The Days To Remember

by Orrianna Dyre

Rating: everyone
Tags: Rainbow Dash, Romance, Slice of Life, Main 6, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 4249

an AppleDash story

Rainbow is around Applejack more and more of late, and she is starting to get these feelings, and doing things she has never done before. What will she find out.... and when?

A/N - SLthethird is Co-writer to this fic, credit is givin to him as much as me! BIG thanks to AppleJackBaby13, KitsuneRisu, and Kutkh for the edits/proof reads!
chapters will be input as fast as I can possibly think of them.

Published 2012-12-09 07:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-09 00:06:48 UTC

The start

The Days To Remember(chapter 1)The Start

Applejack woke up dreary eyed and still tired. She had been up very late last night finishing
her chores, and wanted to go back to sleep. Applejack knew she couldn't and got up, stretching her aching muscles as she looked around at her empty room. She didn’t have much stuff considering she almost never stayed in her room for more reasons than to sleep. Applejack looked in her mirror.

“Geez, Ah' look like Rainbow gave me one of her famous rain-blow dries!”

Applejack grabbed her brush from where it had always rested and brushed her mane and coat until they looked as sleek as usual, then tied her ribbons into her mane and tail.

"Another long day of work." Applejack sighed as she put on her Stetson, and made her way out of her room, and then downstairs to where her family was eating hay, with eggs. "Mornin' everypony."

"Good mornin', sis!' " AppleBloom yelled.

Applejack sat down, and started to eat her breakfast.

"Hey Big Mac, are ya helpin' out with the apple bucking today?" She asked before taking another bite of her breakfast.

"Eeyup," replied Big Mac

“Good,” said Granny Smith. “We don’t want no repeat of last year.”

After finishing, she cleaned up her dishes and trotted outside to start her apple bucking.

______________________________________________

Rainbow Dash woke up from her nap on a cloud that was hanging over top of Sweet Apple Acres. She was waiting for Applejack to come out and start her chores. Rainbow always visited AJ while she did her apple bucking, she enjoyed watching Applejack work while dozing off in a tree. But today she had a different idea.

'Geez, she's sure taking a long time,' she thought.'She’s always out before or at sunrise, and I'm getting bored.'

After a few minutes more of waiting, Rainbow heard the familiar sound of hooves banging against trees as Applejack started her apple bucking. She flew down as fast as she could and landed right in front of Applejack.

"Hey, AJ!"

Applejack had bounced back in fright, but quickly regained her composure.

"H- hey Dash! Ya're here a tad bit earlier than usual. What are ya up to?" Applejack asked a little shakily.

"Well... I wanted to help you apple buck today," Rainbow said.

"Oh, well that's mighty dandy of you, Rainbow. With your help Ah’ could finish up twice as fast!"

"Well OK then, but let's make this interesting."

"How do ya' mean, Sugarcube?"

"Well, we can make this a race. The first one to finish bucking their trees for the day wins!”

"Alright, but ya better be ready to lose!" Applejack replied with a slight glare.

"Alright, The rules are no flying, and you have to buck the trees in order. You get that row and I’ll get this row,” Rainbow said as she got lined up “On your mark, Get set, Go!"

Both Applejack and Rainbow ran between trees, bucking them. About halfway through her rows, Rainbow started to get tired. She looked up to see AJ wasn’t even a little winded. This didn't surprise Rainbow, being as this was Applejack’s job, and she did it quite well.

'Wow, she sure can move when she wants to,' she thought to herself, before she realized that Applejack had already finished

“Ah’ won!" panted AppleJack.

Applejack just looked at Rainbow's row and laughed.

"Ah’ knew Ah’ won but not by that much," she giggled.

After about a minute of lying there catching her breath, she stood up. Rainbow couldn't help but notice that Applejack’s Stetson had fallen off her head.

'Wow, she looks so... beautiful,' thought Rainbow. 'Wait, what am I thinking?'

"What are you looking at, Sugarcube? Did my mane get messed up or something?"

"U- ummm... n- no, not at all," stammered Rainbow.

She turned her head away so that Applejack couldn't see her blushing.

'What's wrong with me?' Rainbow thought, 'I hope she doesn’t notice, I just can’t help myself. For some reason when I look at her, I get this feeling... And I don’t know what it is’

‘Anyway you win this time," she said, admitting defeat.

"And don't you dare forget it," said Applejack, nudging her.

Both ponies sat down under the apple tree nearest to them, and stared at the leaves as they rustled and swayed with the wind. A thought hit her mind.

"Hey, Applejack?"

"Yeah, Sugarcube?"

"You wouldn't mind me helping you work more would you?"

"No, A’h don't suppose Ah’ would. Why? Ya aren't the kind of pony to volunteer for... work."

"Haha, yeah. But it's fun when we work together."

"Alright Sugarcube, how bout’ tomorrow an hour after sunrise?"

“I’ll be there.”

Author's Note

Thanks to AppleJackBaby13 and KitsuneRisu for editing this chapter!

Confession(part one)

The Days To Remember (chapter 2) Confession

Rainbow Dash woke up in her cloud house. Getting up she felt exhausted from the work she had done yesterday. Between weather patrol and helping Applejack it had worn her out. But she had promised Applejack that she would help out with apple bucking again today. Rainbow looked at herself in the mirror, seeing her mane was completely messed up and sticking out in places.

“I look ridiculous.” She giggled to herself.

Grabbing her brush, she worked on her mane until it lay flat. Admiring herself in the mirror one last time before she left her room, heading to her kitchen to grab something to eat. After she had eaten, Rainbow went outside and was about to take off when she realized Celestia's sun was high in the sky.

'Oh no! I'm late to help Applejack! Oh she's going to kill me,' she thought. She flew as fast as she could toward Sweet Apple Acres, completely forgetting about her exhaustion.

__________________________

Applejack sat in the orchard looking into the sky.

"That Rainbow! She's always late! She said she'd be here an hour after Sunrise! When she gets here I’m gonna-"

Her thoughts were cut short when a streak of rainbow went overhead. Looking around, Applejack tried to locate Rainbow.

'Now where'd she go?' Applejack thought.

A moment later, Rainbow was less than five inches from her face, scaring Applejack almost to death. Rainbow started laughing loudly.

"Haha, you should see your face!" She giggled. "It's priceless!"

Applejack gained her senses back and quickly silenced Rainbow with a glare. After about a moment of silence, Rainbow started to look nervous.

"Applejack, I know I’m late. I slept in," Rainbow said apologetically.

Applejack stayed quiet for a few more seconds before responding.

"Late!?” Applejack snapped. "You ain’t just late, you’re really late!"

“She’s upset at me,” Rainbow thought. “How can I fix my mistake?”

Rainbow stared at the ground, at a loss for words.

"C'mon. Let's get to work." Applejack sighed. "Maybe we can finish in time."

Rainbow knew why Applejack was upset and decided she’d work extra hard to make up for the time she had cost her. She flew ahead of Applejack, determined to work hard and make up for lost time, and so started to buck each and every tree she could. After an hour of work, her muscles were aching from the job, but she refused to stop. She couldn’t stand to see Applejack upset at her, and the only way she could think of to get her out of her aggression was to continue without complaint. Finally, after hours of work, and Celestia’s sun was just beginning to set, Rainbow collapsed. Worried, Applejack ran to see if she was alright.

“Sugarcube, you OK?” she asked.

“Yeah, just a little tired,” Rainbow replied “I might have worked a bit too hard today”

“C’mon, ya deserve a break,” She said. “Ya look dead on your feet. Come on over to the house, we’ve got dinner cookin’.”

Hearing this Rainbow denied her aching muscles a break and walked beside Applejack, back toward her farm house. As they made their way back she started to look around the orchard, and found her eyes slowly falling upon Applejack. Her eyes wandering across AJ`s body. Taking notice of her lean figure and beautiful face. The earth pony glanced over and saw her looking at her. Looking away quickly Rainbow blushed.

‘What is wrong with me?’ She thought, ‘I can’t stop staring at her, and when I do, that feeling comes back. What-’

“Dash? Ya comin’?” Applejack asked breaking through her thoughts. She hadn’t noticed but she had stopped walking.

“Y- yeah I’m coming,” she stammered as she caught up to her. “Was just thinking about stuff”

“You’ve been doin’ that alot lately, you sure you’re OK? You ain’t really the think before ya do type.” Applejack said with a grin.

“Yeah...” Rainbow replied absentmindedly.

“What’s on yer mind Dash?” She asked.

“Nothing, I just think the sunset is nice, that’s all. “ She replied.

“Ah’ know you better than that an’ the Dash Ah’ know don’t stare at sunsets.”

‘What should I say? What can I say? I don’t even know what I’m thinking. If I tell her I’m thinking of her what will she say?’

“I’m just tired,” Rainbow said “I think I might just go home now.”

She was about to fly off, when AJ stepped on her tail.

“We ain’t goin’ nowhere until you tell me what’s wrong with you,” Applejack said.

Rainbow sighed, she was too tired to argue, and didn’t feel like getting into a fight with her. She looked over at AJ and thought of how she was going to tell her everything.

“What’s on your mind Dash?” She asked.

Author's Note

Thanks to KitsuneRisu for editing this chapter!

Confession(Part Two)

Chapter 2 Confession (part 2)

Applejack carefully let go of Rainbows tail, looking unsure of whether she would dash away or talk.

“Now Sugarcube, will you tell me what’s wrong?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow stared at her, not able to look her in the eyes. She glanced around thinking about what to say, or whether she should run or not. After about a minute of silence, she stared into the emerald depths that were her eyes and sighed.

“To tell you the truth I don’t know what’s wrong,” She replied with another sigh. “But lately I’ve been thinking of you... a lot, and I don’t know why.”

“When I see you, I can’t think clearly. My thoughts are replaced by thoughts of you and I get this feeling right here” She explained, pointing at her chest right above her heart. “And it makes me feel warm and happy, it makes me feel like I’m flying. The exhilarating thrill of it all, but on a higher level, it makes me feel free.”

“I feel the need to be with you more and more,” She said looking down at the ground. “And... and I think I... I think I... well... like you.”

Applejack just sat there silently. The only noise that was heard were the rustling of leaves, and the creak of wood as they are blown by the wind. It was almost as if she was expecting Rainbow to say more, but what else there was to say was the question. When she looked up Applejack was staring at her with a look of pure shock. She waited for her to say something, anything, she didn’t move, she didn’t blink, she would hardly dare breathe, waiting for Applejack to respond to her confessions.

Rainbow stared into Applejack's eyes, searching for a response. Her heart started racing the longer she stared into her impassive gaze. She leaned forward praying for anything, any reaction at all. Any reaction to tell her what was going on in her friends mind.

‘What if I just ruined our friendship?’ She shook her head to dispel the thoughts only to have more surface and take it’s place. ‘What if...what if she doesn't want to to see me anymore?’

An eternity seemed to have passed and Rainbow's eyes hadn't left the green irises once. She stretched her wings slowly, dropping her head as she turned away and hopped into the air with a gentle flap of her wings

‘I-I’ve got to go,’ she thought.

She shot into the sky, moving as fast as her wings would allow. Rainbow didn’t even know where she was going, she just wanted to get away from there. A tear running down her cheek, and many more followed suit.

‘Why wouldn’t she say anything?' She thought with a sob. ‘What could she say, even if she had said anything, would it ha-’

Rainbow’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud shout, “Rainbow, look out!”, then the pain hit and everything went black.

Applejack was staring at the spot where Rainbow used to be, her eyes widened from the words she had just heard. She’d been raised by a traditional family who, while not disapproving of two mares together, did not like seeing it happen to one of their own.The orange mare was no exception.

'She likes me,' thought Applejack. 'Ah never would’a suspected...

Finally managing to tear her eyes away from the ground, She watched as Rainbow flew blindly straight toward a tree. “Rainbow, look out!” shouted Applejack, yet she was too late to stop her. With a loud crack, Rainbow collided head first with the tree. The cyan pegasus toppled to the ground, wings splayed out at her sides, landing heavily on her foreleg.

The Earth pony ran directly to Rainbow’s slowly breathing form, hoof moving back and forth to check for injuries. “Oof,” Applejack said worriedly. “That’s a pretty bad sprained foreleg there.” Applejack carefully hoisted the pegasus onto her back, and began to rush to the farm as quickly as possible trying not to harm the pegasus further.

As they neared the barn, Applejack looked over her shoulder at the sleeping pony on her back. Well, Ah hafta admit, Rainbow does look kinda cute right now. Applejack instantly shook her head of those thoughts and continued towards the barn.

Applejack could feel as Rainbow shifted upon her back. Looking back she saw as Rainbow quickly glanced around before once again resting her head on Applejack’s coat and drifting back into unconsciousness.

Rainbow Dash drearily opened her eyes to see Applejack standing in front of her, eyes wide open to see her. ‘Ugh... my head feels like it’s split...’ She thought ,before sitting up and looking into Applejack’s eyes.

“What happened?” she asked groggily.

“Ya crashed. Again.”

“Again? Sweet Celestia, I need to work on my flight control.” Rainbow tried to get up, but an aching pain shot through her left foreleg causing her whole body to go limp and release a small gasp, making her fall back onto the bed with an “oof”.

“Don’t get up, Rainbow,” warned Applejack. “You sprained your left foreleg. You should be okay in a few days, but you’re staying here till you’re better.

Rainbow noticed she was on a familiar straw mattress. The soft almost downy feel, and the smell was very familiar. She searched around the room, and a look of understanding crossed her face. “But... this is your bed.”

“Ah’ll sleep on the couch tonight. Ya should get the softer bed, what with your leg and all.”

“I-I don’t want to get in the way...” Rainbow said, glancing down at the sheets.

“It’s my fault you’re hurt, and it happened on my farm.” Applejack replied sheepishly. “Besides... You won’t get in the way cause you aren’t going to be walking until that sprain of yours is healed.”

“What! How am I supposed to survive cooped up in a bed?” Rainbow groaned, throwing her head back into the pillow.

“You did a fairly good job in the hospital when you broke your wings, you can do it here.” She replied sternly.

Rainbow glared at Applejack. Letting out a huff she let her shoulders sag in defeat.

“Fine...” She said meekly.

“Rainbow–” Applejack tried, but was interrupted by Rainbow throwing her right foreleg around the orange earth pony, wrapping her neck around hers, drawing her into an embrace. Rainbow wanted to show her how much she really appreciated her help, she wanted to do a lot more than hug her, but that was all she could do at the moment. Applejack smiled slightly, and Rainbow’s heart started beating faster, and her smile grew to an almost Pinkie Pie state.

They held the embrace for a few seconds, before Applejack broke it and spoke. “Thanks, Rainbow. Ah’ll see ya tomorrow.”

As Applejack walked out of the room, Rainbow lay back down on the bed. She was feeling anxious to get her feelings for the orange mare straight, and perhaps have them eventually returned.

‘I don’t know how I’m going to do it...’ She thought ‘But I hope I do it right.’

(

Applejack slowly walked across the hallway, mind in a haze. Upon reaching the living room, she threw herself upon the couch and attempted to organize her thoughts.

'Rainbow Dash has a crush on me. She injured herself trying to fly away. She is now sleeping in my bed. She hugged me, and it felt ni-'

Applejack attempted to clear her head, before repeating that last statement. 'She hugged me, and it felt nice. It felt nice.

She suddenly felt strange and out of place, sort of how she felt in Cloudsdale; not where she should belong. The Earth pony sighed inwardly.
'Ah’ll think about it in the morning. Things always look better in the morning.'

Applejack closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep, thoughts of the day running through her mind. Her dreams constantly shifted towards the strange experiences that day, going from Rainbow confessing her feelings to the orange mare, to the hug they had just shared. Slowly her dreams shifted to that of which she returned the feelings Rainbow had for her. She dreamed of what it would be like to have her as a marefriend, and unconsciously smiled as she drifted off into a deeper sleep.

Author's Note

Thanks to Kutkh for editing this chapter! Very much so appreciated!

Realization

Rainbow lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She had awoken several hours before, and now the boredom was allowing her thoughts to overwhelm her mind.

Ugh... Stupid leg... If it weren’t for it, I would be out flying! Why won’t- Her thought being broken as another thought was flung through it. Flying! I can still fly!

Rainbow moved to get out of the bed, but her leg had a plan to stay. As she tried to move, a sharp pain rushed through her body, making her release an over loud, involuntary yelp of surprise and pain. Rainbow clamped a hoof to her mouth, but the damage had already been done. She could hear the sound of hooves climbing stairs quickly as they made their way to the doorway of Rainbow’s temporary room. Applejack burst into the room with a worried look on her face.

"Rainbow! Are ya alright?" She asked quickly.

Upon seeing Rainbow, her look of worry melted into anger.

“Ah told ya not to get up! You could hurt yourself more!” She yelled.

“I was getting bored...” Rainbow muttered, looking down at the bed. “I was just going to go flying...”

“Sugarcube, why do you think I said to stay in bed?” Applejack asked with a sigh as she walked towards Rainbow. “Yer just gonna hurt yourself worse if ya keep doing this.”

Applejack saw Rainbow look down, clearly upset about what had just happened. The orange mare watched Rainbow quickly glance back at her foreleg, clearly still in pain. As she thought about it, Applejack had a solution pop into her head. Instantly, her thoughts became divided into two separate entities.

One was saying, It’s only her foreleg, she won’t think nothin of it. while the other shouted She likes you, she’ll think everything of it. The worst part was that Applejack was unable to decide which voice was telling her to go for it and which was not. With an inward sigh, Applejack looked up at Rainbow again.

“Ah can think of a way to make your leg feel better.” She said

“Really? Well, what is it?”

“Er... let me help you.”

Applejack finished closing the distance towards Rainbow and began to methodically move her hoof back and forth across the pegasus’ foreleg. ‘Ah’m doing this to make her leg feel better. She ain’t thinking anything of it.’

She’s doing this to make my leg feel better. She’s not thinking anything of it. Rainbow halted her thoughts on the why and just went with it. Applejack wasn’t lying about it making her leg feel better; the pain had lessened significantly already, and Rainbow hoped that it wouldn’t start hurting again when she stopped.

Rainbow felt Applejack press firmly on a spot just above her foreleg, offering a loud crack making Rainbow yelp in surprise.

“Feel good Sugarcube?” She asked with a smirk.

Rainbow only let out a groan of satisfaction as Applejack continued to massage her foreleg. Rainbow looked up at Applejack, allowing every detail to flow through her mind. The swish of her tail as she focuses on something, how she sticks her tongue out the left side of her mouth, and how her emerald green eyes hold the key to her focus.

Before Rainbow knew it Applejack had finished the massage, earning a pout from the cyan mare. Applejack smirked at her as she stepped back from the bed.

“Hmmm... Your leg feel better Rainbow?” She asked.

“Yeah,” replied the pegasus. “It could be better, but I doubt there’s much you could do beyond that.” ‘Except, perhaps, say you like me. That would take my mind off the pain.’

A light pressure formed around Rainbow’s torso, and she realized Applejack had begun to hug her, similarly to what had happened several hours prior. As Rainbow let her one good leg embrace the cute earth pony, a light blush began forming on her face. It was dark, so Rainbow couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw Applejack’s cheeks redden slightly as well.

Applejack awoke on the couch, mind still reeling. Ah massaged Rainbow’s leg. Sweet Celestia, this is gettin awkward.

Applejack slowly sat up and hoisted herself off the couch. As she walked toward Rainbow’s temporary room, her mind wandered toward thoughts of how she felt toward the cyan pegasus.

Oh, ah don’t know. Do ah like her? Ah have ta admit, she has been lookin’ mighty fine lately. She shook her head and continued onward. Ah don’t know. Ah just don’t know what ta do or what ta say, or even what ta think.

Arriving at her destination, Applejack pushed the door open slowly, peering in to find that Rainbow was fast asleep, snoring softly, face down into the pillow. Seeing the image in front of her, Applejack let out a giggle.

She looks real cute right now... She thought as she walked over to the bed and prodded Rainbow in the side to wake her. Getting only a louder snore in response she could only sigh.

This would be a lot easier if I could wake her how I usually do... She thought All it would take was a bucket of water. … Or a good kick to a tree.

Suddenly, a strange thought struck the orange mare. Hmm... Ah bet that’d wake her up. But... Ah don’t know if I should. Is it a good idea? Applejack sighed.

With a slight bit of hesitation Applejack leaned down and kissed Rainbow on the cheek waking her. Rainbow rolled over wide eyed and stared at Applejack.

“This is a dream isn’t it?” She asked as she pressed lightly on her hurt foreleg. “Ow! Alright... So it isn’t a dream...”

Applejack could only stare at the ground at this point as Rainbow moved slightly on the bed. She could feel a hoof pull her chin upward to stare into the magenta eyes.

Darn them eyes are beautiful... She thought before she felt a pressure on her lips.

Applejack’s eyes went wide in surprise as Rainbow kissed her, wanting to pull away, but her body wouldn’t respond as it melted slowly into the kiss. Closing her eyes she let her body take over as she pushed back, slowly coming to the realization, She’s kissing me... And... Ah’ like it.

The kiss lasted until they were both gasping for air. As they separated they stared into each others eyes, smiling.

Ah’... Ah liked it when she kissed me... But Ah’m not a fillyfooler!’ She thought, ‘Am I?

Rainbow stared into Applejack’s eyes as she lay back down on the bed.

Oh, sweet Celestia, thank you, thought the pegasus.

“Applejack...” she stated lovingly.

“Rainbow... that was nice, but Ah think we should get some breakfast now.” Rainbow suddenly realized how hungry she was.

“Heh heh, right,” she admitted. “But, tonight-”

“Ya want me to be here again tonight?” Rainbow nodded.

“Of course.”

As Applejack left the room, the blue mare smiled to herself. I like you Applejack. I like you a lot, and I want to... I want to see you smile... and I want to share moments like this with you more... hopefully it will be sooner than later.

Author's Note

Ha that escalated quickly ^.^

Sorry for the slow updates. Been busy with work and school.

Thanks to Ryan Darling for editing this chapter! Greatly appreciated ^.^