Homesick

“Dash…”

Rainbow’s eyes were locked with the young woman in front of her. She felt her heart racing as her friend pulled in closer, closing the gap between them as their lips brushed. The kiss was sweet, but too brief. The blonde pulled away, and suddenly her face changed. She looked surprised, and a little hurt.

“Dash?”

“Hm?”

“Wake up.”

She looked around. It was just her and her friend in the orchard, surrounded by its natural beauty.  Who was she talking to?

“Applejack…” She whispered.

Applejack leaned in again; Dash closed her eyes, expecting another kiss. Instead, to her dismay, she felt a finger roughly poking her cheek.

“W…What the hay?”

“WAKE UP”

“WAKE UP!”

Rainbow shot up in bed, she let out a quick gasp as she woke with a start. Where in the world was she?

“DASH!”

“WUH TH- PINKIE?” Rainbow Dash scooted away from her, nearly falling off of the bed. Her friend was staring back at her with her bright, blue eyes.

“Morning, sleepyhead! I thought you’d never wake up! Luckily you did though, thanks to me. I poked your face a bunch until you did! Before you were just squirming, and going ‘Applejack, Applejack!’ Which was silly, because Applejack isn’t here, just me!” Pinkie was babbling, as usual.

Dash rubbed her temples and shut her eyes again. This was not the first thing she wanted to hear in the morning, especially not when she was this hung over.

“Why…Did you wake me up..?” Dash mumbled. Her head was pounding.

“Oh! Because I was bored!” Pinkie started to giggle. “But I brought you some coffee; I thought it would make you feel better! You were puking all night!”

Rainbow Dash glanced at the coffee, it made her stomach turn. She let out a load groan, and allowed her body to fall back onto the bed. She pulled the pillow out from under her, and shoved it into her face. “Uuugggggghh, wwhhhyyy” Dash whined.

“Why what?” Pinkie questioned. She set the coffee down on the nightstand, and took a seat on the bed next to her friend.

Dash thought back to the dream she was having just minutes ago. She wished she could just drift back to sleep and pick up where it had left off, before a certain pink-haired girl so rudely awakened her. No matter how much she tried to push the memory away, it still managed to leak through the depths of her subconscious.

The Pegasus finally sat up again, and turned to face her friend.

“Do you know where AJ went?” It was the only thing on her mind.

“Hmm…I think Twilight took her back to the library! Did you want me to go down there with you?”

“That’s okay, Pinks. I’m just gonna pick her up and head back to the farm. Thanks for letting me crash here though, and uh…Sorry if I hurled on anything…” Dash winced, the room faintly smelled of vomit.

“Aaww, alright…” Pinkie picked herself up off the bed and headed towards the door “Well, enjoy the rest of your day! Oh, and Dashie?”

“Yeah Pinks?” Dash responded, not paying much attention to the other girl, but instead concentrating on slipping her shoes on.

“You really oughta tell Applejack how you feel! She really likes you, you know!”

“Sure, thanks P…W-wait, what?!”

Rainbow turned herself to face the door, but found her friend was gone already. She paused to consider if she should track her friend down and talk to her about it. It didn’t take long to decide against it – Pinkie was, somehow, probably halfway across town by now. Plus, she wasn’t really someone Dash wanted to have this conversation with. Although she was a great friend, she was a total scatter-brain, hardly keeping on one topic for more than a second. She shook her head, then headed towards the bedroom window to take off. It was time to head to the library and find the missing cowgirl.

~ ~ ~

As the Wonderbolt was flying towards the library, she kept replaying what Pinkie Pie had stated right before leaving. ‘She really likes you, you know!’ Dash’s heart skipped a beat every time the memory repeated.

‘How would she know that? Does AJ talk about me when I’m gone? Did she say something to Pinkie?’ Before she knew it, she was at her friend’s place, and had to rid herself of these thoughts. She knew Applejack would notice something was bothering her, and try to coerce the girl into talking about it. Dash already promised herself she wouldn’t start acting that way again.

Rainbow Dash noticed the door was ajar, so simply pushed it open and took a step inside. She saw that Twilight was already keeping herself busy; no doubt reorganizing her bookshelves (She did this once every few weeks). She seemed so infatuated by her work, she didn’t notice the Pegasus clear her throat a few times.  Dash rolled her eyes, growing more and more impatient by the second.

“Twilight?” She finally said, breaking the magician’s concentration. Twilight turned to face the girl on the opposite end of the library, but still didn’t break her concentration. A few books hovered around the room before finding their proper place on the shelves. Twilight mumbled a few words to herself as finished her task.

“And…Done!” Twilight gave a proud nod, then headed in her friend’s direction. “Morning, Rainbow Dash!  How are you feeling?”

“My head hurts, I’m queasy, I feel like I slept on a pile of bricks, and I can’t remember most of last night. Otherwise, fine.” The Pegasus smiled, her comment made her friend laugh a bit. Although she was complaining, those things really didn’t bother her much, she was used to it. Plus, she was a little distracted by something else.

“Well, if you came to find Applejack, I’m afraid you’ve missed her…” Twilight began, “She headed back to the farm half an hour ago. She said she couldn’t afford to sleep in and miss any work.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Oh…Well, I guess I should head back home and help her out. She’s probably having a miserable time…If she’s as hung over as I am, anyway.” She gave her head a quick rub.

Twilight nodded in agreement. “You two should stop by soon though; maybe have a nice, quiet dinner. Something a little tamer than last night…” She smiled, thinking back to the Pegasus and farmer drinking themselves to oblivion.

Dash giggled. “Sounds nice, Twi. Anyway, thanks for taking care of AJ…I’ll seeya later, alright?”

She was now headed towards the door. Twilight lowered her head for a moment and bit her lip, she wondered if she should ask now, or just let it go…

“Hey Dash? How uh…Did everything go with Applejack? Your talk, I mean.” Twilight was kicking herself for that, it was so abrupt, but she couldn’t resist asking. Rainbow Dash seemed taken aback by the question, just staring blankly at the library’s wooden floor. She turned back to face her friend.

“Oh…It was okay. Pretty good, actually…” Twilight didn’t seem satisfied by the answer. She had her eyes set on the pegasus, waiting patiently for a more detailed answer. Dash took a deep breath.  “I mean, everything got sorted out. She apologized, I said it was okay, we agreed we’re just friends.”

“That was it?” Twilight still seemed pretty disappointed by her friend’s explanation.

Rainbow furrowed her brows. “That pretty much sums it up…”

“And you were okay with that?”

“Uh…Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be? Like I said, my main concern was losing AJ as a friend. If she’s happy with what we have, then I am too.” Dash knew it was a lie, and she knew Twilight would see right through it. “Look, can we talk about it later? I gotta get back…”

“Dash, I’m sorry…I just wanted to make sure…”

“I’m fine, Twilight. I gotta go.” She hurried out the door, slamming it behind her. Twilight saw her friend take to the sky through her window.  It was apparent to her that Rainbow wasn’t ready to have this conversation. She was rarely in such a rush to get to work; in most cases, Dash would find any excuse to procrastinate. It was just an excuse to avoid any more questions, and Twilight knew it. There was nothing she could do, though. Dash would talk about it when she was ready – In the meantime, Twilight had work to do, and she wasn’t about to let this distract her. She returned to the shelves on the library, ready to get back to it.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

“What am ah supposed to do, Granny? Ah ain’t got a soul to turn to on this one…” Applejack was sitting cross-legged beside her grandmother’s grave, keeping her hands occupied by picking the petals off of flowers. “Ah feel like all mah family and all mah friends would look at me different… What would yuh think of me?” She stared at the now naked stem, and tossed it back onto the ground.

Applejack had gone straight to the burial site after Twilight’s.  Her mind was too occupied to work; she just needed some time to clear her head. Mac knew she would be home early afternoon to work, and was handling the load with Applebloom. Luckily, it was the weekend, so the young girl didn’t have any class to attend.

She lowered the rest of her body onto the grass, and now was lying flat against the earth; her hands were now resting atop her stomach, rising and falling with each breath. Her green eyes got lost in the clear blue sky above her – It was completely hypnotic. There wasn’t a cloud to be seen, just pools of light blue as far as the eye could see.

“Ah must be going crazy…Talkin’ to ghosts.” Applejack sighed. “What wouldja say tuh me, granny? ‘Hey, ah love mah best friend…’ ‘Well, Applejack, ah sure don’t understand whatchya whippersnappers find so appealin’ about datin’ other girls, but if it makes yuh happy!’” She shut her eyes for a moment. “Is that what ya’d say tuh me? Or…Shucks, ya’ll would probably never talk tuh me again. I wouldn’t blame ya…”

The farm girl let her hand wander at her side for a moment, looking for another flower to deface. When she finally got hold of one, she brought it close to her face, and began to pick the petals, whispering “She loves me…She loves me not…” as she delicately plucked each one. She winced when she realized what she was doing, and tossed the half-picked flower aside. Why was she doing this to herself?

Up above, the Pegasus was approaching the farmhouse, but noticed a tiny orange spec below her, lying flat on the grass. It perplexed her; she thought for sure the apple farmer would be working herself to death by now.  It worried her; it really wasn’t like the farmer to slack off…Something must have been bothering her.

“AJ!”

Applejack opened her eyes at the sound of a distant voice. “…Granny?” It wasn’t until the Pegasus was in sight she realized where the voice had come from. She was embarrassed for not realizing it.

‘Fer Celestia’s sake, does she really hafta bother me right now?’

Several seconds later, Rainbow landed beside her friend, and immediately kneeled down to be at her level.

“You okay, AJ?” Dash was giving her the sincerest of smiles. Seeing her was the only thing she needed to brighten her day.

Applejack nodded, not making eye contact with her friend. “Ah’m fine. Just wanted tuh stop by here before work n’ such…”

That didn’t seem out of the ordinary. Applejack had gone there every day, either to leave flowers, or just say a few things to her loved one.

“Ah…Ah’d kinda like to be left alone for a while…Ah don’t really like doin’ this in fronta others…”  Applejack pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them tight. She still was looking away from the Pegasus.

Rainbow Dash, of course, was ready to respect her friend’s wishes. She stood up and gave a quick stretch before leaving her friend’s side. “Alright…I just wanted to make sure you were okay…” There was no response from the farm girl. After a long pause, it became clear Applejack wasn’t in the mood to talk, either. Rainbow finally broke the awkward silence. “Guess I’ll see you down there…” Dash began moving down the path, glancing back over her shoulder occasionally to see if her friend was looking in her direction. Applejack was still sitting with her face buried in her knees, waiting for the Pegasus to be out of sight.

When Rainbow Dash further down the path, Applejack let out a small sigh of relief. She felt annoyed with the girl, but wasn’t really sure why. Maybe she just woke up on the wrong side of the bed – Getting to work would surely take her mind off of everything though. She concluded it would be best to keep herself busy, and forget how she was feeling today.

~ ~ ~

Night was approaching, but there was still plenty to be done on the farm. Dash was busy shaking the fruit from a tree, grumbling at the stubborn apples that wouldn’t loosen their grip from the branches. She noticed Applejack was approaching, carrying a bushel of apples over to a cart. She stopped her task to watch her friend on the ground below – They hadn’t really spoken at all today. Applejack was purposely avoiding her friend, and of course Dash took notice. Any time Rainbow Dash would approach her, she’d suddenly be finished with her task and hurry away to start something else. Truthfully, it was starting to get on Dash’s last nerve.

Dash leapt down to the ground below and gathered her apples quickly, then made her way to the cart, hoping to catch the farm girl. Applejack watched her friend approach her, silently chewing on a piece of straw. Dash set her barrel down on the cart, and forced a smile. Applejack thought nothing of it, and remained leaning against the cart. Her arms were now crossed against her chest. Rainbow Dash couldn’t stand it anymore, something was definitely wrong.

“AJ, are you mad at me or something?”

“Ah ain’t mad. Just tired.” Applejack responded bluntly, still not facing the shorter girl.

Dash wasn’t ready to accept her answer. “You won’t talk to me, you won’t even look at me. Heck, you can’t even stand to be around me for five seconds. If I did something wrong just tell me, I can’t stand this.” Rainbow Dash was starting to raise her voice. Applejack narrowed her eyes at the girl.

“Ah said I ain’t mad, Rainbow. Ah didn’t sleep much last night, heck I ain’t really slept so well the last few weeks. Sorry if ah’m bein’ short with ya.”

Dash took a few steps closer to the girl, now getting right in her face. Applejack could feel her blood boil, she knew the young Wonderbolt wasn’t about to let this go.

“AJ, you’re a terrible liar! I promise I’ll leave you alone if you just tell me what’s bugging you!”

Rainbow Dash was shocked when she felt her friend grip the collar of her shirt and pull her closer. Applejack removed the straw from her mouth and flicked it onto the ground. Their faces were inches from each other.

“Not everythin’ is about you, Dash!  Ah’m at my wit’s end here, ah’m tired, an’ stressed an’ confused an’...” She shook her head, then blew a stray hair from her face “so excuse me if ah ain’t in the cheeriest of moods right now!”

She loosened her grip around her friend’s shirt, and Dash took a few steps back. Applejack didn’t get physical like that often, but when she did, Dash knew not to push her any further.  AJ felt herself calming down, but before she could take a moment to apologize for getting so physical with her, Dash had already taken off. She watched Rainbow fly off into the distance, and it all sank it. She stomped her foot on the ground, losing her temper once again.

“GOSH DARNIT. Ah’m so sick of feelin’ this way!”

“…Applejack?”

“WHAT?”

The Stetson wearing farmer looked down to see her sister, giving her an innocent, somewhat confused look. Her face softened a bit.

“Ah…Ah’m sorry, Applebloom. What’d ya wanna tell me?” She said softly.

“Ah was just gonna tell ya me n’ Mac are headin’ in for dinner now…” The young red-head responded. “Are ya okay? Ya seem upset.”

Applejack nodded. She decided to kneel down to her sister’s level, and extended her arms out for a hug. “Ah’m alright. Sorry ah snapped at ya…Been a long day, ah guess.” The younger girl stepped closer, and accepted her sister’s embrace. She giggled as Applejack squeezed her close. She stood up, taking Applebloom with her as she got to her feet. “Let’s get washed up fer dinner. Ah’m starved.”

With that, she carried the younger girl inside, still feeling guilty over what had just happened. Hopefully Dash would be back before too long, so she could apologize for her actions properly.

______________________________________________________________________________________

It was well past midnight now. Applejack was lying awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling. This had been her routine for the past few nights – She couldn’t get a wink of sleep. Every time she tried to drift off, something would cloud her mind, and she’d become too distracted and caught up in her thoughts. She sighed, and turned over to face the window.

She hadn’t seen Dash all night, either. She left a small plate of leftovers in the guest room, just in case she decided to sneak back in through the window later.

All she could think about was Dash’s face while she was yelling at her. How she had treated her all day, avoiding her for no reason and snapping at her when she clearly was just concerned about her friend. Her stomach flipped every time she thought back to how she acted.  How was she supposed to sleep?

The night carried on. Applejack was now lying with her back to the window, humming something to herself gently. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but it didn’t really matter. She knew there was no way she’d get to sleep before the sun came up anyway. There was a light tapping at the window; at first, she chose to ignore it, thinking it must have been a tree branch rattling in the wind. The knocking grew louder though, so she turned to face her window once again.

“…Dash?” She whispered to herself. She was surprised to see her friend was trying to come through her window, and didn’t simply come in through the front door, or the window she’d left ajar in the guest room.

She quickly moved over to the window, where a very tired looking Rainbow Dash was hovering outside. She slid the glass up, and allowed her friend to climb through. AJ took a seat on the edge of the bed.

“Thanks” Dash said quietly while closing the window behind her.

“Don’t mention it…So uh…”

“Before you say anything, Applejack, I just wanted to apologize. I don’t know what I did, but I didn’t help by pushing your buttons. I just came here to say I’m sorry, and, if you want some space, I can go crash somewhere else. It’s not a big deal…”

AJ’s heart sank. Why was Rainbow apologizing? She really didn’t do anything wrong, it was she who owed her friend an apology.

“Dash, ya didn’t do nothin’ wrong. Ah meant what ah said. Ah did get a little irritated at yuh today, but ah’m the one who should be sorry. Ah never shoulda treated you like that.” She felt her friend’s hand rest atop her head and give her hair a tousle.  Sure, it wasn’t a very affectionate way to show forgiveness, but it was Dash’s way. Applejack wrapped her arms around her friend’s waist and hugged it closely; much like the way a child would hug a parent and beg for forgiveness.

“It’s okay, AJ. Don’t get all sappy on me” Dash teased. Her friend pulled away, then looked up at the Pegasus. She was always so quick to forgive…

“Ya’ll don’t hafta go anywhere else, ya silly girl,” Applejack patted the bed, signaling for the other girl to take a seat next to her. Dash obliged. “Ya know I ain’t gonna kick ya out. Ah really am just tired of bein’…Well, tired. I ain’t slept in a few days…Too distracted, ah guess.”

Rainbow Dash began to rub her friend’s back, running her hand up and down it softly. “I know… Is there anything I can do to help?”

Applejack was silent for a few moments. She had an idea, but was too embarrassed to ask. Dash placed a hand atop the farmer’s, and gave it a friendly squeeze. “AJ, it’s alright. You can ask, I mean it. Anything you want.”

“Well…Ah mean…Ya’ll can say no if ya want, ah won’t be upset…” She paused to look over at her friend. “Ah reckon ya wouldn’t wanna spend the night with me? In mah bed?”

Rainbow Dash’s heart skipped a beat. She wasn’t really expecting that, but, she did say she would do anything to help, and if that helped…

“Are…You sure? I mean, I don’t mind, but…Earlier you couldn’t stand to be around me. Do you really wanna share a bed with me?”

Applejack nodded. “Ah can’t believe ah’m sayin’ this…But, when ah was little, right after mah folks died, granny used tuh come in to mah room, an’ hold me close while I was cryin’. I was havin’ terrible nightmares, night after night. When she held me though, ah felt safe. She’d sing me a lullaby, and before ah knew it, ah’d drift off tuh sleep…” She felt a lump in her throat as she swallowed. She tried to hold back her tears.

Rainbow was silent, and Applejack was afraid she unloaded a bit too much on her friend. She nervously scooted away from her Pegasus friend. “Sorry, Dash. Y’ain’t gotta do any ah that fer me…But thanks for offerin’…”

“Wow…I’m just. I dunno, I’m touched you told me that, AJ. That’s really…Beautiful.”

Applejack gave a soft smile. It was refreshing to see Rainbow Dash like this. Sure, she could be selfish, competitive and cocky, but there was a soft side she kept hidden away. It was as if it was especially reserved for Applejack – No one else really got the opportunity to see it.

“I’d love to spend the night here.” Rainbow Dash finally answered.

“Rainbow, it’s alright. Maybe that was a bit too much tuh ask.”

The Wonderbolt shook her head. “Come on. If you don’t like it, I’ll go back to my own bed, promise.” With that, Dash began to take off her shoes, and sloppily throw them across the room. She pulled the covers out, and tucked herself underneath.

Applejack sat there for another moment, and with a sigh, surrendered to her friend’s persistence.  She crawled to the opposite side of the bed, and pulled the covers over herself. She closed her eyes, and cleared her mind. This only lasted for a minute, unfortunately, and in flooded the usual thoughts. She shifted to her side and let out another sigh. Suddenly, she felt Dash wrap her arms around her, now spooning her from behind. Applejack squirmed a bit.

“Dash…Ah didn’t mean ya had to do that…” She whispered.

Rainbow loosened her grip as her friend turned to face her. “Sorry, I thought you’d like it.” She responded innocently.

She hated to admit it, but maybe it would make her feel better. She took a deep breath, then scooted closer to the Pegasus. “Alright…” she mumbled, and rested her head against her friend’s chest. Dash wrapped her arms around her friend once again, and rested her head atop the girl’s golden locks.  Although Applejack felt a little self-conscious, she was starting to feel comfortable in her best friend’s embrace. Her mind was no longer filled with the stress of her recent weeks, instead those thoughts were replaced with memories of Granny Smith holding her and rocking her gently to sleep.

She closed her eyes as Rainbow Dash began to rub her back. The farm girl was praying she could drift off to sleep now. Her breathing softened as Dash continued to hold her lovingly.

“Applejack…”

AJ’s eyes remained closed, but she nodded into her friend’s chest. “Mmm…what is it, Dash?”

She opened her eyes when she felt Dash’s lips pressed against her own. She jerked back, breaking the tight embrace they were in.

Applejack opened her eyes; her heart was pounding in her chest. She was still resting in her now slumbering friend’s arms. She let out a breath of relief. Rainbow Dash moaned, feeling her friend shifting in her arms.

“Ap..ple…jack…” she mumbled.

“Sorry…” AJ replied sheepishly. She was wide awake now. “Ah guess ah still can’t sleep…”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Just close your eyes again…Try not to think about anything.” Her words weren’t the most comforting, but it was worth a shot. She felt Applejack shake her head, then pull away a bit.

“Ah’m sorry Dash…Ah don’t think this is gonna help me all that much…”

The farm girl turned away to face away from her best friend, and curled up into a more fetal position. It was no use, she wasn’t getting to sleep. The two laid there in silence for several minutes, AJ figured Rainbow Dash had just gone back to sleep. She was surprised to feel her friend press against her back once again.

“AJ…Can I try one more thing?” Dash’s head was rested against her friend’s back. Applejack didn’t respond to the question, but she did turn back to face her friend. She looked absolutely exhausted; her eyes were begging for some rest. Droopy, with dark circles around them.

Dash remained silent for a minute, then began to mumble something to herself. “Jeez…I can’t believe I’m doing this…”

Applejack really didn’t care what it was now. She figured anything the Pegasus would do simply couldn’t work. She waited patiently to find out what her friend was planning; it wasn’t like she was getting to sleep anytime soon anyway.

“Okay…Just…Don’t laugh.” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. As she wrapped her arms around the sleepless apple farmer again, she began to hum. Applejack wasn’t sure what she was doing at first, but calmly listened. She closed her eyes, and visualized her grandmother humming a song to her while rocking her to sleep. AJ began to shake. Dash noticed immediately, and stopped.

“D…Dash…Where’d you…Learn that song?” Applejack breathlessly asked.

“I uh…I’ve heard you sing it to Applebloom before…Plus, you hum it around the farm sometimes, while you’re working.”

Applejack was taking jagged breaths. She felt so overwhelmed by it, she wanted to start crying, and she wasn’t sure if it was because she was overcome by joy, or sorrow.

“Sorry…I probably didn’t hum it right…I’m not very musically inclined.” Dash admitted.  She smiled as Applejack pulled her in closer, giving her a rib-crushing hug.

“W…Will ya sing it again?” Applejack whispered, her head now rested against her friend’s chest again. She felt the Pegasus nod.

She closed her eyes, and visualized Granny Smith once more. Holding her, humming, stroking her long, blonde hair gently. A few tears rolled down her cheeks, and in a matter of minutes, she was finally asleep. Dash continued for a while, until she heard light snoring coming from the exhausted cowgirl. She laughed quietly to herself, then closed her eyes, happy her best friend’s mind was put to ease.