The Courtship Catastrophe
Chapter Two
“Uh, what just happened?” Dash watched Twilight while she ran away, then turned to her marefriend once the alicorn disappeared over a hill. “Seriously. Did she just say she had to go read her laundry?”
Applejack looked at Rainbow for a moment, then sighed and started walking in the direction Twilight had fled. “Sugar, Ah love ya to bits… but sometimes yer about as bright as a sack of apples.” She shook her head and called back over her shoulder, smirking. “How do you stay in the air bein’ so dense?”
Dash trotted up to her marefriend’s side and fell in step with her. After a few seconds, she perked up. “Hey!” She shot the earth pony a glare. “I’m not dense!”
“Sure ya ain’t.” Applejack chuckled. When she’d had enough, her expression turned serious. “But ya might wanna take yer hoof outta yer mouth ‘fore we catch up with Twi, sugarcube.” She sighed and rolled her eyes at the confused look the pegasus gave her. “Come on, sug’. What was the last thing ya said to Twi before she ran off?”
“Nothing!” Dash hopped into the air, crossing her forelegs while she flew. “I was just saying that you didn’t have to worry about us feathermarking each other because I don’t like her… like…” She dropped back to the ground, landing roughly on all four hooves. “Oh.”
“Yeah… Oh.” Applejack grumbled. They crested the hill that Twilight had disappeared over and Ponyville came into view. The walk back into town passed mostly in silence, with only the crunch of gravel under their hooves to break the stillness of the air. A few ponies tried to bid them a good morning, but the pleasantries went unheard and unanswered as both of them were too deep in their own thoughts to notice.
“Hey, AJ.” Rainbow finally broke the silence between them when they rounded a corner and the Golden Oaks Library loomed in front of them. “You don’t think that Twi…” Her words drifted off, the look her marefriend was giving her being all the answer she needed. She swallowed and looked up at the library’s canopy, her wings fidgeting on her back. “So… what do we do?”
“Ah don’t know, sugar.” Applejack stopped a few paces from the front door, and her hooves suddenly felt like they were made of lead. “But whatever we’re gonna do, we gotta do it now. Leavin’ somethin’ like this to fester’s just gonna make it a whole lot worse when we finally deal with it.” She took one last deep breath and turned to Rainbow. “No matter what happens, just remember; Ah love you.”
Dash smiled warmly and leaned in. She captured Applejack’s lips in a gentle, yet passionate, kiss that spoke volumes more than mere words ever could. After a moment, she pulled back, still smiling. “I know.” She paused for a moment, her smile twitching up into a smirk when Applejack raised an eyebrow. “I love you, too. But come on, AJ, we’re just going to talk to Twilight. It’s not like we’re walking through the gates of Tartarus or anything.” She turned back to the library. The branches, usually waving idly at passersby, now seemed to be reaching out, trying to pull her in to her inevitable doom. “Okay, so maybe it’s a little like that.”
“Well, no sense puttin’ it off any longer. Let’s go.” Applejack started forward again and Dash fell in next to her. She raised a hoof to knock, but the door opened before she had a chance.
“I was wondering how long you two were just going to stand out there.” Spike grumbled as he threw the door open, his expression clearly displeased. He stood in the doorway and crossed his arms, looking back and forth between the two mares before eventually settling on Rainbow. “Alright. What did you do?”
“Me?” Dash backed up a bit, surprised by the accusation. “I didn’t do anything! Twi’s the one that—” A hoof quickly inserted itself into her mouth, muffling the rest of her statement.
“Sorry, Spike.” Applejack smiled apologetically. “Ah know ya wanna protect her, but this just ain’t yer rodeo, sugarcube. This is somethin’ that’s just between Twi and us.”
“Yeah, well I don’t think she really wants to talk to you right now.” Spike grabbed the door and started to close it. “Sorry, Applejack.”
Applejack slammed a hoof down in the door’s path, stopping the baby dragon from closing it. “Honestly, Ah ain’t lookin’ forward to talkin’ with her, either. But we gotta do it now, or it’ll only get worse.”
Spike spent a few more seconds trying to push the door past the orange blockade, but to no avail. He stared at the two mares for a moment before finally stepping aside and grumbling. “Fine.” He watched them enter and walk over to the staircase. “Just remember, I have direct connections to Princess Celestia and Shining Armor, and I’m not afraid to use them.”
“Sure thing, Spike.” Applejack placed a hoof on the first step and looked up at the door. She swallowed, then turned back to Twilight’s assistant. “Though, ya think you could give us a bit to talk… alone?” She raised a hoof when she saw his mouth twitch up into a sneer. “Ah promise we’ll come get ya as soon as we’re done, but Ah’m worried that this might get a little ugly, and Ah don’t want ya around hearin’ things we’re gonna regret sayin’.”
Spike stood his ground. He wanted to refuse, wanted to tell them that they were the ones who should leave, but he couldn’t. After a few more seconds of silent fuming, he blew out a sharp breath and turned on his heel. “I’ll be at Rarity’s.” He growled before stalking out, slamming the door shut behind him.
Dash let out a sigh and turned to glance at her marefriend, then up at the door. “So, you ready for this, AJ?”
“No.” Applejack shook her head. “But we sure as shootin’ ain’t gonna get any more ready sittin’ here like a pair of scared fillies.” She started up the steps, each one bringing her closer to the bedroom door and tightening a knot of worry in her chest. By the time she reached the top, it felt like her chest was in a vice and she could barely breathe. She lifted a hoof and knocked, the sound echoing ominously through the quiet building. She heard a slight rustling of sheets and a couple of sniffles from the other side, but only silence afterward. “Come on, Twi, we know yer in there. Let us in.”
“No. There’s nothing to talk about.” Twilight responded, her voice sounding raw even through the door. The bed springs squeaked for a few seconds before she spoke again. “Rainbow made it very clear that I’ve just been a foolish, silly, stupid schoolfilly. This is my problem, not yours, so there’s nothing to talk about. Please, just leave me alone.”
“Come on, Twi, I didn’t mean it like that.” Dash moved around her marefriend and placed a hoof on the door, but just as she touched it, the bolt slid home and locked it shut. She jiggled the handle a few times, then gave up. “You know I don’t think about things when I say them.”
Applejack grabbed the door handle and gave it a firm shake, but it didn’t budge. She punched it with her hoof, causing the door to rattle on its hinges. “Consarnit, Twilight Sparkle! Open the danged door or Ah’ll—” She felt Dash put a hoof on her shoulder and stopped, taking a deep breath. “Listen, sugar, Ah can’t say that Ah ain’t cross with ya, but this is somethin’ we all need to talk about right now, or it’s only gonna get worse. Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the way where ya need a new door when we’re through. Either way, we’re comin’ in.” She moved Dash out of the way and lined her rear hooves up with the doorjamb. “Last chance, sugarcube. One… Two…” Just before she would have gotten to three, the lock slid back and the door opened, revealing Twilight curled up on the bed and facing away from them.
“Go ahead, then.” Twilight mumbled, floating a new tissue over from a box on her nightstand and tossing an old one onto a growing pile on the floor. “T-tell me how upset you are, and how I betrayed you girls. Yell at me about how you can’t believe I would do something like that and you never want to see me again.” She dabbed the tissue at her eyes then blew her nose into it, letting it fall listlessly down to join the others. “I… I’ll have Spike send a letter to Celestia and see if my old room in the castle is still available.”
“We ain’t gonna say nothin’ of the sort, sugarcube.” Applejack made her way around the bed and sat down. “We ain’t gonna toss ya out on yer rump fer an accident.” She tried to pat Twilight’s side reassuringly, but the alicorn shied away from her touch.
“Yeah. We just wanna talk.” Dash hopped up on the bed, gaining a little more air than absolutely necessary. She flopped down hard on the bed, sending a book that had been teetering precariously on the edge down to the floor. Applejack leaned down to pick it up.
“Applejack, no, don’t—” Twilight tried to stop the earth pony, but it was too late.
“What in the…” Applejack scanned the bookmarked page that the tome had fallen open to, but the title at the top told her all she needed to know. “What in tarnation is this, Twi?” She held up the book, which had the word ‘Feathermarking’ in large, florid script at the top, along with a detailed diagram of the gesture. She waited for an answer, but Twilight merely stared at the floor, trying to shrink down into her covers. “Well? Ya dirty, rotten, no good, lyin’—”
“Calm down, AJ, what’re you even—” Dash craned her neck up and caught a glimpse of the page, instantly falling silent. She looked back and forth between it and Twilight. “Twi, did… did you know about it when you…”
Twilight desperately wanted to be anywhere else, and while she could conceivably teleport away, she knew it would only make it worse when they eventually caught up to her. “Yes.” She mumbled, the word barely audible even to herself. She closed her eyes and waited for the screams of hatred and betrayal, but they never came. “Yes, I did.” She forced the words out again, making them louder.
“Why you little—” Applejack snorted and hopped down from the bed, letting the book fall in the process. She stomped over to the far wall and whirled around. “What the hay is wrong with ya!? Ya knew full well what it meant and ya just went and did it anyway, right in front of mah face? And then ya lied about it?” She snorted again and shook her head, glaring at the alicorn cowering under the covers. She took a few steps back toward the bed, her lips curled back in a snarl. “Why Ah oughta…” When she reached the bed, she lifted a hoof, hovering it as though she was going to hit Twilight. Ultimately, she slammed it back down, causing the floorboard to crack and splinter under the impact.
“But… why?” Dash backed off of the bed, confusion and hurt in her eyes rather than anger. “I mean… you knew what it meant, and you knew about AJ and me, so… why?” She shook her head, looking off to the side. “I mean, I know why you did it, but… ugh.” She trudged over to where her marefriend was still silently seething, railing against herself and her inability to communicate what she was thinking. “I just… don’t get how you could lie about something so important. It’s like you lied about the flying lessons just to get closer to me.”
Twilight knew that she should just keep quiet, but she couldn’t. “Actually…”
“What?” Dash whirled around, her eyes wide. “Seriously?” Twilight’s tentative nod was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and Rainbow’s anger flared past her confusion and hurt. “Are you bucking kidding me? Celestia’s flank, Twi, I get that you like me, but does that fact that I’m with AJ mean nothing to you?” Her wings flapped hard once, sending a few loose papers swirling around the floor. “Where was it gonna end? Were you gonna stop before kissing me? Or were you just gonna go ahead and try to steal me away from AJ?” At that, Applejack started forward again, muttering curses under her breath, but Dash extended a wing to stop her.
“I... N-No!” Twilight sat up, waving her hooves. “I was just—” She stopped, unable to muster the will to defend herself or her actions. Deep down, she knew they were right, and that she was a despicable excuse for a friend. She didn’t even know how far she would have taken things if Rainbow had been willing. Sure, she’d told Spike that she wouldn’t dare to try and take Dash for herself, but she wasn’t even sure if she meant it now. Laying back down, she pulled the covers up over herself until only her eyes were visible. “I… I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? Yer sorry!?” Applejack pushed her marefriend’s wing out of the way and stalked over to the bed. “Oh, well everythin’s all better, then.” She spat on the floor next to the bed. “Ya lyin’, low down, little whorse.”
Twilight said nothing, merely biting her lip while tears of shame and regret rolled down her cheeks. Somehow, that only made Applejack angrier, and she opened her mouth for another volley of disparaging insults.
The door flew open and Spike stormed into the room. He leapt up onto the bed and hurdled Twilight’s cowering form, standing firm between her and Applejack. “That’s it! Both of you, OUT!” He glared at Applejack and Rainbow, pointing to the now open doorway. The earth pony opened her mouth to respond, but never got the chance. “NOW!” Spike bellowed. A plume of dragonfire escaped his mouth, coiling around itself and petering out inches from Applejack’s face. It was close enough that she could feel the immense heat on her nose.
However, Applejack didn’t seem ready to give up. She still pressed forward, as though she would happily take a singed hair or two if it meant she could properly express her anger. She only calmed down a little when Dash draped a wing around her back, trying to guide her around the bed toward the door. When they reached the top of the stairs, she turned back to say something, but Spike silenced her with a growl that sent small tendrils of smoke curling out from the corners of his mouth.
Spike watched the doorway until he heard the front door open and close downstairs. Only then did he let out a sigh and sat down, leaning against Twilight’s belly while resting an elbow on her side. “Not to say ‘I told you so,’ but I did tell you this was going to happen.” Twilight made no effort to respond, instead burying her face in her pillow while she continued to sob quietly. He put a claw to his chin, wracking his brain for something he could do to try and help his sister. For lack of any better ideas, he started singing a lullaby that Celestia had sung to both of them when Twilight was just a filly and he had been only a hatchling. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite remember all of the words, and several of his notes were severely off-key.
Even so, Twilight had calmed down by the time he finished, muttering a quiet thanks in between sniffles. “No problem.” Spike replied, reaching over to scratch a spot between her shoulders that he knew she always had trouble reaching. Her lips twitched up into a weak smile for an instant, but then she went back to staring at the wall, an occasional tear still rolling down her cheeks. “You know, Twilight, I think I liked it better when I was the lovestruck one and you were the voice of reason.”
Twilight chuckled to herself, giving Spike a loving nuzzle which the dragon reluctantly accepted. She wiped the last tears from her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “Thanks, Spike, for… everything.”
“No sweat. It’s what brothers are for.” Spike smiled and scooted to the edge of the bed, but stopped when he felt Twilight’s hoof on his shoulder.
“Actually…” Twilight bit her lip for a second. “Do you think you could stay for a little bit?”
Spike scooted back onto the bed. “Sure thing, Twi.” He curled up next to her, resting against Twilight’s chest. He yawned and nestled deeper into the bed. “I could use a nap.” He blindly reached for a blanket, grabbing Twilight’s wing and draping it over himself. Twilight smiled again and leaned down, giving him a light kiss on the top of his head, then curled herself around him and closed her eyes.
Applejack wasn’t a pony that angered easily. She had a good head on her shoulders and could usually see the other’s side in most arguments, giving her a reputation as a levelheaded mare. When she did lose her temper, however, there was no putting the cork back in the bottle. Very few things could dampen her anger, or hold her back from tearing into the opposition. Luckily, one such thing was close by. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh while nuzzling her marefriend’s neck.
Dash leaned into the gesture, giving the earth pony a light squeeze with the wing draped over her back. They turned off of the main road and entered the farm proper, heading down the twisting path that would ultimately lead them to the farmhouse. Neither of them had said a word the entire trip back from town, each too lost in their own thoughts. But as they walked past rows of apple trees, Applejack silently ducked out from her calming haven and headed toward the rhythmic sound of trees being bucked. Rainbow followed her marefriend automatically, her mind still working far more feverishly than she was used to.
Another minute of walking brought them to a cart half-full of empty baskets, with the others lined up around trees. Big Macintosh reared up and bucked another tree before finally turning to acknowledge the arrival of his sister and her marefriend. He was about to greet them when he noticed Applejack’s dour mood. He watched her approach with a raised eyebrow and waited for her to let loose whatever was on her mind, but she merely looked at him and jerked her head toward the farmhouse. He stood his ground for another few moments, but ultimately shrugged and started for the house. He knew that there was no talking to her when she was in a mood, and that she’d come to him in time if she needed his help or advice. Once he was gone, Applejack picked up right where he’d left off, moving on to the next tree that still had fruit.
Dash finally broke the seemingly impenetrable silence between them. “AJ, what are you doing?”
“Workin’.” Applejack responded curtly, moving on to another tree. She lined herself up and lashed out, putting a little more force than necessary into her strike and causing a cascade of leaves to come down with the apples. “What’s it look like?”
Dash rolled her eyes and trotted over to stand in front of her marefriend. “Shouldn’t we, y’know, talk about what just happened?” Her wings rustled along her sides. She felt like she needed to do something, but she didn’t know what. She had a bunch of pent-up residual energy from her outburst at the library, and she needed some way to bleed it off. After a couple seconds of contemplation, she started gathering up the full baskets and lugging them to the cart.
“What’s there to talk about?” Applejack bucked the next tree and the whole trunk shuddered. “Twi marked ya, then lied about knowin’ what it meant. Little snake in the grass did it right in front of me, too.” She reared up and kicked again, realizing too late that she had forgotten to move on to the next tree. She and Rainbow drifted back into silence, the former bucking apples down while the latter set up empty baskets and gathered full ones into the cart. Applejack slowly felt her anger drain away while the physical exertion of working started to take its toll. Even so, her strikes didn’t lose any of their power.
“Hey, Applejack?” Dash paused in her routine after setting up a trio of baskets under a tree. “Ya wanna take it easy? The trees didn’t do anything to you.” She smiled, hoping to at least get a chuckle out of her marefriend.
Applejack reared up for another kick, but paused and ultimately let her rear hooves fall back to the ground. “Ah know.” She sat down, leaning back against the tree she had been about to buck. “It just… It’s gonna take me a while to cool down, and Ah ain’t gonna be in a fit state to talk ‘bout… what happened ‘til Ah do. Ah know ya wanna talk about it, and Ah know that we need to, but…” Her mind flashed back to the library, and her simmering anger quickly worked back up to a boil. “Ah just can’t right now.” She stood up and walked over to Rainbow, nuzzling the pegasus’ cheek. “Just gimme a couple hours. Ya don’t need to stay here and help me, either. Heck, why don’t ya run and take a nap? Ah promise we’ll talk tonight.”
Dash looked ready to press the issue, but decided against it. She returned her marefriend’s nuzzle, extending a wing to pull the earth pony into a quick hug. “Okay.” She glanced up at the sun, just past its zenith, and the disappointingly sparse cloud cover. “I’m gonna head to the barn loft, then. I’ll be there when you feel like talking.”
“Alright.” Applejack pulled back from the hug and gave Rainbow a kiss on the nose. “But Ah’ll probably be out here until dinner. Sorry, sugar.” She grinned apologetically when Dash gave her a frustrated look, then leaned back in and gave her marefriend a proper kiss before sending her off. Once the pegasus was gone, she pulled off her hat, wiped a foreleg across her brow, and looked up at the sun. “Just you and me, now.”
With that, she got back to work, falling into an easy routine born from years of practice that allowed her mind to wander. Initially, her thoughts ran in fruitless circles, starting with anger before moving on to attempted understanding, hypotheticals, resentment, then finally wrapping back around to anger. However, as the sun made its slow trek across the sky and the physical exhaustion of a hard day’s work sapped her strength, she found herself constantly coming back to one question. Unfortunately, it was a question that she couldn’t make any headway on because she’d sent the answer to nap in the barn.
How does Dash feel about Twilight?
The thought echoed in Applejack’s head for what felt like the hundredth time while she carried the last basket of apples back to the cart. Once it was loaded, she strapped herself into the harness and started for the barn. Even though Dash took every opportunity to let Applejack know how much she cared for her, the earth pony couldn’t stop doubts from creeping into her mind while she hauled the cart. What if Dash likes Twi back? What if she likes her more’n me? Nah, she said she didn’t like Twi like that. She shook her head and broke into a light trot, as if trying to physically outpace the treacherous thoughts. Regardless, they caught up with her after a few seconds. But, what if Dash gets bored with me? She keeps buggin’ me about flyin’ with her, and now Twi can. Not to mention the whole ‘princess’ thing… By the time she got to the barn, dread had dug its twisted claws into her, and all she wanted was to hear Rainbow tell her that she loved her.
“RD? Ya in here, sug’?” She called out as she pushed the barn door open. Only silence greeted her, and a brief of panic washed over her while she unhooked herself from the cart. She shook it off and walked out toward the farmhouse. Get it together, girl. Yer a grown mare, not some foal scared of the monsters under her bed. Dash’s prolly just in the kitchen, already stuffin’ her face, no doubt. She nodded to herself, but her fears still hovered over her shoulders, whispering doubts into her ears. Pushing the door the to the kitchen open, she was met with a chorus of greetings from everyone except Rainbow, who had a mouthful of apple fritter.
Dash hastily chewed and swallowed her food. “Hey, AJ! I was wondering when you were gonna get here.” She scooted out the chair next to her and patted the seat. “Come on. I saved you a plate.”
Applejack’s train of thought had left her in an uncertain state. She wanted to talk with her marefriend right away, but the smell of the food reminded her that she had more pressing needs. That can wait a few more minutes. Her stomach growled in response, letting her know exactly how it felt about passing up the feast laid out on the table. Fine, you win this one. She walked over to the offered chair and sat down. “Thanks, sugar.” She leaned over and gave Rainbow a quick nuzzle, grabbing a fritter off of the pegasus’ plate and popping it in her mouth.
“Hey! I got you your own plate. Quit stealing from mine.” Dash scooted her plate out of Applejack’s reach.
“Oh, Ah’m sure ya worked up quite an appetite nappin’ in the barn all afternoon.” Applejack said with a smile. “But here, Ah’ll make it up to ya.” She grabbed a fritter off of her own plate, but darted forward and balanced it on the end of Rainbow’s nose. Her marefriend crossed her eyes for a bit trying to look at it, then gave her a deadpan look before throwing her head back and biting the morsel out of the air.
“Very funny.” Dash muttered, reaching up to wipe a bit of residual frosting from her nose.
“Thanks, Ah thought so, too.” Applejack nudged her marefriend with an elbow, then turned her attention back to her plate. Eating the one bite had awoken her hunger, and she was now acutely aware that she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. She devoured her plate with ravenous abandon, earning her a few questionable looks from her family. Barely a minute later, only crumbs were left and she had to restrain herself from licking them off of the plate. Instead she turned to her marefriend and nodded to the staircase. “Come on, Dash.”
“Oh, right.” Rainbow hopped up and followed Applejack over to the stairs. She remembered to avoid the first and fourth stairs since they squeaked, but forgot about the seventh one. When she reached the bedroom and closed the door, her marefriend was already seated on the edge of the bed. “So… where do you wanna start?”
“Only one place makes sense to me.” Applejack gripped the mattress. Dinner had been a welcome reprieve from the doubt looming over her, but now that it was just her and Dash alone, every fear and insecurity came rushing back at once. Just say it and get it over with. “How do you feel about Twilight?”
“Twi?” Dash’s wings rustled on her back. “I mean, she’s cool and all. She’s a great friend and—”
“Ya know that’s not what Ah meant.” Applejack leveled a serious gaze at the pegasus. Her throat tightened, as if trying to hold back her next words. Rainbow’s evasive answer worried her, but there was no going back now. “Ah mean… Ya said that ya didn’t like her enough to mark her this mornin’. Didja mean it?”
“Well, yeah.” Dash rubbed one foreleg against the other. “Heck, you’re the only one I’ve ever done it with, and I just don’t ever see—”
Applejack saw her marefriend’s ear flick back, a tell that she’d quickly figured out meant that Rainbow wasn’t being completely honest with her. “Rainbow Elizabeth Dash, don’t you do that. Ah need yer one hundred percent honest to goodness answer.”
Dash chewed on her lip for a minute and opened her mouth several times before any words came out. “It’s… complicated, but… maybe, I guess?” She winced as the earth pony’s posture slumped down, her head hanging in defeat. “No! Not… not like that, it’s— Ugh!” She rushed over to the bed, grabbing Applejack’s chin and forcing their eyes to meet. “Listen, Applejack. I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love somepony, and I would never, ever, ever even dream of hurting you.”
“But…” Applejack’s vision blurred as tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them away. “Ya said—”
“I was trying to say that the first time. I would never think of it with us being… us, but if we weren’t together… I don’t know, maybe.” Dash walked over and sat next to her marefriend. She started to wrap a wing around the earth pony, but stopped when she shied away from the gesture. She bit down on her tongue for a second, unsure whether to keep going since it was obviously distressing her marefriend so much. Might as well get it all out now. “I was actually thinking about asking Twi out before you talked to me.”
“Ya were?” Applejack looked up long enough to see the pegasus nod, then stared at her hooves. Everything she thought she’d known about their relationship was being called into question. Was their supposedly rock-solid bond really due to nothing more than good timing? If she’d waited another day or two, would Rainbow be with Twilight right now? "Well, if ya like Twi so much, then why didn't ya..." She couldn't bring herself to finish, afraid that voicing it would shatter the now seemingly fragile connection she had with her marefriend.
"Huh?" Dash stared at the other mare in confusion for a minute, trying to process what she'd just heard. "Hey, don't get me wrong. Sure, Twi's great. She's funny and cute in her own little egghead way, but she doesn't hold a candle to you." She tried to wrap Applejack in a wing hug again, and this time the earth pony leaned into the embrace. "I would have asked you out ages ago, but I didn't, ya know... think that..." She waved a hoof in a circle while she searched for the right words. "I didn't think your barn door swung that way."
It took a second for Applejack to cotton onto her marefriend's meaning. When she finally did, she couldn't help but chuckle. It felt good. "Don't think Ah ever heard it put like that, sugar." She laid her head along Rainbow's neck and nuzzled the cyan fur. Suddenly, in the warm and familiar embrace of the pony she loved so fiercely, all of her doubts and worries from mere moments ago seemed silly.
"I'm serious. I just never thought you liked mares." Dash nuzzled the top of the other mare's head and gave her a squeeze. They snuggled in silence for a while, then Dash pulled away a little so that she could look into her marefriend's eyes. "So, feel better?"
“Yeah. Thanks.” Applejack smiled and leaned up for a quick kiss. “Sorry fer doubtin’ ya.” She went in for another kiss, this one a little longer. “So, what now?”
“I don’t—” Dash’s response was cut off by a yawn.
“Tired already, sugarcube?” Applejack poked her marefriend in the ribs playfully. “It’s a mite early to be goin’ to bed.”
“It’s not my fault.” Rainbow lifted a hoof to cover another yawn. “With all the stuff that happened today, I didn’t nap well.” She laid back, scooting fully up onto the bed and wiggling the covers out from under herself so that she could get under them.
Applejack chuckled to herself and looked out the window. While the sun had disappeared behind the treeline, there were still a few tiny points of fiery light poking through the canopies above the horizon. As she’d said, it was a little early to turn in for the night, but there also wasn’t enough light left to get anything useful done. Plus, between me pickin’ up Mac’s field and Dash helpin’ me, we’re ahead of schedule. One early night couldn’t hurt. She hopped off the edge of the bed and walked around to the side, climbing in behind her marefriend and snuggling up to her. However, Rainbow kept wiggling around, trying to get comfortable, and her wings tickled the farmer’s belly.
“That’s it, roll over.” Applejack gave the other mare a light shove and rolled over herself. “Yer the big spoon.”
“I’m always the big spoon.” Dash groused, obstinately remaining in place.
“That’s ‘cause ya can’t lay still and yer danged wings keep ticklin’ me.” Applejack reached back and swatted her marefriend on the flank. Heaving a sigh, the pegasus rolled over and scooted over, leaning over and planting a light kiss on the earth pony’s cheek.
“Night, AJ. Love you.” Rainbow mumbled around a yawn.
“Night, sugar. Love ya, too.”
The rooster’s crow dragged Applejack back to the land of the living, though if the sun had actually risen above the horizon, its light had yet to reach her room. She quickly scanned the room for any sign of the sun’s rays, but couldn’t find any. Well, if the sun ain’t up yet, Ah ain’t up yet. She wrestled some of the covers away from Dash and pulled them over herself to go back to sleep, but the rooster’s crow had done its work and her mind was awake, even if her body wanted five more minutes in bed.
She got out of bed as quietly as she could to avoid waking her marefriend, but the old squeaky springs and creaky floorboards made it rather difficult. She managed to make it all the way across the bedroom and was just about to close the door behind her when the sleeping pegasus let out a snore that rattled the windows. The earth pony chuckled to herself, realizing that she probably could have been bucking apples in the room without waking Rainbow.
Applejack headed down the stairs to the kitchen. As always, she was the first one up, but she could hear the sounds of Big Mac getting ready in his room. Sitting at the kitchen table, she started compiling a list of the chores that needed to get done today, but a thought prickling at the back of her mind kept distracting her. After the third time that she added, and subsequently removed, bucking the fields she’d cleared yesterday morning from her mental list, she stood up and trotted out the door to take a walk. She headed out past the barn and through the western fields. When she finally came to a stop, she was on top of a hill in one of the few areas of the farm that wasn’t covered in trees. She sat down and watched as the sun finished climbing over the horizon, finally letting the intrusive thought come to the front of her mind.
Were we… wrong yesterday? Applejack shook her head, letting out a sharp breath. “No. Twilight was the one in the wrong. She even admitted it herself.” Despite the conviction in her voice, the thought refused to leave her alone. Well… even if we weren’t wrong, we probably went a little overboard. She was tryin’ to apologize and tell us how sorry she was. She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “She ain’t the only one. Ah reckon Dash and Ah owe her a bit of an apology.” Her mind tracked back through their friendship. Maybe more than a bit… How many times has Twilight helped any of us out when we did somethin’ stupid? Heck how many times did she help just Dash and me when we first started goin’ out and were makin’ darn fools of ourselves just about every day?
Applejack shuddered as memories of her fourth date with Rainbow came back to her, when they’d tried to turn it into some big formal affair until Twilight made them realize how ridiculous they were being. She sighed and shook her head again. “Too many. Way too many.”
“AJ?” Dash swooped in and landed next to the earth pony, yawning as she sat down. “What’re you doing out here? And… why are you talking to yourself?”
“Just… thinkin’.” Applejack watched the sunrise for a few more seconds before glancing off in the direction of town, already trying to find the best way to broach the subject with her marefriend.
“You too, huh?” Rainbow sighed and slumped down. “We… we messed up yesterday, didn’t we?”
Applejack gave a short laugh and shook her head. “That might be puttin’ it a little lightly, sugarcube.” She looked off toward Ponyville again, the top of Town Hall barely visible in the distance. “Even though Twi was a good deal outta line, we went overboard.” She thought back to some of the choice words she’d had for the alicorn. “Shoot, if Granny’d heard some of the things Ah said, she’d be washin’ mah mouth out with soap right about now.”
“Now that I’d like to see.” Dash chuckled to herself for a second, but her mirth quickly disappeared. “Should… should I have seen this coming?” She let her head fall, and her wings drooped down from her sides. “I mean, if I had, I could have stopped all of this.”
“No offense, sugar, but you wouldn’t see a herd of chargin’ buffalo comin’.” Applejack stood up and started down the hill, chuckling at the glare her marefriend was shooting her. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
Dash stood up and trotted after the earth pony, slowing down and falling in beside her when she caught up. They walked in silence as the weaved between rows of trees, eventually reaching the dirt road that connected Sweet Apple Acres to Ponyville. The sun climbed ever higher as they walked, burning away the few small, wispy banks of fog that had covered some of the fields outside of town. As a few of Ponyville’s taller buildings peeked over the path ahead of them, Rainbow finally broke the silence.
“So… what’re we gonna do about all of this?” She glanced over at her marefriend, who still had her eyes glued to the road. “Things can’t just go back to normal now, can they?”
“Nnope. As fer what we’re gonna do…” Applejack swallowed and looked at Rainbow. “Ah reckon that’s up to you, since yer the one she’s all hot and bothered over.”
“Well, yeah.” Dash’s wings shifted uncomfortably on her back. She drifted over and laid a wing across the earth pony’s back. “But we’re in this together, AJ, and I don’t wanna do anything to hurt you.”
“Thanks, sug’.” Applejack leaned over and nuzzled into Rainbow’s neck, but this time even that wasn’t enough to fully calm her nerves. They crossed the bridge into town, but the streets were almost eerily deserted due to the early hour. The only evidence they encountered that the town had not, in fact, been abandoned overnight was the sweet smells wafting out of Sugarcube Corner as they passed. Soon, the library loomed before them, looking every bit as angry and foreboding as when they’d arrived the previous day. They walked to the door resolutely and knocked, only to have it fall open under Applejack’s hoof. She glanced over at Dash, who simply shrugged, and they went into the library. “Hello? Anypony home?”
“No!” A draconic voice roared from the kitchen. Spike came storming out, tendrils of smoke trailing from the corners of his mouth. He glared at the couple as he stomped over, his razor sharp teeth bared. He waved a clawed hand while he bellowed at them, shooing them out the door they’d just come through. “Both of you, go! Get out! Now!”