The water felt crisp, refreshing, and long-awaited. After a long day of apple bucking, Applejack finally rewarded herself with a cool drink from her creek that flowed deep within the orchard. She sat in a small clearing within the maze of apple trees, which she had discovered years ago. She was the only pony in Equestria who knew of this place, and it was hers. The creek, which was about as wide as one of her apple baskets, ran right down the middle of her special place, with lush green grass speckled with brightly-colored, almost luminous flower patches on both sides. Some days she would lay in that clearing for an hour enjoying the sights, sounds, and scents of nature, but today she had work to do. She never would have guessed that she would return to her special place again that day...
With another pony.
***
She bolted out of the orchard at a full gallop towards the barn to grab the next set of baskets. As she turned into the barn, she halted abruptly, almost sliding into a muzzle-full of purple tail. From the unique streak of pink in said tail, she immediately knew it was her good friend, Twilight Sparkle.
“Well howdy, ‘Sugar Cube’! Y’all here fer apples, or fer some fancy ‘scientific’ hullabaloo?” She inquired of the purple unicorn after taking a couple steps back.
“Oh! Hey Apple jack! I was just interviewing Big Macintosh on the cultivation of Zap Apples.” Twilight replied as she spun around, a little startled.
As Applejack was heading to the barn's stoor room, she said, “Well, Granny Smith knows more about them Zap Apples, so y'all might wanna try her next. Just try to keep her from ramblin, she could talk the ears off a mule. Ah'll just grab myself some more baskets an’ git back to work-”
“Well hold on there, Sis,” The big red stallion interrupted, “We’ve got enough apples fer today, Why don’t y’all take the rest of the day off.”
“but Big Mac-”
“Now don’t you go overworkin’ yerself! You’ve done more than enough buckin’ today, you’ve earned some relaxin’.”
“Well, shucks! Kay, Big Mac, Ah'll take a break. See y’all later!” She galloped off into the orchard once more.
Twilight stepped outside, looking at applejack's, trying to think of any landmarks in that direction.
“Hey, Big Macintosh?” Twilight asked, standing at the barn doors.
“Eeeeyup?” He replied.
“Where did AJ run off to in the orchard? I thought she was done working for the day?” She was confused.
“Well, A’fer a long day’s work, she usually spends the rest of her day in the orchard, though I ain’t quite sure where.”
“Interesting...” Twilight had a curious look on her face. “Well, I’ll be going now, but I'll be back to finish the interview. Bye, Big Mac!”
“Nice to see you, Twilight!”
As she trotted off, she thought to herself, where is she going? I have to know where she’s hiding.
She began to follow AJ’s hoof prints, slowly catching up to her. She mentally noted the path she was taking, analyzing her surroundings, as a force of habit. Using her horn like radar, she could sense the orange mare not too far ahead of her. Suddenly, she sensed that she had stopped, so she crept slowly towards the reclusive earth pony. As she grew closer, she noticed a light ahead through the shadows cast by the apple trees. When she reached the edge of the sunlight, she hid behind bushes that bordered the wall of rays, and peeked out from behind.
The clearing was gorgeous. Lush green grass, flowers in full bloom, water so clear you could see straight to the bottom, but what truly mystified Twilight was the orange gem in the center of it all: AppleJack. She had taken the ties out of her tail and mane, freeing her long, flowing golden hair. Twilight had never thought of Apple Jack as a beautiful mare until that very moment. She was a little too mystified, because she sighed deeply, enough to alert the orange mare.
She swung around, startled, scanning the clearing's edge
“Who’s there!?”she cried out.
Twilight ducked, but she knew she was too late when she heard her name, her FULL name, being screamed from Apple Jacks’s lips.
“Twilight Sparkle, were y’all following me!? Come outa there!”
She knew she was caught, so she slowly came out from behind her barricade of foliage, head bowed, ashamed.
“I’m sorry, AJ. I didn’t mean to upset you, I was just curious as to why you returned to the orchard. I’m really, really, REALLY-” She looked up, startled to find a smile on the mare’s face. Her look was forgiving, soothing, the look a mother would give to her child after he confesses to stealing a cookie.
“ It’s alright, sugarcube.” AJ said softly. Her voice was melodious, which Twilight found strange, not having heard AppleJack speak so calmly before.
“You aren’t mad at me?” She asked, bewildered with wide eyes.
“Ah reckon Ah’m upset a little, but somepony would have stumbled upon this clearing eventually, an’ I can’t be mad at y’all for bein’ curious, can I?” She wore a warm stare, eyelids halfway closed.
Those eyes. Twilight had never seen AJ’s eyes so clearly before. They were jade green, the most amazing shade of green she had ever seen. Her eyes seemed to have a glow to them, like they could peek right into the purple mare’s heart and soul. Then the eyes went wide, darting to Twilight’s hooves and back.
“Twi, you okay?” AJ asked, her eyebrow raised.
“Huh?” Twilight realized that she had been entranced by her eyes, staring almost intimately at them, lips starting to purse and her knees trembling slightly. Her cheeks burned as she was flung back into reality.
“Oh, I’m sorry! Was I staring!? Am I freaking you out!? Oh my Goddess, I’m so sorry!” She was in full “Moon Banishment Panic Mode”.
“I’msorryI’msorryI’msor-mmph!” She was silenced by AppleJack’s lips. She had darted forward, eyes closed, which was awkward for Twilight because her eyes were wide with pin-prick pupils. Then they slowly rolled up as her eyes slid closed from the pure magic of it. The kiss only lasted a moment, but that moment resembled an hour in Twilight’s mind. She didn’t care where she was, where she’s been, or where she was going. The only thing that mattered to her was standing in front of her. Every nerve in her body was focused on her lips, No, her entire being was her lips. Then, that moment ended. Maybe five seconds passed after it began, AJ pulled back slowly, eyes sliding open millimeter by millimeter, though Twilight hadn’t noticed. She was frozen in her tracks, as if in a trance. she escaped that heavenly trance for a moment.
“Apple Jack?” She asked, her body swaying ever so slightly.
“Yes, Sugar Cube?” She replied, eyes locked with Twilight’s.
“That was... amaz-” Her knees buckled as she fainted.
***
“Sugar Cube?” The voice sounded so distant.
“Twi?” Closer.
“Twilight!” That catapulted the love-struck filly back into consciousness.
“...Huh, what?” Twilight winced, knowing how stupid she must have sounded.
Really? she thought. I passed out from shock and the best can come up with is “...Huh, what?”
She would’ve face-hoofed if her eyes hadn’t opened to the sight of a beautiful orange mare standing above her as she lay flat on her back in the pillow-like grass.
“How long was I out? I’m seeing stars.”
“Well, Sugar Cube, them stars aren’t no figmentation of yer mind. Y’all have been out fer ‘bout an hour. It’s nighttime.”
“Aw, great! Spike’s probably worried sick. i gotta go-” She was trying to get up, but AJ stopped her.
“Don’t worry, Twi. Ah had AppleBloom run over to the library and tell Spike that y’all were trapped listening to one of Granny’s stories. He’s doin’ just fine.” She wore that comforting look again, which brought some bright red to Twilight’s cheeks.
Why would I worry? she thought. Apple Jack is the element of truth, I can always trust her to take care of things.
She stood up. “Thanks, Apple Jaco. I can always count on you,” She paused, then her expression went from worry to surprise. “Wait, YOU kissed ME!?”
Now AppleJack was the rosey-cheeked filly. “Oh! Uh- I-I TRIPPED!! Ah just tripped and fell forwards! It wasn’t on purpose...”
Twi gave her an unamused look. “You’re a horrible liar.” She waggled her eyebrow, smiling.
“Ugh! Okay, fine. It was on purpose. You were just lookin’ at me, and I was caught up in the moment, and, and... you... looked beautiful...” She closed her eyes and turned away, expecting a Celestia-sized scolding.
She was first greeted by silence, then Twilight broke out laughing, falling to the ground. AJ turned back, astonished.
“Uh, Twi, what’re y’all laughin’ at?” She asked.
After Twilight caught her breath, she said, “Well, to be honest, I was about to kiss you first, I was just afraid you would freak out... heh.” Her cheeks were as red as the apples around them.
AJ began to give that look that started this situation, and once again Twilight was mesmerized by her eyes. She felt that she could write a whole book about AppleJack’s eyes, she probably would have sat there long enough to do so, but her hypnosis was interrupted by AJ’s voice.
“Twi, Ah’d like to welcome y’all to my secret clearing,” She said with a ear-to-ear smile. “Ah’ve been comin’ here almost every day since Ah found it years ago. You won’t find it on any map, not even ones from Cloudsdale. Nopony knows about it except me, and now you. Can i trust y’all to keep it a secret?”
Twi wore a mischievous look. “I don’t know if I can. Maybe another kiss might keep me quiet?” Her expression practically had “Seduction” wrote all over it.
“UUGH, FINE!” AJ said sarcastically.
The two had their eyes locked, staring right into each other's souls. Their muzzles grew closer, slowly at first, but then Twilight practically tackled AJ to the ground, charging head-first into Apple Jack's lips. She layed on top of AJ, her lips bound with the earth pony’s. AppleJack was shocked at first, surprised that the little unicorn could be strong enough to tackle her to the ground, but she quickly forgot it, as all her thoughts were focussed on that kiss. However, her concentration was cut short when Twilight broke the kiss, AJ almost whimpering, disappointed that it was already over.
“I have to get back to the library, Spike must be waiting for me to get home instead of getting his sleep.” She said, sighing a little.
“It’s alright, Sugar Cube. Ah understand.” She said in a forgiving tone, though she let out a sigh of dissapointment.
"See you tomorrow, AppleJack?” She ask as she turned towards the edge of the clearing.
“Of course, Twilight. Ah think Ah’ll stay here for a while.” She said, not moving from her spot.
Before she reached the edge of the clearing, she turned to face AJ. “AppleJack, your Special Place... It’s Beautiful.”
AJ looked into Twilight’s eyes. “Sugar Cube, it’s Our Special Place.”
Fin
