Rainbow Dash flew through the cloud layer, not really caring if she got wet. Truth be told she liked the feeling of the cool water on her coat. Rainbow was ecstatic; she had just finished her weather duties and was going to see the most important pony in her life, her marefriend.
Even if she did see Applejack every day the feeling never got old. The warm tingling feeling she got whenever she was around her, the laughing, and the contests and challenges. But recently there was a new feeling, a feeling she wasn’t too fond of, but true to Rainbow’s nature she pushed it to the back of her mind for later. For now she would enjoy the flight to the farm, she had always admired the view of the Apple orchard from the sky, although seeing today's weather forecast was for rain the overcast had eliminated any chance for a nice view, and without the view to distract her the feeling came back.
She loved her marefriend and she knew it, they had been best friends for years, but no matter how much time they spent together there was always that feeling that liked to rear its ugly head about and wouldn't go away. What really confused her was the fact that the feeling always seemed to vanish as soon as she took to the air. Flying has always been her passion. That might sound a little shallow but she was a Pegasus after all, it was only natural for her to love flying more than anything, it was in her blood, at least that's what she told herself. “Some marefriend I am.” she chastised herself.
Looking down the cyan Pegasus noticed she was directly over her marefriend’s house, with a sheepish grin she turned 180 degrees and pelted to the ground. Seeing her target Rainbow flared her wings slightly, slowing her descent as she landed perfectly on the front porch with a huge grin.
“Yeah, I’m awesome.”
Rainbow raised a hoof about ready to knock on the door when a beautiful voice from behind stopped her.
“A’m over here Rainbow.” looking over her shoulder she say Applejack coming out of the barn. “Glad ya came by.”
“Hey Don’t I always.” Rainbow Grinned and walked closer to give her mare a kiss, but slowed her pace when she saw that Applejack was forcing her smile.
“Uh ya, hehe a’ guess ya do.” Rainbow noticed the awkwardness in Applejacks voice but decided not to say anything, if she wanted to talk about it she would. “Would ya mind if we walked for a bit Rainbow, this is important.”
“Can do A.J, but you know it’s going to rain any minute right? Shouldn’t we talk inside?" Now Rainbow was getting worried and the nervous twitch of her wings made it clear to Applejack too.
Sighing Applejack slowly responded “Ya may be right, but walkin in the orchard always helps mah clear my head.”
“Oh, umm ok sure, lead the way A.J.” the growing pit in her gut told her she was not going to like this.”
They both walked on in an awkward silence, Rainbows mind was racing a mile a minute with thoughts of what was going on. Did A.J Have to leave for a while? Did Granny Smith Die? Is the farm in trouble? Her mind would have wondered more if not for Applejacks sudden stop causing Rainbow to bump into her. Applejack had finally stopped in a small clearing and turned towards the other mare.
Taking a few steps away Applejack took a deep breath to try to hold herself together, but anyone could see she was on the verge of tears. “Rainbow there’s no easy way for mah ta say this but...”
“Oh c’mon A.J, it can’t be that hard.” Rainbow said encouragingly through a fake smile.
“Trust mah on this Rainbow it is, and a’ really hope ya don’t think of mah any less after this.”
“Ha, don’t worry A.J there’s nothing that will make me think any less of you, now what did you want to tell me.” Rainbow's wings fluttered nervously as her hooves shuffled from side to side
“a’ hope that’s true, well here goes nothin. Rainbow a’...a’ don’t think this is goin to work any longer.” Applejack closed her eyes and looked down at the ground.
“W-What do y-you mean.” Rainbow was in complete shock. After hearing this, her world started to fall apart; she hadn’t expected anything near this.
“I’m sorry Rainbow, a’ really am, but a’ just don’t see things workin between us.” tears clearly visible in her eyes. She hated herself, but deep down Applejack knew this was the right things to do. She was tired of stringing Rainbow along; she liked Rainbow she really did, but there was no real love there.
The wind blew Rainbows mane out of her face showing Applejack the tears that were spilling over her friends cheeks. The same tears that Rainbow was fighting desperately to keep to herself, but to no avail. Rainbow slowly backed away from A.J, hurt, confusion, and anger apparent in her features.
Rain was falling freely now, refreshing the air, watering the trees, and soaking the ponies. “Now Rainbow I was afraid of this but please calm down, I never wanted ta hurt ya just list...”
Rainbow couldn’t take any more of it before Applejack could finish her sentence she took to the sky. She had no idea where or how fast she was going, all she knew was she had to get away. Away from the hurt, away from the pain, away from Applejack.
Even blinded by the rain Rainbow threw caution to the wind and flew harder, it was only when a lightning strike lit up the area Rainbow saw her mistake. When she saw she was heading right for a large tree knowing it was too late to stop or turn, Rainbow slowed as much as she could and braced herself for the inevitable impact.
*WAM*
Whatever thought's Rainbow had were gone, now the only thing she noticed was pain; pain from her head and neck. Rainbow had crashed headlong right into a tree. She wished she had been paying more attention to the height or the direction she was flying. Looking up at the tree from a daze she saw that this particular tree had a door.
It was at that moment door swung open with a confused looking purple mare standing right behind them. She glanced around for a moment before looking down to find Rainbow lying on the ground, the mares eyes widened at the sight. “Oh my dear Celestia, Dash what happened” quickly moving aside she added “Oh Goddess’s, your bleeding! Come in, quickly.”
Rainbow Blinked a few time before forcing herself onto her hooves doing as she was told she quickly flew over to the couch fresh tears starting to stream down her face. Twilight closed the door and gave a worried look as she watched her friend cry. It hurt Twilight to see any of her friends this up set, but to see the normally strong willed and cocky mare reduced to such broke the unicorn’s heart.
Looking at Rainbow closer Twilight concluded that she wasn’t hurt too bad just a small cut over her right eye, but she will have a nasty headache in the morning. Walking over Twilight levitated up a cool rag and gently started cleaning the cut. This sudden contact broke the dam; the young flyer buried her face into the couch as she started crying her eyes out.
“Shh, it’s going to be alright Dash, take a few deep breaths and take as much time as you need. I’m right here with you.” She cooed as she hugged her friend.
About an hour of crying later, Rainbow was sitting up and now leaning into Twilight’s embrace quietly sniffling. Twilight slowly let go of the other mare and looked into her puffy red eyes. Twilight tried to smile as best she could while looking at her broken friend. “You want to talk about it Dash? The statistics show that 86.3% of ponies feel better after letting their feelings out rather than keeping them bottled in.”
Rainbow let out a light chuckle and shook her head, but still smiled. “Twi, you are such an Egghead.”
“Well at least I made you smile, now come on Dashie, talk to me.” Wait had she just called her Dashie? The sound of Rainbow talking quickly snapped her out of her thoughts.
Rainbow took a breath, pausing for a second before telling her story. “Well I was just going over to A.J’s after work like I always do; when I got there she came out of the barn and was more serious than normal. She told me to follow her, so I did, I just thought she had to leave on a trip or was in trouble, I knew it was about to rain but I just wanted to help her, you know? Well we walked for a little bit before stopping in a small clearing, she turned towards me, I could see she was about to cry.” Fresh tears starting to stream down Rainbows face again.
“It’s alright Dash you don’t have to say more if you don’t want to.”
Taking a deep breath Rainbow steadied herself and shook her head. “No I want to finish” Taking one last breath the distraught mare continued her story.
“Anypony could see she was about to cry and it had me worried, I knew she was going to say something bad but I’d never expected this. She told me that things weren’t going to work out between us.” Tears once again falling, “I flew off shortly after, She was still talking but I just couldn't take anymore, I…I really think I loved her Twi."
“Oh Dash I’m so sorry, I know this must be hard for you, but I’m sure Applejack never meant to hurt you, Maybe after you both had a chance to calm down you should try talking to Applejack and getting this straightened out?”
“I know...” Rainbow let out a heavy sigh. “I just can’t see her right now.” Rainbow looked down in shame; she couldn’t even bring herself to meet Twilight’s eyes.
Using a gentle hoof, Twilight rubbed down her friends back calming her. “It’s alright Dash there's nothing to be ashamed of, you loved her it’s only natural this would hurt you. Everything will work out trust me.”
With a small smile Rainbow looked back up at Twilight. “I doubt it will, this happens every time I get interested in anypony Gilda, Lyra, and now Applejack. It really felt like I had something special with her.” Rainbow would have continued if not for the tears that threatened to return “I just don’t know what’s wrong with me, why can’t I find that special somepony! Great, now I sound like a stupid school filly sitting around and whining, Sorry Twi.”
Twilight's heart fluttered a little when Dash called her Twi, not many ponies do but it still felt different when the cyan mare did and it made her flush a little. But after hearing her friends heartbreaking story she pushed it to the fact that emotions were running high.
“Don’t think like that Dashie.” Twilight blinked for a moment as the blush playing across her muzzle returned. “There's absolutely nothing wrong with you and you know it. You just haven't found the right Stal...I mean, mare yet.”
“But...”
“No buts, you are Rainbow Dash, winner of the best young flyers competition two years running, fastest flyer in Equestria, weather manager, and holder of the Element of Loyalty. Anypony would be lucky to get you so stop getting yourself so down.”
Rainbow smiled feeling a lot more at ease.
“Thanks Twi, Hey can I come over tomorrow?”
“Of course Dash that shouldn’t be a problem, remember this is a ‘Public’ library.” Twilight giggled as she said the last part.
Rainbow rolled her eyes “ya ya whatever Twi, so how does noon sound?”
Twilight looked at her friend confused. “You get up before noon? I don't think I ever seen you up that early? Well maybe on Hearth’s Warming.”
A small blush played on her muzzle. “Hey, everyone gets up early for Hearth’s Warming and I can get up early on any normal day if I wanted to. I just like taking it easy, it’s a lot of work flying the way I do. But I guess I do sleep a little too much yah?”
Twilight raised her eyebrow and gave her a skeptical look. "Only a little?"
Fine fine, I sleep a lot." Rainbow threw her hooves up in defeat. "I guess I should try and get better at it."
Twilight smiled at Rainbow a sparkle in her eye “It’s good to see you getting into better habits, not only will you have more time in the day now, but it’s better for your overall health too!”
Walking over Rainbow stuck her hoof into Twilight's mouth to stop what she called ‘The Egghead Effect’. “Ok, mom I get it, I will try not to sleep my life away.” A sarcastic tone could be clearly heard. “Anyways see you tomorrow Twi.”
“Sure thing, see you tomorrow Dash.”
With a quick hug Rainbow kept true to her namesake and dashed out the door. Rainbow had a small smile on while flying, thankfully the right way back home. Thoughts of A.J kept trying to push their way to the front of her mind. With a heavy sigh she pushed the thoughts back once again and shook her head, not thinking about her would be the best option right now.
The colorful mare quickly reached her house sighing she pushed open the door and walked up to her bedroom. Lying down she tried her best not to dwell on the events of that day. Rainbow rolled over to her side, one of her hooves under her head and her wings nicely folded. The day had been far too long for her and she just wanted to sleep. But it wasn’t all bad she learned that she would always have twilight there to help her. A small smile adorned her as she fell into an uncomfortable sleep.
Twilight on the other hoof was sitting on her bed, rethinking the events of the last few hours. She had never expected to see Dash so hurt, so vulnerable. Why did it bother her so much to see Dash that distraught, they were friends yes, but it felt deeper than that. Through the whole thing and even now she felt lost, something like this had never happened to her. She never had a relationship before; how could she even imagine how Dash felt? All she could do was give the cyan mare her friendship.
But somehow it didn't feel right, she felt like she needed to do more for Rainbow, to be more. Grunting in frustration the unicorn fell back to her bed and sighed. “Why can't I figure this out? Applejack what were you thinking.” it was then Twilight knew figured one thing out, she was mad at her orange friend.
Twilight needed help to get her mind around this, and made a mental note to go see Rarity in the morning Twilight flipped on her side closing her eyes. Would Dash be mad that she told another pony about this, Rarity wouldn’t tell a soul about this, it was just too personal. Even if it made Dash hate her forever she was going to help to the best of her abilities, but that wasn’t much, which was why she needed Rarity. Rarity was sure to know how to fix this; she must have been in dozens of relationships before. Knowing what she had to do, the purple unicorn let sleep finally take over.
