mass did stack better on men than women. Another similarity between the siblings was their abundance of freckles, which speckled their cheeks, and from what Rainbow had seen of Applejack, their chests. Big Mac had darker hair than Applejack, which was more vibrant than pale and seemed bright orange under the looming lights. From the bits of his wrists and knuckles that peeked out from the sleeves of his large plaid jacket, Rainbow could see a good amount of hair there to boot. Definitely a man's man.

“Could ya finish th' delivery for me? Ah got a lil' somethin' to do quick-like,” she asked her brother politely, making a pleading face.

“Eeyup, can do,” he agreed firmly, his low voice buzzing off the wood trim and tables.

“Thanks a barrel, Mac, Ah won't b' long,” Applejack offered her appreciation with a warm smile. She swung back down the stairs and took Rainbow Dash by the arm, leading her further into the pub. “C'mon, sugarcube.”

“I'd follow you anywhere, Dolly,” Rainbow chimed as she kept up eagerly.

“Al'right, I done heard you're gonna be a host, that right?” Applejack asked curiously as she peered back at the girl.

“Yeah, a glorified doorbell.” Rainbow snickered and snorted.

“Not at all, you're mighty important.” Applejack waved to a server as the two passed each other, though the other girl merely gave her a smile and ducked her head. “You're th' first face th' guest sees, an' the last one too. You're responsible for gettin' our servers sat right, s' no one gets too many 'r too little tables.”

“Am I supposed to be following what you're saying?” Rainbow raised her eyebrow as they went through the pub, and Applejack even grabbed a few dirty dishes from bus stations on her way.

“You'll come around.” The barmaid chuckled lightly and swerved easily around Rainbow Dash, who hadn't gotten used to the fluent pacing of the place quite yet. “Hostin' is kinda like bein' everywhere at once: y'gotta sit people down, sometimes bus some tables, help servers out if they need it, be the eyes for the kitchen as t' how many guests 're comin' in, shoot, you'll be answerin' phones too, an' sometimes Ah'll even get your help up at the bar.”

“That sounds hard.” Rainbow scrunched up her face as they came around the back end of the service aisle towards the dish pit.

“Well, you'll never be bored.” Applejack glanced back at her. “B'sides, Ah get the feelin' you'll like it here.”

“As long as you're around.” The girl grinned suggestively, but Applejack just smiled and brushed it off.

“This here's the back o' house,” the barmaid introduced as they came into the dish pit, where she dropped off the dirty plates and tossed a few glasses into glass racks that sat above the rest. “This is th' part o' th' pub th' guests ain't gotta see. Kitchen's 'round that corner there, but y'can talk to 'em through th' window in th' service aisle.”

“Wow, there are a lot of people that work here,” Rainbow murmured as she peered into the kitchen.

“It's Saturday, busy night for us.” Applejack breezed over it as she tugged Rainbow further back. “We got freezers an' coolers back there, some staff bathrooms an' break space. Dry storage is back there, where we keep condiments, breads, garbage bags, that kinda thing.”

“I'm going to forget all of this,” Rainbow said in a low voice, hoping no one overheard them.

“If y'do, Ah'll be around t'remind you.” The barmaid flashed her another enchanting smile. “Through there is where shipments come in, Mac's truck is there right now. But, Ah think that's about all you'll need t' know for now.”

“Do I have to wear the same goofy looking outfit that you do?” Rainbow Dash asked blankly, frowned and crossing her arms.

“Naw, hosts ain't gotta dress quite so skimpy, unfortunately.” Applejack winked and started back to the front of house, a curiously intrigued Rainbow Dash on her tail.

“One way or another, it'll end up on my bedroom floor.” Rainbow folded her arms behind her head instead, flashing a lascivious smirk to Applejack, whose smile faded uncertainly at the mention of something like that.

“Uh, Ah s'pose Ah should get you back t' Twi,” Applejack shifted the conversation, though her step was shallow and leisurely. “Y'probably have some borin' paper work or somethin' to go over.”

“Aww, man! Don't tell me that!” Rainbow groaned irritably and dragged her feet against the carpet, until it turned to wood as they neared the front.

“You'll live.” Applejack chuckled as they got to the front again, Twilight not even having finished on the phone yet. She placed her hand against the wood siding that ran along the wall and stepped one foot onto the first stair towards the lounge. “Ah guess Ah can leave y'here then.”

“Wait,” Rainbow Dash stalled her before reaching out and snatching her hand off the wall, yanking it nearer so roughly the barmaid almost tumbled back down the stairs. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“Huh?” Applejack glanced down at her thumb, which Rainbow Dash was unceremoniously fondling, giving her tickles across her palm and deep inside her stomach.

“You're wearing a lame bandage,” the garish young girl commented, picking at the fabric band-aid that wrapped around the barmaid's thumb tightly.

Applejack hesitated to respond, too interested in the sensations the girl at her fingertips provided her with. The band aid was dirtied from the small amount of farm work she had done before starting the deliveries, and it was stretched a bit and peeling back to reveal moist and paler skin. As the girl prodded at it, she realized that it didn't really hurt or bother her any more.

“Oh, yea', Ah gotta wear a band-aid if Ah get a cut, policy an' all when workin' with food and drink,” Applejack told her easily, though she had hardly so much as taken a breath since Rainbow had taken her hand. “It's just a measly little paper cut really—actually, Ah got it from your resume.”

“Hah, I knew I got under your skin sometimes.” Rainbow Dash snickered as her fingers caressed Applejack all the more sensually, bouncing her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight's voice broke the two apart violently, separating them in abrupt movements meant to save their dignity, though it seemed to incriminate more than anything. Twilight hadn't been watching though, and her head just then raised from the training manual in her hands.

“H-Howdy Twi,” Applejack greeted her friend as nonchalantly as she could muster, squeezing her still tingling hand in her other one.

“Oh, hello. You're early.” Twilight touched her bangs and knocked them out of her eyes.

“Ah always am, y'should expect it by now,” Applejack reminded her, glancing back to see her brother finishing up with the delivery up in the bar. “Ah took the liberty o' showin' Rainbow around a bit.”

“That should save us some time, then.” Twilight clutched the book up against her chest as she smiled brightly. “All the more time to go over policy.”

Rainbow Dash politely forced a laugh, but as Twilight put her head back down, she mimed putting a gun to the side of her head and pulling the trigger. Going along with the mime, Applejack gestured something like wiping the blood off her face and clothes. By then, Twilight was looking again, and Applejack turned her mimed blood-drying to a courteous wave before heading back up to the lounge.

“Good luck,” Applejack mouthed back to Rainbow, who smirked and rolled her eyes in boredom as Twilight began to speak.

Applejack tipped her hat down and chuckled as she swayed back over to the bar, noticing Mac making up a receipt for the Joint. He knew well by now to stack the rest of the boxes in the storage, but two or three came up behind the bar for Applejack to put in the mini-fridge with the rest of the bottled drinks. It was a popular sell at Jubilee's Joint, mostly because Applejack was keen on giving free samples, knowing most could not resist coming back for more. She pulled open the swinging wooden door behind the bar and came behind it, unpacking some of the bottles and placing them in lines.

“She seems nice,” her brother said in his low voice, though his eyes did not stray from the clipboard with delivery numbers scrawled across it.

“Ah dunno if nice is how I'd describe her.” Applejack laughed lightly to herself as she turned the labels on the already chilly bottles to face out. “But Ah like her, one way 'r another.”

“Ah bet.” Big Mac raised his eyebrows knowingly, and Applejack frowned over at him, though he didn't even turn to see it. “You doin' al'right, workin' here?”

“Yea', the money's still goin' through, right?” Applejack asked worriedly, wondering why he would ask.

“Eeyup.” Her brother nodded as he did some math in his head to come up with the surprisingly accurate total. “Jus' wondrin' how it's goin', seems we only talk 'bout money an' th' farm when y'come home.”

“That's th' only reason Ah'm workin' here at all, Mac,” the barmaid reminded him gently, her face falling sullen and focused, selfless and stoic. “Ah'd do anythin' for y'all, anythin'.”

“Somethin' tells me y'already do,” Big Mac almost whispered, his own expression darkening sadly as his signature went sloppy. “So, how's Miss Jubilee?”

“Same old, Ah guess.” Applejack coughed and looked away, brushing off the subject of the woman as she always did. That's exactly what had Mac worried. “She's sellin' our cider at 'er other Joint in Dodge Junction now, gettin' our name out there. Thanks t' her, we should be able t' keep the farm goin' a while longer, right?”

“Numbers say that,” Mac mumbled as he doubled checked the inventory. “AJ, y'know, y'ain't gotta do all this. Workin' so hard an' so long like this. Th' farm ain't worth your livelihood.”

“Th' farm is ma livelihood,” Applejack debated, and forced a smile onto her uneasy lips. “Let's not get into it, 'kay Mac? S'long as we got the farm an' you, Granny and Apple Bloom 're in good shape out there, tha's all that matters.”

“That ain't all that should.” Big Mac stood up straight and ripped the first sheet off, leaving a carbon copy for the pub's records.

“C'mon, we can't be late for our next delivery,” Applejack said as she snatched the receipt from her brother's hand and stuffed it into a binder that she had behind the till, where they put most of the invoices. She could have given it to Cherry Jubilee herself, but she didn't want to. It was safer this way.

Author's Notes:

Well, there we have it. A little more on cider, and some background stuff. Rainbow Dash, holding a service job? I suppose this should be interesting.