Of Friends, Marefriends, and Love

by YoshiFawful64

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Romance, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Gilda, Fluttershy
Length: 5100

A month into her relationship with Applejack, Rainbow Dash suddenly grows distant.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash have been dating for a month, and their relationship is flourishing. However, Applejack suddenly finds it hard to get a hold of the pegasus, whose reasons for not spending time with her are getting more and more dubious...

Entry for AppleDash Contest #4, in the categories "Exploring the Past" and "A Minor Character With a Speaking Role"

Published 2016-01-13 03:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-01-13 03:50:01 UTC

Of Friends, Marefriends, and Love

Even as she was becoming weary from a long day of apple bucking, Applejack couldn't help but smile. It was a little over a month since she started dating Rainbow Dash, and so far, their relationship was getting along wonderfully. As the farmpony picked up the final baskets of fruit and started to head back to her family's house with a cart full of apples, she began reminiscing over the series of dates the two had gone on during the past week — something she intended to continue that very evening.

It had begun when Rainbow had taken her out for a long stroll, which had doubled as a chance to walk their pets. Then, on a whim, Applejack had decided to go bowling with the pegasus on the next day. One thing had led to another, and they had ended up going out on a total of six consecutive dates, including a double date with Lyra and Bon Bon, and even a surprisingly romantic dinner. This time, they had plans to go to the Ponyville movie theater to see Guardians of Equestria, a movie that had debuted only a few weeks previous.

After putting the freshly bucked apples into storage and returning the cart to its usual place, Applejack returned to the farmhouse. However, she couldn't help noticing a conspicuous lack of Rainbow Dash — they were supposed to meet up by the front door around that time, after all. Surmising she must've gone inside to wait, the Earth pony entered her family home.

However, the only pony she found in the living room was Apple Bloom, who was busy doing her homework. In fact, with Big Macintosh and Granny Smith having left on a business trip to Baltimare in the morning — they wouldn't be back for two days — it felt strangely quiet.

Upon noticing Applejack's entrance, the filly said, "Hi, Sis!"

"Hey yourself, Apple Bloom. I don't suppose you know where Rainbow Dash is?"

"Oh, she dropped in while you were in the orchards to leave this for you," Apple Bloom answered, hoofing over a small piece of paper. It read:

AJ,

Sorry I can't come to the movie tonight, Flutters needs help with her Nightmare Night preparations.

—Dash

Once Applejack put the note down, Apple Bloom said, "Sorry that didn't work out."

"Nah, it's fine," Applejack responded with a nonchalant hoofwave. "It ain't like we can't go see that flick later."

"I suppose so. Actually, now that I think about it, weren't you going to see Guardians of Equestria? They're planning on showing it every day for another week or two, right?"

"I think so. It's a pretty big-name film, after all."

"Oh, that's great! That means you can go there tomorrow!" Apple Bloom said enthusiastically. In fact, it seemed to Applejack that the filly's reaction was perhaps even a little too jubilant, prompting her to smirk slyly.

"Y'know, Apple Bloom, I'm curious..."

"Hmm? About what?"

Still smirking, Applejack looked at her sister directly in the eye. "Are you glad me and Dash are going to the movies 'cause you're happy for us, or because it means you'll have the house to yourself for a while?"

The filly blushed. "...Bit of both?"

Applejack chuckled and said, "It's fine. Just don't go adventuring through chimera territory again."

Apple Bloom pouted a little. "I won't so long as you don't try to coddle me to death again."

Letting out another chuckle, Applejack gently stroked her sister's mane. "Fair enough."

The next morning, Applejack headed to Rainbow Dash's home. Once she reached the cloud house, she hollered upwards, "Hey, Rainbow!"

A moment passed, and then the bedroom window slid open to let a rainbow-maned head peek outside. The pegasus looked around until she spotted her marefriend. She then called back, "Oh, hi, AJ! Good to see ya! Sorry I couldn't go the movies with you yesterday."

"Nah, it's okay. Fluttershy needed your help, and that's more important than any movie — a friend in need, and all that. Besides, they're showing it again tonight, so we can catch it then."

Rainbow Dash cringed. "Oh, I, uh- I kind of already promised Pinkie I'd hang out with her tonight, and I think it's gonna take up pretty much the whole evening. Sorry 'bout that."

"No problem. Maybe later, then?"

"Uh, sure." Rainbow scratched the back of her head. "It's just that, for the next few days, I'm gonna be kind of busy with, um, work and... stuff."

"Well, they're showing it daily 'till the end of the month, so take your pick."

"Well, maybe... next Tuesday?"

Applejack frowned a little. It was Thursday, meaning it would be five more days until their next date. Nevertheless, she said, "Sure. See you then."

"See ya."

With that, the window shut, leaving Applejack to head back to Sweet Apple Acres. On the way, she planned out an evening jogging route for herself, deciding that she might as well let Apple Bloom have her alone time.

The following day, Applejack entered Twilight's castle, her saddlebags containing books she was returning to the archives that they were using as a replacement for Golden Oaks Library. The cookbook had brought a nice variety to the Apples' menu — not that the traditional recipes they'd been using for years had grown old, of course. The novels, meanwhile, had given the family pleasant bedtime reading and brought forth both laughter and tears.

As she approached the archive room, Applejack heard two familiar voices inside the main room. Furrowing her eyebrows, she trotted forward.

"Sun four."

"You got my cumulus. Looks like you won again, Rainbow. You really are good at Battle Clouds."

"Well, you're not too shabby yourself, Twilight. That makes five to three in my fa–" Rainbow Dash froze up upon seeing Applejack enter the room. The Earth pony looked at her inquisitively.

Having had her attention on preparing the game board in front of her for another round, Twilight missed the tension in the room. Waving a hoof, she said, "Oh, hi, Applejack! What brings you here?"

Briefly moving her gaze away from Rainbow to look at Twilight, Applejack replied, "I was just returning these books." Turning back to the pegasus, she asked, "But how come you're here, Rainbow? Weren't you supposed to be busy with work?"

Rainbow Dash was visibly agitated. "There... there was a... a scheduling error. They, um, accidentally told me to come to work a lot sooner than I was supposed to, so I figured I'd kill the time in between with Twilight."

Twilight tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Huh? That's not wha–"

"Which is why it's a good thing you showed up to remind me, 'cuz my shift is about to start," Rainbow said. "So... I'll be going now."

She made to leave, only to be interrupted in turn by Applejack's concerned voice.

"Rainbow? Is everything all right, sugarcube?"

Rainbow Dash let out a nervous laugh. "O-of course it is, why wouldn't it be?" Before her marefriend could say anything else, she blurted out, "Anyway, gotta go now. Bye!"

With that, Rainbow Dash took off, flying out of the castle.

Twilight looked at the suddenly empty chair across from her. "Well, that was... peculiar. I don't suppose you have any idea what that was about?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Huh. But anyway..." the alicorn grinned. "You read the books?"

Pulling the tomes in question out of her saddlebags, Applejack asked, "You wanna talk about them, don't you?"

Twilight's grin widened, and she nodded, letting out a small excited squee in the process.

Clearing her mind of Rainbow's weird behaviour for the moment, Applejack chuckled lightly at her friend's foal-like enthusiasm. "Alright. Where do you wanna start?"

As Applejack entered Carousel Boutique on Saturday afternoon, she wasn't all too surprised to see Rainbow Dash eating snacks and chatting idly with Rarity in the living room.

However, as soon as the pegasus noticed the Earth pony standing next to the doorway, her pupils shrunk, and she hurriedly yelled out, "OhlookatthetimeIneedtogofeedTankbye!" She then rocketed past Applejack and out of the Boutique, forcing the farmpony to cling to her hat to keep it from being blown away in the resulting current of air.

Rarity blinked a few times. Once she snapped out of her daze, she turned to Applejack and asked, "So, to what do I owe the pleasure, darling?"

"I came to ask you if you could fix Granny's ball gown," Applejack answered. "It got damaged in the bugbear attack." Lifting the article in question off her back, she hoofed it over to Rarity, who put her reading glasses on.

A few moments passed in silence as the unicorn inspected the piece of clothing.

"You do realize she's avoiding you, don't you?" Rarity asked without looking up. She delicately placed the dress down on the table and peered at Applejack over the rim of her glasses. "Rainbow Dash, that is."

"'Course I do. It would've dang near impossible not to notice."

"Well, in that case, why haven't you done anything about it?"

"Like what, exactly?"

"Confront her! Make her tell you why she's acting this way!"

Applejack frowned. "I don't think that would be a very good idea."

"Why not?"

"If Rainbow doesn't want to talk to me about what's bothering her, then it ain't my business to pry. Besides, if I marched up to her and started demanding answers she doesn't want to give, the only thing it would do is make her lash out. Right now, I need to give her time. She'll come talk to me when she feels like it."

Rarity looked at Applejack in surprise. "...Is it just me, or do you know Rainbow Dash awfully well?"

Applejack shrugged. "Well, we have been spending more time together recently. Plus, it helps that I can relate with her on a lot of stuff."

"I suppose that makes sense. I do hope you two manage to work it out, you've been the most wonderful couple." Rarity glanced down. "Speaking of patching things up, I should be able to fix this dress by Friday."

"Thanks, Rare. How much will it cost us?"

"The damage isn't too bad, so thirty-one bits. I must say, however–"

"Rarity, we've been over this before. We make you pay us for apples, it's only fair we return the favour when you do work for us."

"Oh, fine. I suppose there's no point in arguing against that. Oh, and speaking of dresses–"

Applejack facehoofed with an exasperated sigh. "For the last time, Rare, Rainbow and I have only been going out for a month. Don't ya think it's a mite early to be designing wedding dresses?"

Rarity made to retort, but then paused for a moment. "...Oh, all right."

The sun was setting over Sweet Apple Acres, and Applejack was gathering up the final apples of the day. The farmpony carefully attached herself to the apple cart and started pulling the fruit towards the farmhouse.

On the way back, however, she couldn't help but ruminate on Rainbow Dash's silence. She hadn't seen the pegasus since the brief encounter at Carousel Boutique two days ago, and for all that she had told Rarity, she was getting worried. Not that her confidence in Rainbow had wavered, of course — she was chiefly concerned for the pegasus's wellbeing.

She suddenly felt a brief gust of wind pass by her, and she looked up to see a rainbow contrail leading to a nearby spot that was obscured from direct sight by only a few rows of trees. Unbuckling herself from the cart, Applejack made her way through the trees to find Rainbow Dash sitting on the right side of a small westward-facing hill, leaving a pony-sized space next to her.

Wordlessly, the Earth pony accepted the unspoken invitation by trotting up to the hill and sitting by the pegasus's side.

A few moments passed in silence.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, then let out a slow exhale. With downcast eyes, she said, "Applejack, I... I'm sorry. I've been avoiding you, and that just hasn't been fair to you."

"It's okay, sugarcube. There ain't a single thing wrong with needing your own space, especially when you're dealing with personal issues, which I'm guessing you have been."

Rainbow gave a small, dry chuckle. "Was I really that obvious?"

"Well, kind of, yeah. Though really, the whole 'personal issues' part was more of an educated guess."

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow. "Actually, how did you guess that?"

"Honestly, it's mostly 'cause I might've done something like that myself. Heck, now that I think about it, I have — remember that time I stayed at Dodge Junction 'cause I didn't win any blue ribbons at the rodeo?"

"Oh yeah. That feels like it happened ages ago. But yeah, you're right, I have been dealing with some stuff for the past week."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Rainbow Dash took another deep breath, then gulped... and nodded. "I think it would be good for me to get all this off my chest. Just... get ready, this might take a while."

"Don't you fret." Applejack smiled warmly at her marefriend. "I wouldn't have offered if I weren't up for it. Besides, I like long stories."

Rainbow threw an appreciative glance towards Applejack. She then turned her head forward, facing the setting sun.

"This whole mess goes back a few years. I was still in flight school. I was rooming with Gilda — you remember Gilda, right? The griffon that I met through the Junior Speedsters? I don't think you ever really got to know each other, but I think you met, and I'm pretty sure I've at least told you about her."

Applejack nodded.

"Okay, good. That makes this at least a little bit easier," Rainbow said. "So, like I was saying, Gilda and I shared a dorm room. Fluttershy actually wanted to be my roommate instead of her, but, well... you know how timid Flutters can be. To be honest, in hindsight, she probably needed my company more, but I... err... wasn't all that good at paying attention to my friends back then. But anyway, it all started after the school's Winter Wrap Up party..."

"Dare."

"In that case, I dare you..." Dumb-Bell paused to smirk, practically gloating. "...To kiss somepony in this room!"

"Oooooh!" Hoops and Score chorused.

"So, who's it gonna be?" Dumb-Bell asked, waggling his eyebrows while the other two colts puckered their lips teasingly.

"Ha! As if any of you three dweebs were ever even close to being in my league," Gilda said, pushing Dumb-Bell's face away with a talon. "In fact, you're lucky I even got bored enough to play this game with you in the first place."

"So you mean you're chickening out?"

"What, and let you off the hook so easily?" Gilda scoffed. "Yeah, right. No, I mean the only one here who's cool enough to get a kiss from me is Dash," she said, gesturing to the fifth player.

Rainbow Dash's heart leapt to her throat. She didn't know why, but the thought of kissing Gilda made her anxious and excited at the same time. She glanced around the main hall to see if anypony was watching. Due to the late hour, however, the room was mostly empty, save for some students playing cards, and a few who had fallen asleep in their chairs.

Her nervousness hadn't gone unnoticed by Gilda, who perched an eyebrow. "Hey, Dash, you okay with this? I mean, it's not like I'm gonna make you kiss me or anything."

"Wha– no no, it's... it's fine. I... I mean, r-rules are rules, and all that," Rainbow responded, stammering a bit too much for her own liking.

For a brief moment, Gilda gave the mare an inquiring look, but then shrugged. She stepped forward and tilted her head sideways so as to make sure her beak would get in the way as little as possible, and though it wasn't without some difficulty, she planted her "lips" against Rainbow's.

Rainbow Dash felt a sudden rush of euphoria. Instinctively, she gave in to the kiss. For a fraction of a second, Gilda looked surprised, but then she, too, threw herself into it. Rainbow's hooves found themselves wrapping around Gilda's body, just like the griffon's talons were passionately embracing the pegasus, as the kiss grew more and more intense. Rainbow's eyes closed in bliss, and it felt to her as though that moment would last forever.

At last, they separated. Dumb-Bell and his cohorts were gawking at the pair, astonished. Gilda was out of breath from the duration of the kiss, but there was no mistaking the look of pleasure on the griffon's face. "Well then," Rainbow Dash said, likewise catching her breath. "That's a thing."

There was a knock on a wooden door, which opened to reveal Fluttershy's smiling face. "Oh, Rainbow! Come on in!" she said to the blue pegasus, who did so.

Due to a combination of Fluttershy not having a roommate and her relatively few possessions, her dorm room had always been somewhat barren. It would therefore have been difficult to miss the woven basket sitting on the living room table, not to mention the enticing smell wafting from it.

"You'll have to excuse me for just one moment. Some of my animal friends on the ground really like my buns, so I'm taking some along for the picnic." She let out a tiny squee. "I'm so excited!"

Rainbow grimaced. "About that..."

Fluttershy's face fell, although she tried not to show it. "...You're going out with Gilda again?"

"...Yeah." Rainbow's grimace deepened. "Look, I know we planned this a week ago, but Gilda just found out about a new club, and..."

"It's alright, Rainbow Dash. I'll just share the food with the animals instead." Fluttershy's voice was calm, but she avoided looking into Rainbow's eyes.

With a sigh, Rainbow said, "I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I mean, I've been spending a lot of time Gilda since we hooked up. Heck, the last time you and I hung out was... was..." she paled. "When did we last hang out?"

Fluttershy said nothing.

"I... hang on, Flutters." Rainbow's face grew resolute. "Go take care of the rest of the preparations. I'll go talk to Gilda. We can always go clubbing later."

"Ra... Rainbow, you really don't have to do that."

"Heck yeah, I do! I've cancelled out on you way too many times. Well, not anymore. We're having this picnic." The blue pegasus gently lifted her friend's face up with a hoof so she could look into her eyes, and her mouth drew into a warm smile. "Okay?"

"I... I..." Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, but then exhaled. "...Yes, I'd... I'd like that."

"Alright. This'll only take a few minutes. Meet me in the courtyard once you're done." Rainbow opened the door and made to leave.

"...Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash turned back around to see a soft, slightly teary smile on her friend's face.

"Thank you."

Rainbow Dash unlocked the door to her dorm room. "Hey Gilda, you there?" she called.

"Yup," came the answer from the living room. "So, Dash, you ready to go?"

Rainbow closed the door behind her. "Actually, G... I'm gonna have to sit this one out. At least for today."

Gilda frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I already made plans with Fluttershy a week ago."

"Can't you just cancel?"

"I've done that way too many times already. Plus, it really wouldn't be fair to her to go back on that just 'cause you asked me to."

"But... I'm your girlfriend." Gilda looked offended. "Aren't I supposed to come first?"

"I..."

"Since when do I have to make room for that dweeb?" Gilda's tone was getting louder and angrier.

"Gil–"

"Don't you love me?" the griffon nearly shouted.

Rainbow Dash flinched. When she spoke, it was in an unusually soft, tender voice. "Gilda... of course I do. It's just that I love Fluttershy too, and I've been neglecting her for way too long. Sure, it's not the same kind of love, but... that doesn't mean it's any less important. Besides, I've known her longer than you. If anything, she's been making room for you."

Despite the mare's words, Gilda hadn't calmed down. "And what if I refuse? What if I tell you you should just drop the wuss for good? That I'm not gonna stand aside while she whisks you off to some namby-pamby tea party?"

Rainbow Dash sighed. "Then I guess we shouldn't be dating each other to begin with."

The anger in Gilda's face melted away to be replaced by shock. "Wh-what?"

With downcast eyes, the pegasus said, "Let's face it, G — our relationship was never exactly the healthiest one in Equestria. I mean, we yell at each other almost twice a week. Honestly, I'm starting to think it might be better to just... break it off."

A bitter expression took over Gilda's face. "Fine," she spat.

Rainbow grimaced. Nevertheless, she gently put her hoof on the griffon's shoulder. "Gilda... I know it hurts, but I just don't think this is working out. That doesn't change the fact that I love you, and I still want to be your friend. Heck, maybe when we're both a bit older and wiser, we can kick the whole 'making out' thing back up again. But for now, I think we should drop it, okay?"

Gilda's shoulders slumped, and she looked defeated. "All right."

Rainbow Dash gave her a quick hug. "Hey, we can talk more about this later, but I need to go meet up with Fluttershy now."

"Are you gonna tell her?"

"That we broke up? ...I think I'm gonna wait 'till after we come back. I'd really rather not ruin the picnic after all this. Besides, I gotta figure out how to stop her from blaming herself first."

"Good luck with that, I guess."

"Thanks, G."

"...What?"

"I'm dropping out," Rainbow Dash solemnly repeated.

"Are... are you sure? That's a pretty big decision to make, after all."

Rainbow sighed. "This isn't exactly something I just thought up overnight, Flutters. For the last... I don't even know how long, I've been constantly stressing and panicking about school stuff. I can't count the amount of times I stayed up late trying to finish an essay or study up for a test just so I could at least hope to barely scrape by. I didn't pull it off, most of the time..."

"But... why didn't you say anything? You know that I would've helped you if you had asked," Fluttershy insisted.

"I... didn't want to bother you. I thought... I thought I could get by on my own, and that saying anything would just worry you for no good reason. So I just... kept quiet. Figured I'd save you from my troubles."

"Rainbow..."

"But now it's too late. I've flunked half my exams, my grades are worse than ever, and I... I..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "It doesn't matter what I try to do, Fluttershy. I just can't learn any of this crud. I could spend hours reading a textbook, and none of it would stick in my head." She trembled, and her voice grew weak. "It's just... it's just too much. I can't... I, I can't..." Her eyes teared up.

In a flash, Fluttershy wrapped her forelegs and wings around Rainbow Dash and embraced her tightly. "There, there. It's okay, Rainbow Dash. It's going to be alright. It's okay to cry, I won't tell anypony," she said in her most soothing voice as Rainbow's tears started running down her back.

For several minutes, they stayed in place, Rainbow Dash crying as Fluttershy did what she could to comfort her. At last, Rainbow's tears stopped flowing, and the two pegasi parted.

"Feeling better?" Fluttershy asked.

"A little," Rainbow answered, drying her face with a hoof. "Thanks, Fluttershy. I... I think I needed that."

"It was no trouble at all." She smiled placidly. "So, have you talked about this with your parents yet? I can come with you if you haven't."

"Nah, I told them a couple days back. They were super understanding, actually." The memory brought a tentative smile back to Rainbow's face. "In fact, they even said that since my birthday's coming up soon, I could have our vacation home as a present."

"Oh, that's wonderful of them! Do you know where you want to dock it yet?"

"Not really... though there is this one place... just a tiny village near the Everfree Forest. It's called 'Ponyville', apparently. Their weather team needs more skilled fliers. Figured I should stick to my strengths, you know?"

"That sounds like a good idea, yes. Do you know what kind of place this 'Ponyville' is yet?"

Rainbow scratched the back of her head. "Ehhh... it doesn't really seem like my kind of place, to be honest. It sounds so calm and... boring. It would probably be right up your alley, though." She shrugged. "Oh well. I guess the important part is that I'm getting out of here." At the end of her last sentence, however, a pang of guilt went through Rainbow Dash.

This did not go unnoticed by Fluttershy. "What is it, Rainbow?"

"Nothing."

"Please, Rainbow. Tell me."

Rainbow looked at her friend's pleading expression and sighed. "It's just... I feel awful about leaving you again like this. I mean, we only started hanging out again when Gilda and I broke up, and that was... what, a month ago?"

"Two months, actually."

"Still, I can't help feeling like I'm... abandoning you again," Rainbow said with a pained grimace.

Gently, Fluttershy said, "Rainbow, you're not abandoning me. There's no shame in needing to do things for your own sake too sometimes. I can manage here by myself."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Fluttershy gave a firm nod. "Besides, we can always write to each other."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Actually, I should probably keep in touch with Gilda, too."

"Speaking of Gilda, how are things between you two?"

"It's still pretty awkward, but I think we've made a little progress."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Oh, and you'll come visit me on holidays, right?"

"Of course, Rainbow Dash. I look forward to it."

"Me too, Fluttershy. Me too."

Rainbow Dash exhaled deeply. "About a week after that, my birthday rolled around. That's when I moved here. I wasn't exactly a big fan of Ponyville back then, but... I guess it kind of grew on me.

"Anyway, like I promised, I kept in touch with Fluttershy. Once she graduated, she told me she'd like to move here too. You know, 'cause of me being here, and all the animals from the Everfree, not to mention all the peace and tranquility." Rainbow chuckled. "Though I guess that last part doesn't really apply anymore, what with the weekly monster attacks and all.

"As for Gilda... well, like I said, after we broke up, we kind of got into an awkward phase that we never really had the time to sort out properly before I left, and... well, it showed. At first, we wrote to each other every week too, but then that turned into every month, and then every third month. By the time we got the Elements, I probably hadn't heard from her in half a year. Then she sent a letter asking if I'd like to hang out again, for old times' sake. Well... you already know how that turned out.

"I mean, we're back to being friends now, thanks to Pinkie, and we've even started exchanging letters again, but that doesn't change the fact that going through that, and seeing how she ignored all of my friends... hurt."

Applejack put a supportive hoof over her marefriend's shoulder. "I feel for ya, Dash... though I'm afraid I'm still not quite sure how this ties into our current situation."

"Heh... I guess I might've gotten a little bit off-track there. But the thing is... it just occurred to me how much time I'd been spending with you, and not with any of the other girls, and... I guess that kind of brought back some nasty memories of me neglecting Fluttershy back then, and... I panicked, so I started hanging out with everypony else I knew instead. I mean, it's not like I ever thought you'd try to take me away from them, but..."

"It's alright, sugarcube. I get what you're saying. You don't wanna leave out everyone else you care about just 'cause we're dating."

"...Yeah. And I... I'm sorry about leaving you in the dark like that. That... that wasn't cool of me."

"It's no problem. I mean, I knew I could rely on you to come out with it eventually. And hey, if you ever again feel like we've been spending too much time together, and you need a breather... feel free to ask, okay?"

With moist eyes, Rainbow replied, "I... thanks, AJ. For... for being so understanding... and super-patient with me."

Applejack shrugged modestly. "You don't make a living on the land without learning how to wait for the good things in life."

"Still, it means a lot." Rainbow opened her left wing in invitation. "I love you, Applejack."

Applejack scooched closer and leaned against the pegasus. She smiled contentedly as she felt her marefriend's wing drape over her back and shoulders. "Love you too, Rainbow Dash."

For a while, they stayed like that in silence, watching the sunset.

Then Applejack spoke again. "Y'know, Rainbow, I just thought of something."

"Hmm?"

"Who'd you spend yesterday with? I mean, I know you already hung out with all the other girls."

"Scootaloo, of course! We went adventuring through the Everfree. It was tons of fun. There were timberwolves and a cockatrice, and maybe an explosion or two. Oh, and I think we may have stopped an ancient evil prophecy from coming true. You know, sister stuff."

Applejack chuckled. "That's almost starting to sound like the first time Big Mac and I went there."

"Oh?" Rainbow perched an eyebrow in curiousity. "Now this I gotta hear."

"Well, this happened back when I was just a filly... about twelve years old, I think. We'd run out of the manticore mane hair we needed to make zap apple jam, and Granny had gotten too old to get it, so Mac and I had to go to the Forest by ourselves..."

And so, the pair stayed on the hilltop for hours, cuddling and chitchatting into the night.