The Mare of Her Dreams

Applejack emptied a basket of apples into a large hopper, and turned to find herself suddenly face-to-face with a rather distraught-looking lavender alicorn. Internally, she was a bit shocked and frightened, but it didn't show in her demeanor. She simply sat down and tilted the brim of her hat up. "Oh... Twi... I didn't see ya walk in..."

"I... I kinda teleported," Twilight replied glumly.

"What's the matter, sugarcube?"

"I did it again, AJ..."

Solemnity spread across Applejack's normally stoic face. "Oh... Oh gosh... It'll be okay, Twi... Ah'll get mah shovel, and you just meet me in the Everfree in fifteen minutes and we'll just make this all go away!"

Twilight looked confused for a moment. "Oh... No... No, not that. That was just that one time... And she had it coming to her."

Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. "That she did... So... What is it then?"

"Rainbow Dash."

"Well, what about 'er?"

"Well... I went to go see her today... to tell her how I feel about her... That I uh... Like her..."

"Good for you! How'd it go?"

"I got cold hooves again..."

"That's not so bad, Twi, 'twouldn't be the first time."

"No... it wasn't bad... It was a disaster!"

"It can't be worse than last time..."

"She asked to help me with something, and I told her she would be in the way... and then I tried to cancel my flying lessons."

"Oh..."

"Yeah..."

"Well, it coulda' been worse!"

"How could it have been worse?!"

"You could've gotten halfway through asking her out, then taken it back."

Twilight's mouth fell open as she thought back to what she had just done. "Well..."

"You didn't..."

Twilight kicked at the dirt floor of the barn. "I might have..."

"Oh, Twi..."

"It's hopeless, isn't it?"

"It... It could always be worse..."

"Yeah..."

"Ah mean... Y'all are still friends, right?"

Twilight smiled. "Yeah... I guess so... I might need to apologize, though... I kinda ran off on her... Might have been a little rude."

"Well, there ya go. That's what really matters. And you still have plenty ah time to tell her how you feel. No need ta rush it..."

"You're right, AJ... Thank you! You 're always so level-headed... I don't know why I didn't just come to you first!" Twilight said as she hugged her friend tightly

"Ah'm always glad ta help a friend! Don't mention it!"

"Hey Applejack, you around?" Rainbow Dash called out from some ways away.

Panicked, Twilight dived behind a pile of hay. "I'm not here!" she whispered frantically.

"Ah—" Applejack paused for a second, trying to figure out how to best handle the situation. She moved quickly towards the barn door, replying, "Ah'm over here, sugarcube!"

Rainbow Dash's hooves made landfall outside the barn, as AJ moved just beyond the door to meet her. She shut the door almost completely behind her, but Twilight could still make out most of the conversation.

"You have a minute to talk, AJ?"

"Sure thing, what's achin' ya?"

"Well... It's about Twilight..."

"Ya don't say..."

"Well, it's just... I think she likes me..."

"And do ya like her back?"

"I don't—"

A cow mooed, preventing Twilight from hearing.

"—she's not cool enough—"

The cow mooed again. "Do you mind?!" Twilight hissed at the boisterous bovine.

"MooooOOO-sorry, I didn't realize you had per-moooooOOO-ission to eavesdrop on their private conversation."

"Mind your own business!"

"Twi, is that you?" Rainbow asked, peering through the barn door. She caught nothing more than a flash of purple light, but that was enough for a positive identification. "AJ... Was she here all along? Did you know?"

"Well, she kinda..." AJ trailed off as she notice Pinkie's head hanging out of the apple hopper in the back of the barn, glaring at her."

"Ah, uh... Ah had no idea she was there." She insisted unconvincingly, shifting her eyes left to right.

"She was here talking to you about me, wasn't she?"

Applejack paused for a moment, then sighed, defeated. "Yeah..."