"Always do right. This will surprise some and astonish the rest."

~Mark Twain

What Lies In Wait

Rainbow lay in bed, letting her mind swim. Her clock ticked away, reminding her that time was limited but not short. She stared across the room at her closet, eyeing her relatively-small collection of costumes and uniforms.

She also let her mind rest on the thought of Applejack many times. Whether it was her personality, her looks, her attitude, or the way she kissed, she would always end up letting herself become distracted by that mare in one way or another.

She knew, of course, that it was it never a question of whether or not she loved Applejack - of course she did! - It was more about whether or not she would let love steal her heart from the one goal she always had.

Being a wonderbolt had been the only thing she dreamt about for years. That is, until the farm pony turned her dreams in a another direction. The thought of being with her, breathing in her scent, treating her right, and coming home to her every day was all she could think about now, and it was making her decision rather difficult.

Lazily rolling out of bed, she stood up to get herself a drink of water. As she walked, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse one of her favorite costumes in the closet. Her old shadowbolt costume she wore for Nightmare Night that one year. She smiled and kept walking.

Walking into the kitchen she opened a cabinet, pulled out a glass and filled with the tap. After a refreshing sip, her mind wandered back to the shadowbolt costume, and the memories she'd made with it. She remembered where the idea came from.

She then nearly choked on her water as a realization tore through her. Catching her breath and hitting her chest a couple times, she set the glass down on the counter. She then went back to her room and hopped in bed, hoping to fall asleep, as she knew it would be near impossible.

She had made her decision.

=^=^=^=^=^=

Applejack awoke slightly irritated. She felt somepony softly but hastily climb into her bed. She stirred a bit and opened her eyes, feeling a set of hooves carefully make their way around her waist. She looked at her intruder and sighed, knowing she should not have been surprised. She gently accepted the embrace and hugged back.

Of course she knew her lover was waiting anxiously to tell her something. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to hear her answer yet, though, so she simply lay there, relishing in the warmth of her visitor.

"AJ," Rainbow whispered.

"I love you," Applejack whispered back.

Rainbow knew there was never any question about that. "I love you, too."

Upon hearing these words, Applejack hugged the pegasus tighter. She suddenly felt a little more at ease about their situation. She had thought about leaving the house early to start her morning chores, and ultimately avoid hearing Rainbow's answer, but she knew that she would be found eventually. However, she was now quite eager to hear what she had to say. "Just spit it out already, Dash."

Rainbow smiled and stroked the farm pony's mane. "Do you remember that time when we were headed to that old castle, and I had to fly across the gap to fix the bridge?"

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, and them shadowbolts tried to trick you into joining them, right?"

"Mmhm." Rainbow moved her hooves to Applejack's cutie marks. Applejack sighed, feeling around Rainbow's body, and eventually settled on her own cutie marks. "I remember the decision became easier when I had to choose between them and my friends."

Applejack felt a buildup of tears begin to wet her eyes. Her muscles tensed and her breathing sped up just a bit.

Rainbow continued. "That experience made me understand something about myself." She closed her eyes and pulled her friend closer. The realization struck Applejack.

"B-but Dash!" she stuttered. "You've always wanted to be a wonderbolt! It's been you're dream for as long as I've known ya..."

"Yeah, true..." Rainbow agreed. She then lowered her voice to a whisper. "...But I'd never leave my friends hangin'."

Applejack looked her in the eye. It was true. Everything the pegasus said was true, and Applejack knew honesty when she saw it. Nearly choking on her tears, Applejack made her a promise. "I promise you, Dash. I will do everything in my power to help you become a wonderbolt one day. I swear."

And she would. Rainbow knew it. She also knew that this was supposed to happen, having an overwhelming sense of how right it felt to be next to this pony. And she loved it.

She knew they would be happy, as long as they could come home to each other every night, no matter where they were, no matter what day of the week.

They would be happy.

"I love you, Dash," Applejack whispered.

"You said that already."

"So did you."

"...True."

They snuggled for a long while, hoping that time would pause for them just so they could kiss for a little while longer. They knew that the days would come and go without them, but they decided to just let the planet spin them for a bit.

All they needed in that moment was already in their hooves.

The End

Author's Note

Hey, so it's been more than like four years since I last touched this website, but felt that I need to finish this up. I feel like I've left too many chapter fics unfinished, so I thought I'd tie the knot at the end for this one. ^^ Thanks for reading!