A quadruple cloud-spin. An inverted slalom. A Sonic Rainboom to finish out the act. All in a day's work for the fastest flier in Equestria. Touching down in the lush grasses of Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow Dash strutted over to her best friend and fellow Element of Harmony, Applejack, who was still staring open-mouthed at the sky where Dash had been just seconds before.
"Good enough for you, AJ?" Rainbow prodded, grinning from ear to ear.
"Sugarcube, that was amazin'. I mean, I know you're the most beautiful, talented flier in…"
"Wait, did you just say beautiful?" Rainbow asked, surprised.
"Well, yah, Ah guess Ah did. That ain't a problem is it?" Applejack questioned.
Dash didn't answer with words, but instead a kiss that sent both of the ponies senses tingling. "AJ, you have no idea how long I've wanted to-"
*Crack*
"What the hay was-"
With another loud crack, the branch supporting one rainbow-maned pegasus gave and dropped its guest as well as several ripe apples onto the soil and grass below. Startled, Dash shook her head, ridding her mane of any dust. What the hay. . . Oh, it was just another dream. Why do I keep doing this to myself? Dash thought to herself, just now catching a majestic orange pony rolling in the grass nearby. Turning to face her friend, she realized Applejack was laughing like mad, and Dash's face proceeded to turn a slight purple color.
"Oh, hay Applejack. What's so funny?"
Gasping for air, Applejack answered, "Only watchin' the 'most graceful flier in all of Equestria' fall out of a tree. Ain't somethin' yah see every day. Or ever, fer that matter." Finally she regained her composure and looked at Rainbow Dash, noticing the mild blush her friend was currently adorning.
"Oh, Ah didn't mean nothin' by it, sugarcube. It was just entertainin' to watch yah land on yer face like that. Maybe you'll learn a thing er two 'bout takin' a nap in mah trees!"
Laughing at her own foolishness, Dash's embarrassment subsided. "Like that'll ever happen! You're trees are the best for sleeping! Well next to a cloud of course, but those are so far away," she said, gazing up a couple hundred hooves to a small, puffy cloud just above.
"Dash, yer laziness knows no bounds. Ah know fer a fact yah coulda reached that cloud in no time," Applejack commented. Rainbow drew her attention away from the sky to look into the deep emerald abyss of Applejack's eyes. She could feel her wings slowly attempting to lift off her body, but she just couldn't look away.
"Umm, Rainbow, yah got a little drool, right there," AJ said, pointing to Rainbow's left cheek. Startled out of her stupor, Dash glanced down at her bare hoof.
"Just look at the time! I gotta go, umm, do that thing!" Dash's wings were already halfway extended when she snapped them open and took off towards her cloud home in Cloudsdale.
Huh. Since when does Rainbow wear a watch? Oh well. Not that Ah'd notice anyhow. Darn it, how'd Ah let mahself get lost him her eyes again? Ah need a good applebuckin' to clear my heads. Applejack thought, turning to the tree Rainbow Dash had just fallen out of moments ago to buck even the most stubborn apples to the ground. Many hooves in the air, Dash's thoughts were unsurprisingly along the same lines.
Ugh, I don't wear a watch! AJ probably knows I'm lying now! I just couldn't help myself. . . She looked so strong bucking those trees, so. . . Hot. Oh, what am I saying! She's your best friend! Rainbow thought ran as she darted quickly through the sky. When she arrived at her minimally furnished cloud home, Dash collapsed on her bed. Maybe I can get some uninterrupted sleep here. . . She thought. Or maybe not. Probably another night filled with dreams of Applejack. Why me? Why couldn't I just fall for some stupid old stallion? Instead I fall for the most beautiful, strong cowpony in all of Equestria. . . But with that, Dash's anger dissipated and she fell into a deep sleep.
Dash zigged and zagged in and out of the apple trees, swiping more apples and dumping them into the barrels with every movement. After a good amount of trees were cleared, she touched down lightly between the barrels and began rolling them toward the Apple family barn. Applejack came trotting out from inside the barn, whistling at Rainbow Dash's speed. "Mah, mah, Rainbow, you sure know how to get it done quick!" Applejack called as Dash rolled the last barrel toward her.
"Well, you know me. I got it all. Speed, grace, brains," Rainbow said, gloating again.
"Maybe too much speed an' not enough brain, if yah ask me," Applejack said, teasingly.
"You're just jealous 'cause I could buck as many apples as you in ten seconds flat," Rainbow joked.
"Well, Ah don't know 'bout that, but Ah do thank yah fer helpin' us bring in the apples. Ah just wish Ah had some way to pay yah fer it."
"No need to pay me, AJ. That's what friends are for!" Dash said, grinning.
"Well there is one way Ah could pay yah. . ." Applejack said slowly as she stepped toward Dash.
"Oh yeah? And how's th-" Rainbow asked as she was cut off when Applejack pressed her apple-flavored lips against hers. Applejack shocked her, but Dash knew better than to let it get the best of her. She pulled away and quickly tackled her friend to the ground, pinning all of Applejack's four hooves.
"What're yah doin'?" AJ asked, answered by a kiss that sent rainbows through her head and tingles up her spine. And then, all of the sudden, a blinding explosion inside her mind.
Applejack shot up in bed, woken by the boom of thunder. Confused, she looked around her, realizing quickly that she was in her own home, in her own bed, alone. Turning on the lamp and looking down at herself, she saw that she and the bed sheets were both soaked in sweat. She groaned and tossed the sheets onto the floor. Not again! Ah do this every night, hopin' it'll get better! But it ain't! Ah can't keep doin' this er Ah'm gonna run outta sheets. Stupid Rainbow, with her stupid wings, and her stupid, gorgeous eyes, and her beautiful, silky, colorful mane. . . Darn it, stop that, AJ! This is yer friend yer thinkin' about, not some stallion yah've had yer eye on! Applejack told herself, staring out at the driving rain. Oh, who am Ah kiddin'. . . You don't want no stallion. Yer just a stupid. . . Fillyfooler. Oh Celestia, Ah hate that name. Why's it gotta be so darn true, then? Ah should just. . . Just. . . Applejack's thoughts gave her a reprieve as the grasp of sleep took her, only to plague her sleep once more with images of her hexachromatic crush.