Whenever I look at her, I can feel my heart aching. It burns, and I don't know why. But whenever we talk or whenever I look into her emerald eyes... I can just feel it in my chest. The heartache welling up inside me. Pain and confusion clouding my mind. I've never had this feeling towards anyone before. I can't explain it, I can't even try. But I think it might be... love? Is that what I'm feeling? Am I in love with her, my best friend who I've known since we were kids?
"Hey, Rainbow!" I hear her call me, and I trot to her side. The huge apple orchard surrounding us.
"Hi AJ." I manage to mumble in response. As soon as our eyes meet I can feel my heart tightening up again.
I try to look anywhere but at her, to keep my calm. Ha... As if I'd ever get away with that. She grabs my head and forces me to look at her. A humble smile spread across her face.
"What're you doin' here sugarcube?" She asks me in that thick accent that I adore.
I can't stand being in her presence. It's too much for my aching heart. But I have to, otherwise she might think something's wrong. I put on my best smile and try not to think about it. Instead I try to come up with a decent excuse for coming here unannounced.
"I... Umm...." Come on, think of something you idiot! "I came to help with the apple bucking." I stammer out.
"Oh, well I guess I wouldn't mind the help. C'mon I'll show ya where to start." She says, indicating for me to follow hew as we head to the right.
I follow without question, still trying to figure out if what I'm feeling is, in fact, love. I take what I know, the heartaches, the dizziness, the warm feeling I get whenever I'm around her. I'll have to ask Twilight about it the next time I see her. If anypony would know, it's her.
I then crash right into Applejack's flank, I guess I was too lost in thought to notice her stopping, anyway... She looks at me quizzically, clearly noticing how distracted I am.
"Somethin' wrong?" She asks me.
"Nah, just a little tired." I lie, giving a fake yawn to prove my point.
She simply chuckles and shakes her head. "Gee, Dash. When aren't you tired?" She jokes.
I simply shrug and laugh with her, I can't see the point in doing much else. She then adjusts her trademark stetson and clears her throat, clearly wanting to get back to work, and points to a group of trees nearby.
"These are yours." She says. "Think ya can handle 'em?"
Oh she knows just how to challenge me. "No problem." I retort.
"Have ya ever bucked a tree before?" She raises an eyebrow with this one.
"Yeah, remember last Hearth's Warming?" I ask.
"Nope. In fact, I do believe I did those all my myself." She says blandly.
"What? No way! In sure I helped you out at least a little bit?" I stammer out. Okay, so I never have done any apple bucking before... But how hard could it be?
"I'm sure ya didn't." She says modestly. "It's okay, Rainbow. I'll teach ya how."
I simply nod in agreement, a little embarrassed by her remarks, and let her walk up to a nearby apple tree. She turns and faces me, the tree behind her, and rears up on her forelegs. She then kicks the tree with her strong hind legs, and smiles proudly as the apples tumble down from their branches and land in the buckets surrounding the tree. Now that I think about it, there are buckets around all of the trees in the orchard. Must've been Big Mac's handiwork. I look at her again, and realize how beautiful she really is. Her mane, her eyes, the freckles that I seem to find my eyes trained on ever so often. Maybe I am falling for her after all...
I shake my head lightly, gotta stay in the real world right now. Can't seem too distracted. Still, something between us could work out, I guess. We're both athletic, we both love a good competition, the list is endless. Of course, she is a bit stubborn, and I'll admit I have my own flaws. But still...
"Hey, Rainbow! Still with me?" She asks me, snapping me out if my thoughts.
"Wha- yeah, AJ. I'm still with you." I stammer out. Smooth, Dash. Smooth. I mentally slap myself in the face for that.
She lowers her eyebrows and studies my face, as if trying to read my thoughts. "Somethin' up, sugarcube? You seem a bit... Off."
"I'm fine." I say.
Clearly, the Element of Honesty can tell when people are lying, because from the look on her face she clearly didn't buy it.
"Rainbow." She says sternly. "What's goin' on?" She demands.
"Nothing! I swear. Just got some things going on in my head." I say. Not totally a lie, but not the whole truth either.
"Like what?" She asks.
I sigh, seeing as I'll never get out of this without spilling my guts to her. "Have you ever felt like your heart was burning up whenever you were around a certain pony? And you never knew why, but you knew that it was something special. Something you've never felt towards anypony but that one?"
"Once or twice." She says. "Not that it ever worked out between us." She looks at me with the same curious look that she's been giving me ever so often today. "Why?"
"Because I have, a lot recently. And I can't explain it." I say.
She audibly tries to hold back a bit of laughter. "Are you tellin' me you've got a crush on somepony?"
"I don't know! I never knew until you came around." I say, and instantly regret my words. What have you done, Rainbow? echos around in my head as Applejack processes what I just admitted.
"Wha-what're you sayin'?" She asks me.
"I don't know. My emotions are all jumping around in my head and I don't know." I stammer out, my eyes beginning to water. Nice one, Dash. Now you're crying. "All I know is I can't be around you without my heart tightening up and my head refusing to work right."
I look up from the ground to meet her eyes, which look... happy? How could she be happy when I'm here suffering because of a heartache that I don't even understand. She places a hoof on my cheek and brings me to face her.
"D'ya mean that?" She asks me, her voice comforting and excited at the same time.
"I guess so. I'm still trying to fig-" I'm cut off as she presses her lips against mine, driving me into a kiss that stops the tightness in my heart, and replaces it with a warmth that I've never felt before.
Slowly, my eyes find their way closed and my forelegs wrapped around her as I proceed to kiss her back. She eventually breaks the kiss and looks me in the eyes. Her beautiful emerald orbs keeping me from looking away. She then leans in and whispers into my ear.
"I think I feel the same way."
