Dear AJ,
I love you.
I wanted to start with that, because I'm scared, and I think maybe I've gone and done a stupid thing.
Yeah, I know that's nothing new. When you add up all the mistakes I've made, I know I owe you so many extra cuddles, like you're thinking 'what dumb thing did Dashie do today' and I'm thinking 'which dumb thing is she thinking about?' and that's kind of just how it is, because I come up with all these great ideas and by the time I get to making them happen they don't seem great any more and sometimes they're so not great that I end up spending more time thinking about how to apologise for my latest stupid thing than I ever did planning the stupid thing in the first place.
I've been a pretty bad marefriend, haven't I?
Hey. Marefriend. It's still funny to even write that word and know it's me I'm talking about. Marefriend. Marefriend marefriend. You can't tell but I'm smiling right now.
APPLEJACK IS MY MAREFRIEND
It's even better when I know it's you that gave me that word. Sure OK I guess it was Twilight who taught me it was OK for a pony to put her feelings down on paper. That it didn't make me an egghead, just because I like to read. Or maybe, that being an egghead wasn't so bad. And you were always so awesome that way, weren't you? You never laughed at Twilight for reading books, and you never laughed at me for writing letters. And I promised you, right? All those moons ago, I promised you, every time I'm away from your side, I'm gonna write to you, and tell you how much I miss you.
And these past couple weeks I've broken that promise, huh? I mean I always miss you. I'm missing you right now, and I feel so so bad for not writing every day and telling you.
Whenever something happens in my life, which is like all the time because my life is pretty much stuff happening that nopony could have prepared for, there's only one pony I want to talk to. I want to tell you about everything that ever happens to me, sometimes because I just want to share my day with you and sometimes because I need advice and I know the wisest and sensible-est pony in Equestria will know what to do.
You make me feel like I was smart enough to figure the problem out all by myself. Whether I really did or whether it was just you guiding me. Either way I like that feeling, AJ, I like it a whole lot. When I'm in your hooves I feel safe and all my worries seem so stupid because you always know the exact thing I need to hear to get myself back up and in the air again.
But not always. See sometimes stuff happens and the one pony I want to talk to about it more than anypony else in the whole wide world, I can't talk about it, because she's what I want to talk about.
(I mean you. Yeah I hope that was obvious but you know like I said I can be dumb sometimes.)
So I've gone and done maybe the stupidest thing ever, and just like every time, now I'm thinking about how I can make it right. I hope you forgive me. I know you're gonna be SO MAD but I want to talk to you and explain everything, about why I've been acting so weird ever since we were supposed to be on our vacation together, about what I've been doing, about why -
About why I let you down and -
Oh man this is hard to write, I'm sorry -
About why I'm not there and saying let's go see the diplodocus together and meet at our special tree and go back to our special cottage and our special bed and pretend like I didn't do any of this -
Celestia damn it now the paper's wet I'm SO sorry -
Can I just say that? Can I just write I'M SORRY like a hundred times and have it mean a hundred times as much as me just saying that?
I have so much to tell you and I need you to hear it and it's really important to me.
Tomorrow, around - no, at. AT noon. My old place in Cloudsdale. I'm gonna send you a pegasus chariot to bring you to me. Then maybe afterwards -
I mean once you've heard my story and once you know just how stupid I've been this time -
- maybe we can decide what to do next.
Yours always, although I know it doesn't seem like it right now - but I promise I still am - I promise, AJ, please, believe me? oh Celestia I messed the ending up, that's so me, right? Let me try again.
Yours always.
Always. Like, as in, forever. For as long as you can put up with me and are willing to have me.
Rainbow Dash,
The Proudest Marefriend In All Of Equestria
"Well, that's it," said Rainbow Dash, staring into space as the last pink-and-blue embers of the magical flame died out in mid-air. "I sent it."
"Yes, you did," said Rarity, her horn cooling from the exertion, as she reached out a hoof to gently pet Rainbow's mane. "It's done now."
"I hope... I mean, I think I am, but I really hope... Rarity, am I doing the right thing?"
"What's done is done," said Rarity, her neutral, non-committal tone making Rainbow Dash scrunch up her face in frustration. "But you've done the right thing in telling Applejack. Of that, I'm quite certain. This whole charade could not have gone on a single day longer, and the number of ponies you've told... She would have been hurt. And I have no wish to ever see her get hurt."
Rainbow groaned and facehoofed, and Rarity, not knowing what else to do, continued to stroke her thinning mane and make little shush noises as if Rainbow Dash was a sleepy cat.
"I need you to tell me it's gonna be OK," said Rainbow, morosely. "AJ would always do that. But I can't ask AJ. Obviously. And I need somepony to just tell me... things are going to be alright. That I didn't just go and do the dumbest thing anypony ever did, in the history of dumb ponies doing dumb things."
"Well, ah... there there?", said Rarity, and Rainbow gave her A Look.
"...Really?"
"Oh, come along now, Rainbow, darling, don't give me your frowny eyes. If you wanted somepony to just sit here and tell you this is all going to work out wonderfully without a hitch... that's not me, and you know it. But I can say that following your heart doesn't make you a bad pony."
"I didn't say bad, I said dumb," said Rainbow.
"Yes, well, it's all a rich tapestry, isn't it?", said Rarity, pretending to examine her hooficure.
"Rarity... what if she gets mad, and you and me... Can we still see each other? Like, if everypony finds out and they all decide they hate us, can we still get together sometimes? Maybe away from Ponyville or something?"
"...Well, I'm sure it won't come to that, darling," said Rarity, as calmly and convincingly as she could muster, not daring to meet Rainbow's eyes.
"You know, Rare," said Rainbow, with a half-smile, "for all the amazing costumes and masks you make, and for all the sneaking around spying and getting information you do... when it comes to me and romantic stuff, you're almost as bad at lying as AJ."
"Never mind all of that now," said Rarity, standing up and dusting off her cloak before sweeping it around her shoulders. "We have an awful lot to do, and we've wasted enough time already as it is."