//------------------------------// // Oops // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// “You see, Fluttershy, it’s not a big deal… only it is. Well, for me it’s a big deal, I guess.” Rainbow Dash pensively rubbed her hooves together as she stared at the floor beneath the couch. “Everytime I’m around this pony who shall not be named, my heart does stuff that I only imagined it would when I’m doing wild flips or practicing my cloud-kicking maneuvers.” “I see…” Fluttershy nodded slowly. “And… like… I could just pretend that it wasn’t a thing and carry on with my life, only it is a thing. Heh… it’s a pretty big thing. It’s a the last thing I think about as I go to sleep, and it’s the first thing I think about when I wake up.” Rainbow Dash’s muzzle curved as the ends of her feathers fluttered. “I could be super miserable on my most sucky of days and I’ll just think about this pony and suddenly everything is all cool, y’know? All I have to do is murmur her name and it’s like fireworks are goin’ off in my skull. You ever had that happen before?” “Uhm… I guess?” Fluttershy gave a nervous smile. “Though not about another mare. But… well… you know that.” “How about a stallion?” An instant curtain of red fell over Fluttershy’s figure. “Uhhhhh--” Rainbow Dash went on. “I’ve been with a few mares before, Fluttershy. Listing Breeze… Gilda… that… uhm… that one mare in Las Pegasus.” Rainbow Dash rubbed her neck nervously, but threw it off with a deep breath. “But I’ve never felt about any of them like I feel about… th-this pony.” She smiled delicately again. “I feel it somewhere that I can’t describe. Past all the bones and guts and gunk n’stuff. I think this is it. This is that true love crap. I mean, how else can I explain it?” “If you ask me, it sounds like you’ve got a crush.” “Yeah--No!” Rainbow frowned. “It’s not just a stupid little crush!” Rainbow Dash blinked, and her eyes sparkled as she anxiously murmured, “Is it?” “Well…” Fluttershy brushed her mane back and searched the walls with her eyes as she said, “Every pony is capable of very intense feelings of passion and love. As the Element of Kindness, I’ve always believed that this energy is best distributed everywhere and equally.” “Is that why you’re so gentle and wishy-washy all the time?” Rainbow Dash droned with a sharp glare. “Heeheehee…” Fluttershy smiled pleasantly. “If that’s what you call it, then I am happy to carry those labels.” “Ungh… I was hoping you would understand what I’m going through, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash lifted off the couch and hovered about the room in a dwindling circle. “Sometimes, I think I’m going insane! Each day, it gets crazier and crazier! I can’t stop thinking about her, and I’m afraid of the day when I let something slip and she figures it out! She figures me out! I mean, for one thing, that’s kind of healthy… because it means that she’s popped the balloon for both of us. But for another, it’s bad news bears, because what if she rejects me? I mean… of course she’ll reject me!” Rainbow Dash ran two hooves over her face and groaned. “She doesn’t have the same interests as me! Besides, it would make everything about us super awkward. And… and I don’t know how I’d be able to hang out with her again, because something would have been lost that shouldn’t have been screwed with in the first place! And for what?! Just so I could coo at her with lovey-dovey eyes for one second of her knowing it as if it meant everything in the world even though it does and yet it doesn’t and--” “It’s Applejack, isn’t it?” Rainbow Dash slammed into the wall, did a backflip, and landed on the floor like a skewered blue dragonfly. She looked through a pair of dizzy eyes and found Fluttershy with a horrified gasp. “How… how… h-h-h-how did you kn-know that?!” her voice cracked in utmost terror. Fluttershy softly shrugged. “It was simply a guess. I mean, the two of you have been spending a lot of time together lately, and then you both came back late from Canterlot-- Swooosh! Rainbow Dash was then hovering straight in Fluttershy’s face. “Does it show?! I mean, h-how easily can you tell?! Am I that obvious?!” She leaned back and pulled at the edges of her eyes. “Ohhhhhhhhhh-Can I really be that transparent?!” “What? N-no, Rainbow!” Fluttershy shook her head with wide eyes. “You’re not transparent! Even if you sometimes blush whenever Applejack brushes her hoof across your shoulder… or if she walks into the room unannounced.” Fluttershy blinked. “Or… uhm… when she displays her singing voice. Or when all of us can smell how sweaty she is from a full day of apple bucking. Or when she so much as says your name. Or when you simply trot by a cart of apples in the marketplace--” “Ohhhhhhhhh-unghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Rainbow fell to her knees and buried her face in the couch cushion. She banged repeatedly on her colorful skull. “Mmmmmmf--I’m so patheticccccccc.” She clutched her skull and shook. “How could I let anypony j-just see through me like that?!” She gazed up with a quivering lip. “AJ’s bound to figure it out at this rate! So’s everypony else!” Fluttershy suppressed a giggle and caressed Rainbow’s chin. “I don’t think so, Rainbow Dash. After all, I only figured it out because… well… let’s face it, I know you more than the other girls do.” She smiled sweetly and brushed the pegasus’ bangs. “We’ve been around each other longer. What’s more, you’re a great deal more open about things with me.” “But that’s because I trust you, Fluttershy.” “And you don’t trust the others?” “Of course I do! Just…” Rainbow Dash sat back and rubbed her elbow, flexing it. “Not with some stuff…” “I don’t see why not.” Fluttershy shrugged. “They all love you, Rainbow. They would accept you no matter what.” “You sure about that?” Rainbow Dash winced. “What about… y’know… Applejack?” She gulped. “You know as well as I do that I’d totally freak her out with… with the truth…” “Who’s to say?” “Who’s to--Snkkkt!” Rainbow Dash frowned. “You’re way too positive for anyone’s good.” Fluttershy chuckled breathily. “It goes a long way, though, Rainbow Dash.” “And I wanna go a long way,” Rainbow said. “With everypony, that is. With you, with the girls. With… w-with Applejack…” Rainbow sighed and slumped onto the couch cushion until her blue chin was mushed against it once more. “I feel like we have something special, but only I know it. That’s… totally not fair. At times I feel as if… as if…” She winced as if she was giving birth. “...as if I should drop the whole thing altogether.” Fluttershy stroked Rainbow’s hair while looking across the cottage in thought. “Hmmm…” She smiled. “Perhaps…” She gazed down at Rainbow. “Perhaps you should consider looking at it really closely.” “Huh?” “Ask yourself this question.” Fluttershy leaned forward. “Just what is it about Applejack that you love so much?” Rainbow Dash blinked blankly. “What about her makes it worth cherishing the thought of our honest friend? And what about it makes it worth keeping hidden like such a fragile secret?” Rainbow fidgeted against the couch. Her cheeks turned red as she murmured breathily, “Why do I love Applejack…?”