Two mares were walking down a lane of Ponyville, surrounded by chirping birds and calming sunrays that seemed to kiss their bodies.
The orange farmpony with golden mane and the cyan pegasus with a distinctive rainbow colored mane. Two best friends who wanted to become more than that, but they were still unaware of the other’s feelings. Both ponies were planning their next move, and the sun was starting to hide from the ponies’ sight, which meant their time was running out.
“Ah promise y’all will be mine by tonight Rainbow Dash…”
“With the two princesses as my witnesses, I swear your love will be mine. Even if my love for you is newfound, I’m completely sure its true and deep.”
The two ponies walked side to side together, looking at each other and smiling happily. They walked down the lane while various ponies walked by their side, looking at them with curious glances, trying to decipher the real motives of their meet-up. Some rumours were spread trough town but they weren’t confirmed. Rainbow Dash and Applejack continued to walk unbothered of the intruders’ glimpses.
“Hey… look at the sun, Ah think it will be gone in a few minutes” Applejack said, trying to create some conversation.
“Yep… in about… ten minutes, the sky will have the same beautiful orange tone as your coat.” Replied Rainbow Dash absentminded, but soon realised what she said and added “And the same as Scootaloo, too!”
“That lil’ filly… she was gonna spend the day with Applebloom today.”
“Yeah I know, that kiddo always tells me everything.”
“Y’all care a lot fer’er don’t y’all? Y’all are always talkin’ ‘bout her, n’ Ah always notice y’all worry fer her when she’s out crusadin’ ”
“How did you notice that?” gasped the rose eyed pony in surprise.
“It was a piece of apple pie fer me, ‘cause y’all have the same face Ah have when Ah think ‘bout Applebloom. Y’all love’er like a lil’ sister don’t y’all?
“Well… yeah, one could say I do care for her like she’s my sister. I dunno… the pipsqueak is able to warm my heart, something not many ponies can do.”
“Heh speakin’ ‘bout the Princess of Canterlot, here they come!”
On the same lane walked two little fillies who seemed to notice them and started to walk towards them.
"Howdy girls, how are y'all doin'?" Applejack asked.
" 'Sup kiddos?" Rainbow added in.
" Hi sis, hi miss Rainbow Dash" the red maned filly said.
"Hello Rainbow Dash, how are you Applejack?" the orange Pegasus asked.
Then all four ponies said in unison "We're fine, we were just passing by." At those words everypony started laughing at the coincidence and then Applebloom walked towards Applejack. Rainbow Dash separated Scootaloo and asked
“So… how’re you doing?”
“I’m fine, I guess, how’re you and your ‘trick’ doing?”
“Not very well; I kinda ‘screwed up my wings’ and I feel like they’re getting away from me…”
“Well you know Dash, you can’t keep your ‘wings stuck in one place’ for long, especially YOUR ‘wings’ they aren’t made for walking, so… keep ‘em active!” said Scootaloo, winking at the grown pegasus.
“Not a bad idea kiddo… Not a bad idea at all”
The two couples joined again, said their goodbyes and parted off.
“So what were y’all talkin’ ‘bout with yer ‘sis’ Sugarcube?” asked Applejack, winking at her cyan pegasus friend.
“Huh? Oh, nothing… nothing you should worry about AJ” replied Rainbow Dash, her eyes blankly staring at the floor. “Besides, she’s not my sister!” before she added under her breath “Yet.”
Applejack heard her, smiled sympathetically and thought “ Ah knew it” She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, opened them up and kept walking.
As the two ponies strolled, Applejack started to notice that the trees, grass; the whole atmosphere was under a pink light.
Rainbow looked at her with half closed eyes and said “Applejack, there’s something I need to tell you.”
The farmpony began blushed and replied “Y-yes?”
The pegasus took a step forward and said “I love you madly and I want, no I need you to be mine. Now!”
Applejack looked at her surprised and asked “A-are y’all fer real?” stuttered the orange farm-pony.
Rainbow Dash grinned then hopped onto her, pinning her to the ground and locking lips forcefully.
Applejack broke the kiss. “Rainbow” she whispered.
Rainbow Dash kissed her again. “What” Applejack recognized Dash’s voice, but she was kissing her. She broke the kiss again to say “what in Tarnation?”
“Applejack you okay?” Dash asked, but her mouth wasn’t moving. “AJ wake up!” yelled Rainbow Dash, shaking her friend’s head. “You were day-dreaming”
“Wha? Oh…” Replied the farmpony, a little bit disappointed
“Were you dreaming of me?” asked the cyan mare, stepping closer to the orange cowpony.
Applejack blushed and asked in surprise “How did y’all know what Ah was dreamin’ ‘bout?”
“Maybe because you kept repeating my name and stuff…”
“Oh mah stars, Ah-Ah’m sorry, Ah… It’s ‘cause Ah didn’t sleep well last night, Ah was too excited n’ Ah couldn’t get a good rest.”
“R-really? You were excited to see me?”
“Yeah… Ah really missed y’all, Ah know they were jes two days, but fer some reason, Ah needed to see y’all” confessed the blonde mare.
“Yeah, me too. I don’t know why neither”
“Well, then we better use this time together wisely.” said Applejack, approaching her beloved.
“Yes… we should…” said Rainbow Dash as well, stepping closer.
Rainbow Dash felt the blood running through her veins, her mind was racing at a million miles per hour, her heart beats were getting faster, and faster, and faster…
Until her heart completely stopped as she felt a loud thud and a body tackling her, throwing her to the ground. When she felt the hard floor, her heart started pumping again. And her mind started to realise what happened as she heard.
“Hiiiiiii Girls! I was looking for you because Scootaloo told me you were here, well, actually I already knew.” Pinkie Pie took a deep breath and spilled “BecausethisafternoonIgotaPinkiePieSenseDoubleDoosybutIthoughtitwasadecoybutitwasn’twhichmeansIwasrightallalong,which reminds me of you Applejack” said the pink mare, pointing a hoof towards the emerald-eyed pony, who was still trying to understand what was happening “By the way, red suits you. Looking good there.”
“P-Pinkie Pie… would you get off me already…” groaned the pegasus on the ground.
“Oopsie Woopsie, sorry Dashie” said the party animal as she got off her friend, standing up in a rather comically and surprisingly speedy way. “I was happy to see you, it’s just that. So how’s your day going girls? What are you doing here? You two, together, alone, walking under this cutesy wootsy romantic scene?”
Applejack blushed and looked away “We were jes having a walk, nothing else”
Rainbow Dash added “Pinks, you know what they say about ‘two is company, threes a’-”
“A bigger and better company!” yelled the pink pony as she excitedly jumped up and threw her hooves in the air “But… since I’m here, it means we’re not 3, we are 3.14, and those 0.14 would be the chocolates Applejack ate today!”
“H-how did you know Ah’ve been eating chocolates?”
“Oh, please, I can clearly notice that, just look at your belly!” she said, poking at it with her hoof.
“Are you saying my girl is fat Pinkie?” answered Rainbow Dash in an angry tone, stepping towards the pink mare and positioning herself in front of the orange pony of her dreams.
“Your girl? And I thought Gilda was the possessive one…”
“D-do you think Ah’m fat?” stuttered Applejack, looking at her belly with wide eyes.
“Of course not! You’re hot. I mean, you’re perfect just like you are now” replied the Rainbow Dash, blushing.
“So Applejack, where did you get that pretty flower? I love it! It’s so… Rainbow-ie! Maybe… maybe it tastes great too, lemme give it a bite!” said Pinkie Pie, walking forward, eyes fixed at the flower, liking her lips.
“Whoa, whoa Pinks! I gave her that flower” lied Rainbow Dash, trying to cover Applejack’s secret “and I’m not going to let you ‘eat it’ just like that.”
“Really, you gave her that flower? Ooh, ooh, then tell me where you got it!”
Rainbow Dash froze in place, trying to figure out what she could say.
“S-she found it on one of’er random flights. S-she doesn’t really remember where, am Ah right Rainbow?” stuttered Applejack, with a nervous smile on her face.
“Oh… yeah, right! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it…”
“Wait! Where did I hear that line before…” pondered the pink pony. “Well it doesn’t matter, thing is we’re together now! Why don’t we do something fun?
Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash with a worried face; the rainbow-maned mare shrugged and made a sign with her hoof, trying to make her understand to follow her plan, to get rid of the pink intruder.
“You see Pinks… we… we are kinda tired right now. Besides, we came here to talk just the two of us, alone”
“Well now we are the three of us alone!”
“B-but we haven’t come here to play, in fact, look at AJ looking all se-pretty, do you think she’ll be running and jumping around?”
“Hmm, you have a point there Dashie.”
“We were thinking about having some dinner, something calm and quiet… more personal and intimate” said Rainbow Dash, looking at her orange friend.
“Ooh, ooh! Why don’t we go to Sugarcube Corner, there we can drink, and eat, and laugh, and eat some more, and have fun, and-”
“Actually Pinkie Pie, we already know where to go, Ah have a reservation at Octavia’s Note. Y’all know, the other restaurant that Horte Cuisine owns and that grey orchestra pony runs. The one where they play fancy music n’ stuff”
“Ooooh! I like that place too”
“But…”
“Hey AJ!” yelled Rainbow Dash, smiling and grabbing her shoulders “Isn’t the reservation just for two!?”
Applejack smiled and answered “Y’all are right! It is jes fer two ponies. Ah am mighty sorry Pinkie, but Ah guess y’all won’t be able to have dinner with us”
“Aww that’s a downer. Well, I’ll see what I can do, see you later girls!”
As soon as the pink mare was out of sight the cyan pegasus and the orange earth-pony exhaled a breath they didn’t knew they were holding.
“Well… with that taken care of… where were we?”
“We were talkin’ ‘bout using our time together wisely, so… what if we watch the sunset together? Ah heard it’s a pretty amazing view that Ah’d love to see by yer side.”
“Well… If you want to, and are willing to wait for me, I have a little something that will make it even more beautiful”
“Well of course Rainbow.”
“I’ll be back in ten seconds flat” said the smiling mare. Suddenly, she took off, leaving a rainbow trail behind her.
Applejack started carefully grooming her mane with her right hoof, then she lowered her hoof at her mouth’s height, she exhaled and smelled to confirm having a fresh breath.
“Good thing Ah have that spearmint behind the barn… it always comes in handy”
Seconds later she started humming a song, to abstain herself from thinking about Rainbow Dash or screwing up the date. The humming became singing and her hooves started tapping, following the beat. Soon enough she started dancing and singing.
“Jes a lil’ town mare under Luna’s night.
Lookin’ fer the fight of’er life.
In the real-time world nopony sees’er at all,
They all say she’s crazy.
Lockin’ Rhythms to the beat of’er heart,
Changin’ pony into life.
She’s has danced into the danger zone,
When the dancer becomes the dance.
It can cut y’all like a knife,
When the gift becomes the fire.
On the wire ‘tween what is n’ what will be!”
Rainbow Dash came back just in time to enjoy the amazing display of talent for the dance her beloved was showing. She was hypnotized by the swinging hips and the golden mane illuminated by the setting sun, enthralled by the moves of the orange cow-pony’s hooves and captivated by the celestial melody that escaped her sweet lips, the ones she longed to taste once again.
“Wow” She exclaimed unintentionally.
Applejack froze in place as soon as she heard the voice behind her, she turned around slowly, blushing to see RD watching at her, mouth agape, and a little pouch rested in the floor, under her hooves.
“Heh… S-so y’all saw me dancin’ and singin’…”
“Wow”
“W-what? Am Ah too ridiculous?” she said, raising her hoof to the top of her head, searching for her beloved Stetson to cover her face but finding nothing but air she decided that her hoof would do just fine.
“Just… Wow… I’m sorry AJ, but that was…”
Applejack’s face cringed
“AMAZING! Where did you learn to sing and dance like that! I never took you for a dancer, really”
“Oh, it’s not like Ah practice or sumthin’ Ah jes feel the beat n’ Ah can’t stop mahself, especially with this song, Ah love it!” she said smiling.
“Well you’re pretty good at it. Really!”
“W-well thank y’all, but now… what’s in the pouch?” she asked pointing at the bag that rested on the floor.
“Oh yeah, I gotta do this fast, sun is almost setting!” she picked up the pouch and raised it for Applejack to see. “This little thing right here, contains a powder I had Twilight make for me, just in case she is far away and I needed her help.”
“Her help fer what?”
“To cast a spell on some non-pegasus pony to make her or him able to walk on clouds, you know like the one you used on the Best Young Flyer Competition” explained Rainbow.
“N’ how does it work?”
“Well.” She cleared her throat and said “the procedure is really simple, you just need to apply a small quantity of this magically imbued powder on the hooves of the volunteer and the aforementioned will be able to sustain himself on the semi-ethereal surface of what you commonly call cloud formations.”
“What in Tarnation?”
“That was how our best friend Miss egghead explained it to me, but in normal pony talk means I put a pinch of this thingy in your hooves, and you can walk on clouds. However, it doesn’t make you lighter, so the problem now it how to get you up to that cloud. I don’t think I have the strength to get you up, Earth ponies have harder and heavier bones.”
“Oh, so yer idea was taking me to a cloud?” asked the orange cowpony
“You told me you wanted to see the sunset with me don’t you? Well there’s no better view than the one up in the clouds.”
Applejack blushed and smiled “Thank y’all Rainbow, y’all are so kind and considerate.” Applejack noticed the light pink color Rainbow Dash’s cheeks were getting and blushed even more. Seconds later she started looking at her surroundings and told her beloved “Now Rainbow, y’all are gonna work today, bring me that cloud and put it over there.” She said signalizing a empty space in the air.
She repeated the process various times with apparently no reason. Rainbow doubted why she was doing that, but she did it anyways. After moving some clouds she decided to ask “Hey AJ, I don’t mind doing this, but why do you want me to move clouds randomly?”
“Stop! It’s enough. Come ‘ere.” Rainbow Dash obliged and got closer. Applejack grabbed her neck and said “Y’all see, they weren’t randomly placed.”
Rainbow Dash looked in front of her and noticed she had created a cloud stair, up to a big flat cloud, perfect for resting and watching the sunset. “Wow Applejack, you’re one smart pony.”
“Thank y’all, thank y’all” she said, bowing at Rainbow Dash. Then she started hopping from cloud to cloud to finally get up to the top.
Rainbow was enthralled, mindlessly looking at Applejack’s flank going up and down with each hop. A moment later she even got a glimpse of under her dress. It’s not like she never saw her without the dress, in fact, the dress was what’s rare. But there was something there… something that made the whole situation more… enticing.
Rainbow Dash shook her head to dismiss those ideas and flew up to the cloud, she did an unnecessary but awesome flip before sitting just besides her beloved. The whole sky was turning orange and the two mares looked at the horizon, watching the sun sink lower and lower. Some clouds where scattered around, and some of them were inside the mares’ eyesight, between them and the sun, they looked like black spots, but the light that was going through the outlines gave them a rather incredible view, the rest of the clouds were around the bright orb, and were tinted with a very amazing orange color.
Applejack rested her head on her friend’s shoulder; Rainbow Dash blushed, but decided to rest her head over the cowpony’s head and sigh happily. She’s seen several sunsets from a cloud before. But this was different, a whole lot different, it was so… calming, relaxing and… warm. Yes, she felt warm; even though the temperature was dropping, she was feeling hotter and hotter. She admired the sun, clouds, the orange sky, and the mare by her side. The way her golden mane flowed down her back and the sweet scent of apples she smelled like.
“It must be all the time she spent on the farm, between the apple trees and the apple treats she and Granny Smith bake. It’s so… sweet, and… so Applejack, it’s driving me crazy. I should say something, this is getting awkward.”
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to talk but the silence was broken by another voice.
“Don’t y’all think the sky’s beautiful?” Asked Applejack, her head still gazing at the sunset, but her eyes kept closed.
“Heh… well yeah, it IS one of the reasons why I fly all day.” replied Rainbow Dash, inhaling deeply, taking in that sweet intoxicating apple perfume she carried. She was lost in apple heaven.
“Don’t you like the color it takes at sunset?”
“Oh, I love to see the sky painted orange.”
“Does it remind y’all of anypony?” Applejack ventured to say, trying to give her beloved a hint. “Its risky ‘cause it’s very obvious, Ah hope she doesn’t suspect anythin’ ”
“Yeah…”
Applejack’s heart raced.
“It kinda reminds me of Scoots…”
“What in the hay?” Thought Applejack as she opened her eyes, she thought about taking her head off her friend’s shoulder, but realized that would be rude and may blow her cover.
Rainbow Dash repeated the last part of the talk in her head and realized the mistake she just made. “ How in the name of the two princesses could you miss the chance to get points by making a compliment about the color you just said you loved, which it’s surprisingly the same as her coat’s, but no, you had to bring the pipsqueak! Why? Now go there and make it up, somehow!”
“A-and also reminds me of you, and your precious coat!” she suddenly got an idea while she was looking at the landscape that was sketched out before her. “T-the sun has the same beautiful golden color of your mane, and the clouds remind me of your cute freckles!” “SAFE!”
Applejack’s cheeks burned a crimson color and she looked down to avoid any possible glance from the cyan pegasus by her side. That’s when she noticed that.
It was impossible, she must have been seeing things, there was no way in Tartarus. The only pony in the whole wide world that couldn't have done that, was Rainbow Dash, but then again... there was it, in front of her.
She moved her head, pulling away from Rainbow Dash, confronted her with a confused face and said
“R-Rainbow… D-did y’all… did y’all went to the hooficurist!?”
The rainbow maned pony had clearly groomed her hooves, and knowing Rainbow Dash, she wouldn’t have done such a good work on hoof care, not her, not that. Neither she would have brushed her coat that neatly, or accentuated her eyelashes, or wear… was… was that perfume? “ Nah… not perfume, luckily she hadn’t got to that. Lookie there, so that’s why Ah thought she was lookin’ sumhow different, Ah hadn’t noticed exactly what, but now that Ah’m lookin’ at’er closely...”
“I… I-I can ex…plain?” The rose-eyed pony sheepishly replied.
“Ah’m listenin’...”
“I-I... had to go because... Uhm… I… spent the day with R...Rarity?”
“Even when y’all go with Rarity y’all never let anypony touch yer hooves.”
“Bu-but the thing is I... hit a wall? Yeah, trying to escape from Pinkie Pie, again. But the thing is, this time I thought it out a little better and put my hooves in front of me, so I hit the wall with them, instead of with my face and well... I broke these beauties, soooo... You underst-”
“Yer hooves look too good to be jes broken. N’ Ah was with Rarity yesterday. Don’t try n’ lie to me Rainbow Dash, y’all know Ah’m a living lie detector, Ah’m not the ‘Element of Honesty' fer nuthin’.” Applejack sternly replied.
“I-I-I… Ok I’m sorry.” She sighed. She inhaled deeply and explained “Yes, I went to the spa, alone. I wanted to look extra pretty for you today. I’m sorry for lying”
“Pretty?”
“I-I mean awesome! Yeah… that’s what I said.”
“Mhm… N’ did y’all spend the whole day at the spa?”
“Nah, I also helped the pipsqueak with some tricks and stuff, she was preparing for today. It was her big day and she wanted to impress Ap-” She stopped mid-sentence, putting a hoof at her mouth to stop saying more than what she already said.
“Don’t y’all tell me she…”
“I SAID NOTHING!”
“She does! Oh gosh this is great!”
“What!? Wait… Does AB…?” inquired the cyan pegasus.
“Eeyup”
“Ha ha! This is so great!”
“Okay now shush! ‘Nuff talkin’. Look at that sunset” Applejack said, taking her friend’s face between her hooves and turning them to look at the setting sun.
“Wow… That’s so awesome!”
The two ponies watched Celestia’s sun go down, disappearing behind the horizon, depriving the world of its wonderful invigorating light. The mares turned around to see the big white lunar orb rising.
It was a beautiful sight really, the power of the two princesses moving the celestial bodies, making life possible to the rest of the ponykind. But Rainbow Dash was enthralled by another sight, one that she judged more impressive, and beautiful.
The rainbow maned pegasus was watching the reflection on the eyes of the mare beside her, those green pools of… of… she didn’t know what it was, or how to describe it, but it was awesome and she didn’t want to waste a single second of looking at it. She want them to be hers, and hers alone. Nopony should be able to look at them, besides her.
“ I wanna fly her away to a place where we could be alone, just her and me. With nopony else that could step between, nopony else that could look at you, nopony else to touch you. Those eyes… I need them to be mine. They need to be mine. They should look just at me and only I should look at them. You need to be mine Applejack”
“Umm… Sugarcube… Do Ah have sumthin’ on mah face?”
“Oh I-I… no, no you look good, too good… Are you real?” She said grinning and poking her friend’s muzzle “Boop!”
Applejack giggled and exclaimed “Stop jokin’ around Rainbow. The sun is gone; the moon is up, what do y’all wanna do now?”
“What about eating something? I think I am starting to feel a little bit-” her stomach started to growl and grumble, something that made the orange mare giggle “Hungry…”
“Ah think Ah may have noticed that already.”
“Well… at least I made you laugh”
“Congratulations, y’all accomplished sumthin’ nearly as difficult as making Rarity escape from a lint of dust.”
“Or making Twilight freak out over the lost time.”
“Or make Fluttershy be scared from a dragon.”
“Or not to be chased by an un-exhaustible Pinkie Pie.”
“It’s not sumthin’ that happens every day.”
“Speak for yourself…”
“Whadda y’all mean?” Inquired the blonde pony
“You never saw me escape from her? She’s a good friend and everything, but sometimes is annoying to go someplace and there’s Pinkie Pie. You go somewhere else and there’s Pinkie Pie, every friggin where, there she is. It’s like a stalker or something.”
“Ah think y’all are exaggeratin’ Rainbow” Applejack answered giggling.
“Oh yeah? How do you explain that she always know where I am, even when I’m far away, so I can relax and be calm, on a cloud in the middle of nowhere. She appears out of nowhere with that friggin annoying high-pitched voice of hers!” Rainbow started getting a bit carried away, and her voice was dyed with a tone of anger “Dashie! Dashie!” she yelled, imitating her friend’s voice with a mocking tone “Lets go here, lets go there, lets do this, lets do that!”
“Sugarcube… y’all are getting a bit carried away here…”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I like her as a friend and everything, and I know she cares about me… But sometimes you just need space for a few days, or hours at least. I’m sorry; I shouldn’t be talking about her if I’m spending a day with you… So, shall we go to Octavia’s Note then?”
The orange mare nodded and started hopping down the cloud stair.
“DAMN GAL! Applebucking REALLY makes wonders to your curves!” thought the rose eyed pegasus, hypnotized once again by her beloved’s swinging rear.
The two ponies walked down the road towards Octavia’s Note, talking about their friends and sharing some laughs, when they spotted a pink blob waving at them.
“Oh Celestia no.”
“Y’all have to be buckin’ kiddin’ me.”
“Girls! I changed the reservation for three!”