The Double Meaning of Engagement

by Garbo802

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Romance, Sex, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Comedy
Length: 6245

After being embarrassed in front of the whole town, AJ and RD still manage to have a little fun on Hearts and Hooves day

How Rainbow Dash and Applejack almost ruin Hearts and Hooves day. Almost.
I wrote this for Valentine's Day, but was never able to finish it. So then I did.

Published 2013-03-17 19:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-17 19:40:02 UTC

I would do anything for love

Engaged (from Webster’s Ninth New College dictionary)

~ greatly interested or committed

~ involved, especially in a hostile encounter

= = = = = =

I’m so bored

        That was all Rainbow Dash could think at the moment. Looking around the room just made her more bored; boring walls, boring chairs, boring tables, boring everything. This was the reason she typically avoided formal restaurants like the one she was in, it was just so … foreign to her. She never liked the food much either. Being raised on Cloudsdale cuisine gives a pony certain tendencies to greasier foods like hay fries and daffodil chips, neither of which this particular place had. And then there was the amount of bits it cost to get the food that she didn’t even like in the first place. All in all, not worth it.

        Naturally, Rainbow hadn’t subjected herself to the experience; That had been Applejack, who was not currently at the table. At the same time, she didn’t really feel like looking at the mare, at least not at the moment. It was going to be hard to keep up the facade of liking the date while she’d much rather be doing something fun.

        That was one of the problems Dash had with the place. Here, she was confined to a room with nowhere to go and nothing interesting to do. Normally, she and AJ would grab some hay fries or something from Sweet Apple Acres then move on to something else, usually something athletic (if you know what I mean). That often took the form of helping with farm work, which Rainbow was fine with, because Applejack always seemed sexier when she was bucking apple trees.

        Dash could picture it in her mind: her orange coat glistening with sweat, Stetson perched on her head, never exactly on top of her head, but not so crooked that it was noticeable unless you spend a long time looking at it. Judging her distance from the tree, she would kick her legs out, tight muscles rippling under her skin as the hooves made impact. She’d do it over and over again until the job was done, and when they finished, the farm mare would smile at her … that super sexy one-of-a-kind I’ve-got-the-time-and-nopony-else-is-home type of smile. Yes, she could just picture …

        “Daydreamin’, Rainbow?”

        Dash jerked back to reality with a start. Yes, she had been daydreaming, she wanted to say. But for some reason, she couldn’t. As she struggled to find her bearings, her orange friend sat down on the other side of the table. Chuckling, she posed a question:

        “I’m just wonderin’ … what were ya dreamin’ ‘bout?”

        “Oh, nothing much. Just waiting for you to get here. Are we going to order lunch?”

        “Yeah, sure, when the waiter comes ‘round,” Applejack replied, still grinning. “I was just wondering what ya were so excited ‘bout.”

        Rainbow Dash was incredulous. “Excited? Do I look excited?”

        “Well some parts of you look excited I’d say.”

        The Wonderbolt-hopeful didn’t understand this right away, but after following the other mare’s line of sight, she put two and two together. Words didn’t come out for Rainbow Dash, and after she’d gone through every stuttering word in the equestrian language and started using repeats, Applejack cut her off.

        “Rainbow, Its fine. If anythin’ I’m flattered, and I sure as sugar ain’t mad at ya,” she commented, smiling.

        “I know,” Dash replied. “It’s still embarrassing, though.”

        “Well, that I could understand. I reckon those wing o’ yours have some drawbacks.”

        Dash mare was skeptical. “Well, yeah, there’s that one thing, but other than that wings are 100% awesome! I mean, I can’t imagine what it would be like to be stuck on the ground all the time. Boooring!”

        “So yer sayin’ that’s the only thing wrong with havin’ ‘em?”

        “Yep,” Dash boasted. “You got anything else to say about them?”

        “I do. Fer one thing, you can’t even sit still in here; yer afraid of small spaces.”

        Eyeing the ceiling distrustfully, Rainbow Dash shifted around in her seat. “Am not.”

        “Sure ya ain’t,” said the farmpony sarcastically. “And another thing, ya can’t bluff fer nothin’. Ya got more tells than a foal stealin’ cookies!”

        That was enough for Rainbow. Insulting her wings - the things that encompassed her special talent - was one thing, but insulting her poker playing abilities? Now the gloves (or horseshoes) were off.

        “Oh yeah? Well at least I bet my chips. It took you like an hour every hand!”

         “Well of course I did. I actually thought it through. You went all in after, what, ten hands?”

        “I had a pair of aces!”

        “With a deuce for a kicker!”

        Oblivious to how loud their argument was getting, the two ponies continued as the situation started to reach critical mass.

        “Well you’re still slower than me at basically everything!”

        “I can run just as fast as ya’ll can,” Applejack retorted. “ And besides, bein’ slower ain’t always bad.”

        “When could slow possibly be better than fast?” asked Rainbow skeptically.

        “Well maybe ya should ask yerself that when we’re in bed and you finish your second time when I’m only done once!!”

        “At least I can go a second time! You always fall asleep!!”

        By this point, the two mares were standing on the table poised snout to snout. The air of competitive tension was so thick you wouldn’t even be able to cut it with a knife; you’d probably need a chainsaw. The two eyed each other like a bulls eyes matadors, and it seemed like only a matter of time before something broke. And then it did.

        “Excuse me, Miss Dash; Miss Applejack?” The words seemed to break the tension, and both mares stared at the waiter quizzically. Seeing that he’d gotten their attention, the server continued. “The manager of this establishment has asked that you leave the restaurant immediately as you are disturbing the other customers.”

        Looking away from the waiter, both mares looked around the room. Everywhere they saw the same thing: faced turned towards them, frozen in varying expressions of shock and confusion. It took a few moments for the reality of the moment to sink in. And then it did.

        Rainbow Dash turned back to her marefriend, who now wore the same expression as the rest of the ponies in the building. Knowing she probably looked about the same, she got down from the table as quickly as possible, weaving between tables and ponies as she ran for the door. Once she got outside, she took to the air, flying until she figured she’d put some solid distance between her and the restaurant.

        At last pausing to catch her breath, Dash took the opportunity to sort through the whirlwind of thought going through her brain. “Lemme see … Shouting in public; getting kicked out of the restaurant; Revealing … intimate things; Yep, I’m bucked.”

        Rainbow folded up her wings and started walking. She didn’t know where she was walking, but that didn’t really matter at the moment. “There’s no way we’re going to make this work again. I mean, another argument? How much worse can it get?” she shouted to the sky. Luckily for her, the weather was clear for Hearts and Hooves day, as it was every year. Otherwise, it probably would have started raining on her, considering how the rain clouds tended to behave in Equestria.

        “Maybe we should just break up,” the mare whispered. Suddenly, she heard a small poof to the right of her head. Looking over, she saw …

        “Daring Do … with a halo? What are you doing? And why are you so small and, well, floating?”

        “I’m your conscience; I’m not real. You’re just imagining me.”

        “Isn’t that a little clichéd?” She addressed this question to no one in particular, but for some reason, she was surprised when no response came. It was as if she expected some divine force to explain why such tropes were present in her life. The thing floating around her head didn't answer either, so she moved on.

“So lemme get this straight … you’re like the goody two-hooves part of my brain?”

        “That’s right! I represent everything noble about your personality.”

        “Got it. Isn’t there supposed to be a bad side or something?”

        “I’m right over here!” said an all-too familiar voice from her other side. When Dash turned her head, her worst fears were realized. “That’s right, it’s me! I’m here to tell you why you should cut it off with Applejack.” said the floating image of Lightning Dust with devil horns.

        “And I’m here to tell you why you should make up,” said Angel Do.

        Rainbow was incredulous. “Make up? Why should I do that? AJ started it!”

        “You don’t even remember who started it,” Angel Do pointed out, applying imaginary hoof to imaginary face.

        “… So what? Even if I make up with her, she’s just going to drive me insane with all this arguing!”

        “Exactly!” shouted Devil Dust with glee.

        “So you’re saying you’d be willing to give up your entire relationship and everything it entails just to be a little more comfortable?” Angel Do asked.

        Rainbow paused, not sure how to answer that one. Devil Dust did it for her.

        “She made fun of you for coming too fast! She doesn’t deserve remorse!”

        “And you insulted her back!” Angel Do rebutted. “You should at least apologize. She’ll probably apologize back too.”

        “Do you really think so?” Dash addressed her good side hopefully.

        “Don’t listen to that little pansy,” Devil Dust growled. “Applejack’s the one who brought you to the restaurant in the first place. If she hadn’t been stupid, you wouldn’t have embarrassed yourself in front of everyone!”

        Rainbow growled. “You’re right! I don’t need Applejack for anything. She can go buck herself!”

        As her host stomped off, the phantasm of Daring Do tried to convince her to change her mind. “Rainbow Dash, think about what you’re doing! If you do this, Applejack will never want to be your fri--

        “Hey, Lightening: How do I make her go away?”

        “If you tell her too, she has to go away,” Devil Dust offered.

        “No! Don’t do it! You’re making a terrible mistake!”

        Dash seemed to think about it for a second, but quickly made her final judgment. “Daring Do: Go Away”. And just like that, the sepia mare was gone from her side. Smiling, she continued to walk to nowhere in particular, confident that she’d made the right choice. As she went, the other voice continued to congratulate her on her decision, and as the time passed, it grew so annoying that she was tempted to tell Lightning Dust to go away as she had with Daring Do. At least, until something the devil-horned mare said caught her attention

        “…After all, who needs Applejack as a friend anyway? What good did she ever do for you?”

        At those words, Rainbow stopped wide-eyed. “Applejack … not my friend?”

        “Well of course she’s not your friend,” Devil Dust pointed out. “I mean, you left her without any apology after that spat in the restaurant. But she doesn’t deserve your friendship, Dash. You’re way too cool for her.”

        Rainbow took a second to think about that one. Although she did think she was too cool for AJ – she thought she was too cool for everypony – the thought of not having the farmpony as a friend scared her. “Hold on, half of that isn’t even true. She’s always done good stuff for me.”

        “Like what, take you to a fancy restaurant you didn’t even want to go to?” Devil Dust mocked.

        “Well I never told her I didn’t want to go, so it’s really … my fault.” Suddenly realizing how wrong she’d been, Rainbow took off into the air, circling back into the main part of Ponyville.

        “Wait, where are you going? You don’t need her, you said it yourself!” Turning to her left, Dash saw the figment flying alongside her. She wouldn’t have thought that a figment of her imagination would need to fly to keep up with her, but apparently it did.

        “But I do need her. She’s my best friend. Besides, all my other friends will get mad at me if I push her away.”

        “So what? You don’t need friends!” shouted Devil Dust.

        “Okay, now you’re just plain wrong. Lightning Dust: go away.” Dash was unable to hear the poof over the wind, but when she looked to her left, she saw that the phantasm was gone. Smiling just a little, she turned her attention towards the ground, looking for a certain worn Stetson hat. Not seeing it on her first pass, she turned around to make another round… and another … and another.

        “Where is that mare?” Dash asked of no one in particular, coming to a stop in her flight. “It’s barely even been five minutes. How far could she have possibly gotten?” Sighing, she went into a dive, knowing that if she was going to find Applejack, she’d have to do it on hoof, a prospect that she didn’t particularly like but knew she had no choice in.

        Within moments, she was on the ground, starting a search she hoped would end quickly.

        = = = = =

Around Ten Minutes Earlier:

Looking away from the waiter, both mares looked around the room. Everywhere they saw the same thing: faced turned towards them, frozen in varying expressions of shock and confusion. It took a few moments for the reality of the moment to sink in. And then it did.

        Still frozen in place, Applejack saw her marefriend spring off of the table, making a beeline for the door. The farmpony watched her run through the door with twice as much force as she could summon to buck trees, which was a lot. As she heard the door slam against the wall as it reached the limit of its hinges, she marveled at how the glass hadn’t shattered. Many of the other ponies in the restaurant were probably having similar thoughts, but not long after, their attention refocused to Applejack.

        For all her aforementioned strength, AJ wasn’t very good at thinking on the spot, something Rainbow had pointed out about her poker play. She was now frozen, taking too long to think, just like she did in Hold ‘em. If the circumstances had been different, she may have been able to appreciate the irony of not only that, but also her marefriend “playing her hand too early”. But of course, she was more focused on the glaring ponies around her than at the irony of her previous conversation.

        It was taking Applejack so long to think that the writer was able to get through that whole explanation of irony without her doing anything. She was still standing with front hooves on the table, a wide-eyed expression of fear in her eyes. That was when a voice separated itself from the crowd.

        “Everypony, let’s all just calm down for a moment.” Turning her head in the direction of the voice, Applejack saw a tan-coated stallion walking over to her table. His mane was combed back in a way that reminded her of her second-cousin Caramel. He wore a smug smile, and he seemed to put out an air of prideful arrogance she couldn’t quite put her hoof on. She knew she’d seen the earth pony somewhere before, but she couldn’t remember where. All she knew was that the eyes were off her, at least for the moment.

        “Now, don’t we think we’re overreacting just a little? Sure, this isn’t exactly how you planned for your Hearts and Hooves meals to go, but I believe we could all be just a little more understanding.” The mystery stallion offered his hoof to Applejack, and she hesitantly took it as he led her off of the table.

        “Imagine how you would feel if you were in her horseshoes. You would’ve just embarrassed yourself in front of dozens of ponies and watched your date run out the door without you. Now, if you were in her situation, wouldn’t you at least want everypony to show you respect rather than gawk at you like some exotic animal?”

        Tentatively, a few of the clientele nodded their heads. “Exactly! Now, how about we just let her leave the restaurant and be on her way. After all, she’s going to have to deal with the embarrassment of having everypony know her shortcomings – both in gambling and … otherwise.”

        Applejack hadn’t realized that fact. Soon, all of Ponyville was going to know what had happened, and worst of all what had been said. Blushing, she waited impatiently for the stallion to finish. Fortunately for her, he seemed close. “So I’d say it’s fairly reasonable for us to forgive her for something which – in reality – is quite minor.”

        More heads nodded this time, and within moments, the ponies in the restaurant were back to eating as if nothing odd had gone on. “Now then,” said the stallion, turning to Applejack. “I really do hope that your marefriend didn’t skip on the check, for your sake.”

        “No, it’s fine. We didn’t order yet.”

        “Well that’s some good news, isn’t it? Now, if I were you, I’d leave before the waiter drills holes in the back of your head with that glare he’s sending your way.”

        Turning around to see what the unnamed stallion was talking about, Applejack saw that the waiter was indeed staring at her as if he was trying to drill holes in the back of her head. “Yeah, that might be a good idea.” As Applejack turned and started walking to the exit, she was surprised to find the stallion was following her. “And just what do you think yer doin’?”

        “Walking you to the exit, of course. It seems like the gentlecolt-like thing to do, at least to me.”

        Applejack wanted to refuse, but reconsidered, remembering how kind he’d been to her. Bitterly, she also had to admit that she had little pride left to save. Not giving a verbal answer, she only nodded and kept walking between the tables. A surprisingly small amount of ponies looked up, but still, a few did. One even had the indecency to snicker, and it was all she could do to restrain herself from bucking them upside the head.

Then again, this feller here would just stop me, she reminded herself. Before long, they were past the gulf of awkwardness and approaching the sea of freedom. But before she left, Applejack had a few questions for her savior. “Beggin’ yer pardon, but I don’t think I ever caught yer name before,” she inquired.

        “Ah, that would be Davenport, Ms. Applejack. I run the shop where your friend Twilight buys her quills.”

        “Oh yeah, that place. Don’t ya sell sofas too?”

        “We most certainly do,” he replied, idly digging one hoof into the wood floor. Applejack noticed.

        “You’ve got somepony waitin’ on ya, don’t ya?”

        Davenport smiled. “Very perceptive; but of course I do. Why would I be in an upscale restaurant on Hearts and Hooves if I was single?”

        “Point taken,” she nodded. “I just have one more question for ya though; I promise it ain’t a long one.”

        “Shoot.”

        “Why did ya help me back there? Ya’ll didn’t need to do anythin’.”

        “Okay, I’ll just be honest: I was only doing it to impress my date, maybe get her in the sack ... you know …”

        Applejack didn’t know if she should laugh or cry at that line. “So what Rarity says about you is true then? You’re the biggest player in Ponyville.”

        “I prefer the term Colt-slut, thank you very much. Also, that’s not even me; Cloud Kicker’s the one winning the biggest-player award if you’re giving it.” He ended his sentence with an angry sigh, as if he were upset that he wasn’t the biggest player in Ponyville, which in fact he was. “She’s always getting more than me, and all the hot ones too. And it doesn’t help that she can go after both and I won’t touch another stallion unless it’s a threesome and there’s a mare involved.”

        Applejack forced a pained smile. She was fine with sex, but she didn’t really want to hear about other ponies’ sex lives. Nopony really did, as she’d recently learned. “Mr. Davenport, are ya’ll tryin’ to get me to leave faster?”

        “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said with just a hint of a smirk.

        Chuckling, Applejack tipped her hat at the stallion as she walked away. He isn’t nearly as unpleasant as Rarity said he was, she thought. Just another thing I can do better than her.

        “Oh, and Applejack?” Davenport called up the street.

        “What?”

        “In case you and Rainbow Dash don’t work out, I don’t mind being once-and-done. I’ve never particularly liked pillow-talk either.”

        AJ didn’t know how to respond to that so she just kept on walking. “Okay, maybe Rarity might’ve been just the littlest bit right ‘bout him bein’ unbearable. That’s mighty insensitive of him to bring up Rainbow at a time like … oh wait … Rainbow.”

        The farm pony had forgotten about her marefriend shortly after the pegasus sped out of the restaurant, although in Applejack’s defense, she had been at the business end of dozens of angry gazes at the time. Those types of things can unnerve a pony into forgetting things, at least temporarily. Of course, her first impulse was to run around Ponyville searching for Dash. However, she quickly realized how foolhardy that would be. Since Rainbow hadn’t been waiting for her outside the restaurant, she could be anywhere, and possibly off the ground.

        Knowing she couldn’t look for Dash, she decided the best option would be for Dash to find her. So she went to the most logical place for her marefriend to look for her: Sweet Apple Acres.

        Along the way, Applejack tried to sort out exactly how she felt. She still couldn’t decide if she wanted to make up immediately or if she wanted to give Rainbow a hard time at first. As much as she might have wanted to be angry at Dash, she knew that a lot of what had happened was her fault. AJ had been the first one to disclose what happened in the bedroom, not Rainbow. She knew she carried more responsibility because of that.

        Knowing she had more responsibility was not enough for her to know what to do. Kicking a rock up the path, she continued to think this over all the way to her home.

        = = = = = =

        Rainbow Dash was an action pony. She was good at doing things when they needed to be done – very good at it, in fact. But that sort of talent didn’t leave much time for thinking things through. This is why it took Dash a while of walking around Ponyville to realize that if Applejack wanted to be found, she would’ve gone to place where it was easy to find her. And that place was …

        “Sweet Apple Acres, of course!” Already in the air, she veered off to the outskirts of town where the Apple family ranch was located. With nothing else to think about, she tried to figure out what she was going to say, but every option seemed too weak. I’m sorry and It’s all my fault, as true as they were, just weren’t going to cut it this time.

        “Whatever, I’ll just do it when it happens,” she reasoned. “I’m pretty good at improvising.” That was true;  Dash could weasel her way out of most situations, because contrary to what most ponies would like to think, she was quite smart - Street smart. Although she hadn’t grown up in the worst part of Cloudsdale, she’d spent a lot of her time there before joining junior speedsters, and then again before she moved to Ponyville. One of the things she picked up on early was how to get out of a difficult situation without using force, because as tough as she was, she wouldn’t stand a chance against, say, three fully-grown stallions who thought she’d stolen their saddlebags when she actually didn’t.

        And if her wit failed her, she’d always been able to outfly most pegasi, not always in speed, but in maneuverability. However, in her current situation, she couldn’t use her wings. Flying away would make the situation unsolvable. She had to do it with her head, and more that that, her heart.

        It didn’t take her long to reach the farm. Alighting on the front doorstep after a descending helix, she wasted no time knocking on the door. It wasn’t out of bravery - internally, she was terrified. Rather, she just wanted to do this as quickly as possible. If there was a happy ending, she wanted to see it now. Impatiently, she tried again..

        *knock*

        “AJ?”

        *knock*

        “AJ?”

        *knock*

        “AJ?” [*]

         and moments later, Applejack answered.

        “Sheesh Dash, ya don’t need to knock three times in a row like that.”

        “Sorry, habit,” she replied sheepishly, standing awkwardly just outside the door frame.

        “You can come in, ya know,” AJ reminded her, stepping aside to let the other mare in.

        “Just waiting for you to offer,” said Rainbow, looking around the house as she walked in. The place was the same as she remembered it. Family photos lined the walls, some yellowed with age. Arrayed around the room was a set of very worn but very comfortable furniture. The couch was actually more comfortable than most beds, something she knew from experience. The main room lead of to a kitchen and a set of stairs that took you upstairs. Looking around, she didn’t see anypony. She raised a hoof to ask, but Applejack interjected.

        “Apple Bloom is at school, Big Mac is on a date and Granny Smith is at the market.”

        “How did you know what I was going to ask?” Dash inquired, sitting down on the comfy couch.

        “Just a guess, and I can’t blame ya. I really want to be alone for this too. I’ll give Granny some credit for not botherin’ me ‘bout being with mares, but if she found out I was breakin’ up with somepony I was buckin’ before, she’d buck me into the next life.”

        Rainbow as awestruck. “Wait, so you’re saying you want to break up with me?”

        “Naw, that ain’t what I meant at all,” she clarified. “I just figured … I mean, after what happened … you’d want to break up with me. I was a total ass to you …” out of habit, Applejack looked around for a donkey to say no offense too, but seeing none, she continued. “And that was wrong. I brought the argument way over the line.”

        “Wait, so you don’t want to break up?”

        “That’s what I said.”

        “That’s funny. I came here thinking I was going to have to pull out all the stops just to get you to even speak to me again.” Relieved, Dash slumped back in her seat.

        “I wouldn’t celebrate so quickly,” said Applejack.

        That made Rainbow sit back up. “What do you mean?”

        “Dash, you know exactly what I mean.”

        Truthfully, Rainbow didn’t yet know what the other mare was asking. At least, not until she thought about it for a moment. “Oh, right. I should probably still apologize and stuff.”

        “Good idea.” Applejack smirked.

        “Okay, here it goes … AJ, I’m really sorry for insulting your poker playing abilities, and … yeah, that’s it.” Applejack tried to glare in anger, but she just ended up laughing. When she finally got control of her lungs, she pointed out how incomplete the apology was.

        “Yeah, I was just kidding,” replied Dash, smiling just a bit. “But I’ve got a serious one too. I messed up that entire date when you worked really hard to set it up. That was lame of me.”

        “Well thanks for that, RD. I know you really hate apologizing, so that was really nice of you … but I have a question: Did you like the date?”

        Weighing the consequences of answering truthfully or not, Dash still could not decide. In a normal relationship, lying would be the hooves-down best choice. But with a marefriend that puts that much emphasis on honesty, she’d figured out that it was usually a better idea to tell the truth.

        “I can be honest here; you won’t get mad, right?” Applejack nodded. “Okay, good. I didn’t really like the date. The food probably would’ve been awesome, but I just don’t find those places romantic, y’know? I like being able to actually talk without someone else telling you to be quiet.”

        Looking up, Dash saw the shocked look on Applejack’s face. “So let me get this straight,” said the farmpony. “You didn’t like the date, and ya didn’t say anythin’ ‘bout it?”

        “Yeah, I felt like I was getting dragged along against my will, but you really seemed like you wanted to go.”

        “Wanted to go? Consarn it, I hated that place! It was just so uppity and quiet, I couldn’t stand it. The only reason I got us that reservation was because you said you wanted to do something special!”

        “Well I didn’t mean a fancy restaurant. But when you brought it up, you seemed really excited about the idea.”

        “Not really. I could’ve thought of a dozen things I would’ve liked better than that place.”

        With empty laughter, Rainbow put her head in her hooves as she realized the obvious: “So we just embarrassed ourselves in front of all those ponies for no reason at all?”

        “Apparently so.” Applejack chuckled half-heartedly, noticing how horrified Rainbow was.

        “So the whole town know that about me and … this sucks!”

        Applejack scooted herself over to Dash’s side of the couch, nuzzling her in an attempt to cheer her up a little. “Dash, I’m really sorry ‘bout all this. If I’d just shut up, none of this would’ve happened.”

        Pushing the earth pony away, Rainbow stood up. “AJ, it’s not your fault. I never should’ve agreed to go the restaurant in the first place.”

        Applejack didn’t really have a response to that. Desperately looking for a way to break the awkward tension, she looked first at the window. The sun was shining through it and clearly had some time left before it set. Next she looked at the stairs, and that’s when it hit her. Sidling up to the other mare in the room, she spoke. “Ya know, Hearts and Hooves day isn’t over yet. We can still have a little fun … if ya know what I mean.”

        That comment combined with the wink AJ sent her way gave Dash a very good idea what the mare was getting at, and her mood came full circle. “Yeah, I think we could have just a little more fun.”

        Applejack grinned. “Last one there’s a rotten dragon’s egg!”

        = = = = = =

        Five hours later, the door to Rainbow Dash’s cloud home flew open, and in came two mares.

        “Woo-Wee, I am beat,” said Applejack, lying down on the cloud couch nearest to the door.

        “Same here,” replied Dash, throwing their saddlebags into a corner. Walking over, she joined her marefriend on the couch. “You know, maybe you should learn to pilot that flying thingy Pinkie has instead of me carrying you up here.”

        “Dash, do you really want to go to sugarcube corner every time we come up here? Remember when we always had to go to Twilight to get me the cloud-walking spell before?”

        “Yeah, that was no fun. But that’s why Twilight’s gave you that enchanted gem thingy, right?”

        “Eyup. But is it really that bad carryin’ me up here? I mean, you were probably just tired ‘cause we spend the whole day hikin’.”

        “Yeah, probably. I’m glad we finally got to use all that belaying equipment you bought at that rodeo a while back,” said Dash, putting a hoof around her marefriend’s shoulder.

        “Yeah, it was about time I put that to use. It was just sitting up in my bedroom gatherin’ dust.”

        “Yeah, those mountains don’t seem nearly that tall when you fly over them. Remember when you fell and I had to catch you?”

        Applejack chuckled. “Hey, it’s not my fault the directions was that confusing. That harness had half a dozen buckles on it!” shouted Applejack, at the same time inching her free hoof a few inches closer to the other mare.

        “Fair enough,” Dash replied, watching at Applejack’s hoof moved to the inside of her hind leg.

        “So what are we supposed to do now?” asked Applejack seductively, as if she’d forgotten where her hoof was going.

        Dash shifted her body around as Applejack shifted herself on top of her. This obscured most of her sight, but she could still see out the window. “Well, It’s getting dark … so there’s not much we could do outside...”

        “Uh-huh.”

        “I’d say we’re staying in, then,” Dash finished. “So, do you want me to mold this couch into a bed, or do you want to go upstairs?”

        “I’d say we should go upstairs. I might just fall asleep,” Applejack teased.

        “Yeah, whatever," said Dash, pushing AJ off playfully. Quick as a flash, she streaked over to the stairs. "You coming? I might be done before you get up there." Applejack watched her cyan-blue flank bounce up the stairs.

"Yeah, that'd be shame now wouldn't it?" licking her lips, she pranced up the stairs, leaving the downstairs silent but for the scattered moans and giggles coming from the bedroom.

        = = = = =

        Just as the final vestiges of sunlight left the sky, two mares laid in bed in a cloud house above Ponyville. All over ponyville, other ponies were also with their special somepony on this day of romance, but whether or not they were similarly engaged varied from case to case.

        It had been a good day for the majority of Equestrians, and although Applejack and Rainbow Dash had endured a bumpy ride, they could be counted among them. Presently, Applejack was lying on her back - which was how she always slept - while Rainbow was holding her and resting her head on the earth pony’s shoulder. Smiling lovingly, Rainbow Dash shifted herself just a little bit closer to the blonde-maned mare beside her.

        Applejack chuckled. “Dash, why do you always get so lovey-dovey after we make love?”

        “Dunno. Guess it’s just ‘cause I feel nice.” she answered, yawning.

        Applejack closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling of Rainbow’s chest rising and falling against her body as her bedmate inhaled and exhaled. For some reason, she’d always loved that feeling. It relaxed her more than anything else, something that was a blessing in in hours full of exhausting farm work, stressful days at the market, and saving Equestria every once in awhile. Sometimes she wished they could just act like this all the time and forget the competitive tension that often drove them apart. Applejack felt compelled to say something about it, but was terrified of the prospect of letting out her most internal feelings. She liked to keep those under wraps.

        “Hey RD.”

        “Yeah?”

        “I noticed you lasted a little longer this time.”

        Rainbow looked up sleepily. “And I noticed you’re still awake.”

        Dash watched as her marefriend chuckled. She may not have been Pinkie Pie, but she always seemed to be most happy when she could get Applejack to laugh, or even just to smile. Whether it be a joke, a prank, or something else, she did it as often as she could. Even just by lying here, she knew she was making her marefriend happy. She’d never quite figured out exactly what it was, but she’d picked up on the fact that Applejack loved it when they laid together like they were. Deep down, Rainbow wished they could spend more time laughing about things and less time having big fights. She even knew exactly what words she wanted to say:

Why do we always get into big fights, get really mad at eachother, then apologize, then have sex? Can’t we work on arguing less?

        But she couldn’t do it. As much as other ponies could trust her, she didn’t trust other ponies nearly that much. But she did want to say something, and in the end, decided on the first thing that came to mind.

        “Hey Applejack.”

        “Hmm?”

        Propping herself up on her elbow, Dash slid herself on top of her marefriend. “I just wanted to say something I haven’t said all day.”

        “And what’s that?”

        “Happy Hearts and Hooves Day.”

        Dash was proud to see that she’d won herself another one of those infinitely valuable smiles. She was even happier when she got a kiss too, happy enough to not be too miffed when her wings sprang up. Eventually, Rainbow broke the kiss, content to just lie there for a bit. The side of her head laid on Applejack’s chest, and Dash was sure she could hear the other mare’s heartbeat as well as her own. She could only sum it up one way: It was awesome.

Yeah, it hasn’t been a bad day at all.