5 Kisses Under The Imaginary Rainbow, and 1 Under A Non-existent Apple Tree
1.0: The Escape
Rainbow Dash ran faster than she ever had before. The stakes were higher than ever. She had to make it out alive. She just had to! She was pretty sure she knocked down at least three stacks of paper while she was escaping the clutches of the devil! She ran around the school, the street, the neighborhood…
…Until she zoomed back through the school gates…
…And down a dead end.
“Rainbow…”
That voice. That dreadful voice. If Rarity was in this situation, she would have fainted dramatically on her fainting couch and said “This. Is. The. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!” And Dash wouldn’t even blame her.
“Rainbow…”
No. A shadow loomed over her figure. This is where she’ll meet her end. Death was upon her. This is how she’ll die. Maybe her friends and family will miss her. Eh, they'll move on. Welp, this is it. Goodbye, cruel world.
The person turned around the corner.
“Rainbow!” Zephyr Breeze did (insert barf here) finger guns at her. No. She was too young to die. Much less at the sweaty palms of Zephyr. She scanned the badly designed interior. She had – needed – to find an escape. No matter what. Zephyr cornered her in a way that she supposed was flirty. It only intensified the urge to throw up in his stupid face. He puckered his lips and leaned in. If this weren’t Fluttershy’s brother, she would’ve beaten the living hell out of him.
Rainbow could feel her breakfast cereal in her mouth. She swallowed it down. There had to be an escape.
“Rainbow!” That familiar, unmistakable southern accent. Her ticket to freedom. “Ah can’t come ta prac-“
The stunned blonde was met with a kiss on the lips.
Sorry AJ, Rainbow thought to herself, I’ll make it up to you later.
1.5
Applejack had no frickin’ idea what the hell was going on. One moment, she was finding Rainbow Dash to tell her she couldn’t show up at the Rainboom’s next practice session today, and the next, she was kissed by her rainbow-haired friend. Her face heated up instantly. The kiss lasted ten seconds (she counted), before Dash broke the contact. She found herself enjoying the sudden contact. Who would’ve thought Dash was such a good kisser?
“Fancy seeing you here babe,” – Applejack blushed so hard she would’ve won the contest for ‘reddest apple’ – “I’ll catch up with you and the gals later!” And RD casually walked away, whistling with her hands in her pockets.
Applejack stood there, gaping like a fish. She was, in fact, so shocked that she didn’t notice Zephyr Breeze standing further down the hallway. No, she was too busy wondering… and hoping…
…Did Rainbow know?
2.0: The Act
Rainbow Dash was late to practice. Again. Sunset’s gonna kill me.
She rushed through the door. “Guys! I’m really sorry, practice took longer than I thought it would be-“
Sunset Shimmer, her friend, the director, looked half ready to explode, but decided against it. She sighed in defeat. “Just get into position.”
“Okay… where’s that?”
“Read the script.”
“Right! And I… left it in my locker.” She reported sheepishly.
“Seriously?!” Sunset yelled. “Just get on the stage! Somepony get her a script!”
Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
“FOR CELESTIA’S SAKE, JUST GIVE HER A BUCKING SCRIPT!”
Snips and Snails ran behind the curtains. No one knew how they were assigned to be prop masters when they could lose their socks every other day while wearing them. And now the backup scripts were missing. The fifth one this week, and it was only Wednesday.
“Uh… we can’t find it.”
Everyone took a step back at the same time. Even if she wasn’t the bully she used to be, Sunset Shimmer still had her… issues that weren’t going away anytime soon. They were what made her different than every average person in Canterlot High. But everyone knew it was best to stay far away when she was having one of her moments.
“SERIOUSLY?! OH GODAMN, JUST GET ON STAGE AND KISS AJ, RAINBOW!”
“Wait just a darn minute, ain’t ma character supposed to say somethin’ first?” Applejack said, flipping through the script.
This time, Rainbow let her finish before smacking her lips against AJ’s. It wasn’t the gentle one like last time, but more urgent and frustrated. And it certainly wasn’t just a stage kiss. If it was, it sure didn’t feel like one. Did that make sense?
Rainbow pulled away and grinned. “You just did.” She looked over to Sunset, who was now slightly calmed down, had a cup of water in her hands. And for whatever reason, she didn’t look fazed at all that her friend just kissed her friend. “Okay, the curtains close… now!”
2.5
While Rainbow Dash and Applejack were busy stuttering acting, the stage crew were gossiping discussing the events that just occurred. “You saw that too, right?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “I’m pretty sure Rainbow Dash wasn’t supposed to kiss AJ until after her lines. And I’ve never seen Rainbow kiss anyone like that.”
Micro Chips nodded. “Affirmative. What do we do now?”
Twilight thought for a long, everlasting moment. Calculations ran through her head. Everyone leaned forward. Someone fell. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she answered.
“I say we do… nothing.”
Everyone backstage nodded in agreement. Best not to meddle with their classmates’ love lives. Nobody wanted a repeat of ‘The Maud Incident’.
3.0: The Rival
“Rainbow Dash.” A girl with turquoise skin and orange hair glared at the person in question.
“Lightning Dust.”
The two stared at each other.
Nobody moved.
“Whose that?” Twilight whispered. Or at least attempted to, because everyone except for the two concentrated competitors could hear her. Blame plot convenience.0
“It’s Lightning Dust, her middle school rival,” Rarity whispered back. “They fought over everything. She was the worst friend ever. I think she got kicked off the soccer team? For not being a ‘team player’?”
“She was really mean,” Fluttershy added.
“A no-fun party pooper,” Pinkie’s hair deflated.
The three turned back to the two girls across the field.
After the intense tension intensified so much that everyone felt tense watching, Lightning Dust burst out laughing.
Rainbow Dash looked around. “I don’t get it. What’s so funny?”
Lightning wiped a tear away from her eye. “Ah, same old Rainbow Dash. You’ll never change, will you?”
Rainbow only glared at her.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve changed. I’ve met this absolutely amazing person who helped me. I think you know her.” She smiled slyly. A girl with short white and pink hair and a brown leather jacket walked up next to Lightning Dust.
“Hey RD,” the girl said with a sneer. “Miss me?”
“Gilda?!”
Back on the other side of the field, Sunset and Twilight were asking questions. “Who’s that?”
“Gilda, her ex.”
“WHAT?!”
“Pinkie Pie, you knew this!”
“Oh right.”
…
Back to the main plot, shall we?
...
“Wait, you’re telling me, you guys have a rock band?”
“Yup, we’re called the Washouts. Pretty sweet, huh?”
“Well… I’ve got a band too!”
“Right, strange booms or something equally lame.” The two girls snickered. “But we didn’t come here to gloat.” Eyebrows were raised. “We came here to thank you.”
“Reeeally?”
“Yeah, if you hadn’t humiliated both of us at Cloudsdale, then we wouldn’t have found each other.” And in typical rom-com fashion, they kissed in front of a dumbfounded Rainbow Dash.
After the briefest second, the two pulled away. “So Rainbow, I don’t see you with a girlfriend. Don’t tell me you still haven’t got over me?” Gilda faked a gasp.
Maybe out of dignity, maybe out of jealousy, maybe it was just the impulsiveness messing with her head, or most likely all of the above, but whatever it was, something drove her to grab Applejack and kiss her. Everyone – even Applejack herself – let out a surprised gasp.
It ended as suddenly as it started. This time it was Rainbow’s turn to snicker at the two rivals whose jaws dropped onto the floor. “Who didn’t’ get over who, now?”
Lightning Dust and Gilda got out of their trance. “You know what? Let’s settle this on the field. Soccer, anyone?” Lightning Dust challenged.
“It is ON. You wanna be on my team, AJ?”
The ever-blushing Applejack could only nod as she followed her rainbow-haired girlfriend.
3.5
“Were they-“ Fluttershy started as RD and AJ joined in a “friendly” competition with Lightning and Gilda.
“Oh, it’s so romantic!” Rarity said dramatically.
“I can’t believe they didn’t tell me! I would’ve thrown the best ‘Yay you’re a couple!’ party ever!” No one was sure if Pinkie was joking or actually serious about it (by Pinkie standards).
“I wouldn’t interfere; I’m sure they can figure things out themselves,” Sunset said reassuringly, with a less reassuring follow-up, “right?”
“Maybe, but they haven’t been on a one-on-one since that not-a-stage-kiss,” Twilight said.
“WHAT?!”
“Pinkie, you literally talked about it with me last week.”
“Oh riiiight.”
Twilight could only facepalm. How her friends survived being this oblivious for so long is a mystery that can (and will) never be solved.
"Just to be clear, we're NOT messing with it, so please put down the party balloon, Pinkie."
4.0: The Mistletoe
It was the day after Christmas. Everywhere was filled with… Yeah, I’m gonna stop there before I embarrass myself by completely messing up the poem. Anyway, the Rainbooms were meeting up at Applejack’s house that year for the Secret Santa game. They had all agreed to meet up on Boxing Day, so they could spend the entire Christmas with their respective families. Applejack was waiting for the last person to arrive. Said person’s car pulled up at the front of the Apple family garage.
“Heya Dash, glad you could make it.” Applejack tipped her hat in greeting to her friend.
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!” She threw her arms around a startled AJ.
“A-anytime, Sugarcube,” she patted Rainbow’s back in return of the gesture.
After standing on the freezing front porch for a few more seconds, they walked into the living room where five girls were sitting in a circle, each with a gift box in hand.
“Rainbow Dash, darling, why, I can’t believe you were into ‘fashionably late’!” Rarity teased.
“Yeah, have to run some errands. Anyway, who’s ready for the Secret Santa exchange?”
“Did you actually remember to get a gift this year?” Sunset joked.
Rainbow feigned a gasp. “How could you think so lowly of me?”
“Anyway, let’s get started!” Twilight squealed excitedly. “I’ll go first!”
(A/N: To avoid making this too long, and because I’m lazy, we’ll have a little montage instead of a detailed description of everyone’s gift and reaction.)
Twilight got Sunset the latest video game, Chrysalis’ Throne 2, Sunset got Pinkie birthday cake-flavored party supplies, Pinkie got Rarity a bonnet she totally didn’t hint that she wanted several times, Rarity got Fluttershy a hand stitched pillowcase with butterfly patterns on it, and Fluttershy got Twilight a thousand-piece puzzle of the solar system.
“Okay, last two. Since everyone else got a present, it means the last two are… Applejack and Rainbow Dash!” Twilight announced.
“Here. Merry Christmas!” she said as she handed AJ her present. The blonde ripped apart the wrapping paper.
“Is this… The toolbox Ah wanted! Thanks, RD!” She wanted to just get up and kiss the girl, but that wouldn’t do. Not for now, at least.
“You’ve been saying that you want that toolbox for over a month. Of course I’d get you it.” Applejack’s heart warmed at the thought of Rainbow paying attention to her.
“So what’d ya get me?”
Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. “Ah shoot, this seems kinda impractical compared to yer gift…” she said awkwardly while she passed the box to Rainbow.
Rainbow tore and shredded the rainbow wrapping paper. “Oh. My. Gosh.” She turned to Applejack. She held it up a bit to give the others (and the audience) a better view.
“Um, Rainbow, darling, do correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that a shoe box?” Rarity examined the box.
“Yeah, it’s only the NEW RAINBOW SNEAKERS I wanted!” Rainbow screamed. “Oh, Applejack, I'm so happy I could kiss you right now!”
Applejack’s cheeks heated up despite the cold wind blowing in from the large window.
Pinkie Pie looked up and pointed at the ceiling. “Maybe you should… Mistletoe!”
“What- but Ah didn’t put it- ya don’t have to-“
Her rambling was put to a halt when Rainbow’s lips met her own. Her lips was kind of dry, probably because of the dry weather. But the warmth of her breath was pleasant and welcomed. There was no rush, and once Applejack stopped freaking out on the inside, she closed her eyes and kissed back. Everything and everyone melted away like a marshmallow that stayed in hot chocolate for too long.
A few more seconds later, Rainbow pulled away. “Wow AJ, you’re pretty good at this,” she snickered. Applejack’s cheeks flushed. Okay AJ, you gotta be smooth. “Yer too.” She mentally slapped herself. “Yer too”? She was so bad at this.
She looked at Rainbow Dash, who was excitedly trying on her new shoes.
Or maybe I’ll be alright after all.
4.5
Applejack and Rainbow went into the kitchen to get them the Apple family’s famous pumpkin pie (the Apples aren’t just good at apple treats, y’ know).
Fluttershy said what was on all of their minds.
“So, um, are we still following Twilight’s plan or…”
“All in favor of aborting Plan A – Avoiding-AppleDash say I,” Sunset said.
Everyone except for Twilight replied “I”. They looked at the purple-skinned girl. Twilight sighed.
“Fine.”
“YES!” They pumped their fists in the air.
“Now for plan B,” Sunset laid down a list. “Plan Bring-AJ-&-RD-Together.”
5.0: The Dare
“Oh! Truth or dare, Twi~” Pinkie Pie singsonged.
“Uhh… the risk of taking truth is smaller, but what if the truth question makes an impact on my mental health?” Twilight hyperventilated. Fluttershy handed her a paper bag.
“Twilight, chill. We laid ground rules, remember? No breaking the law and nothing physically or emotionally scarring. You’ll be fine,” Sunset reassured her friend.
“I didn’t think asking you your favorite ice cream flavor would be emotionally scarring! I’m so sorry Twi!” Pinkie apologized.
“It’s not your fault Pinkie, I’m just a little freaked out, this being my first sleepover. But I’m fine.” She looked at Pinkie. “By the way, my favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip.”
“I KNEW IT!” Pinkie shouted in victory.
Twilight spun the bottle –
(A/N: to avoid confusion, this is the way I play truth or dare: the person who was asked to answer a question or do a dare the previous turn will spin the bottle. When the bottle stops and points at a person, that person will be asked “truth or dare?”)
– and it landed on Rainbow Dash. All the Equestria Girls (spare Rainbow Dash and Applejack) internally sighed. It was part of their plan: they would wait for the bottle to hit Rainbow Dash, dare her (no way she wouldn’t choose dare) to kiss Applejack.
Twilight teasingly raised an eyebrow. “Truth or Dare?”
“Uh, do you know me? DARE. Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
“As long as it’s legal, right?”
“Yeah sure. Hit me Twi!”
“Hmmm…” Twilight pretended to think. “I dare you… to kiss Applejack. On the lips.” She smiled wickedly.
“Oh my gosh! Who would’ve thought of that?” Rarity totally-not-fake-ly. “You know… you could always take the penalty…”
Everyone in Rainbow’s bedroom shuddered. The penalty was to babysit the CMCs for a week. Nobody, not even Rainbow Dash, wanted to live that nightmare.
“Wait no one asked me- not that Ah mind- I meant-“ Applejack started.
Rainbow, like the last time, didn’t let Applejack finish. She tugged the neckline of the blonde girl’s pajamas and pulled her in for a kiss. It was full of emotion and passion, and it made AJ’s brain go crazy and she felt her heart beat so wildly it was like it could bounce out of her ribcage any moment.
The kiss lasted a full twelve seconds. It was the best twelve seconds of Applejack’s life.
Even though it was expected, everyone was still in awe.
“Why are you guys so surprised? It was just a dare…” Rainbow said hesitantly. “I need to use the bathroom. You guys continue without me,” she muttered, just loud enough for people to hear.
5.5 (a)
“It was just a dare…” the words tasted bitter in her mouth. But why? She knew it – the truth – in her subconsciousness: it wasn’t just a dare. It was more than that. But she refused to admit it, even to herself. AJ’s a friend. AJ’s a friend. AJ’s a friend. AJ… isn’t just a friend. She mumbled some excuse to leave the room. She needed fresh air. Stat.
She got out as quickly as her legs could take her. She tried to get rid of the thoughts in her head. She couldn’t keep thinking about that. But her brain decided to put on a whole slideshow. The escape from Zephyr Breeze. The weird order from Sunset she was all too willing to follow. The rivalry with Lightning Dust and Gilda. The kiss under mistletoe. The dare…
She walked out into the chilly outdoors, or the front yard of her house. I… like Applejack. No. I… love …Applejack. I love Applejack. It didn’t feel wrong. In fact, it felt right. And that terrified her. What if Applejack didn’t like her back? Or worse, what if she was grossed out by her selfish, impulsiveness and therefore ruined her chances before it could even be ruined?
Rainbow kicked a rock.
“Rainbow Dash?”
5.5 (b)
Applejack’s heart turned to stone and shattered into a million pieces. “Ah suppose it was just a dare,” she said dejectedly. Of course it was. Rainbow didn’t actually like her. Why did she ever think otherwise? Stupid feelings. She fought back the urge to cry. She wasn’t a freshman anymore. Heartbreak was tough, but she pulled through. Except the time there wasn’t a shoulder for her to cry on. Her other friends were great, but Rainbow’s was special. It made her feel safe. At ease.
A hand was put lightly on her shoulder.
“Hey Applejack? You okay?” Fluttershy asked gently.
She gulped down the lump in her throat and squeezed back the tears. And put those silly feelings away. Into a dark, locked drawer, never to resurface again.
“Yeah, thanks, Flutters.” She forced a smile.
Fluttershy and the others grabbed her into a bear hug.
“Aw, Ah ‘ppreciate the effort, really gals, but y’all can’t change Dash’s mind, n’ Ah don’t wanna force her…” She hung her head low.
“What do you mean, silly? Of course Dashie likes you!” Pinkie said.
“What do ya mean?”
“Darling, don’t tell me you never noticed how Rainbow Dash looks at you in class.”
“And she kissed you like, five times now?”
That kinda does make sense… “Ah guess…”
“Besides, she could’ve just grabbed any one of us, but she chose you.”
“Numbers don’t lie.”
“Look, Ah-“
“Oh COME ON,” everyone groaned.
“Applejack, Rainbow Dash is just downstairs in the front yard, and you better go talk to her! GOT IT?” Pinkie spit – well, spit – all over her face, so much that it would’ve rivaled Coach Spitfire’s “motivational speeches”.
“Get down there already!”
With the infinite support and encouraging smiles from her friends, she rushed down the stairs and out the door.
“You think she’ll do it?” Fluttershy asked.
“I know she can,” Sunset said hopefully.
+1: The Kiss
“Rainbow Dash?”
“Applejack?”
“Rainbow, Ah-“
“AJ, I’m-“
They looked at each other and blushed.
“Y’all go first,” Applejack said, despite wanting to scream ten thousand and twenty words a minute.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “Applejack, I… I’m not sure what to say. I’m sorry I kissed you without asking, I’m sorry if I grossed you out, and I understand if you’ll hate me forever… and I understand if you don’t want to be friends with me anymore. I’m sorry.”
Applejack didn’t know how to respond to that. Everything was moving too quickly. She needed time to think. But something about the way Rainbow was frowning, head hung low guiltily that made her follow her gut. So without thinking twice, she kissed Rainbow Dash. She pulled her in by hand and just… kissed her. The kiss was her reply. All her emotions, frustration, and confusion felt in the last month rushed through that lip contact. I forgive you. I like you. I love you.
This time, Rainbow was the one caught off guard. At best, she thought AJ would still be her friend. At worst, AJ would cut ties with her completely, along with the other girls. That was why she couldn’t believe it when Applejack kissed her. But it was enough of a conformation for her to kiss back. For a moment, everything felt right. Her fears, her worries all vanished to nothing. For a moment, it all felt perfect. It didn’t occur to either of the girls that their friends, who witnessed everything, were cheering for them loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.
None of them knew how long they stood there holding hands, kissing in the cool 9-at-night weather. But when they broke apart, all they felt was warmth. …Aaaand the confetti from Pinkie’s party cannon that somehow got from the bedroom to the front yard.
“So… what now?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“How ‘bout cleanin’ this here mess up? Then…” She gave Rainbow a sly look. “We can do somethin’ else.”
“You’re on! Bet I can beat you to it!”
“Not if I can help it!”
In the end, they cleaned up a quarter of it. Let’s just say they got… distracted. (By a snowball fight. They got distracted by a snowball fight. Her parents were home, after all.)
