The evening drew on, and once the excitement had died down, the topic of conversation turned to other matters. They talked about Rarity's upcoming fashion line, costume plans for Nightmare Night... the same kind of stuff they'd always talk about. If knowing about Rainbow and Fluttershy's relationship had changed anything for the others, it didn't show. They accepted it, smiled about it, took it in stride and carried on as if they'd known all along. Rainbow praised herself on her choice of friends.
As night began to fall, Fluttershy had to leave to feed her animals, and Rarity insisted on walking her home – no doubt to quiz her on first dates and kisses and stuff – while the others stayed behind to help clean up the library. So, after kissing Fluttershy goodbye, Rainbow stood in the doorway, watching her tail sway as she started down the trail towards home.
“She's a lucky girl,” said Applejack, stepping up beside her.
“She sure is,” Rainbow agreed. She cracked a smirk at Applejack. “You jealous?”
Applejack snorted. “You wish, 'Loverbolt'.”
Rainbow blinked, then furrowed her brow. “Loverbolt?”
“...You know, like Wonderbolt, but--” Applejack shook her head and huffed. “Nevermind. I'll leave the jokes to Pinkie Pie.”
“Probably best,” said Rainbow.
They stood there in silence for a while, watching Rarity and Fluttershy slowly disappear down the trail, into the evening gloom. It was a little bit surreal, suddenly being open about the relationship they'd kept secret for so long, and it would probably take her a while to get used to those kinds of comments. She was reasonably sure it felt good though, knowing that her friends were cool with it.
“RD?”
Rainbow turned, but Applejack didn't meet her eyes. She was staring into the distance at something Rainbow couldn't see, chewing the inside of her cheek as she would a stalk of corn. Not that Rainbow Dash was stereotyping her friend, of course, that's just the image that sprung to mind. “What's up?”
“You're sure about this, ain't ya? You and Fluttershy, I mean.”
Rainbow frowned. “What kind of question is that?” she asked, with an unavoidable edge to her voice. It was a stupid question, but she was more confused about why Applejack would ask, rather than angry at her for doing so.
If Applejack noticed the edge, she didn't show it. She just shrugged. “You were sayin' earlier about explorin' stuff, an' seein' whether this thing between you's gonna work out. I know you probably didn't mean it like that, but it sounded like you were thinkin' it might not.”
Rainbow let her eyes wander for a moment, thinking back to when she'd said it. “No. I mean, that's not what I meant. I haven't really thought about it.”
“That's what I thought.” Applejack paused, and shrugged. “Don't know that it matters, but it raises the question. What if it doesn't?”
“Doesn't work out?” said Rainbow. Applejack grunted, which Rainbow took as a yes. She stared for a moment, then turned her eyes to the trail Fluttershy had disappeared down. “...I don't know,” she admitted. “You think it won't?”
“Didn't say that,” said Applejack. “Shoot, I don't mean anythin' like that. I think it's great news - you two are just about perfect for each other as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure it'll work out. Just... I don't know... seemed like a strange thing to say. Like you weren't so sure.”
Rainbow stared at her for a long moment, then let her gaze wander back out to the horizon, lost in silent thought.
“I don't know,” Applejack said again, with a noncommital shrug. “Just somethin' that bears thinkin' about, maybe. Come on, let's go help Twilight and Pinkie clear up.”
She went back inside, leaving Rainbow there to stare after Fluttershy's pink tail. 'What if it doesn't work out?' The words played through her mind, but didn't quite form a coherent thought. She didn't really know what to think about that. Or even whether she wanted to think about it.
“Right,” she muttered, finally responding to Applejack, though she couldn't hear. She shook the worry from her mind and turned to walk back into the library, closing the door behind her.
* * *