• Published 9th Jun 2013
  • 5,431 Views, 189 Comments

Those Beautiful Magenta Eyes - Upatree502



This is not your typical love story where upon realizing my feelings for Rainbow Dash, I confess my love and we live happily ever after. This is a story about my infatuation with my best friend, and my constant fear of letting that secret out.

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Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Everything seemed to be getting a little better a couple days after the party on Saturday. Jack came over on Sunday and he’d been helping out on the farm ever since. I made him fix things like the fence or the barn, but both of us knew it was just an excuse to have him come over.

Caramel stayed working on the farm as well and I introduced Jack to Caramel and Big Mac. Granny Smith was doing great and she sat outside a couple times to keep us all company. Apple Bloom was apparently doing fine in school and so was I— it was still only the beginning of the school year but, hey, I can still be optimistic right?

It was Tuesday morning and everyone was a bit quiet from sleepiness. Rainbow Dash slept through first hour entirely, I was zoned out pretty much the entire time, and Rarity sat there filing her nails. I’m pretty sure Twilight was the only one actually paying attention and taking notes out of the six of us. I probably should have been.

Economics class was actually kind of fun. We did this interactive group activity that Mr. Stanton went crazy over; his energy alone helped me to wake up. And, despite how 9th grade this activity felt, I actually learned a lot about microeconomics.

Fourth period came and passed quickly. Mrs. Hawthorne gave a lecture about Pavlov which didn’t even take all period, happily giving me time to talk to Rainbow Dash at the end of the hour.

“You doing anything later today, then?” I asked her while the three of us sat.

“Just cross country and I’m probably gonna spend time with Clad,” she answered calmly.

“Oh, how’s cross country going?” I asked her, remembering that it had started this week.

“Well, I mean we just started but it’s going great so far. I had a fun little reunion with Lightning Dust and Cloudchaser. Dust and I are definitely gonna be the fastest on the track team this year, I can tell already,” she said, a small gleam of excitement glistening in her eyes.

I smiled at the irony. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust had been sworn enemies their freshman year— we almost had to break up a would-be fight between the two. I’m not really sure when they became friends. As far as I knew, they hated each other throughout their freshman year. Even now they argued occasionally, butting heads even more often than I do with Rainbow Dash.

Cloudchaser had been another long-time friend of Rainbow Dash’s, since grade school. There had been a time when Rainbow Dash was even closer to Cloudchaser than she was us— it was freshman year. Apparently Cloudchaser had helped Rainbow a lot after her parents died. Frankly, I was glad Cloudchaser was there to help her. For some reason, Dash pushed me and the others away after the accident occurred and I was thankful that she at least let Cloudchaser help her out.

I was actually a little jealous of Cloudchaser and Lightning Dust, being able to spend that much time with Rainbow Dash. I wished I could be in a sport with her but I knew there just wouldn’t be enough time with my other priorities at the farm.

That week ended up being pretty uneventful until Thursday. I had been talking with Jack in the barn— come to think of it, he’d actually come over every day that week so far— and I guess something just came over me. There we were, standing in the barn, talking and laughing like usual and then I kissed him.

It was strange. I sort of felt detached when I did it, almost like it didn’t even happen. But, boy, did he sure look surprised. He just sort of stood there with his mouth slightly parted, staring at me for a while until he finally found his voice.

“What was that for?” he chuckled, a slight blush on his cheeks.

I shrugged with a smile on my face.

He smiled widely, excitement gleaming in his eyes. He blushed even further when he began to speak again.

“I… I was wondering Applejack. I really like you, and I love spending time with you. Would you, perhaps…” he looked at me with wide eyes and gulped. I felt kind of bad that he was so nervous, and almost considered cutting him off since I knew what he was going to say anyway. “Would you perhaps want to be my girlfriend?”

He could barely look me in the eye by the time he was done. Poor guy.

I smiled at him and reached over and grabbed his hand reassuringly. “Yes, I’d love to.”

He smiled brightly, his eyes lighting up with relief and happiness. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure why I said yes. Sure, Jack was a great guy but I didn’t want a boyfriend even the slightest bit. But I knew the truth of why I did it, in the back of my mind. I did it as a way of hopefully distracting myself from Rainbow Dash. It was the stark truth, and I had to admit it to myself.

I suppressed a sigh and decided to ignore my feelings. Jack stayed over for about another hour after that before he had to leave and I decided to work on my homework.

The next week afterwards passed by quickly, mainly consisting of homework and spending a bit more time with Jack. It was Friday and the girls and I were all together at our regular hangout spot.

“Hey, is anyone doing anything tonight?” Twilight piped up.

Most of us shook our heads. “I’m not doing anything,” I said.

“Me neither,” Pinkie Pie said.

The others said nothing but Twilight took their silence as them not having plans.

“We should do something,” Twilight said. “Maybe a sleepover or something. I dunno, just something fun for us all to do.”

We all thought about it, thinking about different things we could do. “Maybe we could see a movie, and then just chill at your place,” I suggested to Twilight.

“Alright, we could do that. I haven’t seen a movie in a while after all,” Twilight said with a small smile.

“Oh, I’ve heard Evermore is supposed to be remarkable,” Rarity said. I remembered seeing previews for that one; I’m pretty sure it was about some farm girl whose father dies and she falls in love with a guy who’s going in the military or something like that. It looked depressing but I’d heard people say that it was a pretty good movie.

“I’ve been wanting to see that one too,” Fluttershy added.

“It sounds kind of sad but I’ll see whatever!” Pinkie said cheerfully.

I looked over at Rainbow Dash who looked kind of zonked out; she was sipping her drink and staring down at the table with half-lidded eyes.

“Rainbow?”

She perked her head up and looked at me.

“Is that movie alright with you?” I asked, watching her carefully.

“Oh yeah, sounds fine. I’ll see whatever really,” she said.

She might have just been tired, but I at least expected her to make some comment about how romantic movies totally weren’t her thing. I watched her for a little bit before returning my gaze to Twilight.

“Alright! It’s settled then. I’ll look up movie times,” Twilight said and she pulled out her phone.

Rarity waved the waitress over while we waited. “Fluttershy, dear, would you like to share a little chocolate cake with me?”

“Sure, that sounds great,” Fluttershy said sweetly.

“Ooh cake! Can I get one too?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“You can get whatever you want, darling,” Rarity said with slight amusement.

“Oh! I’ll get what they’re getting!”

The waitress wrote down two orders of chocolate cake and walked away.

“Cake, huh?” Rainbow Dash smirked, eyeing Rarity deviously. Rarity rarely ate desserts like cake or cupcakes; she was always so worried about keeping her figure.

“I can have a treat every once in a while,” Rarity said with a small smile.

Their orders arrived after just a couple minutes. Rarity and Fluttershy kindly shared the cake, while Pinkie Pie dove into hers.

“Wamf somph?” Pinkie Pie asked Rainbow Dash with a mouthful of cake in her mouth, extending her fork with a bit of cake on it toward Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow shrugged and grimaced slightly. “Nah. I should probably lighten up on the sweets and junk food now that I’m going to be running every day again.”

I raised an eyebrow. Little liar. No matter what season it was, she ran all the time and she always continued to eat junk food. And I knew she had a particular weakness for chocolate cake. Something was bothering her.

But then again, it could have just been another one of her random mood swings. She tended to be like that— hyper and excited one week, unresponsive and depressed the next. I don’t think she’d ever admit it to herself, but I had a feeling that she might have been bipolar. I never brought it up with her because she tended to get defensive when talking about her faults or her feelings.

“Okay, there’s a showing at 6:10,” Twilight’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “That sound good for you guys?”

Everyone nodded and chimed in a little “Mmhm”. We relaxed at the café until we decided to leave to go to the movies. We got there a bit early to find good seats and get snacks. Pinkie Pie must have gotten at least ten different kinds of candy. I began to wonder how it was possible that she wasn’t fat. It seemed like I could eat one Whopper and gain two pounds.

We got seats somewhere in the middle of the theater. I sat at the end, Rainbow Dash was sitting next to me, then Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity, and finally Fluttershy at the other end. I stretched lazily, hoping I wouldn’t accidentally hit whoever was sitting behind me.

It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn’t yet told my friends that Jack and I were technically dating now. I pursed my lips as I weighed the possible outcomes of telling them. Well, there was no harm in not telling them…

Rainbow Dash slowly looked over at me and my gaze flicked down to meet hers. I smiled goofily, getting a small giggle out of her. My eyes flickered upwards when the lights began to dim and I paid my attention to the screen.

The movie was about two hours long, and although it was predictable it was really good. I admit it almost brought tears to my eyes a couple times, but no way I’d let my friends see that. Rarity was sobbing on Twilight pretty much the entire time and I’m pretty sure Pinkie was crying too but I didn’t look over to see.

When the credits began rolling, we all exited the theatre and Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy went to the bathroom.

“That was so sad but sooo good!” Pinkie cried and emphatically grabbed Rainbow Dash’s arm, crying into it. At least, I think she was crying. She could have just been over exaggerating it.

“Yeah, but I mean, everything turned out okay in the end,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “The way I see it, it doesn’t really matter how painful everything is as long as you end up with the person you love.”

My eyes widened ever-so-slightly. Heh, you may be right Rainbow Dash, but I’ll tell ya’ one thing: it sure would be a hell of a lot easier if I didn’t have to go through the pain of loving you unrequitedly.

“I guess none of that would have happened if she didn’t tell him that she loved him, huh?” I said dryly.

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow and looked at the ceiling. “I dunno. I mean, they both kinda fell in love with each other at the same time.”

I looked down, an ironic smile on my face. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Neither one could hear my sigh.

~ ~ ~

Cream swirled around mocha, tiny shivers of steam lifted from the small cup. I stared blankly at the swirling coffee, my mind wandering when it decided that it could no longer focus on the math book in front of me.

I was at the old café again, trying out a new scene to do my homework in. I couldn’t concentrate at home, not with an eight year old making all kinds of racket, a twenty-one year old working loudly outside, and an seventy-five year old constantly flapping her gums about who-knows-what.

So I decided to come out here. The café had a nice atmosphere, even outside, and the drinks were a bonus. But now, after studying for almost three hours, I needed a break. The week hadn’t been too stressful, but I sort of let my homework build up and now I needed to get it done.

I didn’t even know what day it was anymore. Wednesday? Wait, no, it couldn’t be Wednesday because Fluttershy wanted me to help out with her monthly bunny count which always landed on a Wednesday— and that was yesterday. Damn, Thursday already?

I stretched, letting out a quiet groan as I stretched out my sore shoulder muscles. Too much time spent hunched over this book. I took another sip of my coffee, humming in satisfaction at the perfectly-sweet taste of it. I had Bon Bon to thank for that one— she really was one of the sweetest girls I’ve met.

A familiar flash of color caught my eye and I saw Rainbow Dash running with a group of friends. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she wore her signature blue short-shorts that she used pretty often for running.

I waved her down and Rainbow saw me, slowing down to a stop. She turned to her friends. I couldn’t hear what she said but I could only assume what it was when she separated from them and jogged towards my table.

“Hey Applejack. What’s up?” she asked, sitting down next to me.

I smiled. “Howdy. You didn’t need to quit running you know; I was just sayin’ hi.”

“I know, but we were pretty much done anyway,” she said. She glanced down at my coffee and picked it up, taking a generous sip of it.

I smirked. “Oh, no, go right ahead. I didn’t want it anyway.”

I saw her smirk behind the cup and she set it down. “Mm, Bon Bon made that one, didn’t she?”

I nodded and waved down the waitress who was nearby and ordered a glass of water. Once she brought it, I pushed it over to Rainbow Dash who started sipping at it without a word. She stared off into the distance somewhere, her eyes flicking around as she took in different sights.

“So, uh, how are… things?” I shrugged. I didn’t have much to say, but honestly it was just nice having her here with me.

She shrugged too. “Same ol’.”

She opened her mouth to say something else but decided not to and took another sip of water, still staring off into the distance.

I followed her gaze, sighing softly. “Yeah… me too.”

Her gaze flickered over to my book. “What’re you studying?”

“Math,” I grumbled.

“Oh,” she said. “Need any help?”

“Nah, I’m almost done with it anyway,” I said and stretched.

Even though Rainbow Dash would rather have slept during class than actually pay attention, I knew for a fact that she was actually pretty good at math. I, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Numbers and figures confused the hell out of me; no, I’m much better at writing. With writing, it was almost like I could create my own equation, put each character where I wanted them.

I snapped out of my small reverie and saw Rainbow Dash absentmindedly rubbing her arm. It was then that I noticed a small bruise that she was softly rubbing and grimacing at. I raised an eyebrow.

“How’dja get that bruise?” I asked.

She looked at me, likely snapping out of a daze as well. “Oh, cross country,” she said, cracking a small smirk. “Of course, out of all the people, I’m the one who slips on the grass.”

I giggled softly. “Be careful. God knows you’re always gettin’ yourself hurt somehow.”

She smiled, a familiar spark in her eyes. “Hey, no pain no game,” she said and winked.

I smiled. I could at least partially sympathize with her there. It wasn’t too rare for me to pull some kind of muscle or sprain an ankle working on the farm. It was just something that came with laborious work, and neither of us— stubborn as we were— would ever let that slow us down.

I stretched again and rested my head on my book, drooping my eyes lazily as the sun’s warmth washed over me. The day was perfect and, given some more time, I had no doubt that I would fall asleep right there.

“Hey, Applejack!”

I lifted my head and looked around for the source of the voice calling a few feet away. I turned around and saw Jack approaching the table. Oh no.

I don’t know why, but I freaked out— internally, of course. Rainbow Dash couldn’t know that he and I were dating! It would… it would… well, I don’t really know what it would do but still…

I glanced over at Rainbow Dash as a realization set in. Who was I kidding? It wouldn’t do anything. It’s not like Rainbow Dash even knew about my feelings for her anyway, so why should this have mattered?

Stifling a sigh, I looked over once again at Jack who was now sitting down, smiling at me and Rainbow Dash. My eyes widened when he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. I looked at Rainbow Dash in desperation. Aaaaand… too late.

Her eyes were already widened, one eyebrow raised in interest as her gaze flickered from Jack then to me. Slowly, a smile began to appear on her face. I glowered at her.

“Oh-ho, well don’t mind me,” she smirked, getting up from the table. “I was just leaving. You two enjoy your time together.”

I blushed when she walked away and looked at Jack. He was smiling brightly and looking at me. We’d hung out a couple times since he asked me out, but I still felt a little awkward around him. I guess he didn’t feel the same since he looked completely comfortable around me.

“So, what are you doing here?” I asked.

“I was actually just walking around when I saw you two sitting here and I thought I’d say hi. I’m guessing from Rainbow Dash’s reaction that you haven’t told your friends yet?” he asked.

I smiled sheepishly. “Not exactly.”

He chuckled. “It’s fine. I kind of already told my friends… I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, it’s alright,” I said. “I’ll probably tell them soon anyway.”

We ended up spending some time together since I was done with math and had nothing else to do, but telling my friends about us came a little bit sooner than I expected thanks to a certain rainbow-haired girl…

~ ~ ~

She eyed me carefully, a tiny smirk on her face as I looked at her with confusion. It was Friday morning, math class. The teacher allowed us a work day in class, letting me catch up a bit on the questions I didn’t answer. And I could only guess what devious little Rainbow Dash was planning.

She stretched nonchalantly and spoke loud enough for everyone in the group to hear. “So, Applejack, how long have you and Jack been going out?”

I wanted to smack her. All the girls looked at me with curious looks and I began to blush from both embarrassment and anger. Well, I guess they would have found out sooner or later…

“Um, two weeks,” I said, avoiding anyone’s gaze.

The girls all gasped when they realized that Rainbow Dash’s playful quip was not a joke made just to annoy me. As expected, they all leaned forward and asked me about it, making a much bigger deal than necessary.

I told them that Jack was Clad’s friend and Rarity seemed to know who he was. Their excitement died down after a while, thankfully, but I was sort of glad Rainbow Dash had brought it up. It didn’t make me feel like I was keeping a secret anymore.

“Hey guys!” Twilight piped up. “We should have another sleepover tomorrow. I have a feeling that these will become less frequent once our schoolwork gets heavier and I’d like to take the opportunity to have them while we can.”

I snickered quietly; even when talking to her friends she sounded like she was conducting an interview or something.

All the girls chimed in an excited, “Okay!”

I added, “Sure, Twi, sounds fun.”

But then I noticed Rainbow Dash had said nothing. She scratched the back of her neck, frowning apologetically.

“Shit. Um, I’m hanging out with Clad at his house on Saturday…” she said, obviously feeling bad about it. She waved her arms quickly, eyes widening. “But don’t let that stop you guys! Seriously, I’ll just go to the next one.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked. “I’d feel bad having one without you.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine, seriously. You guys have fun; I don’t want you to cancel just because of me.”

Twilight smiled. “Well then I promise we won’t have too much fun without you.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie piped up. “We’ll make the next one super-duper-wuper-fun to make up for it!”

Everyone giggled at Pinkie’s enthusiasm.

“Good, you better,” Rainbow Dash joked as the bell rang. “Let me know who kisses who in Truth or Dare,” she said and winked at me.

With a laugh, I rolled my eyes headed to my next class.

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Hope you enjoy the next chapter! :)

Also, on a random note, does anyone live in the Flagstaff, Arizona area or go to NAU? I'm wondering if any of my followers live near me or go to my school. Let me know!