Prism

Prism

Chapter Two

Soft morning light spilled into the quaint room as the sun lazily rose over the horizon. Twilight shifted on the couch gently, feeling a warm body resting next to her. Her hooves tightened around it, as she listened to the calm heartbeat of her marefriend. After a moment, she heard Rainbow yawning quietly; she clearly was awoken by Twilight. With Rainbow awake, Twilight decided to open her eyes. She found herself gazing upon those magenta eyes yet again, like she had last night. As a small smile crept on her face, she felt as though she could stare into those orbs for an eternity. All the events of last night slowly came back to Dash, and she embraced Twilight tightly.

“Are you alright?” Rainbow whispered right into her lover's ear, brushing her fur with her lips gently.

“Yes.” Came Twilight’s simple answer, after a pause. She embraced Dash harder, stroking her wings slowly and with love.

“I’m sorry, Twilight. It really was a mistake...” Dash whispered.

“I know, and I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened to me... I shouldn’t have reacted like that.” Twilight buried her face in Rainbow’s chest, running her snout through her soft cyan fur, and inhaling the scent. It was like breathing air in a late autumn day; clear and refreshing.

“Just...” Twilight began unsurely.

“Yes?” Rainbow asked with a slightly concerned tone.

“Promise not to do this again.” The unicorn asked with a soft voice, looking into Rainbow’s eyes again.

“I promise.” Came the immediate answer.

Twilight could barely contain the happiness that she felt as soon as she heard Rainbow's words. Being close to Dash again made the mare warm at heart. She didn't realize how much she missed this feeling that now replaced yesterday’s grief. They laid next to each other for a while, each enjoying the other’s presence. Twilight slowly moved her hoof under the blanket, and touched Rainbow’s wings again, letting her hoof travel a little lower after a few gentle strokes. Rainbow smiled as she felt her marefriend slide her hoof over her side with passion. She moved her hind leg up on Twilight as she felt a hoof go even lower. Dash bit her lip as she felt Twilight lustfully caressing her multicolor cutie mark, grinding her hoof up and down her leg. The cyan mare shivered slightly, feeling her wings tense up involuntarily. No matter how good it felt, Rainbow knew that she had to return to the real world.

“Twilight, I have to go.” Dash said, gently pulling the unicorn’s hoof, and glancing at the clock.

Twilight’s smile immediately fell. “Why?” She asked, like a small uncomprehending foal. “Don’t leave me, I love you.”

Dash smiled again, and kissed Twilight on the cheek.

“I love you too. You know that.” She confessed. “But I need to go to work today.” Dash finished, sighing quietly. She slowly got up, letting the blanked slide onto the unicorn, and headed to the bathroom, leaving Twilight alone on the couch.

Twilight cuddled the blanket, but pouted when it wasn’t half as nice as cuddling Rainbow. She decided to get up after a moment, following the Pegasus into the bathroom. The whole room seemed to shine marvelously, as every surface was perfectly polished. Twilight always made cleanliness her top priority. She walked in and looked at her reflection in the mirror above the sink just as Dash was putting her toothbrush away.

“I look horrible...” Twilight remarked as she tried her best to comb her dishevelled hair, the comb magically flying to and fro. Her eyes were still slightly puffy from crying the night before. Rainbow gave her another kiss on the cheek, the aroma of toothpaste lingering after.

“You’ll be alright,” Dash assured, winking to the unicorn. She walked out of the bathroom, crossed the living room, and yelled a goodbye before exiting the house. Twilight became alone again, but she felt happy. After thoroughly inspecting her coat in the mirror for a while, the mare decided to take a cold shower.

She glanced towards the cabin. It looked strangely inviting. She slowly opened the door and stepped inside. The air got slightly cooler as she closed the door and turned the tap on. A cold sprinkle launched right at her, soon growing to a waterfall. Twilight felt the water pounding on her head as she got an idea. The unicorn reared on her hind legs, resting her front hooves on the wall. She tilted her already soaked head backwards, letting the water roll down on her chest and belly, cooling her off. She let out a long sigh as the torrent cleared her mind.

After she washed and dried herself, she decided that it was time to go and talk with Applejack. Twilight didn’t want a simple mistake like that do any harm to their long friendship, hoping that Applejack would understand why she reacted like that. Twilight exited the house and stepped out on the road. A warm gust of wind blew past her, making her shiver in delight; it felt marvelous after the cold shower. The sun shone on her face merrily as she took the road to the Sweet Apple Acres.

Even before she reached her destination, she could hear the faint sound of Applejack bucking trees; it was unmistakable. Twilight approached the tree line and immersed herself into the seemingly endless apple orchard that coated the whole Apple Family property. She navigated the maze of trees, inhaling their amazing apple scent. The fragrance hit her stronger as she got deeper, she could almost feel it enveloping her form. She could no longer hear the streets of Ponyville; the chirping of birds replacing the talk of ponies. It was almost like she had stepped into another world; world of peace and nature.

She followed the repetitive sound for a while, and managed to find Applejack deep in the orchard. She was busy at work, bucking one tree after another, then loading the baskets full of apples into the big cart that stood near her. Twilight peeked from between the apple trees and observed as Applejack worked. She hesitated for a moment, but decided to walk up to the orange mare.

“Hello, Applejack.” Twilight greeted as she got close. Applejack turned suddenly, startled by her friend.

“Oh...” Applejack replied awkwardly, the embarrassment of yesterday slowly returning to her. “Howdy.” She greeted, her ears dropping a little. Twilight got a little closer, wanting to let her friend know that she wasn’t upset.

“First of all, I would like to apologize for my behavior yesterday.” Twilight said. Applejack didn’t respond, shooting a surprised glance at Twilight instead.

“You know, me lashing out like that, running away in tears and stuff...” Twilight finished and laughed somewhat awkwardly. The farmer still didn’t respond, getting ready to rear up and buck another tree instead. Twilight really wanted Applejack to understand, it seemed like the farmer was still upset, and the unicorn didn’t know why.

“Imagine she was your marefriend, and—”

Applejack tripped as she was kicking the tree. She fell flat on her stomach right next to the trunk, eyes wide. Twilight ran up to her friend and helped her up, asking is everything is alright.

“Yeah, apologies accepted,” Applejack said, pushing Twilight’s hoof of her shoulder. “I’m alright.” Twilight grimaced as she felt her hoof being pushed off. She felt that the conversation wasn’t going well at all.

“Well... I know that yesterday was an accident.” Twilight tried, hoping that it would make her friend less moody.

“Yes, Ah’ve made a stupid mistake.” The earth pony responded, confirming her friend’s words. She fell silent a moment after.

Twilight didn’t know what to say or do. Applejack seemed like she wasn’t herself. Before putting much thought into what she was doing, she moved in and softly embraced Applejack. Twilight opened her mouth to say something comforting, but nothing came to her mind. She felt Applejack return the hug, barely touching her body.

“Excuse me Twi’, but Ah have work to attend to, ya know, with the Apple Festival just around the corner...” She said as the two mares parted. Before waiting for the answer, she turned and bucked the tree, the bang soon dying in the sound of surrounding nature.

“Sure...” Twilight said hesitantly, more to herself than her friend, and turned to leave. All of the happiness she felt a few minutes before was now gone, replaced by concern. She knew that something was wrong with Applejack, and she was nearly sure it concerned Rainbow Dash and herself.

-«<♦>»-

Twilight was in the kitchen, making dinner for both her and Rainbow. She expected her marefriend to come back any minute now, and couldn’t wait for it. A fruit and vegetable salad wasn’t maybe the most exquisite dish, but as much as Twilight hated to admit it, she never was a good chef. With Spike out and helping Fluttershy care for the extraordinary number of animals that wandered to her cottage this summer, a fruit salad was probably the best thing that could be served in the library. It never crossed Twilight’s mind to ask Dash to cook. Everypony knew how Dash was; living on fast food for her entire life. The unicorn had just finished setting the two bowls of salad on the table as the door to the library swung open.

“I’m home!” Dash yelled from the door, and entered the library.

“Hi there, Dash. Dinner is ready.” Twilight responded form the kitchen. “And you don’t have to yell like that!” The unicorn screamed back, snickering as she did so.

“Whoa, a fruit salad? I love you! I was starving my entire shift today.” Dash said as she entered the kitchen, looking around.

“Yeah... if only you could do something to repay me...” Twi said, snickering softly again.

Rainbow didn’t respond, but moved in closer to Twilight instead. The unicorn observed intently as moved her face even closer. Twilight got ready for a kiss, but she felt Rainbow’s cheek brush past her own. She looked down and gasped softly as Dash kissed her on the neck. Twilight purred softly as she felt Rainbow’s lips against her fur. The Pegasus let her head lower slowly, kissing Twilight with every inch she moved.

“Is this enough?” She asked, still close.

“No...” Twilight breathed quietly. She closed her eyes, but was disappointed to discover that Dash had already moved away and was sitting at the dining table.

“Well, too bad, Twi’! I’m dying for food.” Dash said and looked at Twilight, fighting to save a straight face.The unicorn sighed and sat down by the small table across from the Pegasus, giving her a long look.

“What? I’m hungry.” The Pegasus defended, lifting her hooves a bit.

“Nothing...” Twilight responded, as she lifted a fork up with telekinesis, digging it into the salad.

“We’re cool, right?” Dash asked, snickering a bit.

“Oh Celestia, yes!” Twilight snapped. She thought that she got used to Rainbow’s attitude by now, but apparently, she didn't. They sat and ate quietly for a while.

“So, have you talked with Applejack?” Twilight asked, breaking the silence.

“Why should I?” The cyan mare asked, mouth full of salad. She received another long look from Twilight. “Oh... that. Yeah, I’ll talk to her today at the Apple Festival.” She swallowed her salad. “Have you heard what they say about the cider this year?” She added, suddenly excited.

“Oh yeah, the Apple Festival! It totally slipped my mind, even though AJ reminded me of it today.” Twilight said, completely ignoring the remark about the cider.

“So you talked with her?” Rainbow asked, pointing a fork at the mare across the table.

“Yes, I did.” The unicorn went serious all of the sudden. “She acted strange. She was absent minded, nearly rude.” Twilight said, looking Dash in the eye.

“Well I don’t know, she’s probably embarrassed with what happened.” Rainbow said, “I wouldn’t care about it, it’ll probably go away.” She finished, taking a final bite of her salad.

“But I felt something when I talked with her, I just don’t know what it was...” The unicorn said quietly, putting her hoof to her chin.

“You’re imagining things, Twi.” Dash responded, taking her bowl into the sink. “Thanks!”

-«<♦>»-

Twilight was sitting in her bedroom while Dash was downstairs. Ever since the subject of Applejack's behavior was touched upon at the dining table, the young mare couldn’t get her mind off it. It was pestering her, she knew that something was wrong with her friend when they talked. She was dying to know what exactly.

‘Desperate times call for desperate measures!’ she thought as she took a roll of parchment and a quill out from a drawer. She hated to resort to such methods, but sometimes, you just have to. She knew that if she wanted to really know what was up with Applejack’s behavior, she would have to act. She could almost feel that something would happen during the Apple Festival. She dipped the quill in ink and slowly started writing on the parchment.

Dear Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student...