I wake up to a little girl shaking me violently. Why she was here? I have no idea.

"Josh! Wake up!" Amber yells excitedly. I look at the clock on the wall to see it is already noon. Damn I must have been tired!

"Amber? What are you doing here?" I ask, still half asleep.

"Josh don't you remember!? Today is Christmas Eve!"

"Oh yeah..." I say as I roll back over. "Go have fun."

"Josh! C'mon! You gotta see what Twilight did!" Amber says as she literally drags me out of bed. I half walk, half fall down the stairs behind Amber as she excitedly runs over to the door. I open it and she follows me out. My eyes shoot open as I realize I'm standing in inches of freezing cold snow. No longer asleep due to being near frozen to death, I look around the town in shock. The town has been transformed into something you would see in a Disney Christmas movie. There are Christmas trees everywhere, fully decorated, wreaths and other Christmas decorations, and even Christmas lights!

"What the hell? How did they?..." I mumble to myself just as Twilight and Applejack run up to me. Twilight explains that she and the rest of the town had gotten up really early to decorate the town as accurately as I had described. It looks amazing for something I had just simply described to Twilight. She really outdid herself.

"Oh my... This is amazing!" I yell in astonishment, now forgetting the fact that I'm freezing to death. "You did all of this for us?"

"Yeah! We worked really hard to make your first major holiday in Equestria feel like home for you!" Twilight exclaims happily.

"Whoa... Where are the other girls?" I ask, wanting to spend the day with everyone. I only see Applejack and Twilight right now, but the others might be close by.

"Fluttershy and Pinkie are over in a shop looking at different items that they might buy as gifts." Twilight explains. "And Rarity is supposed to be here in a few minutes after finishing her 'Christmas hat' as she described it."

As soon as Twilight finishes explaining, the three mares come around the corner chatting together. I realize one of us is missing in the group, the one who would probably enjoy this the most.

"Uh guys? Where is Rainbow at?" I ask looking up, expecting her to swoop in at any second.

"Huh... I don't really know." Twilight explains, also realizing that her friend wasn't present. "Applejack, could you go find Rainbow Dash, then meet us at the cafe for lunch?"

"Ah'm on it!" Applejack says as she runs into town to search for Rainbow. Once she's gone, the rest of us head over to the cafe for lunch. Bad memories rush back to me as I remember the time when I pretty much died here. Turns out the magic in the walker creatures in the forest mixed with the virus in my blood and caused the virus to kill me, even though I was never actually bitten. Those were bad times. At least we learned that me and Amber can't touch the creatures, so we have to kill them at range.

We sit down at the table and wait for Applejack and Rainbow Dash to return. While we wait, Amber and I tell stories about our time in Miami. When we get on the subject of my phone, and how I would charge it with a generator, Twilight said she'd be glad to find a way to charge it. Twilight's offer excites me greatly, as while I don't really need the phone, it would be really nice to have.

After waiting for half an hour, we get tired of just sitting around. I offer to go find Applejack and Rainbow.

I walk through town looking around for the two mares with little to no luck. I eventually come across Applejack's little sister along with what I'm assuming are two of her friends.

"Hey Applebloom. I need your help." I say as I quickly approach.

"Josh! Thanks for playing with me yesterday! It was really fun!" She yells when she sees me, completely ignoring the question.

"Yeah it was, but have you seen your sister and/or Rainbow anywhere? I need to find them, they kinda disappeared earlier." I ask, hoping that she had seen her sister. To my surprise she actually had seen them both. She gave me directions to a secluded park on the outskirts of town. I thanked her and headed toward the park. I slowly jogged to my destination, taking in the scenery and amazing decorations scattered throughout the town. I gotta hand it to these ponies, they really know how to get shit done fast considering they did all of this in just a few hours.

I approach a big tree as I reach the park. I'm surprised when I hear what sounds like soft crying and Applejack's voice.

"Why don't you just tell him?" I hear Applejack say quietly. I peek around the tree and see Applejack sitting next to a slumped over Rainbow Dash. They're at the edge of a small pond and apparently don't know that I'm there.

"He would probably just avoid me..." Rainbow says through tears. Who the hell are they talking about?

"Now Rainbow, you know he ain't like that. He wouldn't judge you because of what you look like." Applejack says while patting Rainbow's back.

"Didn't you hear what Amber said last night!? They just think of us as animals. Just face it, there's no way he would ever like me back." Rainbow says as she stares at her reflection in the water. Wait... are they walking about me? They must be if they're referring to Amber like that.

"Hey! Josh never said that! You don't know for sure that he feels that way about you." Applejack yells in protest. Now I definitely know that they're talking about me. And does Rainbow... like me? I can't say I hadn't suspected it lately. She has been a little more clingy lately, and she always tries to get me to do things with her.

The realization hits me that a pony is fucking in love with me. My heartbeat increases rapidly and my breathing starts to come in heavy breaths. I guess I was a little loud because Applejack turns to look right at the tree that I'm hiding behind.

"Is someone there?" She asks as she slowly stands up.

I take off in a full sprint back into town, heart racing and sweat pouring down my face despite the freezing weather. I have no idea what to think about this. If I ever wanted to get with someone in this world, I only had two choices. Amber was the only other human in existence here, but there's no way I would ever fall in love with her in a romantic way. The only other option would be to date one of these fucking ponies. Would it even be accepted? Would other ponies look at us weird? I admit I had always seen a bit of Sarah in Rainbow as their personalities were pretty similar. I fell in love with Sarah, could I really like Rainbow back? Would I break her heart just because of what she looked like?

I rush back to the cafe where the other girls look bored out of their minds. I sit down next to Amber, still shaking.

"josh? Are you okay?" Twilight says with a worried look. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I... I'm fine." I lie. I'm not fine, I'm so torn right now. I have to admit to myself that is Rainbow was a normal human girl, I'd probably go out with her. Could I look past the fact that she's not a human?

A few minutes later, Applejack and Rainbow finally show up. It's obvious that Rainbow has been crying, but she's trying to hide it. She doesn't make eye contact with me at all as she approaches.

I can't just keep this information to myself. Before she can sit down, I pull Applejack aside where we can be alone for a minute.

"Applejack... I heard you and Rainbow at the park. I was behind a tree, I heard it all." I say, my voice shaking.

"You did!?" Applejack says, obviously shocked. "So you know how Rainbow feels now huh?"

"Yeah and... I like her personality alot, but... I just don't think I could go out with a pony." I say, small tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

"Josh! Don't you ever say that. It isn't what's on the outside that matters. It's what on the inside that you should care about. So what if Rainbow isn't like you? That doesn't mean you can't love her back." Applejack's words make sense. I start to realize that this would happen eventually, with Rainbow or someone else. Unless I dated Amber, which will never happen, I would eventually have to learn to love something that isn't a human.

"Alright... I'll talk to her later..." I say as I lead Applejack back to the table. I finally made up my mind. Later today... I'm going to tell Rainbow how I feel.

We finish lunch about an hour later. Before everyone goes their separate ways, I slip Rainbow a small note that I wrote down on a piece of napkin. The note read, "I heard everything. I need to talk to you in private. Meet me at the park in twenty minutes." As I walk away, I hear her gasp. I slightly turn my head to see her breaking down in tears, probably embarrassed. She probably thinks that I'm mad at her or that I'll reject her. It breaks my heart to see her so upset, but I can't tell her how I feel yet, not here. She takes off in a blur towards the park.

I begin walking towards the meeting spot as the cold wind slowly blows against my face. I wonder If I'm doing the right thing here. Will society accept us? I know her friends will, but will the rest of the town frown upon us? Is it really worth it? My questions come to a stop as I see Rainbow staring at herself in the still water of the lake at the park. I guess she heard me approaching because she starts talking but doesn't turn to face me.

"So... you hate me now don't you?" Rainbow says, obviously trying to push through tears. "I bet you think it's weird that an... 'animal'... likes you huh?"

"I-I never said that." I say calmly, trying not to upset her even more. "I don't think you're an animal. You're sentient, and by that definition, I consider you to be a person."

I sit down next to her, but she doesn't even move. "So... when did it start?" I ask, curious as to when she started having feelings for me.

"...When you saved me during the storm." She replies with almost no emotion. She probably still thinks I'm going to reject her.

I wrap my arm around her shoulders and she gives out a little gasp. I quickly pull her into my side and hold her there.

"Rainbow... I know what it's like to be rejected. I've been rejected by so many girls that I can't even count them. But I've also had a few girls that liked me as well. Having somebody love you back is one of the greatest feelings in the world. I don't want you to feel the pain of rejection." I say through my own tears.

"Wh-What are you saying...?" Rainbow says, finally looking up at me with swollen red eyes.

"I'm saying that I don't want you to feel the pain of rejection. And they only way to do that is..." I say slowly.

"Rainbow... will you go out with me?" The words leave my mouth as my decision is made final.

She doesn't respond for a long time. She just stares at me, mouth slightly hanging open, eyes wide with shock.

She finally responds. "Yes!" She screams as tears of joy pour down her face. She presses her face into my side. I can feel the tears through my t-shirt. The cold wind makes each tear even colder as they freeze, but I don't care at the moment. If I pushed her away now, It would break her. We stay in that position for what feels like an hour. She continues to cry into my shirt while I stare at the lake, hoping that I did the right thing. The sun starts to set pretty early, and I know it's time to head back into town.

Rainbow doesn't want to stand, so I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder. The entirety of her body hugs my chest and waist, only her front legs and her head dangle over my shoulders. My arms wrap around her back so she doesn't fall as I slowly walk back into town. Her crying starts to slow, but she doesn't take her face off of my shirt. Eventually her breathing slows as well and I can tell that she's asleep.

We reach Sweet Apple Acres as it starts to grow dark. I knock on Applejack's door, and by that I mean I kick the door. Applejack comes to the door and gasps when she sees a sleeping Rainbow wrapped around me.

"Oh... Josh did you..." She says with a growing smile.

"Yeah... it's official... I just hope I did the right thing." I say as I glance at Rainbow's head, her mane blowing in the wind and hitting my face.

"I'm sure you did Josh." Applejack says as she wraps a hoof around my leg.

"Is it okay if I stay here for the night? It's getting dark and the library is on the other side of town." I say as I feel the freezing wind on my back. Rainbow keeps the front of me warm, but I can't even feel my back.

"Sure, but you'll have to stay in the barn. There isn't any room in here." She says, pointing to the barn.

"Thanks AJ!" I say as I jog to the barn. Just before I enter, Applejack has to get the last word.

"Don't be too loud when ya'll get all romantic with each other in there!" She says from the house doorway. My eyes shoot daggers at her in anger.

"Fuck you!" I yell as I open the barn door.

"No, save that for Rainbow!" She says as she goes back inside with an evil chuckle.

"Fucking hell..." I mumble to myself as I step inside and close the door. Immediately the warm air surrounds us and I let out a sigh of relief. I place Rainbow down on a pile of hay, and make my own pile to sleep on.

I slowly drift off to sleep, glad to be somewhere warm for the night. Just as I'm about to enter the realm of sleep, I hear some shuffling and a warm mass presses into my side. I wrap my arm around Rainbow and pull her into my side.

The question I've been asking myself all day is finally answered.

I definitely did the right thing.

Author's Note

The ship has set sail!

How will everyone react? Find out next chapter!