Flare of Love

Whitetail Woods, 6:43 A.M., March 21st, 2012

Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes to find herself still lying in the woods. She turned over to see Midnight lying next to her; he was asleep, resting from his exertions the evening before. “That was some night.” She knew he couldn’t hear her; he still looked tired, even asleep. She would make sure to tell him later, though. Now that she was up, she had to find something to do. Rainbow Dash was no pony to sit around waiting. She trotted off to the far side of the clearing and began to flap her wings, much quieter than usual, making sure not to wake Midnight, he had earned his rest. She then gently took off into the air towards Ponyville.

Once she got out of the clearing, Rainbow Dash brought herself up to cruising speed, and quickly passed the edge of Whitetail Woods. Breezing over Ponyville, Rainbow Dash let herself drift in the air and felt the wind pass over her face. Thinking about the night before, she rolled upside down and glided easily over the ground below. “I’m surprised with Midnight.” She thought, “I never expected him to be the kind of pony who would be a star in bed.” Running through the night’s events in her head, she continued on. When she righted herself, she was looking down on Sweet Apple Acres. She could make out an orange pony still far off in the fields, hard at work. “Maybe I’ll see what Applejack’s up to. I doubt any pony else is up this early.” She flew down in between the neat rows of apple trees, whose leaves rustled loudly as she sped past them. She was maybe 20 trees down the row when Applejack seemed to notice the sound and looked up. The earth pony braced herself for impact, but Rainbow Dash expertly skidded to a stop just a few feet away. “What’s up Applejack?” she said brightly.

Applejack lowered the hoof she had been using to protect herself when she heard the sound of Rainbow’s voice. “Um... nuthin’, just... buckin’ apples...” her apprehension seemed to wear off, “What’s wrong with you? You know better n’ ta come flyin down here like that!”

“Take it easy Applejack, I know what I’m doing, and you know that.”

“Yeah I reckon you do.” Applejack seemed to ease up. “But what’s got y’all so excited anyway?”

“Nothing... I just had an... eventful night is all.”

“What did y’all do with Midnight last night?”

“W-what do you mean by that?” Her eyes shifted back and forth nervously. Applejack certainly was a perceptive pony. But maybe she still hadn’t figured it all out.

“Oh sweet Celestia, you didn’t.” Applejack’s eyes grew in surprise.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Rainbow Dash’s cheeks became red. She had definitely figured it out now.

“Don’t you try lyin to me. Yer cheeks are redder than a red delicious apple! Admit it, you slept with him last night!”

“Okay, fine. Yes, we had sex last night, but you can’t tell any of our friends about it yet.”

“Don’t worry Dash. I won’t tell them as long as yah fill me in on a few... details.”

“Are you serious, Applejack? You can’t be serious.” Rainbow Dash’s uncomfortable expression seemed to have no effect on Applejack.

“I’m 100% serious. Just answer mah questions, and I think everything will be fine.”

“Alright, if I really need to.”

“Well okay!” Applejack’s attention was now firmly on her. “Now, let’s see. Where did y’all have yer, alone time?”

“Oh, just at my house.”

“Dash, I can tell when yer lyin. Just tell me the truth. Y’all can trust me. I’m not gonna tell our friends.”

“Fine, we did it... in a clearing in the middle of Whitetail Woods.”

“Whitetail Woods? What were y’all doin in the middle of the forest?”

“Well, that’s kinda a long story.”

“I’ve got the time, sugarcube, let’s have it.”

“Well, later in the day after our trip to Cloudsdale, Midnight had admitted to me about a girl he had met when he went to New Fillhi. He kept trying to tell me that she was just a friend but I didn’t believe him. I told Midnight I waned to have some time to myself to think, but he followed me and kept trying to tell me that he still loved me. For some reason I didn’t believe him. We stopped in the field and he asked for one more chance to prove he still loved me. I think you can figure out the rest.” Rainbow Dash could see that the implication seemed to run through Applejack’s thoughts for a moment before she responded.

“What a story, mark me. I don’t reckon I’ve heard one like that before.”

“Eh heh...” Rainbow Dash blushed further; she was still a little unsure why she had just blurted that all out.

“Now, how bout you give me some details on what y’all did last night together? What was he like?”

“Don’t push it too far Applejack. I’m not gonna give you too much private information.”

“Fine. I s’pose you’ve said enough.”

Now that Applejack was satisfied, she thought it might be a good time to depart from Sweet Apple Acres. “I think I’m gonna go find him. Who knows, he might be still sleeping.”

“I’ll see ya ‘round, sugarcube.” Applejack said as she went back to the tree she had been bucking before she was interrupted.

Rainbow Dash took flight and began to head back toward Whitetail Woods. “Well that wasn’t what I expected at all.” She thought as she looked back toward the apple farm.

The skied were clear so the weather team didn’t have much to worry about today. They wouldn’t be needing her assistance, and that was just fine with her. She soon reached the edge of Whitetail Woods. As she reached the clearing, she saw Midnight on the ground, writhing in pain. “Oh crap!” She quickly flew down to the ground to aid him. “Midnight! Just hang in there!” Rainbow Dash landed down next to Midnight as he stood back up.

“What was wrong with you? Why were you on the ground?”

“Long story, I can explain later. Where did you go? Why did you leave without telling me?”

“Well when I woke up, I saw you were still sleeping so I went to go see if there was anyone to talk to while I let you sleep. I didn’t think it would end up this bad.”

“It’s okay, as long as I know you didn’t leave. Rainbow Dash, listen to me. We need to talk to the princesses as soon as we possibly can. I cannot deal with Nightmare anymore.”

“Okay, but what did she do that crossed the line?”

“She tried to get inside my head. She kept trying to convince me that you had left me and that you had used me for sex. I kept denying her. She eventually used her energy to stab the nerves in my brain. She continued to try and convince me, and I almost believed her. She said that she wouldn’t stop until you came back, or until I believed her. I’m just glad that you actually came back.”

“Wow, I think you’re right. We’ll talk to Twilight later today. For now I think we should get you back to my house. I think you could use the rest.”

“Thanks Rainbow Dash. That would be nice.”