I opened my eyes to see that Celestia had just risen the sun. I thought back to what I had thought on the night before. A certain mate had been the focus of my dreams for a good while now, ever since Twilight had come to Ponyville, and Twilight asking Fluttershy to be her special somepony had made me realise one of two things. Firstly, if a Princess can ask a mare out without having any problems, then I should be fine. Secondly, I may be oblivious when it comes to love and romance, but I can tell that Applejack feels the same about me.
It was last night, after a couple of cups of Sweet Apple Acres cider, that I decided today would be the day that I would get the mare of my dreams.
I got out of my comfortable cloud bed and set about going through my morning routine. I went into the bathroom and started the shower. I then climbed in and got to work.
A couple minutes later, I got out of the shower, towel wrapped around my hair to help it dry, and went to the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. Don't get me wrong, I am not a good cook, but I could at least make some half decent pancakes.
A half hour later, I was in the air, headed straight for Sweet Apple Acres.
The day had only just begun. Celestia hadn't even raised the sun by the time I was awake. I knew I had chores to do, but I was wondering if I would be able to get them all done today.
"Oh, Rainbow Dash. Why am Ah always thinkin' about ya. Ah swear, it's killin' me, not knowin' if'n ya feel the same." I said, just softer than a whisper.
That's when an idea hit me. Today would be the day that I would finally ask her. Twilight and Fluttershy had given me the courage to face this. I just hope that Dash feels the same, and she doesn't have feelings for that Soarin character. I steeled my resolve and headed out to start the day's chores, feeling slightly better than I had over the last couple of months.
I flew over the town just as it started getting busy. I could see Twilight and Spike walking from the Castle of Friendship, and decided to stop and talk to her before heading to Sweet Apple Acres.
I landed next to her and pretended to go about my business. I could see several ponies stopping and staring, whispering things that my highly trained ears couldn't pick up. I gulped nervously, something that Twilight picked up almost immediately.
"What's wrong, Rainbow Dash?" she asked me, a slight teasing tone in her voice.
"How did you do it?" I asked in reply, just loud enough for her to hear me. I could see her do a double take and stop dead in her tracks.
"I'm sorry. How did I do what exactly?" she asked in confusion. I sighed in exasperation and walked a few paces ahead before stopping to face her.
"How did you get the courage to ask Fluttershy out?" I asked, not really knowing how to properly express my feelings on this matter.
"Spike." she said, gaining the attention of the young Dragon. "Please carry on getting all the stuff on the list. Here's some bits. It should cover what's on the list, and leave some change. You can keep the change. Rainbow Dash and I have something to discuss." the Dragon nodded and walked off, leaving Twilight and I to walk back to the Castle of Friendship.
I could tell something was wrong. Dash would usually be here at this time to start some competition between us. She had been doing that a lot lately. I heard somepony come up behind me. I turned to see Big Mac coming up the hill where I was standing, all pretense of doing chores out the window. He nodded at me as he came to stand next to me. I nodded back.
"I don't know how Ah'm gonna do it, Big Mac." I said, not facing him, facing the incredible view of the orchard below. He looked at me in visible confusion.
"Ah'm talkin' about askin' Dash out. Ah don't know if she feels the same way about me." I said in clarification. I turned to face him. "How did ya manage ta ask Sugar Belle out?"
"Ah had some help with that. Applebloom and her friends helped me out with it." he replied with a chuckle. "If it weren't fer them, Ah'd still be single and tryna figure out how ta ask her out."
"Ah see. It ain't that simple fer me though. Not a lotta ponies know about me likin' mares." I said with a rueful chuckle.
"Do ya really love her?" Big Mac asked.
"Yeah. I-I guess Ah do." I replied with a blush.
"Then ya ain't got nothin' ta worry about. Ah'm sure Dash feels the same." Big Mac said with a smile. "Now, we got chores ta do."
"Thanks Big Mac." I said, a genuine smile on my face. Together, we walked to the orchard to start bucking apples.
Twilight and I had just arrived at the throne room of the Castle of Friendship. We each took a seat.
"Now, where were we." Twilight said. "Oh yeah. You asked how I got the courage to ask Fluttershy out."
I nodded, my ears perked in eager curiosity.
"Well, it wasn't easy." she said. "For months, I had the feeling that I had a crush on her, but I always pushed them down because I was unsure of it at first, and afraid that she didn't feel the same. I was also afraid of what society would think. But, the more I pushed them down, the more I felt them."
"It eventually got to the point where I could barely function, thinking about her. I had more than one freak out session over it. It was Spoke who eventually got me to admit my feelings for her. I then found out that she had the same feelings for me. It was easier than I thought."
"And what about what other ponies think? Before you guys came out, it was only Lyra and Bon Bon." I said.
"To Tartarus with what they think. The fact of the matter is, I love her, and she loves me. Nothing else matters. I'm sure that you and Applejack will feel the same way once you can eventually admit everything." she said.
"How did you…?"
"I'm not as oblivious as everpony thinks." she interupted. "I could tell by the way you two look at each other. By the way you two constantly compete against each other. You weren't exactly subtle about it."
"I see." I said with a chuckle, rubbing the back of my neck with a hoof. "I gotta go. Its getting late, and I wanna get this off my chest before sunset."
I took flight and headed out the door, heading once again toward Sweet Apple Acres.
I arrived at Sweet Apple Acres just as Celestia's sun was dipping toward the horizon. I found Applejack sitting on one of the hills overlooking the East Orchard. I swooped in and landed next to her.
"Hey Applejack." I said, not really looking at her. "How ya doing?"
"Dash." she said with a nod. "I have something to tell you."
The last part was said at the same time as I said it, causing us to laugh a bit. I looked away from her to hide the blush I felt creeping up my face.
"You go first." I said to her, turning to face her.
"Alright. Fer a while now, Ah've been havin' certain feelin's toward ya. Ah can barely work without thinkin' about ya. Yer always in mah dreams." she started.
"I've been feeling the same about you." I said, causing her to gasp in surprise.
"But, what about that Soarin fella? Don't ya feel anything for him." she asked.
"He's just a friend. He has tried a few times to ask me out, but I turned him down flat." I replied. "I've had these feelings since Twilight came to town and united is in friendship. I even told Soarin that I liked mares, not stallions."
"Ah see." Applejack replied.
"So, AJ. Will you be my special somepony?" I asked in earnest.
"Ah was wonderin' when ya were gonna ask. Of course ah will." she replied. We looked out over the orchard once again, and shared our first passionate kiss in the sunset.
I couldn't believe my luck. It turned out that my gears had all been unfounded. The mate of my dreams had felt the same for me for the longest time. To Tartarus with what other ponies think. No matter what happens, AJ and I would face it, together.
I took off after the kiss, and went higher than I ever did before. I then started flying down, hitting the right velocity to perform a Sonic Rainboom, cheering the whole way down. Once I hit the sound barrier, I pushed through, causing a resounding boom that echoed across the orchard. With the resulting rainbow contrail, I spelled out the follwing words;
"I love you, AJ."
