Chapter 2: What Now
"You know, Twi," said Applejack sitting across from her partner. "I really didn't think you'd agree to, you know, bein' in a relationship with me and what not. What made you change your mind so fast?"
"Are you kdding?" replied Twilight on the other side of the table. "After you saved my life last night, I can never thank you enough. I'm forever grateful."
"I'm just sayin', it kinda seems like things are movin' a bit fast here. Now that we're actually doin' this, I feel like I was talkin' big game yesterday." Applejack rubbed the back of her head. "Maybe I'm just still nervous."
"Don't be. I guess I was just swept up in the moment last night." Twilight shrugged, feeling some of her partner's anxiety. "But that shouldn't mean we can't still be together. After all, if we came this far as good friends, we should make it longer as, you know, marefriends." That last word still sounded strange to her.
"Yeah, you're right. As long as we're takin' it one step at a time." Applejack paused and swirled her glass of water, letting the sound of the other ponies' chatter briefly wash over. "So, remind me again why we're at the cafe?"
"Well, we have to break the news at some point, right?" answered Twilight. "So I've invited a friend to meet us here so we can tell her. I just want to kind of test the water to see how everypony will react."
"Uh, okay. Who'd you invite then?"
"Um, Twilight? You wanted to see me?" came a hushed female voice.
Applejack snapped to the right to see Fluttershy standing with a curious look. Twilight greeted her with a smile.
"Ah, Fluttershy, glad you could make it." She said. "Have a seat."
"Um, okay." Fluttershy took the third chair, then cringed nervously. "Oh my, uh, Twilight, this isn't about me letting my woodpeckers loose in the library that one time, is it?"
"No, no, of course it...wait what?" stammered Twilight. "Woodpeckers?"
"Uh Twilight," Applejack chimed in. "Isn't there somethin' we have to tell her?"
"Oh right, yes." Twilight cleared her throat and spoke as proffesionally as she could. "You see, Fluttershy, something has happened concerning me and Applejack. But we're still kind of nervous about telling our friends, so we thought you would be the right pony to break the news to first. We just want to know how you'll react before we tell anypony else."
"Why do you keep sayin' 'we'?" asked Applejack unanswered.
Fluttershy shrugged and smiled. "Oh, of course, Twilight. You two can tell me anything. I promise I'll take the news well, no matter how shocking it might be."
"Oh, well that's a relief." Twilight replied. "You see, there was a...particular incident last night, that occured after Applejack and I were stargazing in her yard. Applejack had just told me that she, uh...has been looking at me in a certain different light. And I was a little more than hesitant to agree with her. Then, as I was leaving the farm, I happened to come across, get this, you remember the Diamond Dogs who captured Rarity? Well as it turned out-"
"Fluttershy, Twilight n' I are in love." Applejack interrupted impatiently.
Fluttershy stared blankly between the two of them. "Wh- what?" she squeaked.
Applejack continued quickly. "Last night, I told Twilight that I was in love with her, but she didn't want to be in love with me and left. Then she got captured by the Diamond Dogs who tried to drown her, then I saved her and she became forever grateful and now we're in love."
Still, Fluttershy stared with confusion. "You mean...you two are...are..."
As she tried to utter the rest of her sentence, Twilight gave a sheepish smile and rested her hoof upon Applejack's to prove a point. After a long pause, Fluttershy at last let her face fall to the table and fainted.
...
It wasn't long before Twilight and Applejack carried their fragile pegasus friend back to her cottage. Twilight pulled the covers over Fluttershy as she spoke.
"Okay, that was a bit of a misfire." She said flatly. "Applejack, do you have to be so blunt?"
"Uh, Element of Honesty? It's kinda what I do?" replied Applejack, rolling her eyes. "And Twilight, I love ya, but you really know how to milk an explanation."
"Well it doesn't matter." Twilight sunk her head. "If we tell anypony else, who knows how they'll react?"
"Relax, sugarcube, it's just Fluttershy. She did the same thing when Angel went missin' for five minutes. If we're gonna tell anypony about you n' me bein' a couple, it's gonna be a friend who ain't so weak in the knees."
"Good point. But who else should we break it to?"
...
Shortly after, Twilight magically levitated herself and Applejack as she knocked on the door. Sure enought, the owner of the cloud house answered.
"Hi Rainbow Dash," greeted Twilight. "Can we come inside? We have some pretty big news."
The blue pegasus scanned her eyes between her two friends, then lowered her eyelids and replied. "You guys are dating now, aren't you?"
Both mares gasped before Applejack spoke. "How...how did you know?" she asked.
"Please, I'm no Rarity but I know a thing or two about romances." Rainbow scoffed. "I've been waiting to see you two get together for ages; it was only a matter of time. I mean, Twilight's brains and Applejack's brawn? It's obvious you two would make a perfect couple. Plus, Twilight's putting her hoof over your shoulders, AJ."
Applejack looked quizzically at her marefriend, who immediately withdrew her hoof with an awkward smile.
"So, you're not shocked at all?" asked Twilight.
"Shocked? No way," smiled Rainbow. "I'm totally cool with it. It's not like things are gonna change much. Besides, I got nothing against filly fooling."
Applejack blushed. "Heh heh, well, I don't know if I would put it that way. I mean, uh, eh, n- n- never mind..."
"But listen," resumed Rainbow. "If you want to shock anypony, go tell Rarity. She'll totally flip!"
"Well, I guess she deserves to know too." Twilight replied. "Thanks for being so understanding, Rainbow."
"Hey, don't worry about it, Twi. In fact, I'm kind of jealous of you, being marefriends with a pony like Applejack."
Applejack cocked an eyebrow at her. "You are?"
Rainbow quickly wiped the grin off her face and darted her eyes. "Um...uh...gotta go!" she slammed the cloud door without another word.
The couple stood outside silent for a moment.
"So, should we head over to Rarity's?" asked Applejack.
"Yeah, let's go." Twilight answered.
...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The two marefirends cringed as Rarity shrieked with joy. She squeezed both Twilight and Applejack in a suffocating hug as they sat on her couch in the boutique lounge.
"Oh I am just so happy for you two!" she beamed. "You'll absolutely make such a great couple! OOH, I am so excited for you!"
A slightly uncomfortable Twilight replied. "Wow Rarity, you seem to be taking this...pretty well."
"Are you kidding? I couldn't be happier to hear that you and Applejack are a couple. You two will just be absolutely adorable together!" Rarity fluttered her long lashes. "The only thing that would make even more adorable is if I was in it."
Applejack tried her hardest to hold back a gag reflex.
"Well, we just wanted to stop by to let you know." Twilight continued casually as she got up from the couch. "Glad you could be so understanding. We'll just be on our way."
"What? Why in Equestria would you leave after telling me this wonderful news? I have just the thing for the two of you!"
"Uh, Rarity, where is this goin'?" asked Applejack.
Without an answer, Rarity dissapeared into a closet where the sound of excited rummaging was then heard. After a brief moment, she sprang back out levitating two modified versions of Twilight's and Applejack's gala dresses, complete with ribbons and, of course, gemstones.
"I have been working on these for quite some time now." She ranted. "And I think they are just the thing for the cutest mare couple on a romantic night out."
Twilight looked puzzled at her remade dress, then smiled nonchalantly. "Rarity, Applejack and I just decided to become a couple last night. It's not like we're about to get married."
A bead of sweat dripped down Applejack's neck.
"Oh I understand completely, Twilight dear," replied Rarity with a flick of her hoof. "But I musn't let you two love birds go without some fabulous garments to celebrate. Ooh, let's try yours on first, Applejack!"
"Beg pardon?" said Applejack.
Without an answer, Rarity levitated Applejack off the couch and slipped the modified dress on her in a blur of movement. Applejack stood glowering having to wear the stuffy formal attire again.
"Ah, I knew it!" chirped Rarity. "You look absolutely marvelous. But that's obvious, since it was sewn by me, of course."
Twilight snickered at her marefirend's disdain. But she had to admit that Applejack looked surprisingly stunning in her green skirt, lapels and boots with apple symbols, and decorative saddle. In the back of her mind, Twilight wondered how she would impress the farmer with her own dress.
"Twilight, can we please go?" sulked Applejack.
"Yeah, you're right." Twilight shrugged. "Thanks a lot, Rarity, the dresses look fantastic. But we should head over to Pinkie's."
"Oh of course, darling." Rarity smiled. "I'm ever so happy you like my work."
Applejack struggled as she tried to chew off the saddle which had been strapped on too tight; Twilight only giggled a bit more.
...
Later that day, the couple sat at a table in Sugarcube Corner discussing over hay shakes. Pinkie Pie listened as they explained the news to her.
"So Applejack saved you from the Diamond Dogs, and you became forever grateful, and now you both want to be together?" Pinkie cocked her head.
"Uh, yeah, that's basically what I just said." Twilight answered flatly.
"Wait, that's basically what you just said?" repeated Pinkie.
"Pinkie, cut it out." Applejack replied.
"Holy gosh!" gawked Pinkie. "I can't believe you two are actually dating after all this time."
"So, are you...happy for us?" asked Twilight, leading her on.
"Happy? I'm ecstatic!" Pinkie threw her hooves up as mysterious confetti seemed to spring up from nowhere. "I couldn't be more ecstatic! I'm absolutely positively one hundred-percently EXTRA ecstatic! Did I tell you I just learned the word 'ecstatic' today? It's funny because it has the word 'static' in it!" She then began to rub her mane vigorously with a balloon.
Twilight gave a crooked stare. "...Right. Well, we already told Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Rarity, so I guess that pretty much wraps it up."
"But do us favor, will ya, Pinkie?" added Applejack. "Try to keep this whole thing on the down low? We're still a bit nervous about how everypony else in town might react."
"Oh no sweat, Applejack! I promise I'll only discuss it with you two. And that's a Pinkie promise! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake, yadda yadda yadda. Hey, you know what? This calls for a celebration. Daffodil burgers on me!"
"Now we're talkin'!" smiled Applejack.
"But first...SMILE!" Pinkie then pulled out a camera from hammerspace and took a picture. An overly bright flash left Twilight and Applejack both temporarily blinded.
Twilight covered her eyes with her hoof. "Ah! Pinkie, what was that for?!"
Pinkie spoke as she waved the polaroid. "Oh, I always take a photo of every new couple in the bakery. I have a whole collage full of them!" She then walked over to a stretch of wall covered in photos of Ponyville couples; all of whom were just as surprised by the flash as Twilight and Applejack. Pinkie gasped as she hung her new photo. "Uh oh. Sorry, AJ, but it looks like you have redeye in this picture."
Applejack rubbed her stunned eyes. "Yup. I sure do now."
As the afternoon drew to a close, Twilight and Applejack enjoyed a secret celebratory dinner and dessert with Pinkie; plenty of hay shakes were there to go around. Eventually, the two exited Sugarcube Corner as the sun rested on the horizon.
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Hah, finally. My head feels so much clearer now that we've told our friends. Now we can finally start a real relationship; just the two of us."
"Yeah...that's great." Applejack looked away dowerly.
"AJ, what's wrong?" asked Twilight. "Aren't you excited?"
"Of course I am, Twi, I couldn't be happier to be your marefriend. And I'm glad that our friends know about us. But...I don't think my family will take it so easily. Granny Smith had always been hopin' that I would end up with a nice stallion. But she'll probably lose her teeth if she found out we're datin'."
"Well, it's better with me than a strange stallion, isn't it?"
"I...I guess so." Applejack scuffed the ground. "But it's gonna be mighty uncomfortable tellin' her, Big Mac and Apple Bloom. And I'm gonna have to do it at some point."
Feeling her companion's nervousness, Twilight gave a comforting nuzzle to her neck and smiled. "It's alright; you take as much time as you need. I'll try not to push you."
Looking up, Applejack returned a half smile. "Thanks, Twilight. Well, uh, I should head home before it gets dark. I'll see you later, Twi."
"Good night, Applejack." Twilight replied.
With that, Applejack gently kissed her on the cheek and started off for home.
But Twilight didn't feel satisfied with that goodbye and remained standing while watching the strong yet caring mare trot away. She knew she couldn't stay in her spot much longer, and finally cantered off after the love of her life. Twilight turned Applejack around after catching up and locked her lips with hers in a wanting kiss. Applejack's eyes widened as she felt the rush from the unicorn's sweet lips, and embraced each warm passing moment. The both of them held their locked lips for several more seconds before Twilight parted and looked at her partner innocently.
"You do know we can make this work, right?" she asked.
Applejack stared at her for a moment before grinning knowingly. "Trust me, sugarcube."