Hey, It's Me

by TwilightUCrazy

Falling in Love

A salty aroma awoke Rainbow's senses and roused her from a deep and pleasant slumber, bringing her to a stir and wrapping herself up more tightly in her cocoon of sheets.

She groped around blindly in her sleep, feeling around for the warm mass that had been her bed mate last evening. A lukewarm, rumpled spot on the top cover was all that remained of the disappeared specter of a woman.

Rainbow Dash blinked awake and sat up to examine herself in the cracked dresser mirror just across the small bedroom. One look at herself almost made her burst out laughing. Her hair was at least twenty percent more mixed up than it usually was, and that was saying something. She looked like a cross between Elvis Presley and one of the Cornheads or something.

Eh. Only Rarity would care...

She swept a few strands of orange and green back out of her face and looked down at herself.

She snared the pair of nylon shorts from last night off the floor nearby and walked out to the living room where everybody sat at the counter separating it from the kitchen.

"Morning, Rainbow Dash! Nice 'do!" chirped the pink-haired party animal nearest her door. Fluttershy waved, Twilight smirked behind her glass of orange juice, and Rarity had fallen in love with a mirror, as usual. She was already perfectly groomed.

"'Sup Pinks?" Rainbow smiled, clapping her friend a high-five. She paused. "Gum in your hair. Again."

"Ooooh! That's what I did with it!" Pinkie reached up and yanked the gum out of her mane before popping it back into her mouth.

Rarity looked up from her preening and spoke a wordless disapproval with her expression. "Really, dear, a brush would not have required much effort."

Rainbow raspberried in the fashionista's direction and made her way around the counter into the kitchen.

There, the orange shirt-wearing cowgirl stood over her stove. Frankly, she was thankful she had stuck around that morning. With how awkward the previous night had gotten, she had half-expected her big brother to have swung by and picked her up after a nervous, telling phone call. The fact that she hadn't had taken a lot of the weight she had felt on her chest since the previous evening, and banished it as a bad memory.

Rainbow glided up behind her, snaking one arm around her belly as a momentary distraction, while the other went fishing for a piece of bacon off the partially-loaded community plate.

Applejack saw through her ruse, however, and a sharp whack from a pair of metal tongs extracted a yelp of pain from her.

"Uh-uh. You can wait 'n eat with everybody else."

That magical Southern drawl ignited a fire in Rainbow's belly, and she slithered up close behind Applejack while encircling her just beneath her chest with both arms. She sniffed the air and breathed a deep sigh of contentment with the fragrance that filled the apartment.

"Mmm... marry me."

Applejack snorted in amusement, and she could just barely make out the wrinkles of a smile around her eyes. A good start.

"You wish," she scoffed, shaking her head.

Rainbow grinned and bounced her arms beneath her friend's sizable chest a moment to again elicit that adorable red tinge in her cheeks she so loved. She then leaned over the shorter girl's shoulder and peered at the dish.

"Lemme guess... 'Applewood' bacon?"

The farm girl looked back at her with a frown. "You got a problem with Applewood, girly?" She threateningly pinched the hot and greasy utensil in her hand together a couple times.

Rainbow flashed her winningest smile at her friend and raised her hands defensively. "Hey, I got no problems with anything apple-related. Apple-anything is bound to be awesome!"

Applejack rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the stove. Feeling bold, Rainbow tried to slip her arms around her again, this time beneath her armpits to make a grab at her chest. Applejack intercepted with another swift strike of her tongs. Again, Rainbow yipped in pain. "Milk's in the fridge if'n ya want some, ya technicolor perv."

"Awww... but I want mine straight from the source!" she whined, glomming onto the other woman's shoulders and enveloping her in a hug.

"You see this scaldin' hot burner? Sure would be a shame if something were ta happen to yer face..."

A warm and fuzzy feeling surged through Rainbow's veins. Her cheeks hurt from the size of her smile. "Wow! Somebody grew a pair last night!"

A delicate huff from behind made Rainbow's forehead crinkle and drew her ireful stare.

"Tres gauche, darling. At least have the common decency to let Applejack finish making breakfast for the rest of us first before you continue your merciless flirting."

Rainbow rolled her eyes and swaggered across the kitchen to find herself a spot.

"Rarity, you need to find a boyfriend." She pondered a moment. "And get laid." Rainbow paused intently, smiling slyly in Applejack's direction. "Like I was last night."

She could have sworn she heard Pinkie murmur something along the lines of, "So that's what that noise was."

"Not even in yer dreams, darlin'," Applejack said with a confident smile as she came over with the plate full of sizzling meat, setting it down on the middle of the counter.

"You're right. We get up to much worse there." Rainbow grinned and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

She was rewarded with a rosy shade overtaking the cowgirl's speckled cheeks. Applejack pouted and raised her hand to her face to try and mask her blush as a facepalm, but Rainbow Dash had clearly seen the cowgirl's freckles drowning in a sea of embarrassment.

"Ah'm gonna go take a shower," she huffed, and marched towards the hall.

Rainbow's magenta eyes glinted and swiveled, admiring her friend's curvy, panty-clad backside as she stepped around the counter.

"Mmm. Loved watchin' her come..." A menacing grin crossed her face and she eyed the farmgirl's retreating backside. "Sure don't mind watching her go either."

Applejack turned back with an expression half made of anger, half of embarrassment. She forcefully pulled down her orange shirt, covering her butt the best she could with the oversized garment. "Oh, would you give it a rest already?!"

Her flustered friend scampered into the bathroom and slammed the door angrily behind her. Twilight and Fluttershy giggled politely to themselves, while Pinkie rolled right off her chair and cackled on the floor. Even Rarity found the capacity to smirk.

In fact, the only one at the counter not laughing was Rainbow Dash, far too worried over whether she had pushed the envelope too far.

***

"Ms. Tia?" Rainbow's voice cracked above the tapping of her pencil.

The superintendent looked up from her novel and across her desk and the empty classroom between the two. She marked her place with a finger and crossed her arms. "Yes, Miss Dash, what is it this time?"

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

"This would be the third time this hour. I'll tell you what I told you last: We're almost done; you can hold it."

Rainbow simpered and slouched into her desk chair. "Can I get a phone call?"

Ms. Tia opened up her book again and returned to reading. "By the time your lawyer got here to plead on your behalf, it'd be lunchtime anyway," she said with a smile.

She grumbled and moaned several times, writhing in her chair over-dramatically. Glimpsing at the clock did little but slow down time for her. The window shades were drawn, her backpack rested at her feet, but all it was allowed to contain was her untouched homework and study materials. The 3DS she had tried to sneak in had been immediately confiscated before she even walked in the door.

Her eyes darted to it on the front desk and she leaned back and howled another unpleasant whine.

Ms. Tia gave her a sharp stare over the pages of her book, and she gulped and slumped back quietly into her chair.

A glimpse to the timer sitting next to the woman. Thirty seconds had passed. Twenty-four agonizing minutes to go.

She suppressed another groan and lay her cheek on the smooth surface, looking over towards the shuttered windows. Had that really been necessary? It was starting to feel like solitary or something...

At least with those open, she could try and guess the cars driving by out on the front road. Maybe that had been the point.

She counted out many points of light she could see through the blinds. Forty-eight.

A glimpse at the timer. Twenty seconds gone.

She sighed and looked up to the ceiling, counting the tiles overhead. She got about halfway through when one particular tile caught her eye. The various dark patterns running through the material formed a shape, as so many others did, with their various dots and streaks and cracks. This one in particular grabbed her attention, for a pair of streaks flowed strangely together in such a way as to form the letters "A" and "J" in sequence.

The uncomfortable feeling from a few hours ago returned with a vengeance and her stomach turned at the memory of Applejack in her arms... so warm... so close... so hers...

...and so scared.

She had felt her trembling. That had been new to Rainbow Dash. Trembling couldn't be good. It was only representative of nervousness or excitement; one, the other, or both. It meant adrenaline. It meant fight or flight. She certainly hadn't fought, and she may not have fled, but she had closed off to her.

She certainly hadn't been excited in the good way...

Rainbow inhaled and breathed a heavy sigh, her expression and mood graying over as thoughts turned to the complexity of her situation with her friend.

Applejack was her everything, and the unknown of the situation scared her more than anything she could ever recall. It was worse than when her parents had been killed in that car wreck. It was worse than the loneliness that came afterward. Because as bad as those things had been... She had been there for her through it all.

She had no allies this time. Truly, she was alone, facing down the hurricane of emotions that threatened to leave her dashed against the rocks and swept away by the tides of despair.

She had thought about telling her friends, but which? Pinkie could keep a secret... or at least she'd never spilled any to her before. But Rarity was a gossip-monger, and her being in possession the juiciest piece of interpersonal information in school could be disastrous.

Twilight and Fluttershy could probably keep their traps shut better than her, but under pressure either would crack and spill everything.

And even telling them everything, she had no way of knowing if any of their so-called "advice" could help her.

She looked up from her desk.

"M-... Ms. Tia?" she asked hesitantly.

"No, Miss Dash. You can wait until detention is over for another bathroom trip," her supervisor said sharply

For some reason, those words struck a painful chord and left her throat thick and sore. Rainbow could just barely feel the sting of tears on her peripheral vision.

She sniffled involuntarily and turned her head to try and wipe the moisture collecting on her lids.

Ms. Tia took notice, however.

"Rainbow Dash?"

Shit-'n-shoved-in-it.

Her blurry vision filled with the superintendent as the older woman slapped down her book and stood, hastily crossing the distance between them with a few long-legged footsteps. Rainbow hastily brushed her face against the back of her arm. She couldn't be seen crying by anyone. It was a matter of pride...

"Rainbow Dash, what's the matter?" came the soft and compassionate voice.

She choked on her own throat, trying to gulp back the hurt building up from her gut.

Oh, nothing. I think I might be completely head-over-heels for my best friend in the whole wide world and I'm just having a little mental breakdown. That's not unusual, is it?

"Allergies..." she choked weakly.

A pair of warm and comforting arms wrapped around her and pulled her against the warm and comforting person they were attached to her.

Pride be damned, Rainbow let go, and cried a river of a lifetime's worth of pain, fear, and uncertainty. A hand softly brushed through her rainbow-colored hair, bringing on a pleasant, tingling sensation that distracted her from the stress of her mere existence, and slowly, her sobs turned to whimpers, and her tears turned to blinking eyes.

She wasn't sure how long it had had lasted. All she knew was that the digital timer had buzzed, marking the end of detention by the time she looked up.

Ms. Tia smiled warmly down at her, hand still softly brushing along her hair.

Rainbow reached up and wiped one last tear off her cheek and chuckled. "S-sorry," she said in a strained voice.

"Nothing to apologize for," the older woman's voice came, smooth as silk and easy on the ears.

Rainbow wiped her hand against her nose, only to be offered a handkerchief from the superintendent's breast pocket. She blotted the edges of her eyes. "Don't know what came over me..." she muttered.

"Well, I can say for certain that it wasn't the last twenty minutes of detention."

She half-chuckled, half-sobbed. "I dunno. It can be pretty bad having nothing to do for so long."

Ms. Tia giggled. "Boring as it may be, it has to be something far more than simple boredom to incite the 'invincible Rainbow Dash' to cry."

She fidgeted.

The older woman continued in just a soothing voice as before. "I don't have a degree in Psychology for nothing, Rainbow Dash," she said. "I know that boredom may be your Kryptonite, as it were, but it's obvious to me that there's something deeper that's troubling you."

Swallowing her nervousness, Rainbow averted her eyes and shrank in her seat.

"There's nothing you have to say that you don't want to say," Ms. Tia stated. "Just know, I've been around the block my fair share of times. And I would never think of judging you or sharing anything you tell me with anyone."

Her finger reached under Rainbow's chin and raised her gaze to meet hers. "You do at least trust me that far, don't you?"

Rainbow nodded and took a deep and shaky breath.

"Have you ever... umm..."

A pause.

"Ms. Tia? Have you ever been..." she gulped, "...in love before?"

The eyes staring back at her shimmered with a merciful sparkle of warmth and reassurance as the superintendent reached over for a chair and pulled it closer. "I've certainly come close a few times, so I'm familiar with the feeling," she said.

Rainbow nodded. She was hesitant with her words, choosing them carefully. She knew how shrinks could analyze stuff into everything. Hell, she's probably analyzing this, she thought to herself.

"Well... I... I mean, it's just a hunch and everything, but... there's this... this person..." she said shakily.

Ms. Tia nodded understandingly, resting her hand in her chin.

"This uhh... this 'person' is kinda someone I'm close to a few times a week... been a friend of mine since I was a little kid and... y'know, they're kind of the only one who I'm really close to right now..."

There was a pregnant pause.

"I see," Ms. Tia nodded again. "So, this person is someone you know intimately well."

"Yeah... see, this... person? We used to hang out all the time. We did everything together. I mean, I'd help them with stuff, they'd come by and help me with some stuff... we always liked hanging out a lot and... stuff..." she trailed off.

More silence. The older woman patiently kept quiet, and waited for Rainbow to continue.

"And lately, I've started having all these... urges and... feelings that I usually don't have for other people. I feel like... like wanting to kiss this person and... hug them and be close to them all the time and... just make them mine, y'know? But... I don't wanna break the good thing we've got going right now..."

Ms. Tia nodded sagely. "And this... 'person'," the superintendent said. "You would like to share these feelings with her, but you're afraid that it might be received poorly."

"Yeah, 'cause see, she-"

Rainbow froze.

Ms. Tia's smile grew playful.

"How did you-?"

"Because you just told me," she said through a bright and airy smile.

I fell for the oldest trick in the book... gravy.

Rainbow Dash sighed and sagged down into her seat, hiding her face behind her arms. "Have you... ever been in love with another woman, Ms. Tia?"

The older woman's expression mellowed noticeably. "I... cannot say that I have, Rainbow Dash," she said solemnly, softly stroking her hand along her back.

A sigh. Well, it was a long shot anyway...

"What I can say, however," she continued, "is that no matter what her answer, no matter what her background, if she truly loves you for who you are, with all of the good, the bad, and the unorthodox," she winked, "then all I can truly advise you is that you continue to be what makes you who you are."

Rainbow pondered the words for a moment. It felt like everything every self-help book ever said, but condensed into a paragraph.

"Man, that's sappy..." she muttered, wiping her nose on her arm again.

A pair of strong hands softly squeezed her shoulders. "Never change, Rainbow Dash. You may not be perfect in the eyes of the world, but in those of your friends, I can promise that you are. And I personally know for a fact that Applejack would fight lions barehanded for you."

Nearly whiplashing herself as she bolted upright, Rainbow found herself once again gobsmacked. "But... I never said..."

Ms. Tia smiled smugly at her, before rolling her eyes to the ceiling with a shrug. She stood from her chair and slid it back into place. "Detention is over, Miss Dash," she said, grabbing her book and briefcase off the table. "My next bit of advice is to go home, eat, and get ready for the dance tonight." She turned to look at her from the door. "Sadie Hawkins dances don't come around all that often."

Then she was gone, leaving a contemplative Rainbow alone with the pain of falling in love.

Comments

[Tchernobog]

has the eyes of a hawk!

[Atlaes]

You can try to hide it, but eventually Celestia will find out about it

[Sheendough]

4518422 Or it's painfully obvious to everyone except AJ... Again.

[RainbowJack2000]

It's Trollestia...

[Lilith Evanson]

Favorite fucking chapter. I LOVE it when writer's give more depth to Rainbow. I just...ugh...I melt.

[Starlight Nova]

Wow, you're good at writing Celestia!