She was lost again. Lost in those deep, green eyes. She was in a delirium, making it easy to lose herself in them. They were the first things she saw when she woke up, groggy and barely remembering why she’d been asleep in the first place; she wanted them to always be the first things she saw when she woke up. She wanted to live in their verdant depths and relish every moment of her life in bliss with Applejack, as sappy and un-Rainbow-Dash as that may be. She allowed herself to imagine this reality as a possibility, even to live in it, as she gazed up at those eyes.
“Hey there pony girl. Y’all fainted on me.” Applejack smiled slyly. “Now that’s a right terrible thing to do to a friend, don’tcha think?”
Slowly regaining her lucidity, Rainbow sneered playfully in response. “More like you tried to kill me!”
“Yeah, uh … sorry about that.”
“We’ll call it even.” The pegasus tried to wave a hoof in the air dismissively, but was still a bit tired and only succeeded in tangling herself in the sheets. This gave her pause. Sheets? Obliviously, she asked a rather obvious question before taking the mere seconds it would have required to determine its answer. “Where am I?”
“You’re in Ponyville Hospital. Ye gave us a real scare there.”
The normal response to this news would be shock, surprise, perhaps even fear. Rainbow wasn’t inclined to normalcy. She just rolled her eyes and groaned, “Not again, how long am I stuck in here this time?”
Applejack laughed a deep, warm laugh. Even her mocking laugh was beautiful, but this one was friendly. That wonderful laugh, Dash was sure, could cure her of anything better than some boring hospital. But instead of Applejack, another voice, a disinterested doctor on the other end of the room, spoke up in reply. “You’re free to go whenever you’re feeling up to it. Just make sure you check out and settle your bill.” He surveyed the responses of Rainbow and the group while running a hoof through a shock of pink hair at the back of his neck, before apparently concluding that everypony understood and he was no longer necessary. With this unsentimental gesture, he trotted from the room, confident in another job well done. Applejack laughed again.
That had drawn Rainbow’s attention to the rest of the room. It was like any other hospital room; drab, oddly green and filled with indescribable equipment. More importantly, it was filled with her friends. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy all sat at the opposite end silently, though the latter waved excitedly at Rainbow’s attention. They were giving Applejack space and time.
“Ah’ve got somethin’ Ah need t’ talk to ye about, Dash. Or maybe just tell ye.”
Rainbow knew full well that this could only be good news at this point. Things had gone too well for it to be bad. It’s rare that being knocked unconscious and waking up in a hospital room is a good thing, but even so, she was sure things were more-or-less OK. Kind of. Mostly.
Applejack pursed her lips and furrowed her brow, deep in thought. She spoke slowly and purposefully. “They say that ye either like stallions, or ye like mares. Like one day ye’ll just wake up, and poof! Half of Equestria’s yer oyster.
“But it ain’t like that at all, is it, Dash? It ain’t about stallions and mares, it’s about ponies. It’s about you and me.” She paused, examining Rainbow’s reaction. “Ah don’t give one lick about stallions. Ah don’t give one lick about mares. Ah love you, Rainbow Dash.”
Still only half awake, Rainbow achingly took in this postulate, staring at a point a few feet behind Applejack’s head. She stared listlessly at that point for a moment, then changed her attitude entirely when she managed to parse it all.
“Wait. Repeat that last part.”
With a snicker, Applejack continued her game. “Hmmm … Ah don’t give one lick about mares?”
Rainbow sneered.
“Now what was it…”
She tried a different tact, pleading with big, silly puppy-dog eyes.
Applejack relented, and spoke in her soft, thoughtful tone again.
“Ah love you, Rainbow Dash.”
“… So. Awesome.” She could barely even squeak out this declaration as the enthusiasm built in her. It started in her tail and wriggled electrically all the way through her, giving her goosebumps and causing her to vocalize her glee in a high-pitched hum. Finally it overtook her and she leapt from the bed and into Applejack. The farmer’s strong frame had little trouble taking in her enthusiastic energy.
“Applejack! This is so awesome! Don’t you see what this means? We’ll be, like, the best and most awesome couple in Ponyville and everypony’ll be jealous of us because we’re so much cooler than them and they’ll all–”
“Rainbow Dash!”
Pinkie’s out-of-the-blue exclamation caught the pair off guard, and they broke their gaze to stare quizzically at her.
“Dashie, you’re back! I missed you SO MUCH, you’ve been gone for DAYS!” With this, she pounced on the unsuspecting pegasus, knocking her to the ground.
Rainbow flailed comically. Giggling, she protested, “Pinkie, what the hay are you talking about, I haven’t been–”
Pinkie’s real meaning dawned on her. She looked to her friends, who were all nodding in agreement. She was back. She’d let baseless fear tear away most of her self, but it was back now. She was confident again. And her friends were all there for her, through everything.
She was Rainbow Dash again.
“That’s right, Pinkie, I’m back. Thank you.”
“Anything for a smile!”
She put on a broad, ridiculous grin as a token of gratitude. This seemed to placate Pinkie. Or perhaps she’d just been distracted, as she suddenly gasped and jumped off of her prey, bolting for the other side of the room once more. Her boisterousness truly knew no bounds.
“Rarity!”
Rarity looked shocked to be the topic of conversation, having been quite content to simply watch the scene unfold before her.
Pinkie skidded to a halt and started bashing her head into the couturier’s flank in a surprisingly unsuccessful effort to get her to move. “Come on, Rarity, there’s not much time and we have SO MUCH planning to do!”
“Planning? Just what in Equestria are you talking about? Stop that, it’s so unseemly!”
The party pony seemed bewildered that her intent hadn’t been obvious. “Planning for the wedding, DUH! I can’t do it all by myself!”
“Pinkie, that’s…”
But a small smile crept on her face, as she allowed herself to be swept up in Pinkie’s silly enthusiasm. Soon the giggling pair were galloping from the room, whispering secretive plans to each other. Rainbow only caught a small tiff over whether a banner should read “mare and wife” or “mare and mare” before they were out of earshot.
Rainbow was lying on her back through this whole spectacle, too entranced by the silliness of it to right herself. After soaking in the nonsense scene herself, Applejack took advantage of this situation. She trotted to Rainbow’s side with a grin, then sat atop her and declared, “Well looka there, pinned ya again.”
Rainbow would have none of this, of course. She flipped the pair onto the bed, but was soon rolled over once more, then again, and so on. This tussle very quickly degraded into kissing, nibbling, touching and licking as the pair allowed their previously abortive activities to resurface. That too stopped abruptly, however, as they simultaneously noticed the bright red glow coming from their two remaining spectators.
Fluttershy tried to strafe out of the room, but found herself hung up on opening the door silently. Twilight just tried to avert her gaze, focusing intently on a vase in the far corner of the room. To her credit, it was bizarre that even the roses were green in this hospital.
Her lips still pressed against Rainbow’s, Applejack suggested in a muffled voice, “Maybe this ain’t the best place fer this.”
Dash pulled away with a smirk. “Race you to your place?”
“Oh, you are so on.”
Two weeks later
“Scootaloo, what the hay! Get off o’ me!”
“‘Get off o’ me?’ That’s not very romantic.”
Apple Bloom raised a brow. “Romantic?”
Scootaloo frowned poutily at this comment. “If Rainbow Dash is a fillyfooler, I wanna be a fillyfooler too.”
This statement was too ludicrous for Apple Bloom not to laugh. She could barely explain through her chuckling, “That’s stupid, Scootaloo. They say ye’re either born that way or ye ain’t!”
“Well how am I supposed to know?!” She was perhaps as legitimately confused as she was indignant.
“How the heck should I know!”
“Aww, come ooooon!” The tone in Scootaloo’s voice would have melted the resolve of any colt her age, and many of the fillies to boot. But Apple Bloom remained resolute.
“I’ll call my big sis.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
Apple Bloom took a deep breath. “Applej– mmf!” She was cut off by Scootaloo’s invading lips.
It was like any first fillyhood kiss, really. Clumsy, flat, and not especially passionate, yet exciting and new. It only lasted a fleeting few seconds, though, its exhilaration serving to keep it just as brief as it was invigorating.
The little pegasus pulled away, her wings buzzing, with a wide grin. Apple Bloom tried unsuccessfully to pass off her flushed expression as anger. Nonetheless, they both instinctively turned their heads, looking to their flanks.
“Well that didn’t work…”
~fin~
Author's notes
Well, that's it! That's my take on the oldest ship in the book. Sorry if this last chapter seemed a bit rushed ... on the one hoof it was, on the other, I just didn't have too much left to say. I may write a brief epilogue at some point, but I consider it complete as is. I'd just like to finish off by saying some things which probably ought to go in a blog, except that nopony reads those.
First off, thank you so much for reading! As I've already said, I prefer comments to virtually all other forms of feedback, so if you have any parting words, please consider posting something. Even if you're coming to this story months or years after I finished it, if you have something to say, don't hesitate! Gimme some words! Even (actually, especially) criticism is appreciated.
Second, some cross-pollination. If you have the remotest interest in dark fiction or gore, or even if my mentioning that has just piqued your curiosity in how someone with my writing style might handle that genre, consider reading my ongoing fic, Sweetie Belle's Cutie Mark. I promise you you won't regret it unless you do! Additionally, as I seem to have gotten a sudden boost in readership from Gold, it's only fair that I should return the favor. I've been editing Gold's Appledash work, Left Behind. You should definitely read it! Gold may have issues keeping his personal pronouns straight, but he can sure spin an enrapturing yarn. His writing style isn't especially similar to mine, so if you're getting tired of what I've termed "adverb salad," then it may be a refreshing change of pace.
Third, some hints in what's to come. After finishing SBCM, I have a few things on the docket: I have an extremely sad tragedy one-shot just to test the waters writing something sad that isn't gory. Then I have a few undeveloped ideas. One is a romantic comedy starring Applejack and virtually every other character in FiM, with the most ridiculous premise I could think of (this is to test the bounds of my characterization). The second is a crossover involving a certain jet-age aerial ace. If anybody's interested in seeing these come to fruition, or would like to draw a cover image or edit, feel free to follow me, get in contact, etc.
Finally, a deleted scene. This was the only decent bit of chapter 6 before I changed it entirely, and I thought it too amusing to ditch entirely, so enjoy the most passionate scene you never got to see, raw and unedited:
“Greatest daredevil in Ponyville, huh? So why’re y’all actin’ like a timid fieldmouse?”
“Well,” Dash stammered, “uh … Daring Do’s 4th rule of living a Daring life is to know when not to take risks!” She refrained from mentioning that the 3rd rule was, of course, knowing when to take risks.
Laughing, Applejack pulled the cerulean body before her in closer, joining into a much deeper, more passionate kiss. With Rainbow following her every gestured instruction, it was as if their lips and tongues were dancing, each twist and lap by the earth pony followed similarly by the pegasus in a perfectly-choreographed waltz. Having this sort of power over the usually forceful flier was exhilarating, and led the small voice which asked her “what happens next?” to form a larger chorus. She could read Rainbow’s desires clearly, although her own were in a haze. They didn’t seem crass or shallow, but earnest and thoughtfully restrained, worthy of being nurtured.
“So Darin’ Do taught y’all how not to take risks?”
Puzzled, Dash nodded, head turned slightly at the question.
“Ah guess it’s a good thing Ah don’t read Darin’ Do then!”
Several hours later the pair found themselves sweaty, panting, and ensnared together in Applejack’s purple sheets. Applejack stared into Rainbow’s rose eyes, nose twitching in consideration of exactly what had just happened, trying to collect her thoughts and feelings. It had all seemed to follow so naturally, but was now gathering a fog of doubt and confusion. Her mane was untied and wild, lying loosely over them both. With one fore hoof she patted down a bit of fur on her neck which had been twisted and stuck in an odd position with saliva, the other lay under her partner’s neck, occasionally idly twirling a lock of green hair. For her part, Rainbow was glassy, twitching excitedly, and repeatedly muttering “wow!” in a muffled trance, while enjoying the earthy scents and sensations she’d never before experienced.
“Rainbow?”
The pegasus tried to rouse herself from her trance to respond, but couldn’t. By now, Applejack had become accustomed to these dazed moments, both looking deeply into each others’ eyes, so she allowed it to continue until the desire to break the silence overwhelmed her.
“Ah … um, Ah didn’t know ye could do that with wings.”