Breathless

A/N:confound this headcold! It drives me to suck at writing!

Regardless, just read this. Chapter 4 is about 1/5 done. Go on, scroll down!

"Woah. Woah, woah, woah. How about you back that train back about 200 billion miles, and give me a chance to clean out my ears. Because I don't know if what I'm hearing is correct."

Almost as quickly as the moment had came, it subsided. The orange earth pony frowned, obligingly stepping back from the pegasus. "Oh..." Her voice was low and short, as if choking back something else. "All right then. Ah...'spose I should've expected somethin' like this."

Rainbow sighed as she watched the dejected farm pony slink backwards, until she came to rest once more against the bedpost. Applejack's head dropped onto her hooves, and the brim of her hat once more obscured her eyes. "Applejack, I didn't-"

"Ah'm sorry if I caused ya'll any discomfort, but ya'll don't have to rub it in." The orange mare's gaze didn't even bother to rise as she spoke, instead remaining cast downwards. The only indication of any sort of emotion was her voice, which was remarkably steady.

A small grin managed to creep onto Rainbow Dash's face as she had a plan. A great one. Possibly the best one ever.

"I'm not rubbing it in, AJ," retorted the cyan mare. "I'm just saying...something like that is about as likely as...well, birds flying north for the summer. It just doesn't make sense."

"Ah know, and I shoulda' understood that." agreed Applejack. "Jus'..." she sighed, finally raising her gaze for Rainbow to see. It was everything that her voice didn't suggest-tears sprang in small rivulets down her face, pooling gently near the bottom portion of her muzzle before gently plipping onto the bedsheets. Her mouth was heavyset in an intense frown.

"I...guess I should be on my way..." continued the orange mare, dropping her gaze once more. "Again, I'm just sorry, and...if ya' need anything, just holler. I'll still be glad to get it fer' you."

"Just...one thing, Applejack." said the pegasus. The blonde maned pony's gaze rose, and she cocked her head half-heartedly.

"Yeah, sugarcube?"

Dash smiled reassuringly, scooting forwards and sitting up almost simultaneously. She found that sitting up, while it required a decent amount of effort to initiate, it was actually pretty easy to maintain. She raised a hoof to the orange mare's eyes, gently wiping away the tears that Applejack had seemed to given up withholding. She gazed into the sparkling emerald eyes that brimmed with reluctant acceptance, and spoke.

"Applejack. You do know birds do fly north for the summer?"

Confusion flittered across the earth pony's face as all signs pointed to 'huh?'. "Come on now, south for the winter..." encouraged Rainbow.

"...and north for the..." Applejack's voice trailed off as the realization finally came to her, with a widening of the eyes. "...summer..."

Grinning wider than a loon, Rainbow Dash nodded. "Took you long enough."

The orange mare's face seemed largely ambiguous as she struggled to get out the right words. "You little backstabbin'...twisted...unfailingly annoying...little..." Eventually, Applejack threw up her hooves. "Ya' know what? I think ah give up here. I'm torn between both kissin' ya' and killin' ya'."

"How 'bout we just go for that first one?"

The earth pony smiled. "Well, all right. But only 'cause I still owe ya'll somethin'."

Closer and closer the two mares got, as Rainbow could feel the gentle tickling of her friend's breath against her muzzle. It was only when the soft touch of a pair of lips met hers that there came an unusually singsong voice from the doorway.

"...Dashie and Applejack, sittin' in a tree room! K-I-S-S-I~-"

"PIN-KIE!" roared the two ponies in almost perfect unison.

The pink pony giggled. "Ooh, nice! I was gonna' finish with 'N-G', but you did it with my name! That's super duper fantastic! But you were just a liiiitle too low and late. Next time, maybe!"

As she noticed the bouncing pony expectantly watching her and Applejack, Rainbow immediately dropped her intense stare, as if it could hide the sudden burning in her cheeks. "Uh, Pinkie. This isn't what it-"

"She knows, Rainbow." interrupted the orange mare. "All of the girls know."

...was this some sort of thing that went on for whole years? "What?" asked Dash. "When did this happen?"

The farm pony shrugged. "This mornin'. When they all came on over to check on ya', I accidentally let it slip to 'em. They only knew 'bout me that far, but...ah guess Pinkie knows both sides to it now."

"Yep! And d'you know what this calls for?"

Don't say it, don't say it, for the love of Celestia-

The pink pony's eyes twinkled as she reared up on her hind legs, tracing the lining of an invisible banner as she excitedly shouted, "A SUPER-DUPER-FUNTABULOUS 'EVERYTHING WENT WELL AND STUFF AND MAYBE A LITTLE BETTER OR PERHAPS IT WAS PLANNED I DUNNO' PARTY!"

Pinkie Pie quickly took on a thinking expression. "Hmm...how much space do I need for that...maybe if I write super duper small...hmm..."

"Pinkie. A party won't be needed." said Applejack, gesturing to Dash, of whom had retired to her resting place among the two pillows. Already, her eyes were closed, as if she were intent on simply ignoring the party pony. "Rainbow's tired 'nough, and I'm sure a party won't do much ta' help her."

"Maybe when she's better?" asked Pinkie, her expression softening in the hopes that she would get to throw a party no matter the case.

The orange pony looked carefully at the cyan mare-her chest already slowly rose and fell in a steady rhythm, seemingly completely relaxed. A peaceful grin half hung on her face, as the wonders of dreamland enticed her to a state of ecstasy. "...we'll see, Pinkie." said Applejack, not even bothering to look at Pinkie Pie. There was something about the incredibly...at peace way that the pegasus lied in that made her smile. As far as she'd seen, she wasn't even that comfortable on a cloud.

"Little critter musta' been tuckered out a whole load..." the farmpony muttered.

"Oh. OK!" chirped Pinkie, beaming widely once more. "Well, I gotta' go plan for it now, anyways! See you later, AJ!"

"Bye, Pinkie," replied the orange earth pony, listening to the sound of hoof steps and then the quick slamming of a door. That pony needs ta' learn how to close a door quietly... thought the blonde maned pony, snorting as she did so. She opens 'em softly enough.

A sudden shifting and mumbling from the young flier brought Applejack out of her thoughts. "Oh, Suns...you're so...funny..."

The emerald eyed mare smiled slightly at her friend. "Talks in her sleep too, eh?" she asked, more or less to the abiotic entirety of the room. "Interestin' to know..."

Grunting, the orange mare quickly rose and hopped off the bed, taking scrupulous care not to disturb the soundly sleeping pony who occupied it. She turned to go, but her hooves seemed unwilling to do such a thing. It felt strange, really. It was as if some otherworldly force had told her to stay in the room. On an impulse, the farm pony turned her head towards a small three-handed clock near the corner. 9:46, it read.

Applejack groaned inwardly, slapping at her forehead. Duh, 'course it's that late. Ya'll been up all day waitin' for her to wake up, and it did take a little while.

Frowning, the mare plopped herself onto her haunches, and absentmindedly scratched her head. What to do 'bout sleepin'...Rainbow has my bed, Mac takes up literally all of his, Granny don't need nopony else with her, since Applebloom's likely there...

Only one choice, then.

The sturdily built orange mare arose, rather largely stretching out her leg muscles, and letting out a yawn that was sure to have woken the heavens, or at least from her perspective. She walked over to the opposite side of the soft mattress, climbed in, hiked up the sheets, and closed her eyes to prepare for the next day.

Almost as quickly, her eyes flickered open again. Something didn't feel right, something that told her that she was missing something. But what?

As the cyan pegasus stirred once more, Applejack had her answer. She rolled to her side, before bringing herself into a half-sitting position. It was high enough for her to see Rainbow Dash's expression, which had faded into an absently unpleasant frown. The way she twitched ever so slightly while supposedly sleep-racing, however, brought a smile to the earth pony's face.

Applejack leaned over, planting a gentle kiss on the rainbow maned pony's forehead. "G'night, Dashie. Love ya',"she said, her voice no louder than a whisper. Without waiting for a response-why would she, anyways? Rainbow was asleep-she rolled back over, hanging tightly onto the covers and letting her head drop onto the single pillow that remained on the other side. Sighing, she reached up, dislodging the stetson from her head, and tossing it skillfully to the foot of the bed.

It was only when her connection to the conscious world began to fade that Applejack became aware of a gentle whisper floating back to her. They soothed her mind, bringing a semblance of relaxation to what used to be a turmoilistic cesspool of thoughts, along with bringing a gentle warmth to her body that any blanket could not provide. The earth pony did register that she actually felt the warmth-the cyan mare must have turned over and came to rest against her own self, as it must also have been her who was whispering.

"Night, AJ. Love ya' too."

A/N:This originally was not a whole chapter. But as I said, my format is largely scattered from henceforth. Meaning chapters will likely be either short-1500 or so words-or long-3000+.I have a lot more for next one, so stay tuned! Watch out for remnants of Sad...and also remnants of an actual, meaningful plot! *badumtss*

...this early update is only because I felt guilty for laughing at you guys. But,as consequence, all you get is a 'yoink!' and a 'd'awwww...' moment.