Rainbow Dash froze, all except her mouth which was flapping uselessly. She wasn't sure she had heard correctly.
'Y...you what?' she questioned.
'Ah said...ah love you...' Applejack repeated. Rainbow Dash felt herself getting hot behind the ears. Her brain was whirring- what to do? What to say?
'Y...you...love me? Like...love, love?' she asked. Applejack nodded. Rainbow was stunned, the sudden admission coming out of the blue.
'W...well...I mean, that's...that's flattering and all, but...well, I'm not into mares,' she said, smiling weakly. She's the Element of Honesty. She won't think I'm lying, right?
Applejack swallowed hard again.
'Ah...damn it...ah'm sorry, ah should never have said anything,' she stuttered, looking away. 'Now ah've gone and made a fool a' mahself...' Rainbow thought she could see tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She didn't think she'd ever seen Applejack cry before.
'No, no! It...it's fine, I mean...it was just...I wasn't expecting it, you know? I just...don't see you in that way,' she said. Tears were running down Applejack's face now.
'Ah'm sorry...ah'm sorry...' Applejack repeated. 'Ah just...ah had ta say something. I...it was torturin' me...' she sobbed. Rainbow moved round the table and put a hoof round her shoulders, her mind racing.
'It's ok, Applejack...it won't change anything. It'll just...take a little getting used to. Please don't cry...' The orange mare looked up at her friend, wiping away tears from her now disheveled face with a hoof.
'Really?' she said, sniffling.
'Really. Element of Loyalty, remember? I'd never abandon my friends.'
'But now ah've gone and made a fool a' mahself, and...and...'
She burst into tears again. Rainbow hugged her tightly.
'It's alright, AJ. It won't change anything, I promise. We'll still be best friends, we'll still do all the stuff we did before. It won't change a thing,' she said. 'You did the right thing, telling me. It's OK...please don't cry...'
Her tears flowed freely as Rainbow tried to comfort her, her own mind spinning. Damn it, Applejack...
'Ah'm sorry..' Applejack repeated again. 'How could ah be so dumb...'
'It's OK, AJ. It's ok, I promise...' She held her friend in her hooves while she cried. She didn't know what to do next. After a few minutes, Applejack pulled away from her.
'I...I could go...if you wanted me to,' Rainbow said, as much for her own sake as Applejack's. She needed some time to think.
'M...maybe that'd...be best...' AJ said, still sobbing, her face buried in her hooves. Rainbow had never seen her like this. Never seen anypony like this.
'Alright...see you tomorrow?' she said, moving slowly to the door. Applejack looked up at her with bloodshot eyes.
'Maybe...ah don't know...'
'Alright then,' Rainbow said, trying to smile comfortingly and only half succeeding. She let herself out, closing the door behind her. Inside, Applejack slumped over the table, head in her hooves, and cried.
Rainbow Dash breathed deeply, the crisp night air filling her lungs.
'Buck...damn it, AJ...' she sighed quietly. She spread her wings and launched herself into the air, heading for a bulky cloud not far away. She alighted gently and lay down on the soft, fluffy material. Her mind was a mass of conflicting emotions, a whirling, gyrating tornado of thoughts.
'Damn it, Applejack..'
After a half-dozen mugs of hard cider, Applejack lay on her bed. Her face was sore from all the crying, the pillow soaked. She thought the alcohol might have helped with the pain, but all it had done was make her need to get up and go to the bathroom twice.
What have I done? Why did I do it? What's she going to think of me? What's everypony else going to think of me? No matter how hard she tried, sleep would not come to Applejack. Her head was spinning, and not just from the alcohol. She lay there, just thinking. Thinking about one thing. The same thing that had been in her thoughts every night for as long as she could remember.
Rainbow Dash sighed again. This was no good. She had to get away. Away from here, away from...her. Somewhere less familiar. She had to get away.
She spread her wings again and flapped into the sky, heading north, away from town. She flew, climbing higher and higher, the air getting cooler around her, the moon bright above her, the ground falling away beneath her. Then, as abruptly as she had begun, she stopped.
'Damn it, AJ...'
She turned around and headed back to town.
Awoken suddenly from her sleep, her face pressed tightly against the pillow, she wasn't sure if she really heard the first knock.
But she definitely heard the second. Somepony at the door. No...at the window!
She rose slowly, unsteadily from the bed, her head still stuffy. Who the hay could this be? Drawing back the curtains, her eyes widened.
'Uh...hi?' Rainbow Dash grinned sheepishly.
'Rainbow...what are you doing here?' Applejack asked, a look of confusion on her face.
'I...need to talk to you,' she said. 'Can you let me in? It's kinda chilly out here.' Applejack opened the window and Rainbow Dash flapped inside, landing on the floor beside her.
'Why are you here?' Applejack asked, her voice almost emotionless. Rainbow looked at the floor, then slowly raised her head and looked Applejack in the eye.
'I...came to say sorry.'
Applejack blinked.
'What for? You have nothin' to be sorry fer...you did nothin' wrong.' Rainbow licked her lips.
'Yes, I did. I lied.'
'You lied? A...about what?' AJ asked, emotion beginning to return to her voice.
'About...not liking mares,' Rainbow explained. 'I...I know how ponies talk. I know what they all say about me. Well, it's true. I guess...I just didn't want to confirm it, you know? I was scared to admit it to anypony, even my best friend.' She stared into Applejack's eyes.
'That's not the only thing I lied about, either...' Applejack swallowed.
'W..what else?' she asked, her voice trembling.
Rainbow Dash said nothing. Instead, she kissed her.
Applejack was stunned. Just like that, it seemed as though all her dreams had come true. Out of nowhere, Rainbow had come back, after telling her she didn't love her, and now...here she was, telling an entirely different story with her mouth. She was sure it must be a sick joke. She took in every detail of the kiss, sure it would be the only one she would ever get from the mare she loved.
After a moment, Rainbow Dash broke the kiss just long enough to say;
'I...I love you too, Applejack.'
'R...really?' the farmpony asked. 'Y..yer not just sayin' that ta make me feel better, are ya?' Rainbow shook her head vehemently.
'No...I really mean it. I'm sorry, about before...I just...it was so sudden, and I was...just being a coward. I've been wondering for a long time how I could tell you how I felt, but...I...I guess I thought it was best if I kept quiet. I thought there was no way you'd be interested, and...well, I didn't want the whole town knowing all those rumours were true.' She blushed.
Applejack felt tears forming in her eyes again. This was really happening. Rainbow Dash took her hoof tenderly.
'I'm so, so sorry I put you through all that, AJ. I...I was just being my usual selfish...self. I was only thinking about me, not about you...like I should have done. D...do you forgive me?' Applejack looked away, thought for a moment, then returned her gaze to her friend's eyes.
'Of course ah do, ah can't stay mad at you...heck, ah think if you'd told me first, ah'd a' done the same mahself.' Hearing those words, Rainbow's eyes began to glisten with wetness as tears started to run down her cheeks. She threw her hooves round Applejack, holding her tightly and nuzzling against her neck, both of them crying now. They held each other for a while before Rainbow Dash broke the silence.
'I love you, Applejack.'
'Ah love you too, Rainbow.'
Maybe this didn't turn out so bad after all.