//------------------------------//
// Precious Magic 
// Story: Hold Me, AJ 
// by Stratocaster 
//------------------------------//

Hold Me, AJ
By Stratocaster


Chapter 1: Precious Magic


It couldn't have been a more perfect night. Twilight Sparkle had just returned from a month long journey to the Crystal Empire alongside Princess Celestia. Now that she was back in Ponyville, the welcome was indeed warm. Applejack was the first to snatch her up with a welcome back greeting and treated the hardworking scholar to a full day of fun. Starting with a hearty dinner, the two mares afterwards enjoyed an exciting rodeo from some of the visiting Apple family, then grooved in the town square to some music by Octavia...along with Vinyl Scratch. As nighttime fell, they soon helped themselves to some of Granny Smith's homemade apple cinnamon crumbles with little Applebloom and Big Macintosh. From there, all that was left was just lying out on a grassy hill by the orchards, gazing up at Luna's starry sky. Twilight and Applejack lay next to each other doing just that.

"So then Ah said," said Applejack, picking up from where she left off. "'Big Mac, just because you can eat worms doesn't mean you should leave 'em in the apples'."

Twilight giggled. "That's hysterical. I can't believe he actually did that."

"Yeah, big brothers can be such a pain sometimes."

"Tell me about it. The whole time I was in the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor kept me up at night with his music. I don't know how Cadence can put up with him."

"Heh heh, me neither." Applejack paused. "You know, Ah really missed you while you were away, Twi."

"Oh, you don't have to tell me twice." Twilight humbled.

"No Ah mean it. It's just not the same without ya here in town. Fluttershy was even worried that another ursa minor would show up without you around. You really know how to keep everything sane around here with your magic 'n all."

"Well, I'm not exactly a police pony, but I do what I can to help my friends. I'm sure you would do the same whether I was here or not."

Applejack smiled. "Thank ya, Twi." She then wrapped her hooves around herself and shivered. "Brrr, it's startin' to get mighty cold out."

"Oh, hang on." Twilight said. "I just learned the perfect spell for that while I was away. Give me a second."

Taking a deep breath, Twilight closed her eyes and charged the magic within her horn. Slowly, the familiar purple aura rose from her horn and swelled into size above them. After several seconds, the aura changed form into a transparent rectangle hovering over the two mares, and began to glow red around the edges. Immediately, Applejack felt a sudden wave of heat from the aura above her.

"Lansanks," she gasped with amazement. "I feel warmer already."

Twilight opened her eyes as her magic receded. "It's a space heater spell. I learned it from Princess Celestia while we were in the north."

"Gee Twilight, that was right kind of ya. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Like I said, I do what I can for my friends."

"Yeah...friends." Applejack looked back up at the stars in pondering.

Thoughts began to race through her head faster than a swarm of fruit bats. She had been wanting to tell Twilight the truth for some time, and now seemed like the perfect moment to do it. Her thoughts yelled within her mind. How could she risk it all so suddenly? Then again, how could she not? She hadn't seen Twilight for a month, it was a beautiful night, the spell was keeping them warm, they were lying right next to each other alone. So why wasn't she ready? Could she possibly wait a bit longer to come clean?

"Hey look," said Twilight getting the distracted Applejack's attention. "I can recognize some of the constellations." She pointed a hoof to the dark sky. "There's Gildorf the Griffon. And that's Serpentina the Sea Snake. And there's even Star Swirl the Bearded."

Applejack stared at her unicorn friend on her right, not paying attention to what she was rambling about. There was something strangely soothing about her voice in the way she talked in run-on sentences. It always amazed Applejack how she was so knowledgeable as to go on for hours with her many fascinations. On top of that, she looked quite beautiful in the nighttime glow. The moonlight seemed to shimmer on her rich lavender coat, and her dark mane with the one pink stripe flowed carelessly across the grass like one of Rarity's prized fabrics. Applejack could not turn her gaze to anything else.

"And look," continued Twilight. "That's Minerva. She's the alicorn goddess of wisdom. They say that she could make any pony fall in love with her with her intellect alone. Isn't that interesting?"

Applejack began to sweat; her friend was not making it easy for her. She did not answer Twilight but instead continued to stare at her intently with an uneasiness in her shaking hooves.

Noticing her tension, Twilight turned her head to the farm pony. "Um, are you okay, Applej-"

She could not take it anymore. Immediately, Applejack threw caution to the wind and lunged over on top of Twilight, grasping her tightly. With eyes shut, she then pressed her lips hard against hers and held for as long as she could, softly moaning with desperation.

Twilight's eyes bulged and she spoke muffled orders before finally pulling her friend's head away. "Applejack, what are you doing?!"

The farm pony looked at her with wanting green eyes and reddened cheeks. "Oh Twilight, Ah'm so sorry! Ah just can't hold it in for any longer! The truth is Ah...Ah...Ah love you, Twilight!"

"You...you what?!" gasped Twilight.

"It's true." Applejack eased off the pinned down unicorn a bit. "Ah love everythin' about you, and Ah always have. The way you tell all this amazin' stuff just from readin' n' studyin'. Yer just about the smartest pony Ah know. And everything you can do with your magic is just mighty fascinatin'; especially when you showed up Trixie...twice! And everytime you saved Ponyville and Equestria from certain doom, Ah always admired how brave you were, even back to when you defeated Nightmare Moon. It's just that you amaze me in so many different ways, Twilight."

Twilight sat up trying to take all this information in. "But...if you've felt this way about me for so long, why didn't you ever tell me before?"

"Ah was too nervous." She bowed her head in embarrassment. "From the moment Ah met you when you first moved to Ponyville, Ah knew right from off bat that you would make a great friend. I felt some kind of strange connection when meetin' you, like...like you were part of mah family in a way. Ah was glad that we became pals, but over the years, Ah just became more and more attracted to you. And it's only until now that Ah finally gotten the nerve to confess. Yer everythin' Ah want to be with, Twilight. Ah'm just that much in love with you."

Twilight scanned her eyes across the ground in thought. After too long of a pause for Applejack, she finally sighed and put a hoof on the orange mare's shoulder. "AJ, I think it's great that you told me." She said with a serious look. "And I'm flattered by your affection. But...I'm not sure if I feel the same way about you."

"What are you sayin'?" asked Applejack with a sudden pain in her stomach.

"I'm saying that we shouldn't be together in a romantic way. Look, I love you, Applejack, but what we have between us is no different than what we both have with Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, or Fluttershy. I don't have anything against being in love with another mare. But if we end up in that kind of relationship, we would lose what we already have that's special. It's best that we just stay friends."

"But...but Twilight, Ah...Ah just..."

Twilight stood up and faced toward the gate in the fence nearby. "I'm sorry, AJ." She looked back avoiding eye contact. "I appreciate you spending time with me today. Have a good night." She walked off without another word and dissapeared down the dirt road.

Applejack could only stare on as the beautiful genius who she knew and loved exited her farm. There was nothing more she could do now that she was alone. With the pain in her gut now feeling like an empty void, Applejack turned and walked back to the farmhouse. She covered her face with her hat in shame, to hide her tear swollen eyes.

...

A gathering of dark clouds began to swell, as Luna's full moon was being slowly shrouded. Twilight walked along the lonely dirt road leading from Sweet Apple Acres to the rest of town. After her last awkward conversation with Applejack, she had been pondering to herself with uncertainty.

"I can't believe Applejack has been in love with me this whole time." She spoke to herself. "I sure hope I didn't let her down too badly. Hmm, maybe I should go back." She stopped in the road momentarily. "No. No, she's a tough pony; she's gotten over worse. Oh, I just hope she doesn't resent me enough to not speak to me tomorrow." Twilight sighed and continued to mosey on. But as she continued down the road, a raspy voice suddenly called from behind.

"Well well, look what we have here."

Twilight stopped and spun around. She gasped with shock as she found the source of the shady voice. Sitting on their haunches in the middle of the road were two ratty looking canines smiling at her deviously. But as she knew, they weren't just any canines; it was two of the Diamond Dogs, the very same ones who kidnapped Rarity.

"Ya know, you should be more careful," said Fido, the bulky one. "It's dangerous for pretty little mares like you to be walkin' alone at night."

Twilight stared the two dogs down with suspiscion. "What are you muts doing here? I don't want any trouble."

"Whoa whoa, take it easy, lady," replied Spot, the smaller one. "We were just in the neighborhood looking for a nice little pony to help us. You see, we're still trying to dig for" he snorted with a nazily laugh. "gemstones!"

"But we weren't gonna borrow that chatterbox friend of yours again." Fido added. "So we were just wondering if, you know, you could use some of that good old unicorn magic to help us out."

"Give me a break." Twilight snapped. "You really think I would help you dogs after abducting Rarity like that?"

"Ah c'mon," persuaded Spot. "You can trust us now. We don't bite...ponies."

"No...way," said Twilight as she turned back forward to leave. "You can find you own darn gems."

But as she began to take her leave again, her hooves were suddenly swept up by a mysterious force and she fell on her back. Immediately, Twilight found herself tied up by her hooves in a rope, as she snapper head around in confusion. Then, she spotted a figure leap down from a nearby tree branch. It was the long and lanky third member of the Diamond Dogs, Rover, who stared at her with beady eyes and a wicked smile. He trudged over to her holding the rest of the constricting rope.

"We thought ya might say that." He spoke menacingly. "So we're just gonna take you home ourselves. We need that precious magic of yours."

Twilight glared. "You want my magic? Fine! I'll give you my magic." Quickly, she began to charge her horn and prepared to make a lethal blow. But before she could cast the spell, a muddy paw stuck a bottle cork on the tip of her horn and the magic ceased completely. "What the?!" Twilight gawked.

"Save it for the gems, sweetheart." Fido said. "Yer comin' with us."

With that, the three muts dragged their captive off, pulling her by the rope. Twilight panicked; not only was she immoble, but she was now powerless without her magic. She could only cry out as she was dragged along the dirt road.

"Help! Please, somepony help me! Ah! Help!"

...

What was once a beautiful clear night just an hour ago had now become thick with clouds as Luna's moon became shrouded. Pestering rain tapped on the roof of the Apple family farmhouse while thunder rumbled in the dark and cloudy sky. A single light, from a small sidetable lamp, glowed upstairs from Applejack's bedroom, where she lay curled up in her bed clutching a pillow. The heartbroken farmer stared up at the ceiling with moistened eyes after sobbing quietly, trying not to disturb her siblings or let them know that she was crying. With a sniffle, Applejack muttered to herself.

"Smooth move, Applejack. Now she'll probably never speak to you again. Why did Ah have to open mah big mouth?" she dug her face back in her pillow. "Ah'm such a foal."

Suddenly, an elderly voice was heard outside her closed door. "Applejack?" called Granny Smith. "Are ya in there? Is everythin' alright, dear?"

Applejack sniffed and cleared her throat, trying her best to hide any sign that everything in fact wasn't alright. "Uh, yeah Granny Smith. Ah'm just a little sleepy is all."

"Well, don't fall asleep yet." Granny Smith replied. "Ah need ya to put on yer coat, go outside n' get rid of that screamin' cat in the yard. Ah can hardly sleep with that racket." Her voice trailed off as she walked off down the hall.

At that point, Applejack shifted focus with a puzzled look. "Screamin' cat?" She got up from her bed and approached the rain drenched window. She squinted to see through the cluster of falling drops outside. There was no sign of any cat or other troubled animal on the grassy yard; but there was difinitely a faint screaming sound. Just then, Applejack's eyes caught movement on the dirt road over yonder. After squinting even more, she gasped. Speeding along the road were the infamous Diamond Dogs, with one of them hauling something on his shoulder. To Applejack's horror, it was Twilight hogtied in rope.
She looked in disbelief at her beloved friend being dragged off by the mangy muts. It was then that her sadness became replaced with a mix of anger and determination. Applejack spoke softly.

"Ah'm comin', sugarcube." She said before running downstairs without her raincoat.

...

As the rain poured rapidly, the Diamond Dogs waited outside Ponyville by the foot bridge over the river, with their captive still in paw. Fido and Rover looked at Spot grudgingly.

"Remind me again why you thought it was a good idea to go into Ponyville just to use the bathroom?" asked Rover skeptically.

"C'mon, we were closer." Spot argued. "I wasn't gonna make it to the bathroom back home."

"What do you care?" glared Fido. "We're dogs! Everywhere is the bathroom, you idiot!"

"Ugh, will you disgusting muts let please let me go?!" yelled Twilight. "You smell awful!"

"It's the rain!" replied Rover. "And you're just gonna have to keep screaming for help, missy. Because nopony is gonna hear ya!"

"Hey fleabags!"

Just then, the canines turned around to the sound of a new harsh voice. Standing a distance away from the bridge was an orange female earth pony with a stetson hat covering her blonde mane. She stared them down with menacing green eyes ignoring the rain dripping over her scowling face. Stepping forward a bit, she continued to threaten the dogs.

"If you so much as lay one dirty paw on her pretty little head," snarled Applejack. "Ah'll applebuck ya'll into next year!"

"Ha!" Spot cackled as he approached and got close to her face. "I'd like to see ya try, cowpoke!"

Without hesitation, Applejack turned around, reaer up on her horelegs and kicked both her back ones straight into the scrawny mut. With a comical scream, Spot was launched into the distance, having just been applebucked into next year.

"Applejack, help!" cried Twilight, still tied up.

"Hold on, Twi!" replied Applejack as she prepared to run up the bridge. But a shadow swept over her and she was suddenly forced to the ground, plopping onto her stomach. A heavyset dog sat upon her back.

"You're not gonna stop us this time, little pony." Fido seethed.

"Oh not this crap again." Applejack strained as she slowly stood back up with the load on her back. Furiously, she began bucking wildly left and right, trying to shake off the fat dog. Fido struggled to keep on her back as he started to bounce and slip off. Having enough, Applejack finally paused and reared back on her hind legs. In one fell swoop, she lunged forward fipped, somersaulting onto her back and crushing Fido underneath. The bulkey dog moaned in pain, but the rough and tumble mare was not done yet.
Applejack turned over and pinned Fido on his back. In a fit of rage, she began landing punches across both his cheeks and continued until ultimately knocking him out cold. She stopped and panted after the beating; but then the voice of her damsel in distress called over.

"Ah! Applejack!" screamed Twilight.

Applejack turned back toward the bridge and looked over in shock.

With a demonic smile, Rover was now holding his paw out over the bridge. "Looking for something?" he taunted as he dangled the helpless unicorn over the water.

"Twilight! No!" gasped Applejack and charged toward her friend in need. But before she could get close enough, Rover let his grip slide and Twilight plummeted into the river.

Applejack screeched to a halt. "You monster!" she yelled.

"Ya think we still need her?" replied Rover. "We'll just find some other unicorn to help us. They're all the same."

"Not the one Ah love!" WIth that, Applejack removed her hat and threw it into the air.

Rover gazed up puzzled at the flying headwear, leaving him too distracted to notice the orange hoof hurdling toward him from the side. It slammed across his face with the force of a speeding pegasus, knocking out a few teeth and leaving his nose bloodied and his eye blackened. Rover rolled over into unconciousness.

Without reflecting over the knockout, Applejack put her hooves on the edge of the bridge and peered down. There was no sign of Twilight floating in the water; it had to have been deep enough for her to sink to the bottom. Applejack quickly got up on the edge and leaped into the cold river. The current, luckily, was not strong enough to carry her off, so she dove beneath the surface holding plenty of oxygen in her lungs. After surveying the murky bottom, she swam downward in search of her sunken friend. It wasn't long before the bottom appeared into view, and lying on it was Twilight still in her binds; her eyes were shut and her body was motionless.
Applejack perked up and quickly moved down to scoop Twilight into her hooves. She then kicked her legs rapidly to swim back up with the librarian in her grasp. At last, she broke the surface gasping for air and paddled over under the bridge, where she laid Twilight on the muddy riverbank. Applejack was now soaking wet and panting tiredly; but she knew her friend was more important and removed the rope and cork as she spoke.

"Twilight! Twilight, it's me, wake up!" she urged as she patted her face with no response. "C'mon, Twi, wake up!"

It became apparent that Twilight had long run out of breath, so Applejack changed methods. She gently pulled the unicorn's lips open and breathed life into her mouth, beginning CPR. It felt ironic to her that she was now getting the chance to lock lips with her again. After the first breath, Applejack then pushed down on Twilight's chest three times, in short quick bursts. Still seeing no reaction, she breathed into her mouth again and repeated the process, with fruitless results.

"Darn it all, don't you die on me! C'mon! Please!" she panicked as tears welled up in her eyes.

Over and over, Applejack continued to perform CPR on her lifeless friend. But it soon looked as though Twilight was completely gone. After breathing more and more into her mouth, Applejack eventually found herself pressing her face against Twilight's and crying again.

"Twilight..." she sobbed with her voice cracking. "Ah'm so sorry. Ah never should have ruined what we had; Ah never should have made you leave...It's mah fault...Ah'm sorry..." she finally broke down and rested her head on Twilight's chest. "Oh...Twilight, please...don't go..."

...

"...Applejack?"

Applejack's eyes opened wide at the sound of the voice. Immediately, she snapped her head up and locked sight with two glimmering violet eyes. Sitting up, Applejack rejoiced at the sight of her friend's waking face.

"Twilight!" she quickly wrapped her hooves around her for a brief moment before continuing. "Ah'm sorry Ah ever left this happen to you. Ah don't care if we're friends or lovers. If you're ever in trouble, you know Ah will always be there."

"I know, Applejack." Twilight smiled and spoke softly. "You saved my life, and that's all that matters. Thank you." She then reached up and hugged Applejack, digging her face in her savior's shoulder.

Applejack returned her warm embrace, but soon felt a faint trembling in her. "Twilight, are you okay?" she asked, feeling her back heaving.

Twilight pulled away now looking at her with tearful eyes. "Oh Applejack, I was so scared. Those dogs didn't care if I lived or died; they just dropped me in the water like that. I really thought I was going to drown before you came for me. If it wasn't for you, I...I..." her lip quivered as she lost her composure.

Applejack pulled Twilight back into a hug, letting her cry into her shoulder. "It's alright, sugarcube. Ah'm here, you're safe now."

After a minute of silence, Twilight simmered down and raised her head back up to face her friend closely. "Applejack...I love you too."

Applejack gawked. "You...you mean it?"

"Of course. I don't see any reason why I wouldn't. You're strong, loyal, and hardworking, and the way you took down those dogs reminded me how brave you are. But most importantly, you're the pony I trust more than any other. I mean, you're the Element of Honesty; how can I argue with that? When you told me to let go when I was hanging on that ledge on our way to stop Nightmare Moon, that was the first moment I ever put that much trust into anypony. You saved my life then, and you would always do it again afterwards."

"Well, it's like you said," shrugged Applejack. "I would do anything for a friend."

"Would you do the same for a lover?" asked Twilight knowingly.

Applejack smiled at her long time crush and lay down on the bank next to her. Then, Twilight once again wrapped her hooves around her, nuzzling her neck.

"Hold me, AJ." She whipsered.

Slowly, Applejack pulled her close with both hooves and kissed Twilight on the forehead, as they waited under the bridge for the rain to stop.

...

Later that night, Twilight and Applejack found themselves in the same spot they were earlier looking up at the stars. This time, they lay in a tilted wagon full of hay with Applejack holding Twilight close. They both enjoyed the nice dry comfort of the hay after being soaking wet in the now passed rainstorm.

"So ya really wanna do this, Twi?" Applejack asked her while stroking her purple mane. "Bein' a couple and all?"

"Absolutely." Twilight answered breathing across Applejack's neck. "We would make a great couple. I can really see us like this in the future."

"You know somethin'?...Me too." Applejack continued to stare at the stars some more before speaking again. "So...now what?"

Twilight raised her head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, where do we take it from here? I mean, are we gonna start datin' now?"

"We'll just take it one step at a time. We still have our whole lives ahead of us; living together, marriage, maybe even kids...and uh, other stuff."

Applejack darted her eyes in thought imagining the reality of Twilight's words. "Eh, you're right. We'll just take it slow fer now."

"Yeah, let's just keep lying here for a while."

"There's just one thing Ah'm wonderin'...what are we gonna tell everypony?"

Twilight paused. "Oh yeah...I haven't really thought about that. Hmm...what now?..."