6 Months, Several Eternities

by TheRainbowEffect

Striking

"And we are done, yeehaw!" Applejack shouted as she and Big Mac walked inside soon before dark. Rainbow Dash smiled and started towards the living room, trying to convey that she was indeed not sitting there staring out the window. She reached the living room and laid her eyes on Applejack. Applejack was sweaty, her mane was messed up, her hooves had dirt on them, and she couldn't have looked more beautiful to Rainbow Dash. This kind of rugged beauty fit Applejack very well.

"Ah call the first bath," Big Mac said nonchalantly.

"Not fair, you got the first bath last time!" Applejack yelled.

"Eeyup."

"FINE, you get the first bath."

Big Mac walked off to the bathroom. Applejack started to talk to Rainbow Dash.

"We got done early this year, thanks to your help, Dash."

"Of course, my awesomeness helps everything."

"Ah s'pose it does, Rainbow Dash."

Applejack gave a small chuckle and a smile at Rainbow Dash's missing modesty. Rainbow Dash smiled back at Applejack, happy at the sound of Applejack's cute, harmonious country laugh. They did tend to butt heads at times, but that didn't matter. Ponies got over small fights like that. That wasn't something that ruined a relationship, she hoped. She didn't know how a relationship worked. This was something she didn't quite understand. She was willing to give it a try, though. It was something interesting, something she wanted to try. She wanted to go out with Applejack. It was an oddity, really. She was the only pegasus who'd ever been capable of a Sonic Rainboom, something that was often thought as just a fake story. Love, however, something that was prominent in the world, something experienced by many, many ponies, was something Rainbow Dash couldn't understand.

A clean Big Mac soon came out of the bathroom, and Applejack walked that way. Rainbow Dash suddenly realized that she too was still dirty and sweaty from her time outside. She was going to take a bath after Applejack, that was for sure. Big Mac walked into the kitchen and started making dinner, seeing as everyone was tired and hungry. It was going to be something apple-related, Rainbow Dash guessed. Duh. Rainbow Dash walked around for a little bit, kind of bored, then realized that she really had to go to the bathroom. She headed that way, forgetting that Applejack was bathing until she barged right in there.

"Dash!"

Rainbow Dash accidently stared for a moment, until that point when she realized that Applejack was still in the bathroom and she was staring right at the bathing country pony. She shut her eyes tight and tried to move out, but instead, she stumbled into the wall and fell over.

"Sorry, I forgot you were in here," Rainbow Dash said as she got back up, blindly trying to locate the exit, her wings in pain from the crash.

"It's alright, but if you would please get out, that'd be mighty nice."

"Well, you said once yourself that we don't normally wear clothes."

"That doesn't mean ah want you watching me takin' a bath!"

"Ok, sorry, I'll leave."

She soon found the exit and closed the door behind her, opening her eyes and blushing thoroughly, her face growing hot. That was quite the surprise. To add on top of it, for a little bit she had actually stared at Applejack. Sitting there in the bath. She had resisted the urge to hop right in. Of all the ways to break the news to Applejack, that was not a good one. She paused to think for a moment. How was she going to break the news? That was a problem. Under normal circumstances, she would've been able to predict how Applejack would react. That was until she fell in love with Applejack. Now it was a game of thinking about the worst possible consequences. She tried to remind herself that it'd be alright, at the worst she'd be friend-zoned, but her mind wasn't working that way.

Applejack came out of the bathroom soon after, and Rainbow Dash feared the worst.

"You don't have to wait any longer, the bathroom's open now," Applejack joked, and then she laughed.

Rainbow Dash laughed too, relieved. So, Applejack hadn't thought anything of it. She smiled as she walked past Applejack to take a bath. She turned on the bath tap and closed the door while the tub filled up. She was relieved. A time to sit, relax, and think was presenting itself.

The tub filled up, and she turned off the faucet and climbed in. Her cast was water-proof, obviously. A warm relaxation fell over her as she sunk into the lukewarm bath water. She stopped to think. Perhaps it wasn't shock that caused her to stare. Maybe it was because... because Applejack was simply beautiful in the bath. Her hat was off, her mane undone and wet, and maybe Rainbow Dash had stared as a result of that, not the shock of accidently walking in on her friend in the bath. To top it off, Applejack had an amazing country body. She really did.

During her thinking, she decided that she had no idea how to tell Applejack the news. So, she was going to ask her friends. She wasn't going to tell them she was in love with Applejack, but she was going to ask them how to tell somepony you love them. They wouldn't suspect it was Applejack, surely. They'd probably think it was some colt that she had met. But wait, what if they thought she was falling in love with Big Mac? She had been spending her time out of the hospital at the Apples' residence. Then, she'd just say it wasn't. Her friends knew she wasn't too big a liar, so if she said she was in love with somepony, she wouldn't have to lie and say it was a colt. She thought for a moment. She'd go to Rarity's place first. Rarity knew a lot about that lovey-dovey stuff. She was always talking about the new romance novels she was reading. In those, however, it was between some muscley colt and some mare. She was definitely not a colt, and not muscley. Rarity could probably think of something, though. She was going to go to all of her friends anyway to gather opinions.

She was soon done with her bath, climbing out of the tub and draining the bath. She started to dry herself off. Once she was dry, she walked out of the bathroom, where dinner was waiting. She never cared what it was called, so she never found out. It did taste good, though. Once dinner was done, they cleared the table. They then proceeded to wind down for the night, as it was now dark. Rainbow Dash went to her bed and lay down, thinking of Applejack in the bath. Applejack was simply beautiful. There were no discrepancies as to that. She was going to tell Applejack tomorrow, she decided. She was going to gather tips from her friends and then tell Applejack. There was no way around it.

Tomorrow was the big day.

* * *

Rainbow Dash woke up, her resolve diminishing the moment she sat up. She was less sure about her ability to tell Applejack once she had gotten some sleep. It was frightening, the prospect of being rejected. After all, she had been shaking at the time of the Best Young Fliers competition, afraid of failure, afraid of disapproval. This was going to be harder than she thought.

She got up soon after waking, and went to get something to eat. She grabbed some applesauce and mindlessly ate a little bowl of it, as she was too busy thinking about Applejack. She had to tell Applejack, yet she was simultaneously frightened by the prospect of rejection. This was a dilemma, if she ever knew one.

She finished her applesauce, and put the bowl away. She contemplated staying around, but this was bugging her a lot. She needed to go see her friends. Rainbow decided that Applejack would probably guess where she was, or at least not fear the worst. She walked out the door and headed to town.

* * *

She tentatively raised a hoof, thinking about what she would say, and then knocked on the door. Rarity opened the door, smiling at her rainbow friend.

“Oh, hello, Rainbow Dash! What brings you here?”

“Rarity, can I ask you a question?”

“Why, of course, Rainbow Dash, what is it?”

Rainbow Dash hesitated a moment, then spoke, “You know those romance-y novels you’re always reading?”

“Well, of course I do, but why do you ask?”

“What I want to say is…”

“Well, what is it, Rainbow Dash?”

“I wanted to ask you… if you know a good way… to tell somepony you’re in love with them.” She rushed out the last bit quickly, almost to the point of being unintelligible.

“Well, you see… Oh, congratulations, Rainbow Dash!”

“Well, thanks, Rarity.”

“So, who’s the lucky colt?”

“Well…”

“Oh, pardon me, Rainbow Dash. I do suppose that is something you’ll tell me when you’re ready.”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“Do come in, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash followed her inside, and then Rarity spoke.

“Just sit there, I’ll make tea.”

Rainbow Dash sat at the table which Rarity had mentioned, and waited until Rarity came back, magically hovering two cups of tea in front of her. She set the cups of tea on the table, one in front of Rainbow Dash, one in front of herself, and then proceeded to sit down across from Rainbow Dash.

“Well, back to telling somepony you love them… Well, I suppose you could just tell them how you feel, explain your feelings to them. There’s also the conventional method of asking them out on a date, even though normally it’s the colt that’s doing the asking. Waiting is normally not an option, as they, many times, will not pick up on your feelings for them.”

Rainbow Dash sipped her tea, taking in what Rarity was saying.

“Then there’s something that’s more you, I suppose. There’s always the big surprise, the “coming out with a kiss.” That’s just when you get them alone, and when you feel the time is right, you kiss them. It’s more of a high risk, high reward type of thing.”

When she heard that, something clicked. That was her. Go big or go home, she said. She decided that she didn’t need to see all of her friends when she had the perfect solution staring her in the face. She decided she might just drop by anyway, just to see her friends.

"Dropping hints doesn't really work. Sometimes you'd be astounded by the density of some colts."

Then she muttered what sounded like Blueblood to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash smiled at Rarity, and stood.

"Thanks Rarity, you've been really helpful."

She started out the door, and behind her she heard Rarity calling, "Good luck, Rainbow Dash!" She sounded sincere. She really did.

Rainbow Dash realized that if she was going to pull the surprise move, she was going to have to figure out a way to get Applejack alone, away from anyone else. It was going to have to be brash, a surprise, something fitting for the fastest flier in Equestria. She tapped her hoof on her chin and tried to think. How do I get Applejack alone in a way that fits me? I need a way that won’t make Applejack think anything’s out of the ordinary. She couldn’t just ask if Applejack wanted to go on a walk. That wasn’t her. An idea came to mind. Maybe she would ask if Applejack wanted to help out with her athletics. Granted, she didn’t have her wings, but there were athletic things you could do without your wings. That was it. She could take Applejack out into some secluded spot, and then pull the move! It was an awesome plan, but that was no surprise, coming from the best flier in Equestria.

Just then, Pinkie Pie popped up in front of her.

“Good luck telling Applejack!”

Rainbow Dash was taken aback, shocked. “How… how did you know?”

“Silly Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie exclaimed, “I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“Oh,” Rainbow Dash said. She truly wasn’t surprised that Pinkie somehow knew these things. There was no good way to describe Pinkie; she was just simply Pinkie Pie.

“Yeah, thanks Pinkie. So I take it you’re alright with it?”

“Of course, silly! You’re my friend and friends are supportive! I mean, we’re friends right? And friends make amends! And amends make bends! And bends make sends! And-“

Rainbow Dash walked off before she had to endure much more of Pinkie’s rambling. She pondered whether she should go back now, or if she should deliberate longer. If she were going to play the “need to work on my moves” card, it would be weird to do it at night. Yet it was early, she didn’t want to do it too early.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. She would go back now, but start her scheme after lunch. They’d all be fed, and subsequently energized, and it would be an ideal time to go “practice.” It was genius. It was a plan almost as awesome as she was. She started walking back to the orchard. She was ready.

Operation: Awesome was in effect.

* * *

She got to her temporary home as the sun was high overhead and walked in side. Applejack was there, and the country mare posed a question: “Where’d ya go?”

“Oh I just went on another walk. You know how it is.”

“Um… okay, ah guess.”

“Cool. Cool cool cool.

“Anyway, Big Mac’s gettin’ lunch ready, just so ya know.”

“Awesome.” Her plan was moving forward. Lunch was almost on the table. She walked past Applejack, heading to her room. She sat there on the edge of her bed, thinking. Her body was tired, but she knew that after lunch she would be revitalized, and she would be ready to strike, so to speak. That’s what she would think of it, striking, and either winning or losing Applejack. This was big. She had done the legendary Sonic Rainboom twice, but had never once told somepony that she loved them.

This was it.

It was then that Applejack called everypony in for lunch. The cyan mare walked out to the table to see Applebloom there, home from her stay at Scootaloo’s place.

“Hey, Applebloom,” she said as she sat down, “What’s up?”

“Not much, ah suppose.”

“What’d you do at Scootaloo’s?”

“Well, we tried to find our Cutie Marks, but we still all have blank flanks.”

“It’s alright; you’ll get your Cutie Mark in time.”

“But ah want in now!”

“Calm down, squirt.”

Big Mac, Applejack and Granny Smith walked in then, Big Mac setting the food on the table. They then set to eating, Rainbow Dash scarfing down the food, as Rarity would put it, quite uncouthly. She was set on finishing lunch as soon as possible. She was, of course, done with lunch first, and cleared her stuff from the table.

When they were all done, Rainbow Dash confronted Applejack.

“Hey, you wanna go and help me work on some athletic stuff? I’ve been getting soft and I need to keep my chops up, you know?”

“Sure, that’d be mighty nice.”

“Awesome. Let’s go.”

They walked out of the house after first alerting everypony to their plans of action. Rainbow Dash decided to lead the way, for she knew the perfect spot to strike. She started to lead Applejack to a secluded meadow where she used to practice flying. It was perfect. Rainbow Dash’s heart started to beat faster in her chest, and she started to perspire. She tried to keep cool, and she knew she couldn’t alert Applejack to the notion that something was wrong. She was hoping something was going to go right.

They got there, and Rainbow Dash was nervous. She reminded herself that she was Rainbow Dash. She could do this. Go big or go home. This was it.

"So, what do ya wanna start with? Ah'm up fer anything."

"Um, I dunno. Let's race to that tree over there."

"Alrighty."

They got into running positions, and Applejack, Element of Honesty, counted down.

3...

2...

1...

Go! They both sprinted. Rainbow Dash wasn't used to sprinting, and Applejack's legs were stronger, so Applejack reached the tree first. Rainbow Dash reached it, they decided to race back to their starting point. They raced back and forth a couple times until they were both at the base of the tree, and were both panting. Rainbow Dash steeled herself. If there was any time to do it, now was the time. Applejack was looking off the other way, so she got Applejack's attention.

"Hey, Applejack.

"Yeah?"

As Applejack turned her head, Rainbow Dash made her move. She put her head forward and pressed her mouth against Applejack's. Her eyes closed, but she was sure that Applejack's eyes had opened in surprised. She held her mouth against the shocked Applejack's mouth for a moment, hoping, wishing. When she broke apart, she looked at Applejack's stunned face.

"Uh, sugarcube... what was that?"

"Well, Applejack, it started when I started staying at your house. I started to feel differently about you. I couldn't keep the feelings at bay, and, soon enough, it developed into this. I like you, Applejack. I like you a lot. I decided I had to tell you, to show you. It came to this. Applejack... I want you to consider going out with me. I want you to consider having a marefriend as opposed to a coltfriend. Please, Applejack. Go out with me."

"Well... ah don't know... ah mean, ah like you and all, but... ah never thought of you as somepony ah'd ever have as mah very special somepony."

"Applejack, I'm in love with you. There's really not much you can do about it. I am going to continue being in love with you, even if you reject me, which will surely lead to awkward situations. I want you to REALLY consider it, and don't you dare let the fact that I'm a mare or that I'm your friend get in the way of your decision. Decide if you would want to go out with a pony like me, and if you do, then go out with me, because I can guarantee you that I am the one and only Rainbow Dash."

"Rainbow Dash, ah promise you with all of mah heart, that ah will truly consider a relationship with you."

"That's all I ask."

They left it at that. Applejack walked off, back to the orchard, as Rainbow Dash walked to town, to avoid awkwardness. Rainbow Dash felt dejected. Applejack had said she'd consider, but that didn't mean that it was definitely going to happen.

Oh, but she hoped with all her being that it did happen.

Comments

[Frizzy]

Rainbow Dash went balls out on that one.

[DaBeejees]

You can doo eeet! You can do eet ALL! NIGHT! LONG!

Okay, perhaps that isn't the best way to get Rainbow's hopes up, but at least I tried.

[Ness Pony]

I love these stories, very well written, not a rushed story, very good grammar, and definitely one of the best fics I've ever read. You're an amazing writer keep up the good work, sir.

[YOitzGEEZUS]

221553 I see what you did there!

[Cthulhu Likes Ponies]

images.wikia.com/adventuretimewithfinnandjake/images/1/14/Boy-that-escalated-quickly.jpg

[Discord Kantus]

Operation: Awesome? Oh, Rainbow. Quite enjoying this so far. Hopefully Applejack accepts.