Rainbow Dash sped back home as soon as she was finished helping with the weather that afternoon. Not that she had been much help again. As she flew through her window, she realized she could hardly even remember what she had done at work, she had been so excited about what would come afterwards. She checked the front porch, but Applejack hadn’t come yet.
She couldn’t stay in any one spot for long. She shifted on her hooves and fluttered her wings as Tank watched her pace across her living room.
“Will you stop staring at me?” she said, hovering over him. “You’re making me nervous.”
He blinked.
“Very funny.” She grabbed his shell and turned him around the other way. She smirked. It would take him at least another half-hour to turn back around.
She looked out the windows to see if Applejack had arrived yet over and over, while Tank slowly made his way back around. She told herself that she needed to be calm, but her body wouldn’t listen, and the calm didn’t come.
Finally, she spotted a small bit of cowpony-shaped orange trotting down on the ground towards her home.
“See ya, Tank!” She bolted out the door, but then checked herself. She shouldn’t look too eager. She took a deep breath while she waited for Applejack to get closer. “Be cool,” she said quietly to herself. “She thinks you’re cool, and you are cool, so just be cool.”
She glided down to a low hover when Applejack came near. “What’s up?” she asked in what she thought for sure must have been perfect nonchalance.
“Hey,” Applejack said with a smile. “Ya ready to go?”
Rainbow dropped down next to her. “I guess. Where are we going?”
Applejack turned around and started walking away, motioning for her to follow. “You’ll see.”
“Is there gonna be food?” Dash asked hopefully.
“Yup,” Applejack replied. She stopped, looking up. “It’s not supposed to rain today, is it?”
Rainbow looked up too. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky over Ponyville. “No, not until tomorrow.”
“Good,” Applejack said, walking forward again. “I’d hate for us to get rained on.”
Rainbow Dash followed her in silence for a time. She frowned. Silence was bad, wasn’t it? “So, uh, how are your... trees... doing?” she asked, and immediately wished she had kept her mouth shut.
Applejack glanced back at her and smiled. “Fine, plenty of rain this season. How are your clouds doin’?”
“Good, I guess,” Dash answered lamely. “Um, how are, uh, your apples doing?
Applejack laughed. “Sugarcube, I ‘preciate the small talk, but you don’t have to make things up to talk about. I’m happy just to walk with ya, if’n you don’t mind.”
“Oh, right... cool.” They walked in silence again, but Dash found it to be a comfortable silence. There was something pleasant about simply walking quietly alongside a friend—her marefriend, she corrected herself with a smile—and not worrying about what to say. She looked around, and saw apple trees. She realized they were walking on the path into Sweet Apple Acres.
“Um, are we eating at Sweet Apple Acres?”
“Sort of,” Applejack replied, not looking back.
“I don’t think it really counts as a date if you don’t even leave your farm.”
“I did leave my farm. I went to your house.”
“And then you went back to your farm...?”
“Yup.”
Rainbow Dash waited for her to go on, but apparently that was all she had to say. When they reached the barn, Applejack went inside by herself. She came back out a moment later carrying a basket on her back.
“All right,” she said, walking away. “We’re ready to go.”
“Go where?”
Applejack waved her forward. “Just follow me.”
“So, what’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked, pointing to the basket. She hovered over it. A red and white blanket lay inside, covering something underneath.
“That’s our lunch.”
Rainbow Dash paused for a moment. “We’re going on a picnic?”
“Yup,” Applejack replied, walking ahead.
“Oh.”
Applejack stopped. “You don’t like it? We can eat in town, I guess.”
“No, I just thought...” Dash scratched her neck. “I just thought it was going to be something more exciting than that.”
Applejack frowned. “Sorry, I was just thinking that we’ve done so many really big sort of things together—fighting changelings, and Discord, and Nightmare Moon, and all of that other stuff—I just thought it would be nice to to do something small and out of the way together for a change. We can do somethin’ else though.”
“No, you’re right,” Dash said, considering what Applejack had said. “This could be nice.”
Applejack started walking again, but her frown stayed put. “Well, I’m glad ya think so...”
“Seriously, I think this’ll be cool,” Dash insisted quickly, picking up her pace.
Applejack smiled at her. “Thanks.”
They walked out of the apple orchard and into the farmstead proper. The finely tilled soil of the field felt soft under Dash’s hooves and every hoofstep left a little crater in the dirt. It was so rare that she saw this part of Sweet Apple Acres, the fields where they grew their other fruits and vegetables, that she often forgot it was there at all, lying low and hidden behind the rows of apple trees.
“So, was this Fluttershy’s idea?” Dash asked after a while.
“Sort of,” Applejack replied, sidestepping a small, green stem of a plant. “She said I should take ya out to eat, but I wanted it to be somethin’ that was just you and me.”
Rainbow Dash blushed a little at that, and the tickling feeling returned. “Oh. The flowers and the chocolates were her idea too, weren’t they?”
“Yup. I thought they were a little silly myself.”
Rainbow laughed at the memory. “Then why did you go along with it?”
Applejack turned around and chuckled. “I told ya then. I wanted to do somethin’ nice for you.”
“Oh.” Rainbow Dash’s face flushed. “Since when do you get dating advice from Fluttershy?” she asked after a time.
“Since about two days ago,” Applejack answered with a shrug. “I figured she’s known you for a while, so she’d know what you liked.”
Rainbow Dash stiffened. Fluttershy had known her for a long time, and she knew more about Dash’s relationship troubles than anyone else. “Uh, so what’d she say?”
“To be extra nice to ya, more or less, and that you’d appreciate somepony flatterin’ you a bit.”
Rainbow Dash bit her lip. “So, she didn’t say anything about other marefriends I’ve had?”
“A little.” Applejack turned back to her.
Rainbow Dash’s stomach clenched. “L-like what?”
“Just that you’d had some bad ones.” Applejack frowned. “She didn’t say what they did though.”
“Were the pick-up lines her too?” Rainbow Dash asked quickly.
Applejack laughed, thankfully ignoring the sudden change in topic. “Nope. That was Pinkie Pie’s idea. Sorry ‘bout that. I thought you’d enjoy them, but I guess they were pretty dumb.”
“What? No they weren’t, they were hilarious!”
“Really? But why’d you get so upset afterwards then?”
“Oh, I was just...” Rainbow Dash looked up at the clouds. “I was just thinking about some stuff.”
Applejack glanced back, but didn’t question her.
Rainbow Dash smirked after a while, and trotted up next to Applejack. “So you’ve been talking to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy about me?
“Yeah, why?”
“So, what? Do you guys just get together and talk about how hot I am whenever I’m not around or something?”
“Sugarcube,” Applejack said seriously, “it’s all we ever talk about.”
Rainbow Dash noticed that they had moved from the brown, tilled cropland to a green, grassy field. All around her, tall, wild grasses bent and swayed with the rolling breeze, until the whole field stirred like something alive. She smiled and spread her wings, letting the wind tickle her feathers. Acting on a sudden impulse, she kicked off the ground and flew in a quick circle around Applejack. She decided then and there that she liked picnics.
“Havin’ fun?” Applejack called up to her.
Rainbow Dash smiled, feeling the wind rushing over and beneath and through her wings as she arced down. She hovered over Applejack’s back and peered into the basket. “So, what’d you bring?” She didn’t wait for an answer. She pushed the blanket out of the way and rummaged through the basket. It contained everything she would have expected Applejack to bring on a picnic. Baked apples, apple turnovers, apple fritters, a pie, and a couple plain old apples just for good measure. “Let me guess, this is an apple pie?” Dash said, holding it up.
“What’s wrong with apple pie?” Applejack asked, looking back at her.
“Heh, nothing. Oh hey, sandwiches!” Dash picked one up and took a bite. “What, did you run out of apples or something?”
“Hey, those are for the picnic!” Applejack scolded, flicking her tail at Rainbow. “You can’t eat them yet.”
Rainbow Dash fluttered down and landed beside her, closer than before. “Sorry,” she said, finishing off the last of the sandwich.
“You are not.” Applejack tried to glare at her, but ended up smiling instead.
“I can’t help it. I’m hungry. Are we almost there?”
“Just about,” Applejack replied, looking up and frowning. “Are you sure it’s not supposed to rain today?”
Rainbow Dash looked up. The clouds had followed them from Ponyville, and were slowly prowling through the air behind them, coming closer. “No, not until tomorrow.”
“Well, might as well give me one of those apples then,” Applejack said with a huff.
Rainbow Dash pulled one out of the basket and passed it to her. “So, why do you like pegasi?” she asked after they had walked a while longer.
“What?”
“The other night you said you liked pegasi. Is it for the reason Rarity said?” Rainbow Dash asked with a smirk.
“Yeah, sure, I like getting a mouthful of feathers in bed,” Applejack replied, without even having the decency to blush.
Rainbow Dash blushed for her. “Is that all?”
“Well, no...” Applejack rolled her jaw back and forth. “But you gotta promise ya won’t tell this to anypony else.
“That depends on what it is,” Dash replied coyly.
Applejack glared at her.
“Fine, fine. I promise. So what is it?”
Applejack looked down at her hooves as she walked. “Well, I’ve always been a little jealous of you pegasi.”
“Really?” Rainbow Dash asked, eyes widening. She didn’t know if she should believe it. Applejack was earth ponyiest earth pony she knew. “Why?”
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m proud of being an earth pony, and everythin’ that comes with it. But I always thought it was a bit unfair that you lot got to fly and and we didn’t. Flyin’ just seemed, I don’t know, excitin’, like you could go anywhere. Anyway, when I was a foal, all I wanted out of another mare was somepony who could take me flying. I guess I never grew out of it.”
“Hey, I could totally take you flying,” Dash said, flaring her wings and giving them a flap to demonstrate. “Not just like to your house or something little like that, but real flying, like how I do when I’m on my own.”
Applejack smiled at her. “I’d like that.”
“We could do it today,” Dash suggested. “This field is perfect for it.”
“Yeah. Let’s eat first though.”
“Cool.” Rainbow Dash smiled as she realized how much she looked forward to taking Applejack up into the air for real with her, and showing her something that no one else could.
“So,” Applejack said, looking back at her. “You got to ask a question. Do I get to ask one now too?”
“Shoot.”
“Why don’t you date anymore?”
Rainbow Dash froze. Well, everything except her stomach, which felt like it had just done a full somersault.
“It has to do with those marefriends Fluttershy mentioned, doesn’t it?” Applejack asked, sounding concerned. “I remember seein’ you with a couple mares back when you first moved to Ponyville, but it’s been a long time. Did somethin’ happen?”
Rainbow Dash swallowed and forced her legs to start working again. Applejack was looking at her. She had to say something. “Uh, yeah, no. I, um... don’t really wanna talk about it.”
Applejack frowned at her. “Fair enough.”
They walked in silence again, not as comfortable this time. Rainbow Dash licked her lips and screwed her eyes shut. “I just had a few really sucky marefriends,” she said quickly, not opening her eyes. “Like nothing but really sucky marefriends. I just sort of decided it wasn’t worth bothering with anymore.”
“Sorry,” Applejack said. “What was sucky about ‘em?
Rainbow Dash sighed. “They were just jerks. I’d really rather not think about it.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” Applejack looked at her and smiled. “If you ever want somepony to talk to about it though, I’m here to listen, all right?”
Rainbow nodded and kept walking. Somepony to talk to... She stopped again and chewed the inside of cheek, remembering. She hadn’t talked about it in a long time, ever really.
“Are you all right?”
She looked up, and into Applejack’s face, into her eyes. Rainbow studied them closely. She saw genuine concern there, concern for her, concern for her troubles. She made up her mind.
“They’d tell me how much they liked me, and how they’d never met anypony like me before, and how I was the most beautiful mare they’d ever seen.” Rainbow Dash said bitterly and kicked at the ground. “And then after... after we were finished, they’d just be... gone. Like it didn’t matter to them at all. And it happened over and over again too. Every single time they suckered me into thinking this one or that one would be different, but they were all the same. And the ones who stayed were even worse.”
By the time Rainbow looked back up, Applejack had already closed the distance between them. Applejack pulled her into a firm hug, nuzzling her withers. “I’m sorry.”
Rainbow Dash leaned into the hug. “Why are you saying sorry? You didn’t do anything.”
“Because somepony should.” Applejack pulled back and smiled. “I’ll be better than them, and I mean that. I promise.”
Rainbow Dash smiled. “Yeah...” As she walked, she felt a little lighter, like she had dropped a saddle bag that had been weighing her down for a long time.
Applejack stopped and dropped the basket on the grass. “Here’ll do fine. Wanna help set up?”
Rainbow Dash nodded. They spread the blanket over the grass and set the food over it. Rainbow Dash licked her lips. She could hardly hold herself back. She looked around. They were far outside of Ponyville. The orchards of Sweet Apple Acres were only a vague outline on the horizon of the grassy plain they had brought their picnic to.
Out here, there was only one tree. It was a great, gnarled, old thing, looming over a hill some way over from their blanket, like an ancient sentinel keeping watch over the field. Its bark might have been knotted, but every twisted branch erupted in a burst of healthy green leaves that grew thick and tall.
The rest of the field was nothing but tall grass as far as she could see. It would have been hot, if it wasn’t for the clouds. Rainbow Dash frowned at that.
“You’re sure it’s not gonna rain?” Applejack asked again.
The clouds had covered the sky, and all Rainbow Dash saw was gray. She fidgeted on her hooves. “No. It’s definitely not supposed to rain until Friday.”
“Sugarcube,” Applejack said flatly, “today is Friday.”
“Oh.”
The rain began to fall.
Rainbow Dash tried to laugh, but it came out a weak pitiful thing. “Heh, oops.”
It wasn’t just a sprinkle, or a drizzle, or a shower, but a thundering, full downpour. It all started at once. Within moments, roaring, rushing, heavy droplets had utterly filled the air and begun storming down on them in great gusts of wind. It fell into the grass, over their heads, and onto their picnic. They moved to put the food away, but they couldn’t move quickly enough. Almost immediately, the fritters had been soaked, the turnovers had gone sodden, the sandwiches had turned to mush, and stinging raindrops had ripped the pie’s crust open and torn it apart. They gathered the blanket and what little was left into the basket. The only shelter was the old tree, and after a quick nod, they both set off at canter towards it. A misty, wet haze soon fell over the grass as they ran, hovering just over the tops of the grass, so the field became something romantic and mysterious.
As she ran, Rainbow Dash glanced in Applejack’s direction, catching her eye, and saw just the barest hint of a smirk. Rainbow Dash grinned back. And just like that, without a word spoken between them, they both broke out into a gallop, each set on reaching the tree before the other.
Rainbow Dash quickly pulled ahead. She could have flown, but that wouldn’t have been fair. It was hardly fair already. Her hooves splashed in growing puddles of water with each stride, the rain stung her eyes and face as she pounded through the grass, and the wind ripped at her mane and tail. Abruptly, Applejack ran up alongside and ahead of her. Rainbow shot her a mock-glare, but spotted a puddle ahead of them and smiled. She jumped in the air and landed in the water, sending a spatter of rain water at Applejack that brought the farm pony to a stumbling stop.
“Hey!” Applejack cried, wiping water out of her eyes. “That’s cheatin’.”
Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out at her.
Applejack’s mouth scowled but her eyes smiled. Rainbow Dash knew that look. It was on.
In an instant, they both started running again. But Applejack didn’t run for the tree. Instead, she sprinted straight for a large puddle in Rainbow Dash’s path. She didn’t so much jump into the puddle as she threw herself into it, bringing her full weight crashing down into the water just as Rainbow Dash came to it, and launched a wave at the pegasus. Rainbow didn’t see it until it was too late. The water hit her full in the face. She tripped and sputtered, shaking rain out of her wings.
Applejack laughed, and Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, just managing to hold back a laugh of her own.
They ran back and forth across the field, from puddle to puddle. Rainbow Dash ducked beneath flying mud, and jumped over hurtling rainwater, dodging left and right as she tore through the wet grass, searching out the next puddle, Applejack ducking and jumping and dodging alongside her. Rainbow dragged her wings through the rising water to hurl it at Applejack, before rolling out of the way just as Applejack flung another splash of water into the air with her tail. More often than not, she didn’t roll out of the way in time as she skipped in and out of muddy puddles, and the water soon poured from her muzzle and wings.
After getting hit by an especially big wave, she saw Applejack trip and fall hard on her side. She didn’t get up.
Rainbow Dash ran to her. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah.” Applejack groaned and sat up on her haunches. She coughed. “Just got the wind knocked out of me is all.”
Rainbow Dash held out a hoof to help her up. “Sorry. Truce?”
Applejack took her hoof and stood up. “Truce.”
Applejack was a mess. Her mane, tail, and coat all were matted with mud, and her hide was absolutely soaked through. The rain struck her head and flowed down her face, and neck, and back in miniature streams as the wind whipped all around her. Rainbow Dash glanced down at herself and realized she didn’t look any better.
They trotted to the tree. Rainbow Dash had never before so fully understood what ponies meant when they used the phrase soaked to the bone. The cold had set in, and she shivered as she walked, dripping water and panting heavily. Applejack pressed up against her side, sharing her warmth. Dash looked over, and Applejack smiled back at her. Rainbow Dash stayed close. They both walked slower.
When they reached the the tree, they pulled apart. Only a few, slow drops made it through the dense cover of leaves. Rainbow Dash shook her neck and wings like a dog, while Applejack flicked mud off of her hat and wrung water out of her mane. Her long, straw-colored mane slicked to her coat, trailing down her neck and over her back, accenting her curves in a way that made Rainbow Dash blush just to look at her. Applejack noticed her staring, and Rainbow quickly turned away.
She opened the basket. The blanket dripped water, and the rest of the food was wet. “Aww, all the food’s ruined,” she said, dropping the basket on the ground.
Applejack sidled up alongside her, her eyes half-lidded. “I can think of somethin’ else we could eat.” She leaned in and kissed Rainbow Dash’s neck.
“Heh, y-yeah...” Dash stammered. She stepped away, and Applejack stepped closer. Dash sighed. “Look, Applejack, this isn’t all you want me for, right? A mouthful of feathers in bed? If all you want is my flank, that’s fine, I guess, but could you just say it?”
“What? ‘Course not. Why would you think that?”
“Well, you know, with all the whispering in my ear, and getting up in my face, stuff like that, it sort of seems like it.”
“Well, I do want your flanks,” Applejack said with a chuckle. “I’m not gonna lie about that. That’s hardly the only thing I like you for, but it helps.”
“Okay, it’s just—you know, that’s sort of one of the ways my other marefriends were sucky.”
Applejack frowned. “I’m sorry. I told ya though, I’m gonna be better than them. I can wait ‘till you’re ready.”
“All right... cool.” Rainbow Dash sat down and leaned against the tree. Applejack came and sat beside her. “So, uh, if it’s not my flank, what do you like me for?” Rainbow Dash immediately regretted asking that. If Applejack didn’t think she was a needy loser before, she must have now. “Um, not that it matters,” she amended quickly.
Applejack didn’t say anything for a while, and Rainbow Dash hoped she simply hadn’t heard. “I know Rarity’s only jokin’ around,” Applejack finally said, quietly, looking out into the rain. “But she’s right, and it bugs me sometimes. I want somepony to be with too... Every now and then, I get a little lonely.” She laughed and shook her head. “I bet that sounds crazy. I’ve never been alone, not really. I’ve always had family around, and I’ve got you girls now. But when I wake up in the morning, and go out into the orchard—I love doin’ it, and I don’t mind the work—but every now and then I can’t help feelin’ like I’m on my own out there, and that I’m not gettin’ anywhere.”
Rainbow Dash listened. It felt strange to listen. She was almost always the one doing the talking, but now she suddenly felt that Applejack was sharing something private and secret, and sharing it just with her. She was both a bit proud and a bit embarrassed that Applejack considered her this close a friend. So she kept her mouth shut and listened.
“Whenever you train, you’re workin’ at somethin’, right?” Applejack continued. “You’re gonna be a Wonderbolt, and that’s what you’re workin’ for. Sometimes it feels like I’m not workin’ for anything. It’s not true, and I know it’s not true, but it’s still there, in my head. I want somepony I can work for. Somepony who I can look forward to just sittin’ down and talkin’ to and havin’ fun with at the end of the day, so it feels like I’m workin’ towards something.” She turned to Rainbow Dash. “I’m bein’ thick, aren’t I?”
“No, not at all,” Dash replied earnestly. “I get it.”
Applejack smiled. “Well, that’s it. I like you because you’re fast, and you’re beautiful, and you’re fun. I always work harder when I know I’m gonna get to see you when I’m done.”
“Oh.” Rainbow Dash’s face flushed, and she turned away to hide her blush. “So, uh, it doesn’t have anything to do with all that stuff you said at Sugarcube Corner the other day?” she asked, feeling relieved.
“No, it has everythin’ to do with that. I was serious when I asked you then. I know ponies have been sayin’ we should get together for a long time, but I never really thought about it ‘till then. When I said all that stuff about who I wanted, and then I looked at you, I realized I couldn’t find a better marefriend than you no matter how hard I tried. I don’t think I’d ever mind workin’ again if I knew it meant I was goin’ to get to see you.”
“But I can’t do any of that stuff you said,” Rainbow Dash said quietly, still turned away.
“What? ‘Course you can. You already have.”
“No I can’t!” Rainbow Dash cried, finally facing her again. “You think I’m some kind of Super Marefriend, and that I’m perfect, and I can be everything you want me to be, and I’m just not, and I just can’t. I knew this was a stupid idea.”
Applejack squinted at her. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“I told you already!” Dash nearly shouted, beating her wings and rising into the air. “I’m lazy, okay? I like being taken care of sometimes, and I’m not gonna be able to stick by you no matter what. I’m not Super Marefriend...”
Applejack laughed, and smiled so pleasantly that Rainbow Dash was hardly able to stay upset. “Is that all?” she asked. “I don’t want Super Marefriend. I want Rainbow Dash. I told you before that I don’t expect you to be anypony but yourself.”
“But what about all that other stuff?”
“First of all, you’re not lazy,” Applejack said, still smiling. “You act lazy. There’s a difference. You work when you know you have to, whenever somepony needs ya, and no pony can be as good a flier as you are without havin’ to work at it. I’ve seen you practice. I know you’re not just playin’ around up there.”
Rainbow Dash reached to scratch her neck, and then stopped herself when she realized what she was doing. She fidgeted in the air instead. “Well, yeah...”
“And I know you’ve been takin’ care of yourself for a long time. I have to, and I know it can be hard sometimes. I don’t mind takin’ some of the load off for ya, so long as you’re willin’ to do the same for me.”
“So... you, uh, wouldn’t mind rubbing my wings sometimes when they’re sore?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking up.
Applejack laughed. “I’d love to, but you have to rub my hooves sometimes when they’re sore too.”
Dash considered that for a moment. “Deal.”
“And when have you ever given up on anypony ever?”
“Um, I don’t know...”
“When Spike ran off to join that dragon migration, you went after him, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but so did Twilight and Rarity.”
“When Cloudsdale put you in charge of that tornado water thing, and Fluttershy was the only pegasus who didn’t join up, you didn’t give up on her, even up to the very end, did you?”
“No, but we’re friends.”
Applejack smirked. “And when I ran off after I lost the rodeo that time, didn’t you come for me? Even after I tried to run away again?”
Rainbow Dash chewed the inside of her cheek. “Yeah.”
“You don’t know how to give up on somepony. It’s just not in your nature. You’d stick by me just because you don’t know any other way to be.”
Rainbow Dash slowly lowered herself back to the ground. “Okay, but I can’t raise foals, Applejack. I really can’t, and we both know that.”
Applejack chuckled. “How many excuses are you gonna come up with? No wonder you took so long to say yes. While I was thinkin’ of all the reasons we could be together, you’ve been sitting around all day thinkin’ of all the reasons we couldn’t, and convincing yourself we wouldn’t work, haven’t you?”
“Oh, come on.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I might be able to do that other stuff, but there’s no way I can have a foal.”
“I’m not askin’ ya to have a foal with me right this second.”
“Yeah, but sooner or later you will, and when you do, I’m still not gonna be able to,” Dash said, pointing at her like it was an accusation.
Applejack nodded, unperturbed. “Yeah, that’s right. I thought about that too. I thought about all the ponies I know, and I realized that of all of them, you’re the pony I’d want to raise a family with.”
“You’re crazy.” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Why?”
“For the same reason,” Applejack replied. “I don’t know what it takes to be a parent. I don’t expect anypony does until they’ve actually tried. But I do know you, and I know what you can do. You never give up on anypony, and that means you’d never give up on our foal. You’d do anything and everything, whatever it takes, to keep them safe. I know that, and I reckon I can’t think of anything more I’d want for my foal. Everything that makes you a good pony would make you a good parent too.”
“Oh,” Rainbow Dash said after a while, because she couldn’t think of anything else to say. Maybe, just maybe, she could be with Applejack, and raise a foal with her eventually, and get her wings rubbed sometimes, and everything would be okay. She smiled. “I think you’d be a good mom too.”
“Thanks.” Applejack smirked. “Now, do you have any other excuses why we can’t be together? Or is that it?”
“Uh, I guess that’s it.”
“Good, then come back over here and sit with me,” Applejack said, patting the spot beside her.
Rainbow Dash walked over and sat next to Applejack. She had forgotten how wet and cold she was until she felt Applejack next to her. Applejack was warm and soft. She got closer, leaning into the farm pony, and Applejack leaned back into her.
“Sorry for ruining your picnic.”
“Sugarcube, I can honestly say this went better than I ever could’ve hoped it would.”
Slowly, Rainbow Dash worked up the courage to rest her her head on Applejack’s shoulder. Applejack sighed appreciatively in response and nestled closer to her.
“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said, looking up. “We’re gonna go out again, right? Like, together?”
“Yup.”
“Cool... I can still take you flying when this rain stops, if you want.”
Applejack smiled. “I can’t wait.”
As they sat quietly together beneath the tree, listening to the rain fall down on the grassy field, Rainbow Dash stretched her wing out and curled it around Applejack’s side. Applejack leaned down and nuzzled her neck, and that stupid tickling feeling filled Dash's stomach and fluttered in her chest. They were both damp, and tired, and cold, but Rainbow Dash thought that was okay so long as they were damp, and tired, and cold together.
“Hey, AJ?” Dash asked as her eyelids grew heavy.
“Hmm?”
“This definitely seems like the part of the date where you would kiss me.”
Applejack smiled. “If you insist.” She reached a hoof out to turn Rainbow Dash’s head and kissed her on the lips. A comfortable, soft heat passed between them, warming Dash’s chest. She broke the kiss, and nuzzled into Applejack’s neck.
“Hey, AJ?”
“Hmm?”
“We totally get to sit here and make out now, right?”
“Yeah.” Applejack chuckled. “Until the rain stops. Then you’re takin’ me flyin’.”
“Sweet.”
And so that’s just what they did. They made out beneath the cover of an old tree, while the rain fell all around them, on a lonely, misty, grassy field.