One Night (a.k.a A taste of an Apple)

Applejack eventually went back to her schedule of work for the day, but that didn't mean that Rainbow Dash left. The blue pegasus flew above her, helping out in any way she could and it didn't even feel like work, being with Applejack.

She had lied a little about what she wanted from the earth pony. She had told her all she wanted was to be around her, but only came up with that excuse so Applejack wouldn't say no to them being together. Sure it was a bit sneaky, but what other choice did she have? Applejack had gone quite sullen about everything that happened and she didn't want things to return to normal, not after everything.

But even as the days went by, things didn't seem to move forward. They didn't get any closer since that race to the fields, and even though they had kissed twice in the beginning, it seemed Applejack was avoiding it, which worried Dash a good bit. She wanted to be close to this pony, closer than she had ever been with anypony else. She knew deep down, Applejack must want the same thing.

It was two weeks after the terrible storm, the ponies all meeting up for a picnic in the park, and no one seemed to notice that for some reason Applejack and Rainbow Dash seemed to show up together a lot more than normal. They all sat talking, chatting and the likes before Pinkie mentioned with glee,

"Guys! I have something to announce!"

"What is it?" Rainbow Dash said not really interested in hearing, her eyes on somepony else.

"Well seeing as it is Cheerily's birthday in a week, I'm throwing a surprise birthday PARTY!"

The ponies all looked at her quietly, seeming to take in the news and Twilight eventually said, a little taken back,

"Oh…" she looked at the other girls seeing the similar surprised faces before turning back to Pinkie "Are you sure she'd like that? You don't really know her that well?"

"She's my friend! And all my friends deserve surprise parties!" Pinkie said in glee and Twilight looked back at her friends, just seeing them shrug.

"Well alright then."

Pinkie Pie squeaked in ecstasy.

"How's things been going at your shop Rarity?" Twilight asked getting back to other talk, and before Rarity could speak, Twilight took notice of the shivering Fluttershy.

"What's wrong, Fluttershy?" she asked worried.

"Oh me… nothing,"

All the ponies stared at her confused. Fluttershy looked exhausted, dark circles under her eyes as if she was desperately sleep deprived and Applejack put it forward,

"No you ain't, you look more tired than a young filly on Nightmare night."

"Oh it's nothing… it's just, I've been hearing strange noises around my cottage lately, o-of wailing, and I can't sleep out of fear."

"Just use ear plugs," Rainbow Dash said obviously, Twilight looked at her annoyed.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Oh not long… just a week."

"A week?" Pinkie screamed out of nowhere, Rarity not looking impressed.

"Well have you thought about finding out what it is?"

"Err… no."

"Then there's only one thing to do," Applejack said standing up with pride "We've got to set a trap for this here beast, that's the only way to solve it."

"Yeah, we can come over tonight," Rainbow Dash said eagerly, liking the thought of some adventure, "We'll stay outside and try and catch it."

"Oh n-no!" Fluttershy said suddenly desperate to be heard "I couldn't ask that, you girls might get hurt!"

"Don't worry your head over it sugarcube," Applejack said with a confident wink, "We'll be fine."

"But still."

"It's settled, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash said annoyed at her small resistance. All the ponies nodded, though Rarity didn't seem too crazy about the idea.

XXXXX

It wasn't long after, that Rainbow Dash found herself flying over to Fluttershy's small cottage, darkness spread all across Ponyville in the hours that had passed since the picnic.

She looked around the ground, eventually spotting the pony she wanted to see and grinned, landing quietly down behind Applejack before whispering in her friend's ear,

"Boo,"

Applejack turned around quickly, bumping into the confident pegasus and looked at her with a smile.

"Hey Rainbow," she said with a teasing voice and Rainbow Dash just loved hearing that voice, that she couldn't hold herself back and hugged Applejack suddenly, the orange pony trotting back quickly, saying nervous,

"What are you doin'?"

"Just hugging the most gorgeous pony in Equestria."

Applejack pushed her off nervously, nudging her head towards the other girls away in the distance and said annoyed,

"Not here."

Rainbow Dash looked at her, she was hurt a bit on the inside, but didn't let it show especially around her other friends.

"Fine," she said toughly, "When did you arrive here?"

"Around ten minutes ago,"

"Has the wailing started yet?"

"No… not yet."

"It's probably just the wind going through the trees. To be honest, I think Fluttershy is totally overacting."

"Even though you were the one who insisted on us coming?" Applejack said slyly and Rainbow Dash looked at her nervously.

"Well you can't be too careful."

"Yep," Applejack said with a grin and Rainbow Dash just couldn't help fall for the confidence her friend exuberated… no other pony coming close, yet she couldn't even kiss her… it was so frustrating.

Applejack smiled at her, before trotting off to the other girls and Rainbow Dash sighed, following suit.

"Okay, girls, now Fluttershy made it perfectly clear that we cannot harm this creature in the slightest." Twilight said to the others sounding as a warning.

"Harm it? What if it harms US!" Rarity said, adding in that point as if it bothered her greatly.

"Oh I doubt that's going to happen." Twilight said confidently, and Rarity only gave a sulky face, it was clear she didn't want to be here.

"Maybe we should carry party poppers!" Pinkie said eagerly "To scare it if it sneaks up on us!"

"Do we have any party poppers-"

Before Twilight could finish that, Pinkie pulled out five, throwing them to her friends in glee and Twilight rolled her eyes with a giggle.

"You girls… are you sure you're alright?"

The five looked at Fluttershy, who had just opened up her door with a small creak to see how things were.

"Yes Fluttershy," Rarity said a little concerned "Now you go straight to bed, you my dear, are going to get a beautiful beauty sleep tonight."

"Well…o-okay," Fluttershy said nervously and closed her door weakly, Applejack bucking it slightly to make sure it was closed properly.

"Okay, so I'm thinking it will be best to split up." Twilight said, thinking the plan through in her head, "We'll split into groups of two and three, each group getting a net."

"I'll go with Applejack," Rainbow Dash suddenly said determinedly and Twilight looked at her confused.

"But you two are the strongest ponies, don't you think the groups should be paired more evenly in strength?"

"What?" Rainbow Dash said, seeming to find a way around this in her head, before smiling adding "Me and Applejack can coordinate better, plus you three will have one extra, so the strength will be equalled out."

Twilight looked at the blue pegasus flabbergasted, she had never heard Rainbow Dash come up with such logic before, and only looked at her warily before saying slowly, "Well okay…?"

"Cool!" Dash said quickly and turned to Applejack with a grin "Come on Applejack," grabbing the net and throwing it on her back.

"Well alrighty," Applejack said not seeming sure… it had been so long since she had been alone in the dark with Rainbow Dash… it almost scared her.

The two walked away into the night, Applejack following the blue pegasus confused before Rainbow Dash stopped in front of the cold dark woods and Applejack slowed down behind her.

"You didn't set this up for Fluttershy did you?"

Rainbow Dash turned confused as she heard that cold voice and looked at her friend lost.

"Of course I did…"

Applejack pulled a cautious face, seeming not to believe.

"But maybe I'd feel better being paired up with you."

"You know we hang out enough already… do you want the other's ta get suspicious?"

"What can they get suspicious about?" Rainbowdash said, getting annoyed "We don't do anything… you won't let us."

"Now's not the time to talk about it," Applejack said warily looking around, before sighing and turning her green earthy eyes back at her friend saying quietly, "You know I do like you and all…"

"Yeah, as a friend…" Rainbow Dash said spitefully.

"You said we'd only just hang…" Applejack said slowly.

"What other way could I get you to be with me?" Rainbow Dash said angrily but when she saw Applejack's shocked face, sighed adding "that way…"

"So you still want to be with me…" Applejack said carefully "but why do you have to make it seem so obvious?"

"How?"

"Well, how about how you keep staring at me whenever we're around others, agreeing with me always."

"Oh I do not," Rainbowdash said annoyed.

"Well, course' you'd say that." Applejack said smiling slightly, and Rainbow Dash's heart soon melted, as she loved seeing those lips rise… and moved unknowingly closer to Applejack, saying nervous.

"Maybe I agree with you because you're always right."

"So would you agree that this can't be more than just hanging out..?" Applejack drawled out nervous, feeling Rainbow Dash's breath on her as the blue pegasus moved closer.

"You know that's not what you want…" she whispered and Applejack looked slowly at her mouth, adding.

"Maybe it is-"

Before she could finish she felt Rainbow Dash push her mouth to hers in a kiss, something Applejack had been avoiding for weeks, but having those lips on her own after so long, Applejack could do nothing but kiss her longingly back.

The two sat there, kissing silently in the dark, and Rainbowdash pushed it further, her tongue sweeping up her friends, as they fought for pleasure… a wanting that Dash had longed for so long since that storm.

She felt Applejack caress her back eagerly as the two embraced, Rainbow Dash pushing her body ever closer to the warmth of the earth pony, desire overwhelming as she wanted to do so much more than kiss… but kissing itself was so great.

Applejack suddenly pulled away, Rainbow Dash still kissing her friend's neck as the pony looked around confused…. The wailing being suddenly heard through the branches and she pushed Dash off her saying,

"Do you hear that?"

"Probably just my stomach…" Dash said trying to get back into the action but Applejack gave her a annoyed look, walking a little forward, listening to the wail.

Dash quickly snapped out of it when she noticed her crush had gone, and turned around looking through the woods, the wailing sending a shiver up her back.

"What do you think it is?" she asked Applejack, the orange pony lowering her eyebrows as she thought.

"Sounds like an injured animal…"

"Well let's follow it." Rainbow Dash said fast picking up the net but Applejack put her hoof in front of her saying slowly.

"We've got to be quiet."

"Right." The blue pegasus agreed and Applejack bit the other end of the net, getting ready to throw it if the occasion arose.

The two walked forward slowly, the wailing getting louder, until all of a sudden it sounded just below them and Rainbow Dash yelped from the surprise throwing the net and hearing a moan…

"Did we get it?" she asked Applejack quickly, the orange pony feeling around the ground, freezing when she felt a warm furry body… she looked down and saw a large bear in the dark.

"It's a bear…?"

"How'd a bear get injured?" Rainbow dash asked confused.

"Beats me, but we got to tell the others!"

"Wait Applejack!" Rainbow Dash yelled quickly as her friend had nearly galloped off and Applejack turned to her in haste, "I want us to do more than just hang out."

"What do you want from me girl?" Applejack said hastily, really wanting to find the others.

"I want you. Like I had you tonight."

Applejack nearly lost all her steam… looking at Rainbow Dash nervous, "I want that too… but it's just too dangerous."

"Dangers my middle name."

Applejack smiled barely, before going to turn… not giving any response and Rainbow Dash just yelled after her,

"I'm seeing you tomorrow, marefriend!"

"Shoosh!" Applejack chuckled back at her, before vanishing into the dark and Rainbow Dash only smiled overjoyed, her dream was coming true… they were finally moving forward again.

She followed on laughing, reaching Applejack's side as they ran, the two yelling the others' names until they got a call back,

"We're over here!"

The two cracked up as they nudged each other playfully reaching the other three and Applejack said smiling,

"We found what was making the noise,"

Twilight looked at the two giggling bunch confused, what was so funny, so she asked suspicious,

"What is it?"

"A bear!" Dash said instantly smiling at Applejack.

"Is it alright?"

"Nah, we think it's injured."

Twilight didn't get how those two could be acting so goofy, it didn't make sense… but it felt as though they had an inner conversation going on and she turned to Rarity,

"Go and get Fluttershy,"

"Fine," the white unicorn said fussed, and turned back to the cottage.

Twilight kept her eyes still sharply on the two childish ponies… was she the only one thinking something odd was going on here… and then the conversation she had had with one of them earlier entered her mind.

They were hiding something… badly.