//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Good Ponies Don't... Do They? // by bookplayer //------------------------------// Applejack walked slowly into town as the sun set that evening. She’d finished her work for the day, but she’d spent most of the time just thinking. She was still thinking now, about feelings, about right and wrong, about Twilight. All things that seemed simple on the surface, but became more complicated the more she thought. As she passed the Carousel Boutique, she saw Rarity and Rainbow Dash slip inside. Normally she would have called to them, but she blushed and worried about what she might be interrupting. Of course, they might be going inside to talk, or play Battlecloud. It was really none of Applejack’s business either way, and she should have left it at that when she talked to Dash earlier. Then maybe she wouldn’t have fought with Dash, or talked to Twilight, and Twilight wouldn’t have talked to Rarity… Those apples were already in the pie. All that mattered now was what Applejack thought, and what Twilight thought. And as Applejack came to the library, she thought the best way to figure those things out was to go inside, so she opened the door. The lights were on, but Twilight was nowhere to be seen as Applejack stepped inside. “Twilight?” Applejack called hesitantly, not really wanting to disturb her if she was reading. “Hey, AJ,” Spike said, appearing in the doorway from the kitchen. “Twilight’s upstairs in the bedroom.” Applejack froze. “S-she is?” “Yeah, she said you guys had some private stuff to talk about, and it wasn’t fair to make me stay up there all night.” Spike sat down on a pillow in the main room and opened up a comic book. “No access to the kitchen, ya’ know.” “Oh, well… I reckon that makes sense… I’ll just go on up there, to talk, cause, heh, what else would two ponies be doin’--” the blush forming on Applejack’s cheeks with each word forced her to stop talking before Spike looked up and noticed what she was saying. “Er, seeya later.” “Later,” Spike said with an absent minded wave as Applejack made her way upstairs. Applejack climbed the stairs and peeked into Twilight’s room. She half expected dim lighting, romantic music, and Twilight lying on the bed, smiling seductively. Instead, Twilight was on her balcony, looking through her telescope at the newly starry sky. She turned and smiled at Applejack, and Applejack couldn’t help but smile back. “Heya,” Applejack said, as Twilight trotted over to offer a nuzzle which was happily accepted. “Hi. Thanks for coming over tonight.” Twilight smiled, seeming a little nervous as she floated two cushions for them to sit on. “I couldn’t wait to talk to you, I’ve been thinking all afternoon.” Applejack made herself comfortable on the pillow next to Twilight’s. “What’s on your mind?” Twilight ruffled her wings and looked at the ceiling in thought. “Well, I talked to Rarity. And she had some pretty good points.” Applejack just bit her lip and nodded for Twilight to continue. “Mainly that without…” Twilight blushed, but pressed on, “having sex, we don’t know if we enjoy the same things, or if we’ll be happy with that part of our relationship in the long term. And, well, that’s important to me. I don’t want you to be with a pony that doesn’t make you happy, and I know you don’t want that for me.” Applejack felt her stomach turn at the idea that she might not make Twilight happy, but she just nodded again. Twilight eyed Applejack suspiciously and went on, “But, of course, there are still the reasons we both have for waiting. Those are perfectly good ones… I still want my first time to be with somepony I really love, and I know you’re waiting for the one special pony you want to spend your life with.” She wrapped a wing around Applejack. “I think those are good things. And I know now that I wouldn’t want to do what Rarity and Rainbow Dash did. They’re good ponies, but that kind of impulsive behavior isn’t for us. I’m really glad I found a pony who likes to be sure before jumping into something important like this.” Applejack breathed a sigh of relief and scooted closer to Twilight. “I’m glad too, sugarcube.” “AJ, there’s something else I’ve been thinking about.” Twilight said softly. Applejack could feel her breath as she spoke, “We’ve been dating a lot, and spending a lot of time together. How do you feel about that?” Applejack frowned. It wasn’t that she was unhappy, it was that this cut to the heart of all of the thoughts she’d had since this morning. Thoughts that could never really put themselves in a row. But Twilight was looking at her, growing more worried by the second, and she had to say something. Enough that Twilight might understand, at least. “You know I love it, Twilight. I been thinking about that today, myself. I-- I know I got feelin’s for ya’. And I know they’re more than bein’ friends and more than just likin’ to spend time together… I told ya’ about the special pony I wanna spend my life with, well, sometimes I imagine that’s you, and it makes me so happy. I know it’s just fancies, it’s too soon to know somethin’ like that, but… I know I gotta do anythin’ I can that might make that happen. I wanna hope for that, so bad… I just...” Trailing off made sense, it was more or less what her thoughts had done. But unlike earlier, one thing was clear, looking in Twilight’s eyes. “Twilight… I been thinkin’ I love you.” Twilight grinned and let out a deep breath. “That's just what I was thinking. I was so confused at first, then I outlined everything in a bubble chart, and I kept connecting thoughts, but one was missing that should have connected a lot of things. It took me forever, but I finally realized that the one missing was ‘I love her’! I mean, you. I love you,  Applejack.” Twilight’s eyes were shining, and Applejack fought the urge to throw her hat into the air and and let out a shout. “You’re right, of course, it is too soon to know if we’re going to spend our lives together, but, I’ve thought about it too. And I liked thinking about it.” Twilight gave another happy sigh and melted against Applejack. “I think we’re at the next stage of our relationship.” “So, what oughta happen now?” Applejack asked, nuzzling Twilight. “Well, we practice loving each other for a while, I guess.” Twilight gave Applejack a peck on the cheek. “We think seriously about spending our lives together, and talk about it, and see if it’s something that would really work, in the long run.” “That sounds amazin’,” Applejack said, beaming. Everything about Twilight was perfect. Knowing that Twilight loved her, that she wanted to think about a life together, nothing could have made this moment better. “I’m looking forward to it. And…” Twilight looked down. Her cheeks colored, but she was still smiling and leaning against Applejack as she went on, “You know I wanted to wait until I found a pony I really loved. Well, I think that if-- I mean, if we made love, it would be everything I’ve been waiting for. I really love you.” “I love you too, Twilight,” Applejack said, trying to remain calm, despite a sudden wave of terror. “I-- I really love you. I just--” The words dried in her mouth. She couldn’t lose this. She couldn’t see disappointment in those big, purple eyes. Not tonight, when everything was going so well. “You just what?” Twilight said gently, looking concerned. Applejack licked her lips nervously, and looked around. They’d both agreed it was too soon to know, but… they were hoping to be together forever. That was something. Right now it was the most important thing in the world to Applejack. And Twilight was beautiful, Applejack knew that there would be nothing she wouldn’t like about putting her hooves all over that body. And if it didn’t make Rarity or Rainbow Dash bad ponies, then... “Oh, ponyfeathers.” Applejack stood up. She flipped her hat off her head and bit her ribbons out of her mane and tail. She shook her hair free, then stood, shifting her weight from one hoof to the other anxiously as she looked down. “If you wanna… get in bed, I reckon I can make this special for ya’... for both of us. I don’t have much practice, but I hope it can be as magic as ya’ always wanted.” “Applejack, is that what you want?” Twilight said, looking up at Applejack from the cushion. “I told ya’, I love you,” Applejack said firmly. “And, it ain’t like I don’t think about this. It don’t make sense to not do somethin’ we both think about, if it’s gonna cost me the pony I love.” Twilight frowned and flapped to her hooves. “Hey, I didn’t say anything about this costing you my love!” Her face softened as she landed in front of Applejack and looked in her eyes. “I appreciate this; I really, really appreciate it. You have no idea how amazing you look right now, with your hair down… but it’s not right unless this is what you want. You told me earlier why waiting is important to you. Did you change your mind?” “No.” Applejack shook her head and looked away. “But I wanna make you happy, Twilight. Datin’ three months ain’t enough time to know if you’re the pony I wanna be with forever, but if it makes you happy, it’s worth a gamble on that. If it don’t work out… well… I guess whoever I end up with will havta understand what’s important to me right now.” “You don’t have to gamble that just to make me happy.” Twilight raised Applejack’s face with a gentle hoof. “I’ve been happy with you for three months now, I don’t think I’m going to stop just because I know we love each other.” “If you wanna do that, how can ya’ be really happy with a pony who don’t?” Applejack asked. “Let me worry about that.” Twilight smiled. “It’s easier when you can use magic.” Applejack raised her eyebrows and smiled, despite herself. Then the smile faded. “But what about knowin’ if we’re all compatible?” “We don’t know if we’re compatible in a lot of ways, yet.” Twilight pointed out. “There’s a lot to learn about another pony. I’m not in a rush to figure out if we have the same views on raising foals, or planning for retirement, so I can wait for this one, too. Right now, I’m really just happy to have a pony I love, who loves me back.” “Really?” Applejack tried another smile. “Uh-huh.” Twilight nodded, her eyes shining with affection. Applejack grinned and leaned in to kiss Twilight. She wrapped a hoof around the back of Twilight’s head, holding her close, and neither pony moved to break free for a long time. When they did finally part, Applejack’s grin returned right away. “I do love ya’, Twi. And I’ll do anythin’ you ask to prove it.” Twilight smiled seductively. “Will you… listen to me practice giving a lecture on types of magical ink?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You sure you don’t wanna hop in bed?” Then a pillow in a pink glow smacked her in the face and she chuckled. “Of course I will. I’ll probably learn a thing or two.” “Will you cuddle me while I practice giving a lecture on types of magical ink?” Twilight asked sweetly, sitting on down on her cushion and floating a scroll over to herself. “Yup!” Applejack said, sitting right next to Twilight and leaning against her with a nuzzle. “I might even stay awake now.” Twilight giggled and opened her scroll, scanning it. Applejack just leaned against her soft body, nose buried in her fresh, clean mane, waiting to hear that sweet voice saying all of those smart things she knew. Applejack couldn’t help whispering, “Twilight… thank you. For understandin’. It means a lot to me.” Twilight’s wing wrapped around Applejack and she kissed her on the cheek. “You mean a lot to me, AJ. I’ll always do my best to understand.” *** The next weekend, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity waited under the light of the Ponyville Cinema marquee. They hadn’t been there long when Applejack came trotting up the road from Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight flew to her girlfriend, greeting her with a long, lingering kiss before anypony could say a word. “My, my. That was quite a greeting.” Rarity smirked and fluffed her mane as the two parted, both blushing a little. “It’s just nice to see her,” Twilight said, grinning from ear to ear. Applejack chuckled. “There’s not much nicer than that.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at Twilight. “Weren’t you just at Sweet Apple Acres this afternoon?” The color on Twilight’s cheeks deepened, and she leaned in closer to Applejack. “Well… it’s nice to see her again.” With a smirk, Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack, “So, AJ, are things gooood now?” Applejack raised both eyebrows back at the pegasus. “I don’t believe that’s any of your business, Rainbow Dash. Me and Twilight couldn't be happier.” “Ha! I knew it!” Rainbow crowed. “You don’t know a thing.” Applejack turned to Twilight and winked, which made Twilight giggle. “Well, Twilight certainly seems happy.” Rarity smiled as Rainbow landed next to her and draped a wing over her back. “Oh, I am.” Twilight nodded. “We had a long talk the other night, and said some important things.” “Yeah, in your bedroom,” Rainbow teased. “Well, yes,” Twilight agreed. “Way to go, AJ!” Rainbow offered her hoof for a bump. Applejack rolled her eyes. “It ain't like that!” “It really isn't. Applejack just told me about her feelings for me, and I feel the same way. We’re taking our relationship a little more seriously.” Twilight smiled at Applejack, and couldn't seem to resist rubbing her cheek on her girlfriend’s. “I’m sure, darling.” Rarity smirked. “You two will have to stop nuzzling to pay for your tickets, though.” “Yeah, you don’t have to prove to everypony that you did it,” Rainbow said with a dismissive wave. Applejack stomped her hoof. “I don’t gotta prove nothin’ because we didn't do nothin’!” “Whatever you say…” Rainbow teased. “Well, we did do something…” Twilight pointed out, earning another smirk and raised eyebrows from Rainbow to Applejack before she went on with a smirk of her own, “And from what I hear, Rainbow Dash has never done it.” “Hey! What do you know? What did Rarity tell you?” Rainbow demanded, the smirk wiped from her face. She looked to Rarity, who just shrugged. Then Rainbow glared at Twilight. “There’s nothing that AJ could do in the bedroom that I haven’t done.” Twilight just kept her smirk firmly on her face. “She told me she loves me.” Rainbow stared, her mouth hanging open. “That doesn't count!” “That is something you've never done, Rainbow,” Rarity pointed out. “We've only been dating a week! It’s way too soon for that.” Rainbow said, giving Rarity an exasperated look. “I know, Dash,” Applejack said, smiling. “But you’ll be ready someday.” “Yeah, when you find just the right pony, it’s worth the wait,” Twilight added. “But, if ya’ need any pointers, just lemme know,” Applejack finished, lightly punching Rainbow’s shoulder as she and Twilight walked past Rarity and Rainbow to the ticket booth. Rainbow pouted, almost forgetting about the hot mare next to her until she felt a hoof gently turn her face. Rarity looked into Rainbow’s eyes and smiled. “Rainbow…” she said softly, “I’m happy to be waiting for that.” Rainbow couldn't help but smile back. “Me too.”