//------------------------------//
// Faithful and Strong 
// Story: Appledashery 
// by Just Essay 
//------------------------------//

	"I think..."  Rainbow Dash breathed and breathed.  "I think..."  Her eyes darted around.

Applejack stared.  Eyes bright.

"... ... ..."  Rainbow cleared her throat.  "I think... that you could... do a lot b-better than Stu..."

Applejack's ears folded back.

Rainbow's eyes shot towards her.  "And... mmmmm... and yet..."  She swallowed pins and needles down her throat.  "...I think... at least I'm starting to believe... that love is what we make of it."

"How... how do you mean, Rainbow?"

"Like... for instance... you say that Stu Leaves is always trying to improve himself, right?"

"Right."

"Well... what matters more?"  Rainbow narrowed her eyes.  "That he'll make himself into a good stallion all because of you?  Or... or that..."  She fought the clattering of teeth.  "...or that you'll just appreciate him because of his attempts to get better?"  She fumbled with her fetlocks.  "And if he can't be the best that there is... are you satisfied just with the affection you have for a pony that you know so well...?"

"Well, nopony's perfect, Rainbow."

Rainbow sniffed.  "I beg to differ."

Applejack blinked.  She chuckled.

Rainbow wheezed forth a meager laugh.

Applejack brushed her bangs back, sighed, then murmured:  "I know that Stu ain't perfect."

Rainbow was silent.  She waited for it.

"But..."  Applejack cleared her throat.  "I also know that I ain't lookin' for perfection.  Shucks...sometimes I don't even know what I'm lookin' for."

"And yet..."  Rainbow exhaled.  "... ... ...you feel as though you're finding it anyways.  Huh?"

"Yeah..."  Applejack sighed warmly.  She hugged herself.  "And when I find it... I feel like somethin' far stronger and glorious-like has found me."  She lifted her eyes.  "Do you know what I'm talkin' about?"

"I... guess I could imagine."

"It... it would take time.  And I know this.  I know this."  Applejack groaned.  She rubbed her forehead, staring across the tent.  "It'll take time to properly gauge who and what Stu Leaves is.  I just... j-just reckon I ain't used to bein' like this."

"Being like what?"

Applejack gulped.  "Bein' vulnerable."

Rainbow Dash blinked.

"And... knowin' that I'm settin' myself up to be vulnerable... to willfully give another pony my trust... a piece of my heart, if ya will."  Applejack winced.  "It... it almost feels as if I'm lettin' myself get weak.  And... and in all the times I've ever lurved on my family and friends, I... I just never quite felt that before.  That surrender.  Because... because I know them, Rainbow.  But Stu?  I'm just startin' to know him.  And I fear that I'll hate myself somethin' awful in the future if it turns out to be a big ol' mistake."

Rainbow Dash stared at her... at the bulbs of sweat forming along her temple.  At the twinge of fright flickering across her green eyes.

And something melted deep inside the pegasus.  It leaked out of her muzzle:  "You?  Applejack?  Weak?  Pffft!  As if!"

Applejack looked up.  "But... but Rainbow—"

"But nothing!"  Rainbow Dash felt like she was plunging swiftly into the bottom of a ravine.  She did the only thing she knew best in that kind of a situation.  She bore a devilish smirk and faced annihilation head-on.  "You're as strong and courageous as it gets!  What could a silly moron like Stu do to a level-headed mare like you?!"

"But... I ain't exactly feelin' level-headed..."

"That's an easy mistake to make."

"What's that?"

Rainbow exhaled calmly.  "Mixing your head up with your heart."  She gulped.  "But you, AJ?  I don't think you have that problem."  She shook her head.  "I don't think you ever will.  Believe me, it sucks."

Applejack's eyes darted.  "Huh?"

"Errrrrr..."  Rainbow Dash wheezed.  "What I mean to say is... is..."  She looked off.  She closed her eyes.  Then, leaning in, she spoke breathily.  "I believe in you, Applejack."  She reopened her ruby eyes, soft and sensitive.  "I always have.  Even back when we competed against each other... butted heads... it was just because I knew—deep down—you have more guts than me.  You have more guts than anypony.  What... what a pony wouldn't give..."  She chuckled, shuddering slightly.  "...to have even a fraction of what makes you so... so awesome."  She clenched her jaw tight, eyes hard and piercing.  "I believe you can do better than Stu Leaves.  I believe that you deserve better.  But that doesn't matter, does it?"

Applejack blinked.  "Then... then what does...?"

"What matters is that you're happy," Rainbow Dash said.  "And... and whatever happiness you want... that's the kind of happiness that you deserve..."  She lost the air in her lungs, and it formed the words:  "I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't let you have that."

Applejack gazed at her.  "... ... ...it almost... sounds like you've been through what I've been through before."

Rainbow Dash smiled limply.  "I've had my ups and downs, sure.  But now... more than anything..."  She clenched and unclenched her teeth.  "...I'm proud to have such good friends.  Ponies I can be loyal to.  And I want them to be happy."  Her eyes met hers.  "I want you to be happy.  Sure, there's risk involved.  But you've got what it takes, Applejack.  Don't... d-don't make the mistake of not going for it."

Applejack stared at her.  Eventually, her eyes fell.  She exhaled through a nervous smile... then exhaled again.  "It's... it's that simple, huh?"

"And even if it isn't..."  Rainbow Dash smiled through a bit lip.  "We're all here for you."

"Yeah... reckon you are, huh?"

Rainbow nodded.  "Totally," she said, and it came out easier than she had expected.

Applejack sighed once more, a weight being lifted off her fuzzy shoulders.  She brushed her bangs back and smiled towards the corners of the tent.  "I... I knew th-there was a reason I could tell you all that, sugarcube."  Her freckles reappeared, glinting like stars.  "Yer as loyal as they come."

Rainbow existed in a smile.  "G-guilty as charged," she breathed.