Comfortably Numb

by JSCD

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Romance
Length: 7359

Rainbow Dash is a mare of many unpredictable actions, unpredictable movents and unpredictable feelings... some of which may be rather passionate about certain ponies...

Rainbow Dash has always gazed at Pinkie Pie in odd ways. Some were adoring glimpses of admiration, others were sparkling expressions of awe. Sometimes, she'd even misplace her signature attitude simply by talking to the pink mare.
There was a perfectly good reason for this, one she could not understand, nor explain… But she just knew, she really was in love.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-30 19:40:10 UTC

Chapter 2 - Wind and rain

Rainbow Dash couldn’t stop thinking about Pinkie. Whenever Pinkie was around, Rainbow just had this feeling she couldn’t ignore. Rainbow just wanted to kiss her, to show her how she truly felt. She had this voice in her head that kept becoming louder and louder, telling Rainbow Dash to give in and just tell Pinkie, but her usual life usually kept it at bay. But now, her proximity to Pinkie Pie, the quiet of the orchard and nothing to distract her, that little voice in her head was getting louder and louder. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could take it before that voice took control.

It wasn’t long before they were back at the cart. Pinkie Pie sat down on the grass to rest, and Rainbow Dash poured all the apples from the baskets into the apple cart. She set the baskets down on the ground and turned to Pinkie.

“Okay, you ready?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yep!” Pinkie said enthusiastically.

“Alright, I’ll meet you down where all the apples dropped” Rainbow said, and she flew off, leaving a trail of colours in her wake. Pinkie Pie bounced off after her.

Rainbow Dash flew down to the orchard floor, grabbed as many apples as she could take in her basket and sped off again. Pinkie did the same, taking as much as she could off the ground before bounding back to the cart again like a bunny rabbit. They continued like this for a while, the two mares going back and forth, ferrying the red and green fruit to the cart, until almost all the apples were gone.

‘We’ve almost done this little section of the orchard, and the storm is coming, you should tell her now. You might not get another chance’ Rainbow Dash’s heart told her as she dropped a load of apples in the cart and flew off again.

‘I can’t!’ Rainbow Dash’s brain replied, as she flew on through the orchard.

‘You always think about her, just do it! Why not?’ her heart said.

“I….JUST….CAN’T!” Rainbow Dash shouted out loud in frustration.

“Huh? What did you say Dashie?” Pinkie called from the ground below, bouncing along to get some more apples to load the cart.

Dashie.

“I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!” Rainbow Dash yelled, dropping her empty basket.

She suddenly went into a nose dive, heading straight for Pinkie.

“Uh, Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?” Pinkie said nervously as the cyan pegasus flew towards her.

Rainbow Dash rugby tackled the pink mare and pinned her to the ground, landing on top of her.

“OW! WHAT ARE YOU DOI-“ Pinkie started, but she was cut off by Rainbow Dash pressing her lips against hers, pulling her into a passionate kiss. Pinkie Pie didn’t try to resist or try to pull away. She just went with it. The two mares lay there, in the grass and the sun, for what seemed like an age, exchanging the kiss and making it last as long as they could.

Finally. Rainbow Dash had wanted to do this for a very long time. She had always wanted to kiss Pinkie, to taste her tender lips. She always wanted to tell Pinkie how she felt, and it was all said in but one kiss. The voice in her head had won, and had faded away into nothing; its mission was complete.

The two ponies finally parted lips.

“Pinkie Pie…I love you” Rainbow Dash said as she gazed deep into Pinkie’s blue eyes. “You don’t know how long I waited to do that…”

“Too long…” Pinkie Pie said. “I love you too, Dashie”

“Y-you do?” Rainbow Dash asked, surprised.

Pinkie pulled her in for another kiss. Pinkie started to stroke Rainbow’s mane, gently moving down her neck and to her wings, softly caressing them and causing her to purr with delight. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, enjoying the new sensation Pinkie was giving her.

“I know how sensitive a pegasus’ wings are” Pinkie Pie whispered into Rainbow Dash’s ear. “I know how I can make you feel so good” she whispered as she rubbed around the edges of Rainbow’s wings. Rainbow Dash moaned into Pinkie’s mouth as she continued to stroke them, carefully grooming the feathers with her hooves.

Rainbow Dash wished she could lay here forever, in the hooves of the pink mare she loved. But the storm was coming, the sky began to darken, and if they didn’t leave to go back soon, they wouldn’t be leaving at all.

Pinkie Pie eventually stopped stroking Rainbow’s wings, and looked at her with a grin. “Does that answer your question, Dashie?” Pinkie said playfully.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and looked at Pinkie.

“I…yes…that felt…so good Pinkie…” Rainbow said, still in ecstasy. “Thank you…”

Pinkie Pie giggled.

“Pinkie…” Rainbow started.

“Ssh, do you hear that?” Pinkie asked, raising her hoof to Rainbow’s lips.

Rainbow Dash listened carefully, but heard nothing. “What did you hear?” she replied.

“Like, something moving” Pinkie replied, lowering her voice to a whisper and looking around from their place on the grass.

“It’s nothing, silly!” Rainbow said chuckling, pulling Pinkie back towards her and pecking her on the cheek.

“What’re you two doing?” called a voice.

Rainbow Dash jumped at the sound and stood up. She turned around to see Big Mac standing a few feet away, with his usual “default” look, as she liked to call it, on his face.

“Uh, nothing!” Pinkie Pie said, jumping up.

“Yeah, we were just, uh, wrestling” Rainbow Dash said.

“Yeah! Pinkie said enthusiastically. “Surely somepony like you with your big posture must love his wrestling!”

Big Mac rolled his eyes.

“Well ah dun care what you’re up to, just Applejack said to come on back, the storm’s just about to hit” he said.

“Okay we’ll come back in a minute, we’re just gonna clear the rest of these apples away” Rainbow Dash said pointing to the few apples that were left on the ground.

Big Mac raised his eyebrows.

“Alright then” he said, and started walking back towards the farm.

Rainbow Dash waited until he was well out of sight, before turning back to Pinkie and stealing another kiss.

“Do you reckon he saw us?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Who cares!” Pinkie said, giggling. Pinkie Pie jumped on top of Rainbow Dash and pushed her to the ground. “Now it’s more me plus you time!” she grinned.

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Pinkie, as much as I love you, we should get going; we don’t want to get caught in a lightning storm” she said, looking up at the pink pony.

“Aww, okay…” Pinkie said as she climbed off Rainbow and stood back up.

“Let’s grab the rest of these apples and head on back to Applejack’s” Rainbow said. “Now I’m gonna go look for my basket I dropped, I’ll be right back.” Rainbow Dash walked off slowly towards the cart, looking around for the apple basket she let go of while she was flying.

That happened so fast, but seemed so slow. She had finally done it. She had finally managed to tell Pinkie how she felt about her. And even better, Pinkie returned those feelings too. It was a dream come true.

Pinkie Pie picked her basket up off the floor, which had landed a few feet away after Rainbow decided to dive onto her. She scooped up a few of the apples that were left and put them in the basket, before bouncing off in Rainbow Dash’s direction.

Pinkie caught up with the cyan pegasus, who had found her basket, and was walking back to the space where the apples had fallen.

“I got the basket, just gonna go back and grab the rest of the apples.” Rainbow Dash said to Pinkie as she bounced past. “Meet me by the cart in a minute”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie smiled.

Pinkie Pie bunny-hopped down through the orchard and back to the cart, which was pretty much full. She tipped all the apples out of the basket and onto the pile, setting the basket down on top afterwards. She sat down beside the cart, leant her back against it and closed her eyes. She sat there for a moment, just thinking. Enjoying the peace.

Suddenly, a loud crack of thunder echoed around the valley, which brought Pinkie out of her trance. She stood up and looked around, to see a large black cloud slowly coming in from the north. That storm was getting close.

“Pinkie Pie!” called Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie turned to see Rainbow Dash flying above her, holding the apple basket in her hooves as she flapped her wings to stay in the air. “Heads up!” she said as she poured the remaining apples out of the basket and into the cart.

“You ready to go?” Rainbow asked, dropping the basket onto the cart and landed on the grass beside Pinkie.

“Yep!” Pinkie beamed.

Rainbow Dash walked around to the front of the cart, and pulled one of the horseshoe-shaped pieces over her head and onto her back. Pinkie did the same, so that the two mares were both side by side, Rainbow Dash on the right, Pinkie on the left. They slowly started pulling, bringing the cart to a slow but steady speed.

“Dashie…” Pinkie started as the walked through the orchard. “How long…? I wanna know…”

Rainbow Dash blushed. “About 3 months…” she said nervously.

“That long?” Pinkie said in surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I…I was afraid…” Rainbow Dash said, looking down at the ground.

Pinkie Pie reached over and pulled Rainbow Dash into a tight hug.

“D’aww, its okay Dashie, I was afraid too...” Pinkie admitted.

Rainbow Dash looked up and stifled a nervous laugh.

“We were so afraid of how each other would react, so we ended up not saying anything at all…” Rainbow said, gazing at Pinkie.

“He he, well you managed to do it in the end!” Pinkie said, kissing Rainbow Dash behind the ear.

Rainbow Dash smiled.

“But how are we gonna tell everypony?” she asked, frowning.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to, Dashie” Pinkie said assuringly.

“But we’re gonna have to sometime, it can’t be a secret forever…” Rainbow replied.

“We’ll take it slow, telling ponies that you only really feel comfortable telling” Pinkie explained. “Have you got anypony in mind?”

“Well…I was thinking Fluttershy…I trust her a lot, and we grew up together” Rainbow said. “She would never tell anypony unless we asked her to.”

“Okay, so we’ll do that? We’ll tell Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked.

“Yeah.” Rainbow replied nodding her head. “We’ll tell her.”

Suddenly a loud crash of thunder rolled around, making the pair jump and look up to the skies. The sky had become dark, and it had begun to rain. Not just a light shower. It was heavy rain, coming down by the bucketload.

“We need to hurry up, Pinkie! Pick up the pace!” Rainbow called, trying to keep her voice above the sound of the pouring rain. “Pull faster!”

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash started to pull harder and faster, determined to get the cart back to the farm, despite being drenched by the constant downpour.

“Keep going!” Rainbow shouted.

The two mares kept going, battling against the powerful wind and the pounding rain. Every step became harder, the rain turning the grassy ground into a muddy slide.

“Come on Pinkie, we can do this!” Rainbow shouted again.

She looked over at Pinkie, who was breathing heavily and struggling to keep herself moving.

“I can’t…keep going…” Pinkie Pie said in between gasps. She suddenly slipped on the muddy ground and fell, pulling the cart down with her. Rainbow Dash felt the sudden pull to the left and pushed against it, straining herself to keep the cart upright. But it was to no avail. The cart was just too heavy. Rainbow couldn’t keep the cart up all by herself, and tripped up and fell, meeting the same demise as Pinkie. The cart rolled over and all the apples fell out, rolling in every direction. Pinkie sharply cried out in pain.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow cried as she pulled herself up off the ground, and ran over to where Pinkie had fallen. Pinkie was lying on the ground, wincing as she clutched her back leg in pain. “Are you alright!?” Rainbow said worriedly, crouching down beside her.

Pinkie shook her head, trying not to cry out.

“Can you stand up!?” Rainbow asked.

“I...I don’t know…” Pinkie said shakily.

Pinkie slowly pulled herself up using the overturned cart to steady herself. She tried to take a step forward, but cried out and collapsed back to the ground.

Suddenly a bright flash flew down from the sky, striking an apple tree not far from the two mares, setting it ablaze.

“That was way too close!” Rainbow shouted, panicking. “We have to go NOW!”

“Just…go without me…” Pinkie said weakly. “I’ll be fine…”

“I’m not leaving you!” Rainbow Dash cried, pulling Pinkie into her hooves. “I won’t…”

“Just go! I’ll be fine I promise! Pinkie said, pushing Rainbow Dash away.

“There has to be another way!” Rainbow cried again, fighting back the tears that were welling in her eyes. Rainbow Dash wrapped her hooves around Pinkie, and with all her strength, she flapped her wings as hard as she could, lifting herself and Pinkie off the ground.

“Dashie! What are you doing?!” Pinkie gasped as she was lifted into the air.

“Getting us out of here!” Rainbow shouted as she struggled to keep flying straight as the wind and the rain battered her. She fought as hard as she could against the wind, using all her energy to keep herself and Pinkie Pie airborne. She flew on through the storm, becoming more and more tired as she went. But she was not going to stop now; she had come too far to just give up. Whenever she felt she was going to drop, the thought of Pinkie Pie in her hooves motivated her, and she just kept on going. She was soaking wet, freezing cold and incredibly tired, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She did it for Pinkie.

“Rainbow Dash! Look!” Pinkie called, cutting through the howling of the wind.

Rainbow Dash looked up. The rain had blurred her vision, but in the distance she could just make out a faint outline of some sort of large building.

“It’s Sweet Apple Acres!” Pinkie shouted in joy. “We made it!”

“Yes!” Rainbow shouted in glee.

But the two lover’s victory was short lived. A huge crash of thunder, a blinding flash of light, and Rainbow Dash went limp, released her grip and fell out of the air. She to regain control, but she couldn’t move. The lightning strike had completely immobilized her. She fell through the air, helplessly, hurtling towards the ground.

Chapter 3 - Numb

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes.

She struggled to realise where she was at first. It looked like Sweet Apple Acres, but it couldn’t be. She remembered feeling completely numb, not being able to move, falling through the dark, wind and rain towards the ground. Here it was sunny, and a gentle breeze blew through the orchard, not a horrendous thrashing storm. It was very eerie. Rainbow Dash looked around, to see if there was anything of significance in her surroundings. There was an apple cart a few metres away, and that was it. But it felt strange, almost like she had been here before. The strangest thing is that she couldn’t move, even though she was standing up. She could look around, but nothing more. It was just like her hooves were stuck to the ground. Rainbow could suddenly hear the steady, rhythmic sound of hooves approaching from a distance. She could hear voices too, both of which sounded very familiar. They were coming from around the corner, but she couldn’t see who it was; there were too many trees in the way. The sound of hooves and the voices became progressively louder, until she could make out exactly what they were saying.

“Have…have you ever been in love?” one of the voices said.

There was a short silence.

“Well” said the other. “Yes, I guess I have, and I am in love with somepony now…but I don’t think they know that I do…”

Another short silence.

“Why, is there somepony you like?” the other continued.

“Well, uh, I guess you could say that” the first replied.

“It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it, Dashie” said the other.

Dashie.

And just like that, it hit her.

It was them.

Rainbow Dash didn’t quite understand it, but somehow it was happening. It was Pinkie Pie and…herself. It was her former self, and Pinkie Pie, after Applejack had asked them to help on the farm. But how? What was going on? It couldn’t be real…could it? Rainbow Dash shook her head, attempting to stop asking herself confusing questions. It didn’t matter now. What mattered now was that two mares were going to turn the corner and see a second Rainbow Dash. But she couldn’t do anything about it. She just had to stand there and hope for the best. She closed her eyes, waiting for the sudden gasp or shout from the approaching ponies, but none came. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes again, not knowing what to expect. She saw her past self taking off, and Pinkie Pie running after her with baskets on her back. Had they not seen her? Was she invisible?

Suddenly, a bright flash of light made Rainbow Dash look away, shielding herself from the blinding glow. She slowly turned her head back towards the light source, which had now gone. But standing in its place, was Princess Luna.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't make a sound.

“Greetings, my child.” Luna said softly. “I know you must have many questions, but I cannot answer them. I know you must be very confused, but you must be able to trust me.”

Rainbow Dash nodded her head.

“Good. Now listen to me very carefully.” Luna said. “Tonight, you were supposed to die. The lightning that struck you temporarily stopped your body functioning, and the fall would have been fatal. But I have chosen to spare you, for you have not lived your life as fully as you should.”

The image of Sweet Apple Acres distorted and flickered, and the scene changed, where Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were rolling around in the grass, kissing and stroking one another.

“You have only just found true love” Luna said. “For the first time in your life, you have set your fears and anxieties aside, to be with the pony you loved. Pinkie Pie is a very special pony. If you wish to remain in love, you must commit to her, be there for her when she needs you the most, and don’t neglect her.”

The scene changed again, where Pinkie Pie was kneeling over Rainbow Dash’s body, sobbing in the wind and the rain in the night.

A tear escaped Rainbow Dash’s eye and rolled down her cheek at the scene in front of her. Rainbow Dash tried to speak. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Rainbow could hear Pinkie sobbing. She could hear Pinkie’s desperate cries of her name. She could hear Pinkie’s pleads. Rainbow Dash wanted to call out. She wanted to scream, to yell, anything to let Pinkie know that she was here, and she was alive. But she couldn’t. All she could do was watch.

“The thing that saddened me the most was watching her cry over your body when you fell to the ground. She loved you too, no doubt. This is a moment where she needs you the most, will you be there for her?” Princess Luna finished, looking at Rainbow Dash for her answer.

Rainbow Dash nodded.

Luna retreated backwards, the world began to spin, and everything went black.

“Rainbow Dash…” cried a voice.

It was Pinkie.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. She couldn’t see much, her vision was too blurred. All she knew was that she was lying on the ground.

“Dashie!?” cried the voice again.

“Pinkie…I’m here” Rainbow whimpered.

Rainbow Dash felt the pink pony wrap her hooves around her, and squeezed tight.

“Oh Dashie…I thought I’d lost you…” Pinkie cried.

“No way…” Rainbow said, stifling a chuckle. “Takes more than a little storm to take me out…” She paused for a moment. “Pinkie, where are you? I can’t see you…”

“I’m right here, silly” Pinkie said, kissing Rainbow Dash passionately on the lips. “Can’t you see me?”

“I can’t…I can’t see much…just darkness…and an outline…that might be you… but everything is so blurred…” Rainbow said.

Pinkie Pie sniffed. “Can you move?” she asked.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t move. She was completely numb all over, apart from her head and neck.

“No…I can’t…I’m can’t feel anything…my entire body feels numb…” she said sadly.

Pinkie Pie began to cry again. “We have to get you to hospital…”

Pinkie stood up.

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!” she bellowed. “ANYPONY! PLEASE! WE NEED HELP!”

Rainbow Dash felt the world slowly slipping away, she struggled to stay conscious, trying to focus on the sound of Pinkie’s voice.

“Pinkie…stop…I’ll be fine…” Rainbow Dash said, closing her eyes.

Pinkie Pie dropped back to the floor where Rainbow Dash lay.

“No no no, Dashie, wake up, you’ve got to stay with me!” Pinkie cried.

“As long as you’re here Pinkie, I’ll be comfortable…I’ll be back to my old self in no time…” Rainbow trailed off.

“No, Dashie, please, wake up, stay with me!” Pinkie cried again.

The sound of rapid hooves became louder and louder.

“Pinkie Pie!” yelled a voice. “Ah heard yer hollerin, what’s goin on? Are y’all alright?”

“Applejack! Dashie needs help now!” Pinkie yelled, tears streaming down her face.

“Oh mah gosh, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack gasped.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and looked up, and then everything went black.

Rainbow Dash woke up. She slowly opened her eyes, but closed them again quickly. It was very bright. She prepared herself, and opened her eyes, blinking repeatedly to adjust to the lighting of the room. She was in a hospital bed, the same one she was in when she crashed and broke her wing some time ago. She remembered the hospital well. She looked to her right. At some point, she obviously had visitors. On the bedside table there was a box of her favourite chocolates with a label “from Rarity”, and a get well soon card which read “from Fluttershy” and had a picture of the wonderbolts on the front. On the left, was a clipboard on a small table, and a heart rate monitor, with wires leading away from it. She followed them, and they all ended up on her very own chest, which didn’t surprise her.

Rainbow Dash tried moving her hind legs, her left, and then her right. Same with wings, and hooves. All seemed to be responding properly. She wondered if anyone was around.

“Hello?” she called, announcing her presence.

A light brown coloured unicorn appeared at the door, in a white lab coat that doctors usually wear. He walked in, swiftly, and stopped at the side of the bed.

“Well hello there, Miss Rainbow Dash, glad to see you’re awake! You gave us quite a scare you kow, you’ve been unconscious for 7 days now” the doctor said, examining the clipboard on the bedside table. “Luckily, that time allowed your body to heal after you were struck by lightning. You’re a very tough pegasus, surviving that” he said, smiling.

“7 days? That long? Where are all my friends?” she asked.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get the nurse to give them a call” the doctor said, waving his hoof to another pony, who promptly walked out of the room. “Well, all seems to be in order” he said, setting the clipboard down on the table. “When your friends arrive, you are free to go.”

“Really?” Rainbow asked in surprise.

“Of course” he said, walking to the door. “Speak of the devil, here they are now! I’ll leave you lot to it, shall I?” he said, and then disappeared down the corridor.

Pinkie Pie bounded in first, leaping on top of Rainbow Dash and giving her a huge hug.

“Dashie! I’m so glad you’re okay!” she said happily.

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Aww Pinkie, I missed you too” she said, kissing Pinkie on the cheek. “How did you not get hurt when I dropped you and fell?”

“Oh that” Pinkie said, giggling. “I landed in a tree!”

Rainbow Dash laughed. Pinkie could survive anything.

Pinkie jumped off the bed, to reveal Twilight and Fluttershy coming through the door.

“Oh hey Rainbow Dash” Twilight said. “I’m glad you’re okay after what happened on the farm, that must have been terrifying!”

“Oh yes” Fluttershy said. “Not everypony gets struck by lightning and makes a full recovery. And as for you and Pinkie Pie, you should feel proud of yourself. I’m glad you decided to tell everypony, that takes a lot of courage.”

“Yeah, good on you Rainbow Dash” Twilight said with a smile.

Rainbow Dash blushed. “Wait, how do you know about that?”

“Oh, I think we’ll let Applejack explain that” Twilight replied.

Rarity and Applejack entered, walking around to the other side of Rainbow Dash’s bed, opposite Fluttershy and Twlight.

“Well ah suppose y’all wonderin how everypony knows about you an’ Pinkie Pie being in love and all that?” said Applejack.

“Yeah, how do they all know?” Rainbow asked. “Wait, your leg? I thought it was broken?”

“Well, the truth is, it was all part of Rarity’s plan” Applejack said.

“What?” Rainbow Dash said, turning to Rarity. “What plan? How did you know about me and Pinkie?”

“Oh don’t be silly darling, I’ve seen the way you gaze at each other behind your backs, it’s the look only a lover would give!” Rarity cooed.

Applejack nodded her head. “Yah, and Rarity told me an’ everypony else her plan, and they all liked the idea, so that’s when we invited you to mah farm to do some apple buckin’. We knew you two wouldn’t last long without one of ya confessin’ your love, an’ when Big Mac came back an’ told me that you two lovebirds were rollin’ around in the grass together, we knew the plan had worked. Ah was only actin’ like ah had a broken leg just so it made the plan believable, the plaster cast was a fake.” Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash was shocked. This was all a plan?

“I could have been killed!” Rainbow yelled angrily.

Applejack hung her head. “Ah know, that wasn’t part of the plan, we thought you’d be back at the farm before the storm hit” she said. “Ah’m sorry.”

Rainbow Dash’s rage quickly died inside her. She couldn’t stay mad at them, they were the reason she and Pinkie were together.

“Yes, I’m sorry too dear, I had no idea you could have been hurt” Rarity said apologetically.

“I…thanks guys…I guess I never could have told Pinkie I loved her without you…even if I could have been fried by lightning” Rainbow said, chuckling. “Thanks for the chocolates, too” she said.

“Pinkie told me they were your favourite, it was the least I could do.” Rarity said, smiling.

“Well ah guess we better leave you two lovebirds alone” Applejack said as they started towards the door. “We’ll see y’all later.”

“Goodbye, and thanks for the card Fluttershy” Rainbow Dash said happily.

“Oh, that’s alright” Fluttershy said smiling.

They walked out, leaving only Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie left in the room.

“What say you and me go to Sugarcube corner and get something to eat?!” Pinkie asked as she gave Rainbow Dash a kiss.

“Sounds good Pinkie” Rainbow said with a smile.

And with that, they walked out of the hospital together, hooves around each other’s shoulders.

“I love you, Dashie.”

“I love you too, Pinkie.”

Chapter 1 - A favour to ask

It was a sunny afternoon in Ponyville, the birds were chirping, the town buzzing with life, the sky completely void of clouds. Rainbow Dash was slowly flying in the direction of Sugarcube corner to go see her friend Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to deny it, she loved Pinkie. She has had a crush on the pink mare for ages, but she never told her. Rainbow loved the way Pinkie was always so enthusiastic about everything, she was always happy and she could cheer up anypony who was down. She loved how random she was, how she bounced around everywhere, and her ability to somehow defy the laws of physics. Rainbow Dash wasn’t a shy pony, but when it came to love, she wasn’t the best mare to confess her feelings and affections for another pony, especially a mare. Especially Pinkie Pie. She had no idea how Pinkie would react. Rainbow had gotten so close to telling her what she felt, but every time it had ended with “uh…nevermind” or something like that, followed by a hasty escape. But today was different. Today she was on her way to tell Pinkie about what had happened to Applejack.

Rainbow Dash watched the streets below as she flew, seeing the Cutie Mark Crusaders running around after each other and crashing into things, Derpy Hooves flying sideways, and Lyra sitting funny. Ponyville was pretty crazy. So was Pinkie Pie. That’s why she loved her. Rainbow Dash dropped out of the air and landed softly on the grass in front of Sugarcube corner.

“Hello?” Rainbow called as she walked through the door. Mrs Cake was sitting behind the counter, but stood up when she saw the blue pegasus enter.

“Oh hello there Rainbow Dash!” Mrs Cake beamed. “What a nice surprise! What’s on your mind?”

Rainbow Dash trotted over to the counter. “Yeah, I was looking for Pinkie Pie, something has happened to Applejack and I need to tell her” she said.

“Oh my. What happened to her?”  Mrs Cake asked worriedly.

“Well she-“ Rainbow started, but was cut off by a loud rumbling noise coming from the floor above. She directed her attention to the stairs, where Pinkie Pie had just come shooting down them at high speed, crashing onto the floor in a heap.

“WHAT HAPPENED TO APPLEJACK?” Pinkie Pie yelled, jumping up off the floor and landing on top of the counter.

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Chill out Pinkie, it’s nothing serious, just a broken back leg.”

“IS SHE ALRIGHT?” Pinkie yelled again. Mrs Cake promptly walked into the other room, having being almost deafened by Pinkie’s frantic shouting. That was the only disadvantage of Pinkie being around. When she wanted to be, she was very loud.

“She’s fine Pinkie!” Rainbow said. “Big Mac came and told me about 10 minutes ago!”

“Oh goodie! I must visit her right away! I need flowers, a get well soon card, a box of choc-“

“PINKIE!” Rainbow shouted.

“Yeah?” Pinkie replied, jumping down off the counter.

“Applejack said you don’t need to bring anything. She just wants us to come down as soon as possible” Rainbow Dash said calmly.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie replied cheerfully, with her usual trademark acknowledgement.

“Now, let’s go!” Rainbow said, flying out through the door, with Pinkie bouncing behind, somehow managing to keep up with the speeding pegasus.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t nervous around Pinkie usually. It was only when she wanted to tell her how she truly felt, and then Rainbow would become more timid than Fluttershy asking for a refund. Rainbow wondered as she was flying; did Pinkie have even the slightest idea she had feelings for her?

Rainbow Dash slowed down and landed on the dirt ground in front of Sweet Apple Acres, then looked behind to see Pinkie Pie bounding along up the path not far away.

They walked up the path into the farm itself, and up to the front door of the house next to the barn. Rainbow Dash raised her hoof and knocked on the door.

“Applejack! We’re here!” Rainbow called, looking up at the windows.

After a brief pause the door opened, revealing Big Mac. “Oh hello you two. Applejack’s just upstairs, follow me” he said in his usual voice.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie walked in, closing the door behind them and following Big Mac through the hall and up the stairs. He went into one of the bedrooms, and the two mares walked in to see Applejack lying in bed, with a plaster cast around one of her back legs, supported by a couple of pillows. Her hat had been hung on one of the bedposts, and it was almost strange seeing Applejack without it.

“Oh my gosh, Applejack!” Pinkie gasped, running over to the side of the bed. “Are you okay?”

“Ah’m fine, just a l’il run down after the accident.” Applejack replied, looking up at her new visitors. “How’re you folks comin’ along?”

“I’m great!” Pinkie said with a grin.

“I’m alright” said Rainbow Dash. “What about you? How did you break your leg?”

Applejack winced. “Well, ah was in a hurry to buck all the apples the past couple days before the scheduled storm came, and ah guess I overdid it and lost my balance. Ah fell back on it funny, and now ah’m lyin’ here telling y’all about it. Apart from mah leg though, ah’m fine.”

“Aww, well I hope you get better soon” Rainbow said. “So what do you need us to do for you, Applejack?”

Applejack pulled herself up against her pillow. “Well, since mah leg is broken, ah can’t do any apple bucking. Ah was wonderin’ if you two could help Big Mac with it, because we wanna get all them apples before the storm comes later” she said. “Now ah know you two ain’t the strongest ponies in Equestria, but ah know you can figure out some kind of funny plan to get those apples down without having to buck ‘em.”

“That’s cool, but why us?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, Twilight was busy with her studies, Fluttershy is hardly apple bucking material, and Rarity is, well, Rarity.” Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie giggled.

“That’s cool, we can totally handle that!” Pinkie said enthusiastically.

“Yeah, you can count on us Applejack” Rainbow said, saluting with her hoof.

“Now, Big Mac is gonna buck the Apples closest to the barn so he can hear me hollerin’ if ah need anything” Applejack explained. “You two will go a little further up the farm to the trees near the back that haven’t been bucked yet.” She looked from Pinkie, then to Rainbow Dash. “You got that?”

“Yeah” said Rainbow.

“Yep!” said Pinkie Pie.

“Alright, good. Now make sure you come back as soon as ya can, we don’t want y’all getting stuck in a lightnin’ storm.” Applejack said.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie said as they turned to leave.

“Big Mac has already left an apple cart where ya need to be, so just go ahead and bring it on back when you’re done, okay?” Applejack said.

“Will do” Rainbow Dash replied.

The two mares walked out of the bedroom, down the stairs, across the hall and to the door before they heard Applejack call them.

“Be careful you two!” she called from upstairs.

“Don’t worry, we will!” Pinkie called back.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash crossed the yard in front of the farm.

“So Pinkie” Rainbow said as they walked towards the orchard. “Got any crazy ideas on how we can get the apples down off the trees?”

“Of course! I always have ideas! Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “We could try, uh…no…that wouldn’t work…” Pinkie thought for a moment.

It went quiet as the two mares entered the orchard. All they could hear now was the rustling of the leaves in the steady breeze and the rhythmic trotting of their hooves on the ground. Most of the trees were bare; they had already been bucked by Applejack sometime before.

“Well, we could…no wait…that wouldn’t work either…” Pinkie said, frowning. She stared at the ground in deep thought, becoming oblivious to the rest of the world as she figured out a master plan.

Rainbow Dash gazed at her as they walked on. She wondered just what went through the pink mare’s head when she thought up of all her crazy ideas.

‘Why don’t you just tell her?’ Rainbow said to herself. ‘Now is the best time to do it, it’s just you and her, and nopony else around.’

Aside from not knowing what Pinkie’s reaction would be, there were more reasons she wouldn’t tell her. What would other ponies think of her? The toughest pegasus in ponyville, the pegasus that pulled off a sonic rainboom twice, being in love with another mare? How would her friends see her? What would they say?

Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted in triumph. “I’ve got it!” she yelled, turning to Rainbow Dash to explain her plan.

Rainbow Dash was gazing at Pinkie, in a way she would only look at somepony she loved. She realised what she was doing and turned away, blushing deeply.

“Erm, Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie asked, putting her hoof on Rainbow’s shoulders. “Are you okay?”

Rainbow Dash turned back and looked at Pinkie Pie, who looked concerned.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine thanks” Rainbow said meekly. “So, uh, what was your idea?”

“Oh yeah! You go flying really fast through the tree leaves, knocking all the apples off, and then I will jump along and catch them!” Pinkie Pie said, as she stopped walking and started bouncing to demonstrate.

“Uh, sounds like a good idea, I think we’ll go with that” Rainbow Dash said nervously.

Pinkie Pie looked at Rainbow, with her head tilted at an angle. “I know something’s on your mind, Rainbow Dash. I can tell” Pinkie said calmly for the first time all day.

Rainbow Dash stopped. “I, uh…”

Pinkie Pie raised her hoof and placed it gently under Rainbow’s chin.

“Dashie, it’s okay, you can tell me anything.” Pinkie said lovingly.

Dashie. Only a select few of Rainbow’s closest friends called her that. Fluttershy called her Dashie sometimes, but they had known each other since they were foals, and they understood one another. She had never heard Pinkie call her Dashie though. But the tone of Pinkie’s voice reassured her, and gave her the strength to ask a question she wouldn’t usually ask.

“Have…have you ever been in love?” Rainbow asked, embarrassed.

Pinkie stopped bouncing and slowed to a walk. “Well” she said. “Yes, I guess I have, and I am in love with somepony now…but I don’t think they know that I do…” Pinkie Pie said, frowning. She thought for a moment. “Why, is there somepony you like?” she asked.

Rainbow Dash turned red. “Well, uh, I guess you could say that” she said, stifling a nervous laugh.

“It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it, Dashie” Pinkie said.

Dashie. There it was again.

“Yeah…I’d rather not tell you who it is…” Rainbow said, trailing off.

“Oh, okay then!” Pinkie said cheerfully, and started to bounce again.

Rainbow Dash frowned. Why was it so hard for her just to tell Pinkie how she felt?

“Oh look, we’re here!” Pinkie said, pointing to a wooden cart not far ahead. “Come on!”

And with that, Pinkie started to bounce faster, and further with each jump, so Rainbow Dash had to run to keep up with her.

‘It’s so cute the way she bounces!’ Rainbow thought, looking across to the bunny-hopping mare as she ran. ‘I wish I could do that’

The trees here had apples on them unlike the ones closer to the farm, they must be the ones Applejack wanted them to buck. Rainbow Dash stopped running and jumped up, extending her wings and gliding slowly to the wooden cart.

The cart was a decent size, not too big, not too small. It had two wooden beams sticking out of the front, with a horseshoe shaped piece on the end to allow the cart to be pulled easily. Next to the cart on the ground were four large baskets with saddles, presumably for holding and transporting apples.

Rainbow Dash hovered above the cart, where Pinkie was waiting for her.

“Okay Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow said, looking down on the pink mare.

“Yep!” Pinkie replied with a smile. She trotted over to the baskets, picked them up and put them over her back.

“You ready Dashie?” Pinkie asked.

Dashie. Again.

“Yeah” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Okay, let’s go!” Pinkie shouted, beginning to run off in a random direction, following Rainbow Dash who was flying ahead of her.

“Start knocking the apples off!!” Pinkie shouted up to her. Rainbow Dash obliged, and started strafing to the left and the right, bashing the trees. The apples came loose and started falling, creating a green and red blur before being caught by Pinkie Pie on the ground.

“Keep going!” Pinkie shouted up to her again. “We wanna make sure we get all these apples for Applejack!”

Rainbow Dash sped up, hitting the trees more frequently, and with more force.

More apples started falling, but Pinkie Pie was struggling to keep up with the blue pegasus, becoming increasingly tired as the weight of the apples in the baskets slowed her down.

Rainbow Dash kept going, knocking almost all apples off the trees as she knocked into them as she flew past. She looked down, to see how Pinkie Pie was doing with collecting the apples.

She wasn’t there.

Rainbow Dash froze in midair, and looked around. Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen. She looked around, and flew down below the tree canopy to see a floor covered in apples, but no Pinkie Pie. Had she flown too fast? Had she left Pinkie behind? She must have, or Pinkie would have caught the apples, and they wouldn’t all be rolling around on the ground.

Rainbow turned around and flew slowly back the way she came, scanning the apple-covered ground for her friend.

“Rainbow Dash!!” shouted a familiar voice.

Rainbow Dash looked ahead, to see Pinkie Pie lying on the ground, panting. She glided down to her, landing beside her softly.

“Pinkie, what happened?” Rainbow asked.

“I got so tired, the weight of all these apples were too much! I tried to call you but you couldn’t hear me!” Pinkie said, frowning.

“I’m sorry Pinkie, let me help you” Rainbow said. She pulled the baskets full of apples off from Pinkie’s back, so she could get up.

Pinkie Pie stood up and wiped the sweat off her brow. “Thanks” she said, panting. “But how are gonna get all these apples now? I can’t keep on going like this!”

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. “I knocked most of the apples off the trees before I realised you were in trouble, so all we really need to do is pick them all up off the ground” she said.

Pinkie Pie nodded her head. “Good idea! But I’m not carrying those baskets, they are really heavy when they get full!” she moaned.

“Alright, I tell you what” Rainbow Dash said. “We’ll both bring these baskets back with the apples and put them in the cart, and we’ll take one basket each. Then we’ll come back here and take as many apples as we can with them and keep going back and forth until the cart is full. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah! We’ll get it done in no time!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Okay, let’s bring this batch back first” Rainbow said, picking up one set of baskets and placing them on her back. “Can you carry the other ones?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s just that two sets full of apples were a bit much” Pinkie said, picking up the other set.

“Okay” Rainbow Dash said, and they started walking back through the orchard towards the cart.

“Well, you did a really good job of knocking down all the apples” Pinkie Pie laughed as they walked on, admiring the bare trees.