//------------------------------//
// A Hearth's Warming to Remember 
// Story: A Hearth's Warming to Remember 
// by Raidah 
//------------------------------//

     Rainbow Dash awoke from her midday nap, high in the sky on her solitary cloud. Rainbow had a perfect view of Ponyville from here. She stretched her legs as she stood up, then her wings, and she looked down upon the snow covered town.
It was a nice day, for winter standards, the sun was shining and there was barely a cloud in the sky. All the better for Rainbow, who wasn't in the mood for weather patrol today. She'd much rather spend time with Applejack, whom she has had a crush on since the day they met, all those years ago.
Normally, Rainbow wouldn't have thought about anypony this way, but Applejack was an exception. Her beautiful golden mane, her gorgeous emerald eyes, that thick, country accent. All of it drove Rainbow over the edge.
Rainbow sighed as she thought of Applejack, and smiled. She had to tell her how she felt, but how?
"Wait a sec..." Rainbow said to herself, "It's Hearth's Warming Eve tomorrow." She grinned even wider as she realized what she could do. "I know..." she said, and silently took off from her cloud to look for Applejack.

Applejack kicked the tree as hard as she could, causing all of the snow to fall to the ground.
"Finished." she said, panting hard.
She had been out since before dawn, bucking the snow out of every single tree in the orchard one by one. Sure it was cold out, but she could take it, or so she thought. It was the coldest day Ponyville had ever seen, well below the average winter temperatures, and the only protection from the cold that AJ brought with her was a scarf, counting on the excess exercise to keep her warm.
Now, her legs were shivering uncontrollably, and she felt like she was going to pass out. Her entire body was numb from ear to hoof.
"B-best be g-gettin' home now." she said to herself, her breath foggy in the cold air.
She was well over an hour's walk from the farmhouse, but she might not even make it. She started walking in the direction of her home, and slipped a couple of times. The third time she slipped, she fell, and couldn't find the strength to get up. She layed in the snow, awaiting Death's cold hands to come and drag her to the underworld.
"Applejack!" she heard a voice yell.
It was female, and sounded like it came from above her. She tried to look up, but collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"AJ!" Rainbow Dash yelled, watching her friend collapse to the ground.
She landed next to Applejack, who was laying on her side, her eyes closed and her breathing slow and shallow. Rainbow Dash nudged Applejack's shoulder, and her skin was cold to the touch. She placed a hoof on Applejack's neck to check for a pulse. It was there, but her heart rate was slowing.
"No... no no no no no NO!!!" Rainbow yelled, picking up and hugging Applejack, who still wouldn't respond. "AJ, don't go. Not now." Rainbow Dash sobbed.
Then, Rainbow realized that the hospital wasn't that far away from here. She could easily make it there in no time. She carefully picked up Applejack, and sped for the hospital.

When Applejack opened her eyes, all she could see was a big, white blur. But as her vision swam into focus, and she could see that it was just the lights on the ceiling. Wait, ceiling? As she focused more she could see that she was in a room with white walls, and she was laying on a bed of some sort. She tried to turn her head to look around, but it hurt to move, even to breathe, and she was cold. So cold. She started to speak, but her voice was weak and raspy, and she stuttered a bit.
"H-hello?" she said.
"Hello Applejack." a soft, female voice replied, and then Nurse Redheart's head poked into Applejack's field of vision from the left.
"N-nurse Redh-heart?" Applejack stuttered. "What's goin' on? Where am Ah?"
"Don't worry Applejack, you're in the hospital. You nearly froze to death, but your friend Rainbow Dash got you here just in time." Redheart explained.
"R-rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked, relieved. "Where is she?"
"Right here." Rainbow Dash said, appearing right next to Redheart. "How you doing AJ?"
"The usual." Applejack said. "Jus' a bit cold is all."
Nurse Redheart put a hoof to her earpiece and looked away for a moment.
"Alright... right away." she said, turning to Rainbow Dash. "I have to go attend to an emergency, can you keep an eye on Applejack for me?"
"No problem." Rainbow said.
"Thanks, I'll be back in a few minutes." Redheart said before trotting out the door.
Rainbow Dash sat on the bed next to Applejack, who slowly turned her head to follow her.
"You okay?" Rainbow said, looking down on Applejack with a concerned look in her eyes.
"Yeah, Ah'm fine. Jus' hurts a bit ta move." Applejack replied.
"Good..." Rainbow said. She wanted, no, she needed to tell Applejack what was going on in her head, and she might not get a much better chance than she has right now.
"AJ..." she began.
"Yeah?"
"You remember the first day we met, right?"
"O'course Ah do. Don't think Ah'll ever forget it." Applejack said, recalling the day. "You were racin' some big shot colt who had a bigger ego than you. Jus' so happened that Ah was crossin' the road at the same time you two came speedin' down it like a couple o' bullets. He missed me fine, but you crashed headlong inta' me. Scared me half to death, and nearly broke mah back. But by the way you apologized, Ah knew we'd end up to be good friends." She smiled. "Somehow..."
"Yep." Rainbow said. "But there's something else. On that day, I met a filly who would take a special place in my heart."
"Awww, shucks sugarcube." Applejack said.
"I'm not done." Rainbow said. "I became good friends with that filly, and I watched her grow into the mare that she is today. And with each passing day, I love that mare more and more." she looked at Applejack, who didn't seem to grasp Rainbow's meaning. "I love you, Applejack." She said, and let it sink in for a minute.
Applejack's emotions were a blur inside her head.
"You... love me?" She said, still trying to regain control of her senses.
"Yeah, that's what I said." Rainbow confirmed.
"Wow... Ah don't know what to say..." Applejack stammered.
"Then don't say anything." Rainbow said, leaning down and pressing her lips agains Applejack's.
At first, Applejack was afraid, but Rainbow Dash's warmth spread from her lips to her chest, and she closed her eyes and kissed Rainbow back. She wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow Dash, who leaned in closer, pressing their bodies together. Rainbow slid her left hind leg in between Applejack's, and they lay there on the bed, kissing and holding each other.
"Ahem." A voice said.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack break apart with a smack and turn to see who it was. A few feet away, Nurse Redheart stood, a shocked but serious expression on her face.
"Am I interrupting something?" Redheart asked, a little embarrassed.
"Uh... no, nothing." Rainbow Dash said, moving to get up, but Applejack held her down.
"Actually, ya kinda are." AJ said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Well, I'm sorry." Redheart said, backing away slightly. "But I need to speak to Rainbow Dash, alone."
"Alright." Rainbow said, pushing off of Applejack, who released her grasp. She slid off of the bed, and looked at Redbeart. "What is it?" She asked.
"In the hall please." Redheart said, turning around and starting for the hall, motioning for Rainbow Dash to follow.
Once in the hall, Rainbow looked intently into Nurse Redheart's eyes.
"What?" She said.
"It's, about Applejack." Redheart said.
"What about her?" Rainbow said.
"She's suffering from a very severe case of hypothermia, her heart is failing. It's a wonder how shes even awake right now." The nurse pony said.
"What are you saying?" Rainbow asked, puzzled.
"What I'm saying is... she's dying." Redheart said.
Rainbow was struck dumb by that. Her eyes widened, her ears flopped and her jaw hung loosely. In Redheart's eyes she could see sympathy and sorrow.
"She's... she's d-dying?" Rainbow said, trying to regain control over her senses.
"I'm sorry, she may have two hours at the most." The nurse pony said, a saddened expression on her face.
"Are you sure? She seems fine." Rainbow said, not wanting to accept the truth.
"On the outside, yes. But her body temperature is way too low for her heart to keep beating for long."
Rainbow Dash's eyes started to water up, her vision blurry from the tears that she knew would soon be pouring down her face. "Is there anything you can do?" She pleaded.
Nurse Redheart scrunched up her face for a minute, thinking. "Maybe... If we can raise her body temperature to a suitable level, she might survive it. But I have to do it slowly. There are heaters inside her bed, those might do the trick."
"Please." Rainbow sobbed. "I can't lose her, nopony can lose her."
Nurse Redheart sighed, then said, "I'll try."
"Thank you." Rainbow Dash said beneath the tears, which were now tears of hope, rather than sorrow.
Redheart nodded, then went back into Applejack's room, motioning for Rainbow to wait by the door. Applejack saw the nurse pony entering her room, and sat up as best she could.
"Where's Rainbow?" Applejack asked.
"She's out in the hall." Redheart reassured her.
"What's goin' on?" Applejack asked.
"I'm goin to try something that might save your life." Redheart said calmly. "Just relax." She walked up to the bed, and crouched down to look at the control panel.
She flipped the small switch that controlled the heaters, and the heaters came to life with a small hum. She looked at Applejack, and said, "Please lay down."
Applejack did, and instantly felt the warmth of the heaters. She closed her eyes as the pleasurable warmth heated her freezing body. Redheart payed close attention to Applejack's heart monitor, which was displayed along with her other vital signs on a small screen on the wall. She watched as the motions displayed by the heart monitor changed from unsafe and irratic spasms, to a regular heartbeat.
Redheart sighed in relief, and turned off the heaters. Applejack opened her eyes again, and sat up to see what was going on.
"What is it Nurse Redheart?" She asked, confused as to why the nurse had turned off the heaters.
"It worked. Your heart rate returned to normal, you're going to live." Nurse Redheart said.
"Wait, what? 'Live'? Jus' what the hay are ya talkin' about?" Applejack demanded.
"Your heart was beating at an irregular and highly dangerous pace due to the lack of body heat. If I didn't just heat you up like that, you would have died in less than an hour." Redheart explained calmly.
"Oh... well in that case, Ah guess Ah owe you a 'thank you'." Applejack said.
"Just doing my job." Redheart said with a casual grin. Then, turning to the door. "Rainbow Dash? You can come in now." She called, and the cyan pegasus stepped through the door.
"Did you do it? Did you save her?" Rainbow said, worry shaking her voice.
"See for yourself." Redheart said, stepping aside to let Rainbow have a clear view of Applejack.
"AJ!" Rainbow almost screamed, rushing over and hugging Applejack.
Rainbow Dash looked Applejack in the eyes. AJ moved in before Rainbow could protest, and the two shared a passionate kiss.
Redheart just smiled as she slowly crept out of the room. Closing the door behind her as quietly as she could.
Applejack broke the kiss and made eye contact with Rainbow Dash. "So..." She said. "How long, exactly, have you been crushin' on me?"
"Since the day we met." Rainbow whispered, a small smile spreading on her lips.