The sweet taste of apples

Chapter three: The quiet before the storm

You inhale the cold air as you and Applejack exit the barn. The noise of the still ongoing party inside only reaches out from the barn door. As you have predicted clouds had formed over the farm as the sun sets. Although the Pegasi controlled the weather in Equestria, there were some places where the weather acted on its own. Since sweet apple acres lay on the edge of the Everfree forest it happened that some offshoots of the weather from the forest found their way over the acres and had to be removed on command. Because that didn’t happen too often, the Apple Family decided not to bother the poor weather Pegasi and let the weather have its own way.
A cold breeze brings you back to reality. While you were in your thoughts Applejack started to search for her hat and for the three little crusaders. As a distant crack of thunder rumbles, Applejack turns with a worried look. “We’d better find those crusadin’ troublemakers before they get struck by lightning.”
The image of two burned dictionaries and a fried chicken pops up in your head although you are not certain why.
“I’ll try to locate them from above.” You say as you dart of into the dark sky. Applejack shouts something after you but you don’t listen. After all the only reason you fly up in the sky during a thunderstorm is to impress other ponies. And that is exactly what you want to achieve. Soon the only thing you hear is the howling of the wind, interrupted only by the sound of thunder. You feel the hair of your coat tingle as you fly through a low hanging dark cloud, the smell of ozone in your nostrils.

Up here in the air, your mind is in another state. Over the thunder and the wind you feel calm, even peaceful. The air brushes through your mane. You let the moment to go deep inside of you. The feeling of peace rests but there is a small emotion that acts like a splinter in your inner eye. You cannot feel but you still have lost something. That something has an orange coat, a blond mane and a pair of deep green eyes.
You sigh “Stupid Pegasus, you know you cannot be together with such a strong earth pony.” You feel a big stone forming inside of your stomach and tears loosens from your closed eyes.
“You have to take the step, you have to ask her!”
“But what if she says no?”
“You have to risk it”
“What if she doesn’t want to be friends with you after that?”
“Better to never see her again than live in this state, where you are battling your own mind while you fall towards the ground.”
“I AM?” You open up your eyes just in time to see the dark meadow coming closer and closer. With a scream, you put all your remaining strength into your wings to try and pull up.
If you would have been Rainbow Dash, a young mare who won the young flyer competition a few years ago, you would have made it. Sadly though, you are just an ordinary Pegasus who uses his wings for ordinary work not an athletic weather pony.
With a dull thump you hit the ground, leaving behind a trail of lacerated meadow and feathers. The only thing that you hear before losing consciousness is the sound of galloping hooves coming towards you and the sound of the rain.

You open up your eyes to the sight of a pair of green emeralds. You blink a few times. The emeralds turn into two eyes filled with tears (or raindrops?).
“ARE YOU CRAZY?” the two emeralds frown at you.
You failed to impress the girl you love. Worse yet, you managed to make the most embarrassing fall of your life right in front of her. And better yet you made her angrier than you have ever seen her.
“YOU COULD’VE KILLED YOURSELF!” she screams
“I…I…” your tongue feels like a useless piece of wood in your mouth. Your eyes tear up and you can no longer look into the angry face of Applejack. You’d definitely prefer being dead than being alive with an angry Applejack in front of you. You cover your face with your hooves, and begin to cry because you just don’t know what else to do.
Applejack stops accusing you. Although you’d wish she would just go away and let you wallow in your misery, you suddenly start to feel her coming closer. You shrug as a hoof touches your hooves, gently pushing them away from your wet face. You open up your eyes and lift your head. Applejacks face is very close to yours, you can feel her breath on your muzzle and smell the strong scent of apples coming from her body.
You recognize all of these details only faintly, the most important thing is the tears in AJs eyes.
“Promise me you ain’t gonna do something like that again” she says looking deeply into your eyes, a painful look in her face
“Because Celestia knows, ya ain’t just gonna break your neck, but also my heart” With those words she manages to break the rock that formed in your stomach. You pull her into a long hug during which the only thing you hear is the rain dripping on the ground and the sound of two breathing ponies. After what seems to you like an eternity, you loosen the hug and look deeply into her eyes. Not with an expression of pain anymore but with an expression only true love can generate on someponys face.

She closes her eyes again pulling you softly but surely towards her, your lips almost touching. You close your eyes too, ready to mark this moment in your memory for the rest of your life. You can feel the breath of the earth pony tingling your firm coat on your nose as…

“Applejack!” the call of a young filly penetrates the thick rain finding its way right into your ear. Applejack shrugs, dropping your hooves and widen the ever so close gap between your lips. You turn your head and see the three Crusaders approaching from the direction of the apple fields. All three of them covered in mud and wet from the heavy rain.
“Applebloom!” Do you imagine the slight sadness in the mares voice?
“You know ya ain’t supposed to go outside during a thunderstorm.”
“We’re sorry sis; we just wanted to get your hat back. The wind carried it into one of the trees on the edge of the field and…”
“Enough” Applejack cuts her sister of. “The three of you did enough damage today, and yall sure gonna get a darn cold if you stay out here. So get your hooves movin and get home.”
“But what about your…”
“I’m gonna get my hat myself. Now get home, I’ll be there later.”
With a heartbreaking sigh the three Crusaders trot of in direction of the apple family’s estate.
You get up off the ground as the three fillies leave. Silently Applejack and you walk through the rain in the direction the three fillies came from. Other than the rain, only thunder can be heard. Neither of you risks a look at the other until you reach the edge of the apple tree fields.
You see Applejacks hat stuck in the cone of the largest apple tree you have seen ,and that speaks a lot if you work on a apple orchard for more than a few years. Without hesitation Applejack walks toward the enormous tree. She turns around and bucks the tree as hard as she can, causing only a few leaves to fall down with the rain. She takes a second attempt, resulting in the dropping of branches.
Seeing how helpless she is, you spread your wings and with a few flaps you reach the top of the tree. Within seconds you can loosen the hat from the branches and return safely to the ground.
You stretch out your hoof, offering Applejack her beloved hat. As she reaches out for it you don’t loosen your grip, pulling on the hat to draw her closer.
For a fraction of a second she seems surprised, beginning to smile as she realizes what you are up to.

The sensation of pure joy floods through your body as your lips meet in a kiss that you have waited for so long.
“It’s late and the storm is too dangerous, even for a Pegasus like you” she whispers into your ear as you break the kiss.
“You can come with me, if ya like.” Your heartbeat accelerates.
The only response you can give is a silent whisper “I love you Applejack.”
“And I love you sugar cube” she replies laying one hoof over your shoulder as you begin your walk towards the apple family’s estate.