Author's Note

Hey! This is just a one shot, AppleDash thing I wrote! Please, don't hate if you don't like the ship. =/ It's not my ship either, but I wanted to make it for AquaFlare101. <3 And... to be honest, It feels kind of rushed. =/ I except the hate.
~<3

Fall To The Finish

I feel my heart thump. It's bumping in my chest, anticipation mixed with a small bit of being nervous. I begin to do my stretches, spreading my wings, fluffing them out. This is my show off stretch, where I flap my wings, showing how strong and proud they are... but also getting them ready to be tied down. As I do this, I notice the pony I'm trying to impress glance at me. Applejack. I look at her, and wink. She rolls her apple green eyes, making them flash in the light. I feel weak, watching the sun reflect off them.
While my eyes are fixed on her, they suddenly snap back to my sides. I do so because I feel a rope tighten around my wings... too tightly.

"Hey! Watch it, that hurts!" I yell at the colt tying them.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a smirk cross Applejack's face.

"Who's strong now, Dash?" Applejack giggled, making me blush.

"Hey A.J! Wings are sensitive! You wouldn't know though because you're just a dirty mud pony!" I yell, not realizing what I had just said.

Applejack's expression quickly changes to a not so happy one. I hang my head own in shame, realization hitting me, but there's not much time to mope. I hear the pony in charge begin the count down. As soon as I hear the word "one", I dash off. I see Applejack take the lead, and decide to curve around, passing in front of the other ponies. I finally catch up to the orange pony. She continues to run, but looks to me. When our eyes meet, I lower my lids, showing my competitive face, which I know she likes. She does the same, speeding up a bit, passing me. My eyes widen, and I remember what my goal is, and it's not to win. She looks back, watching my speed slow down to a trot. A few, maybe ten or so, ponies pass me, and Applejack gives me a look of confusion. I catch back up to her, and she hollers to me.

"What the hay did y'all do that for?!" She says loud enough for me to hear.

"Because I don't want to race you! I just want to run with you!" I holler back.

She makes this weird face, but looks back to the path.
After a few more minutes of running, we've passed everypony, and can't even see them when I look back. I look around, looking for a place to lead her. I see a path that goes up, and then I see a sign. I remember this from the last "Race of The Leaves". I remember tricking her, so decide to do it again.

"A.J! It's this way!" I holler, flipping around the sign before she sees, dashing up the path.

She eyeballs at me, but shrugs and follows. As we run side by side up the path, I stare to her once more. I watch her face turn to a squint, examining something ahead. I relax. Watching her gives me a soothing feel, but then, I tighten up once more when her face turns surprised.

"Cliff!" She hollers, trying to stop.

But, I accidentally run right into her. I land on her, sitting on her chest, falling over the cliff edge. We scream, tumbling down. I feel my stomach drop, and my eyes grow wet from the wind. I see a rock as we tumble, and I see it's in our path. Being the selfish pony I am, I jump off of my friend, and dodge the rock. I watch as I fall, the ground becoming bigger and bigger. flaying my arms, I scream one last time, and hit my head on the grass, doing a forwards roll, cracking my neck. I moan in pain, and rub my wound. As soon as my eyes open, I see Applejack laying on her side. I squint, my vision still a tad bit blurry. I see blood spread across her hoof. I gasp, and run to her.

"A.J! Are you okay?!" I panic.

All I receive is a small moan.

"I-I think, I'll be fine," she says after a while, trying to sit up.

As her bloody hoof hits the ground, her teeth grit, and she falls back down. I begin to sweat and worry, regretting what I've done.

"Ah! ah think I hit that darn rock o'v there," she says, pointing to it with her non-wounded hoof.

I look to it, and bite my lip. I hang my head in shame again.

"Sorry... I should've been looking where I was going," I say sheepishly.

She giving me a sarcastic sympathy look. I roll my eyes this time, letting myself fall next to her. She stares at me for a second, but then she scoots towards me some more. I blush, letting a small smile spread across my face, letting it widen every second. She shuts her eyes, and relaxes her head on her arms.

"Guess neither of us are gonna win this year, 'cause I can't go no where right now," she sighs.

I begin to feel worse, but try to ignore it, focusing back on my job. After a few minutes of silence, I decide to take off the rope squeezing my wings. As I finish pulling it off, I flex them. As they swop through the air, I realize one of them is dangling above Applejack.

'Here it goes Dash... just, lower your wing down around her! It's easy...' I think, slowly but surely lowering my wing down on her back.

Right as one of my feathers brushes her side, she sighs and her mouth opens.

"Dash, what in tarnashin' are y'all doin'?" She asks, making me jump.

"AH! Nothing! I-I wasn't doing anything!" I shout, too jumpy.

My wing quickly fixes back to my side, and I blush a bet red.

"I-I didn't say you couldn't," she says after a minute or so, making me jump again.

I smile awkwardly, and lower my wing again. My feathers brush her again, and she flinches. I then, too quickly, lower it all the way. I shift a few times, uncomfortably. I then stop, looking back at her, thinking she's in a deep slumber. Her breath patterns are slower, and her nose is the only one releasing air. So I lower my head down toward hers. I feel her breaths on my snout, and I blush.

'Well... time to go in for the kill...' I think, squishing my lips into a kissing face.

I plant my lips on hers, and to my surprise, she kisses me back! I blush redder than I should have, and she blushes too. I relax a bit as the kiss becomes more intimate. After about, 30 seconds, I let go, and my eyes widen.

"I didn't know you felt that way about me!" I whispered to her.

"I... always... have," she says before falling into a slumber, for real this time.

I smile a wiggly smile, and close my eyes, letting sleep take over. I dream about her and me together, but this time, my dream came true.