• Published 4th Feb 2014
  • 1,916 Views, 176 Comments

Our Pasts That Haunt Us - Dynasty-Kaine



Rainbow Dash's past could come back to bite her in the flank long before the new love she just found with her friend Applejack. Will their friend Pinkie Pie be able to protect them, or will they be lost to a vengeful heart? -ANTHRO-

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Chapter 13: Viper In The Grass

Author's Note:

Chapter 13, another long one! This chapter was actually quite fun to write. I planned what I wanted to happen, but as I wrote I totally changed it around. My muse had so many other plans!

Applejack awoke to her body gently tingling all over, with a warmth wrapped in her arms that reminded her of the night before. Her face buried in a rainbow colored mane of hair that smelled of crisp, fresh air mixed with hints of lavender. She inhaled deeply wishing to just sleep a little longer under those warm blankets with her love, but she knew all too well once she woke up her body would need to get moving soon.

She worked her way up, then leaning over Dash and kissing her on the cheek softly. The mare below her smiled at the kiss, and AJ couldn't resist doing the same. The farmer got up slowly and did her best not to wake the pegasus, quietly redressing herself. For all of her tact to stay quiet she ended up tripping and falling back onto the bed. To the orange mare's surprise though, Rainbow was on top of her in a flash.

"Morning Jackie, thought I was asleep didn't cha?" the rainbow haired mare said with a bright smile.

"Well Ah was hopin' to avoid wakin' ya, but looks like that's outta the question now!" she replied in good humor.

"Yup, totally but now that I'm laying here on top of ya I gotta say." Dash said prodding Applejack's bosom. "You are just too comfortable to not catch a few more zee's on!"

"H-Hey quit that, Dash!" the farmer exclaimed at the sensation her marefriend had triggered.

The cyan mare stared back in surprise, "Oh, still sensitive are you, Jackie?"

"Oh hush you." Applejack said pushing Rainbow off of her. "Sides, shug, once Ah wake up Ah gotta start movin'. It's just how Ah am in the mornin'."

"Well okay, AJ, but you're missing out." the rainbow maned mare said playfully. "So, what are ya gonna do today, hun?"

As the blonde farmer put a hand to her chin she thought for a moment before concluding, "Well Ah guess Ah should help y'all with moving yer things outta yer office. Then off to try to drum up business fer the farm--Ah'm still gonna do that fer us."

Applejack smiled devilishly, then turned and crawled back up the bed atop Rainbow, and planted a deep kiss on her lips their tongues intertwining for but a moment.

"But, before we get ta that Ah gotta say Dashie." the orange mare started in her best bedroom voice. "Yer quite exposed and more vulnerable than me right now. Maybe Ah'll treat you this mornin' sugarcube."

____________________________________________________________________________________

A short while later both mares tired and out of breath lay next to one another yet again. Rainbow had snuggled up into AJ's arms, and the blonde farmer couldn't be happier at this stroking the cyan mare's back gently. The mare in her arms was practically falling asleep again. Applejack almost let her fall asleep too until a voice called up from the base level of the barn.

"Applejack are you possibly up there? I needed a hand at the library today, and was wondering if you could spare the time?" a lavender mare called out.

Rainbow's eyes shot open in shock as she rolled and fell straight out of the bed. What chance they had at avoiding their friend Twilight was now gone. She would have to buy her marefriend at least a moment to get herself together, so she improvised.

"Uh yeah Twilight, Ah'm here. Could y'all gimme a minute though? Ah kinda fell asleep up here last night." she called down to their friend sheepishly as she sat up on the bed.

"That's alright it will take me a minute to get up there anyways." the bookish mare replied.

AJ heard her begin climbing up and panicked, "No offense Twi but Ah'd rather come down to you."

"Nonsense Applejack this will be easier for you." Twilight replied obliviously. "Plus I had a question I wanted to ask you anyways."

Rainbow had managed to get her clothes on and seemed to notice the orange mare's tenseness building. She crawled up next to her and began to rub her back in a soft circular motion. She leaned her head onto AJ's shoulder for a moment before whispering to her.

"We're caught Jackie, we may as well face it now."

Dash was actually being quite considerate of the situation neither of them was prepared for, coming out to their other friends. The both of them knew Pinkie could care less as long as they were happy, but how would Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity react to it? There was no telling AJ knew in her heart, yet she was about to find out Twilight's position as she finally reached the third level.

"Here we go Jackie." Dash whispered taking the farmers hand with her free one. "We will this together and that's all that matters."

"Sounds like someone is in there with you Apple--" Twilight said as she parted the curtain that had hid them a moment ago. "Dash what are you doing, oh!" she noticed them holding hands. "Huh, well guess that takes care of my question."

"What do y'all mean by yer question?" AJ replied absolutely stunned.

"Well I heard a rumor going around lately that Dash declared you were her marefriend recently. This intrigued me so much I figured that I should at least ask you if it was true." Twilight rambled on in her usual scholarly tone. "Though with Rainbow here, you two embracing, and not to mention the holding hands...well sort of answers my question."

The purple librarian didn't seem to know how to react to the situation she had blindly stumbled into. Gripping the bottom of her blue sweater vest, and tapping her hoof on the ground slightly shifting her purple skirt. She seemed to avoid looking at the two of them, instead acting absolutely shy and pensive. Applejack was afraid of this reaction, and Rainbow tensed beside her.

"What's the problem Twilight? It's not like we aren't the same mares anymore!" the cyan mare protested indignantly.

"I know Rainbow, it's just not something that happens every day. Needless to say I'm not sure how to react to this." the deep purple maned mare replied seeming so sad to AJ. "I mean I'm happy for you both, but at the same time I can't quite understand how that type of relationship works out as well."

As she started to rail off things in her mind because of anxiety the farmer began to repeat her name, "Twilight. Twilight. Twilight!"

She snapped to attention, "Y-Yes?"

"It's okay that yer unsure of how ta react. Dash an' I were unsure of what we were feelin' at first too." AJ comforted Twilight looking over to Dash for a moment to see a warm smile before turning back. "Long as we're still friends, Ah don't think there should be an issue here. Am Ah right shugarcube?"

Twilight smiled, "Yeah that makes sense enough. Cause I can always work on getting used to it over time."

Dash broke in, "So you're okay with it Twilight?"

The lavender mare stepped closer, "Yeah I am Dash, we will always be friends no matter what happens!"

The matter seeming to finally sink in to their friend's mind they all sat together on the bed and began to talk about other things. One thing that came up was that Pinkie was still missing and it was going on a week now. Twilight seemed very concerned as Pinkie hadn't told her she was off on one of her odd adventures as she always did. Applejack was very concerned about the pink mare's safety when she up and disappeared.

Dash sat bolt upright, "Hey Twi do you have the time by chance?"

She looked down at her wristwatch, "Well it's about 10:15, why Rainbow?"

"Oh crud!" she turned to AJ and she knew what was on the fliers mind. "Jackie we gotta go get my stuff from the office today."

Twilight interjected, "Oh moving stuff out of your office Dash? Would you both like a hand with that?"

They both looked to their friend smiling happily before the rainbow maned mare replied, "That would be great Twilight, would even save us some time, but we should probably go get changed first."

"Yeah that prolly would be a great idea Dashie." Applejack said remembering they still wore last nights attire. "How about we all meet at yer office once we are ready, minus Twi since she's practically ready."

"Hey!" Twilight cried out.

"I like that idea Jackie. I'm sure she can read something while she waits." Dash replied with a laugh.

Twilight just made a pouty face with her lips puckering together as her friends laughed. As they all got up and headed down to the barn floor, AJ was last to leave watching Rainbow in front of her as they descended the ladders and stairs. "Ah couldn't be happier than Ah am with this mare." Applejack thought to herself with a smile.

As they got outside Rainbow came over for a quick kiss before lifting herself into the skies, waving as she flew towards her house. Twilight just smiled and shook her head before coming over to hug her friend.

"I think I'll walk to the weather office. If I'm lucky you will both get there by the time I arrive." the alicorn replied humorously.

As Applejack was left alone to her doings she headed inside and up to her room. It looked like everyone was gone this afternoon as she crossed the eerily empty halls. Upon entering her room she went over and turned on the radio tuning it to a station with something decent on, and it was then that she happened upon a song she hadn't heard in many years. A lone steel guitar started in plucking a melancholy tune before it was met by another.

The farmer sighed, "Much better when there's music in an empty house."

It took her very little time to pick out her outfit for the day. She started with a simple red lace bra, and black silken panties. Then she got on her usual light blue denim jeans, and threw on a white tank top before getting a white, green, and yellow plaid button up to go over that. She grabbed her brush and made sure to get all the knots out of her hair before pulling it back and tying it at key points.

Looking around her room she declared, "Now where in tarnation is mah hat?"

It took some looking but she found it behind the backboard of her bed. Apparently when she threw it to the bedpost last night she had failed miserably. She headed over to the mirror to check that the make up from the night before hadn't smeared or run too badly, but she ended up deciding to take it off anyways heading for the bathroom.

She turned on the water and, cupping her hands, began to rinse her face with the cool water. AJ reached over and grabbed the towel and began vigorously drying her face. As she pulled the towel away she could swear she could see her element of harmony in the mirror.

"What in the name o' Celestia is that?" the farmer questioned quietly.

As she stared she noticed the gemstone set in the necklace begin to crack and break apart.

"That's not possible!" she exclaimed before blinking and rubbing her eyes.

Upon returning her gaze to the mirror the image was gone. She looked down into her hands for a long moment. What she had just saw couldn't be explained away, and with no explanation Applejack walked back to her room in shock. "Ah thought those creepy dreams and sights had gone away...why is it happening again?" the blonde mare thought in dismay.

It seemed like the farmer was lost in her own reality for the longest time until she heard the house phone blaring from downstairs. She rushed down in a flash to answer and was quickly greeted by her marefriend's voice.

"Jackie where are you we've been waiting here for at least twenty minutes now!" Rainbow declared melodramatically before getting serious. "Are you alright hun?"

"Y-Yeah Ah'm jus' fine Dashie!" Applejack stuttered. "Guess Ah musta zoned out for a bit there. I'll race over as fast as Ah can!"

"Okay, and Jackie." Dash started catching the farmer before she hung up. "Love ya."

"Aw love you too shug." she said before hanging up the phone.

She stood there for a moment before deciding what was next officially.

"Ah gotta take care of this right now, but once the day is dun Ah should really consider talkin' to someone 'bout these weird visions o' mine." Applejack said to herself as she headed out the front door into the bright midday sunshine.

____________________________________________________________________________________

As Rainbow and Twilight waited for their friend they conversed about many things. The prime topic of interest to her was of her favorite book series, Daring Do. She knew that there was going to be a new edition coming out soon. Soon enough she and the lavender mare were conversing long and hard about what they thought was going to happen in this volume. It was amazing to see how creative they could get with it at times.

Now that things between them were comfortable Twilight took a chance at asking something Dash had been waiting to hear.

"So um, Dash." the purple maned mare paused. "What's it like?"

"You're gonna have to be a bit more specific there Twilight. What is what like?" the cyan mare coaxed.

She blushed heavily before trying again, "What's it like being a fillyfooler?"

Rainbow shrugged, "Same as being a normal straight pony. Well, minus the liking the opposite gender. It's still love after all ya know?"

"Yeah okay, but...how did you know you liked Applejack that way?" she continued to inquire.

The rainbow maned mare thought for a moment, "Well I dunno. It just sort of came to me. The same way that most mares fall fer stallions really. Twi, it really is the same as a straight relationship just with the same sex instead of opposite."

The mare continued to ask questions about the topic and it made her begin to wonder something. Was it possible that Twilight had known about what being a fillyfooler was about, and was curious to try the lifestyle to see if she liked it? She would have to watch the little librarian closely to see if that actually developed any further, but Rainbow felt it wouldn't go too far.

"So you know why I'm cleaning out my office I take it Twilight." the light blue mare started.

"No actually I have no idea why." the purple mare replied honestly.

Dash sighed remembering the day, "I got sacked yesterday."

Her friend gasped in utter shock before replying, "Dash that's horrible! Why did they fire you of all ponies though?"

"Trust me Twilight, I'd rather not talk about it." Dash stated with conviction. "Seriously Twilight no." she said before her friend could utter a rebuttal.

As the lavender mare tried to start again Applejack arrived out of breath, doubled over, and looking like she had run a lot longer distance than from Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow marched right up to her and grabbed her marefriend's shoulders and helped lift her up a little before leaning in and kissing her softly.

"Glad you could make it hun." Dash said breaking from the kiss.

"O' course Dashie. Anythin' fer you hun." AJ replied panting. "Let's get ta work!"

"Hold on there Jackie, you need ta catch your breath first." the cyan mare said patting AJ's shoulder gently. "Me and Twilight can get started on some of the easier stuff while you rest a little."

"Nonsense Ah'm ready ta--"

"Applejack!" Dash shouted. "Rest first oh stubborn one."

As her marefriend grunted her submission Rainbow signaled to Twilight to follow her. They headed in the front door and were surprisingly greeted by all of Dash's co-workers. A banner crossed the small front office space that read:

We will miss you being our boss!

"Wh-What's going on here?" the cyan mare said in disbelief.

Cloudkicker was the first to race up and hug her, and with tears in her eyes she began to apologize to the ex-weather mare.

"I'm so sorry for everything Dash they fired you cause I made a stupid mistake. We all did, and we never thought it would come back to bite you!" she said with nothing but kindness.

"You guys threw me a going away party?" the cyan mare asked in shock. "Kinda sucks since I'm only here to clean out my office."

The group of weather ponies let out a loud groan. Rainbow reasoned that she could possibly stay for a few, but she needed somepony else to come join her.

"One second everyone, I'll be right back." she said as she stepped outside to get Applejack.

"What's goin' on in there Dashie?" the farmer said with a steadier breath now.

"Well looks like everyone threw me a going away party, and I feel like I can't partake in the party without my favorite mare." Dash said with a smile. "So come on and get in here!"

As she stepped back inside holding Applejack's hand her co-workers reactions were priceless, but they were mostly speechless. Jaws fell agape all around.

"So in case everyone doesn't know already, this lovely mare is the real reason I was fired. And I really do hope that any of you that have this type of relationship now or in the future know what you could lose over it." Rainbow declared boldly. "I knew what I could lose, but this mare was worth the loss."

She looked to Applejack and saw her blushing bright red at her praise. It was then she heard something she didn't expect to hear, applause. She turned to see her co-workers all cheering for her.

"None of you have an issue with this?"

A black stallion was first to speak, "Heck boss, even if we don't agree with it. It had to have taken a ton of guts to declare that to all of us!"

"Thunderlane..." Rainbow started but stopped feeling a tear come to her eye.

Applejack reached over and wiped the tear away before saying, "Ah'm sure we can stay fer the party fer a few. Maybe yer co-workers can help us with yer office even."

She looked down into AJ's emerald eyes, "You are a genius sometimes Jackie."

The rainbow maned mare noticed Twilight hovering around the outside of the group watching them with a smile. It was starting to seem like she could get used to the idea of her friends being together. She looked back to her now old co-workers and decided on how they could do things.

"Hey everypony listen up!" she commanded and they listened. "Before we start this party, could I get a hand getting my stuff out of the office and back to my place? The quicker that's done the more time I'll have to enjoy this party with everyone here, what do ya say?"

They hollered their approval, which pretty much blew Dash's mind away. With everyone working together she had all of her things packed and ready to go, but she was alone in her office when she found something not seen for years. It was a picture of her and Gilda years earlier at Junior Speedster Flight Academy.

Where had Gilda gone those months ago when she stormed off in a fury, and had her heart mended like Dash's did when she stood for her friends over the gryphoness? She may never know the answer to that question, and so she put the picture in her last box and stepped out of the back office.

"Alright guys last package, I got it myself. Thunderlane, where are my keys?" Rainbow asked turning to the black stallion who was standing on the opposite side of the room.

"Here boss, catch!" he called as he threw the keys to her.

She effortlessly caught them and sprinted out the door unfurling her wings taking flight toward home. She got home to find everything had been placed in the main room just past the entrance, of course they would put it there. She walked over and sat the box she carried down and lingered a moment more. Stepping outside she closed the door behind her and locked it before taking off back to the party.

They stayed at the party for about an hour, and in that time learned plenty about the ponies Dash had worked with for years now. Thunderlane had just revealed his own preferences were quite ambiguous as well.

"So you just take whatever lover comes your way?" Dash roared in laughter. "You greedy son of a mule you!"

"Hey what can I say, it's just how I am." Thunderlane said with a noticeable blush building around his cheeks.

As it got closer to two in the afternoon, Dash noticed Applejack seemed to be getting quite ancy.

"What's wrong hun?" Rainbow said leaning over to her marefriend.

"Y'all know Ah still gotta go out to the sales stand today at least, right Dashie?" the farmer replied curtly.

"Yeah that's true--wait, didn't Twilight say she needed your help too?" the light blue mare exclaimed.

"Aw shoot!" AJ replied entirely forgetting her friend had asked for help.

"No worries hun, I got an idea!" the rainbow maned mare declared confidently. "You go whip up sales, and I'll go help Twi in your place. I mean it's not like I have anything else to do right?"

As Applejack mulled it over Rainbow, several times, thought she saw a glimmer of worry cross the farmer's eyes. She left it alone though knowing how her marefriend would react, and patiently waited on her response.

"Mmm, alright Dashie Ah guess that sounds fine 'n dandy ta me." AJ smiled warmly.

Thinking no one was watching them, the blonde farmer leaned in and kissed Dash deeply. All around them you could hear the groups committal cheers, but all the cyan mare could hear was the orange mare in front of her. As their lips parted again they stared for a moment before Applejack piped up.

"Ah love ya Dashie, no matter what happens to us."

"Love you too Jackie, forever." was Dash's heartfelt reply.

As the three of them finally headed outside together they discussed their plans with Twilight. At first she was hesitant, but she eventually let Rainbow have her way. More for Applejack's sake than her own sake, but this didn't bother Dash one bit. With one last kiss and exchange of "I love you's" they went their separate ways.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Applejack worked herself to the bone trying to sell her families apple based products. Most of Ponyville already enjoyed and purchased their goods daily, but with current circumstances she felt she had to push for a little more. She had set up in front of town hall, and had managed to sell quite a few things here and there. It just happened to be mostly the food based products; pies, turnovers, ciders, and cakes.

It had been four hours of the most vigorous salesmanship the farmer had ever pulled off. She had even had a long conversation with Roseluck as well as Vinyl Scratch. Roseluck had wanted to put in a future order for apple blossom scented oils and flapjack mixes. Vinyl, in her usual manner, had wanted to know when she would next have a chance to buy some of the Apple family's special stocks of alcoholic ciders. To which AJ let her know she could come by the farm tomorrow and she would set her up with her favorite Zap Apple Brandy.

The DJ pony nearly cried at that sentiment, but instead gave her a hug. Simply saying to the orange mare, "You can count on me being there tomorrow at two in the afternoon. Well, give or take thirty minutes, but you get the picture."

Applejack laughed to herself for just a moment, that DJ was always a refreshing personality. The farmer was just now packing up all her supplies as well as taking apart the stand to pack away. It was then she heard something behind her. She spun around about ready to fight to see a gryphon standing before her with a smile on her face. She seemed familiar somehow.

"Woah there, I'm not here to pick a fight now!" the gryphon announced to an empty town square.

"Y'all look familiar, do Ah know you?" she inquired.

"Well you might. I'm Dash's old friend Gilda." she replied sheepishly.

"The one gryphon that stormed off months ago in a hissy?" she replied with a cocked eyebrow.

The gryphon blushed, "Y-Yeah that one sadly. Wish I had left on better terms to be honest."

"Y'all can always try ta undo yer bad reputation." the blonde farmer replied starting to loosen up a little.

Gilda smiled slightly, "So since you know Dash, could I ask you something? H-How is she doing?"

"Well Ah sure hope she is doin' alright after the past few weeks we've spent together." Applejack said freely.

She looked the gryphon up and down one time. She found it quite unusual that Gilda was wearing some extremely provocative clothing. The farmer had best check to be certain this wouldn't turn out like the time with Spitfire.

"Could Ah ask ya somethin' as well, what's with the getup?" she said pointing out Gilda's noticeable areas of over exposure.

"Oh this?" the gryphon said in surprise. "Well I guess you could say it's all I've got right now. Sorry if it gives you the wrong idea."

"S'okay just wanted to avoid a situation me and Dash went through a while back." she replied in earnest.

"Oh really now, what happened if I might pry a little." the gryphon politely questioned.

"Well Dash was being hit on by Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, and she was goin' all out on Dash. Ah lost mah temper with her cuz Ah thought she was enjoyin' an' goin' along with it, but turns out Ah jumped the gun." Applejack confessed.

The gryphoness tilted her head in confusion, "But what would Dash getting hit on matter to you, you're just one of her friends."

"Oh darlin' you ain't been back in Ponyville long have you?" the blonde farmer questioned hypothetically as she turned back to putting her things away. "She an' I are marefriends after all."

"Hmm." the gyphon started. "Then that would make you Applejack correct?"

"Sure shootin' it does!" she declared proudly still facing away from the gryphon.

"Oh then that changes everything. I have a little present for you." the gryphoness said coldly.

Applejack tried to turn around but she was too late as Gilda had already closed the distance and wrapped a funny smelling cloth over her mouth from behind. The farmer did all she could to kick and struggle but the gryphoness was stronger than she had bargained for, and her blood rush caused whatever was on the cloth to hit her harder. She felt dizzy and increasingly sleepy.

"Mmfh, mmfhm!" Applejack tried to yell but it was futile.

"Now now my dear sweet Applejack. Don't take this in offense but I need you to come home with me compliantly so we can talk. Just sleep and everything will be okay." Gilda said with a psychotic look upon her face.

She had to fight it she thought but the more she fought the stronger the effects became. In only a matter of minutes Applejack's body went limp and fell back into the arms of the gryphoness. The world around her slipping away into unconsciousness. Then there was a gut wrenching scream she could hear in her mind, shock fluttered her heart one more time before she went under.

Mah dreams were real, an' they were tryin' ta warn me 'bout Gilda! Dashie...h-help me...