//------------------------------// // Ch23: Crashing My Heart // Story: Equestria: The Afterlife // by Timzocker201 //------------------------------// POV: Rainbow Dash The last weekend together with Markus had started and I was determined to make the best of it! So, of course, I made sure that I was at the station as soon as possible, to greet Markus when he arrives. It didn’t really come as a surprise to see Twilight there as well, but what did seem very strange, was that she was fidgeting around. Yes, Twilight, fidgeting around. I couldn’t believe it myself, when I saw it, but she was actually finding it more difficult to stay still than I did! The train arrived and I saw Markus leave the train from one of the rearward carts, so I quickly flew over to him. After a quick greeting, he looked over to Twilight and, as I followed his look, I saw that she had properly spaced out right there. I decided to have a little fun with her and snuck up, before suddenly speaking up. “Yo, whatcha thinking about?” She jerked around, completely startled from my sudden appearance and seemingly ready to yell at me. But then she saw Markus and her eyes locked upon him. At that point, a few suspicions started to rise up inside my head, because she was getting pretty red, but, noticing I was constantly accusing everypony of trying to steal him, I thought it off as her just being a lot more startled than I thought. After a few seconds had passed, she finally stammered a greeting, before spacing out again. Markus and I shared a very confused look, before deciding to just go on ahead. After a few steps were taken, however, we already heard Twilight catch up behind us and from there, all three of us went to the Library. At the Library, I was pretty surprised to see a bunch of crates lingering around in front of it, but Markus didn’t seem to wonder at all. On the contrary, he seemed to have eagerly been waiting for them, walking around and thoroughly checking each one of them. While he did that, Applejack approached from behind us, pulling a wagon. Twilight and I were both quite surprised to see her there, but Markus didn’t seem surprised at all, quickly greeting her, as he turned around. However, his greeting contained an accursed word. ‘Letter’. Immediately, my uncertainty came back in force, bringing all these accusations with it, causing me to, probably more whine than ask, why in Equestria he would send everypony letters, except me. But the answer he gave me to that certainly hit me like a wall. “Because I know, if I don’t write you, you’ll come visit instead.” Did he really mean that just now? Does he not write me, just so I have a reason to come visit him?? I mean, I did so that one time, so he would probably… But did he really aim for that??? Now it was my turn to fidget around, trying to hide my blush behind my hooves, while trying to avoid looking at him smirking at me. Twilight, meanwhile, was looking back and forth between us, visibly confused about what Markus was playing at. Applejack, on the other hoof, seemed to just ignore us, instead aligning her cart to be loaded. Twilight remarked that the crates would be too heavy for us to lift, but that didn’t seem to stop Markus, as, just when I finally got myself back together again, he was pointing a finger at the crates. What I saw then, actually had me speechless for a moment, as suddenly, a thin, black layer appeared under the crates, lifting them up and placing them on Applejack’s cart. I actually had to fight my jaw to not slack open from seeing this. Regardless, Markus and Applejack started to move and Twilight and I quickly followed suit, as Markus led us into… the Everfree forest. We moved along behind him, every one of us carefully watching the underbrush as if anything could jump at us at any time, everyone except Markus, who seemed pretty relaxed, as if he was just taking a little stroll through the Ponyville Market. I actually found it absolutely admirable, how he could navigate a place as dangerous as the Everfree without even showing the slightest bit of fear. I don’t know how long we were in there, but it was an hour at least, before we finally reached a gigantic clearing in the middle of the forest. Markus had Applejack move her cart further into the clearing, while Twilight and I stood a bit back. He then unloaded the crates, before using his magic to lift the contents out of them and neatly stack them on the ground. Then, he did something absolutely amazing again. He formed multiple clouds of magic in the air, which looked somewhat like the rainbow production line in the Weatherfactory, through which he then levitated the metal bars he took from one of the crates. Even though it truly was amazing, it didn’t really catch my eyes for long, because I don’t understand much about magic anyways. What did catch my eyes though, was Twilight in this situation. As one would have expected, she was absolutely enchanted by what Markus did there, but there was something more… I concentrated on her face, trying to read her expression, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t quite place it. I moved around her, eyeing her carefully. She looked far beyond enchanted, I noticed. She looked… excited, no, more like… flustered… Wait, is she… No, it can’t be, right?... It would make sense though, seeing as Markus lived with her for a while… Wait, are they maybe already..? Oh, no, no, no way Twilight would have… My mind started to burn with thoughts about ‘what if’s and ‘theoretically’s. I was thinking back and forth, trying to convince myself that everything was fine. I mean, it could be that she was like this because Markus was working magic here. After all, it is Twilight, we are talking about. In the end, I dug myself so deep into my thoughts, that I didn’t notice Markus finishing, only being ripped out of it by Applejack asking, what we would do next. Markus then had us each mark a certain area with sticks, which we would stick into the ground in regular intervals, while he made some kind of a platform made from branches and leaves he got out of the Everfree. After we had finished, Markus took some targets out of one of the crates, which he then gave to me and Applejack, asking us to pin them to the trees on one end of the clearing. I hesitated for a moment, not quite wanting to leave those two alone after I just had those thoughts, but I came to the conclusion that the sooner I would do this, the sooner I would be back to keep watch. Also, doing this could potentially put me in Markus’s favor, if it really came to a rivalry between me and Twilight… Sorry, Twi, but in this case, it will be every mare for herself… Applejack and I trotted off, but we didn’t talk most of the way. At least, I didn’t, as I was still thinking about Markus and Twilight. Could it really be that Twilight was interested in Markus as well? If so, how far did they go already? Did she already tell him? Did they already kiss? Did they maybe even…? I shook that last thought out of my head. Surely, if it were like this, they wouldn’t have kept it secret, wouldn’t they? Still, the thought wouldn’t quite leave my mind. I stopped about half way to the other end and took a look back at Markus and Twilight, just in time to see them talking. However, something clearly was off. I don’t know if Markus noticed, or if it was just because I am a Pegasus, but I could definitely see Twilight’s wings and tail twitching and it looked like she was even blushing a bit. She said something, which I couldn’t hear and to which Markus shrugged, saying something himself. In response, Twilight jumped around giddily, before speeding off into the Everfree. Wait, did she just…? I stood still, my head rattling about with thoughts as to what they could have talked about, the same conclusion pushing itself into the foreground time and time again, but it couldn’t be… right? Finally, after I don’t know how much time, a shove to my shoulder pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked to its source and saw Applejack, standing beside me with worry on her face. “Are ya alright, sugarcube?” I looked back and forth between Markus and Applejack, before giving a stammered reply. “I-I, a-ah, yes, I’m ok, it’s just, I mean, I was just wondering, what Markus and Twilight were talking about.” Applejack looked over to Markus and then smirked slightly at me. “Huh, are ya worried that Twilight could’ve been faster than ya?” She said. I immediately reeled back, stammering. “Wh-What? N-No, of course not, I mean, me and romance? Pah!” Applejack seemed not convinced, still looking at me with the same smirk. “Oh really? Are ya sure that ya ain’t feelin’ a little different for Markus?” Seeing no point in denying it further, I finally slumped down slightly and confessed. “A-Alright, yeah, maybe I am in l-love with Markus… How did you notice?” “Well, frankly it was pretty obvious, at least to me. Ah mean, normally you behave more like a colt than like a grown mare, but whenever Markus was around, you were actually more like Fluttershy.” I blushed slightly from this revelation. “Was it really that obvious?” I asked, now noticing myself, how similar I was to Fluttershy in that moment. Applejack nodded in response, pacing a little before me. “Ah can’t really blame you, though. Ah mean, he really IS a fine stallio— euh, man.” I nodded and smiled in agreement. “Yeah he sure i—wait a second, what do you mean by that? Applejack, are you perhaps also…?” I asked in uncertainty, giving Applejack a questioning glare. She, meanwhile, gave me a confused look, before changing it into a smirk. She looked down at her belly and started to rub it. “Well, ah mean he has already touched me in a very private place…” She then said. “Wai—Wha—How…? When…?” I stammered, trying to wrap my head around the implication Applejack just made. Not for long, however, as Applejack suddenly burst into laughter. “Ah, don’t worry sugarcube, ah’m just messin’ with ya.” She said, while still cooling off from her laughing fit. “Seriously though, why don’t ya finally confess to him?” She then said in a more serious tone. I looked down to my hooves, drawing circles into the ground, while contemplating an answer. “I… You know… I didn’t know what to tell him... I didn’t know if he would even accept me and… I was… afraid. What if he said no? What if we couldn’t be friends anymore afterwards?” Applejack tilted her head slightly and looked at me. “In all honesty, Rainbow, this all sounds like it would be resolved if ya just told him how ya feel.” “Yes, I mean NO! I mean…” I stammered, growing more agitated, before finally sighing and slumping down once again. “Ah, forget it, it doesn’t matter anymore. I just saw Twilight talk to Markus and I think, she just… She just…” I was on the brink of tears, barely holding them in, as my vision slowly began to blur. “Now listen here, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack commanded, as she picked my head up with her hooves, staring directly into my eyes. “It ain`t like ya to just give up like this! Besides, take a look at Markus and tell me, what he looks like.” She yanked my head around and pointed it directly at Markus. I blinked the tears away and looked closely at him. I saw that he was digging a hole, already standing knees-deep in the ground. Apart from that… “Well, he’s a bit dirty, but apart from that, he looks like he always does.” I said. “Exactly!” Applejack exclaimed. “Ah don’t know if ya’d noticed, but back in the hospital, when I walked in there and you two were squeezing him down, he was almost as red as one of mah apples! If he got like this just from a hug, what do ya think he would look like, if he got a confession?” I thought back to the hospital, trying to remember what his face looked like back then, only to notice that I didn’t see it. What I did remember, though, was that his heartbeat felt… heavy. Sure, it could have been because he was so much larger than we are, but in that situation, I definitely wanted to believe that it was because of us. Hope started to flare up within me again, causing me to smile wide. I turned to Applejack and jumped at her, pulling her into a hug. “Thanks Applejack!” I said. “No problem sugarcube.” She replied, as I let go again. I turned around, ready to get to work again. “Now let’s get these targets pinned up!” I said, flying off towards the edge of the clearing. “That`s the spirit!” Applejack commented, as she followed suit. After we were done with our work, we went back to Markus, who was now levitating the crates into the finished hole, before covering it with the platform he made earlier. He turned around to us and looked over the clearing, which had now been transformed into what looked like a pretty minimalistic training ground. He clapped into his hands in satisfaction, telling us that we were done. He then helped Applejack get into the harness for her cart, before we then made our way back home. On our way back, I thought about how I was gonna proceed from there on and I came to a conclusion. I had to tell him. I definitely would tell him, but how would I go about it? What would I say to him? I contemplated this for the rest of the journey, finding myself pretty surprised as we reached Sweet Apple Acres shortly after. Applejack said her farewells leaving for her house, but stopped just before she crossed the gate. She turned around and looked at me with a smirk. “And good luck to you, Rainbow.” She said with a wink, before turning back around and trotting off. Markus looked back and forth between us in confusion, before finally asking: “What was that all about?” “That, euh, that…I…” I started to stammer, desperately searching for something to say. “I, uhm… There’s this – this--- wonderbolt…competition! Yeah, a wonderbolt competition and I wanted to ask you if you could… help… me… train for it…” I trailed off, not sure why I was stalling again. Markus shrugged in response. “Yeah, sure, why not?” So, we ended up in the pink tree plains again, where I was pulling stunts in the air. Corkscrews, Immelmans, Flatspins, I did them all, but in the end, it was just a farce. I needed to buy time to think about, what I wanted to say, but I just couldn’t think about anything! Finally, I ran out of ideas for what stunts I could do, so I landed beside Markus. He smiled at me, approvingly, seemingly completely satisfied with what I had shown him. He started to list off a few things, which he liked and what he thought could be done better and stuff, but I didn’t really listen. No, I was still thinking about what I could say to him, completely draining him out. “Rainbow? Are you listening?” He finally asked, but I didn’t answer. I had made a decision. I wouldn’t think about what to say. I would just say something. “Markus?” I started. “Can I ask you something?”