They Walk Among Us

"You... knew?"

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. Applejack had a 'secret crush' that nopony was supposed to know about, but four out of five of those in the room knew about it, and that included the subject of the crush as well (Steven, being not from Ponyville, was the only one who didn't know jack sh*t). What in the hoof is going on here?

"Yes." said Rainbow Dash, no emotion on her face.

Twilight could feel the corners of her eyes and mouth (along with perhaps everybody else) start to twitch very violently. She really couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"S-so..." started Twilight. "Er... I really don't know what to say..."

"How did you know?" asked Rarity.

"Applejack told me back in Ponyville." said Rainbow Dash, now starting to look uncomfortable. "Please... I don't want to talk about it."

"I do!" said Steven, sounding hurt. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about this!"

"Steven, I'm sorry!" said Rainbow Dash. "But Applejack and I never-"

"I don't care about whether you two went out or not." said Steven. "It's just that I was wondering why Applejack hated me at first sight! Have we met before? We're we enemies? Was she my mother?" Strangely enough, Steven looked as serious as life itself while he was saying this.

Steven let out a huge sigh, and Rainbow Dash gingerly patted his back.

"Fine, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." said Rainbow Dash.

Steven still looked like he had just recovered from an asthma attack, and was having trouble breathing properly. The next words he said were barely audible as he said them.

"It's... okay." he said, panting loudly. "Just... tell me these things... next time."

Rainbow Dash hugged him with a smiling "I'm sorry", but her other three friends were not amused.

"So are you telling me..." said Twilight. "That I have been worrying on how you would react when we told you about this for absolutely nothing?"

Rainbow Dash annoyingly put her hand on her chin and thought for a while, before nodding her head with a wide grin on her face.

"WHAAAAT?" screamed Twilight and Rarity. Fluttershy squeaked and retreated to where Steven was standing.

"Okay, okay..." said Twilight, who was now the one having trouble trying to breathe normally. "Let's all calm down a while."

"I'm totally calm." said Rainbow Dash. "It's just you two that needs to calm down. Right, Fluttershy?"

"I don't really know what to say..." whispered Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash ignored her comment.

"Rainbow Dash..." said Rarity, in a threatening tone that didn't sound so threatening (with her panting and all, it kinda sounded comedic). "You are going to tell us... EVERYTHING."

"Okay, geez." said Rainbow Dash. Twilight and Rarity looked surprised.

"Okay?" asked Twilight.

"That's it?" asked Rarity.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "That's it."

"Okay, then." said Twilight, apparently still confused. "So you're going to tell us about how Applejack told you about her crush on you... just like that?"

"Just like that."

"O...kay..." said Twilight. "Do you want to say it out loud, or...?"

"No, it would be too long of a story, and it's almost 1:30." said Rainbow Dash, like it was really nothing. "Why don't you do that little memory spell of yours, Twi?"

Little memory spell? Little memory spell? That comment made Twilight so angry that it was enough for her to burst into flames. How could she call it a little memory spell? Only four living beings in Equestria can do that spell, and two of them are the Princesses themselves! Calling it little was...

No, Twilight. she thought. Calm down. If utter belittlement of your memory spell is all it took to finally uncover this stupid mystery, then it was almost worth it. Almost.

"Fine." said Twilight, more than a little begrudgingly. Twilight stepped forward to put her horn in contact with Rainbow Dash's forehead.

"Wait." said Rainbow Dash, raising a hand and stepping back. "This won't hurt, right?"

As much as Twilight wanted it to (because then Twilight would show her what's little), the memory spell didn't hurt at all.

"No." said Twilight. Rainbow Dash then knelt down, and Twilight touched the center of her forehead with her horn while beckoning the rest to come closer to her. With reluctance, all of them gathered in a circle around Rainbow Dash and Twilight.

"Are you all ready?" asked Twilight, who looked around at the group of friends surrounding her.

No one said a word, but they all nodded in unison.

"Now, remember." said Twilight. "Once we enter Rainbow Dash's memories, our bodies will be rendered comatose until we return. So we cannot risk anyone coming inside the Engineering Labs and discovering us."

"I've already locked the doors, if that's what you're talking about." said Steven, still shaken but much calmer.

"Good." said Twilight. "Now, Rainbow Dash, when did you learn about Applejack's feelings for you?"

But Rainbow Dash began to hesitate.

"I don't know, guys." said Rainbow Dash. "It's really kinda private."

"You promised us, Rainbow." said Twilight.

"Fine." sighed Rainbow Dash.  "It was the night of the Summer Sun celebration... Around 11 p.m."

Twilight felt surprised. She hadn't expected Rainbow Dash to remember the date and time so well. Was Rainbow Dash feeling more emotional about this whole affair than she was letting on? Twilight began to feel guilty, but she knew that there was no turning back now.

"Okay, just to clear up a few things before we begin." said Twilight, in her usual, commanding tone. "We are going to feel as if we are in that place at the time of the memory. We will be watching the scene from the guidelines. And we won't be able to interact with anything except each other, no matter how real the projection may seem. Is that clear?"

Everyone else nodded and gulped.

"Everyone hold on to me." said Twilight. "Here goes..."

Twilight lowered her horn into Rainbow Dash's head, closed her eyes, and felt a familiar rush of magic to her horn and a jerking sensation pull them away from their world.

THUD!

"Ow..." said Fluttershy, landing on her rump on the hard, cold, floor.

"Sorry about the rough landing." said Twilight. "We're here."

It was dark, wherever it was. A dark, but spacey room, with absolutely no source of light unless one would count the bright moonlight making itself seen through the small window nearby. It was the 2001st Summer Sun celebration, of course, and everypony was downstairs in the Town Hall having a blast. Both Princesses, Celestia and Luna, we're also present downstairs, mingling happily with the townsfolk of humble old Ponyville.

Not long later, however, the door to the room slammed open, and for a short, deafening while, the full volume of the ongoing party was heard in the room, echoing all over it. It was sure to make anypony's ears bleed.

But as quickly as the sound came into the room, it disappeared, leaving a dark silhouette of a pony entering the room. The figure immediately took rest on the nearby stack of hay, which was positioned specifically so that the figure could relax and look at the beautiful, shining moon from the small window across it.

The moon, of course, was looking back at the pony. Through moonlight reflecting itself on the young pony's face, one could see a cyan glint of fur and a long, multicolored mane shining back at the moon as the pony's eyes gazed wistfully at it.

Rainbow Dash. That was her name. Future Wonderbolt, and the Fastest Pony in Equestria. Rainbow Dash.

"That's you!" said Steven. "It's Pony... you!"

"Come on, Steve." said Rainbow Dash, smiling playfully. "Don't tease."

"What?" asked Steven. "Pony you is cute."

Rainbow Dash playfully nudged him in the shoulder as they continued to watch the memory.

"Rainbow!" shouted a female, southern voice. "Consarn it, Rainbow! Where'd y'all go?"

The relaxed Pegasus immediately jumped with a start, obviously surprised as to why somepony would want to find her at a time like this. For as long as she'd been in Ponyville, she had always found herself staring at the beautiful moon at every Summer Sun Celebration. Of course, she was disturbed regularly back at her house, so she moved here for better refuge.

Rainbow Dash immediately flew into the air, wanting to find a place to hide as quickly as possible. Not only did she dislike other ponies disturbing her while she was watching the moon, but she didn't want anypony to catch her doing something this sappy. It would ruin her while reputation!

But in her eagerness to fly up, though, she bumped her head rather harshly against the wall. There was an immediate loud 'thud' that began to vibrate throughout the whole room, also probably reaching the outside as well.

"Damn it!" cursed Rainbow Dash to herself under her breath, softly landing on the ground as she massaged the new bump on her head with a hoof.

But as soon as she let her guard down, her worst nightmares came through. The door slammed open.

"Rainbow!" exclaimed the pony at the doorway. "Ah've been looking fer you everywhere."

"Er... Hi, Applejack!" said Rainbow Dash, sounding very guilty. "What's up? Why were you... er... looking for me?"

"Erm..." started Applejack, biting her lip as she would normally do when about to lie. "No reason. Just worried, s'all. What're y'all doin' in this 'ere dark and scary place anyway, Rainbow?"

"I was... hungry!" said Rainbow Dash, who immediately dove into the stack of hay and started munching a mouthful. "And I saw some hay here, so I thought I'd have a little... snack?"

"In my defense, the bump on my head kinda messed my thinking a little bit." said Rainbow Dash. "If I had a little more time, I'm sure I could've come up with a much more awesome excuse."

"Yer just as bad a liar as ah am, sugahcube." said Applejack. "And that's sayin' something, considerin' me being the Element of Honesty an' all."

Even in the darkness, Rainbow Dash's blush can easily be seen. The earth pony began to chuckle.

"Hey!" said Rainbow Dash. "I asked you what you were doing here first!"

"So?"

"So you have to answer first!" said Rainbow Dash, a sudden cocky smile on her face.

"Well..." said Applejack, looking away. "It's almost time for the Princess to raise the Sun... So ah was wonderin' if you wanted to... watch the sunrise with me?"

Rainbow Dash hesitated for a while, but it soon became obvious that there was no lie in Applejack's voice. Rainbow Dash nuzzled the farm pony, but Applejack immediately pushed her back.

"Wait a minute." said Applejack, who was trying very hard to keep a straight face. "Ya still haven't told me why yer here in the first place."

"Oh..." said Rainbow Dash. "Looks like I can't slip away from that question, huh?"

Applejack simply shook her head, making Rainbow Dash sigh deeply as she began to walk to the open window.

"I was watching the moon." said Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be trying to be as annoyingly vague as possible.

"Why didn't ya watch it with the rest of us?" asked Applejack.

"I... kinda wanted to be alone." said Rainbow Dash. "I'm sorry, Applejack. It's kinda private."

"Alright." said Applejack. "I won't pry. So are ya comin'? Everypony's waitin'."

"Oh." said Rainbow Dash, flexing her wings. "Okay. AAAH!"

Rainbow Dash fell back to the floor, her face screwed up in intense pain as her head throbbed violently. Applejack immediately ran to Rainbow Dash and helped her stand back up. Rainbow Dash rubbed a forehoof around the top of her head, wincing in pain as she did so.

"Are you alright, sugahcube?" asked Applejack, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm fine." said Rainbow Dash, before nearly falling back to the floor in pain again. "No. No, I'm not. My head hurts."

"What happened?" asked Applejack, steadying Rainbow Dash again.

"I kinda crashed my head against the ceiling when I heard you calling me all of a sudden." said Rainbow Dash, wincing in pain. "I... was kinda used to being all alone this time of the year."

"Crashed yer head?" asked Applejack. "Ya must've crashed it pretty hard, then. Yer hard head left a mighty big impression on that ceiling of yers."

Rainbow Dash looked up painfully. Sure enough, there was a huge dent on the ceiling she crashed. Unlike other buildings in Ponyville, the Town Hall was made of solid stone. She must really have a hard head, considering how her skull didn't break despite the hardness of that ceiling."

"Ah think ah can help, though." said Applejack. "Ah'm always helpin' Granny Smith with all her bone problems. Ah reckon ah can help ya with yers too, using the same techniques."

"Are you sure, Applejack?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Sure as pumpkin pie." said Applejack, smiling encouragingly at Rainbow Dash.

The pegasus hesitated for a while, but she ultimately decided to place her trust in Applejack. She quickly turned around, lifting the forehoof off of her head, and sat. She winced in pain once again.

"Now this might hurt fer a while." said Applejack.

"Wait, wha-"

Too late. Applejack immediately dug her hooves onto Rainbow Dash's head, provoking a loud scream of agony from the multicolored mare. But, of course, the pain was too intense for Rainbow Dash too move even a single muscle, leaving her locked there as Applejack's strong hooves continued on torturing her.

The scream of agony, however, was slowly replaced with screams of pleasure. Applejack licked her lips in concentration as she continued on putting most of her strength into pressing down on Rainbow Dash's head, massaging it thoroughly. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but squeal in delight as Applejack kept working on her head.

"AAAAH!" screamed Rainbow Dash, shivering under the intense pleasure that Applejack's hooves were now granting her.. "Yes, Applejack, yes! Right there! Your hooves are magic!"

Applejack let out a soft chuckle but kept on concentrating at massaging her friend's head.

"Now, ya might not want to scream so loud anymore, Rainbow." said Applejack, grunting as she put most of her strength into her hooves. "Everypony might be wonderin' what 's goin' on in here."

Rainbow Dash looked as if she was really, really high. She began to giggle uncharacteristically, followed by herself putting a hoof to her muzzle and shushing out loud. Applejack began to blush profusely at this point. She immediately released her hooves from Rainbow Dash's head.

As soon as Applejack let go of her head, Rainbow Dash seemed to have snapped out of her trance. She looked around dazedly for a while, before shaking her head violently and looking straight at Applejack, no emotion in her face.

She quickly raised a hoof and touched the tip of her head- right where she had crashed against the ceiling. There was no response.

"That was..." said Rainbow Dash, slowly breaking into a grin. "AWESOME, Applejack! I can't feel anything anymore!"

"Well, anythin' to do with mah hooves are mah specialty, ah guess." said Applejack, winking at Rainbow Dash as if to say that it was nothing at all.

"I love you, Applejack." said Rainbow Dash, rather lightheartedly, as she happily began to fly towards the door. Applejack, however, didn't follow. What Rainbow Dash had said made her stop directly in her tracks, freezing on the spot. Her facial expression made it look like she was in a trance of her own, deeply locked outside the boundaries of time and space, allowed to freely move around in the air as her mind lost all thought.

"What... did ya say, Rainbow Dash?"

"Oh... my." said Fluttershy, hiding her face behind her mane.

"Oh, lighten up, darling!" said Rarity, who had been keeping her eyes glued to the action ever since the massaging part.

"No, I can understand what Fluttershy's feeling." said Twilight. "This suddenly seems... very personal. I feel like an intruder."

"It's your call, Dash." said Steven. There was no response. "Dash?"

"Wha?" asked Rainbow Dash, who seemed to have slipped out of focus. But then Twilight saw something fly out of Rainbow Dash's face. Something small... something shiny.

A tear?

Now Twilight felt really guilty. It didn't matter to her anymore how things went. This whole thing had obviously hurt Rainbow Dash more than anything so far, and she didn't want Rainbow Dash to feel any more hurt than she already was. Knowing her, Rainbow Dash would probably be feeling guilty about all this.

"That's it." said Twilight. "We're going out of here."

"No, Twilight." said Rainbow Dash, her face red but full of resolve. "It's okay."

"But Rainbow-"

"I'm fine, Twilight." said Rainbow Dash. "I need to see this too."

Twilight was confused. She had half a mind to just cancel this whole thing altogether, but she knew that Rainbow Dash would get angry at her for doing that. But she didn't want to hurt Rainbow Dash.

Then what was with the resolved face?

"Are you sure, Dash?" asked Steven. "Because we're fine with whatever you want to do. Just say the word, and we'll leave."

"No." said Rainbow Dash. "We'll stay."

With reluctance, everyone began to watch the scene again.

"I said I love you." said Rainbow Dash, still completely oblivious to everything. "You're a really good friend, and I just can't think of how I- no, *anypony could live without you in their lives."*

Applejack didn't say anything. But her frozen stance had disappeared, and Applejack looked down in sadness. Rainbow Dash looked on at her with confusion. Why was Applejack look so... sad? Was it something she said?

"Rainbow... Can ah ask ya a question?" asked Applejack, unable to make eye contact with Rainbow Dash.

"Sure." said Rainbow Dash, fluttering to Applejack's side. "Anything."

"Ya just said that ya thought ah was a really good friend." said Applejack.

"Well, yeah!" said Rainbow Dash. "You said it yourself- you are the loyalest and most dependable of ponies. Next to me, of course."

"Rainbow..." said Applejack, ignoring her snide comment and looking up at her. Rainbow Dash saw her face- her swelling eyes, her trembling mouth... and she immediately knew that something was up. Something was wrong.

"Are you okay, Applejack?" asked Rainbow Dash. "You're not usually... this sappy."

"JUST LISTEN TA ME FER ONCE, CONSARN IT!" shouted Applejack, her frustration exploding immediately. But she quickly realized what she had done, and immediately began to hide herself. "Ah'm sorry, Rainbow... Ah don't know what came over me..."

"It's fine, Applejack." said Rainbow Dash, nuzzling her friend. "You can tell me anything."

"Ya said we were friends, right?"

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash. "You're like... one of the best friends anypony could ever have."

Applejack chuckled, but her solemn expression didn't change.

"Have ya ever..." said Applejack, hesitating. 'Have ya ever thought of being... more?"

"More?" asked Rainbow Dash, confused.

"More than friends." said Applejack.

"I-I don't understand." said Rainbow Dash, her face filled to the brim with confusion. What was Applejack trying to say?

"Ah think..." continued Applejack, not bothered at all. "Ah think ah'm in love with you, Rainbow Dash."

Now this was sudden. Rainbow Dash felt her soul jump out of her body for a second, before diving back in. She could actually FEEL her pupils shrinking in complete and utter surprise at what Applejack had just said. What did she just say?

Applejack was... in love with her?

No, there had to be some kind of misunderstanding. For all the years she had known Applejack, not ONCE has she thought of the simple farm mare being a filly fooler. That was near impossible. Rainbow Dash must've misheard her.

"You.. what?" asked Rainbow Dash, silently cursing herself., This came out a lot harsher than she meant it too.

"Ah love you, Rainbow." said Applejack.

Okay, she couldn't have heard her wrong. But this... this was not possible. Applejack...

Rainbow Dash dipped her head down in confusion. Applejack was in love with her. She still couldn't believe it. The words were coming out of Applejack's own lips, but it all seemed impossible. Could she be lying? No, there's no good reason for that. Plus, she's the Element of Honesty! Could this all be just a joke? No, it didn't seem like a joke. Not at all...

But what Rainbow Dash felt worst about was how she would react. Applejack had told her that she was in love with her. That much cannot be changed. But what the REAL bad thing was...

Rainbow Dash didn't feel the same way.

It felt confused. She felt guilty. A whole mix of emotions seemed to be swirling inside her stomach right now. She needed to sit down.

As she sat, however, she noticed how Applejack's face turned to one of silent resignation.

"I'm sorry, Applejack..." said Rainbow Dash, finding it hard to look at Applejack. "This is all just so... sudden."

"Ah understand." said Applejack, rather bitterly. She began to walk away.

"Applejack, wait!" said Rainbow Dash. Applejack didn't stop walking. Rainbow Dash then immediately zipped past her and stopped right in front of the door, kicking it shut.

"Please, Applejack..." said Rainbow Dash. Applejack faced her with a killing glare. "We have to talk about this-"

"There nothin' to talk about, Rainbow." said Applejack, her voice full of metal. "Let's just go back to normal, now. Everythin's fine."

"No it's not, Applejack!" said Rainbow Dash. "It can't go back to normal... It won't."

Applejack didn't say anything. She just kept fixing that bitter glare at her.

Rainbow Dash had a small idea of what to do next. What could maybe sort out all of the confusion in her mind at the moment. Something that could help her decide... What she was supposed to do next. Maybe this can tell her how she was supposed to feel.

Rainbow Dash immediately leaned forward and kissed Applejack.

Rainbow Dash sensed that Applejack had widened her eyes in surprise, but the farm pony didn't do anything to pull away. She just kissed back with much more vigor. Rainbow Dash was shocked at first, but she didn't break the kiss... She didn't want to.

This was the most amazing kiss she had ever felt in her life. It was so passionate, so powerful, so... right. She had kissed many stallions before, but this one... This one was unarguably the best, even though it was a mare she was kissing. Or perhaps it was because it was a mare.

Rainbow Dash pushed Applejack backwards, and Applejack didn't fight. They kept walking, and Rainbow Dash knew that there was supposed to be the stack of hay behind Applejack now. But just as soon as she pushed further...

Applejack turned around, and Rainbow Dash fell back against the hay. Normally she would complain, but she really didn't want to. This was the best feeling she had ever felt in her life. She had never felt so... good before. Rainbow Dash could smell the slight aroma of freshly picked apples from Applejack's mane, and that just made everything better.

This continued for a long time. Rainbow Dash and Applejack remained passionately locked in each other, and they completely forgot about all the other ponies waiting outside for them. Rainbow Dash felt Applejack's hoof begin to slide down from her chest to her thigh, and then it slowly moved towards the...

Rainbow Dash pulled back. Applejack looked shocked for a while, but her expression immediately softened down.

"Ah guess that was a might sudden." said Applejack, blushing cutely in the dim light of the moon.

"Trust me, AJ." said Rainbow Dash. "I really wanted it. I really wanted you. But I can't. I'm still confused. I don't know what to think, I don't know what to feel... Sorry, Applejack."

Applejack didn't get angry this time. In fact, she began to smile gently at her, a smile that was rarely seen by anypony ever before.

"Ah understand." said Applejack. "And ah'm the one who should be sorry. It's mighty unfair that ah got angry at ya just now."

"Thanks, AJ." said Rainbow Dash.

"But you'll... wait, won't ya?" asked Applejack.

Rainbow Dash gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"I just need to do a little thinking, that's all." said Rainbow Dash, smirking. "And if I decided that I wanted you, then you should be ready for the ride of your life."

"And ya should too." said Applejack. "Ya might be a pegasus, but it ain't easy tamin' this earth pony."

"Family." said Rainbow Dash.

"Pardon?" said Applejack.

"You asked me why I was alone here, looking at the night sky." said Rainbow Dash. "It's because Fluttershy told me once that ponies don't really die. They turn into bright, beautiful stars. We would often look at the night sky whenever we felt lonely, trying to find which stars were once our parents."

"She's a great friend, Fluttershy." said Applejack. "Always knows how to comfort anypony. Ah mean, Pinkie Pie might know how to make ponies smile, but Fluttershy can make anypony feel happy about themselves. They don' call her the Element of Kindness for nothin', ah guess. If only she was a little less shy...

"Come on, then." said Rainbow Dash, laughing. "Everypony's waiting for us."