The next day Applejack took her earnings to the office at Sweet Apple Acres. It was a tiny room, even tinier thanks to the shelves of old ledgers - farm records that stretched back farther than anypony had need of. AJ and Mac always talked about getting rid of them, but “cleanin' out the office” had become a joke between them, the one job on the farm that never really had to get done.

The most recent ledger sat neatly on the desk, next to a neat stack of receipts and invoices ready to be cataloged. Applejack would take care of that some rainy afternoon, but since there was no invoice to go with this cash, it had to be logged right away.

Not that she was likely to forget where it came from.

She set the bag of bits next to the ledger, and opened the book. Taking the pencil in her mouth, on the next clean line she carefully printed the amount. She paused at the line next to it, and considered leaving it blank, but that would stick out like a blue apple between the lines of writing. Finally she sighed, and wrote “For services rendered.”

Applejack stared at it. Those three little words were an awful lot of problems. The lie tarnished the honest farm records and ate at her, she hadn't rendered any services to anypony. The relief that she hadn't had to render disturbing services was cold comfort. On top of that, Mac was going to see that, and he was going to assume that she'd been rendering services, something she knew he wasn't happy with even if he didn't say anything.

Turning away from the book, she pulled the big metal cash box from under the desk. It opened with a creak, revealing the healthy pile of bits that just wasn't enough with the tax hike. Applejack got the bag from the desk and opened it, dumping the bits into the box with a jingle that she usually loved to hear. The coins in question disappeared, blending in with the rest, and she closed the box and shoved it back under the desk.

A noise came from the doorway, and she looked up quickly to see Big Mac standing there, watching her.

“I got some of the money.” She said with a half-hearted smile, but she could feel her cheeks turning red.

“Eeyup.” He nodded, with his unreadable expression, and turned to go.

“Wait. Come'ere.” Applejack called. At least she could try to make things better for Mac.

Mac walked in and waited. Applejack searched for the right words.

“I- um- I didn't havta. . . ya’ know.”

Mac nodded.

She nodded back. “Well, Marmalade don't know. The pony she sent me to, they let me have the bits. And they're gonna do that for a few weeks, 'til we've got it all. We're gonna be okay.”

“We sure are,” Mac said. But he stood there, making no move to leave.

She looked down and sighed. “This whole thing don’t feel right, is all. Lyin' to Marmalade, and takin' charity from- from this pony. I mean, I don't wanna haveta. . . but this don't feel right, either.”

“Ya' do what ya' gotta do, AJ.” Mac walked over and nuzzled her. “We'll get through it.”

“I know. But I gotta figure out how to get through it right.”

“I can't tell ya' how to do that. That's all in how it feels to you.”

Applejack sighed again. Then she chuckled at herself. “You think I'm crazy, Mac? I mean, I found somepony to just give us the money. . . that oughta be great.”

“I think you're honest, sis.” He started to leave on that note, but stopped in the doorway and went on, “. . . and crazy.”

“Thanks.” Applejack said dryly as Mac continued out the door.

Applejack shook her head, and glanced once more around the room to make sure everything was in order before she turned to go. Her eyes fell on the ledger on the desk. Mac was right, she was crazy, and honest. But if she wrote in that book that she was being paid for services rendered, then Celestia help her, she was going to have to render some services.

For the next two weeks, Applejack’s life returned to normal. She spent time with her friends, including Dash, who she almost felt closer with. They shared secrets none of their friends could know, which left them winking at one another when somepony innocently implied something, or teasing about feather dusters and visits to Dash's aunt when they were hanging out together. Despite the jokes, Applejack decided to keep business and pleasure separate. She waited until she returned to the hotel room to bring up her new course of action.

She met Dash at the hotel room once again. They exchanged brief hellos, and she quickly got down to business.

“I need to talk to you, Dash.”

“Sure, what's up?” Dash said with a casual smile, from the pillow where she was sitting.

Applejack just looked Dash in the eye. “I can't do this. I can't be lyin' to Marmalade, and I can't be takin' your money like this. It ain't right.”

“I told you, it's no problem!”

“It felt so wrong talkin' to her last time.” Applejack shook her head sadly. “She was all proud, and I felt like a liar. I can't just take the money, Dash. I've gotta earn it honest. You're gonna haveta keep your money, and I'm gonna have to tell her. Maybe if I explain everythin', she'll send me to another pony.”

“I want you to have the money, AJ! You're my friend!”

Applejack nodded. She had actually almost hoped it would come to this, but she still blushed and looked at the floor while she offered Dash the other option, “Then lemme have sex with ya'.”

Dash just stared at her. “Let you do what?”

“If I'm gonna take your money, you gotta let me do it,” Applejack said clearly, daring to look up at Dash's shocked face. “That way I earned it fair and square, and I don't hav’ta lie to Marmalade.”

“But- I don't want you to have to do that!”

“I know, Dash. But I know I gotta do it to feel right. It's you, or somepony else, and. . . I'd rather it was you.” Applejack sighed. “I came here two weeks ago to do that for somepony I didn't even know. But I reckon it's a lot better if I at least know the pony, and care 'bout her, and know she cares 'bout me.”

“I do care about you, AJ! That’s why I can’t do this with you!” Dash said, her eyes pleading.

“If you can’t do it, I’m sure somepony can. I can get by with their money,” Applejack said plainly, looking down as she turned to go.

“AJ, wait.”

Applejack looked over her shoulder. There was silence while Applejack watched Rainbow Dash, who seemed slightly angry and deep in thought. Dash closed her eyes, and put on a face of grim determination.

“Fine. Just the wings.” Dash said firmly.

Applejack knew Dash was trying to go easy on her, but that hardly seemed worth what Dash paid her. “Dash, that ain't really-”

“I'm the customer, right?” Dash snapped. “I just want you to go over my wings.”

Applejack blinked. “Fine. Go on and lay down.”

Rainbow Dash flew to the bed, laid down on her stomach and spread her wings. Applejack climbed up and hesitated. Normally, with a lover, she'd drape her front half over the pony's tail, so she could get to both wings as she needed to. But that seemed weirdly intimate to be doing with her friend. Of course, what she was about to do to Dash's wings was weirdly intimate, so she took her place over the pegasus, feeling Dash's tail pressed against her belly, AJ's forelegs planted on the bed just behind the spread wings.

She leaned down, and started to lick and kiss Dash's side, just at the base of the wing. Her hoof gently lifted the wing as her tongue traced its way up the shaft to the end of the bone. The soft feathers against her lips reminded her how much she missed this, and as her tongue worked back down the shaft, giving short licks in the direction of the feathers, she had to admit that Dash had the hottest wings she had ever seen.

When she got back to the base, she kissed her way across Dash's back to the other wing. As she did, she noticed that Dash's breathing was shaky, and she heard the tiniest whimper as she started on the second wing. She offered it the same treatment, she knew from ex-marefriends that pegasi had a thing about symmetry, so she mirrored her actions, just as slowly, just as many licks. As she returned to the base, her tongue traced the lower feathers with a firm but teasing pressure.

“Mmm!” Dash squeaked, and Applejack felt her wiggling slightly. AJ smiled, glad to know she still had it as she licked in the same way along each row of feathers, to the tip of the wing. She did the other wing to match, thoroughly enjoying the feel of the slick feathers on her tongue, and the scent of fresh air and rain that always seemed to cling to pegasi wings. It was almost enough to get her twitching, but she did her best to calm herself as she really got down to business.

She nuzzled the base of the wing, and moved to the shaft again, this time putting her mouth around it and nibbling lightly. Dash gasped in pleasure and bucked her hips slightly, letting out little moans as AJ slowly moved up the stiff ridge with little bites. By the time AJ got to the other wing Dash was panting and grinding against the bed. As Applejack finished, and prepared to go into her next trick, she was interrupted by Dash's shaky voice.

“Boss? Please eat me out? Please?”

Applejack looked at the back of Dash's head, confused by Dash's change of heart, but also by the use of Dash's occasional nickname for her. It seemed especially strange in this situation. “Are you sure you-”

“Don't ask.” Dash said quickly. “Just. . . please?”

“Okay.” Applejack backed off of Dash and waited a few seconds, but Dash just laid there on her stomach, breathing heavily.

“Go on, lift your rump.”

Right away, Dash got her hooves beneath her and raised her tail end in the air. She brushed her tail to the side, revealing that AJ had done a very thorough job on her wings. Her slit was nearly dripping, and her opening winked in anticipation. Applejack realized that she was looking at Rainbow Dash's most intimate parts, and that Dash clearly needed a helping hoof. Or, tongue in this case. She felt far less awkward than she thought she would as she gave a light lick along the blue lips.

“Mmmm!” Dash squealed. “Please! Just like that!”

Applejack had only been testing the waters, as it were. But since Dash seemed to enjoy it, she took her time getting used to the taste of her best friend, lavishing her sex and the area around it with her tongue.

“Yes! Oh yeah! Oooooh!”

Applejack plunged her tongue between the lips with a long, deep lick that sent a jolt through Dash's body. The pegasus shivered and screamed as climax hit her. She thrust herself towards AJ's face over and over, and AJ did her best to match the rhythm with the pressure from her tongue. Dash's squeaky moans filled the room, until they finally trailed off into whimpers.

Applejack pulled back, and Dash's spent body fell to the bed, hard, and just lay there.

After a few seconds, Applejack asked softly, “You okay, sugarcube?”

Dash didn't lift her face from the pillow, but Applejack could make out the muffled words, “I'm sorry.”

“Why?”

Dash turned her head to the side so her face was out of the pillow, still not moving. “I- I didn't mean to make you do that. I thought the wings would be okay, it's kind of, not real sex. But you were so good, and I kinda got carried away, and now you must think I'm a loser 'cause I paid my best friend to have sex with me.”

“Dash, I asked ya' to let me do that.” AJ pointed out. “I reckon I earned that money now. . . I mean, you looked like you were havin' fun.”

“I was, I just. . .” Dash hesitated, seeming angry with herself. “I didn't want it to be like this.”

“Sugarcube, don't you worry. You had a little somethin' that needed takin' care of, and it's my job to help ya' out with that, at the moment.”

Dash was quiet for a few seconds. “Did you hate it?”

“What? Course I didn't hate it! You're a beautiful pony, Rainbow Dash. And you're my best friend, and you're kinda funny when you carry on like that.” Applejack smiled and laid down next to Dash. Dash turned her head to the other side, looking away from AJ. Applejack leaned in and whispered in her ear, “And don't take this wrong, but you got the sexiest wings I ever had the pleasure of tastin'.”

Applejack suddenly felt one of those wings brush the length of her back. She shivered, feeling the arousal that she'd been trying to turn off growing between her hind legs.

“Hey now!” Applejack admonished Dash.

“I wanna do you,” Dash said, turning to look at AJ, completely serious.

“That ain't how it works. . .” Applejack said, uncertainly. Her job was about making her client happy. She wasn’t sure she wanted that kind of attention for herself.

“Sure it is! I do the girls, sometimes. Besides, you can’t tell me my wings don’t make you hot.” Dash brushed her wing across AJ’s face.

That fresh air smell hit AJ again. “What makes me hot has got nothin’ to do with this.”

“Maybe I think it does.” Dash smirked. “If you're all about giving me my money's worth, you don't get to tell me what I want to do.”

Applejack bit her lip. Dash was right, she was the client, and if that's what she wanted to do, there was no harm in it. AJ gave a resigned sigh, “Okay. I guess.”

“Lay on your back and relax,” Dash ordered with the same smirk, then it started to waver. “. . .you can close your eyes, if you want.”

Applejack rolled over, face up on the bed, and closed her eyes. After just a few seconds, she drew in her breath as she felt the edge of Dash's wing start at her neck and drift slowly down her body. She had intended to try to think of somepony else, but all she could imagine was that gorgeous blue wing caressing her, and she opened her eyes to watch it as the tension built in her body. The wing drew closer to her mound, inch by inch, and the idea of feathers brushing her there lit a fire in AJ.

The wing did end up there, prompting a grunt and a thrust of the hips from AJ. But Dash wasn't done yet. The pegasus smiled and shifted around so she was standing halfway over AJ, and then brought both of her wings down to softly brush up and down the insides of AJ's flanks.

“Ooooh, sweet Celestia.”

Dash grinned and ran the tip of one wing right up AJ's slit. Applejack gasped, eyes wide. She was getting wetter every second. Dash leaned down and kissed the glistening marehood, while her wings moved to the outsides of AJ's splayed legs. Dash's tongue parted AJ's folds, prompting a moan of pleasure as the combination of Dash’s mouth and feathers set off every nerve in the lower half of her orange body.

Dash's wings kept a steady, gentle rhythm, as her tongue worked in AJ's sex with sensuous licks that she never thought the pegasus was capable of. With each warm stroke Applejack felt the delicious tension in her body getting stronger.

“Mmm! Oh Dash. More. Please.” AJ panted, and her hips started to move against Dash. But Dash didn't let any of the delicious sensations stop, speeding both her wings and tongue slightly to match AJ's rhythm. Each thrust of her hips brought more pleasure, and drove Applejack closer to that peak.

Finally, Applejack felt everything in her body clench and she yelled out to both Celestia and Rainbow Dash between incoherent screams of pleasure. Dash kept at her, drawing out the orgasm until AJ's voice was worn and she was left still and panting on the bed.

Dash flew over and landed, laying next to her, smirking. “Beats a feather duster, huh?”

“This ain't fair, Dash,” Applejack said as she caught her breath. “You can't be payin' me, and do me that good.”

Dash draped a foreleg over AJ and pulled her close. “I'm happy. That's what you wanted, right?”

Applejack smiled. “It sure is.”

A few minutes went by and they lay together in silence, with Applejack considering their position. What just happened hadn't felt like work, and this didn't feel like a client. The places where Dash's wing had brushed her still tingled, and feeling Dash's body pressed to her was comforting and warm. But at the same time, snuggling with somepony after amazing sex wasn't something she really classified as friendly, either. Since she didn't have a lot of experience in her current job, she decided to ask.

“Dash? Is it weird that we're layin' here cuddlin'? I mean, do ya' usually do that with the girls?”

“No. . . “ Dash said softly, “but I hug my friends.”

Applejack could have argued against that. While they'd hugged lots of times, it didn't usually come after mind blowing sex. But she decided to let that part go.

“So, what do ya' usually do with the girls?”

“Stuff. Don't wanna talk about it. . . just let me lay here? Please?”

Something in her voice reminded AJ of the way she'd asked for more during sex, and between that and brushing off AJ’s question, AJ was starting to wonder about Dash. But she wasn't being paid to ask questions, she was being paid to do a job, one she was more than happy with for the moment. She she relaxed and snuggled against Dash, smiling. “Okay, sugarcube. You earned it.”

The evening went on, and eventually Applejack pointed out that Marmalade was expecting her. They said their goodbyes; Applejack thanked Dash once again, and headed out into the night.

As Applejack walked through the dark Canterlot streets, she finally had time to get her head clear. The feeling of feathers on her body haunted her in a wonderful way. But they were Dash's feathers, not a pony she loved. Dash was just her friend, the pony she liked hanging out with, the pony who was there for her through thick and thin. The pony who would help her, right or wrong. The pony with amazing wings that she longed to nibble on again.

She shook her head, she was obviously thinking fuzzy. That was work. She'd earned her money, and they'd do it one more time and that was that. Falling for a client was such a dumb move that AJ hadn't even considered it as a mistake she might make. One night of sex didn't mean she was in love, no matter how good it was. And it was good. . . but Dash didn't even want that much, she did it to make AJ happy. Well, she let AJ do her to make AJ happy. Dash had insisted on giving AJ a turn because. . . probably because of whatever weird thing was going on with Dash's head, and the other call mares, and calling AJ “Boss.” Not that AJ had any idea what that was all about.

It didn't matter, either. Dash was trying to be her friend. Applejack owed it to her to keep her head together.

She trotted into the bright, pleasant office, and smiled at Marmalade as she set down her bag of bits. Pride filled her, remembering that she'd done her job this time, and done it well.

“This time went even better than last time. I can guarantee that she was pleased.”

Marmalade grinned as she counted out the bits. “Oh, did you bring out the ropes?”

“Ropes?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, the girls say that's what she likes best, being tied up, begging for it, things like that. She didn't ask for it?” Marmalade laughed. “Maybe you're enough for her without toys.”

“She didn't mention it.” Applejack considered the idea. This did explain why she was so tight lipped about the other call mares. She didn't want AJ to know about her weird sex habits. But it wasn't that bad, and right now it was AJ's business to know it. She couldn’t deny being a little curious, as well. “You know anymore 'bout what she likes? Maybe I'll bring it up next time.”

“Just that she likes somepony to be boss.” Marmalade slid AJ's share of bits into the bag, and offered it to AJ. AJ hid it in her hat. “Of course, they say she gets a little bossy herself sometimes if they don't keep a firm hoof, that drives them crazy. But that's why I figured she'd love you.”

“'Cause I can take charge, if I havta?” Applejack smirked.

“A blonde, cowpony-type who's tough and good with a rope? That's pretty much the wish list she gave when she came to me.” Marmalade grinned. “I usually come as close as I can, but I guess we hit the jackpot with you.”

Applejack froze, trying to keep the absolute shock from showing on her face. “Really?”

“I figured she'd go wild for you, you've even got the hat. She loves it when the girl wears a cowpony hat. We keep one here for the other girls to borrow, but no need to offer it to you!”

“Huh,” was all Applejack could muster.

“You know, if you want to keep on with her after next week, it's fine by me. I've got plenty of clients for the other girls, and it could be some extra spending money for you. It's not bad money for a few hours a month.”

“Uh, that's mighty kind of you, but I don't think that'll be necessary.”

“It was just a thought.” Marmalade smiled. “I'll see you soon!”

Applejack nodded. “Seeya, Mar.” Then she walked out of the office as if in a dream, the words a blonde, cowpony-type running through her head over and over.