Rain, sleet, snow, hail. All boring to the Rainbow Mare whose face was pressed into the cloud desk she sat at, snoring away lightly. Her mane was hanging over the front of her face and a light stream of drool was trickling from her mouth and to the floor. All around her Pegasus ponies paid careful attention to the Teacher up front, instructing them on the proper
procedures to execute an emergency landing in extreme weather conditions. The teacher's words fell on one filly's deaf ears
however, as Rainbow Dash continued to snooze on, uncaring of what was going on.

It was a new class her boss had pretty much forced her to take because the feather brain everypony knew as Derpy Hooves had managed to get herself stuck on a mountain in a hail storm. Like she cared, like she even NEEDED this class! She was Rainbow Dash, the most epic of fliers and the bravest of the Pegasus ponies! She would never let a simple, dumb thing like hail stop her from being awesome! She smiled stupidly in her sleep as she dreamed about the Wonderbolts, their looks of sheer awe as she performed a TRIPLE Sonic Rainboom, The entire sky lit up with the color of rainbows. She bowed as crowds and crowds of ponies cheered her on.

She suddenly frowned as something soft hit her head, and when she reached up...an apple fell in her hoof. She stared at it, confused when all of a sudden another hit her, and another, and another! It was raining apples! She held up her hooves and shouted in protest, the apples falling harder and faster. Over the downpour, Rainbow Dash swore she could hear a familiar laugh echoing across the sky.

She jumped in her seat, squealing as her Teacher slammed a yardstick down on her table, the rest of her fellow weather team snorting with laughter. She rubbed the back of her head slightly, blushing with embarrassment as her teacher frowned heavily towards her, saying in a raised voice "Well, Miss Dash? Care to explain to the class what the proper angle is for your wings to effectively navigate sudden upwind currents?" Rainbow Dash simply stared at him like he had four heads, her eyes wide and her mouth partially agape. The teacher sighed, shaking his head and trotting back to the front "Pay ATTENTION please Miss Dash, this is for your team's safety as well as your own!" Rainbow Dash waved a hoof in the air, muttering

"Yeah yeah..." and propped her chin up on her hoof, sighing with aggravation and staring towards the front with a bored expression on her face. It was going to be a long hour...

~~~

Meanwhile, a few thousand feet below on the ground, a certain orange earth pony bucked an apple tree with tremendous force, her effort rewarding her with a large yield of falling apples. Applejack chuckled, tipping her hat back and smiling. She rolled the piece of hay tucked in her mouth to the other side and let out a heavy sigh.

"Whew! Ah tell you what, there ain't nuttin' like a good bucking to get all the apple pie outta mah thighs." the Apple Mare joked to herself, gently picking up her prized apples and dropping them in wooden buckets placed around her. She sat on her haunches after she collected them all, wiping her forehead with her hoof and leaning herself up against the partially dented tree. The shad kept her cool, her eyes gently wandering over the wide expanse of Apple Trees she took pride in harvesting.

Her thoughts wandered about, on her family, her farm, her friends...and her. Applejack sighed, her eyes slowly lifting up and staring up towards the barely visible outline of Cloudsdale. It had been a few weeks since she started thinking about Rainbow Dash, and every day she became more and more nervous about her own thoughts. She didn't quite understand why she cared so deeply for her, often times just letting her sleep in her trees instead of bucking her awake, or giving her encouraging cheers when her tricks didn't come out just right. Granted that was most of the time, so Applejack would often find herself with a small first aid kit, tending to Rainbow's wounds while they sat in the Apple Family kitchen.

She remembered one of those particular days...the days she started feeling different about Rainbow Dash. They were in Applejack's kitchen, Rainbow wincing as the country mare ran a gentle hoof along her side, trying to clean a deep gash that had been set in her side from a stray tree branch. She wrapped a soft bandage around Rainbow's belly and rubbed her hoof up and down her side again, making sure it stuck. She hadn't even realized that she had been rubbing Rainbow's side for four minutes, her mind starting to wander away, her thoughts trailing away as she felt Rainbow's soft coat under her hooves. Rainbow smiled a little, turning her head and muttering

"Hey...I don't think the bandage is getting any more secure AJ." Applejack shook her head, coming back to reality as she blinked and stuttered

"Huh? What?" Rainbow laughed and shook her head, thanking her friend for the treatment. She headed for the door, giving Applejack a small salute and heading out, calling back

"See you later AJ!" Applejack waved after her, hearing the familiar 'WOOSH!' of her friends wings.

Applejack gently shook her head, coming back to reality as she sighed heavily, getting up and calling over to Bic Macintosh who had been tilling the field nearby

"Hey Macintosh, I'm heading inta town if ya'll need anythin'!" Big Macintosh looked over, stopping his plow for a second to let out his traditional

"Eeeyup!", tugging back on the plow and leading it across the ground. Applejack nodded, tilting her Pappy's hat back forward and walking casually down the path, Ponyville and a certain boutique on her mind. She figured if anyone could help her with froo froo feelings and what not, it'd be that stuck up, city-lovin' Rarity.