Chapter 10
Rainbows and Roses
The schoolhouse bell rang as fillies and colts poured out, cards and gifts in tow. The rest of the town welcomed them as mares and stallions paired off two by two. The whole town was very much alive on this special day, and love was in the air.
Rainbow’s friends were all very busy.
Rarity was bedazzling herself up as she prepared to meet her “Secret Admirer”, Fluttershy was hiding in her home with her animals away from all the commotion, Pinkie Pie was busier than ever serving milkshakes for two at Sugarcube Corner, Twilight Sparkle was comfortable in the library reading romance novels, Spike was readying his next gift to give to Rarity anonymously, and Applejack was working in the orchard because work still needed to be done on a holiday.
Oh, and Rainbow was having a nervous breakdown.
Normally, Rainbow Dash couldn’t give a flying feather about Hearts and Hooves day, except for maybe the candy, but other than that she found it sappy and dumb. It was a whole day set aside for what exactly? Giving roses and chocolates to somepony to show how much you love them? Yeah, sappy and dumb.
But this year was different. All those other years, she had never had a special somepony. She’d never liked any colts at school. She’d much rather beat them in a race then get a card with a crappy poem on it. And the fillies at school were girly and frilly and annoying. Nothing about them seemed appealing.
Now all of that had changed for Rainbow, as she remembered a promise she’d made at a certain cherry orchard a few weeks back. She loved somepony, and she felt she had to do something now. Hearts and Hooves day actually mattered this year.
The whole purpose of Hearts and Hooves day was to tell your Very Special Somepony how much you cared about them. Since Rainbow had decided to be honest with herself about her feelings, maybe it was time to be honest with Applejack too. Honesty was her thing, right?
Dash muttered these thoughts under her breath as she flew towards Sugarcube Corner, the saddle bag on her back shifting as her wings flapped. It was the first stop she would have to make if she was going to get everything she needed.
The three most important ways to show your Very Special Somepony how much you cared about them was by giving them chocolates, flowers, and a gift. Thus, Rainbow decided these three things were necessary for when she was to confess her feelings to AJ.
The bakery soon appeared in front of her and she landed beside it. Looking up, she wasn’t surprised to see a long line of nervous stallions and the occasional mare waiting to go inside. Dash knew she couldn’t wait in line. Not so much for the time that would be spent, but the number of witnesses. Just because Dash was going to give these gifts to AJ, it didn’t mean she wanted to be seen buying and carrying them around.
Quickly and quietly, Dash slipped in through the back door on the other side of the building.
Inside the bakery, Dash casually leaned up against a wall as she watched a bouncing pink blur rush between the oven, stove, and the serving counter. She then spotted something on the floor and picked it up, a mischievous smile on her face.
Pinkie pulled out a heart-shaped cake out of the oven and slapped it onto the counter, immediately layering on pink and white icing on top. After shaking on a few heart-shaped sprinkles, she hit a bell sitting on the counter, causing a stressed Mrs. Cake to pick it up and take it out of the kitchen.
Quietly as she could, Dash slipped her discovery under the bell on the counter, right before sliding into the shadows.
Pinkie set down a tall chocolate milkshake onto the counter, placing two straws inside along with a cherry on top. She hit the bell.
Bzzzzzzzzt!
Pinkie stood still, her eyes wide as bits of her curly mane stuck out in odd places. She was slightly singed, a bit of smoke rising from her hoof that was placed on the bell. She reached over and lifted the bell, revealing a hoofshake buzzer.
Rainbow burst into hysterical laughter.
“Good one, Dashie!” Pinkie laughed as she ran her hooves through her mane, returning it to normal.
“Why, thank you!” Dash bowed low as the baker resumed her bustling around the kitchen.
“So what brings you to Sugarcube Corner?” Pinkie smiled as she stirred a pot filled with a milky white substance.
“I need your help with something.”
Pinkie stopped stirring. “Oh, I’m so, so sorry Dashie, but I can’t prank ponies today!” She frowned, turning to Dash. “I’m just super duper busy helping all these ponies with these tasty treats!”
“Oh no-no-no,” Dash shook her head, reassuring her friend, “It’s not pranking. It’s something else.”
Pinkie dropped her spoon into the pot she was stirring.
“Oh my gosh!!” The pink pony jumped into the air, landing right in front of Dash’s face. “You have a Very Special Somepony?!”
Beads of sweat formed on Dash’s forehead as she thought of what to say.
“Uhm…”
Pinkie gasped and shot into the air again, before bouncing around the kitchen.
“Oh my gosh you do!! Don’t worry, I won’t tell anypony!! Pinkie Promise!”
She then proceeded to recite the Pinkie Promise before jumping back into Rainbow’s personal space.
“Who is it??!!”
Dash swallowed hard as the question hit her like a pound of bricks. So this was why she didn’t want to do this. She sat there awkwardly, not saying anything.
Pinkie understood.
“Oh, okay I get it!” She smiled and bounced over to give her a hug. “It’s a surprise! Well, what would you like to give your Very Special Somepony?”
Dash sighed as she was let off the hook. Thank Celestia.
“A box of chocolates would be cool.”
The fact was that a box of chocolates was far from cool, but Dash needed some normal-sounding excuse to buy them.
“Oki doki loki!” Pinkie bounced over to a counter holding several boxes.
“How many? Six? Twelve? Twenty-four?” She held up the respective boxes with each number.
“Uh…” Dash’s eyes shifted between the boxes. Applejack liked chocolate, right? But maybe not that much…
“Twelve is good.” Dash nodded towards a medium-sized heart-shaped box with a crimson bow.
“Good choice!” Pinkie opened the box, and pulled out a tray of chocolates sitting in little paper cups.
“What kind? Milk? Dark? White? Fruity? Creamy? Nutty?”
Dash’s head swam with all the options. Who knew there was so many kinds of chocolate?
“Erm…” Rainbow tapped her chin, “Just… just throw in a little bit of everything.”
Pinkie placed twelve different chocolates into the box, then closed it and tied the bow.
“Tag or nor tag?” She smiled.
“No tag thanks.” Dash shook her head, then stopped. “Actually, you better put the tag on.”
Pinkie pulled a tag out of her mane and tied it with a crimson string before handing the finished product to the nervous pegasus.
“Perfect!” She chirped.
“Thanks,” Dash smiled nervously, and offered her a few bits. “This is enough, right?”
“Oh, Dashie!” Pinkie rolled her eyes and pushed away the money. “You don’t need to pay me! This is your first Very Special Somepony gift!”
Rainbow smiled in thanks, returned the money to her saddle bag along with placing the chocolate box inside, and exited the bakery.
Once safe outside and behind the building, Dash pulled out a pencil from her bag and scribbled ‘To: Applejack’ on the tag before she forgot.
The next stop was at Roseluck’s stand. The rush had died down now that it was well past lunch, so there wasn’t a line.
Dash landed in front of the stand, catching the mare’s attention.
“Rainbow Dash?” Roseluck tilted her head slightly. “What brings you here?”
Dash sighed, annoyed her purpose wasn’t obvious.
“I want to buy some flowers,” she said flatly.
“Oh, lovely!” Roseluck put on a grin. “What kind would you like?”
Learning her lesson from the bakery, Dash decided precision was needed here.
“I want a small bouquet with six red roses.” She paused. “Actually, make it seven.”
The mare blinked at the very exact order as it came to be a little more of a surprise than seeing Rainbow buying the flowers in the first place, but she prepared the bouquet despite it.
“Oh,” Rainbow quickly added, “and a crimson bow would be cool too.”
“Here you are…” Roseluck tentatively handed the bouquet over. “That’ll be seven bits.”
“Thanks.” Dash handed over the money and flew away.
Well, that was really awkward.
Rainbow placed the roses gently into her other saddle bag, and then let down on a cloud. Curling up on the fluffy white surface, she peered over the edge. There were so many pairs sitting together, or walking together, or even a few hiding in the park rubbing noses and kissing.
Rainbow tried to imagine herself doing that. What would it be like to date Applejack? And how awkward would it be to hold hooves? To rub noses? To kiss??
The images in her head made feel dizzy and her heart race all at once. Her first reaction to these ideas was to dry heave over the side of the cloud. But as she continued to think them, she felt more… tingly. Shivers ran down her spine as she thought about kissing the orange mare.
These sorts of things would happen if she told AJ her feelings—if she accepted her, of course.
Now having a little motivation, Dash looked into her saddle bags to see what she had so far. She had the chocolates and the roses, which meant all that was left now was the gift. So, like a fancy gem or a love poem? No, that wouldn’t go over very well. She needed something else.
Dash clapped her hooves as she had an idea of what else to give. Dash needed to give some heartfelt gift to Applejack. Not like a jewel or necklace or love poem, but something Applejack could really appreciate. Something she could use.
Immediately, Rainbow took off into the air as to circle Ponyville for the right shop. What was something a farm pony would need all the time?
A shovel? Because that’s totally a gift of affection.
Some fancy soap? Because that’s not offensive.
A sofa maybe? Because that wouldn’t be creepy at all.
Tired of circling the town sarcastically shooting down her ideas, she landed in front of the “Tin Tinker” shop. She opened the door, revealing all sorts of random tin things.
The owner of the place, Tin Tinker himself, was a goofy looking unicorn with a lime green coat and a wild, greasy, forest green mane. He always had huge glasses on his face that made his eyes look enormous, and a wide toothy grin to go with them.
“Hello Miz Rainbow Dash!” The goofy unicorn welcomed his customer. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for a something.” Dash puzzled over all the little trinkets in the shop. “A useful something.”
“A useful something?” The unicorn walked over to a counter and pulled out a drawer underneath it before pulling it up onto the counter. “We call those utensils. You like any of these?”
Dash shifted her gaze to the utensils. There were forks, knives, spoons, can openers, bottle cap openers, and wait. What was that?
“Hey, what’s this thing?”
She gently touched her hoof to a circular tin object. It had six little wedges and a circle on the inside, and two handles on the outside.
“Oh, this hear?” Tin Tinker lifted the object with his magic, a green aura engulfing it as it raised to eyelevel. “This hear is an Apple Cutter. You place it horizontally on the apple like this, then press down. It’ll cut it into six little wedges, and it cuts out the core!”
Dash’s eyes widened as she stared at the Apple Cutter. This was perfect.
“How much?” She reached into her bag for her bits.
“Eh, I’d say four bits would fit the bill.”
Dash placed the money on the counter, and took the utensil. She then zipped out of the store without saying another word. Setting her destination to Sweet Apple Acres, she soared through town, diving between the couples and the occasional school filly at high speeds.
Reaching the edge of the orchard, where no pony else was, Rainbow ditched the saddle bags and pulled out the roses and chocolates. The chocolates were a little warm, and the flowers a little bent, but they would have to do. With confidence, Dash placed everything under her wings and walked towards the barn.
Walking gave time for Rainbow to think. In her head she walked herself through the steps of her little plan, carefully going over each detail.
First, she would go over to the barn and knock on the door, the gifts tucked safely behind her back. It being sunset now, Applejack would be in the barn replacing the plow and other tools after the day’s work.
Next, Applejack would open the barn door, and Rainbow would talk to her. Their conversation would consist of the weather and how she was, and then slowly digress to Hearts and Hooves day.
Then, Rainbow would tell Applejack that she needed to tell her something. At this point she would reveal the gifts out from behind her back.
Finally, Rainbow Dash would tell the truth to Applejack, and—
The sound of three exhausted fillies snapped Dash back into reality as she dove behind a tree. Peering from her hiding place at them, she saw Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo gathering apples into a cart. What were they doing here? It didn’t really matter to Dash, it just meant they were another obstacle she would have to get around.
Brushing her belly on the long grass, Dash crouched as she snuck around the group at a pace that would make Tank proud. However, her concentration was soon broken by the sound of more ponies approaching.
Quickly rolling and diving behind yet another tree, Dash peeked at the new arrivals.
It was Big Macintosh and Miss Cheerilee coming over to talk to the girls.
Ignoring their conversation, Rainbow decided to change plans to sitting and waiting until the group was gone. There were too many ponies, and that put her at too high of a risk to be caught carrying flowers and chocolates. Instead, Dash resumed going over the plan.
Finally, Rainbow would tell the truth to Applejack. AJ could react in three possible ways. She could react positively, negatively, or indifferently.
If Applejack was positive about it, Rainbow Dash would most likely gain a marefriend. This made Rainbow a little unsure, but then again a marefriend is with whom one rubs noses and kisses. So that sounded pretty sweet.
If Applejack was indifferent, the two would continue their friendship. This reaction was the most appealing to Dash. It meant that things might get a little awkward between them, but other than that, they could keep being the good friends they were. Plus Rainbow could get it off her chest and feel safer around Applejack.
But what if Applejack reacted negatively? What if, after she confessed, she asked Applejack if they could still be friends, and she said—
“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders cried out.
Rainbow Dash nearly jumped out of her skin they startled her so bad. Adrenaline pumping, she soared out of her hiding place and barely stopped herself from thrusting the barn door open and tearing inside.
Now standing in front of the barn door, Rainbow’s heart began to race faster. She leaned forward and listened through the wood. She could hear Applejack whistling inside the barn as she put her tools away.
Stepping a bit away from the barn, Dash took a deep breath. The red paint looked more orange than red in the setting sun, which was now casting shadows of apple trees all around her hooves. Everything was set up to go through with her plan.
All Dash had to do now was knock.
As Rainbow lifted her hoof to knock on the barn door, a horrifying dropping sensation kick started in her stomach. If she knocked, there would be no turning back.
If Applejack reacted positively, negatively, or even indifferently, none of those outcomes would result in how things already were. Every time she tried not to blush when those green eyes looked at her, there would now be a return of affection, or an awkward smile, or maybe a glare and a scowl. But not the blind innocence she already had.
And although the positive or indifferent outcomes seemed to be a fair trade for that innocence, the negative option sounded unbearable. She could lose her friendship forever. She would always regret telling her. It was only a small chance that Applejack would do this to Dash, it was still a chance. A chance so devastating it made the whole thing not worth it.
It would mean the loss of eleven bits and maybe half an hour, but this didn’t bother Rainbow Dash as she dumped the chocolates, roses, and Apple Cutter into a nearby barrel by the barn. It was the closest thing to a trash can, so she stuck them there.
Before she could be caught she flew away, heading for home and a warm bed to hide and fall asleep in.
“You placed them in a barrel?” Applejack sat up and looked Rainbow straight in the eye.
“Um, yeah.” Rainbow avoided her gaze. “It was dumb, idea.”
“No. It wasn’t dumb.”
Rainbow looked back at the farm pony, who was dead serious.
“Ah found that barrel,” Applejack spoke shakily, “and everything in it. Ah was so surprised to see mah name on that tag, Rainbow. Ah had never received anything so wonderful on Hearts and Hooves day.”
“Really?? And what about the Apple Cutter?”
“Ah found that too. Wasn’t sure what it was at first, but the second Granny Smith laid eyes on it, she got so excited to show me how it worked. I had silently thanked the mysterious pony who had gifted it to me as I took a bite of a perfectly sliced piece. Who knew I was thanking you all this time?”
Dash blushed.
“Heh, yeah, that was me.”
The two sat silently for a bit as AJ laid back down on the hay.
“So.” Rainbow cleared her throat before she continued, “The defeat on Hearts and Hooves day haunted me for a long, long time. It even eventually began to weave its way into my dreams. One particular night after that particular dream, I actually woke up and decided to visit the subject of said dream.”
AJ raised an eyebrow.
“You watched me sleep? When was that?”
Dash rolled her eyes, dismissing the concerned expression.
“We were on a camping trip, and you were only one tent away.”