I stood there staring blankly at myself in the mirror, my rainbow-colored hair tousled from just having pulled myself out of bed. I was so not a morning person, but I had to get ready for school. Today was the same as all others had been: Boring and filled with things I really didn’t want to do but had to do. With a sigh I slipped out of my pyjamas and climbed into the shower, letting the warm water start to wash over me. The warm water felt especially good this morning as it was starting to get colder this early in the morning. It was mid-fall after all.
As I washed my hair, I wondered if Twilight was still visiting from Equestria. It had only been a couple weeks since she came here and finally got together with Sunset Shimmer. I laughed as I recalled winning the bet with Applejack about Sunset’s feelings. As a result of winning, AJ had to go to a professional Flyer’s basketball game with me. That was an amazingly awesome day.
I bit my lower lip as I recalled memories of the events after the game. We didn’t head home right away and ended up going for a drive to a spot that looked out over the city. Apparently it was one of AJ’s favorite spots. Needless to say things...changed between the two of us that night and it’s been one heck of a roller coaster ride. There wasn’t really a label to put on what we had and I was okay with that.
After the memories faded, I was suddenly all the more interested in getting to school if only to see my friend. Friends. All of them. I have more friends than just Applejack. I should be excited to see them all, right? I let out a groan of frustration as I shut off the water for the shower and climbed out, taking a towel off the rack. As I dried myself, I couldn’t believe how distracted she had me these days. I was starting to slack off in a lot of ways I didn’t before and it was making me wonder if I was actually falling in l-l-l...I shook my head quickly. No way. Totally impossible. That wasn’t what either of us wanted or needed right at this point time. However, as I walked back to my room to get dressed, I started wondering about it again.
We had all but pulled the truth out of Sunset that day Twilight ran out on us. She had said Twilight meant so much to her and that she pretty loved her. Sunset is totally awesome and she was able to admit that. If it was true that I had the same feelings for AJ, would it make me less cool if I admitted my feelings to her? We never actually agreed that this would be something that was casual, but we also never said that it wasn’t casual either. We had always acted casual around our friends but when we managed to find ourselves alone, things usually heated up a bit. In those moments it wasn’t about love. It was about the passion in that moment; the irresistible feeling of wanting to just be with her. That’s what those times were about. Another groan of frustration escaped my lips as I grabbed my jacket, bag, and keys. This line of thinking was only making me frustrated and I didn’t want to be that way when I got to school.
As I pulled into the school parking lot, I noticed Applejack’s truck was already parked in the space it’s usually parked in, though she was pretty early today. Pulling around into the space next to her, I noticed she was still sitting inside her truck. I glanced at the clock before turning the engine off. Seven-fifteen. The school was likely still mostly empty at this point so I was curious as to why she was here this early. After a moment, she looked over at me, cocked an eyebrow, and shrugged. It was then I realized I’d been sitting there just staring at her for the last two minutes. Quickly looking away, I opened the door of my car and stepped out, making sure to lock it before closing the door again.
“Ya sure are here early, RD. Fer someone who hates mornins’, ya always seem to be on time,” Applejack said, shutting the door to her truck.
I gave her a cool smile. “Actually, I’m always here before you. Except for today. I like to mess around in the gym and shoot the basketball a few times. Wondercolts basketball starts soon so I need to be ready for tryouts.” I gave her a curious look now. “Why are you here this early?”
She shifted uncomfortably on the spot for a moment, then turned and faced the bed of her truck. “Ah wanted to get an early start today. Ah mean, I’m always up before dawn doin’ chores anyway. Today I finished quick so I could get here before you.”
I walked around my car and stood next to her, peering into the back of the truck to see what she was looking for. “Well, good job. You beat me. Wanna come to the gym with me? I need to stop in the locker room first.”
If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn her cheeks flushed red for a second. “Uh, sure. I wouldn’t mind seein’ ya do some workin’ out.”
I gave her a thumbs up and headed into the school. As we entered the locker room, I moved to my locker and opened it. Inside were my usual gym shorts, shirt, shoes, and socks. I started to pull my shirt off and change when I realized AJ was still standing there watching. It was nothing she hadn’t seen before, but I was feeling a little uncomfortable about it today for some reason.
“Um...I’m gonna take my stuff and go change in one of the stalls. I’ll be back in a second.”
Before I could move, I was pushed up against the lockers and was being kissed passionately. Not even thinking twice, I wrapped my arms around Applejack and began to return the kiss. This was how things had been since the basketball game. There were just times where one or both of us just weren’t able to resist the other and attacked. I didn’t know that I could possibly be like this with Applejack, but the more it went on, the more comfortable I started feeling with it. It was like our bodies just desired to be together. The whole locker room faded from existence and all that was left was just me and Applejack locked in that moment of passion.
One of my hands eventually found its way up to the top button of her shirt and began to undo just the top two, before she grabbed my hand and pulled it away, placing it back down around her waist. I didn’t think much of this and instead began to untuck her shirt from her pants, but as I started to lift it up and off of her, she grasped my hand again and made me stop. She let out one of her giggles, knowing that this bugged me. Fine. If she was going to play hard to get, then I’d just have to make this kiss more memorable.
Still kissing her, I forced her backward into the opposite row of lockers, which made her give a grunt of what was likely pleasure and she gave another giggle as the kiss continued. This moment was starting to feel very much different to the other moments we had, but I couldn’t figure out why. It was probably because I was too focused on trying to match the passion she was giving. I laughed inwardly. Even in our encounters we were still competing over who could be the most passionate.
Familiar sensations from our first night together began to crop up inside me, filling me with what I felt was almost some kind of primeval desire. I had the urge to rip both our clothes off then and there, but as I had noticed before, something was different about this moment we were sharing and it made those urges subside.
After several heated moments, the kiss finally broke and we stood there staring at one another breathlessly. I gave her a coy smile. “So, we could move to our usual spot if you want.”
Applejack shook her head and that’s when I noticed the changed look in her emerald eyes. There was still the underlying passion and desire to be with me in these moments, but there was something new there. My smile faded as I looked at her, but returned when she smiled.
“Ah can’t lie, Rainbow. Ah think ah want this to become more than what it’s been. That's why ah was teasin' with ya like that before. All the sneakin’ around behind our friends is kinda gettin’ to me. Ah also think we need to acknowledge that there’s something more than just passion between us.”
She paused and pulled her arms from around me. I took a step back and waited for her to continue. “Ah think if Sunset and Twilight ain’t afraid to express their feelins’ in front of all of us, we shouldn’t be neither.”
I looked at her for a moment, unsure of what I could possibly say that would help or make sense in this situation. Then it occurred to me that maybe this is why today felt different. “I want it to be more too. I was thinking about it when I was in the shower before I came to school. I wasn’t sure what was different, but now that you’ve said that, I agree.”
“Well, it’s settled then. No more hidin’ and sneakin’ around.”
“R-right. N-no more sneaking,” I said, suddenly feeling very nervous about being open with our friends about AJ and I.
Applejack closed the gap between us again, took my hand in hers, and rested her forehead on mine, and smiled. “Ah can tell yer nervous. Don’t be. Ah’ll be there with ya. Besides, we don’t gotta come right out and say it. We can just,” she paused and blushed, something AJ did not do much of. “Hold hands. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that is there?”
I returned her smile and squeezed her hand. “Nah. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I mean...it’s a little girly, but I honestly don’t mind so much now. We all have to do something out of character once in awhile.”
Applejack laughed and gave me a small kiss on the lips, moving her free hand to rest on my cheek. “Right. Tain’t nothin’ wrong with that at all.”
With that, Applejack and I walked hand-in-hand out the door of the locker room and out into the now student-filled hallways of Canterlot High. Today was going to be another amazingly awesome day.
Author's Note
So, while this is not a direct sequel to Epiphany, it is connected to it in a way. I had a fun time writing this story as I have always felt that this would be the kind of relationship Dashie and AJ would have. A rough and tumble kind of thing. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Also, BIG thanks to my good friend X3n0heart for his input and pre-reading. He also helped me out on Epiphany when I was finishing it up. Couldn't have done it without him so major props! 
