She Said "I Love You."

Rainbow Dash was a streak through the darkening sky. She was carrying Scootaloo in her arms as she flew towards Canterlot. “Damn it Scoot, I’m gonna get an earful from Rarity for this. She kept bugging me about being on time for the party.”

“I couldn’t help it! I had to finish my homework before I got ready for the party!”

“Ugh you should just do what I did when I was your age!”

“What did you do?”

“Copied Applejack’s homework.”

Rainbow Dash carried the young girl through the sky towards their destination: Twilight’s birthday party. Princess Celestia gave them use of Canterlot Castle’s gardens this year, and the turnout was going to be HUGE. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance where going to be there, and Celestia was most likely going to make an appearance as well. As she approached the castle grounds, Dash could hear music in the air.

She touched down on the grass and gave Scootaloo a toss. “Go find your friends, I’m gonna find Twilight!” Scootaloo sped off towards the music, and Dash headed towards the nearby crowd. She jostled her way through a group of people she’d never seen before until she bumped into Applejack.

Rainbow Dash’s heart skipped a beat. Whenever she was near AJ lately, she became nervous and felt a knot in her chest. She didn’t get it, she never had these feelings before, so why now? Nothing had changed between them, she was feeling weird for no reason. She was close enough to Applejack that she could-

“Well look who decided to show up! Lemme guess, you forgot what day it was?”

Dash snapped out of her stupor. “N-no! I promised Scootaloo that I would fly her over and she was running late! I had to bust into her room and grab her, otherwise I would still be waiting for her!”

“You could have made sure I was dressed in more than my undies first.” Scootaloo had found her friends, and the three girls where at Dash’s elbow.

Sweetie Belle looked up at Dash. “My sister’s mad that you’re late for Twilight’s party. She said she wanted to see you as soon as you got here.”

The last thing Rainbow Dash wanted was to get an earful from Ms. Prim-and-Proper herself. She turned back to Applejack. “Yo AJ, where’s the bar?”

Applejack grinned pointed her thumb over her shoulder. “Follow me, partner.”

They started off towards the bar. “By the way RD, good work dressing for the occasion.” This may have been a joke, but Dash actually did dress up. She was wearing her only polo shirt (light blue) and her ‘nice’ jeans. Plus she took out her labret stud and nose ring, and ran a comb through her hair.

Dash blushed at the combination of playful insult and compliment, and blurted “Same goes for you.” AJ was wearing her usual button-up plaid shirt and jeans.

AJ turned, indignantly. “Hey, these are my nice boots!”

They continued on until they found the bar, and took a seat. After chugging her first hard cider, Dash finally relaxed. “Hey, so I know Rarity is mad at me… but what about Twilight? She mad that I’m late to her party?” Dash loved Twilight like a sister (a somewhat annoying, know-it-all sister perhaps), and she never wanted to let her down.

AJ Chuckled. “Heck no. She’s been on the dance floor with Pinkie for an hour or so. She’s had a few to drink, so I doubt she knows what time it is.”

Dash perked up at this. “Awesome! I’m gonna go find them!” She hopped up from her stool and made her way towards the music. Once again, Dash fought her way through the crowd, this time ducking Rarity’s searching glare. Vinyl Scratch must have had the amps turned to eleven, because the bass shook her damn bones the closer she got to that dance floor. She glanced around, but couldn’t find Twilight or Pinkie. Suddenly, a pair of hands came from behind and roughly grabbed Dash’s breasts.

A sing-song voice called out, “Guess whooooooo?”

Dash broke free of the grip and turned around angrily. “Geeze Pinkie, you’re supposed to cover my eyes!”

“Aaaaaw, but I like grabbing your boobs…” As usual, Pinkie was all grins. She hadn’t bothered combing her hair for the occasion, but Dash doubted she knew what a comb was. She was wearing a short pink dress that flared out from her hips and ended in frills. The dress only accentuated her hourglass figure. Pinkie was what some people might call “chubby,” but that’s what happens when you eat nothing but sweets. Most of her fat went to her boobs, ass and thighs, but she still had a nice squishable stomach. Pinkie didn’t care; she wasn’t the type of girl who had body image issues.

Dash loved Pinkie’s squishy body, it perfectly contrasted her own toned and skinny body. Dash and Pinkie had hooked up a fair amount of times in the past, but it never affected their friendship. Pinkie wasn’t one for relationships, never was. She said she loved everybody, and to be forced to choose only one person would be cruel, so unlike Dash, she never tried making relationships work.

Once again, Dash was grabbed from behind, but this time by her shoulders by a surprisingly drunk Twilight Sparkle. Dash turned around and was brought into a bone breaking hug. “DAAAAAASH! You made it!”

Dash struggled to break free from the hug. “Of… of course I did… wouldn’t miss your birthday for the world Twi.”

Twilight gave Rainbow Dash a sloppy kiss on the cheek. “You HAVE to try this new drink Pinkie made,” she said suddenly looking serious. “It’s AMAZING.” Dash knew better than to try any of Pinkie’s concoctions; they were as alcoholic as they were sweet. Not a good combination.

Dash waved off the cup being pushed into her face. “Uh, I think I’ll just stick to cider tonight Twilight.”

Twilight put her pouty face on. “Fine, but you have to dance with me then.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Well, if I must,” she said, sarcastically.

Half an hour or so later Dash managed to break away from the dance floor and sought solace in another cider. It wasn’t often that Twilight got drunk, but when she did she went wild, and it was hard to keep up with her drunk energy.

AJ sidled up to the bar and patted Dash on the back. “Hey, I just saw Blinkie over by the-“

Rainbow Dash jolted up, startling Applejack. “Blinkie is here? Oh shit! Where is she?”

AJ sat down next to Dash. “Damn girl, calm down. She’s way over in the gardens with Fluttershy.” A weight was lifted from Dash’s chest. She heaved a sigh of relief and took a gulp of cider. AJ approached the subject cautiously. “Let me guess… you broke up?”

Dash thumped her head on the bar. “Yup.”

“Who did the breaking up?”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“……”

“Come on Dash, you can tell me. We’ve been friends since we were kids.” There were few secrets between Dash and AJ.

“… she wanted me to move in with her.”

AJ leaned back and sighed. Dash had a problem with commitment. She was fine with it until it became ‘too real’ for her. Usually it was when she was introduced to parents, but she held out a bit longer this time. “I thought you liked her.”

“I do! It’s just…” Dash took another swig of cider. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m fine getting into girls’ beds, but the second they start throwing around… the ‘L’ word…”

“You freak out?”

“Yeah…”

This was one of the few times AJ couldn’t help Rainbow out of her funk. AJ hadn’t been in too many relationships, and the ones she’d been in ended pretty calmly. She opted to give Dash another pat on the back and take a sip of her cider.

“AJ? Am I a fuck up?”

“Hell no, why would you think that?”

Dash merely pointed across the bar. AJ looked up to see Lyra and Bonbon kissing. “They have no problem being together, so why can’t I figure out how to do it?”

AJ was at a loss. This seriously wasn’t her field of expertise, but she ventured a response she thought was safe. “Maybe… maybe you haven’t found the right girl?”

“Maybe…” Dash lapsed into silence until she finished off another cider. “Is it easier to date men?”

This startled Applejack. She knew Dash had been gay for as long as she had known her. Even when they were kids Rainbow Dash had been as anti-boy as possible. “Wh-why do you wanna know?”

“I dunno. Maybe the cider is catching up to me. And the beers I had before I showed up.”

AJ smiled. “To tell you the truth, dating men isn’t any easier.”

“Of course not. Well then fuck it.” She raised her mug. “To being a single asshole.”

They clinked mugs and had more to drink.

Three times over the course of the night AJ and Dash had been pulled onto the dance floor. The second time they ran into Rarity, who didn’t give Dash too hard of a time. Although she criticized Dash’s clothes, as usual. They saved Fluttershy from a group of guys who were hitting on her, on several occasions. Dash nearly ran into Blinkie, only to be redirected by AJ at the last minute. Twilight danced with Princess Luna, and Rarity gushed over Princess Cadance’s dress. Shining Armor locked Twilight into a powerful noogie before giving her an equally powerful hug. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were caught trying to sneak a few beers, but AJ let them off the hook this time. They hated the beer, by the way. Pinkie set off a huge fireworks display, nearly setting the garden on fire. She thought it was funny. Applejack ended up holding Twilight’s hair back as she puked. All in all, it was a pretty good night.

Then Dash kissed AJ.