Viral Love

by housedoc

2. AppleDash

Applejack trotted home from the tea party slightly disturbed by what had occurred. She felt off somehow, almost sick. Hopefully, it would not get any worse. There were a lot of trees that needed a good bucking that afternoon. She was not particularly in the mood for working though, despite the fine weather. The sky was cloud-free, and there was just the right amount of breeze to cool oneself off during physical labor.

Applejack looked up at the smiling sun. I wonder if Rainbow is responsible for this weather. Those pegasi on the weather teams sure have a great deal of influence over other ponies' lives... and feelings. I wonder if Rainbow ever thinks about what type of weather would be best for apple-bucking? Do they just follow a scheduled forecast, or can they decide to clear the skies when they feel happy, or make it rain when they feel low?

Applejack walked in through the front door, hearing a whirring sound coming from the kitchen.

“Hey there, Granny Smith! Watcha makin'?” she asked, already feeling more cheerful from the smell of cooking.

“Oh, shoot Applejack! I'm tryin' to make some of my aunt's famous blueberry pancakes, but this here new fancy magic powered egg beater thingamajig Ah ordered ain't doin' crud!”

Applejack looked at the vibrating... thing submerged in the raw eggs.

“Uhh, are ya sure that's an egg beater, Granny?”

“Are you ready to go, sis?” a low voice asked from the doorway without greeting.

“Uhh... yeah, sure Big Mac.” Applejack was still distracted by the... equipment. “You should call the post office, Granny. I think there's been a mishap.”

---

The apple-bucking went by like usual. The weather was good and they managed to buck the apples off a couple of hundred trees in a few hours.

As Applejack was working on her final tree for the day, her thoughts kept drifting to Rainbow Dash, or rather to the letter. It bothered AJ for reasons she did not understand herself. After all, what did it matter to her?

The pink paper, the fancy lettering. It must be Rarity. Only that prissy unicorn would write something mushy like that letter. I thought she was into stallions, must she go chasing after mares as well now? She must have tons of admirers coming into her store every day, what with her high society connections and all.

Applejack subconsciously started bucking the tree harder, lost in thought. What would somepony like Rainbow see in a prudish drama queen? Rainbow likes action, and speed, and pushing the limits...

“Hey, Applejack?”

Splinters were flying off the poor apple tree, as the bucks got more aggressive.

She needs somepony who's active, competitive, fun, down to earth...

“Hey, sis!”

Somepony like...

“APPLEJACK!!”

CRAACK!!

“Huuh?!”

Just as Applejack was pulled from her thoughts, the tree trunk finally shattered from the onslaught, sending the top half of the tree tumbling down towards the ground with a violent rustle. Applejack lost her balance completely as she suddenly bucked thin air, and landed flat on her stomach like the fallen tree.

“What the hay are you doin', Applejack?” Big Mac asked, immediately back to his calm self. “Is everything alright?”

Applejack looked at the remains of the tree. What... is going on with me?

“Yeah, Big Mac, I... just got carried away...”

“If ya say so... Well, that was the last of 'em for today. I'm goin' inside...” Big Mac pulled his cart of apples to the barn, with a last suspicious glance at AJ.

Applejack sat herself up and remained by the fallen tree. She wasn't done going over certain things in her head. Such a violent display, over something so trivial?

Rainbow. She needs somepony like- or rather...

Could it be that... I need... somepony like... her..?

Twilight's voice echoed in her head. “Isn't that hinting at some other kind of... tension between you guys?”

Images of all the things AJ and Rainbow had done together flashed before her eyes, but this time accompanied by a tingling sensation in her tummy. Almost like those moments were now the best moments... ever. She remembered the time they had spent together in that creepy castle, pretending not to be frightened in front of each other. She remembered Rainbow's determined face surrounded by falling autumn leaves as they raced side by side during The Running of the Leaves. She remembered how Rainbow had laughed herself to tears after seeing a picture of AJ dressed up as 'Applejewel', the fashionista. “Ahahahaha!! You look like you're in charge of a brothel, AJ!” Applejack had tried to glare at Rainbow sourly, but she hadn't really been angry. The sound of Rainbow's laugh had warmed her heart all too much.

It was suddenly so obvious. Like she had always felt this way, but ironically had not been honest with herself.

Night was falling over the orchard. As time passed, her conviction was becoming clearer. It was almost pitch black outside when AJ was concluding her train of thoughts.

That's it! That letter was a wake-up call! I need to show Rainbow before it's too late! I must live up to my element, dangit! I am the pony for her! Clear as moonshine!

But now, it was almost too late. Somepony else had her eye on Rainbow Dash. AJ glanced up at the sky. Rainbow's cloud house was visible in the far distance as a few faint lights in the darkness. If I had the magic to do so I would go up there right now and tell her...

Well, what would she tell her? That she had less guts than Rarity of all ponies? That she had figured out five minutes ago that she was in love with her? No, she needed a proper plan. There was still time. There had to be.

It had started to rain lightly, so Applejack decided to go back to the house. No one was awake as she snuck up to her room, as silently as one could with hooves on a creaking staircase. Seems like I missed the blueberry pancakes... As she crawled into bed, she decided to keep the curtains of her bedroom window open during the night. She could still see the lights from Rainbow's cloud house through the window.

She did not catch much sleep that night, as she instead spent her time developing a plan. A plan in the name of love and honesty...

---

Meanwhile in Rainbow Dash's cloud mansion...

Rainbow Dash was awake much later than usual. She had work off the next day so it wasn't really a big deal. After what had happened earlier, she doubted sleep would come easily tonight anyway.

She sat on her living room floor, staring at the letter, almost completely pieced back together. It all felt so stupid. When she had gone to the tea party, it wasn't really because she had been upset. She had felt excited, and curious, and sometimes her emotions got a bit... jumbled.

It was wrong of her to make a big deal out of it in front of her friends. She had no right to call anypony out like that. And of course, Rainbow was actually grateful. Her display of anger was just a facade, and it had all gone too far. She had realized all that just as soon as the torn letter had fallen to the floor.

Hopefully no one had seen her tears, at least. That was a bit much.

She still wanted to know who had written it, though. Now more than ever. The more time she spent looking at the pink letter, the more obsessed she felt. It was as if pure love was radiating out from the paper, or something. Perhaps it was just perfumed.

There was still a small hole in the center of the letter, even though Rainbow had already reassembled all the pieces she had picked up. She figured she must have left a piece of paper on the floor at the boutique. Rarity's boutique... Rarity's face appeared in Rainbow's mind. Could it have been her? I mean, it seems like something she would do. Write a sappy pink letter. Nah, pretty sure she wouldn't go for somepony like me... would she? Would I go for somepony like her? Whatever, it probably wasn't even her... But what if it was? Four other familiar faces flashed by her mind's eye in quick succession. It could be anypony. Maybe even somepony else entirely. But how can I find out for sure?

Rainbow's eyelids started to weigh heavy and the letters on the paper were blurring together.

I need to find out... whoever it was, I... I owe her... love, I think?

Rainbow fell asleep on the floor right next to the letter. Soon enough, her snoring had sent the paper pieces flying into a jumbled mess once again.

Comments

[Clawder]

Interesting...
This is probably going to become a love hexagon, lol.

[Clawder]

6083953

Yep, more fitting.

[Seether00]

But think of the poor pony who didn't get their love letter. Great work, Derpy.

[Dragonderp24]

Plot twist, turns out the letter was from Discord just so he could mess with them.

[housedoc]

6083625
Thanks for the kind words, hopefully the story will continue to stay somewhat intriguing :)

6084795
Well, we shall see about that...

6084922
Yeah, partly at least...

6085207
Nah, that's too easy. :)

[Dragonderp24]

6086437 hmmm, ok. New plan!
It turns out that the letter is for somepony else, But, it awakens feelings in each of RD's friends to the point that they destroy Ponyville. But in the end, it turns out that the letter was for Derpy herself...

Also, RD almost gets gang-raped by her friends. just for shits and giggles.