Chapter 2: A Dark and Stormy Night
The night in Ponyville was clear and still, not even a gentle wind to rustle trees was blowing. The only thing calmer then the weather was the sleeping inhabitants of the village, many of whom were dreaming.
However, at Sweet Apple Acres, there was one pony that was tossing and turning in her sleep. She wasn’t dreaming as much as reliving a vivid memory…
* * *
“Hey, Rarity, are ya asleep yet?” Applejack asked her bedfellow in a hushed tone.
“No, the storm keeps waking me up.” Rarity whispered back through the darkness of Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom.
“Same with me. This sure is one doozy of a downpour that the pegasus ponies made tonight.” Applejack thought back to beginning of the evening.
The squall outside had forced the two to take refuge in the Ponyville Library. This led to an impromptu slumber party, Twilight Sparkle’s first in fact. It had gotten off to a rocky start and then got worse through Rarity’s and Applejack’s bickering. However, after the quarrelling pair had cleared away the giant tree branch, they patched up their differences and apologized to Twilight Sparkle for their behavior. The trio of friends spent the rest of the evening playing games, drinking hot chocolate and ended it by going to bed. But sleep hadn’t come to Rarity and Applejack as easily as Twilight Sparkle.
The symphony of storm noises prevented the two ponies that shared the one guest bed from drifting to sleep. The wind howled and shook the hollow tree that was the library. The rain beat against the windows, making a pitter-patter sound. Then there was the thunder and lightning…
A simultaneous flash and boom scared the two into each other’s legs, their hearts pounding from the adrenaline rush of being frightened. The vice grip they had on one another loosened after a moment, but they were still in a hug when Rarity spoke.
“I’m sorry to keep doing that, it’s just that the thunder’s so loud that it startles me.” The unicorn pony apologized to her friend in a quiet voice.
“Oh, don’t ya fret any. It scares me too.” The earth pony replied in a sympathetic tone.
“I must say that I’m surprised to see you frightened by it. I thought the only thing that you were afraid of was formal attire.” Rarity said sarcastically.
Applejack chuckled at the quip. “And I thought that the only thing ya were afraid of was mud.” The pair shared a laugh until another thunderclap scared them again, making them tighten their grasps once more. Their fear soon subsided, but they didn’t undo themselves like before. A soft giggle came from Rarity.
“What’s so funny?” Applejack asked suspiciously.
“Nothing, it’s just that I always wanted to be in this exact situation. Only with a different pony is all.”
“What in the hay are ya talkin’ about?” Applejack replied indignantly. She did not like being the punch line of a joke.
“It’s just that I believed I’d be in the warming embrace of my dream stallion during a storm like this. He would hold me tighter each time the thunder sounded. I’d pretend to be more scared than I really was, just to have him pull me closer. He’d know that it was a ploy, but he wouldn’t complain about it. A gentlecolt never would.” A sigh escaped Rarity’s lips as she relished the most romantic image and storyline her mind could think of.
Remembering where she was and who she was with, Rarity giggled ever so slightly. “Oh, listen to me prattle on about such a thing. I’m sorry darling, I didn’t mean to insult you.”
“It’s all right, sugar cube.” Applejack said in relief. “I know that ya really got yer heart set on meetin’ Prince Charming when we all go to the Grand Gallopin’ Gala in a few months.” The marmalade colored mare felt a soft hoof caress her cheek, making the hairs in her mane stand on end.
“Thank you for understanding, Applejack. To be honest, I hope that my Prince Charming is a little bit like you”
“Wha…Wha…Whaddya mean?” Applejack saw a twinkle in Rarity’s blue eyes form. The coy grin on the unicorn’s face grew wider as she started to talk.
“Well, you see a prince needs to be more than just handsome, brave, and rich. He needs to be honest and honorable, just like you were tonight. I knew that I should have helped you when the tree branch came crashing through the window, but I was angry at you for not listening to me in the first place. I wanted to teach you a lesson about being reckless. But when you swallowed your pride and pleaded for my help, you taught me that I was substituting selfishness for stubbornness.” Rarity squeezed her friend tight in gratitude.
Applejack was flummoxed by Rarity’s tenderness, she didn’t know how to react. She tried to defuse her confusion by inserting conversation. “I’m…plum grateful that yer willin’ to admit…” The hoof on Applejack’s cheek moved to her lips, effectively quieting her.
“Please, Applejack, just let me compliment you.” Rarity pleaded with her in a serene voice. “I know that you want to be modest, so you needn’t worry about offending me. I just want to let you know that my dream stallion should have some of the same attributes as one of my dearest friends.”
Applejack felt Rarity’s lips on her freckles before the earth pony had time to notice her friend had drawn herself in even closer than before. The kiss was quick and to the point. Thank you for being a friend. Still, Applejack’s heart skipped a beat, her stomach somersaulted and she had to remind herself to breathe.
Applejack reflexively touched the spot where she was kissed. The sensation that she had from before repeated itself, a little more tempered this time. She relived the experience in her mind countless times, until it had faded enough to the point that her brain could form actual thoughts again.
“What am I feelin’?” Applejack asked herself. She had never felt anything like it before. Such displays of affection were unusual to her. She had grown up on a farm. It was hard work. It bred hard ponies. She knew her family loved her, but they never expressed themselves like Rarity just had. In the Apple family, noogies and less-than-hard punches took the place of hugs and kisses. What Rarity had just done was alien to Applejack, but it caused her to feel something that she never had before.
However, as the elation from the kiss receded, uncertainty started to fill the thought vacuum. Applejack knew that she couldn’t have experienced the physical response she just had without emotion behind it. She tried to think of what emotion could cause this stirring inside her. When she realized which one, the farm pony disbelieved what her own heart and mind was telling her.
“It can’t be love. It don’t make sense. It was just a kiss among friends, it’s not what I think it is.” Applejack tried to convince herself. She tried her hardest to push the notion out of her head, but instead it grew with the speed and ferocity of a wild fire.
There was also the fact that Rarity was a mare like her. Applejack wasn’t attracted to mares. She liked stallions, that was why she dated them. But when Applejack thought back to the dates she had had, she remembered that they never amounted to much. There was always something missing, a spark that she had never felt before. Was what she felt just now that spark that had been missing the whole time?
Rarity snuggled her herself closer to Applejack. The unicorn pony had fallen asleep while Applejack tried to sort out her emotional quandary. Applejack wondered if her friend found herself so safe in the hard working earth pony’s legs that she could sleep soundly in spite of the storm. She listened to the slow and delicate breathing of Rarity’s slumber. She felt the softness of the ivory mare’s coat and detected the faint pleasant smell of lavender and lilacs.
Applejack didn’t want to think of Rarity in such a way anymore. She gently rolled onto her back, releasing her still sleeping friend from the embrace, even though one of her legs was still trapped under Rarity’s head. She was mentally exhausted from trying to sort out her feelings. “Yer just confused is all.” Applejack consoled herself as she closed her eyes, desperately wanting to sleep away the anxiety in her mind. “Don’t think nothin’ of that kiss. It’s just a fancy. It’ll be over before ya know it, AJ. Heck, it might even be gone by the time ya wake up…”
* * *
The croon of the Sweet Apple Acres’ rooster roused Applejack from her troubled slumber. She lifted her head off the pillow and looked out the window to see the orange rays of dawn as the sun started its ascent in the sky. The earth pony had slept fitfully, she always did when she dreamt about the time she had shared a bed with Rarity. The dream affected her so much that when she woke from it, she had been sleeping in only half of her bed. She had had it on and off for the past few months, but ever since the Grand Galloping Gala, she was now having the dream every night.
The Grand Galloping Gala…
Applejack had such high hopes for it, but it was a bigger disappointment then she could have feared. While being unable to sell her wares was bad enough, what happened between Rarity and Prince Blueblood was the worst part. Had the relationship been successful, Applejack was certain she wouldn’t be feeling this way. She would look at the two of them and be happy for Rarity’s sake. As it was though, Prince Blueblood turned out to be a louse, and Rarity chastised him for it. It was evident that Rarity would still be single for the foreseeable future.
It was that future that had Applejack’s mind muddled. She just wanted everything to make sense. She didn’t care about her own orientation anymore because she knew what Rarity meant to her. She desperately wanted to tell the gorgeous white mare about her feelings, but the fear of rejection trumped Applejack’s bravery. She didn’t know what she should do. If she told Rarity how she felt, would her affections be returned?
Applejack got out of bed, walked to her dresser and opened the top drawer. Among her socks and sweaters was a piece of violet felt fabric. It was a scrap of torn drapery that was taken from the palace in Canterlot. It had been folded to make it into a small sack, holding inside the other thing that Applejack took that night. She didn’t undo it, because if she did, her heartache would be even worse than it was now.
“I can’t keep doin’ this to myself.” Applejack whispered to herself. “I’m tired of havin’ my emotions eat me up inside. I’m fed up with all this uncertainty.” The mental block that she had tried to keep for so long finally crumbled, she could no longer justify it anymore. In the solitude of her bedroom, Applejack resolved that she would confess her love to Rarity, regardless of the consequences.
A pecking sound came from her window, snapping the tangerine mare out of her daze. She glanced over to see a bird tapping at her window with a piece of rolled paper in its beak. Applejack closed the dresser drawer, walked across the room and pushed the window open. The bird flew in and unfurled the paper, which Applejack saw to be a note.
“Dear Applejack, if it’s not too much trouble for you, I would like to have a pack of apple juice delivered to my cottage. I’m sorry to impose on you like this, but if you’re not too busy, I would like it as soon as possible please. Thank you so much, and again, I’m so sorry to be a bother to you. Fluttershy”
Giving herself only a moment to put on her Stetson hat, Applejack trotted out of her room to fulfill her friend’s request. Sprinting downstairs, the earth pony threw on her saddlebag and placed inside a cardboard carton filled with six glass bottles of her family’s homemade apple juice. She walked outside and headed in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage. She was glad to have the momentary distraction, but she was still mindful of the promise she had made.