Rainbow Dash Is Jealous!by GalaxySwirl22ChaptersI'm Not Jealous!I Need To Know!It Makes No Sense!Who, Me?I'm Not Jealous!Listen up! So, I wouldn't call myself the jealous type, no way, okay, maybe sometimes, like when the whole mare-do-well thing happened, but I wouldn't call that being jealous. It's just that I get frustrated when somepony has something that I've wanted, now it's not about everything. Because, I have almost everything I've ever wanted. I'm awesome. I'm a wonderbolt, heh, I'll probably also be the captain someday. And again, I'm awesome. So, everything I've always wanted to have should be with me by now, right? Cause I'm Rainbow Dash, what other things could I possibly want other than being famous throughout Equestria and beyond, living my dream as a wonderbolt? Well...I thought I had everything until I found out something about a specific best friend. Now, I was just casually flying through Ponyville. That's when I saw Rarity near her boutique talking with Fluttershy. Don't tell them, but I like to overhear on their conversations secretly because they're interesting. Like, the other day I heard them talking about the mayor falling down some stairs and landing in a bucket of paint. Now that is hilarious. So, that's what I was doing that day. Just listening to Fluttershy and Rarity, without them knowing, of course. And at first, their conversation was quite boring. It was about dresses and some other popular fashionistas, none of that really catches my attention. But just as I was about to fly off I heard them mention Applejack, which made me stop right in my tracks. Now, I'm not a spy, I promise, except I might casually see what my friends are up to without them really knowing, but it's not spying! Anyway, so, obviously that caught my attention, cause if it was something embarrassing they were gonna talk about, I would head straight up to Applejack and tell her that she'd been exposed and laugh at her, which would make her even more embarrassed and flustered, which I think is adorable. Wait...don't tell anyone but, I might have a slight crush on Applejack, okay, I wouldn't say a slight crush, more like "I'd definitely be your girlfriend and I could ask you out anytime" kinda crush. And I had planned to ask her out, because I thought we had a thing going on for a while, ugh, up until Rarity said something about Applejack trying to find a present for her 'special somepony'. I'm sorry, what?! SPECIAL SOMEPONY?! Applejack? And she hadn't even mentioned anything about it to me! Cause when I heard that I had to pinch myself in order to make sure it wasn't a dream. Not to be dramatic, but it felt like a door slamming shut right in front of my face. And so, I guess I spent the rest of the day jumping on snow clouds in utter frustration. Since when did Applejack have a special somepony?! And who was it? Having no answers to any of that drives me crazy. I should've gone to Applejack and questioned her about what I had heard, but I don't know, I guess I was just too annoyed to even think about that. I wasn't so sure she'd tell me anyway, why would she now? She could've before, and she didn't, so why now? Wait. Now that I think about it again, Rarity and Fluttershy knew, but why would they know? Had Applejack told them and not me? Did all my friends know about it except for me?! Now this is definitely driving me crazy, and here I thought Applejack herself had said "You're probably my closest friend in our friend group" to me just yesterday. Now where in the hay did that statement run off to? Since I basically had no answers about this situation, I had come up with a solution. I wouldn't make Applejack explain to me who her special somepony was because she wouldn't tell me. Instead, I was gonna find it all out myself! I Need To Know!Today was New Year's Eve and a lot of ponies would get out of bed due to the excitement but I had other plans. I got out of bed and after just a few minutes or so, I was outside flying, heading toward Carousel Boutique. I zoomed past all the buildings, dodging trees that got in my way every now and then until I finally reached the front door to Rarity's house. I knocked on the door and suddenly heard a gasp from the inside of the boutique and something inaudible, then hoofsteps that came closer and lastly a click as the door to the boutique opened up. "Rainbow Dash, darling! So good to see you, come in come in!" Rarity said in surprise and opened up the door even more so that I could step inside. "What are you doing up this early? It's only 8 AM" she continued. I gave Rarity a suspicious look. If anypony knew what was going on, it was Rarity, and that's why I had come here to her, to get some answers. "I have a question" I said as I looked around the boutique, searching for anything that could give me the slightest hint of the things I didn't know. "Do ask! Although I am very surprised you came this early just to ask a question!" Rarity said happily as she went over to her sewing machine and cut some fabric. "Was Applejack really looking for a present for her special somepony?" I asked without hesitating. I knew Rarity knew about something I didn't, and I had to find out what it was, but my biggest question was why I never knew about any of that in the first place. Again, it wasn't like Applejack to leave someone out when it came to things like these. Especially not her best friends. "Huh?" Rarity looked up from her sewing machine and at me with a slightly shocked expression, as if I had asked something crazy, then she furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "So you're telling me you were listening to the conversation me and Fluttershy were having yesterday? Without us knowing?!" Rarity exclaimed in annoyance as she returned to working on her fabric. I rolled my eyes and groaned which made Rarity look back up at me again with a whole different expression. She wasn't irritated, or well, she didn't look like it. Instead, she was smiling mysteriously and giggled slightly as she stepped away from her sewing machine and back to where I was. "Now Rainbow Dash, why are you so desperate to know if Applejack has been looking for a present for her special somepony?" Rarity asked and flashed her eyebrows as she grinned. I turned away from her in frustration. Maybe getting an answer from Rarity would be way more difficult than I had originally thought. Ironic, since Rarity would happily gossip about anything she had heard in Ponyville or read in the magazines, and now she was questioning me? But then again, it was none of her business to know why I needed that information. "None of your business" I said as I faced her again and gave a glare. "But I need to know" Rarity shrugged and smiled as if she was satisfied with herself. "What you're asking me is none of your business either darling!" she then said and went toward her shelf with ribbons. "But it is!" "It is not! Now now, calm down, you're acting as if Applejack has stolen your money or something!" "Ugh, whatever, I'll see you later at the party" I muttered and stepped out of the boutique. I heard Rarity reply with a joyful goodbye before closing the door. Was I supposed to go to Fluttershy and ask her instead? Fluttershy was probably way easier to convince compared to Rarity, but she was also way more sensitive and I didn't want to bother her too much. I thought I'd go and ask her anyway, if she refused to tell, I'd ask Pinkie Pie. I wasn't sure if Pinkie Pie was a part of this whole thing, but just in case. It had started to snow and the wind was stronger than before, so I had to walk all the way to Fluttershy's in the blizzard. As I finally made it up to Fluttershy's front door, it suddenly flung up by itself followed by her pet Angel running out with a scarf in his grasp. I pushed the door open more and now saw Fluttershy also heading toward the opening in a rush but as she saw me she slowed down. "Rainbow Dash! I'm so sorry I'm in a rush, Angel stole somepony's scarf and I gotta take it from him and return it!" she said quickly as she put on her boots and stepped out of the door. I sighed. "I'll get him" I said and took off quickly, it didn't take long for me to catch up to Angel since he was literally just a bunny. I then grabbed him and went back to Fluttershy. "Angel! Bad bunny, this is no way to behave" Fluttershy scolded and took back her pet. She then gripped the scarf that Angel had and sent him back inside the cottage. "Now don't cause any more trouble, I promise I'll give you the carrot you asked for" she said and turned back to face me. "I came here to ask something, that is if you're not in a rush anymore" I said as Fluttershy shut the front door behind her. "Ask away! I have the scarf, and now I just gotta give it back to Strawberry Sunrise, but you can come along if you want to!" Fluttershy suggested. "Yeah sure" I stepped down the path, starting to walk toward the centre of Ponyville with Fluttershy. "Soooo, have you seen Applejack around today?" I asked. I thought maybe if I started the topic slowly, it would be way easier to get an answer, maybe Fluttershy would say something useful by accident. Fluttershy giggled. "No, it's only 9 AM, I've been inside and just finished eating breakfast" she answered. Oops, I had forgotten how early it was. Usually I'd sleep in late till noon or so but I just couldn't, not today at least. Not while knowing that all of my friends knew something that I didn't. Now if Twilight, who was in Canterlot, also knew...ugh. I shook my head to get rid of all those thoughts and turned my attention back to Fluttershy. "Hehe, right, but what about yesterday?" I asked. Fluttershy seemed to think about something for a second, then smiled. "Yes! I saw her yesterday, she was shopping for a present!" Yes! Finally I could get some answers. "Who for?" I asked, almost a little too quickly. I guess I was just really eager to get to know who the present was for. I needed to know who that special somepony was and why they were so important to Applejack. "Her special somepony!" Fluttershy said happily as she continued walking through the path. "And her special somepony is-??" I asked, hoping she'd give me the answer I was looking for. "Oh I don't know! And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you" Fluttershy bit her lip and started walking faster. "Why not?!" "Oh look! We are at Strawberry Sunrises house now, thanks for tagging along with me Rainbow Dash, see you later!" Fluttershy said quickly as she hurried toward Strawberry Sunrise's front door, knocking on it. She then smiled and waved goodbye to me as the door opened and she disappeared into the house. I blinked a few times in disbelief. Even Fluttershy didn't tell me anything?! I facehooved and turned around, starting to walk toward Sugarcube Corner. It was probably a good idea to go there anyway since I hadn't had any breakfast and I had forgotten how hungry I was. The blizzard had cleared out and only a few snowflakes were slowly falling down through the sky, landing gently on the ground. Maybe I should've told Applejack about everything earlier and not waited so long. Now it was probably too late because she was with somepony else, and somepony I didn't even know about. Or did I? If it was someone who lived in Ponyville, there was a very high chance I knew about them too. But I hadn't seen Applejack hang out with somepony specific for an extended amount of time. No, they were all just casual everyday conversations with casual everyday ponies. None of it made any sense at all to me. Was it somepony she saw in secret, without the knowledge of anypony else? If so, why would she even do that? I was thrown out of my thoughts the moment a hard wooden surface hit my face. I backed up and realized that I had walked right into the front door of Sugarcube Corner. "Well this day is going just great" I muttered to myself and opened up the door to the bakery, stepping inside. The moment I stepped in I was met with the warmth of the bakery and the smell of cinnamon and candy. I sighed in satisfaction, it was nice to be someplace warm after being out in the cold the whole morning. I then looked around for Pinkie Pie, who was nowhere to be seen in the main room so I decided to head toward the kitchen where I thought I heard some sounds coming from. As always, I was right. Pinkie Pie was in the kitchen mixing some cake batter at an incredibly fast pace, not only that, she was mixing three bowls at the same time but then again, Pinkie Pie was Pinkie Pie and she could always do things nopony else could. I was just about to greet her when she turned around with a wide smile on her face. "Hiya!!! Are you here to test out the cakes I'm making for tonight's party?! It's gonna be super amazing!" she cheered. "Oh I know it will" I agreed. "And not really, I just came here to talk" I added as I stepped further into the kitchen, looking at all the things Pinkie Pie had been preparing for the party. There were pies, cakes, cupcakes and cookies, well, all sorts of sweet things you could imagine. You know, seeing Pinkie's excitement actually made me less worried and wanted to look forward to the New Year's Eve party instead, but it was only for a few seconds since the other thoughts returned. "Whatcha wanna talk about?!" Pinkie Pie asked in the same cheerful tone as before. "Do you happen to know somepony really special to Applejack? You've said how you knew a lot about everypony in town and-" "Oh I do know A LOT about ALL the ponies in Ponyville!" Pinkie Pie interrupted. "Her family is special to her, ooh ohh! And me, and Fluttershy and Rarity and Twilight, her best friends!! Ohhh and-" I furrowed my eyebrows at that statement. Why did Pinkie Pie mention all but me? "Uh- and me too" I interrupted Pinkie Pie before she could finish her sentence. "I'm her best friend too" Pinkie Pie giggled innocently, like she always did when somepony didn't get something so obvious. "You're not her best friend, silly!" she spoke, unfazed by what she had just said. "More like h-" "You know what? I don't need to know" I said harshly as I turned around and stepped out of the kitchen and out of the bakery as fast as I could. Had Pinkie Pie just said that I wasn't one of Applejack's best friends? Since when?! Last time I hung out with her was just two days ago! She seemed fine back then, and we definitely didn't have a fight or anything. Or well, I don't think we did. I thought back to the last time I saw Applejack as I walked away from Sugarcube Corner, not really knowing where I was heading. Applejack had been just fine last time when I came over to Sweet Apple Acres to hang out. She had been walking around in the orchard to make sure all her trees were doing okay. You know, just casual Applejack stuff. Anyway, so I sneaked up on her and threw a snowball at her, to which she turned around to and shouted my name. And I remember laughing until I got hit by a snowball from Applejack. But we weren't fighting, no, we were having fun, and so after a while we ended the snowball fight and went inside. Applejack said she was gonna make some delicious cider for both of us. And I remember watching her make the cider and there was no sign of any anger or frustration, she was just very happy. And so was I. Could it have been that Applejack had known about me liking her, and on purpose avoided telling me about her special somepony so that it wouldn't get upsetting? I don't really know. But that doesn't really sound like Applejack either. She wouldn't hide the truth even though it could've been upsetting. Oh great, now I was upset about two things. One, that Applejack apparently didn't like me back even though I thought she did, and second, she didn't even care to tell me who she liked! Was it because I was bad at keeping secrets? Because I was 120% sure that I could keep a secret way better than Rarity. But she knew, and I didn't. At this point I was pretty sure even Twilight knew about who Applejack liked and yet, she lived all the way back in Canterlot. As I finally payed attention to my surroundings, I realized I was now at Sweet Apple Acres. The trees looked bare and there were no apples to be seen, obviously, cause it was wintertime and all, but through all that chilly breeze outside, there was a slight warmth coming from the farmhouse. I really didn't want to step closer but I did anyway. Suddenly the front door to the farmhouse flung open and I could've taken off quickly and flown away back to my house, but I didn't. The door closed shortly after, revealing Applejack who was holding a cup of coffee in one of her hooves as she breathed in the fresh morning air. It didn't take more than a split second till she noticed me standing a bit further away from the farmhouse. "Howdy Rainbow! What are ya doin' up so early?" She chuckled and took a sip of her coffee. Well, there was no escape now. It Makes No Sense!I had to admit, even after everything I had just heard and thought about this morning, seeing Applejack brought some relief to me and the fact that she was greeting me just as she'd normally do made me forget about the thought that there could be a chance she might've been angry at me or something. So I walked up to her. "Don't ya usually sleep until noon?" Applejack questioned, keeping a smile on her face. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't get up early if I want to" I said and laughed a little. "I'd say ya look more like as if somepony forced ya out of bed at 5 AM" she said as she took another sip of her coffee. "In case ya haven't had any breakfast, we got some left in kitchen" The mention of breakfast made me realize that I had been hungry all morning. I glanced at Applejack, searching for any glimpse of boredom in her but there was none. Her eyes were just expressing pure joy and amusement. None of this made any sense and none of the pieces fit together. She was acting just like her usual self, as if nothing had happened. Well, nothing had really happened. Except that she was together with somepony and everyone except for me knew. I then realized I hadn't responded to Applejack and quickly shook myself out of my thoughts and directed my attention back to her again. "Breakfast would be nice" I finally said and forced a smile. Applejack turned back around and opened up the front door. I stepped into her living room and followed her into the kitchen. I gasped in surprise as I saw the dining table. On the table was a plate with freshly made waffles and a thermos flask with hot chocolate inside and some other delicious stuff I'm lazy to describe. "Woah, all of that looks delicious" I said as I sat down at the table and took a bite out of a waffle. It felt great to finally have something to eat and the waffles were so delicious I had forgotten about everything I had been worried about before. Everything felt just the same as it was two days ago, before I had known anything about Applejack getting a present for somepony. It didn't take long for me to finish the two waffles I had put down on my plate. I then poured some hot chocolate into a cup and took a sip out of it. "I forgot how hungry I was, thanks" I said as I smiled at Applejack. Damn, I liked her so much. She had always been so awesome, okay, not as awesome as me but except for me, she was the most awesome pony I ever knew and...all of this reminded me about the conflict I had in my mind earlier. That I couldn't like the pony I wanted to like as much as I wanted to. "Is something the matter?" I looked up from the cup of hot chocolate and at Applejack who was looking at me with furrowed eyebrows. "I'm fine, why?" I asked as I took another sip of the hot chocolate. "Ah dunno, ya frowned for a second there" Applejack replied. I hadn't realized I had been frowning. Jeez, why does she gotta notice everything. I let out a short laugh. "Oh no no, I'm great" I said and finished my hot chocolate. "So" I started as I put the empty cup back down on the table. "Whatcha gonna do for the rest of the day?" I asked. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't ask that only because I wanted to know more about the whole secret special somepony thing, I really wanted to know what she was gonna do. "Heh, I'll be goin to the stores, gotta pick somethin' I ordered from there, then I just gotta get some stuff ready for the party n' all, and that's that" Applejack said with a smile. She put away the remaining waffles into the fridge along with some other leftovers from the breakfast. I knew the New Year's Eve party was gonna be awesome and a blast, but wait, did Applejack mention something about going to the stores to pick something up? Could this be my way to finally get an answer? "That's cool" I said as I fidgeted around with the empty cup in my hooves. If I also went to the stores that Applejack went to, without her knowing of course, I could find out who the present was for. "Sooo, when are you going?" I asked. "Uhh" Applejack thought for a moment and looked at the clock that was hanging on the kitchen wall. "In about an hour or so" she then said and sat down on a chair which was right across mine. I just didn't get it. How could she act so casual as if everything was the same? Because it wasn't, right? And if what Pinkie Pie had mentioned really was true, why in Equestria was Applejack acting the same way toward me as she always did? None of this made any sense at all. "So, have ya played any hockey like ya always do this winter? Cause I haven't seen ya do it" Applejack asked, almost hesitatingly. I leaned back in the chair and laughed. "Not really. My helmet broke, remember? And I was saving up for a new one...until the mayor insisted on that everypony needed to donate some bits in order to fix the roof of the town hall" I said and rolled my eyes. "Uh huh" Applejack said as she put her hoof under her chin as if she was thinking about something. "So ya don't have a helmet for hockey at all then?" "Nope" I said and sat up in my chair again. I glanced at the clock. It was around 2 PM now and Applejack was probably gonna leave for the stores in around 15 minutes. The party was gonna start at 5.30 PM, but Pinkie Pie wouldn't mind if anypony showed up a little early. "Heh, well, I guess I'll cya at the party then, I just gotta fix up the kitchen a little bit then head to the stores, but I'm glad ya stopped by for some breakfast" Applejack smiled as she got up from the chair and went to the sink to wash some dishes that were on the kitchen counter. "No problem, it was really delicious, but yeah, I'll see you at the party" I said and headed toward the exit. As I came out of the farmhouse it had started to darken. The snowfall had stopped though and the newly fallen snow glistened as it was layered over the grass that could not be seen during this time of the year. I looked up at the sky and saw a few clouds above the orchard. I thought I'd sit and wait until Applejack came out of the house so I flew up to one of the clouds and sat down, keeping my eye on the front door to the farmhouse. I woke up by cold snowflakes falling onto my face. I sat up and after a split second, I realized that I had fallen asleep. I quickly turned my gaze to the front door to Applejacks house but understood shortly after that she had probably left and already gone to the stores. "Aw, come on!" I exclaimed and flew off the cloud and toward the main area of Ponyville where most of the stores were located. It had started to snow again but unlike the blizzard earlier, the snowfall was more gentle and slow. There were more ponies walking around town now as they were getting ready to celebrate New Year's Eve together. I scanned the area with my eyes, searching for Applejack. She could be anywhere in this crowd of ponies and yet, it didn't take long for me to recognize her typical hat in the large crowd. I could recognize my friends anywhere, plus I was really talented at multitasking while flying so that made it a whole lot easier too. As I followed Applejack with my gaze, I saw that she walked into the sports and gear store. So, the pony she liked had an interest for sports, huh? Well, so did I! But how come she chose them and not me? I mean, could there even be a better athlete than me in Equestria? I don't know, but I did know that I was one of the best athletes in Equestria, and again, probably the best too. But maybe it wasn't only because of that interest she had chose to be with whoever her special somepony was. I flew down and carefully peeked through one of the windows to the store. Applejack was talking to the pony at the counter, giving her a receipt of some sort. I then saw the pony at the counter nod and disappear into a room located behind the counter. After a while, the pony came back with a medium sized packaging box that she put on the counter in front of Applejack. I saw them say a few words to each other before the pony at the counter opened the box up and was seeming to show its contents to Applejack. The way Applejacks eyes lighted up as she saw what the box had inside was, well, adorable, but that also made me think about how happy and excited she was to give the present to her special somepony. Okay, I gotta admit it. I was jealous. But not only that. I felt left out. You know, when you think somepony that means a whole lot to you also thinks you mean the world to them and then find out that they, in fact, never felt the same, that thought is, well, heartbreaking? Haha, that's silly, never once in my life did I think that I'd feel that way, but here I was looking through a window as the pony I had wanted to ask out for so long, had found her happiness in somepony else. And I didn't even know who that pony was! Anyway, so, as I looked, I saw Applejack closing the box back down again. It's a shame I couldn't see what was inside of it though. She and the pony at the counter talked a little more as the pony wrapped the box in red wrapping paper. At last, she tied a multicoloured string around the box, followed by a multicoloured ribbon at the top and gave it to Applejack. I saw how Applejack smiled as she took the gift box, waved bye to the pony at the counter, and started to head towards the exit. I was quick to fly back up into the sky and find a cloud to sit on where I could still see Applejack as she walked out of the store. And there was the present. The box that was wrapped in red wrapping paper with multicoloured strings and ribbons. I could see it clearly now, and I had to admit it was so nicely wrapped, and you could tell that whoever the present was for, it meant a lot for Applejack to show them just how much they meant for her. A part of me wanted to be happy for her as I saw her walk through the path toward Sweet Apple Acres. I really did. I really wanted to, and I would because as a friend, I'd do that. But then again, another part of me was wishing that I would've taken the chance when I could and asked her out before somepony else had. But now it was too late. She obviously loved the pony she was together with and I was definitely not the kind of pony who would interrupt such relationships and plot to break them. I sighed and laid down on the cloud as I saw Applejack disappear into the depths of the orchard. At least she was happy, right? And again, I was Rainbow Dash, if anything ever bothered me, I'd move past it and find something else to do. But this time I didn't feel like it. Maybe I would sooner or later, but at the moment, I just wanted to have some time for myself and think. So I flew off of the cloud and toward my house. I had a little time before I had to go to the party so I thought I'd take some time to calm down and find something that could distract me from all that craziness. I entered my house, closed the door and flopped down onto the sofa in my living room. I had always been lucky throughout my whole life, well, almost, but this time I had been the unluckiest out of all the unlucky ponies that could even exist. Okay, maybe I was over-exaggerating but that's how I felt. I groaned into the pillow that had been on the sofa. "Who could she possibly like?!" I said in frustration as I sat up and looked at the ceiling. "I thought she liked me" I continued, then sighed and face planted into the pillow again. At first I had thought that maybe Rarity and Fluttershy were making things up. That maybe they just, as a joke, mentioned Applejack buying a present for somepony and didn't really mean it. But now that I had seen it with my own eyes, I had to accept that what I had seen was true after all. So, maybe I cried cause I didn't really know what else to do. I said maybe. I just know that when I looked back up at the clock again, the party was gonna start in about 10 minutes or so. So I had to get up and leave soon. That was totally fine, who knew, maybe a party would be the perfect distraction considering the fact that Applejack was gonna bring loads of apple cider, and I always loved to have some of that. Then again, I really didn't want to miss out on the party because I mean, who would want to miss out on one? Hah, not me. Definitely not me. So I got up and got ready as much as I needed to, and by that I mean looking at myself in the mirror and admiring how awesome I was, then went outside and toward Sugarcube Corner. Who, Me?I arrived at the party just in time. Sugarcube Corner was heavily decorated on the outside just as much as it was decorated on the inside. Some tables that were normally used as seating when ponies came to eat something had been pushed aside, making room for a dance floor at the centre. A bit further away was a short staircase that lead to the other seating area that was located on a slightly more raised floor level than the actual floor in the cafeteria. I could see a few familiar faces of ponies that I saw everyday around in Ponyville that were sitting there and some had already started to do the countdown. It was only 5.35 PM. Come on. I looked around in the room for a while until I finally saw Rarity and Fluttershy stand in a corner, chatting. I assumed Pinkie Pie and Applejack were in the kitchen, finishing up the making the last snacks that needed to get done so I walked up to Rarity and Fluttershy and greeted them. "I must say this party really isn't as fancy as those Canterlot ones, but I do admire the decor!" Rarity said as she looked around at all the lights. Fluttershy and I laughed since we both knew that Rarity had actually been a part of the whole decorating thing, and was just admiring her own work. "Yeah yeah, you could've made it more fancy cause you were the one decorating" I said and rolled my eyes but kept a smile. Rarity shook her head and put her hoof dramatically on her forehead, like she always did when she had to be dramatic about something. "Oh how I wish I could've! But it was against the theme darling! And I respect the party theme Pinkie Pie had planned!" she said and gave us a long dramatic sigh. I saw Fluttershy open up her mouth to say something. Probably something like ' oh don't worry Rarity, you did a wonderful job decorating!' because that's something she'd totally do but got interrupted by Pinkie Pie who jumped forward and brought us all into a big, tight group hug. I heard a familiar chuckle behind her followed by a familiar voice that I recognized all too well. "Now now Pinkie, don't drop the plate of cookies you're holding- uh, with your mane, somehow" Applejack said as she stepped closer to where we all stood. "Of course not!" Pinkie Pie laughed and ended the hug. Thank goodness. And went to a table that was on the side and put the cookies on there. "Now Applejack! Do tell us about that...secret present of yours darling!" Rarity said as she kept a smug smile on her face and raised her eyebrows. Did Rarity really have to bring that topic up now?! Cause I had come here to not think about it, and here she was reminding me about all that again. I thought I saw Applejack give Rarity a quick glare. The one that said 'you're not supposed to say that here!'. So Applejack knew that I didn't know. She had been hiding it all on purpose. No, not by accident. On purpose! Fortunately Pinkie Pie stepped in and changed the topic. I don't know if it was on purpose, and if she was involved in the whole 'keeping a secret from Rainbow Dash' thing or if she just casually changed topic like she always did, anywho, we started talking about what we'd do the upcoming year, what we wished for and stuff, you know, those unnecessary promises that ponies made to themselves at the end of the year, promising that they'll turn their whole life around just as soon as the new year comes but still end up doing nothing? Yeah, those kinds of. Well, for most of the time it was Rarity who kept going on and on about how she'd try to be less dramatic and more rational but we all knew it was probably impossible for somepony like Rarity to just stop being dramatic. I on the other hoof didn't really care about those new year resolutions that most ponies did. I just did what I had to do when I wanted to. It was all going great and we were all having a blast until Rarity just had to bring up that topic...again! "Applejaaaack, now do talk about your special somepony darling!" She said as she smirked at me as if she was on purpose trying to make me more annoyed. "Rarity, I told you to-" Applejack started. That's it. I've had enough. "You know what? Go on and talk about whoever your special somepony is, I'll just sit over there pretending to not know anything about how my best friend told everypony else about this but not me!" I snapped and scowled at Applejack in which she looked back at me in surprise. Okay, they were all looking at me with surprised expressions, except for Rarity, who seemed to be the most calm amongst them. Some other ponies nearby looked at all of us for a second or two, then continued on with their partying. I sighed and took a cup of apple cider. "I'm just gonna sit over there for a bit" I said and headed toward an empty table at the corner. I sat down but what I hadn't noticed was that Applejack had followed me to my table, and now sat down across me. I looked up and rolled my eyes at her. "What? Go and tell them all about it" I said and took a sip of the warm cider. "Oh, they already know all about her" Applejack said, taking a bite out of a cupcake that she had. "Cool" I replied blankly, looking down at the cider in the cup and the foam that floated around in it. I heard Applejack let out a sigh, then put something forward on the table between us both. I looked up from my cup and at the object she had placed and I don't know if it made me confused or even more angry. It was that box in red wrapping paper with multicoloured strings. The present that belonged to Applejack's special somepony. "What? You're just gonna place this here in front of me?! Without apologizing or anything?! Just go give it to your special somepony!" I said and turned away from her. "I am givin' it to my special somepony, so take it!" Applejack pushed forward the gift box toward me. Wait, what? I turned back around and met her gaze. She was smiling. Just the way she had been smiling when she was walking back home with the gift box after she had been at the store. Just the way she always smiled when I came to hang out with her, or when we stumbled upon each other unexpectedly while walking around Ponyville. "Who, me-?" I said slowly and looked down at the gift box that was on the table in front of me. Yeah, it was exactly the same box that I had seen her with earlier. "It's for you" Applejack said, her smile widening. "It was for you all along" It took a few seconds to process it all for me. But when I finally realized, I finally realized. The reason I hadn't known about Applejacks special somepony was because it wasn't somepony I knew. It was me. All along. Which also explained why Pinkie Pie said I wasn't one of Applejack's best friends, I was more than that. And I finally understood why nopony was telling me who it was because if they did, it would've ruined the whole surprise. So I had been right, Applejack did feel the same for me as I felt for her. She always had, and she certainly wasn't in love with somepony else. You know, this once again proved that my instincts were in fact, always right. We really did have a thing going on. I looked back up at Applejack again. "Oh come on!" I said and burst into laughter. Applejack joined in shortly after. "I won" she then said and smirked. I instantly knew what she meant. She had won because she asked me out before I had the chance to. Damn it. But was I mad at her for that? Not at all. Heh, I always knew I had luck beside me. Cause right now I felt like the most luckiest pony out of all the luckiest ponies in all of Equestria. "I'll win at something else then" I smirked and winked at Applejack. I brought the gift box closer and unwrapped it. It revealed the same packaging box that I had seen earlier and when I opened it, I saw that it contained a brand new hockey helmet. I took it out of the box to get a closer look. It. Was. Awesome. It was almost exactly like the one I had been saving up for, except that it was even better. It had a rainbow lightning bolt at the top of it and some other really cool patterns that made the whole thing look 120% cooler. "Do ya like it? I mean, ya better, cause I saved up for it and it took way longer than I had planned" Applejack said and chuckled. "Like it? I love it! But wait, you were gonna give it earlier?" I put the helmet back in the box and looked at Applejack again as I smiled. "Yeah, I was gonna give you this at Hearth's Warming but because we all had to donate some money to the mayor, I kinda fell behind on the saving, heh" she said and finished the last of her cupcake that she had been eating. I gulped down the rest of the cider and put the empty cup back on the table. "Of course that happened" I laughed. "But why did you have to make all of this so complicated?" I asked. No lie, this was awesome. But I still couldn't figure out why the others, especially Rarity, had been talking about it so loudly in front of everyone. "I didn't, I only told Rarity about this whole secret present to you, and I told her to not speak about it in public, but I guess she just couldn't keep her mouth shut" Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes as she turned around and looked at Rarity, who was a little bit further away, inspecting us both. "Darlings!! It all worked out in the end now didn't it?!" She giggled and gave us a smirk. "Rainbow Dash wasn't supposed to know about it until now, but apparently she somehow had found out that I was looking for a gift for my special somepony, now who was responsible for that, huh?" Applejack raised at eyebrow at Rarity who just shrugged in response and kept a smug smile. I snickered and facehooved. "I think it was my fault too, I was just flying by and saw Rarity and Fluttershy talk about all that" I said and groaned in annoyance. Applejack laughed. "They shouldn't have been talking about it outside anyway, who knows from what corner you could've been spying from" she then said and winked at me. I snickered in response as I got up from the table. "Alright, alright, now how about I challenge you to a dance battle?" I looked at Applejack and grinned confidently. The rest of the evening was awesome. I loved it to the fullest and you might ask: who won at the dance battle? Well, Pinkie said it was a tie between me and Applejack, but I knew that I won for sure, just don't tell Applejack I said that. We all took part in the countdown as we sat on one of the highest hills in Ponyville and as soon as it became midnight we all cheered and the fireworks started. It was all pretty awesome. I leaned closer to Applejack as we were watching the fireworks and whispered in her ear. "You know what I love more than these fireworks?" I asked and smirked. Applejack looked at me and thought for a second. "Yourself?" She smirked back and chuckled. "No! You" I answered and laughed. "Then I'd say the same about you" Applejack said and also laughed. For the rest of the fireworks, we just leaned against each other and watched those amazing colours light up the night sky, with the rest of our friends. So yeah, I'm Rainbow Dash and I'm awesome. And I have everything that I could ever ask for.
I'm Not Jealous!Listen up! So, I wouldn't call myself the jealous type, no way, okay, maybe sometimes, like when the whole mare-do-well thing happened, but I wouldn't call that being jealous. It's just that I get frustrated when somepony has something that I've wanted, now it's not about everything. Because, I have almost everything I've ever wanted. I'm awesome. I'm a wonderbolt, heh, I'll probably also be the captain someday. And again, I'm awesome. So, everything I've always wanted to have should be with me by now, right? Cause I'm Rainbow Dash, what other things could I possibly want other than being famous throughout Equestria and beyond, living my dream as a wonderbolt? Well...I thought I had everything until I found out something about a specific best friend. Now, I was just casually flying through Ponyville. That's when I saw Rarity near her boutique talking with Fluttershy. Don't tell them, but I like to overhear on their conversations secretly because they're interesting. Like, the other day I heard them talking about the mayor falling down some stairs and landing in a bucket of paint. Now that is hilarious. So, that's what I was doing that day. Just listening to Fluttershy and Rarity, without them knowing, of course. And at first, their conversation was quite boring. It was about dresses and some other popular fashionistas, none of that really catches my attention. But just as I was about to fly off I heard them mention Applejack, which made me stop right in my tracks. Now, I'm not a spy, I promise, except I might casually see what my friends are up to without them really knowing, but it's not spying! Anyway, so, obviously that caught my attention, cause if it was something embarrassing they were gonna talk about, I would head straight up to Applejack and tell her that she'd been exposed and laugh at her, which would make her even more embarrassed and flustered, which I think is adorable. Wait...don't tell anyone but, I might have a slight crush on Applejack, okay, I wouldn't say a slight crush, more like "I'd definitely be your girlfriend and I could ask you out anytime" kinda crush. And I had planned to ask her out, because I thought we had a thing going on for a while, ugh, up until Rarity said something about Applejack trying to find a present for her 'special somepony'. I'm sorry, what?! SPECIAL SOMEPONY?! Applejack? And she hadn't even mentioned anything about it to me! Cause when I heard that I had to pinch myself in order to make sure it wasn't a dream. Not to be dramatic, but it felt like a door slamming shut right in front of my face. And so, I guess I spent the rest of the day jumping on snow clouds in utter frustration. Since when did Applejack have a special somepony?! And who was it? Having no answers to any of that drives me crazy. I should've gone to Applejack and questioned her about what I had heard, but I don't know, I guess I was just too annoyed to even think about that. I wasn't so sure she'd tell me anyway, why would she now? She could've before, and she didn't, so why now? Wait. Now that I think about it again, Rarity and Fluttershy knew, but why would they know? Had Applejack told them and not me? Did all my friends know about it except for me?! Now this is definitely driving me crazy, and here I thought Applejack herself had said "You're probably my closest friend in our friend group" to me just yesterday. Now where in the hay did that statement run off to? Since I basically had no answers about this situation, I had come up with a solution. I wouldn't make Applejack explain to me who her special somepony was because she wouldn't tell me. Instead, I was gonna find it all out myself!
I Need To Know!Today was New Year's Eve and a lot of ponies would get out of bed due to the excitement but I had other plans. I got out of bed and after just a few minutes or so, I was outside flying, heading toward Carousel Boutique. I zoomed past all the buildings, dodging trees that got in my way every now and then until I finally reached the front door to Rarity's house. I knocked on the door and suddenly heard a gasp from the inside of the boutique and something inaudible, then hoofsteps that came closer and lastly a click as the door to the boutique opened up. "Rainbow Dash, darling! So good to see you, come in come in!" Rarity said in surprise and opened up the door even more so that I could step inside. "What are you doing up this early? It's only 8 AM" she continued. I gave Rarity a suspicious look. If anypony knew what was going on, it was Rarity, and that's why I had come here to her, to get some answers. "I have a question" I said as I looked around the boutique, searching for anything that could give me the slightest hint of the things I didn't know. "Do ask! Although I am very surprised you came this early just to ask a question!" Rarity said happily as she went over to her sewing machine and cut some fabric. "Was Applejack really looking for a present for her special somepony?" I asked without hesitating. I knew Rarity knew about something I didn't, and I had to find out what it was, but my biggest question was why I never knew about any of that in the first place. Again, it wasn't like Applejack to leave someone out when it came to things like these. Especially not her best friends. "Huh?" Rarity looked up from her sewing machine and at me with a slightly shocked expression, as if I had asked something crazy, then she furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "So you're telling me you were listening to the conversation me and Fluttershy were having yesterday? Without us knowing?!" Rarity exclaimed in annoyance as she returned to working on her fabric. I rolled my eyes and groaned which made Rarity look back up at me again with a whole different expression. She wasn't irritated, or well, she didn't look like it. Instead, she was smiling mysteriously and giggled slightly as she stepped away from her sewing machine and back to where I was. "Now Rainbow Dash, why are you so desperate to know if Applejack has been looking for a present for her special somepony?" Rarity asked and flashed her eyebrows as she grinned. I turned away from her in frustration. Maybe getting an answer from Rarity would be way more difficult than I had originally thought. Ironic, since Rarity would happily gossip about anything she had heard in Ponyville or read in the magazines, and now she was questioning me? But then again, it was none of her business to know why I needed that information. "None of your business" I said as I faced her again and gave a glare. "But I need to know" Rarity shrugged and smiled as if she was satisfied with herself. "What you're asking me is none of your business either darling!" she then said and went toward her shelf with ribbons. "But it is!" "It is not! Now now, calm down, you're acting as if Applejack has stolen your money or something!" "Ugh, whatever, I'll see you later at the party" I muttered and stepped out of the boutique. I heard Rarity reply with a joyful goodbye before closing the door. Was I supposed to go to Fluttershy and ask her instead? Fluttershy was probably way easier to convince compared to Rarity, but she was also way more sensitive and I didn't want to bother her too much. I thought I'd go and ask her anyway, if she refused to tell, I'd ask Pinkie Pie. I wasn't sure if Pinkie Pie was a part of this whole thing, but just in case. It had started to snow and the wind was stronger than before, so I had to walk all the way to Fluttershy's in the blizzard. As I finally made it up to Fluttershy's front door, it suddenly flung up by itself followed by her pet Angel running out with a scarf in his grasp. I pushed the door open more and now saw Fluttershy also heading toward the opening in a rush but as she saw me she slowed down. "Rainbow Dash! I'm so sorry I'm in a rush, Angel stole somepony's scarf and I gotta take it from him and return it!" she said quickly as she put on her boots and stepped out of the door. I sighed. "I'll get him" I said and took off quickly, it didn't take long for me to catch up to Angel since he was literally just a bunny. I then grabbed him and went back to Fluttershy. "Angel! Bad bunny, this is no way to behave" Fluttershy scolded and took back her pet. She then gripped the scarf that Angel had and sent him back inside the cottage. "Now don't cause any more trouble, I promise I'll give you the carrot you asked for" she said and turned back to face me. "I came here to ask something, that is if you're not in a rush anymore" I said as Fluttershy shut the front door behind her. "Ask away! I have the scarf, and now I just gotta give it back to Strawberry Sunrise, but you can come along if you want to!" Fluttershy suggested. "Yeah sure" I stepped down the path, starting to walk toward the centre of Ponyville with Fluttershy. "Soooo, have you seen Applejack around today?" I asked. I thought maybe if I started the topic slowly, it would be way easier to get an answer, maybe Fluttershy would say something useful by accident. Fluttershy giggled. "No, it's only 9 AM, I've been inside and just finished eating breakfast" she answered. Oops, I had forgotten how early it was. Usually I'd sleep in late till noon or so but I just couldn't, not today at least. Not while knowing that all of my friends knew something that I didn't. Now if Twilight, who was in Canterlot, also knew...ugh. I shook my head to get rid of all those thoughts and turned my attention back to Fluttershy. "Hehe, right, but what about yesterday?" I asked. Fluttershy seemed to think about something for a second, then smiled. "Yes! I saw her yesterday, she was shopping for a present!" Yes! Finally I could get some answers. "Who for?" I asked, almost a little too quickly. I guess I was just really eager to get to know who the present was for. I needed to know who that special somepony was and why they were so important to Applejack. "Her special somepony!" Fluttershy said happily as she continued walking through the path. "And her special somepony is-??" I asked, hoping she'd give me the answer I was looking for. "Oh I don't know! And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you" Fluttershy bit her lip and started walking faster. "Why not?!" "Oh look! We are at Strawberry Sunrises house now, thanks for tagging along with me Rainbow Dash, see you later!" Fluttershy said quickly as she hurried toward Strawberry Sunrise's front door, knocking on it. She then smiled and waved goodbye to me as the door opened and she disappeared into the house. I blinked a few times in disbelief. Even Fluttershy didn't tell me anything?! I facehooved and turned around, starting to walk toward Sugarcube Corner. It was probably a good idea to go there anyway since I hadn't had any breakfast and I had forgotten how hungry I was. The blizzard had cleared out and only a few snowflakes were slowly falling down through the sky, landing gently on the ground. Maybe I should've told Applejack about everything earlier and not waited so long. Now it was probably too late because she was with somepony else, and somepony I didn't even know about. Or did I? If it was someone who lived in Ponyville, there was a very high chance I knew about them too. But I hadn't seen Applejack hang out with somepony specific for an extended amount of time. No, they were all just casual everyday conversations with casual everyday ponies. None of it made any sense at all to me. Was it somepony she saw in secret, without the knowledge of anypony else? If so, why would she even do that? I was thrown out of my thoughts the moment a hard wooden surface hit my face. I backed up and realized that I had walked right into the front door of Sugarcube Corner. "Well this day is going just great" I muttered to myself and opened up the door to the bakery, stepping inside. The moment I stepped in I was met with the warmth of the bakery and the smell of cinnamon and candy. I sighed in satisfaction, it was nice to be someplace warm after being out in the cold the whole morning. I then looked around for Pinkie Pie, who was nowhere to be seen in the main room so I decided to head toward the kitchen where I thought I heard some sounds coming from. As always, I was right. Pinkie Pie was in the kitchen mixing some cake batter at an incredibly fast pace, not only that, she was mixing three bowls at the same time but then again, Pinkie Pie was Pinkie Pie and she could always do things nopony else could. I was just about to greet her when she turned around with a wide smile on her face. "Hiya!!! Are you here to test out the cakes I'm making for tonight's party?! It's gonna be super amazing!" she cheered. "Oh I know it will" I agreed. "And not really, I just came here to talk" I added as I stepped further into the kitchen, looking at all the things Pinkie Pie had been preparing for the party. There were pies, cakes, cupcakes and cookies, well, all sorts of sweet things you could imagine. You know, seeing Pinkie's excitement actually made me less worried and wanted to look forward to the New Year's Eve party instead, but it was only for a few seconds since the other thoughts returned. "Whatcha wanna talk about?!" Pinkie Pie asked in the same cheerful tone as before. "Do you happen to know somepony really special to Applejack? You've said how you knew a lot about everypony in town and-" "Oh I do know A LOT about ALL the ponies in Ponyville!" Pinkie Pie interrupted. "Her family is special to her, ooh ohh! And me, and Fluttershy and Rarity and Twilight, her best friends!! Ohhh and-" I furrowed my eyebrows at that statement. Why did Pinkie Pie mention all but me? "Uh- and me too" I interrupted Pinkie Pie before she could finish her sentence. "I'm her best friend too" Pinkie Pie giggled innocently, like she always did when somepony didn't get something so obvious. "You're not her best friend, silly!" she spoke, unfazed by what she had just said. "More like h-" "You know what? I don't need to know" I said harshly as I turned around and stepped out of the kitchen and out of the bakery as fast as I could. Had Pinkie Pie just said that I wasn't one of Applejack's best friends? Since when?! Last time I hung out with her was just two days ago! She seemed fine back then, and we definitely didn't have a fight or anything. Or well, I don't think we did. I thought back to the last time I saw Applejack as I walked away from Sugarcube Corner, not really knowing where I was heading. Applejack had been just fine last time when I came over to Sweet Apple Acres to hang out. She had been walking around in the orchard to make sure all her trees were doing okay. You know, just casual Applejack stuff. Anyway, so I sneaked up on her and threw a snowball at her, to which she turned around to and shouted my name. And I remember laughing until I got hit by a snowball from Applejack. But we weren't fighting, no, we were having fun, and so after a while we ended the snowball fight and went inside. Applejack said she was gonna make some delicious cider for both of us. And I remember watching her make the cider and there was no sign of any anger or frustration, she was just very happy. And so was I. Could it have been that Applejack had known about me liking her, and on purpose avoided telling me about her special somepony so that it wouldn't get upsetting? I don't really know. But that doesn't really sound like Applejack either. She wouldn't hide the truth even though it could've been upsetting. Oh great, now I was upset about two things. One, that Applejack apparently didn't like me back even though I thought she did, and second, she didn't even care to tell me who she liked! Was it because I was bad at keeping secrets? Because I was 120% sure that I could keep a secret way better than Rarity. But she knew, and I didn't. At this point I was pretty sure even Twilight knew about who Applejack liked and yet, she lived all the way back in Canterlot. As I finally payed attention to my surroundings, I realized I was now at Sweet Apple Acres. The trees looked bare and there were no apples to be seen, obviously, cause it was wintertime and all, but through all that chilly breeze outside, there was a slight warmth coming from the farmhouse. I really didn't want to step closer but I did anyway. Suddenly the front door to the farmhouse flung open and I could've taken off quickly and flown away back to my house, but I didn't. The door closed shortly after, revealing Applejack who was holding a cup of coffee in one of her hooves as she breathed in the fresh morning air. It didn't take more than a split second till she noticed me standing a bit further away from the farmhouse. "Howdy Rainbow! What are ya doin' up so early?" She chuckled and took a sip of her coffee. Well, there was no escape now.
It Makes No Sense!I had to admit, even after everything I had just heard and thought about this morning, seeing Applejack brought some relief to me and the fact that she was greeting me just as she'd normally do made me forget about the thought that there could be a chance she might've been angry at me or something. So I walked up to her. "Don't ya usually sleep until noon?" Applejack questioned, keeping a smile on her face. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't get up early if I want to" I said and laughed a little. "I'd say ya look more like as if somepony forced ya out of bed at 5 AM" she said as she took another sip of her coffee. "In case ya haven't had any breakfast, we got some left in kitchen" The mention of breakfast made me realize that I had been hungry all morning. I glanced at Applejack, searching for any glimpse of boredom in her but there was none. Her eyes were just expressing pure joy and amusement. None of this made any sense and none of the pieces fit together. She was acting just like her usual self, as if nothing had happened. Well, nothing had really happened. Except that she was together with somepony and everyone except for me knew. I then realized I hadn't responded to Applejack and quickly shook myself out of my thoughts and directed my attention back to her again. "Breakfast would be nice" I finally said and forced a smile. Applejack turned back around and opened up the front door. I stepped into her living room and followed her into the kitchen. I gasped in surprise as I saw the dining table. On the table was a plate with freshly made waffles and a thermos flask with hot chocolate inside and some other delicious stuff I'm lazy to describe. "Woah, all of that looks delicious" I said as I sat down at the table and took a bite out of a waffle. It felt great to finally have something to eat and the waffles were so delicious I had forgotten about everything I had been worried about before. Everything felt just the same as it was two days ago, before I had known anything about Applejack getting a present for somepony. It didn't take long for me to finish the two waffles I had put down on my plate. I then poured some hot chocolate into a cup and took a sip out of it. "I forgot how hungry I was, thanks" I said as I smiled at Applejack. Damn, I liked her so much. She had always been so awesome, okay, not as awesome as me but except for me, she was the most awesome pony I ever knew and...all of this reminded me about the conflict I had in my mind earlier. That I couldn't like the pony I wanted to like as much as I wanted to. "Is something the matter?" I looked up from the cup of hot chocolate and at Applejack who was looking at me with furrowed eyebrows. "I'm fine, why?" I asked as I took another sip of the hot chocolate. "Ah dunno, ya frowned for a second there" Applejack replied. I hadn't realized I had been frowning. Jeez, why does she gotta notice everything. I let out a short laugh. "Oh no no, I'm great" I said and finished my hot chocolate. "So" I started as I put the empty cup back down on the table. "Whatcha gonna do for the rest of the day?" I asked. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't ask that only because I wanted to know more about the whole secret special somepony thing, I really wanted to know what she was gonna do. "Heh, I'll be goin to the stores, gotta pick somethin' I ordered from there, then I just gotta get some stuff ready for the party n' all, and that's that" Applejack said with a smile. She put away the remaining waffles into the fridge along with some other leftovers from the breakfast. I knew the New Year's Eve party was gonna be awesome and a blast, but wait, did Applejack mention something about going to the stores to pick something up? Could this be my way to finally get an answer? "That's cool" I said as I fidgeted around with the empty cup in my hooves. If I also went to the stores that Applejack went to, without her knowing of course, I could find out who the present was for. "Sooo, when are you going?" I asked. "Uhh" Applejack thought for a moment and looked at the clock that was hanging on the kitchen wall. "In about an hour or so" she then said and sat down on a chair which was right across mine. I just didn't get it. How could she act so casual as if everything was the same? Because it wasn't, right? And if what Pinkie Pie had mentioned really was true, why in Equestria was Applejack acting the same way toward me as she always did? None of this made any sense at all. "So, have ya played any hockey like ya always do this winter? Cause I haven't seen ya do it" Applejack asked, almost hesitatingly. I leaned back in the chair and laughed. "Not really. My helmet broke, remember? And I was saving up for a new one...until the mayor insisted on that everypony needed to donate some bits in order to fix the roof of the town hall" I said and rolled my eyes. "Uh huh" Applejack said as she put her hoof under her chin as if she was thinking about something. "So ya don't have a helmet for hockey at all then?" "Nope" I said and sat up in my chair again. I glanced at the clock. It was around 2 PM now and Applejack was probably gonna leave for the stores in around 15 minutes. The party was gonna start at 5.30 PM, but Pinkie Pie wouldn't mind if anypony showed up a little early. "Heh, well, I guess I'll cya at the party then, I just gotta fix up the kitchen a little bit then head to the stores, but I'm glad ya stopped by for some breakfast" Applejack smiled as she got up from the chair and went to the sink to wash some dishes that were on the kitchen counter. "No problem, it was really delicious, but yeah, I'll see you at the party" I said and headed toward the exit. As I came out of the farmhouse it had started to darken. The snowfall had stopped though and the newly fallen snow glistened as it was layered over the grass that could not be seen during this time of the year. I looked up at the sky and saw a few clouds above the orchard. I thought I'd sit and wait until Applejack came out of the house so I flew up to one of the clouds and sat down, keeping my eye on the front door to the farmhouse. I woke up by cold snowflakes falling onto my face. I sat up and after a split second, I realized that I had fallen asleep. I quickly turned my gaze to the front door to Applejacks house but understood shortly after that she had probably left and already gone to the stores. "Aw, come on!" I exclaimed and flew off the cloud and toward the main area of Ponyville where most of the stores were located. It had started to snow again but unlike the blizzard earlier, the snowfall was more gentle and slow. There were more ponies walking around town now as they were getting ready to celebrate New Year's Eve together. I scanned the area with my eyes, searching for Applejack. She could be anywhere in this crowd of ponies and yet, it didn't take long for me to recognize her typical hat in the large crowd. I could recognize my friends anywhere, plus I was really talented at multitasking while flying so that made it a whole lot easier too. As I followed Applejack with my gaze, I saw that she walked into the sports and gear store. So, the pony she liked had an interest for sports, huh? Well, so did I! But how come she chose them and not me? I mean, could there even be a better athlete than me in Equestria? I don't know, but I did know that I was one of the best athletes in Equestria, and again, probably the best too. But maybe it wasn't only because of that interest she had chose to be with whoever her special somepony was. I flew down and carefully peeked through one of the windows to the store. Applejack was talking to the pony at the counter, giving her a receipt of some sort. I then saw the pony at the counter nod and disappear into a room located behind the counter. After a while, the pony came back with a medium sized packaging box that she put on the counter in front of Applejack. I saw them say a few words to each other before the pony at the counter opened the box up and was seeming to show its contents to Applejack. The way Applejacks eyes lighted up as she saw what the box had inside was, well, adorable, but that also made me think about how happy and excited she was to give the present to her special somepony. Okay, I gotta admit it. I was jealous. But not only that. I felt left out. You know, when you think somepony that means a whole lot to you also thinks you mean the world to them and then find out that they, in fact, never felt the same, that thought is, well, heartbreaking? Haha, that's silly, never once in my life did I think that I'd feel that way, but here I was looking through a window as the pony I had wanted to ask out for so long, had found her happiness in somepony else. And I didn't even know who that pony was! Anyway, so, as I looked, I saw Applejack closing the box back down again. It's a shame I couldn't see what was inside of it though. She and the pony at the counter talked a little more as the pony wrapped the box in red wrapping paper. At last, she tied a multicoloured string around the box, followed by a multicoloured ribbon at the top and gave it to Applejack. I saw how Applejack smiled as she took the gift box, waved bye to the pony at the counter, and started to head towards the exit. I was quick to fly back up into the sky and find a cloud to sit on where I could still see Applejack as she walked out of the store. And there was the present. The box that was wrapped in red wrapping paper with multicoloured strings and ribbons. I could see it clearly now, and I had to admit it was so nicely wrapped, and you could tell that whoever the present was for, it meant a lot for Applejack to show them just how much they meant for her. A part of me wanted to be happy for her as I saw her walk through the path toward Sweet Apple Acres. I really did. I really wanted to, and I would because as a friend, I'd do that. But then again, another part of me was wishing that I would've taken the chance when I could and asked her out before somepony else had. But now it was too late. She obviously loved the pony she was together with and I was definitely not the kind of pony who would interrupt such relationships and plot to break them. I sighed and laid down on the cloud as I saw Applejack disappear into the depths of the orchard. At least she was happy, right? And again, I was Rainbow Dash, if anything ever bothered me, I'd move past it and find something else to do. But this time I didn't feel like it. Maybe I would sooner or later, but at the moment, I just wanted to have some time for myself and think. So I flew off of the cloud and toward my house. I had a little time before I had to go to the party so I thought I'd take some time to calm down and find something that could distract me from all that craziness. I entered my house, closed the door and flopped down onto the sofa in my living room. I had always been lucky throughout my whole life, well, almost, but this time I had been the unluckiest out of all the unlucky ponies that could even exist. Okay, maybe I was over-exaggerating but that's how I felt. I groaned into the pillow that had been on the sofa. "Who could she possibly like?!" I said in frustration as I sat up and looked at the ceiling. "I thought she liked me" I continued, then sighed and face planted into the pillow again. At first I had thought that maybe Rarity and Fluttershy were making things up. That maybe they just, as a joke, mentioned Applejack buying a present for somepony and didn't really mean it. But now that I had seen it with my own eyes, I had to accept that what I had seen was true after all. So, maybe I cried cause I didn't really know what else to do. I said maybe. I just know that when I looked back up at the clock again, the party was gonna start in about 10 minutes or so. So I had to get up and leave soon. That was totally fine, who knew, maybe a party would be the perfect distraction considering the fact that Applejack was gonna bring loads of apple cider, and I always loved to have some of that. Then again, I really didn't want to miss out on the party because I mean, who would want to miss out on one? Hah, not me. Definitely not me. So I got up and got ready as much as I needed to, and by that I mean looking at myself in the mirror and admiring how awesome I was, then went outside and toward Sugarcube Corner.
Who, Me?I arrived at the party just in time. Sugarcube Corner was heavily decorated on the outside just as much as it was decorated on the inside. Some tables that were normally used as seating when ponies came to eat something had been pushed aside, making room for a dance floor at the centre. A bit further away was a short staircase that lead to the other seating area that was located on a slightly more raised floor level than the actual floor in the cafeteria. I could see a few familiar faces of ponies that I saw everyday around in Ponyville that were sitting there and some had already started to do the countdown. It was only 5.35 PM. Come on. I looked around in the room for a while until I finally saw Rarity and Fluttershy stand in a corner, chatting. I assumed Pinkie Pie and Applejack were in the kitchen, finishing up the making the last snacks that needed to get done so I walked up to Rarity and Fluttershy and greeted them. "I must say this party really isn't as fancy as those Canterlot ones, but I do admire the decor!" Rarity said as she looked around at all the lights. Fluttershy and I laughed since we both knew that Rarity had actually been a part of the whole decorating thing, and was just admiring her own work. "Yeah yeah, you could've made it more fancy cause you were the one decorating" I said and rolled my eyes but kept a smile. Rarity shook her head and put her hoof dramatically on her forehead, like she always did when she had to be dramatic about something. "Oh how I wish I could've! But it was against the theme darling! And I respect the party theme Pinkie Pie had planned!" she said and gave us a long dramatic sigh. I saw Fluttershy open up her mouth to say something. Probably something like ' oh don't worry Rarity, you did a wonderful job decorating!' because that's something she'd totally do but got interrupted by Pinkie Pie who jumped forward and brought us all into a big, tight group hug. I heard a familiar chuckle behind her followed by a familiar voice that I recognized all too well. "Now now Pinkie, don't drop the plate of cookies you're holding- uh, with your mane, somehow" Applejack said as she stepped closer to where we all stood. "Of course not!" Pinkie Pie laughed and ended the hug. Thank goodness. And went to a table that was on the side and put the cookies on there. "Now Applejack! Do tell us about that...secret present of yours darling!" Rarity said as she kept a smug smile on her face and raised her eyebrows. Did Rarity really have to bring that topic up now?! Cause I had come here to not think about it, and here she was reminding me about all that again. I thought I saw Applejack give Rarity a quick glare. The one that said 'you're not supposed to say that here!'. So Applejack knew that I didn't know. She had been hiding it all on purpose. No, not by accident. On purpose! Fortunately Pinkie Pie stepped in and changed the topic. I don't know if it was on purpose, and if she was involved in the whole 'keeping a secret from Rainbow Dash' thing or if she just casually changed topic like she always did, anywho, we started talking about what we'd do the upcoming year, what we wished for and stuff, you know, those unnecessary promises that ponies made to themselves at the end of the year, promising that they'll turn their whole life around just as soon as the new year comes but still end up doing nothing? Yeah, those kinds of. Well, for most of the time it was Rarity who kept going on and on about how she'd try to be less dramatic and more rational but we all knew it was probably impossible for somepony like Rarity to just stop being dramatic. I on the other hoof didn't really care about those new year resolutions that most ponies did. I just did what I had to do when I wanted to. It was all going great and we were all having a blast until Rarity just had to bring up that topic...again! "Applejaaaack, now do talk about your special somepony darling!" She said as she smirked at me as if she was on purpose trying to make me more annoyed. "Rarity, I told you to-" Applejack started. That's it. I've had enough. "You know what? Go on and talk about whoever your special somepony is, I'll just sit over there pretending to not know anything about how my best friend told everypony else about this but not me!" I snapped and scowled at Applejack in which she looked back at me in surprise. Okay, they were all looking at me with surprised expressions, except for Rarity, who seemed to be the most calm amongst them. Some other ponies nearby looked at all of us for a second or two, then continued on with their partying. I sighed and took a cup of apple cider. "I'm just gonna sit over there for a bit" I said and headed toward an empty table at the corner. I sat down but what I hadn't noticed was that Applejack had followed me to my table, and now sat down across me. I looked up and rolled my eyes at her. "What? Go and tell them all about it" I said and took a sip of the warm cider. "Oh, they already know all about her" Applejack said, taking a bite out of a cupcake that she had. "Cool" I replied blankly, looking down at the cider in the cup and the foam that floated around in it. I heard Applejack let out a sigh, then put something forward on the table between us both. I looked up from my cup and at the object she had placed and I don't know if it made me confused or even more angry. It was that box in red wrapping paper with multicoloured strings. The present that belonged to Applejack's special somepony. "What? You're just gonna place this here in front of me?! Without apologizing or anything?! Just go give it to your special somepony!" I said and turned away from her. "I am givin' it to my special somepony, so take it!" Applejack pushed forward the gift box toward me. Wait, what? I turned back around and met her gaze. She was smiling. Just the way she had been smiling when she was walking back home with the gift box after she had been at the store. Just the way she always smiled when I came to hang out with her, or when we stumbled upon each other unexpectedly while walking around Ponyville. "Who, me-?" I said slowly and looked down at the gift box that was on the table in front of me. Yeah, it was exactly the same box that I had seen her with earlier. "It's for you" Applejack said, her smile widening. "It was for you all along" It took a few seconds to process it all for me. But when I finally realized, I finally realized. The reason I hadn't known about Applejacks special somepony was because it wasn't somepony I knew. It was me. All along. Which also explained why Pinkie Pie said I wasn't one of Applejack's best friends, I was more than that. And I finally understood why nopony was telling me who it was because if they did, it would've ruined the whole surprise. So I had been right, Applejack did feel the same for me as I felt for her. She always had, and she certainly wasn't in love with somepony else. You know, this once again proved that my instincts were in fact, always right. We really did have a thing going on. I looked back up at Applejack again. "Oh come on!" I said and burst into laughter. Applejack joined in shortly after. "I won" she then said and smirked. I instantly knew what she meant. She had won because she asked me out before I had the chance to. Damn it. But was I mad at her for that? Not at all. Heh, I always knew I had luck beside me. Cause right now I felt like the most luckiest pony out of all the luckiest ponies in all of Equestria. "I'll win at something else then" I smirked and winked at Applejack. I brought the gift box closer and unwrapped it. It revealed the same packaging box that I had seen earlier and when I opened it, I saw that it contained a brand new hockey helmet. I took it out of the box to get a closer look. It. Was. Awesome. It was almost exactly like the one I had been saving up for, except that it was even better. It had a rainbow lightning bolt at the top of it and some other really cool patterns that made the whole thing look 120% cooler. "Do ya like it? I mean, ya better, cause I saved up for it and it took way longer than I had planned" Applejack said and chuckled. "Like it? I love it! But wait, you were gonna give it earlier?" I put the helmet back in the box and looked at Applejack again as I smiled. "Yeah, I was gonna give you this at Hearth's Warming but because we all had to donate some money to the mayor, I kinda fell behind on the saving, heh" she said and finished the last of her cupcake that she had been eating. I gulped down the rest of the cider and put the empty cup back on the table. "Of course that happened" I laughed. "But why did you have to make all of this so complicated?" I asked. No lie, this was awesome. But I still couldn't figure out why the others, especially Rarity, had been talking about it so loudly in front of everyone. "I didn't, I only told Rarity about this whole secret present to you, and I told her to not speak about it in public, but I guess she just couldn't keep her mouth shut" Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes as she turned around and looked at Rarity, who was a little bit further away, inspecting us both. "Darlings!! It all worked out in the end now didn't it?!" She giggled and gave us a smirk. "Rainbow Dash wasn't supposed to know about it until now, but apparently she somehow had found out that I was looking for a gift for my special somepony, now who was responsible for that, huh?" Applejack raised at eyebrow at Rarity who just shrugged in response and kept a smug smile. I snickered and facehooved. "I think it was my fault too, I was just flying by and saw Rarity and Fluttershy talk about all that" I said and groaned in annoyance. Applejack laughed. "They shouldn't have been talking about it outside anyway, who knows from what corner you could've been spying from" she then said and winked at me. I snickered in response as I got up from the table. "Alright, alright, now how about I challenge you to a dance battle?" I looked at Applejack and grinned confidently. The rest of the evening was awesome. I loved it to the fullest and you might ask: who won at the dance battle? Well, Pinkie said it was a tie between me and Applejack, but I knew that I won for sure, just don't tell Applejack I said that. We all took part in the countdown as we sat on one of the highest hills in Ponyville and as soon as it became midnight we all cheered and the fireworks started. It was all pretty awesome. I leaned closer to Applejack as we were watching the fireworks and whispered in her ear. "You know what I love more than these fireworks?" I asked and smirked. Applejack looked at me and thought for a second. "Yourself?" She smirked back and chuckled. "No! You" I answered and laughed. "Then I'd say the same about you" Applejack said and also laughed. For the rest of the fireworks, we just leaned against each other and watched those amazing colours light up the night sky, with the rest of our friends. So yeah, I'm Rainbow Dash and I'm awesome. And I have everything that I could ever ask for.
