Write a story 'bout AppleDash he said...
Pinkie Pie delivered a plate of a dozen peanut butter cookies and a hooffull of milkshakes in different flavors to a table consisting of some of her best customers. Though her natural playfulness urged her to try to get Rainbow Dash into a drink-the-milkshake-as-fast-as-possible race-to-a-brainfreeze race, or try to get Applejack to help her make some apple fritters and finally try to get down the old family’s secrets, something told her it was not a good day to do so. Specifically, it was eye-twitch, tickle in the knees, eye-twitch, the Pinkie-sense combo for “Somepony has something important to say to somepony.” The fact that itchy-tail, eyebrow-wiggle, and gallop-in-place followed it made it clear exactly what it was. So she filled the order, gave hugs, and trotted back knowingly.
Apple Bloom, on the other hoof, was completely off guard. So, after enjoying a sip of strawberry shake that, judging by the look on her sister’s face, might be the last peaceful moment of the outing, she finally demanded, “All right, both y’all might as well tell me what’s up.”
Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash and nodded. “Well,” the farm pony started, “as y’all know, me an’ Granny an’ Big Macintosh had a little chat last night. I wasn't sure how they’d take what I needed to say, an’ I didn't want you there in case things got ugly.”
Apple Bloom’s eyes widened. “Is everything alright?”
Applejack nodded. “It’s fine, and ‘cause it went over so well, I thought I’d share the information with you.”
“Excuse me…” cut in a young, raspy voice from the other end of the table. The ponies present looked over to Scootaloo, who was holding a chocolate milkshake and looking confused. “If you’re going to tell Apple Bloom something, why am I here?”
Applejack smiled at the little Pegasus. “Well, this news has to do with me an’ Rainbow Dash, so we figured it’d only be fair that we tell you together, seein’ how you are like a sister to Rainbow Dash-” at this, Dash gave Scootaloo an affectionate noogie- “not to mention you’re close as kin to Apple Bloom and we figured you’d hear about it soon enough anyway.”
Rainbow Dash chimed in, “Well, now that we’ve got that settled… why in the hay is she here?” With this, she pointed a hoof between the earth and pegasus fillies.
Sweetie Belle sheepishly finished slurping bit of the vanilla milkshake in her straw and said, “Well… Rarity and Spike are out gem hunting again, and so I was spending time with the Crusaders.”
Rainbow raised a hoof to her chin and said, “I guess that makes sense. Though how many gems can she need with the Grand Galloping Gala being over already?”
In a secluded cave on the edge of the Everfree, a silky white unicorn looked back at the young purple dragon poised behind her and said, “Remember, the safe word is ‘Firewall,’” before adjusting her bridle and biting down on its bit.
“Now that we all understand why we’re here,” Applejack continued, “There is something me and Rainbow need to tell you fillies.” The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked up expectantly at the orange mare. “Well, tain’t no easy way to say it. Somepony once told me, ‘You’re gonna know right away once you find that secret somepony to hold for the rest of your days.’ Well girls, me and Rainbow Dash have decided that that special somepony in our lives is… each other.”
Apple Bloom nearly choked on her milkshake. Scootaloo’s jaw nearly hit the table. Sweetie Belle, with a bit more distance than the other two, gave an enamored “Awwwwwww!”
Scootaloo was mainly in awe that her idol had managed to sneak an entire relationship past her stalking- that is, interest. “How long has this been going on?” She asked eagerly.
“A few weeks,” Rainbow Dash blushed. At the sight of inquisitive looks from the fillies, who she knew had heard quite a bit from their teacher about letting love take time to blossom, she added, “I… know this sounds a bit rushed, but you girls know me. I’m all about quick inhale, fast intake. So when we started, we tried to take it slow, but no, it wasn’t an option in our state of mind.”
Apple Bloom looked at her sister and said, “And y’all are okay with this?”
Applejack nodded and said, “Yes. I fought with it a while. I kept asking myself, ‘Is it too soon to say it? Is it too soon to say I want it?’ But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was what I wanted.” She slid a hoof over the table to Rainbow Dash’s, and the blue mare rested her hoof on the orange.
Apple Bloom shook her head. “No, sis, I know you’re a big pony and will jump into something if you want. But… are y’all sure you’re okay with… another mare?”
Rainbow Dash could feel her fillyfriend’s body become tense. “I don’t know your purpose, Apple Bloom,” Rainbow Dash scowled. “All I know is this could hurt us, if you are gonna look down on your sister like that.”
Apple Bloom went rigid, her pupils pinpoints. “Oh! No no no no! I don’t mind one way or t’other. It’s just… AJ… you've been with stallions before! I’ll be happy if you are, but, are you sure?”
“Aw shucks,” Applejack blushed, “I should’ve known better that y’all would understand. You fillies are growin’ up in a more open world.” The orange mare nodded, mostly to reassure herself that it was that, and not just that they learned a bit to much when they looked into getting their cutie marks in matchmaking. “It’s hard for me to admit this, seein’ as I’m supposed to represent the Element of Honesty an’ all, but I think all that time… I was just lyin’. No so much lyin’ to y’all, or lyin’ to the rest of the family, as I was just lyin’ to me. I wasn't sure about the feelins’ I had in my own heart, so I tried to just be like all the other ponies I knew. I guess it’s, easier to be somepony else when you hardly even know yourself. Anyhoo, as I've grown, I've come to know who I am. I feel sorry to you, though, for confusin’ you, and for those stallions…” the usually-tough country pony started to quiver now- “and I’m sorry to you Dashie…”
Rainbow Dash took her beloved into a tight embrace and whispered, “Now, now, don’t go and feel like you don’t deserve the love that you receive ‘cause you’re a liar. You’re not a liar, and you never will be. Just because you had a run with some stallions doesn’t mean you’re any less of the mare I want to be with.”
“That’s good,” Scootaloo added mischievously, “seeing how you've had a stallion before too.”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Ah, yes, the beatboxer who broke my heart. I should have known better than to tell you that story, Squirt. I think you all know a little too much about me. Or adult relationships. Or both.”
Sweetie Belle cooed again at the sight of the two ponies sharing a tender moment. “Ooh! Ooh!” she squeaked, “Tell us when you knew! Tell us about that moment in when you knew in your heart that this was… destiny!” the filly sighed dreamily.
Applejack started. “Well, I think for both of us, it was the morning of the Summer Sun Celebration. I had gone to see Rarity about the decoration for the after party. I walked into the boutique, Rainbow was standin’ there, an’ something about seein’ her there, excited for the raisin’ of the sun and the Wonderbolts flyby, made me think of how nice it was to see her smile, and… I couldn't help but think ‘bout how I’d like to make her smile. That just got me thinkin’ of the time we had spent together and, I dunno. As we were leavin’, I did somethin’ that I never do. I asked her on a whim to come with me to the sunrise ceremony.”
Scootaloo looked amused. “Why were you in the boutique, Dash?”
Rainbow giggled. “Actually, I had a hunch Applejack was going to be there. So I made up an excuse to hang there. I pretended to be interested in some shoes, ‘cause if not, I thought Rarity would start to wonder. Well, it worked. AJ asked me to come with her, and I did. Then, at the big moment, the first light hit her, and with all the other ponies cheering for the Princess, for me, there was no other sound, and our eyes, they were stung by the light of the sun that was fast rising, and I grabbed her hoof in mine, and… Well, that was that. I kissed her.”
Sweetie Belle “aww’ed” again. Apple Bloom tried her best not to visibly blanch. Scootaloo eyed the other two and said, “See, I told you we should have done something other than Cutie Mark Crusader mini doughnut vendors that morning.”
“Well, there you have it girls,” proclaimed Applejack. “Rainbow Dash and I are fillyfriends. The end of the dance of our sweet, silent, love soap, like those silly books Rarity reads. We are making it known now that we are, really, truly, together.”
Apple Bloom turned red in her cheeks and looked away at the thought of the sickening romances and the dress maker’s obsession with them that Sweetie Belle often vented about when the Crusaders were in session.
Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement with Applejack. “This is what I have wanted all this time. Applejack is an outlet to my Loyalty. Somepony to hold on to for the rest of my life. Somepony to give to. For a mare like me, you give until you’ve given up, and you are sure to find the perfect mare. I’ve given all I can, and now, here is the love I have been waiting for!”
Scootaloo shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She was very happy that her idol and big sister figure had found somepony to love, but when it came down to it, little orange pegasus could never quite wrap her mind around love and loving. She figured it would come with time, but for now, all she could do was slowly try to shift herself closer to the door of Sugarcube Corner and count seconds until she felt it was safe to escape.
“One day,” Applejack went on, wholly focused on her lover’s soft features and slowly forgetting the presence of young ears, “We will go somewhere together, somewhere warm with vineyards, like Maredera, and at night, after dark, when our bellies are full, and the fireflies come out for a private night show, we will truly be like one heart.”
Even Sweetie Belle could not take it any longer. There is some magic to pony names – as sure as Fluttershy had turned out shy, Sweetie Belle was, all in all, sweet. But here, she was reminded of Miss Cheerilee and Big Macintosh after that love poison incident. The young filly was starting to get the same overly-sweet vibes off of her friends’ sisters now, and wondered why she had come in the first place.
“I am a heart that’s hard to pin,” said Rainbow lovingly, “but you’re an arrow sticking in.”
Scootaloo visibly winced at that one.
“Is this mare an angel or a fly far to close to a flame?” Applejack teased.
Apple Bloom finally gave in to sticking out her tongue and making a gagging sound.
“Either way her wings will burn,” purred Rainbow, “and mine are burning for you.”
Sweetie Belle held her face in a hoof and shook her head.
Applejack jumped up, and, stealing what little was left of her sister’s milkshake as if making a toast, declared, “Here’s to the mare that keeps me up all night!”
Rainbow Dash, not to be undone, grabbed the leftover chocolate shake and yelled, “Here’s to the one! The one with the bright eyes!”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at each other in pain and nodded in silent agreement.
“You make me want to dance like no pony ever has!” said Applejack.
“You make me want to make a new dance up!” said Rainbow Dash.
“I’m not looking for new love, you were all I needed!”
“Our love is like a big, blue wave!”
“‘I am a fish, I am a fish, I am officially a fish’ is also a lyric in a song by Hey Ocean!!” declared Pinkie Pie.
The two lovebirds – er, loveponies – were made suddenly aware of themselves by this outburst from their pink party pony pal. Both of them confused, they opened their mouths to start to ask what the meaning of this bit of randomness meant, but Pinkie was already back in the kitchen, humming and cooking as if nothing had happened.
“What just happened?” Dash asked her fillyfriend.
“Oh, you know how that one is.” Applejack said absently, handing the milkshake in her hooves to the empty chair across from her. “Wait, where are the fillies?”
Rainbow Dash laughed sheepishly. “Heh, we must have gone a little overboard and scared them off.”
Applejack shook her head with a smirk. “I don’t know which is worse: the fact that those fillies can’t take a little sweet talkin’ between a couple, or the irony that they are so normally tough about things that I don’t reckon we need to worry about them running off on their own… again.”
“Come on,” the pegasus said with a nod to the door. “They may not need us constantly hovering over them, but we can at least take a nice stroll through town and try to be in the general vicinity of whatever they might blow up.” The couple nodded, paid for the treats, and, with a blue wing over the strong orange back, they walked into the late afternoon sun.
Not too far away, Apple Bloom hung her head as if she were going to be ill. Sweetie Belle noticed and, giving a nudge, said, “Hey, you okay? You look sick.”
“Yeah,” said the yellow filly, “too much sweet stuff.”
“And I don’t think you’re talking about the cookies,” observed Scootaloo dryly.
“Ya’ know girls,” Apple Bloom sighed, “I don’t think I’ll ever understand grown-up ponies and all their romantic, mushy stuff.”
Scootaloo nodded. “I don’t think I want to, but I guess we’ll have to figure it out someday.”
Sweetie Belle nodded, then perked up suddenly. “I know! We can go research it! I’ll bet Twilight can help us understand this sort of thing!” Smiles crept onto their faces as they bolted for Golden Oaks Library.
Reaching the door, Apple Bloom opened it and called, “Hey Twilight, y’all got any books on-”
Twilight Sparkle turned around quickly, terrified. She was sucking on a lollipop, dressed in a tight cheerleader uniform, holding a chainsaw.
“You know what?” Sweetie Belle squeaked, “Never mind!”
Casting a brief parting glance at the stunned librarian, Scootaloo shut the library door.
