The sun had completely set, not a trace of sunlight could be seen. The night sky lay sprawled over them like a glittering blanket. Pinkie stood by the bar taking in as much food and drink as she could. The other five lay on the chairs on the back deck of the boat, doing nothing but engaging each other in small talk.
"So...is it just me or some something feel off about this whole over night vacation thing anyways?" Rainbow said coming back from a quick flight around the boat.
"What you do mean Rainbow?" Twilight sat herself up looking at the hovering blue pegasus.
"I dunno, maybe it's just in my head"
Rainbow took a seat beside Twilight.
"Don't let it bother you dear, just enjoy the night" Rarity encouraged Dash to put the thoughts beside her for the time being.
The tension that lay between the ponies for not visible but it was clearly there. The six of them, Pinkie aside, were unsure of how to react to being together on a boat, on a day like this. Emotions were stirred, feelings began to rumble within them, begging to break free.
"So are we just going to sit here the whole night?" Applejack murmured
"Of course!" Rarity gasped
"Alright, alright, simmer down" Applejack taunted
"Well what would you have us do then, hm Applejack?" Rarity retorted with a sneer
"I dunno, 'ts why I asked"
The boat began to slow, all six ponies could feel the deceleration beneath their hooves.
"Are we stopping?" The question was aimed at no one in particular.
"It would seem so" The white unicorn answered
The humming of the boat ceased as the boat slowed down to a halt. It was almost completely silent, the only sound that could be heard was that of the small waves splashing against the side of the boat.The breeze was gentle, almost caressing each of the ponies as it drifted across the back deck where the ponies resided. Suddenly a soft harmonic melody could be heard. The ponies perked their ears and for a moment, just a moment, Pinkie paused her eating. It filled the air around the ponies as they all leaned back, taking in the delightful sounds. The music felt soothing, relaxing, like all of their worries with seeing out of the bodies, only to evaporate into the air.
The quiet and peace of the romantic music was hastily interrupted. Pinkie hung her head over the side of the boat, groaning in discomfort as the contents of her stomach made it's way into the swirling waters below.
"Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy quick sprung up and rushed over to her pink coated friend in an attempt to comfort her.
Twilight soon followed over to see if her friend was alright. Pinkie seemed to have a little case of seasickness, who would have guessed?
"Are you okay Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes filled with worry "Come on, you need to lay down"
Fluttershy put a hoof around Pinkie and guided her to one of the free rooms. Twilight watched as the pair of ponies slipped into one of the rooms. Twilight headed back for her chair, figuring Fluttershy would take care of things with Pinkie.
"What happened Twilight?" Rainbow asked, tilting her head over her shoulder.
"Pinkie seems to have gotten sea sick"
Rainbow Dash suddenly burst out into laughter, rolling off her chair and onto the wooden flooring of the deck. She flailed around maniacally laughing to her hearts content.
"Pinkie! Sea sick!!! Bahahaha!"
Twilight looked at the hysterical pony rolling on the floor with complete and utter surprise.
"Wow, who would have guessed, that Pinkie, of all ponies would get sea sick!"
"Oh please Rainbow, it's not that funny at all!" Rarity exclaimed "How could you be that insensitive?"
Rainbow's laughing stopped immediately at the sound of her verbal attacker.
"Oh, come on! It's funny, how can it not be!? This is Pinkie Pie, getting sea sick!" Rainbow forced a snicker
Rarity sat herself up in the heat of the debate "Would it have been just as funny if you had gotten sea sick?"
"No, because I'm not Pinkie!"
"Oh sure, I"
"Excuse me, Rainbow" Twilight interrupted
Neither of the two arguing ponies had noticed Twilight aimlessly staring out at the sky. The stars hypnotized her as they slowly danced across the sky. They were like little lanterns, held by the darkness in the void of space.
"What is it Twilight?" Rainbow stood herself up off the floor.
"Do you think...you could, maybe take me for a flight up there" She asked politely as she raised her hoof up into the sky. "I'd love to get a nice clear view of some of the stars"
Rainbow turned her head over to the white unicorn sitting quietly beside Appjack, before turning back to Twilight.
"Sure Twilight" Rainbow took of scooping Twilight up around her chest with a woosh. She rocketed upward as fast as she could.
Before long the two had disappeared into the dark shades of purple of the night sky.
Rarity and Applejack stared at the sky for what felt like hours. neither said nothing to the other, they simply sat, watching the sky, the stars, the moon. The music still played, dancing in and out of their ears, tugging at every emotion it could. Applejack's chest started to liven up, her heart increasing it's pace. Rarity laid back, relaxing her muscles. She let out a sigh as her eyelids closed over her deep blue eyes. Applejack fidgeted with her hooves, attempting to build the courage to talk about what she wanted. If she ever had a chance, this was it, she'd hardly get another like this.
Applejack attacked herself under her breath, she'd talked to Rarity before and it was never this hard this hard. She'd even argued with her before, heck they probably argued more than they actually talked to each other. Arguing felt comfortable to her, she had no idea why that was.
"Hey Rarity" Applejack managed to choke out
"Hm?"
Applejack paused, unable to keep the conversation going at that point.
"Do..." The orange earth pony's lips locked up.
"Do...?" Rarity attempted to egg her on, rolling over to look at Applejack
AJ swallowed hard, looking into Rarity's eyes.
"Do you...happen, to have a..."
Rarity looked at AJ with confusion, trying to make sense of what she was trying to say to her. The silence between the two ponies was unbearable. Rarity leaned forward in anticipation of the earth ponies next words.
"Do you have...a special somepony?" AJ finally manged to finish
Rarity's ears perked up straight at the sound of the inquisitive question.
"Well I...no...I don't"
Applejack rolled onto her back looking at the sky once more. "Huh..."
"Why is that?" The unicorn said her face now lightly tinted with red.
Applejack didn't answer. Her mind was thinking everything through, she didn't want to say something she'd regret.
"Well..."
The silence was almost torture to both ponies. They could do nothing except wait of the other to answer and if it was their turn to speak, they had to spend a moment to think about their words carefully.
"Well?" Rarity asked
"Well, please don't look at me any different"
"Yes?"
"But"
Applejack slid a hoof behind her head into her hat. Her hoof soon reemerged carrying a lovely red rose, which she held out to her companion with high hopes.
"Applejack..."
"It's alright if ya say no, I...I just wanted ta give it a shot, I know we argue a lot" Applejack gave a sheepish grin "But...ya know, I realized after that slumber party at Twilight's all that time ago, that you mean a lot more to me than I thought"
Rarity's eyes began to tear up. The music forcing every ounce of feeling she had towards Apple jack out into the open.
"So, how bout it?" AJ finished.
Rarity could do nothing but stare at the flower the was held out in front of her. Seconds ticked by, with no answer, the seconds soon turned to minutes. She was speechless.
"Applejack...I...I had no idea" Rarity sniffled
Applejack smiled with a shrug, before she knew it a white unicorn was flying at her. Rarity locked her lips with Applejacks, the sudden impact forcing the two ponies off of their chairs. They fell to the deck with a thud rolling over each other, until they came to a halt. Rarity sat on top of AJ, their mouths still very much locked in love. Rarity pulled her mouth away, breaking the kiss as she fell to her side next to Applejack.
"Wow" Applejack muttered through her shocked state
The pair of ponies lay on the wooden deck holding one another. The romantic melody still wafting through the cold night air, aiding the pair in their embrace.
"Rarity..."
"Hm?"
"I think we should head to one of the rooms, before anypony sees us"