Dreaming My Life Away, Truth
Dreaming My Life Away, Truth
Applejack trotted down the road ignoring the rain that soaked her coat the only thing on her mind was getting to the schoolhouse and surprising Twilight with a bushel of apples for all her hard work recently. Ever since Cheerilee had come down with Hay Fever Twilight had taken over as substitute teacher until Cheerilee got better. Of course Applejack had two additional reasons to go to the schoolhouse and the thought of the first reason always lead to the second. Twilight as it turned out was a horrible cook, but when Applejack had brought an old family recipe to Twilight so she could decode it they had discovered a couple of interesting things.
Long ago when there had been a terrible drought in Equestria, the worst ever recorded, one member of the Apple family had taken to preserving apples with a spicy syrup and the subsequently dubbed spiced apples had been a huge hit. Actually they were so big that the same member of the Apple family had encoded the recipe so that no one could steal the secret, unfortunately there was an accident when the barn had caught fire and Applejack's ancestor had perished saving the fillies who had been hiding in the barn from the lightning storm. Now though thanks to Twilight the Apple family could once again begin making spiced apples.
That of course wasn't the only discovery as it turned out that Twilight was a naturally at making spiced apples, of course Twilight claimed that it was like biology which she was naturally good at, not that she had said that of course but Applejack knew that she was good at it because there was very little that Twilight was not good at. Funny thing was though that Twilight didn't really care for spiced apples and preferred them fresh, oh she could eat them out of politeness it was just that she liked sweet things like apples.
Just as Applejack reached the gate of the schoolhouse she heard Twilight bidding the students good day and watching her wave to all the children with a caring smile on her face made Applejack's heart beat a little faster. Closing her eyes for a second Applejack steadied herself and then marched into the schoolhouse. "Hello Miss Sparkle," Twilight looked up at Applejack for a second before replying.
"Hello, Applejack." Applejack then removed her hat and held up a bag of apples.
"I thought you might still want some apples," the nervous quiver in her voice went over looked as Twilight smiled at her.
"Thank you." Applejack returned the smile and walked closer to the Twilight's desk and noticed that there were several pitchers scattered around the room and looking up she could see the holes.
"I can fix that,"
"Applejack are you going to try to tell me now that your apples are a cure for a leaky roof." Twilight said wiping down her desk.
"Naw, I'm just good with my hooves. I'll tell you what I'll fix that roof in exchange for three jars of your spiced apples." Twilight smiled again as she held out her hoof and they shook on it.
"It's a deal," the next day after school was dismissed and it was bright and sunny Applejack was on the roof slowly but surely fixing the roof. The next day when she was finally done and Twilight was placing the jars of spiced apples in Applejack's saddlebags they spoke again since Applejack had first taken on the job.
"Well Miss Sparkle I guarantee that roof for five years. If there's anything else?"
"Well the window won't open and the children and I would enjoy a breeze now and then."
"I can fix that," the next day Applejack was sanding the window frames as Twilight was reading a poem to a filly that wanted to know more about poetry. Applejack had remained silent, but as Twilight was nearing the end of the poem Applejack finished the rest of the poem from the top of her head.
"Applejack," Twilight smiled surprised that she liked poetry, "you know that door doesn't hang straight." Applejack took a second to look at her work on the window and turned back to Miss Sparkle.
"I can fix that," soon however the day came when the school house looked brand new with no problems and a fresh coat of paint.
"Applejack this is the finest schoolhouse in all of Equestria, thank you."
"Thank you Miss Sparkle," Applejack replied as the two shook hooves. With that said the two parted ways and later on that night Twilight sat in the schoolhouse staring down at the open book of poetry in front of her when two tears struck the pages, instead of rushing to save the book Twilight just sat there feeling more tears rising in her eyes as she tried to read on, but the emptiness inside her and the sad work in front of her just tore her heart apart. Suddenly a familiar hoof gently touched her own hoof and she stared up at Applejack who whispered, "I can fix that."
Applejack gently pulled her up and the two kissed for a few seconds before pulling away and Applejack carefully wiped a tear away from Twilight's cheek. Slowly Miss Sparkle rested her head on Applejack's chest while Applejack held her in a strong but gentle hug. The two stared deep into each other's eyes when Twilight finally spoke up, "Applejack are you going to stand out in the rain all day."
"Were inside ain't we," then she felt a drop of rain hit her on the head and she looked up only to see no roof above her head. When she looked back down she was outside and Twilight stood in the doorway looking worriedly at her. Realization came crashing down as she trotted forward and paused just long enough at the door to shake her coat once.
"What's up Applejack you okay?" Twilight looked at her in concern and it warmed Applejack's heart of course that still didn't give her a clue how to explain to such a wonderful pony that she like her in more than a friends way, and then it happened.
"I'm fine just wanted to stop by and say what a good job your doing and I brought you a little something. She dumped her saddlebags on a nearby desk and Twilight squeed in glee at the bags knowing exactly what they contained as she levitated one out. Applejack however couldn't believe herself she had just told a half-lie and gotten away with it. True she did feel good in Twilight's presence, but there was more to it than that. She shook her head sighing and froze when she saw the second most beautiful thing in the schoolhouse, nay Equestria itself, a jar of spiced apples.
"You can have them if you want and more besides if…" Twilight's breath on her ear made her freeze and melt at the same time.
"If what?"
"If you answer one simple question."
"Anything."
"How come you don't make your own?" Applejack couldn't hold it in she had to laugh as she realized that Twilight wasn't aware of just what Applejack was feeling for her. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry Sugarcube, it's just well shucks, it's like this. Ya see we've tried to make them and while they turn out good there just not yours. Course the way I see's it is that ya'll just put more love in it then we possibly can."
"I doubt that, Applejack your family has more love in one hoof than I've seen in a lot of ponies."
"True, but I've seen the way you pour over your books makin sure that everything is perfect and you love stuff like that. Then when I brought the recipe to you it become something you had to figure out and you poured yourself into it and suddenly you were an expert at making them spiced apples."
"I wouldn't call myself an expert…"
"That's just the modesty talking your one of the strongest, gentlest, smartest, kindest, and beau… loving pony I know." Twilight blushed redder than Big Macintosh's coat and smiled up at Applejack.
"If I'm so great then why can't I cook anything else?"
"Simple no one can be perfect at everything not even the princesses' are perfect at everything they do and as hard as it is for me to say this, even though you are as close to perfect as they come you still aren't perfect. Please hear me out." Applejack raised her hoof when she saw Twilight open her mouth. "What I'm saying is that perfection is nice and all but it's only a goal that we can follow but never accomplish and I see proof of that everyday just from watching you."
"Actually I was going to say that I thought that you were a lot closer to be perfect then I ever was." Now it was Applejack's turn to blush at Twilight's compliment. "I do agree with you of course perfection is more of an ideal state than a physical state." Twilight would have said more, but just than a drop of water fell from the ceiling and hit her square on her horn. As they both looked up Applejack was hit between the eyes and they both looked back down at each other and Applejack smiled.
"I can fix that."
