Friendship, Loyalty, and Love
My leg bounced up and down as I sat in my idling car waiting for Applejack to come out and join me. We'd agreed on 11:30 because she and her family would be done with their gift opening by then. That way she and I could spend some time together before I had to get her home by six for dinner. I'd never known AJ to take so long to get ready and come out as she was already ten minutes late and our time was wasting away.
With a frustrated grumble, I pushed down on the horn for a moment, then picked up my phone to send her a text.
'Where the heck are you? I've been waiting for ten minutes already!' I sent.
'Hold yer darn horses! I'm on my way out,' She replied.
'About time!' was the last thing I said before setting my phone back down.
Another minute passed before she finally came walking out, at which point I suddenly felt super under dressed. AJ was wearing a nice shirt and skirt with some nice boots, an outfit I had no doubt Rarity helped her put together. And now I felt somewhat bad for rushing her.
“Sorry Ah took so long. Ah couldn't get mah darn hair to stay the way Ah liked it,” Applejack said as she opened the car door and climbed in.
I just stared at her.
“What you starin' at?” she asked.
I shook my head slightly, pulling myself out of how great she looked. “Uh, nothing. I just… I never knew you to fuss about your hair so much. Nor did I expect you to go all out like this for me…”
AJ shrugged and gave me a coy smile. “Ah wanted ta look nice for ya. Especially fer Christmas day. Somethin' wrong with that?”
I put up my hands and shook my head. “Not at all. You look great, but I feel like I'm under dressed and disappointing in my simple jeans and button up shirt.”
AJ laughed. “Oh come on. Ya look fine ta me, now let's get goin'.”
I gave her a smile, then pulled away from Sweet Apple Acres. “So, where we heading?”
“The Overlook. Ya know… Where we went the night of our first date,” she said.
I glanced over at her and could see her cheeks turned a shade of red. She quickly looked away and I put my eyes back on the road, my smile widening slightly. I remember that night vividly and it would always be a special night for both of us, but that's a story for another time.
We drove most of the way in silence, but every once in a while I'd see AJ shift uncomfortably.
“Something wrong with the seat?”
“Huh? What? No. Not at all!”
I cocked an eyebrow as I looked from the road, to her, then back to the road. “Are you sure? You aren't acting like yourself.”
“Ah'm fine. Ah promise! Ya don't need ta worry,” Applejack said, adjusting once more in her seat.
“Right… Okay. If you insist.”
After about thirty minutes of driving we finally pulled up into our overlook. Thankfully we had the place to ourselves. There weren't even any fresh tire tracks in the snow. It would really suck if we got stuck…
Applejack shifted again as we came to a stop, unbuckled her seat belt, and got out of the car. I watched her walk over to the edge of the overlook and look out at the city below. Something wasn't right. She was acting odd.
I grabbed my jacked, got out of the car, and walked over next to her. “AJ, are you all right? You've been acting strange ever since I picked you up.”
“What do ya mean?” she asked, almost sounding shocked I'd suggested it.
“I mean you got yourself dressed up all nice, you were fidgeting a lot in the car, and now you're looking somberly out over the city! What gives?”
“All right, all right. Maybe Ah am a little nervous. It's yer gift. Ah'm worried ya won't like it or you'd think it's silly or cheesy…” she said, wrapping her arms around herself.
I stepped closer to her and put my jacket around her. “AJ, you know you don't need to worry about that with me. I know we both have been doing things that are somewhat out of character for us, but it's because we love each other.” I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to me. “Being in a relationship means there will be cheese all over some of what we do.”
I felt her loosen up slightly as I said that to her. “Ah know. Ah guess Ah just felt that this was a bit more cheesy than usual, but Ah liked the idea of it.”
She reached into a pocket that was well hidden by the rumples in her skirt and produced a small present wrapped in nice gold paper and topped with a silver bow. She hesitated a moment, then handed it to me.
I pulled my hand from around her and opened the present. What I saw shocked me: A ring box. I glanced up at AJ for a second, who had returned her gaze back out to the city below the overlook. Was she asking… I shook my head. Only way to find out was to open the box and that's what I did. It wasn't what I was expecting. I pulled the ring from the box and looked at it.
It was a simple silver band with hands grasping a heart that had a crown sitting atop it. I looked back up at Applejack. “What is it?”
“It's called a claddagh ring.”
I gave her a confused look. “Okay. What does it mean?”
She turned to face me directly and pointed at the hands first. “The hands represent our friendship that we have. The crown represents loyalty, which we both have for one another. And the heart…” She trailed off, her cheeks turning red again. “The heart means-”
“Love.”
She nodded then produced her right hand. She was now wearing an identical ring on it with the heart pointing in at her wrist. “See, there's a right way to wear this ring. If yer single, ya wear it on yer right hand with the bottom of the heart pointin' away from yer wrist. If yer in a relationship, ya wear it on yer right hand with the bottom of the heart pointin' toward yer wrist. There's more meanin's to it, but those can wait. Ya know the important one fer now.”
I could feel a smile growing across my lips as she explained it to me. “AJ… It's awesome!” I placed the ring on my right ring finger with the heart pointing toward my wrist.
“Ya don't think it's a bit cheesy?” she asked.
I gave wrapped her in a hug. “Of course it's cheesy, but it works for us. Do you know how long I've been looking for something to help symbolize how much I care about you? Well, you found it and we both can wear it.”
I pulled back slightly and pressed my lips against hers. She returned the kiss, then pulled away from me. As we stood there looking at one another, a snowflake fell between us, then another, and another. Before long, flakes were coming down all around us. I know I'm not usually one for these romantic situations, but this was one I didn't mind being in and it was a moment that neither one of us would ever forget.
Author's Note
So, this isn't technically a sequel to Irresistible, it is part of this whole little universe I have going with it. This was originally a story I wanted for Sunset and Twilight, but I felt that Rainbow and AJ deserved a little more attention from me. I also felt this situation was more an AppleDash thing than a SunLight thing. I hope you agree!
Also, if you want more information on Claddagh rings, you can click on this link to go and learn what other meanings the rings have.
