The night passed by. Somehow, Rainbow Dash and Applejack got through it without talking about anything of substance. Their exchanges were stiff at first, as they were both painfully aware of how much they had talked about that night. After a while, they started to get more comfortable around each other, until they found themselves laughing about the entire dragon situation. It took some time, but by the end of the night, they both decided to sleep under the stars, falling asleep to the lanterns floating through the sky.
Applejack woke up first. The sun shining in her eyes was something she was very unaccustomed to. Whereas Rainbow Dash was used to napping during the day, Applejack used the sun as an alarm clock. The idea of sleeping during the day set off years of her conditioned mentality that she had to be up and ready to start the day. It was just as difficult when she stayed up with Rainbow the night she was drunk. She barely got any sleep. But now, with her sore muscle and tired mind, she looked at Rainbow's sleeping form, scooted close to her, and buried her face against the crook of her neck to block out the sun.
Rainbow Dash woke up momentarily, bleary eyed, and saw Applejack sleeping next to her. It took her a moment to realize it, but the implication of it all failed to pierce through her sleep-deprived mind. Instead, she just put a wing over her, and fell back asleep.
-=-=-=-=-
Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash awoke with a start when a Pegasus passed overhead, yelling back to his traveling buddies. They looked up at what woke them, looked around to get an idea of where they were, then looked at each other. They were so close together, their lips brushed against each other's.
Applejack jumped up, putting a hoof to her mouth, surprised, blushing. "R-Rainbow, Ah'm sorry," she said.
Rainbow was still trying to figure out what just happened. She widened her eyes, rubbed them a little, then yawned. "I...what? What time is it?"
Grateful Rainbow Dash didn't comment on what had happened, Applejack looked around. Ponies were already heading out. The night star was beginning to shine in the sky. "Oh, we gotta get movin'," Applejack said, looking around. They had not managed to find another saddle bag, so they packed up two small satchels with food and one canteen a nice old mare lent to them. Applejack placed the food next to Rainbow Dash. "Ah think we should eat now or somethin' to get our energy up. We got a lot of ground to cover tonight if we wanna be at the star lightin' area tomorrow at sundown."
"What?" Rainbow Dash said, jumping to her hooves, her back hooves flaring with pain. She ignored that and said, "I thought it was the next sun down!"
"No, tomorrow!" Applejack said. After a moment, she narrowed her eyes. "You mean to tell me you've been plannin' our course by addin' another DAY?"
"Well, how the hay was I supposed to know?" Rainbow Dash said, throwing a hoof in the air in exasperation. "You're supposed to be in charge of the schedule!"
"Ah WAS!" Applejack said. "But you pulled the map away from me yesterday, remember? Ah was listenin' to you!"
"Yeah, look how great that turned out!"
"Oh, for pete's sake!" Applejack said, turning around. "Ah'm gunna go ask somepony if they know how far we have to go. You wait here." She ran off, leaving Rainbow Dash to sit and think.
She opened one of the satchels they had packed for breakfast. Applejack took a liking to a chocolate orange spice cake, and Rainbow had encouraged her to pack as much as she wanted. She didn't realize the entirety of their breakfast would now consist of the confection. Rainbow shook her head. Applejack and her sweets...
The Pegasus wasn't too sure how she felt at that moment. It felt nice waking up next to Applejack - it felt so nice. But then she jumped up the way she did, and the moment was broken. She understood where Applejack was coming from - it was all new to her, too. But Rainbow Dash had the luxury of most of her family not caring about her. In this instance, it made for an attitude that she didn't care about what other ponies thought. Not that it didn't come with it's own torture - asking somepony to be with her who valued her family's approval was tricky, to say the least.
Rainbow Dash was overcome by the empty feeling again that had been plaguing her for weeks. Since the first moment she looked at Applejack in a new light. Sure she had always liked Applejack, had always loved her like a friend. And she tended to steer herself towards the mare in situations involving her friends. She just felt more comfortable around her. But there was a moment of Applejack jumping up with concern for Rainbow Dash, making sure she didn't put herself in a dangerous situation again, that made her feelings shift. It was something she could ignore at first, but it became more intense as time passed by.
It scared her at first, too. She tried to give them some space. But she couldn't stand being away from Applejack for so long. She was a constant presence in her life. And she tried to keep normal around her. But Applejack told her yesterday, "I just want to see you smile again." She didn't realize she noticed how she had been feeling. It made her feel happy that Applejack would notice something like that. It also made her feel worse that she couldn't do anything about it.
She felt empty and like she was bursting at the seams all at once, and she didn't know how much longer she could bear it.
She put her thoughts away as Applejack came trotting back, looking concerned. "You haven't eaten?"
"Not hungry," she said, pushing away the satchel.
"Not much hungry, either. Most of the ponies said it - we're really far. Unless we forget about sleepin' and walk the whole way there, ain't no chance we'll get there on time."
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Right," she said. "Well, we could fly."
Applejack looked at Rainbow, surprised. "Haven't you forgotten - Ah don't have wings!"
"Yeah, you do," Rainbow Dash said, getting up and fluffing her wings. "Shouldn't be too hard to carry you. You didn't gain ten pounds last night, did you? You DID eat alot." Applejack narrowed her eyes at Rainbow Dash, who smiled playfully at her.
Applejack decided to ignore that comment and instead said, "The only other option is runnin' there."
The amused look on Rainbow Dash's face fell away. She had been stupid last night, kicking the cliff side to get out her anger. Her back hooves had been aching, even while just laying down on the ground. Once she got up, it was like her hooves exploded with pain. She chanced taking a few steps forward. Her hooves didn't hurt so bad that she couldn't put weight on them, but they were certainly not going to be carrying her that night.
"What's wrong?" Applejack said, seeing the pain on her face.
"My..." Great, how was she supposed to explain this to Applejack? She sat down, looked at her hooves. They were cracked. Normally, that wouldn't have been a problem, but combined with traveling on hoof more than she was used to, and kicking the canyon repeatedly, the pain was pretty impressive. "My hooves hurt too much..." she finished lamely.
Applejack took Rainbow Dash's back legs up and inspected them, causing Rainbow to squirm at somepony touching her hooves. "When's the last time you had these hooves seen by a professional?"
"Uhhh..." She cringed as Applejack gently touched her hooves with her own.
"No wonder you fly so much. Ya need to take better care of your hooves!"
"EEeeee," Rainbow Dash squeaked, fighting the urge to pull her hooves away. It just made Applejack hold tighter for inspection. Rainbow Dash bit into her front leg, closing her eyes tight.
"Did this happen last night?" Applejack asked. "When you kicked the dragon? They got some hard heads..."
"Uh...yeah!" Rainbow Dash said, forcefully pulling her hooves away. She shuddered - that was not pleasant.
"Ah thought Ah saw you limpin' last night," Applejack said. "Do they really hurt?"
"They're very sore," Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her hooves. "I just don't see running tonight as an option."
"Well, maybe Ah could run and you could fly beside me," Applejack said.
"How would that be different from last night?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I mean, you're just going to get tired, I'm going to want to push on - I can't run next to you. Let's save ourselves the fight."
"This is s'posed to be run the whole way," Applejack said.
"Oh, the Princess isn't going to punish you if you fly. I'm sure there are some ponies who are just going to zap themselves over there like Twilight could. Besides, I'm sure you're as sore as hay right now. Why tire yourself out, too?"
Applejack squirmed. She really was sore. "What about your wings? They'll get tired!"
Rainbow Dash jerked back, insulted. "My wings are in top condition!"
"With me on your back?"
"...okay, so they'd get a little tired. But we can stop along the way! And we'd cover a LOT more ground being able to fly a straight line rather than running over obstacles. We might even get there early, and you can be all rested up for the ceremony!" She spread out her wings, gave them a little flap before putting them back on her back.
Applejack squirmed, thinking about the possibilities. "You won't let me fall?"
"Never."
Applejack took in a deep breath. "Okay," she said.
Both ponies were silent as they prepared to leave. Rainbow Dash was stretching her wings and warming up. Applejack was trying to think of anything she could bring with her that would help, but nothing came to mind. All she could do was bring the satchels and the canteen with her. Finally, Rainbow Dash flew in front of Applejack. "You ready?"
"Yup!" Applejack said. "So...do Ah just...climb on your back, or..." Rainbow didn't answer. Instead, she flew up into the air. After she had gained enough height, she launched herself down towards Applejack. She grabbed her with her hooves, causing the pony to yelp in surprise. Rainbow Dash tossed her up in the air, and Applejack landed on Rainbow's back, latching on for dear life. She could feel Rainbow's wings beating as she tried to catch height.
"Ponies...ponies...PONIES!" Applejack yelled, as they came up on a group of travelers.
Rainbow Dash beat her wings harder, but it was taking her longer to gain height than she predicted. She just barely cleared the height of the ponies, before catching some wind and rocketing up into the air.
They climbed higher and higher, and Applejack got more and more nervous. She looked down to see the landscape she was so used passing beneath her in rapid succession. "AJ!" Rainbow Dash called back. "Stop holding on so hard!"
"Ah don't wanna fall off!"
Rainbow Dash steadied her flight pattern, managing to keep her height without having to flap her wings too much. "We're both gunna fall if rupture my spleen or something!" It wasn't the thought of falling but realizing she could hurt Rainbow that made Applejack force herself to loosen her grip. "Better," Rainbow said. "But a little more would help!"
Applejack didn't know if she could loosen her front legs, but she could at least allow herself to loosen her back legs. With some effort, she let her back legs go, only loosely gripping onto Rainbow Dash with them.
"Much better!" Rainbow said. "I'm guessing you've never flown before..."
"Oh, hush, you," Applejack said, reassuring herself mentally that she was okay.
"Cause you might want to take the chance to look around," Rainbow said. "Unless you're afraid of heights."
Taking that as a challenge, Applejack frowned to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow gave a cheeky smile, then focused on flying. She took a deep breath, then looked down.
The landscape was absolutely breathtaking.
The meadows passing quickly below were lit by the moonlight, dappled with fireflies twinkling in the brand new night. The mountains to the sides of her rivaled each other in height - some were lower than the two ponies flying through the sky, some were higher. Above her, the endless sky was uninterrupted by clouds. If she stared up long enough, she felt like she could fall into the night sky.
Applejack grabbed on to Rainbow Dash suddenly when she had the sensation of falling. "Sorry," Rainbow said. She was dipping down a little lower for no apparent reason.
"You did that on purpose," Applejack said coyly.
"No, really," Rainbow Dash said, looking back at Applejack. "I know you can't feel it, but there are air currents. It's easier to glide if I follow them." She looked forward, then back to Applejack with a wink. "Watch. I won't even flap my wings."
Rainbow Dash angled her wings up, and the two started to flow up into the air effortlessly. They had only moved a little higher into the sky, but it felt like they had jumped up into the air and gravity failed to pull them back down. True to her word, Rainbow Dash didn't flap her wings once.
Applejack watched the mare's wing's with admiration. Every once in a while she would flap her wings, but it didn't seem all too necessary. The feathers held steady except for the tips, which would vibrate every so often as the passing air flicked past them. The wings worked in unison with slight variation, tilting from one side to another with muscles Applejack didn't know existed before. It was so precise. For once, Applejack was proud to have kissed such beautiful wings. She wanted to do it again. For a moment, she wondered if Pegasi were sensitive in the wings. She wanted to explore them, and find out for herself.
They flew like this for about an hour, past ponies underneath, and at times completely by-passing the trail. Applejack stared in admiration of everything around her - the wings that were carrying her, the ground below, the way Rainbow's mane flowed in the wind, the stars above her. For once in her life, she wished she had wings. Then she knew she could never appreciate what she was seeing if she did - she would take it for granted.
Rainbow's wings titled to the side, and the result was instantaneous - the two ponies were flying down and to the side. Applejack was about to ask what they were doing when she realized they were landing. She held on tight, but not too tight as Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and landed. The Pegasus drew in a quick breath, in pain. Applejack quickly climbed off of her back. "You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said, wincing as she looked at her back hooves. "I forgot about that."
"Why'd we land?"
"I'm getting hungry," Rainbow Dash admitted. "Wanna eat?"
The two feasted on what little food they had. Rainbow Dash gave the cake to Applejack - she really wasn't that into sweets. The mare ate the cake with gusto, to the point that she licked hooves. Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself. "You know, I have to carry you after this."
"Ah ain't gunna gain ten pounds from a little cake," Applejack said, glaring at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow smiled at her, popping a sandwich into her mouth. "That's how it starts," she said.
Applejack shoved the pony with her hoof. Rainbow Dash just laughed. "Don't be mean," said the earth pony.
"That's like telling an apple.....something something...falling off a tree or something. I don't know, it's your stupid phrase. Ow!" Applejack had smacked her again. "I'm just naturally mean. But you know that."
"You're not mean, Rainbow," Applejack said, shaking her head and smiling. "just a little annoyin' at times."
When finished, the two lay on their backs, taking time to enjoy the night sky. Applejack watched the sky. She looked sideways to Rainbow Dash, who had a hoof up to the stars, as though she wanted to touch them. Then she looked back to Applejack and put her hoof back down.
"What were you doin'?" Applejack said, smiling at the mare.
Rainbow Dash blushed, shaking her head. "Just...They're so far away, but I like to... Okay, this is stupid. But...sometimes I like to pretend like I can touch them." Applejack chuckled. "Oh, okay! Yeah, laugh. It's stupid, I know." She turned sideways, frowning.
"Nah, it's cute," Applejack said. Rainbow Dash looked back at Applejack. "Well, if Ah can wait for the stars to talk to me, then you can try and touch them."
Rainbow Dash rolled onto her back, watching Applejack. She looked at her, considering what she was about to say. "So...have you heard anything?" She pointed at the stars to signify what she meant.
"Oh, don't make fun, Rainbow."
"No, I mean it!"
Applejack looked at Rainbow for any hint of sarcasm. Then she answered, "Stars don't got no way of talkin', now do they?" She sighed, looking back up to the stars.
"That one does." Rainbow pointed at the bright star in the sky pointing them in the direction of the festival.
Applejack looked at the star for a moment, before shaking her head. "Cause the Princess makes it." She shook her head. This whole journey was starting to look like a fool's errand. She was tired, a little home sick, frustrated, confused, and couldn't seem to get along with her best friend. She felt like she opened up old wounds as well as gained new ones. She huffed in annoyance, before turning to the side.
"Hey," Rainbow Dash said, getting up and looking down at Applejack. "Are you okay?"
She looked up at Rainbow, then past her to the stars above. She felt torn between the two. But Rainbow was right. The stars were so far away.
Rainbow, however, was right in front of her.
Her eyes focused on Rainbow once again. "Ah'll be fine."
-=-=-=-=-=-
Once again, they were flying through the air. With a tail wind behind Dash propelling her forward, she flew with relative ease, being able to cut through the night in a little more than a few hours. But as she had explained to Applejack, flying during the day was easier because of thermals created from the heat of the earth. With Applejack on her back, her endurance was being tested. So it was no surprise that after flying a few hours into the night, Rainbow Dash was huffing and puffing. Just as they were passing over a lake, Applejack nudged Rainbow Dash in the back of her head with her nose. "You doin' okay there, Sugarcube?"
"Fine," she answered. Silent. "You didn't feel--"
"You shudder? Yeah." Rainbow Dash blushed as Applejack chuckled. "Sugarcube." Rainbow Dash dipped down quickly, making Applejack yelp.
"Not so funny anymore, is it?"
Applejack scowled at Rainbow Dash. She decided to ignore that question and move on to her concern. "You sound tired."
"Well, it's a lot more work carrying somepony than I thought it would be." Before she could finish her train of thought, a fish jumped out of the lake and nearly hit her in the face. "Whoa!" She flapped her wings hard and climbed into the sky. Below them, they could see fish jumping out of the water - large fish, small fish - all of them jumping high into the air and landing back in the lake, making the water churn with activity.
"Cool!" Rainbow Dash said. Then she felt her wings straining to try and lift them higher. "Okay. I think I need a break." She looked around. Then she smiled. "Okay, we have two options. One, we can fly for a little while longer on my tired, sore wings, and land on the lake shore, and hang out with the fish."
"Okay..."
"And two..." Rainbow Dash looked up. Applejack followed her line of sight. There was a big cushy cloud high in the air. She could see some lanterns floating in the air below it. "You'd...have to lay on me, of course."
Applejack flushed at the thought. She'd give anything to have that moment back. She regretted giving up the moment with the kiss so much... But what would she do once they were in that moment again?
"It's your choice, Applejack."
Applejack looked to the land. She thought of how Rainbow Dash landed with pain last time. She wouldn't have to do that on a cloud...And how many earth ponies get to rest on a cloud?
Blushing, Applejack nodded. "Okay, Rainbow. The cloud."
The Pegasus looked back to earth pony. Then she climbed into the air. Up, up, up she flew until she was huffing. Applejack held on tight around Rainbow's neck. Just when all she saw were stars, Applejack felt Rainbow Dash flip around. She gasped as she spun around and fell. Again, she landed on top of Rainbow Dash. Surrounded by a cool cloud, lanterns flying just below them, stars in the sky above them - everything seems so surreal. The only slice of reality she had with her was the blue pony with a rainbow mane that looked like the sky after a rain looking up at her with her magenta eyes.
Applejack locked her eyes on her. "...are ya comfortable?"
"Oh, yeah."
Applejack blushed, looked to the side. She jerked back when a lantern passed close to her. Then she looked up to the sky again.
Her heart was racing. She was finding it hard to catch her breath. Rainbow was so warm. Her wings were spread to the side, along the cloud, to keep her stable. In the light of the moonlight, she really looked incredible. She looked back to Rainbow's eyes. She had been watching her the entire time.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Checking out my wings, huh?"
Applejack looked away, turning bright red. "No! 'Course not. Why would Ah need to? Ah see them all the time..."
"Uh-huh..." Then she asked softly. "A...are you comfortable?"
"Ah don't know," Applejack said before she had a moment to think. She shook her head. "Ah...Ah just feel a little...weird. But...you're comfy."
Rainbow nodded. She looked sad. Applejack looked away. They were silent for a while. Applejack tried to keep calm, but her heart was still beating fast, she was still having trouble breathing. And Applejack was acutely aware of Rainbow Dash's hooves on her hips. "AJ?" Applejack looked down to Rainbow. "I...I'm." She swallowed hard. "I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable."
Applejack felt her stomach clench. "Ah...no, Rainbow, you're very comfortable right now."
"No," Rainbow Dash said, turning her head to the side. "I mean, in general." She sighed. "Wow, this was a really stupid idea."
"What was?"
"Bringing you up here! With me. I mean, I love having you to myself and everything. I really..." She looked at the careful placement of her hooves on Applejack's waist, before removing them. "I just wish you were here with me."
"Ah am, Rainbow. Why would you say that?"
"Yeah, you're HERE with me, but you're...somewhere else. You...I wish you could feel how I feel. Except, I don't, because...it feels horrible! I thought this could be fun or something, but no. Having you this close to me, and not having you is driving me insane!"
Applejack looked around. "Ah can't really give you space right now, Rainbow."
"I know! That's why I'm saying this was really stupid." Applejack could see tears beginning to form in Rainbow's eyes. "Oh, geez, not now," Rainbow said, covering her eyes. "Don't look at me when I'm like this."
"Rainbow..."
"Just, come on, please?" Applejack felt Rainbow take in a few ragged breaths. She could see the first tear fall down her cheek. "Ohmigosh, I can't believe I'm crying in front of you."
Applejack didn't know what to do. Should she comfort her? Hug her? Look away like asked? "I-it's alright, Sugarcube."
Rainbow Dash groaned, looking to the side, a trail of tears falling down the side of her face, disappearing into the cloud. "And don't CALL me that! Please? Not now. I feel so....stupid."
"Rainbow, why are you crying?" Applejack asked, stroking her cheek with her hoof.
"Why? Because I'm going insane! I can't help it! Applejack, I'm so sorry."
"For what?"
"I didn't mean for this to happen. I don't want to....to feel this way about you! You're my best friend!" Applejack went silent. "The way you must feel...I mean, you must have been disgusted with me when I kissed you. I wasn't just playing around or anything. I really...I couldn't believe you would kiss me like that, and I thought, for just one moment, that you felt the same way! But of course you don't. Your family is always going to be there. I can't ask you to risk what you have with them because of me. I mean, I don't know your family like you do, but it's not worth it to have them be like my parents were to me. Or worse, to hate you because of me. I don't know what could be worse. Maybe be...what, disgusted with you? Geez, I'm being so selfish.
"And I can feel it. Our friendship has been...it's been so stretched. Of course it can't survive this, and I'm so sorry! I never wanted to stop being friends with you. I tried....I tried to stop feeling this way, but I couldn't! I tried to stay away, I tried to act like normal, but I can't get away from you! I...I...I can't stop thinking about you. And I don't want to lose you! Please, AJ," she looked to Applejack, putting her hoof to her face. "I don't want to lose you. But I can't do this. I can't pretend like I don't...like I don't love you. I can't stand it anymore! It hurts too much to be near you without you loving me back. I'm - I'm so sorry!" The tears overtook her and she was crying, unable to stop.
"Don't cry," Applejack said softly, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "Ah never meant to make you cry, Rainbow. You don't got nothin' to apologize for. Ah should say Ah'm sorry. Ah've been so busy worryin' bout what mah parents woulda thought about me, Ah couldn't see just how much Ah was hurtin' you. Ah'm chasin' ghosts when you're right here. And really, Ah feel really stupid right now. To do this to mah best friend without thinkin' about it. Ah've been a terrible pony."
"You could never be," Rainbow said, sniffling.
"Ah never wanted to make you feel like you were losin' me. It's hard for me, is all. Guess...Ah guess it was mah way of keepin' mah parents alive somehow, thinkin' bout how they must have thought 'bout who Ah'm becomin'. Ah don't even know who they are anymore. But Ah have you, and Ah shoulda been more worried 'bout you, and Ah wasn't, and now look. Ah made you cry for no good reason." Applejack nudged the crying Pegasus with her muzzle, hugged her. "Ah knew Ah was fallin' in love with you, and it scared me to feel that way. But it doesn't anymore. Ah...Ah just..."
Rainbow took a few quick intakes of breath, wiping the tears from her eyes. "...w...what?"
Applejack leaned down and kissed Rainbow Dash along the trail of her tears, from her jaw to her cheek. She could hear Rainbow's uneven breathing in her ear. She pulled back, looked down at her, then leaned down to kiss her.
Rainbow pulled back. Her guard went up immediately. She wasn't expecting this. After years of not getting what she wanted out of her relationships with other ponies, she had expected things to end badly with Applejack. Considering how she reacted the last time they kissed, whatever Applejack was doing must have been a trick. "I..." she said. "I...don't want your pity, AJ."
Applejack gave her a look, before giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Ain't like that, Rainbow. Ah've been dyin' to kiss you for a while, now. Just...everything was so confusin'."
"L-look," Rainbow said, pushing Applejack back with a hoof, giving her a stern look. "I'm not going to be able to...stop feeling this way. I...I don't want you to experiment with me or anything."
Applejack frowned. "Didn't you hear me when Ah said Ah'm fallin' for ya?"
Rainbow looked into Applejack's eyes. She knew she wasn't lying. It made her happy and nervous and scared and excited all at the same time, but she didn't know what to do with herself. Then Applejack leaned in and kissed her again- a gentle peck on the lips.
"I..." Rainbow said, looking longingly at Applejack's lips. "I'm not just....talking about kissing or hugging or...or anything like that. I mean...I want to have..." Applejack leaned in slowly. "Have a...life with you." She kissed her again. Rainbow Dash was panting, still intaking air sharply from her crying. "...to have a future with you." She kissed her again, trying to part her lips with her tongue. When she pulled back, she didn't pull back far. "To...do naughty things to you."
Applejack chuckled lightly, kissed her again. And again. And finally, Rainbow Dash allowed herself to wrap her front legs around her, accepting and returning her kisses, opening her mouth to accept her tongue.
Her body felt so warm. Rainbow could taste the cinnamon and orange from the cake Applejack had been enjoyed earlier. Her mane smelled like apples. It was so much more intoxicating than drinking hot apple cider, tasted better than the chocolate covered grapes she had enjoyed just a few days ago. Everything melted away - her worries, her heartache, her misery. Any thoughts she had had on her trip were no longer existent. All that existed was the pony warming her in more ways than one.
The two touched tongues, kissed the other's top lip, bottom lip, both lips to both lips. Their hooves stroked slowly up and down each other's bodies, sending tingles in ways they had never felt before. All they knew was each other, exploring and ready to find out more.
Applejack's hoof stroked over Rainbow Dash's wings, and she gasped. Applejack took advantage of the Pegasus' outstretched wings, adjusting herself to lean down and kiss her left wing. Rainbow Dash moaned softly, holding on tighter to Applejack's soft body. The Pegasus stroked the other's sides while Applejack paid attention to the mare's wings.
"You like that, Sugarcube?"
"Ohh." Rainbow Dash felt like she was melting. She closed her eyes and arched her back when Applejack kissed her on her neck, stroking her wing with one hoof.
"Ah was wonderin' if that would feel nice," she said, smiling. Her voice was low and rich and absolutely delicious.
"You have no idea," she breathed, meeting the other's lips again for another deep kiss.
Applejack leaned to the side, and Rainbow Dash followed suit, with the intention to lay side by side with her, maybe switch places.
But instead, Applejack gasped and slid off of Rainbow's body. She held onto Rainbow's foreleg for a moment, before disappearing into the cloud.
"What?!" Rainbow said to no one in particular as she found herself suddenly alone. Rainbow was stunned for a moment, before she realized what happened. She jumped up, only managed to say, "Ah---guh---motherf--" before diving off the cloud after Applejack.