Pillow Thoughts II

Pillow Thoughts II

Chapter 2
Who would do that?

Dash closed the door to Applejack’s room behind her and threw herself in the orange pony’s bed, letting out a grunt. The candle that was lighting up the tiny room flickered a little as the pegasus flapped her wings once and drew them closer to her body.

“You okay?” asked Applejack pricking up her ears.

Dash mumbled something facedown in the pillow. She then turned toward her marefriend and facehooved, “Your grandmother has a twisted sense of humour.”

“Huh?” asked the confused earth pony.

“Lemme explain...”

***

“I heard y’all been sleepin’ around with mah grand-daughter”

Dash choked on her hot chocolate and it took a few seconds to catch her breath.

Granny Smith widened her smile and started giggling at the surprised pony, “Hehehe, y’all should’ve seen yer face. Hehehe!”

Dash didn’t really know how to respond to this so she smiled, somewhat apologetically.

“But, seriously now,” the old mare continued, “I can understand you young fillies spending the night talkin’ and whatnot, but mah grand-daughter does need her rest. And y’all do have a guest room, ya know”

“Yes, Granny Smith, of course. It won’t happen again!”, Dash quickly replied, praying that her blush would be interpreted as 'being sorry', rather than 'remembering the fact that they weren’t exactly... talking'.

Either way, Granny Smith seemed pleased with the answer and went on to sweep the floor before heading back to her own room.

***

“I thought I was gonna die, right there and then. Two more of these scares and you can dig me a proper hole somewhere in the garden,” said the poor pegasus, rubbing her forehead.

Applejack, once she understood there was nothing to worry about, gave out a small chuckle as she embraced Rainbow.

“Oh, sugarcube, you worry too much.”

“Do you think she suspects it?”

“If she suspected it, she wouldn’t have joked about it. Relax.” replied Applejack, giving her a small peck on the cheek.

Rainbow smiled, but then frowned, not being able to get the recent shock out of her head.

“I... I think we should probably sleep separately tonight,” she said. “JUST tonight,” she quickly added, seeing the expression on Applejack’s face. “You know... to be safe”

The earth pony opened her mouth to say something but then closed it and lowered her eyes. They had been extremely lucky so far... Not getting caught and all that, but maybe Rainbow was right. It’s not like Granny Smith would come spying on them at night but, then again, one never knows. She pondered a bit and then lifted her head.

“Alright, Ah guess it’s fine.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that, AJ?”

The pony lowered her ears, “No, Ah’m not okay with it... but we don’t really have a choice now, do we? We can’t really afford to buy a place of our own yet and Ah’m sure not gonna let Twilight experiment her magic on me just so we can both stay at your place. You know that cloud-walking-thing wears off sooner or later.”

“Hehe, yyyeah,” replied Rainbow, as her mind quickly constructed an image of Applejack, falling through the cloud-bed at 3 AM in the morning. While sleeping.

As funny as that image looked like, especially the sound she imagined as the falling pony hit the bushes underneath, she quickly tossed it away and focused on the conversation.

“Besides,” Applejack continued, “Ah need to be here every mornin’ and take care of the farm.”

“I know, AJ, I know. Remember what Twilight said... we have to learn to be discreet about this”

“Then again, we don’t have to go panicking at the first sign of ponies findin’ out,” replied Applejack, nodding her head. “After all, it’s our business, not theirs”

“Yeah, well... we’ll see,” said Rainbow as she got off the bed and started walking towards the door. “Good night, Applejack.”

“What?” replied the orange pony, raising an eyebrow. “No... No kiss?”

The pegasus slapped herself over the forehead, “Ah, sorry, sorry! Of course, kiss, yes.” She hugged her marefriend and kissed her gently. Applejack returned the hug and the kiss, but she figured something was off. As the pegasus left the room, the earth pony got into her bed and, with a sigh, rested her head on the pillow.

It was the first night in which they slept separately since their first kiss in that very same room.

Eh, no big deal... She’s just a bit scared but she’ll get over it tomorrow.

She will, won’t she?

Her thoughts began to swim around, unwillingly revealing different scenarios through which their relationship might end.

Ah must stop thinking about all this nonsense. Rainbow is loyal... the most loyal pony Ah know.

Images of crowds laughing and pointing at them, with the pegasus freaking out and flying far away, caught roots in her head, slowly making Applejack feel uneasy and angry at situations that never happened.

So what if ponies might find out? None of their business... Rainbow knows that... I’ll stand by her and she’ll stand by me. We won’t back off at the first sign of trouble, no siree!

The images in her head melted away into the candle’s flickering light. The pony turned into her bed, staring at the wall in front of her. The light casted playful shadows that seemed grim in her eyes, as she couldn’t see Rainbow’s protective wings anymore, wrapped around her shoulders. She suddenly felt cold, despite the fact that the window had been closed for quite some time.

The thoughts started peeking again from beyond her unspoken fears so she tried shrugging them off by blowing out the candle. The room fell into the darkness that seemed to deepen without her marefriend around to cast away all worries. She never truly appreciated what it really meant to sleep with the pony you love, until now.

She didn’t like this. Not one bit.

And she forgot to kiss me...

***

Morning took Rainbow by surprise. She opened her eyes all of a sudden and shut them tight again due to all the light that was filling up the guest room. She shifted in the pile of bed sheets, realizing it was freezing cold.

Ugh... just a dream... stupid, stupid dream.

She opened her eyes again, slowly. Letting them get used to the white light that was invading her room, almost in a mocking manner, urging her to get out of bed.

A quiet breakfast and a quick shower later, the two mares found themselves on an errand through ponyville. They trotted along silently towards the center of the town. Applejack was carrying two saddlebags in which they were supposed to bring back wool for Granny Smith. The old mare woke up with the idea that, if she knitted enough blankets, (“pretty warm blankets” as she called them) they might sell those for a nice little profit and finally get the barn door fixed.

The couple passed ‘Quills and Sofas’ and one of the plenty fruit carts, still keeping to their thoughts. Applejack noticed that Rainbow was keeping a certain distance from her.

‘Is this also supposed to be a 'safe-thing'? Or maybe Ah’m just imagining stuff here?’, thought the earth pony.

Imagination or not, Rainbow was visibly trying to look anywhere else but at her. Applejack didn’t really know if she should say something about it or not. It wasn’t like she felt too comfortable either. After their first kiss, when they started going on little errand like these, both mares had the impression that everypony was starring at them. Soon they learned to ignore that and just enjoy their normal conversation.

It seemed that Rainbow didn’t quite get over it entirely as she was reacting now exactly as she did back then.

“Uh, hey...” started the orange pony.

“Hm, what?” replied the pegasus.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

“Well, Ah noticed that you’re walking at about six feet away from me”

The pegasus silently measured the distance between them, to judge by herself, “It’s within acceptable limits.”

“There’s one thing being careful and another being crazy. If Ah didn’t know any better, Ah would say y’all are going a bit over the line with this.”

“Well, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re trying to get us in trouble!”

Applejack frowned and rolled her eyes: “Seriously, Rainbow... Ah’m starting to wish that Granny Smith actually figured out about us so y’all can stop this ridiculous behaviour!”

“Shhh!” hissed Rainbow, lowering her ears and looking around, “Not so loud, Applejack!”

“Well, come closer then and Ah won’t have to talk so loud!” the orange pony replied, picking up the pace. Rainbow trotted closer to her as they both entered the Woolies shop.

The tiny bell above the door rang as the two mares entered the building. There were rows and rows of multi-coloured balls of yarn, wool and other fabrics. The smell of old wood and naphthalene tickled the ponies’ nostrils in a rather strange way. Although the shop itself was clean and looked brand new, it had a certain vintage-appeal to it somehow.

Applejack couldn’t put her hoof on it, but she quickly started focusing on the task at hoof, “Howdy, Miss Needles!”

“Why, hello Applejack! Good to see you, dearie!” the mare from behind the counter responded, after which she turned towards the pegasus. “And who’s your friend?”

“This here’s Rainbow Dash,” started Applejack, not before being interrupted.

“Yup, that’s me! Friend here. Juuuust friend! We’re good friends. We’ve always been good friends and always will be! ...friends!” burst Rainbow in a sprinkler of words and gestures that would’ve been a lot more impressive if she had been a circus performer. She ended her... response... with a weird grin on her face. Applejack genuinely thought that Miss Needles will see the pegasus as an ex-convict that just escaped from the looney bin.

Thankfully, that was not the case. Or maybe she was just too polite.

“Oh, how wonderful! Any friend of Applejack is welcomed in my store!” said the shopmare as she used her magic to levitate a bunch of yarn balls back to their shelves. “Now, what can I get you?”

The orange pony filled her small bags with everything Granny Smith required, paid for the merchandise, said her farewells and exited the shop before Rainbow got the chance to do anything... less than smart. She practically dragged the pony to a nearby alley, trying to get some sense into her.

“Ah can’t go with you anywhere!”

“Me? What did I do?”

“You’re acting like you’ve got apples stuck up your rump! And from your grin, everypony will think you like it!”

“Well, I... I’m trying to act friendly here. To you. So ponies will figure out that we’re friends. It’s logical.”

“That’s all a bunch of horseapples! In the best case, they’ll all think I took mah dog out fer a walk... or ah just released from the basement mah ‘special’ cousin we never talk about in public!” said Applejack, stomping her hooves.

“I hardly think anypony would confuse me for a dog! And besides I—wait, you keep your cousin in the basement?!”

“Wha-? No! That was a way of sayin’...ugh, nevermind!”

“Either way, basement or no basement, I can’t be your cousin... that doesn’t sound... platonic enough!” replied the blue pegasus, crossing her forelegs.

“Platonic?!”

“Yeah... We need something foolproof. Trust me, I've heard stories about cousins and—“

“Rainbow!" interrupted the earth pony, thinking that if this is the way it’s going to be, she’ll end up with a bunch of bumps on her forehead due to the upcoming variety of facehooves. “Forget the cousin thing, alright? Nopony will suspect anything! There’s nothin’ to suspect! We’re just two friends, enjoying a nice day, buying stuff for the farm,” she concluded firmly.

“Okay, okay...” replied the pegasus taking a deep breath and exhaling. “I’ll be quiet and I won’t do anything stupid. In public. The earlier, um, behavior was just a...test, yeah. We’re good to go now!”

Applejack frowned and measured her marefriend from the top of her head to the bottom of her hooves.

“Y’all sure about this? No more creepy grin?”

“No more creepy grin. Trust me!”

“Ah trust you about as far as Ah can throw you right now... but, very well, Ah need to get Big Macintosh a new frying pan,” she replied as they walked out of the alley and started trotting along the main street. “Ah know y’all not too crazy about his cookin’, but Ah figured a brand new pan might make it taste better.”

Soon, the two mares found themselves in ‘Pots and Dishes’, a simple shop with, well... pots and dishes, of course. The owners, Mr and Mrs Potter, were kind ponies but lacked imagination. Actually, many ponies figured out that when these two decide to have a kid some day, they’ll probably name him after the first thing they see around the room. Since the birth would probably take place in a hospital, one could only pray for the little foal, considering all the biochemical hazard trash bins and surgical equipments that would be lying around.

'What would it be like to be called Tonsillotome for the rest of your life?’ pondered Rainbow as they browsed through the items, but quickly snapped back to reality.

“This’ll do perfect,” said her marefriend as she picked up a silvery frying pan with her teeth and placed it on the counter.

“Excellent choice!” said the shopmare, Mrs Potter, who was wearing a nice beige hat with a tiny pink flower on one side. Her mane was brown and her coat matched her light-blue eyes. The mare quickly added, jokingly, “Which one of you is the cook in the family?”

Rainbow’s response was quicker than lightning. “I’m not her cousin!!”

Silence between lovers can be romantic. Silence between pony-monks can be a sign of respect and sharing a common wish of self-development beyond the mysteries of this great big world. Silence in a ‘Pots and Dishes’ store, after one says something like that... is not exactly inspiring.

Applejack tried to resist the urge to facehoof.

Think of yer forehead. It is not yer forehead’s fault you fell in love with an idiot. Yer forehead doesn’t say stupid things. Love the forehead... love the forehead.

“Are... you alright?” asked Mrs Potter, looking at the orange pony.

“Yeah, all fine an’ dandy.”

“Why are you... chewing on your hat?” continued the shopmare.

Applejack looked down. She was, indeed, chewing on her own hat in frustration. Without hesitation, she simply placed the hat back on top of her head and replied: “Good fer the teeth... How much?”

“Oh, um, that’ll be ten bits.”

Applejack paid, grabbed the pan, grabbed the Rainbow and headed outside without a word. Mrs Potter looked around for a while... then she slowly took off her hat and tried chewing a bit on one of the edges. She stuck her tongue out in disgust and placed the hat back on her head.

“Must be from a different material,” she concluded and went back to arranging the new set of pots that arrived that morning.

***

“But she totally hinted at one of us cooking! Then she called me a ‘cousin’!”

“No, Dash, that was all in yer head. If y’all don’t stop acting like this, you’re gonna end up sleeping in the attic!”

“Wait,” replied the pegasus, stopping in the middle of the road. “You don’t have an attic...”

“Exactly,” said Applejack, continuing her walk. “And ya’ll best be prepared to buy me a new hat. A whole new set of hats. One fer everyday of the week, ya got that?”

Rainbow resumed her trotting, “Yeah, yeah... I got the allusion. Anything else we need to pick up?”

“Nah, we’re good... all we have to do is return to the farm an—“

CRASH!!

A sphere engulfed in blue flames crashed right into the town’s fountain, breaking it into pieces. The ponies around jumped in fright and covered their heads.

Applejack opened her eyes and saw blue feathers in front of her. Rainbow had used her wings to cover her, shielding the pony from flying pieces of stone.

“You okay, Dash?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Ah guess... thank you.”

Before the pegasus had any time to respond, the blue flames that surrounded the sphere grew higher and higher, engulfing the area in a bizarre light. From within the sphere, a pony emerged. It was wearing some sort of mask and a costume that was covering its entire coat and mane.

Rainbow’s gaze fell upon the strange pony’s horn and... wings?

“An alicorn?!” she asked, without really expecting an answer.

The ponies around started mumbling and talking to each other, wondering if they should approach it or not. Before the dust had any time to settle, a strong white light flooded the town’s center as another sphere descended from the sky. A familiar voice, usually kind and appealing, now fierce and cold, shrieked over the hearts of everypony.

“I have given you a chance to leave this place and one chance is all that you shall receive,” said Princess Celestia, yet her voice pierced the ears like blades of ice. She was angry.

The strange masked pony took a few steps towards her. Even if it didn’t seem to open its mouth, its voice could be heard echoing in and out of everypony’s body, their bones, ribcages... as if it was speaking through them.

“Come now, Celestia... surely you have more faith in your loyal subjects than that. After all, you taught them so many things. I’m only digging around to see just how much they learned,” it said with a chilling voice that seemed neither young nor old, neither male nor female. “Should we start with these two here?” it continued as its horn started to glow menacingly.

Faster than one could blink, two mares were dragged from the ponies that surrounded the town square: a turquoise unicorn that had a lyre as a cutie mark, and a beige earth pony that was known as the candy store shopkeeper. “Let us see what a little honesty can do...”, the masked pony said and the mares started screaming, terrified.

“ENOUGH!!” yelled Celestia as a white beam of energy shot through her horn, fully hitting the masked pony and sending it further back. “Don’t you DARE touch them...” she almost growled through her teeth.

Rainbow and Applejack couldn’t believe their eyes. They never saw the Princess in such a state. Nothing could ever bring her to do something like that, never would she attack one of their own.

The masked pony rose from the ground and resumed its position.

“As you wish, Princess,” it said, menacingly.

All of a sudden, a shot of blue energy, sent by the pony, hit Celestia fully, knocking her back. The royal guards barely arrived in time and placed themselves between the pony and the Princess. Two of them jumped to help Celestia get back up.

'Who is that?', thought Rainbow as she was still covering Applejack with her wings. ‘Who would dare attack the Princess?’

Celestia got back up on her feet. She opened her eyes and saw the blue-orange couple looking at her.

“Get Twilight”, she told them. “NOW!”

-End of Chapter 2-