Streams of light filtered through gaps in the rafters, gently waking you from your well earned rest. Applejack had worked you hard in the orchard yesterday, only taking a brief break to eat lunch. She apologized when you finished, saying that the farm had just received a huge order for a festival in Trottingham. You shrugged it off, reminding her that she had already been gracious enough to let you live on the farm and feed you in exchange for helping out.
You owed her and her family a lot. From her finding you passed out in one of the orchards to giving you a job and feeding you as well. Maybe that was the reason you had been smitten with love for your savior. It wasn’t just the fact that she gave you a hoof up that you had become infatuated with the farm pony. There was her personality, fiery and determined, always ready to help others before herself, her discipline of acting as head of the farm and keeping her family on track. She had outward beauty too, although she wouldn’t admit it. Her golden flowing mane, adorned with her symbolic stetson complimented her cute country twang. Then there were those emerald irises you could gaze at all day, had the mare not told you to stop daydreaming and get back to harvesting apples. She was even too busy to notice you checking her out.
Finally stretching out the last of your soreness, you got dressed and climbed down from the loft in the barn that was your bed. The first thing you noticed was the mouth-watering aroma of breakfast trickling from the house. You entered and found Applejack already making breakfast.
“Don’t cha worry bout sleeping in today sugarcube,” she smiled at you, flipping some pancakes and then checking on her apple strudels in the oven. “I think we all deserved to sleep in after yesterday. Thanks again for helping out.”
“Applejack, you should know by now that I am always happy to help the farm out. After all you and your family have done for me, I don’t think I’m doing enough,” you smiled. “Here lemme help you with breakfast.”
“Aw shucks,” she blushed, moving over to let you help. “Ah’m sure ya woulda been helped by some other pony. Ah’ll admit ah was a little wary of ya at first, wasn’t sure what ah found in the orchard. Honestly, ah’m glad we grabbed ya before Twilight did. Yah have earned the right to live here. Yer always willing to pitch in on the farm. In town too, from what ah’ve heard various ponies. If ah didn’t know any better, I’d say a part of me has rubbed off on ya.”
“I’d say more than a part,” you mused, thankful she didn’t hear that. You were soon joined by the rest of the Apple family, all who were more than happy to see you. Breakfast was finished, and you helped Applejack set the food on the table. You all ate and chatted about the events of yesterday, chuckling at the mention of when Big Mac was in such a rush that he nearly ran you over had you not jumped out of the way and onto the back of Applejack. Both of you blushed at the memory, and even though the subject had been changed you couldn’t help but stare at her.
After breakfast, Applejack announced she was going to do her chores, and that you could take the rest of the day off. Once she was out of earshot though, little Applebloom tugged on your shirt. “There’s something we all want to talk to ya about,” she started, waving a hoof to Big Mac and Granny Smith.
“Um, ok,” you replied as you all moved into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Nope,” Big Mac gave his typical one word answer.
“It’s what you haven’t done, sonny,” Granny Smith added, sitting down in her rocker.
“Haven’t done?” you asked, racking your brain for something you forgot to do. You were sure you labeled the boxes correctly for which type of apple they contained.
“How come ya haven’t asked mah sister to be yer special somepony yet?” Applebloom jumped on the couch and put her forehooves on your lap, practically staring into your soul.
“Wha-?” you started, before Granny Smith interrupted.
“Don’t try to act all clueless now, young human. We’ve all seen the way that you look at her, heck you just did it this morning. I’m picky about which stallions get close to my granddaughter, but you have shown your worth stud. Yesterday, ya were able to not only keep up with us, but took some other initiatives on yer own. Picking the apples based on how much we needed saved us half the day.”
“A-and you’re ok with me having interest in her?” you asked the family, all who nodded yes, Big Mac adding a ‘Yep’.
“Big Mac already has Cherilee. Ah want mah sis and you to be together,” Applebloom pleaded, getting closer to your face.
You smiled at her cuteness and sat her down on your lap. “What about Applejack? What does she think of me?”
“Well she sure talks highly about you,” Granny replied. “How you’re such a hard worker and nice to everypony ya meet. She would always avoid the question if we asked her if she had feelings for you.”
You processed all this information. Applejack’s family was already on board with you being with her, so you didn’t need to worry about that. However, you weren’t sure how the orange mare felt about you. When the topic of relationships came up between you two, sometimes she said that maybe someday she’d like to settle down with a stallion and continue running the farm, while other times she would say she’s just too busy to try and find said stallion.
Looking around the room, your gaze was met by anticipation on everypony’s eyes. You let out a sigh and nodded. “I’ll ask her about it tonight.”
They all cheered, Applebloom squeezing you, talking about how she couldn’t wait to have another big brother in the family and how happy Applejack would be. That issue finally settled, you dismissed yourself, telling the family that you needed to prepare for tonight.
The rest of the day, you came up with a plan on how to approach and ask Applejack the question. You knew that she was a simple mare, so getting dressed up would only make her nervous or wary. Having dinner alone would also wasn’t something she’d probably do. Then the idea hit you. You’d ask her to take a walk through the orchards after dinner, something you’d done with her before. Well not like how you were planning on doing.
It had been a few weeks since your arrival in Equestria and obviously you were a little homesick. You had thought that you put on a convincing poker face, but Applejack easily saw through it. When you looked back on that day, you figured it was probably because she was the Element of Honesty, she probably could spot a liar a mile away. Anyway, you had decided to take a walk through the orchards, to try and calm yourself. You didn’t know that the farm pony was following, at least until you decided to cry under one of the trees.
She quickly rushed to your side and placed her forehooves around you, holding you tight. You tried to stop crying but that only made you cry harder. Applejack didn’t judge, saying how she wished that they could find a way for you back home and that they were trying their best to make you feel at home. You stopped her right there, indignation halting your tears. It wasn’t her fault that you were torn from your world, and they had been more than accommodating, taking in a strange creature into their home. If anyone should be sorry it should be you. Seeing as you had reached some understanding that somehow it was just fate that brought you two together, you both just laughed at how you were trying to argue who should apologize. You held her close for a good while, before you both agreed that it was time to head off to bed. You thanked Applejack for following you, telling her that she made you feel at home. She got flustered at that, and socked you in the arm for being cheesy.
“That would be perfect,” you grinned after recalling the memory. “She changed my life that night, and I’ll change hers tonight.”
Satisfied that you had a plan in place, all you had to do now was wait. You took another nap, still feeling a little fatigued, and had a nice dream with you sitting under an apple tree, Applejack with her back against your stomach. You had your arms around her barrel, relishing her surprisingly soft coat. When you woke up, not only did you feel refreshed, but even more determined to make Applejack yours.
The sun was setting, so you decided to head out once again to the farm house. Smoothing out your shirt and jeans, you took some time to admire Luna’s night. A warm night breeze was blowing, and once the sun had set, the moon and stars gave off enough light to see. You opened the door to see the whole Apple family at work, the ones who you talked to earlier winking at you, while Applejack welcomed you in.
“Had a good nap ah’d reckon,” she smirked. “Checked in on ya when ah had to get some tools from the barn. You were muttering something ah couldn’t pick out, but it seemed to be happy murmuring.”
“Yeah, I guess it just felt good knowing what we accomplished yesterday,” you somewhat lied. “Especially on such short notice. We should all be proud of ourselves.”
“Couldn’t have said it better,” the mare smiled. “Now enough chatting, dinner’s ready!”
You would have thought that if you ate nothing but apples everyday for a few months, that you woulda been sick of the things, but there was some secret the Apples had to make their food not taste so “appley”. After dinner, you asked if Applejack wouldn’t mind accompanying you to the orchard. When asked why, you replied with your own question, why wouldn’t you want to talk with one of your closest friends? She didn’t really have an answer for that, and the rest of her family was too eager to clean up while you two had your little “talk”.
“It sure is a beautiful night, isn’t it,” you remarked to your companion. This caused Applejack to observe the stars herself.
“Ah don’t know how Princess Luna does it,” she replied. “Every night is different, sure the stars are still there, but the patterns continue to shift, as if it were like waves on the ocean.”
“Ah, so not only are you beautiful, hard working, dedicated, loyal and kind, you also have a way with words,” you smirked as her cheeks reddened.
“Ya think ah’m beautiful?” she asked, her bright green irises staring back.
“Applejack,” you started, taking in a deep breath. “You are the most beautiful mare that I know. Not just on the outside, but on the inside as well. Words can’t even begin to describe how I feel about you. You saved me, took me into your home. Your comment at breakfast couldn’t have hit the head on the nail any harder. You have rubbed off on me more than you think. I … I love you Applejack.”
Her eyes widened, her mouth moving but nothing came out. She looked you over, as if waiting for you to break your serious tone and tell her it was a joke. But you had never been more serious in your life than this moment here. She sighed and removed her stetson.
“Ah, ah don’t know what to say,” she stammered. “It’s flattering to hear ya say that __________. The only stallion that took interest in me was that Trenderhoof fella, but he just wasn’t right for me. You on the other hand, ah’m not sure. We’re different species for Celestia’s sake. Ah want to say yes, but I’m just not sure. The farm has me busy as it is, ah don’t know if ah could be a proper marefriend as well.”
“But you already have been doing just that,” you quickly replied, seeing your opportunity slipping. “Just seeing you walk into the room makes it that much brighter. I can’t help but smile when you smile. Besides, ah know your family wants us to be together. They even told me how you wanted to find a stallion to settle down with that would help out on the farm. I want to be that stallion, Applejack. Your stallion.”
She just stared at you for a while, before drooping her head. “Ah’m sorry sugarcube, but ah just don’t think I’m ready for a relationship yet. Yer a good fella, don’t get me wrong. Ah just, don’t see you the same way.”
You let out a defeated sigh. “Alright,” you slumped against a tree. “I can respect that. I shoulda known better that you probably didn’t see me that way. After all I’m probably some freak to all of you.”
“Now hold on a second there, sugarcube,” she interrupted your lament. “Just because ah don’t feel the same for ya does not make you a freak.” She sat down next to you, placing a hoof on your shoulder. “You are a wonderful human, and for some reason ah just can’t see you more than a close friend. Maybe it’s because ah’m scared to mess things up and then lose you altogether. Just know this, there are plenty of mares out there that would be lucky to have you as their stallion. Don’t let me rejecting ya cause you to think you’re not any good. You really are.”
You smiled halfheartedly at her explanation. Maybe she was right. What if she said yes but either one of you made a mistake or had a silly argument? Not only would you have lost a love, but also your friend. Accepting this bitter truth you turned to the mare, who had a worried look in her eyes.
“Applejack?”
“Yes, sugarcube?”
“Would you mind if we just stayed here and cuddled?”
“Not at all.”