The Strawberry in the Apple Tree
The wind shuffles a few orange leafs by Applejack's hooves. She looks at her red barn, and sighs while walking in. The memories of her visit to town are still too fresh in her mind, and she scowls.
She nearly loses her temper towards a heap of innocent haystacks, but Applejack calms herself down to the best of her ability, and remarks, "Ah' don't see why Ah've got to be the one to apologize to her... when she was the one that behaved way more toxic than Ah did!" She huffs briefly for a few times, and then says, "Okay... calm down, now... What're you gonna do about this to make it up to her?"
The air around Applejack is fresh, and thanks to what little rainfall her farm has gotten, it also smells slightly moist. She considers the many different directions that she could take, but ultimately, Applejack knows that all she really has to do, and all that she truthfully wants to do at the time is to simply apologize to Strawberry Sunrise.
She turns around vigorously, and gasps with shock. This is because Strawberry just so happens to be walking into the barn just then and there. The sun's rays shine lightly on her red mane and tail, and she stops a few trots away from Applejack to say, "H-hello, Applejack."
The earth pony just gulps at her winged visitor, and looks all around hesitantly. "Are you...? What're you even doin' here?"
Strawberry merely chuckles before saying, "Oh, sheesh, Applejack..." With a roll of her eyes, she reveals, "This is going to be just a tiny bit difficult, but... I came here because I felt like... we shouldn't, uhh..."
"Huh?" Applejack asks, "Could you speak up? Ah' can hardly hear you."
Strawberry Sunrise then speaks up rather forwardly, "I just wanted to say... sorry..." She rolls her eyes, although there's a hint of reluctance in the way she does it. "You see, Applejack, I realized earlier that I... might've been a little bit too harsh. I mean, don't get me wrong... I really don't like apples at all!"
She even goes as far as to wave her hoof, and to that, Applejack just frowns.
"Oh, don't look like that," Strawberry then states with a hopeful grin. "What I mean to say is... I've never had one that I've ever necessarily liked before. I've heard how big you are on honesty and all that, so truthfully, I'd be willing to share an apple with you since..." She scratches the back of her neck. "I've, uh... never actually had one from Sweet Apple Acres."
Applejack asks, "You haven't? Well why not?"
"Because," Strawberry says as she hoofs towards Applejack in order to calm her down. "Even as a foal growing up, I just never really liked them. Well... I'm sure that by now you know how much I absolutely detest them."
Applejack nods, but wears an annoyed expression. "You painted the picture mighty clear the other day."
"Eheh..." She looks down, and clears her throat. "I was having an awful week when you showed up, and I confess... I sort of... took it out mostly on you." She scoffs, "Also, this... isn't exactly easy for me to say, but... the second you left, I wandered into the kitchen to find my father... eating one of your Sweet Apple Acres apples!"
Applejack just gasps, but she also tries hard not to laugh too much. The farm pony asks in-between her snickers, "Then what happened?"
Strawberry asks rhetorically, "What do you think happened? I asked him on a scale of one to ten, just how disgusting is it? He said that it was..." She gulps nervously before finishing, "Delicious... and that I should really try one sometime..."
Standing there attentively, Applejack allows that to sink in. "You're really willin' to... do that?" She then shakes her head, and says, "Nah, you know what, Straw? You really don't have to. Ah'll accept your apology if you'll accept mine... Ah'm sorry, Strawberry, for tryin' to shove the idea that apples'er awesome down your throat."
"That's no good, though," Strawberry says. "I... think that I... really should just have an apple anyways. Again, I... actually have never really had your apples yet." She motions some of her mane away to then state regally, "No pressure, right?"
Applejack can't help but to feel intimidated by this lone remark. She can see where this could turn out badly for the two of them if she ends up accidentally giving the mare anything unsavory.
She smiles calmly, however, and invites Strawberry, "Follow me. I think I know just the right kind that'll change your mind! Just you wait..."
They go by tree after tall apple tree until Applejack at long last brings Strawberry Sunrise to quite possibly the largest of them all. It towers, and as they slowly come up to it, Applejack begins to climb the nearby ladder. She also says as she goes along, "This here's what we've always called the forgiveness tree. We hardly ever have to use it, but anytime we do end up using it, the ponies that have tried the apples that grow off of the forgiveness tree have always at least somewhat enjoyed the crisp flavor."
Strawberry replies, "Is that so?" There's silence, so she keeps talking. "Well, we'll see..."
As they reach the summit, Applejack lends the pegasus a hoof, and helps pull her the rest of the way up. "There we go! Whew," Applejack huffs while she wipes away some sweat from her forehead. "Alright... Let's see... Which apple's just right for us?"
Strawberry pants as well, but just waits for Applejack to pick out the best one.
"Here we are," the farm mare joyfully voices, and she then picks the fruit with just one hoof. After it's detached, and yanked away from the thick stem it once hung from, it makes an audibly beautiful popping sound. Not even Strawberry Sunrise dares to deny its ripeness. It has a smooth surface, and a perfectly red and shiny coloring to it. "Just to be on the safe side, you want me to take the first bite. Right?"
Strawberry just breathes for a few seconds, and then, she nods. She watches closely while Applejack firmly sinks her teeth into the very edges, and all that's heard afterwards are Applejack's moans and giddy laughs of enjoyment.
"Mmnh..."
"Is it that good?" Strawberry asks.
Applejack neglects to answer the mare sitting closely next to her. She instead keeps on chewing contentedly, and starts cutting into the apple with a small butterknife. "Here you go," she tells Strawberry Sunrise while she generously hoofs her a yummy looking slice. "You tell me..." The clueless earth pony then averts her attention back to the apple, and begins cutting away once more. Upon returning her attention to her companion, Applejack receives a thorough surprise. "It's not all that bad, now is it, Strawb-"
A sweet and succulent end of Strawberry Sunrise's very own slice of the apple is gracefully inserted into Applejack's opened maw, and at the other end, Applejack initially expects to see Strawberry's hoof. However, that's not what's there at all. Instead, it's her cute, light yellow muzzle, and she's smiling blithely, and lightly blushing. Strawberry's harlequin green eyes stare angelically back into Applejack's, too, and for a moment, Applejack is paralyzed by her understandably modest, though unexpected urges.
Strawberry forwardly takes more of the apple into her cheeks, and allows their lips to meet quite casually, but it's also very, very brief. Applejack clamps down softly, and nervously breaks off her half, and begins to nibble rather timidly. Strawberry is still directly in front of her, and she's smiling back at Applejack passionately, and is watching the whole time.
She begins breathing steadily, and looks down at Applejack's nose for only a second. She then swiftly looks up, and back into Applejack's dilated eyes only to tell her, "You're right... This apple really does taste incredible!" Since she's still a little bit shaken by the way Strawberry has decided to forgive her, Applejack fails to respond right away, so Strawberry just keeps on openly flirting with her, "Can I have some more?"
She finally coughs, and holds a hoof up to her mouth, and looks away while trying to speak coherently. "You just- with me! Ah've never, but Ah thought you- on the lips?!"
Strawberry just laughs, but she then calmly asks Applejack, "You didn't like it, then?"
Applejack goes silent, and her hoof lowers itself back down as well. Save for the birds, nothing else can be heard from where they are, so she says more calmly, "Well Ah didn't say that... You're actually... uh.... a good, umm... That is to say..."
Giggling even more, Strawberry says innocently, "If you'd like to keep going, Applejack..." She flutters her eyes alluringly before saying, "I sure wouldn't mind kissing you again... You've got to admit, that sure was fun, and if it makes you feel any better... I wasn't lying in the slightest when I said that your apples actually, really tasted great. It wasn't anything like the ones I've ever had as a filly!"
Again, there's a calming silence in the air, but Strawberry simply waits patiently.
"Ah suppose..."
"You suppose?"
Applejack glances at the pegasus. "Ah suppose... Ah wouldn't mind one bit... making out with you just a few more times."
Her face turns as red as a tomato while she speaks, but Strawberry doesn't mind this at all. To her, this only helps in making the farm pony appear that much more attractive and adorable. At first, for a second, Applejack attempts to hide her face with her hat, but Strawberry stops her with a hoof. She brings her face closer towards Applejack's, and tells her, "I'm glad... because I was worried that I had overstepped my bounds! You know?"
This time, while Strawberry's eyes are closed, it's Applejack's turn to sneak in a kiss of her own.
"Mmh... Nah, but Ah gotta say, Ah've never met somepony that's quite so boldly assertive. That's why... Ah..." She just starts blushing again, and then says, "Ah'm just not used to all this mushy stuff!"
Strawberry just laughs some more, and then holds onto Applejack tightly to say, "You might want to get used to it, then, because I have a feeling that there's plenty more mushy stuff on the way."
Applejack asks, "Yeah? Like what, Straw?"
The amorous pegasus isn't shy with her advancements. Another kiss meets Applejacks quivering lips, and she's gently laid down on her back atop the wide and thick, though soft bark. Strawberry leans down carefully, and while their bellies touch every so often, so do their lips, and Applejack is taken to cloud nine.
Everything becomes a romantic blur the more and more Applejack feels Strawberry's muzzle against her own, and eventually, their tongues force open the blocked passageways simultaneously to get at each other, too. Thanks to these two ponies, there aren't just sounds of birds frequently chirping high up within the sky anymore. Applejack and Strawberry create sharp, and luxurious commotions of their own.
They giggle together for a spell before hastily getting back into the action. Another smooch occurs following their laughs, and Strawberry then relaxes a little bit more to say, "I've never... umm, been with another mare, either... so I'm just really, really happy to find out that you enjoyed making out with me today, too." She swoons, "I've... never really felt like this before."
Applejack lightly presses her left hoof against Strawberry's small chest, and compliments, "You're... so beautiful... and Ah don't think that Ah've ever felt like this before, either." She kisses Strawberry once more before asking, "If it's alright with you, do you wanna... keep goin'?"
Chuckling, and then glancing away with embarrassment of her own, Strawberry Sunrise says merrily, "Of... course I do, Applejack." The two of them stay in the tree like that for a few minutes longer, and even as they start to climb down the ladder, Strawberry begs Applejack to bring her back to the forgiveness tree again sometime soon. "I'm really ecstatic, too, that you chose to bring me here," she says while trotting along side by side with Applejack. "These apples that you grow on this farm... They really are something else, and Applejack?"
"Yeah, Straw?"
She kisses Applejack one last time, and she then states lovingly, "And... so are you."
