Breathers for Applejack (a MLP story) (ch.4 pt.2)

 “Don't you try to blame this on me,” Applejack said, giving Rainbow Dash a squinty look, “This was your idea in the first place! And she wouldn't'a found me if y'all weren't so eager to feed me the entire cloud I was 'sposed to be hidin' in!” she said, her chubby body dangling below her as Rainbow Dash dragged her through the air, cruising along towards Smokey Mountain.

“I was trying to keep you afloat! She wouldn't of found you if you hadn't made any noise!”

“Well, I made noise because y'all were too busy grabbin' hooffulls of cloud to stuff me with to notice that there weren't enough of the cloud left over to cover me up!”

“Well if you would just let me help you, Applej-

“DON'T-! Don't you say it, Rainbow Dash, not you too!”

“Okay, THAT'S IT!” Rainbow Dash shouted, screeching to a complete halt in midair, Applejack's fattened body swinging like a pendulum in her hooves. She tossed Applejack into the air, where she flailed helplessly before landing roughly rump-first on a nearby cloud, her rounder, heftier figure keeping her supported. “I had to do the entire weather patrol's workload today 'cause everypony's been looking for you!”

“Rainbow, I-

“Everypony's acting weird, like there's obviously somethin' weird going on, but no matter who I ask, nopony will tell me anything!”

“Rainbow Dash-

“You ask me to help you, like you're in some kinda huge trouble, and you ask me to trust you, no questions asked. That stops now! You ain't movin' off of that cloud until I get some answers.” she said, decisively, and plunked her rump down on a cloud several feet in front of Applejack's, her forelegs angrily crossed. She glared. Applejack hesitated, and took one long look at the ground, looming an impossibly large distance below her. She sighed.

“Well, alright. Now, before I say anything, you know I would never lie to y'all, RD, right?. Cause this is gonna sound like a load'a hogwash.”

“Great. Let's hear it.” Rainbow Dash said, making a curt beckoning gesture with her hoof. Applejack took a huge breath.

“When I said I was in trouble, that was a lie! Pheeeeew!” she sighed, sinking in relief, brushing sweat from her brow. “I had to get that off my chest.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“Fine, you're forgiven. So what's really going on?”

“Alright, here goes. I'm cursed. Yeah, yeah, I know what Twilight said 'n all that, but just listen to me. I went to Geronimo's smithin's right after you left this morning, and there was this old pony that I ticked off. So she waved her hooves around like this 'n said I'd have misfortune, this 'n that 'n somesuch, and ever since then, everypony's been trying to blow me up like a balloon, tryin' to help me breathe! First my family, then Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and everypony in town I've come across since! Everypony's just dropped what they were doin', and now they're all out lookin' for me! Don't that sound like a curse to you?”

“She said you'd have 'this 'n that' and 'somesuch'?”

“Well...no, I don't remember every little tiny thing she said, but that was the gist of it! Do y'all believe me, or not?” she asked. Rainbow Dash's expression softened and she looked Applejack up and down.

“I just have one question. Why the hay didn't you just tell me all that in the first place?”

“Well, cause I think I figured out how this curse works. And if I'm right, then I reckon that...it's affectin' you too, right now, and it's only gonna get worse over time, til you're...you know...goin' along with all them.” she said, pointing to the ground. “That, 'n, I wasn't sure if y'all'd believe me. With curses 'n all that.” Rainbow Dash smiled.

“Well...I'm not sure if I believe you or not, but you gave me the closest thing to an answer I've gotten all day, so. I'll help you get to Twilight's library, yeah. Maybe we can get a straight answer from her. After you've gotten over that altitude sickness, first.” she said. Applejack groaned and smacked her hooves over her eyes, falling backward on her chubby back in exasperation.
“No, no, no! I ain't got no altitude sickness! Rainbow, that's the curse! It's affectin' your mind, I just told you that!”

“Nnnnno, I don't think so. I think I would know if I was under the effect of some curse. It's definitely altitude sickness.”

“Rainbow Dash!”

“What? I'm not gonna blow you up, or...fatten you up, I guess. I'm still gonna take you to Twilight's house, like I said. It's just, the pegasi have this old trick for dealing with altitude sickness; you just eat a little bit of cloud.”

“And I don't have a little bit in me already!?” she asked, cradling her engorged belly between her forelegs for emphasis.

“Well, a little more than that. Look, I've been watchin' you, all loopy and barely breathing this whole time, and it'll make me feel a lot better if you ate a little bit of cloud. Just a little bit!” she said, putting her hooves up reassuringly. Applejack sat back up and looked at her with suspicion.

“D'ya promise?”

“I promise! We'll see Twilight right after, okay?”

“...Alright.” she said.

“Yyyyyyes! Oh thank you, Applejack, this has been bugging me so much!” she said, plucking a bit of cloud with her hoof and flying over to Applejack. She held it out, and Applejack reached for it, and her hoof went straight through it like it wasn't even there. Applejack rolled her eyes. “Whoops. Heh heh, sorry, I forgot. Alright, open up.” she said. Applejack looked at her, weary and a little frustrated. She slowly opened her mouth. Rainbow Dash delicately put it in her mouth, and Applejack roughly closed it and swallowed.

“There. Little bit of cloud. Happy now?”

“Mmmnn...” Rainbow Dash mused, stroking her chin, “doesn't look like it did very much. Maybe one more.”

“One more!” Applejack said, carefully.

“Yeah, just one more.” she said. She grabbed another bit of cloud, a little too big for Applejack's liking, and flew back over.

“Just one more, and then it's off to Twilight's house.” said Applejack decisively.

“Yeah, sure, no problem.” she said. Applejack opened her mouth, and Rainbow Dash pushed the larger piece of cloud through her lips. Applejack closed her mouth, her cheeks puffed out, and swallowed.

“There. Now come on.”

“Are you sure you're feeling okay?” asked Rainbow Dash, her hooves on her hips, “Usually it just takes a little bit, but you still look a bit loopy.”

“That's the curse! You said you wanted to help, right? Well, we gotta get to Twilight's house before you do something really- ulp!” she said, as Rainbow Dash shoved another piece of cloud into her mouth.

“Llllllllet's not get ahead of ourselves. We need our heads...uh...clear! I don't want you going to Twilight all ranting and raving about curses, we need to be able to...talk, and, explain 'n stuff.” she said, clutching what looked like a small cloud under her foreleg, as she tore another hooffull off of it. Applejack tried to argue, but Rainbow Dash kept forcing cloud into Applejack's mouth before tugging more pieces off of the one in her foreleg. She grabbed a big piece and shoved it in her face, knocking Applejack on her back, before taking the whole small cloud with both hooves and slamming it on top. Rainbow darted off and returned with what looked like another small cloud, and threw that one down on top before darting off again. She returned with another small cloud. And then another. And another. She threw the last one on the pile with great enthusiasm before hopping on top, and Applejack stared wide-eyed and helpless as Rainbow Dash bounced up and down on top of it, stomping it down, and down, and down, shoving it inch by inch down her mouth and throat, and making her belly rise up and up and up, getting rounder and bigger. With a few final shoves, both hooves at a time, she packed the cloud into Applejack's slackened, open mouth, her orange, freckly cheeks bulging and ballooning further and further outwards with each push, before grabbing her upper and lower jaw and clamping it shut for her, her eyes weary and dizzy. Small tufts came from her mouth and she slowly swallowed, her tongue lolling out of her mouth afterwords, looking like she was gonna be sick. “There you go! You just needed a bit more than usual!” she said, shoveling the last few stray puffs into Applejack's mouth. Applejack couldn't muster the energy to resist.

“Ugh...Rainbow Dash, I think this curse is gettin' to ya too fast!” she said, pressing her hooves into her gigantic midsection.

“No! I just got the best idea! Come on!” she said, picking up Applejack and leading her away.

“Wait! If y'all're worried about altitude sickness, we could just go to ground!” she said.

“No, trust me, this is a great idea. It's actually a bit of an honor for you, I don't know if an earth pony has done this before.” she said.

“Done what?”

“You are gonna get pipejammed!”

“Well, that don't sound good.” she said, fearfully, as clouds parted and the Ponyville weather factory loomed in the sky before them.

Rainbow Dash circled around it and flew them both to the back of the factory, where several pipes protruded out the back in a row. There was a low rumbling sound, and white, fresh cloud poured out of the furthest pipe in a hard stream and stopped, as the white substance drifted through the air and formed together into a cloud. Another jet came out of the next closest pipe. Then the next closest one.

“Uh, Rainbow, I never thought to ask ya before, but...what exactly does 'pipejammin' mean, anyhow?” she asked, nervously. Rainbow Dash sidled up right next to her, smushing slightly into her fattened body, and pointed at the pipe closest to them with a foreleg.

“Pipe...” she said, and Applejack felt both of Rainbow Dash's strong hooves grip her again, and before she knew it, she was being thrown forwards, towards the open pipe. She slid inside up to her midsection, which lodged itself firmly in the pipe's opening, and squeezed a grunt out of her, “...Jam!”. The impact knocked her hat off , which slid forward into the deep, dark pipe. Applejack reached forward with her forehooves, desperately grasping for her hat, but it was gone. She kicked her chubby hind legs and squirmed her fat body around, but it was hopeless. She was stuck. She briefly gave up, flopping jaw-first onto the interior of the pipe, breathing heavily, trying to think her way out of this one. Then, everything started vibrating. She nervously looked around her at the dark pipe interior as a low, deep rumbling sound started echoing down from the darkness ahead of her.

“Uh, Rainbow Dash?” she asked, uneasily.

Vummmmmmmmumumum-um-um-um-um-um...

“Rainbow Dash??”

um-um-um-um-UM-UM-UM-UM-UMUMUMUMUMUM

The rumbling built up, getting louder, and louder, and louder, until she saw her hat floating before her, followed by a solid wall of white, filling up the interior of the pipe and speeding through the darkness toward her. She barely had time to get a scream out before it hit her in the hooves and face, completely enveloping her torso and shoving her back outwards.

The seal between her rounded belly and hips and the opening of the pipe quickly broke, quick puffs of cloud hissing around her, as the pressure popped her bloated body out like a cork. Then, her now very-amply-sized rump collided with something. Before she had the chance to react, she was flying forward again, nose-first through the cloud, and wedged back inside the pipe. She kicked her pudgy legs in protest, but Rainbow Dash held her firmly in place, nestled in the center of her rump, wings beating furiously, her elbows softly depressed into each one of Applejack's orange butt cheeks. Rainbow Dash pushed and forced, Applejack doing her best to struggle, and listened over her mumbling and whimpering for her body to plug the pipe back up. With a push, a shove, and a sucking noise, the hissing stopped. Applejack's kicking became weaker as Rainbow Dash heard a low, rumbling, churning sound like muffled, running water through her hide, and felt her start to push outwards. She eased off and hovered, looking back joyously as Applejack's rump and hips slowly and hypnotically swayed in a circular motion, around and around, and she swelled, and swelled, and swelled. Her fattened hind legs kicked weakly as they slowly filled up, getting stiffer and puffier. Her orange hide creaked as she ballooned outwards, getting bigger and rounder, her swaying, inflating butt cheeks starting to surpass Rainbow Dash in size. Rainbow Dash gave one of her immensely stretched-out cutie marks a prod before nodding approvingly.

“Gee, I didn't know Sweet Apple Acres had their own blimp! Pffffft ha ha ha ha!” she said, laughing at herself. Applejack didn't respond. “Alright, tubby, let's give you a break.” she said, floating up and landing softly next to her tiny blonde tail atop her humongous, round body, causing it to gently bob downwards. She was approaching the same hot air balloon size Raindrops reached when Rainbow Dash “distracted” her earlier. Rainbow took a firm hold of the tail and flew off, tugging up Applejack's massive, orange bulk and towing it behind her. With a small pop, Applejack flew out of the pipe and swung ponderously back and forth from where Rainbow Dash was hovering. A high-pressured jet of cloud fired out of the pipe before slowing down to a stream and then a trickle, clouds forming in the air and slowly drifting away. Rainbow Dash admired her handiwork as Applejack drifted back and forth, back and forth, her legs distended and fattened to near immobility. Rainbow Dash gave her a quick tug, and she jerked up buoyantly, rotating in space before Rainbow Dash gave her a quick nudge and she stopped, her eyes darting around before settling on Rainbow Dash. Her cheeks were puffed up like fat, ripe grapefruits. A long, low, rubbery crrrrrrreeeeeeeeak came from her body as she drifted weightlessly in the air, her legs lazily twitching.

“Heeheeheehee! Not bad for a first timer, AJ!” she said. Applejack blinked at her. “Alright, just hang on a sec, I'll get ya ready for round two!” she said excitedly and darted downwards. She located Applejack's hanging tail and latched onto it with her teeth. “Awlrigth! Vrredy?” she mumbled. Applejack didn't respond. “Waaam...twerrrr...fwree!” she shouted, and gave her tail a vicious tug. Applejack's eyes widened at the sudden movement, and suddenly, all of the cloud that she had ingested came up.  

SSSHHHHFLOOMP!

Her mouth opened and it flew out of her, and just when she felt gravity retake her, a powerful set of hooves hold her afloat. “Yes! First try!” Rainbow Dash boasted excitedly.

“Hah- wha? Wha's goin' on?” Applejack slurred, confused and disoriented. Her body was back down to its normal proportions, and she was looking at a cloud drifting in front of her that looked like a giant butt. Rainbow Dash giggled and flew her up and around it, and as they crested the large, spherical cloud, Applejack spied a curious little flange at the top that looked a lot like her tail. Then she saw the puffed up legs and hooves and blush started burning its way onto her face. Rainbow Dash had skillfully yanked the cloud out of her without disturbing it. All her features were perfectly preserved, down to her mane and tail. Applejack got the feeling (that was uncomfortably starting to become familiar) of being impressed and embarassed in equal parts. Under other circumstances, she might brag about popping this whole thing out of her mouth. It was huge, hot air balloon huge. But as they reached the front and she saw her chubby, puffy cheeks and wide, pupil-less eyes, any pride she had wilted away. Applejack looked at her impromptu self-portrait-in-cloud's bare mane and compulsively felt her own with a hoof. Her eyes shot open in shock.

“Oh no. OH NO!” she said, running her hooves through her mane in a panic.

“Why? What is it”

“My hat! Where's my hat?” she said, looking around frantically.

“Oh, relax, it's probably around here somewhere.”

“Where could it be? We're in the middle of the sky! The only place it can go is...” she trailed off, looking down the dizzying distance to the ground.

“No don't worry, it's just-

“A hat?” she interrupted, angrily, “That what y'all were gonna say?” She twisted around in Rainbow Dash's grip until they were face-to-face and grabbed a couple hooffulls of her hide, stretching it out like a shirt collar, “That it's JUST A HAT!?”

“N-no, of course not!” Rainbow Dash said, nervously.

“I shouldn't have to remind you how important that hat is to me 'n my family. And if YOU LOST IT, Rainbow Dash, with the princesses, the sky, stars, 'n heavens as my witness, I will MAKE ANOTHER ONE OUT OF YOUR HIDE!” she shouted. Rainbow Dash looked at her fearfully. Applejack shoved her forehead into Rainbow Dash's, their eyes practically touching. “Put me down. NOW.” she said through clenched teeth.

“Alright! Alright, I can put you down.” Rainbow Dash reassured her. She slowly flew over to the pipe she had lodged Applejack in and set her down on top of it. Applejack sat and glared at her angrily. “Alright, relax! Look, it's not like the sky is empty, there are plenty of places it could have gone, we're by the weather factory, for Celestia's sake! Like, uh, it could've gone in that cloud over there! Or...that cloud over there!” she said. Applejack glared at her, angrier. “Or, the one that you- oh, you know what? I bet you it's inside that one!” she said, pointing to the Applejack-shaped one. “When the cloud came, it probably took your hat off and you swallo- uh...er...I mean...” she said, realizing she was making things worse by describing it. “It's...it's probably inside that one.” she said, smiling nervously. She zoomed over to it to escape Applejack's death glare, and approached the cloud's head. She reached her hooves to cloud-Applejack's mouth, delicately pushed down, and it articulated open. “Okay, let's see here...” she said, sticking her whole foreleg through the open mouth and feeling around, shoulder-deep. “Mmmmhhh...no, no, no, wait-!” she said, her eyes lighting up with excitement. She pulled her arm out, and a piece of old, brown thing jammed on the other side of cloud-Applejack's mouth. She pulled again, but it didn't come out. She planted her other hoof on the round mass and pulled mightily, and with a pop and mist of white cloud, she tugged it free. She smiled with satisfaction and dusted it off, holding it behind her back as she rushed back over to Applejack.

“Guess what I foooound!” she said, happily. Applejack's expression didn't change. “Ta-daaaa!” she said, holding it out. Applejack snatched it from her hooves almost immediately, dusting it off herself before putting it on her head and screwing it down tightly. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “See? First place I looked. You don't gotta worry, I'm pretty good at finding things like that.” Rainbow Dash said proudly. Applejack didn't respond. A low rumbling sound came from the weather factory, and the pipe on the farthest end of the row of pipes fired out a jet of cloud. “So, are we okay, now?” she said. Applejack didn't respond. The next pipe shot out a jet of cloud. “Alright, look, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I lost your hat. But, I found it again, so, we're like, square now, right?” she said. The pipe after that fired cloud.

“Nnnnope.” Applejack said.

“Nope!? Come on, Applejack, friends til the end! I still wanna help you! What more do you need me to do?” she asked. Then, she was in the grip of a powerful hoof, and before she knew what was happening, she was shoved into the pipe. “Augh! Wait!” she shouted, her wings and hind legs still sticking out, flailing, and Applejack swung down, gripping the mouth of the pipe, and bucked her right in the tush with her hind legs, sending her sliding into the pipe further and further, until her body filled the gap and she slid to a halt. She cringed, flicking her rainbowey tail, and discovered that her wings and legs were all pinned to her body by the confines of the pipe.

“There! Now we're square!” Applejack shouted, her voice echoing in the pipe.

“Nnnnngh! Oh, jeez!” Rainbow Dash grunted, trying to move. “I'm stuck!”

“'Round these parts, they call that gettin' pipejammed.”

“I said I was sorry! Hrrrrrnnnnngh-ah! Come on, you gotta pull me out!”

“Nope. You'll come out on your own.” she said, clambering back on top of the pipe and sitting down.

“Applejack, you can't do this! I still have to take you to Twilight's, and-” she said, cutting herself off as the pipe started to vibrate. Applejack's ears perked up at the mention of Twilight. Rainbow Dash looked down the dark pipe as the machinery firing up echoed down to her. “Oh, fubar...” she whimpered as a white wall of cloud rushed out of the darkness and collided with her.  

She didn't budge at first, the stuff hitting her in the face before her mouth forced open wider and wider, the cloud filling up her cheeks and pouring down her throat. Her mouth stretched wider and wider until it had stretched almost the entire circumference of the pipe. Just when the pressure started scooting her backwards, her thickening, expanding frame started slowing her down again.

Applejack waited for the hiss of the cloud leaving the pipe around Rainbow Dash, but it never came. Instead, that low, rumbling, churning noise like muffled, running water became more audible. She saw her friend's rainbow-colored tail slowly protrude from the end of the pipe, followed by her hind legs, fattened and swollen with fresh cloud. Her legs slowly and stiffly crept outwards, spreading apart when they they had enough room, followed by two bulging, inflating sky-blue balloons. Her legs wiggled weakly as her rump overflowed the rim of the pipe, blowing up and billowing outwards, her stretched-out cutie mark emerging on her huge flanks. Further and further outwards she swelled, and as her rump and flanks bulged and squeezed their way out of the pipe, they pressed against the rim, sucking Rainbow Dash's inflating body further and further outwards. Applejack's long and dizzying view to the ground was slowly being dominated by a swirling, gurling, ballooning blue mass with a small, twitching, rainbowey tail. Rainbow Dash's midsection ebbed its way out, groaning like straining rubber and rumbling with churning cloud, fighting to get out into the sky. Her wings and forelegs stuck stiffly outwards before puffing and fattening up with soft, white cloud.

Applejack watched on, her forelegs crossed, when a siren blared out and echoed in the empty air. Her ears perked up and she looked back up at the factory. The machinery noises wound downwards and downwards into nothing and the sounds of yelling and confusion echoed out into the sky. The churning in Rainbow Dash seemed to slow down and she stopped pushing herself outwards, and she floated and gently swayed in the breeze with her head somehow lodged completely in the pipe, weakly moving her legs and wings.

“Wuh-oh.” Applejack said, planting a hoof on her hat and leaping towards Rainbow Dash's enormous, inflated body. She bounced on the springy, rounded surface of her back, and continued forward to the shaggy, rainbow-colored tail perched atop her huge rump, and grabbed it with three legs and her teeth. The sudden shift in weight made Rainbow Dash's body bob downwards as Applejack rode her tail down, fearfully looking at the drop below her, and she creaked like a balloon before her head popped out in a stream of pressurized cloud, and she started slowly descending. She spit a mouthful of cloud into the air and sputtered and coughed, leaving a wispy, spiraling trail that hung in the air. Applejack gripped on tighter.

“Appleja- ulk! BRAAAAAP! Applejack! I'm sorry! Please, I wanna help! You gotta believe me!”

“I do believe you, Rainbow Dash. But you were also tryin' to help me when you were stuffin' my face and blowin' me up full'a clouds. I'm sorry, but there's no way'a knowin' that ya won't just join the mob when we touch down.”

“So that's it? You were just gonna leave me like this?” she said, wiggling her swollen hooves.

“Well...yeah, that was the plan.”

“Well, your plan stinks!”

“Well, it don't look like you have much of a choice, now do ya?”

“You have a curse and you're just gonna go on without me? How am I supposed to sit still and not lift a hoof to help you?”

“Because, everypony who thinks they're helpin' me is just makin' things worse!”

“Wait a minute...hold on a sec...BRAAAAP!...mph...so what you're saying is...if I help you, I'm not helping you...so...if I don't help you...I'd be helping?”

“Eeeyep.”

“Then I won't help you! Pleeeeease, please, please, please let me he-...I mean, let me not help you! I'll be the least helpful pony in ponyville! If I think you need my help, I'll ignore you! You know I can do that! How many times have you asked me to help with your chores? And how many times have I actually helped you? Like, never! Just please give me a second chance!” she said. Applejack didn't respond. “Applejack?” she asked, her eyes searching left and right. Then, she felt a great tug on her tail, rotating her body through the air. She cried out as she tilted one way, then the other, spinning wildly around. She screamed and waggled her hooves and wings around as the spinning slowed. Applejack casually walked in place along the surface of Rainbow Dash's globular body. Her head rotated up towards Applejack and she stopped, face-to-face, halting the rotation of her massive body. Rainbow Dash's eyes spun dizzily and she looked like she was gonna be sick. She shook it off, her chubby cheeks wobbling, and looked up at Applejack, who seemingly towered over her, with her forelegs crossed and a stern expression on her face.

“You really wanna help me?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Let me come with you!”

“Well...alright. I'll let ya come. But, you gotta promise me that ya won't try to help me unless I ask you to.”

“I won't!”

“Promise?”

“I promise! Here! Hnngh...” she grunted, looking over to the side. Her inflated foreleg stiffly wiggled towards her head. Rainbow Dash hocked and spat, and it flew a pitifully short distance before splatting on her inflated body. “Why did I think that was a good idea...” Rainbow Dash groaned, her head sinking back in resignation.

“Tell ya what. I'll take your word for it, sugar cube.” said Applejack, winking.

“Ha ha! Yes! BRAAAAP!” Rainbow Dash said, stunned by her sudden burp. She looked over at Applejack, slightly embarassed. Applejack looked at her with an eyebrow cocked. She shifted her weight on Rainbow Dash's springy hide, straightened her posture, and beat a hoof against her stomach.

BRAAAAAAAP!

She burped, loudly.

“Whoo! Pardon!” she said, tottering back upwards.

“Ha ha ha ha! Not bad, not bad.” said Rainbow Dash, before taking a deep breath through her nostrils.

BWOOOOOOOOOOORP!

She burped, giving Applejack a sly look and cockily raising her eyebrows up and down towards the tail end of it. Applejack sucked in some air and arched her back, her cheeks puffing up,

ggmphg...BWRAAAAAAAAAP!

She burped, and they both laughed, drifting slowly towards Ponyville.