Applejack walked home, feeling confused. Rainbow Dash liked her? How did that happen? Applejack was but a country pony, bound to earth. She had no wings. If she knew one thing, it was that Rainbow Dash loved flying more than anything in the whole world. How could she like a pony that had no wings? Additionally, they tended to butt heads a lot, and often took to competition. She had never had a very special somepony before, but she had never considered a mare as hers. She liked Rainbow Dash just fine and all, but there was something out of place about the two being together. Plus, Applejack was an old-style country pony, and Rainbow Dash was a fast moving pegasus, always concerned about "cool."
She got to the house, and when there, she hung her hat up, sat on the couch, and tried to think. Would she really go out with a pony like Rainbow Dash? If there was a colt that wasn't her good friend that was like Rainbow Dash, would she want to go out with that type of pony? She did enjoy being around Rainbow Dash's brash style, and the competition between the two wasn't anything hostile; it was something that Applejack enjoyed. She had promised Rainbow Dash she wouldn't let the fact that she was a mare get in the way, but was she really comfortable with being seen around with a mare? A lot of Ponyville folks wouldn't like that. Ponyville was an old-style town that stuck to tradition, as seen in their 'no magic' policy for Winter Wrap-Up. She could predict Rainbow Dash saying "Haters gonna hate," but was she the same? She was one that liked to stick to tradition, but what did that get her? Would she benefit from going out with Dash? She actually was interested in the prospect of going out with Rainbow Dash, but she was unsure about going out with her good friend, a mare, in Ponyville of all places.
Just then, Granny Smith came in and sat down beside her.
"What are ye thinkin' about?"
"Oh, nothin' Granny Smith."
"Ah know you better than that."
"Alrighty, Granny, here goes. Rainbow Dash likes me. Not just as a friend, naw, she likes me as something more. Ah'm not sure what to do. Ah mean we live in Ponyville. The folks'd not like that one bit. Ah never was interested in going out with a mare, but the prospect of goin' out with Dash is interesting. Do you have any ideas, Granny Smith?"
Granny Smith took a while before answering. “When ah was young, your grandpa took me on one of them rollercoasters.”
“Fascinatin’, Granny Smith.”
“Up, down, up, down, oh, what a ride!”
“That’s a great story.”
“Ah always wanted to go again. Ye know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. It just goes around and around. Nothing. Ah prefer the rollercoaster. You get more out of it.”
“That’s nice, Granny Smith, but what does that have to do with this?”
“Just think about it.”
* * *
Rainbow Dash walked through town dejectedly, wondering. What exactly did Applejack mean, she’d “consider?” Would a pony like Applejack want to go out with a pony like her? Applejack was one to stick with tradition; she wasn’t one who would normally break the mold by going out with a mare. The problem was, for Rainbow Dash it wasn’t just a romantic curiosity. She had fallen in love, and she had fallen hard. So even if Applejack said no, then where would she be? Hard in love with Applejack, without any feelings in return. THAT would well and truly suck.
Her walking soon brought her to Twilight’s door, where she raised a hoof and knocked. Twilight opened the door to see a morose Rainbow Dash standing there.
“Oh, hello, Rainbow Dash. Come on in. Spike’s away at Canterlot doing something for the Princess.”
Rainbow Dash walked in past Twilight and sat down in a chair.
“Dash, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all is wrong.”
“Dash, I know you better than that. What don’t you want to tell me?”
“Well, the thing is… I’m in love with Applejack…”
Twilight was taken aback for a moment, and then regained her senses.
“”That’s wonderful, Rainbow Dash!”
“You’re alright with that?”
“Of course I am, Rainbow Dash. Now what’s wrong?”
“Well, the problem is that I told her I loved her… well, I came out and outright kissed her, for Celestia’s sake, and she’s “considering” a relationship.”
“Well, what’s so wrong with that?”
“Did you even hear me? She said she’d consider. That means she could just as well reject me as she could accept and go with it. To add on, she’s a country pony, and probably will let the fact that I’m a mare get in the way. Plus, it’s not just some little filly’s crush. I can’t pinpoint why I fell so hard for her if I tried.”
“I understand. But the thing is that Applejack is honest. She truly will consider. You just can’t see that because you’re in love with her, and that makes you expect the worst. If Applejack truly would want to go out with a pony like you, she would go out with a pony like you. She is the Element of Honesty, after all.”
“But will she want to go out with a pony like me? That’s the problem.”
“Well, you’ll just have to find out. Love’s not something you can be the best at, Dash. It’s something unpredictable, something unexplainable. You can’t practice to get better. Nobody’s “good” at love. It’s about how you feel. Now, would you like some tea?"
“Sure.”
Twilight walked off and soon came back with two cups of tea.
"This is the second cup of tea I've had today. I went over to Rarity's this morning."
"So she knows?"
"She knows I'm in love. She doesn't know I'm in love with Applejack."
"Why didn't you tell her?"
"Well, she didn't ask who it was, precisely."
"Alright, I suppose it wasn't quite the urgent matter to tell her you're in love with one of our friends."
"No, that's for sure."
"Do you plan to tell everyone?"
"Not if Applejack rejects me. Then there's no point."
"I disagree. Even if she rejects you, you should always share your feelings with your friends. Hmm, I should put that in a letter to Celestia."
"Well, it's good to know that things are still normal in your head," Rainbow joked.
"Well, I have a letter due soon. This might make a good letter."
"Well, ya gonna mention that I'm in love with Applejack?"
"Do you want me to?"
"Go for it."
"Alright, thank you, Rainbow Dash. I'd been trying to find something to write about, and I know the results of trying to create a problem. Big Mac still has Smarty Pants, but I'm not going to take it back from him. I hope he likes Smarty Pants like I did."
"Well, here's hoping, eh, Twilight? And no, we don't need another incident of the entire town fighting over an old, worn, raggy toy."
"That we don't need."
Rainbow Dash drank her tea, and when she was done, she set it on the table, and when Twilight finished hers, she took both of the cups back to where she got them. Rainbow Dash looked around the library, and she wondered what to do next. She couldn't go back to the Apple house just yet. She really wanted to give Applejack a good long time to decide. She knew deep inside that Applejack would find it in her to make a truly honest decision. She hoped that decision was "yes." But, like Twilight said, love was something that went its course spontaneously. She couldn't predict it. As she had very well experienced, love can affect you and make you act differently.
"Alright, I suppose I'll go find something else to do. Thanks for your hospitality and understanding, Twilight."
"No problem, Rainbow Dash."
"I'll be off now."
Rainbow Dash stood and walked towards the door, Twilight being a proper host and opening it with her magic. She thanked Twilight once more and walked out, hearing the door close behind her. She walked around for a moment, hearing not much but her own hooves against the earth, encountering a couple ponies along the way. As she encountered these ponies she didn't know all that well, she gave feeble greetings, getting weird looks from the people who knew her, even a small amount. Anyone could tell that this wasn't characteristic of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was normally the brash, cocky, in-your-face attitude pony. Not at the moment she wasn't. She had been put on the fence, to go one way or the other. That wasn't really something that made her want to emphasize the go-get-'em part of her.
Just then, she looked up to see the weather pegasi moving rain clouds in. Great, that was just what she needed to brighten her day. It started raining, and, just to her luck, it started getting cold outside, too. Awesome, she had quite the list of things going for her. Rejection, pneumonia, broken wings, how could this day get any better?
She walked along in the cold rain, her mane and coat soaking, her body starting to shiver. She walked along, and her hooves started making imprints, as the ground was getting softer under her very hooves. She found a small awning and huddled under it, finding a bench beneath the awning to lie down on. She curled up into herself on the bench, her body shivering. She wanted Applejack to come running to her, to tell her that she wanted to go out, to tell her she's alright with going out with a mare, to tell her that it was all going to work out. Surely, though, that was wishful thinking. Even if Applejack did come find her, she wouldn’t necessarily agree to go out.
She huddled under the awning on the bench, the awning not completely blocking the rain out. The rain would occasionally hit her, and with each cold raindrop came a shiver. Her body heat continued to be leached out into the cold air, and she grew colder the longer she sat there.
In the distance, she saw a pony running, searching, it seemed. As the figure got closer, she saw on its head a hat. It was Applejack, presumably looking for her. She called out, in hopes that Applejack would hear her. Applejack didn’t and continued running off in the distance, not knowing that Rainbow Dash was right there. Dash waited a little, hoping that Applejack would come back. She got lucky. Applejack ran near once more and when Rainbow Dash called this time, Applejack turned her head to the source and ran toward Rainbow Dash.
"What the hay are ya doin', out here in the cold rain? Yer gonna catch a cold," Applejack said when she got to Rainbow Dash.
"Listen, Applejack-"
"Cool it, sugarcube. Right now, ah just want to get you home."
"Awesome," Rainbow Dash said, and stood up. She was shivering pretty badly.
"Ya think ya can make it?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
"On second thought, hop on. You look like yer catchin' somethin'."
"No, really, I'm fine."
"Too late."
Applejack hoisted Rainbow Dash on her back and started towards the orchard. She was thouroughly soaked too, but had been moving and hadn't been as chilled by the rain.
They got to the house and Applejack burst in, ran towards her former bedroom, and set Rainbow Dash on the bed. She quickly wrapped Rainbow up in all the blankets on the bed. She tried to think if there was anything she could do from here. The only thing that came to mind was to hop in with Rainbow Dash, to help conserve Dash's body heat. She didn't even care about how awkward the situation might be.
She climbed in, and Rainbow Dash weakly smiled, and feebly joked, "So, here we are together in bed."
Applejack laughed her cute country laugh and said, "Yeah, ah s'pose so."
Rainbow Dash wrapped her hooves around Applejack, and this time, Applejack wrapped her hooves around Rainbow, to conserve heat, and all.
"I know this doesn't definitively mean you've said yes, but thanks for doing this."
"You're right, ah'm still considerin', but you're welcome. Remember, for now it's because I don't want you to get sick."
"Alright, Alright."
Rainbow Dash was content for the moment as she drifted off to sleep.
* * *
Rainbow Dash woke up to see Applejack smiling at her.
“So, you sleep well?”
“Yeah, ah did. By the way, Rainbow Dash, ah’ve decided. Ah want to go out with you. I really do.”
Rainbow Dash was ecstatic.
“You do?”
“Yeah. I do.”
Applejack leaned her head in towards Rainbow Dash. This time she was ready. She leaned her head in, too, and their faces got ever closer, the moment she’d been waiting for about to happen.
Their lips met, but Applejack’s eyes opened in surprise.
“Rainbow Dash!”
Dash opened her eyes to see that she had actually kissed Applejack in the middle of her sleep.
“No, I can explain!”
“Ah said ah’d consider, Rainbow Dash. Ah’m only in bed with you because you were fixin’ to catch yerself somethin’ awful.”
“No, really, it wasn’t on purpose! I was dreaming, and in my dream I kissed you, and evidently did so in real life.”
“Alright, ah’ll take yer word for it now, but just you remember, fancy romantics won’t sway me one way or another.”
“Anyway, what time is it?”
The both looked at the window, and what they saw was a moon, shining in the sky. They had slept from after lunch until night time!
“I suppose I don’t need you here in bed anymore, I feel fine.”
“Well, much obliged. Ah’d like to get back to sleep without somepony tryin’ to lock lips with me while ah’m sleepin’,” Applejack joked.
Rainbow Dash gave a laugh, relieved that under the awkward “judgment” period, Applejack could still be a good friend around her. That was another thing Rainbow Dash could add to her list of things she liked about Applejack.
Applejack walked out of the room, and Rainbow Dash lay back down. She was tired, and she really didn’t want to stay up all night wondering about Applejack. It was just stressful to think about what the result of Applejack’s consideration would be. What Twilight said was right. Love wasn’t something at which you could be the best. Love was unpredictable and there was nothing gained by sitting up and thinking about it all night long except for paranoia.
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, and drifted back off to sleep.