//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Embark 
// by FazzinaW 
//------------------------------//

Embark
Applejack stood panting, smiling at what she had just achieved. She had just set a new personal best for most apple trees bucked in an hour, 1025. As she walked slowly, nearly collapsing at every step, she looked like she had a problem with her legs. Rainbow Dash noticed this and, thinking that she was hurt, flew down from the cloud above Sweet Apple Orchards and rushed to her friend.
“Hey AJ, you ok?” She asked with a legitimate concern of worry in her face.
“Ah’m ok Sugarcube.” Applejack smiled and thought about how lucky she was to have friends that cared for her so much. But it hit her, Rainbow was watching her from the skies. Applejack had seen her before, but decided to fool around and mess with her mind.
“Sure was lucky that you was flying here at the right time, thinking ah was hurt and all.” Applejack said sarcastically with a wicked grin on her face
Rainbow blushed, it was obvious that she was watching her best friend buck apples for an hour.
“Yeah… I need to go, um, PRACTICE!! That’s it I need to practice today.” Rainbow was very nervous and flying in an unrecognizable pattern. Applejack just giggled and headed into the barn.
Big Macintosh, who was dating Fluttershy for 2 years, was pacing back and forth, with a worried look on his face.
“Hey brother, what’s wrong? Ya look nervous” Applejack wasn’t sure what was bothering him. Big Macintosh, being a stallion of few words, just summarized the millions of thoughts that were going through his head in four simple words. But they are the words that will make anypony loose their breath in an instant.
“Ah’m gonna ask her”
Applejack stood wide mouthed at her brother, who was looking more worried by the minute. She though to her self, ‘this is why he cut out early to go take a shower.’ Rarity, on occasion, would make engagement rings by demand.
Applejack tried to hold a straight poker-face, but a smile crept through.
“So, Big Macintosh, a pony of few words, will say the four most important words that anypony could every say or hear? Well, congrats. When are you going to ask her?”
“Ask who what?”
As if on cue, Applejack and Big Macintosh turned to find a confused looking Fluttershy only about 5 feet from the entrance to the barn. Big Macintosh gulped and backed away slowly, while Applejack had a look of relief on her face. With Fluttershy’s usual slow pace taken into account, she hadn’t heard Applejack say anything before “When are you going to ask her?”
Big Macintosh just gave that glare that Applejack had learned to mean ‘please leave now’.
“See ya’ll later, ah’m off to the market.”
Big Macintosh smiled, knowing that years of awkward conversations finally paid off with Applejack leaving just on cue.
“Fluttershy, I love you, and there’s something that I would like to know,” he bent over, looked Fluttershy right in the eyes and said it, “Will you marry me?”
Fluttershy gasped, worrying Big Macintosh, but that soon turned into a smile, Big Macintosh smiled too.
“Yes”
Big Mac, overjoyed realized he forgot the most important step.
“Ah horseapples, stay here.”
He ran out of the barn into the house in order to grab the custom ring that Rarity worked for hours on. He was back within 30 seconds. He put the ring on Fluttershy’s hoof and the two engaged in a romantic embrace.
Applejack smiled on her walk through Ponyville. Fluttershy had said to her that she loved Big Macintosh. Applejack had asked Fluttershy, if Big Macintosh proposed, would she say yes.
“Oh, of course” Fluttershy said.
Applejack smiled at the memory and continued on her walk. She had realized that she wasn’t old by any means, but wasn’t a filly anymore. She needed to find love. She had had a few stallion-friends back in Manehatten when she lived with her Aunt and Uncle Orange, but she didn’t enjoy stallions. She preferred mares. She hadn’t come out to anyone yet, and she knew that she had to sometime, but she had been putting it off because work on the farm was so busy, she didn’t have time to think about anything. She had crushes on Twilight, and Rainbow Dash, but she was pretty sure Twilight was straight (evidence she was walked in on with an old stallion-friend from Canterlot.) But she didn’t know about Rainbow Dash. She liked Rainbow out of her two crushes, but had no idea whether Rainbow was straight or not. She had never seen Rainbow hold hoofs, kiss, or even walk close with anypony else, stallion or mare! This frustrated Applejack to a point where she screamed in her head. 
“ARE YOU GAY OR NOT?!?!?!?!”.
She soon felt the feeling of 100 pairs of eyes, staring at her with total confusion. She came to a sudden realization; She had shouted out loud. She blushed and ran out of Ponyville Square, embarrassed and confused.
As she ran, she soon realized that she was being followed from the air. She stopped, skidding for five feet before turning to see Rainbow Dash following her, laughing her flank off.
“HAHA APPLEJACK, THAT WAS GREAT!! HAHA!” Rainbow Dash could hardly breathe, let alone fly. She fell four feet to the ground before turning on her back and cracking up toward the sky. Applejack shook her head and kept walking. Rainbow stood up, not laughing anymore, and followed her by foot.
“Hey, where are you going?” Rainbow asked with a smirk.
“Ah’m headed to the most important spot in the world, Dashie. Where I can be myself and have no one judge me.” Applejack soon decided, she would come out to Rainbow, to the one she loved.
“You mind if I join you?” exclaimed Dash.
Applejack smiled. She had hoped that Rainbow would say that.
‘Sigh’ “okay Rainbow, if you insist.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash giggled simultaneously, as if on cue.        	
Applejack and Rainbow walked, talking about life, work, dreams, and when they finally reached the place that Applejack was talking about, a cliff appeared that lead to 50 feet of glassy, untouched water on Ponyville Lake. The sunrise and reflection of the water made it a beautiful scene. They walked around a bend to find Fluttershy and Big Macintosh doing something very unpleasant on the hammock that she had worked for hours to put in as a filly.
“SWEET APPLE JESUS! WHAT ARE YA’LL DOIN’?!!!” Applejack shouted out of horror. Big Macintosh and Fluttershy looked over and screamed, falling out of the hammock and onto the cold, hard ground.
“Dang-it little sis, couldn’t you leave my fiancé and I alone for five minutes?” said a sore Big Macintosh as he lifted himself and Fluttershy up.
“So she said yes. Congrats. Now go do that in the barn or something. Ah put that hammock in as a filly. I had this spot first.” Applejack said in protest.
“Nah, just keep going. Pretend we aren’t here” Joked Rainbow Dash with a snicker. “Wait, fiancé? Congrats.”
Applejack gave the kind of look to Rainbow Dash that said ‘I am going to punch you’’
“We should probably go and announce our engagement to the others,” said a still blushing Fluttershy, “we shouldn’t keep them ignorant.”
Big Macintosh just nodded, grabbed Fluttershy’s hoof and the two lovers headed off.
“Well that was weird…” said a confused Rainbow Dash.
“Ya can say that again. Anyway, Rainbow, the reason I came out here tonight is to tell you something. I have a crush on some pony.”
Rainbow just nodded. This was normal for Applejack. She didn’t date to much, so everyone was waiting for her to start dating some pony. But Rainbow was the only one who knew that AJ was gay.
“So,” Rainbow Dash started to say, “Who is she?” Applejack stood shocked. How did Rainbow know that she was a filly-fooler?
“How did you-”
“You are acting like I did.” 
Applejack stood mouth agape. In her head she was relieved, but outside she was still in shock. She broke down under all of the pressure. As she let the tears run down her face, she turned away from Rainbow and just started sobbing. Rainbow came to a realization, and sighed.
“Applejack,” Applejack turned slightly in order to acknowledge Rainbow, who continued, “am I the pony you like?”
Applejack nodded and turned back around, still sobbing immensely. Rainbow smiled slightly and sat down next to Applejack. She put her wing around her and let Applejack rest her head in her chest.
“I like you too Applejack.” Rainbow Dash only whispered it, but she could feel Applejack smile.
After a couple of minutes, Applejack stopped crying and looked straight into the eyes of the one that she loved and kissed her. This one wasn’t quick. It was slow, almost like it never should have ended. But they stopped.
“Hey Applejack…” Rainbow Dash started to ask.
“Ya Dashie?” replied Applejack.
“Do you want to date?” Rainbow slowly asked, “You know, be my mare-friend?”
“Of course Sugarcube. Now, what about our friends?”
“Oh yeah, that can wait until tomorrow.”
Rainbow led her newly found mare-friend to the hammock. As they lay there on the hammock, their eyes began to get heavy and they started to slowly drift off to sleep.  Nothing sexual, just two love-struck ponies fast asleep in each other’s hoofs.