strangers to friends, friends into lovers, then strangers again
“So, a lot of the students at Canterlot High want to know how you two met, can you tell me about that?”
“Well, do you want our friendship? Or our relationship? ‘Cause we can give ya’ll both.”
“Yeah, we’ve got time for both.”
“Alright! Well, it started when…”
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻
As the sun began to rise over Canterlot High School, Applejack was already hard at work. She had arrived early to help her family set up their booth at the school's annual Harvest Festival, which promised to be a busy day of selling fresh produce and homemade goods. As she worked, Applejack couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in her family's farm. They had worked hard to get where they were and she knew they were one of the most respected vendors at the festival.
As she looked up, she noticed a new face in the crowd. It was Rainbow Dash, a transfer student who had just arrived at Canterlot High. She’d heard others talking about how they were getting new students from Cloudsdale Middle School. Applejack had heard a few rumors about the rainbow-haired girl in particular; That she was a star athlete and had a reputation for being tough and independent.
Applejack noticed how Rainbow Dash made her way through the festival. Looking closer, Applejack realized that Dash was gliding around using a skateboard. She looked to be having the time of her life, hair whipping in the subtle breeze. Beside her was a girl with light pink hair, following her around with her own pair of rollerblades. AJ assumed this girl to be one of the other transfer students from Cloudsdale. Eventually, the two split apart at the end of the row beside Applejack’s own.
Rainbow Dash approached the booth swiftly and Applejack put on her best smile and greeted her warmly as she slowed to a stop. "Hey, you lookin’ to buy somethin’?"
Rainbow Dash grinned. "Nah, just looking. It’s awesome, though. I've never seen anything like it."
Applejack felt a surge of pride. "We work mighty hard to make it the best that it can be."
Rainbow Dash grinned, but her eyes trailed away awkwardly as the silence grew between them.
“So.. uh, you got a hankering for anything? We’ve got a lot of stuff in stock, I can give you something for a.. discounted price.”
“Nah.. I wasn’t looking for anything to buy.. But I think I found something of interest..” Dash gave a smarmy smirk.
“Oh really? And what would that be?” Applejack leaned on the table with one arm and the other on her hip, lips quirked up pompously.
“Rainbow Dash-” The other transfer student rolled up behind Rainbow, reaching for her arm, but freezing when catching sight of Applejack. “I- oh, I’m so sorry.. were you talking?” The pink-haired girl spoke timidly.
Applejack’s face went bright red for a moment before she coughed and shook it off. “Naw, it's nothin’ important.”
Rainbow turned around, a carefree smile working its way onto her face as she faced the girl. “Yep, nothing important Flutters, we can catch up later..” She gave Applejack a subtle wink.
“I’m sorry-”
“It’s alright, didn’t you want to go see the bunnies? We’d better get going now then.” Without taking another glance at Applejack, she started gliding away, ‘Flutters’ following close behind.
Applejack shook her head and stood up straight, watching the two girls roll away from the booths. Dash surely didn’t disappoint when it came to the rumors.. She was confident and outgoing, but there was something else about the way she had left so abruptlyーnot even sparing her another glanceー that made her live up to those rumors.
Applejack sighed and tried to shake off the weird feeling that the interaction had given her, greeting the person who had just walked up to her booth. She figured she’d learn more about the rainbow-haired girl later.
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻
Over the next few days, they continued to cross paths at school, but they never really spoke to each other. Applejack didn’t want to bother her, since Rainbow Dash seemed too busy with her athletic pursuits to notice anyone.
The next week Applejack found herself in after-school detention. With school only being a month in and it also being her first year of high school, she wasn’t thrilled to be dragged in on a punishment that shouldn’t have been hers. Although, she made the mistake of sitting in the wrong corner of the lunch room. Those students ultimately got into an argument about the newest Daring Doo comic and started a food fight that she was begrudgingly dragged into.
Walking into the classroom where detention was being held, Applejack caught sight of familiar rainbow hair. She made her way over, quietly slipping into the chair next to Dash. Dash’s face was down on the desk, her face squished against her arm. Listening closely enough, she could hear soft snores coming from her. A mischievous grin worked onto her face.
Applejack sat her backpack down on the desk next to Rainbow, pulling out her lightest folder. She turned around, setting it lightly on top of Dash’s head. AJ wasn’t too sure about how light of a sleeper Rainbow was, so she did her best not to make the weight too obvious.
A few moments passed, and Applejack had successfully piled two folders, a textbook, 3 binders, and a pencil bag on top of Rainbow's head. It weighed at least 15 pounds, AJ was in awe of the fact that nothing had woken her up yet. Other students that were in detention as well had sneakily pulled out their phones and begun taking pictures.
Everyone in the room was doing their best to hold in their laughter. One student had been silently laughing so hard that he kicked the desk next to him, barely making a sound exempt from a pencil rolling off the desk. Everyone watched in horror as the pencil fell in near slow motion, gently tapping onto the ground.
The snoring suddenly stopped and Applejack watched in amusement as Rainbow’s body shook as she went to raise her head, eyes widening when she had processed the amount of weight resting on her head.
“WHAT THE F-” The whole tower of school appliances went crashing down, making a loud BOOM as everything hit the ground. Everyone exploded into laughter once again, continuing until Miss Cheerilee came walking in, a flat expression working onto her face.
“Alright everyone,” she rolled her eyes. “You’ve had your fun, now get to work please!”
Applejack sent a smirk in Rainbow Dash’s direction, the other girl still looking around in shock, as if not processing what had happened. Applejack leaned down to grab her appliances, she chuckled quietly. “You're not gonna hear the end of that for weeks, sugarcube.”
Rainbow Dash grumbled and put her head back down without another word.
And that's how their friendship began believe it or not. They started sitting together at lunch and hanging out after school, although most of their interactions with each other were harmless pranks and teasing. After a while they learned, they shared workout habits and started going to the gym together, which became a habit every weekend.
The two of them got along remarkably well, learning more about each other as the days passed. Applejack learned about Rainbow Dash’s liking of comic booksーspecifically Daring DooーAs Rainbow Dash learned about Applejack's deep-seated hatred of math. Applejack had never had a friend like Rainbow Dash before - someone who was so confident, loyal, and independent, but also had a heart of gold. Rainbow Dash had never met anyone like Applejack before, her charming aura and headstrong personality parallelled her own.
But there was something else there too - a spark of something more than just friendship. Applejack couldn't help but feel drawn to Rainbow Dash's energy and enthusiasm, while Rainbow Dash found herself increasingly drawn to Applejack's strength and loyalty.
One day, as they were taking a break from their workout, Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack and said, "You know, I think you're pretty awesome."
Applejack scoffed playfully. "I’m well aware of that darlin’."
"No, really," Rainbow Dash smiled, but it wasn’t like her normal teasing smirk. This one was different.. "You work so hard and you're always there for your family and your friends. I wish I could be like you.."
Applejack felt a flutter in her stomach. "Aw.. Well, I think you're pretty amazing too. You're fearless and you always go after what you want. That takes a lot of guts."
Rainbow Dash grinned. "Thanks. I'm glad you think so."
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻
As the days and weeks went on, Applejack and Rainbow Dash continued to grow closer. They shared their hopes and dreams with each other and confided their fears and doubts. They laughed and joked together, and comforted each other during difficult times.
Still, they both held back their true feelings. They were afraid to risk their friendship by admitting that they wanted something more.
It wasn't until the night of the Homecoming game that everything changed. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had spent the night selling goods at AJ’s food stall and cheering on the football team.
The game was tied 28 to 28 points. This game was against Canterlot’s long-time rival, the Shadowbolts. Rainbow Dash sat practically on the edge of her seat, watching the ball be thrown across the field. Applejack watched as Rainbow’s eyes widened and a huge smile worked its way across her face. Applejack didn’t understand football much but she gathered that Canterlot scored in the nick of time because Rainbow Dash jumped out of her seat, cheering as loud as she could.
Applejack watched Dash with a smile. Seeing one of her closest friends be so happy made her happy. She glanced back at the rest of her friends, seeing them all excited as well. Pinkie was jumping up and down, throwing confetti that she had for an unexplained reason. Fluttershy and Rarity had smiles of their own, but Applejack couldn’t shake the feeling she got from looking at Rainbow’s excitement. It felt different than the rest, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
After the game had concluded, the pair had decided to split from their other 3 friends and skipped the dance, not wanting to hang around with a big group of people. They chose to get ice cream at Sugarcube Corner, which was an easy few-minute walk down the road. They got their favorites and sat across from each other under a beautifully lit-up gazebo in the park further down the road.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and looked up at Applejack, her eyes serious. "Okay… There's something I've been meaning to tell you.."
Applejack's heart skipped a beat. "What’s up?" She turned to put her full attention on Dash.
Rainbow averted her eyes, "Listen, I just… can’t lie about it anymore. I can't change the way I feel.. I’m totally in love with you or something, AJ…"
"Now Rainbow, that ain’t somethin’ to joke about…” Applejack raised an eyebrow.
Rainbow shook her head, her slightly panicked eyes coming up to meet Applejack’s intensely. “What? No! I’m not screwing around… I mean unless you are, then like-” Rainbow hesitantly chuckled, looking anywhere but Applejack, trying to hide her embarrassment.
“What are you talkin’ about? I’ve liked you since that one day in detention, I jus’ wasn’t gonna say nothin’ about it.” Applejack shrugged, albeit amused at Rainbow’s uncharacteristic embarrassment. Applejack got up from her seat and sat next to Dash, gently nudging her arm.
“W-wait, wait really? Seriously? Like you’re not screwing with me?” Rainbow stuttered, her cheeks turning red. Applejack smiled and nodded, their faces directly in front of each other with only a few inches separating them.
Rainbow’s eyes were still darting around and wide with shock, her nerves on open display. Applejack reached forward, placing her hand on Rainbow’s cheek before leaning in. With that, they leaned in and shared their first kiss. It was gentle and sweet, but filled with all the passion and excitement they had been holding back for so long.
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻
“Wow, you guys. That was an amazing story. I’ll be sure to get it to the editors soon.” The girl behind the camera had set her notebook down and turned off the camera. “I’m sure it’ll look great on next week’s paper.”
“Pleasure doing business with ya’, Sunset.” Applejack smiled, as she and Rainbow left the room, hands intertwined.
Sunset waved, watching the two girls leave. Once the door was shut, she turned to her camera, a small smirk forming on her face as she looked through the pictures she had taken.
Some days later, the online school paper was released. Due to Applejack and Rainbow’s pre-existing popularity with their separate crowds, the article was well received, as well as the article about their group of five all becoming best friends.
The positive reception of their story helped to spread the word about Applejack’s bake sale that had been planned for the upcoming week. She needed help getting more people to want to come to her sale, rather than just know about it. Applejack chose to approach Rainbow about it at lunch.
“Hey, Rainbow? I’ve gotta ask you somethin’, but it’s kind of a tall order.” AJ asked unsurely, setting her tray down and sitting next to her girlfriend.
“Yeah? What’s up? You know I’d do anything for you.” Rainbow shamelessly flirted, smirking.
Applejack rolled her eyes, sighing through a smile she was failing at fighting off. “Yeah, yeah. I was wonderin’ if you could ask the softball team to come to my bake sale next week,” she explained. “I need somethin’ to bring more people in.”
Rainbow nodded her head. “Yeah, of course. I’ll let them know and we’ll be there. Just send me the details later.”
“Thanks, darlin’.”
The day of the bake sale came faster than Applejack anticipated. She had everything perfectly set, now all she had to do was wait. Of course, she was really only excited to see one person. So she waited..
And waited…
Then waited again…
Rainbow Dash never showed. Neither did the softball team.
Her younger sister, Applebloom, asked her about it as they were taking down the stand. “Hey, Applejack… wasn’t your girlfriend supposed to be here? Why didn’t she come?” The younger girl inquired.
“Don’t know, sugarcube. I’m not too happy about it either.” She scowled.
While they still made good money today, a lot of people had come to see the softball team. Them not showing up took a toll on the customers they could’ve had. Applejack was most definitely going to have words with her after they finished cleaning up.
It was around five o’clock by the time they had finished cleaning up. Applejack chose not to go home, but instead angrily made her way to Rainbow’s house. Walking up to the door, she took note of Rainbow’s parents seemingly not home. She took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions before knocking on the door.There was a pause and no answer or movement from the house. Applejack’s patience grew thin and she knocked on the door again, making sure to make it louder. There was the sound of someone pattering down a staircase before the door was opened, revealing Dash. She was wearing casual clothes, not even dressed in uniform for a game.
“Oh hey AJ…” Rainbow’s face fell as she took in Applejack’s expression. “What’s wrong-” Rainbow was cut off as AJ pushed her way in the house, shutting the door behind her.
“Oh? You wanna know what’s wrong? Nothin’, everything’s hunkey dorey! No, I’ll tell you what’s wrong. You made me look like a goddamn fool today! I told everyone that you and the team would be there.” Applejack was seething at this point.
“You made me look like a darn liar out there today. I don’t want anythin’ to do with liars. We’re done!” She was most definitely overreacting, but Applejack didn’t seem to notice nor care. She didn’t allow Dash anytime to respond or defend herself. Opening the door, AJ walked out, leaving the door ajar, and leaving behind a heartbroken and very confused Rainbow Dash.
Applejack had regretted walking out on Dash that day, but her pride and stubbornness wouldn’t let her apologize. She figured it was the same on Rainbow Dash’s end, but things never went back to normal. Her whole friend group seemed to dissipate within the next few weeks.
AJ had barely gotten along with Rarity to begin with so they easily distanced. Fluttershy seemed to back off as well, likely heeding advice from Dash too. Pinkie Pie was the only one who seemed to not be bothered with her, though for some reason she couldn’t stand to be around Fluttershy and Rarity.
Things definitely changed, she watched Rainbow Dash move along with her athletic career, quickly becoming one of the top sports players in the school. Applejack stuck to her way of things, doing her school work, but mostly focusing on the farm. Not a day went by without thinking about what she could’ve done differently in that situation. Even if it was just for a split second, the thought of Rainbow’s face after she’d blown up at her never left. Maybe one day she’d have a chance to apologize and make things right, and that day would come sooner than she’d ever realized.
Author's Note
I'm so sorry
