Chapter Three - Confessions: Applejack
I stormed back to the room, my boots clanking on some of the metal deck plates as I crossed them.
Darn that Rainbow Dash, I thought. Always has to be right.
I was so mad I could hardly see straight. Not only had Dash only cut in front of me in line - hardly a rare occurrence - but she had deliberately zeroed in for the final servings of several things she knew I liked. It was this sort of school-yard bully nonsense that got me so riled up.
I slammed the door to the stateroom once I got there, and growled out my frustrations. I plopped onto the couch our room had and let the funk settle over me. I was content to just stew for a bit and then get over it until the source of my annoyance barged into the room as well.
“What was that all about?” she demanded, posting her fists on her hips and looking at me.
“You know darn well,” I fired back.
“So I grabbed the last piece of apple pie. I thought you’d want anything but something with apples in it!”
“It ain’t about th’ pie, Rainbow!” I shouted, shooting to my feet. I was the tallest of our friends, and Rainbow’s relative height hadn’t changed since high school had started. I looked slightly down at her, seething.
“It’s more than a piece of pie. It’s how ya always have t’be the best at everything, no matter what!” I started ticking things off on my fingers. “You always have to beat me in a footrace. If Ah get too close to you in one of those games we play, ya either reset the’ game or yank the control outta my hand.”
She started to fidget in place, but I was building up to a good head of steam and just kept going.
“We’re supposed t’be friends, Dash! But sometimes, Ah don’t feel very friendly to ya.” I whirled away, pacing over to the window and looking out at the dark waves. “Can’t believe we got the same bunk, too.”
“I thought it was all in good fun,” she said softer than she usually did.
“Good fun usually means both parties enjoy it, Dash,” I said. I was cooling off now that I vented all the frustration. “Sometimes ya get carried away.”
“Only cause I don’t know how else to act around you,” she whispered before leaving the room.
I blinked. What in the hay was that supposed to mean?
It was late and I was laying in bed, my mind spinning faster that a twister. Dash still hadn’t come back to the room and I was starting to get a little concerned.
Ok, more than a little.
To tell the truth, in a little corner of my mind I had always liked the brash girl. She told it like it was most of the time, and I respected that. We had been friends since sixth grade, and I loved the fact that she was someone that was just as rough and tumble as I was at the time.
I smiled at the memories, even the slightly more embarrassing ones. Despite how competitive and nerve-wracking as she was now, she was always there for a friend if they needed her.
And even though I’d likely never admit it, there was a little bit of a crush on the athlete down inside. And I suspected that she wasn’t quite as full of herself as she put on, she just had to put on the front, no matter how annoying it was to her friends.
I glanced at the clock, seeing it was after three. I sighed and got up, pulling on my jeans and boots and heading out to find the wayward girl.
I found her on the topmost observation deck, leaning against the rail into the wind. I couldn’t see her face from where I was standing, but her slumped shoulders made it obvious she wasn’t in the best of states.
“Rainbow?” I said, stepping up to her but not touching her. “It’s late, sugarcube. You should hit the hay.”
“You ever think about it, AJ?” she whispered.
“Think about what?”
“The future,” she said, standing up a bit straighter. “I mean, for you and Rarity, it's pretty much a sure thing. You got the farm and she’s got her little fashion business.” She picked at a piece of loose paint on the rail. “Twilight and Sunset getting married, Pinkie opening up an event planning and catering business, even Fluttershy has plans for after school.”
“Didn't you get accepted t’that Northern Region soccer whatsis?” I asked, wondering where this was leading.
“I got a provisional spot,” she said. “They don’t usually let first years play in the actual games unless they’re exceptional. I still gotta earn a spot on one of their teams.” She flaked another paint chip off. “But how long does a professional soccer career really last? Ten years, maybe fifteen before you start slowing down, less if you get injured? What do I fall back on then?”
I wasn’t sure I was liking what I was hearing from my friend. “Rainbow, you’re scarin’ me a little.”
She chuckled. “I guess that makes two of us,” she said as she turned to face me. I saw by the moonlight and the lamp glow some tracks on her cheeks and puffy eyes.
“I’m always saying I’m awesome because if I believe it, I’m not worried. I think I can handle anything,” she said, sitting down on one of the benches, one foot up on the seat and her arms wrapped around her leg. “Truth is, if I was half as awesome as I said I was, I wouldn’t need to say it.” She sniffed, a tear welling up in her eye. “I’d be able to focus on saying other things.”
“Dash,” I sat next to the girl, one hand going to rub her shoulders. “You don’t gotta play it up for us.” I smiled for her benefit. “Just be yourself and that’ll be enough.”
She looked at me and smiled. Memories of her megawatt smile from middle school and freshman year painted themselves next to it in my mind’s eye, and it was wanting.
“Will it?” She asked. She swiped the tear from her eye. “You want to know why I’m always challenging you, races and games and what all?” she asked.
“You’re just competitive,” I said, pushing a handful of emotions back down.
“Yeah, I am,” she said with a rueful giggle. “But beyond that. I never challenge Pinkie, or Fluttershy. Maybe Sunset once in a while, but usually you.”
Thinking on it, it was usually me she put to task. I couldn’t bring up a single time she had challenged anyone besides Princess Twilight since we had healed that rift between us all.
“It’s kinda the only way I know how to spend time with you, ya know, alone.”
I blinked. “Come again?”
“I want to spend time with you, just the two of us. That’s why I traded Fluttershy room assignments. She was supposed to bunk with you, originally.”
I was still trying to keep up with the right angle turn she had taken. Was she saying…
“Dash,” I crinkled my brow. “Are you sayin’ what Ah think you’re sayin’”
“Depends,” she said, putting both feet on the deck and turning to face me.
“You feel anything for me besides friendship?”
Time stopped. I know it’s a cliche, something that only happens in them fru-fru romance novels Rarity reads, but that’s how it felt at the time. The question was so plainly spoken, in such a laid back way that it almost hid the fear behind her eyes. Fear of disappointment, fear of rejection, things that I should know a little about.
And in that frozen moment, I thought about how I did feel. Yeah, she annoyed me at times and the constant showboating was beyond old, but I kept putting myself in the position even though I knew what was going to happen. It was like an old dance that she and I just played our parts in.
And underneath that, there was a fondness a little stronger than what I had for the rest of my friends.
“Yeah,” I said, time returning to normal. “Ah think Ah do.” I leveled a look at her as she started to smile. “But we gotta come to an understandin’, here,” I continued. “The showboatin’ and trying t’get my goat has gotta stop.”
She smirked, some of the old Rainbow Dash returning. “I aint much for the sappy stuff,” she fired back.
“Ah aint no shrinking violet, neither,” I said. “But next time Ah start beating you in something, just take the licks cause you know it’s worth it.” I pulled her into a hug. “Ah’ll make sure it’s worth it.”
She pulled away after a second, pulling me to my feet. “You gotta check this out,” She said, dragging me to the railing. “Close your eyes,” she took a spot next to me, closing her pink eyes.
I followed suit, shutting my eyes and feeling the ocean breeze wash over me. It was faster and cooler than the breezes I enjoyed back at the farm. It almost felt like…
“Feels a little like you’re flying, doesn’t it?” Rainbow asked. “Ever since the Fall Formal, I’ve tried to keep that feeling alive. Now that we know how to pony up on our own, I try to grab a few hours a week in the air, low key, of course. For some reason, it's comforting, like it's right, somehow.” She shifted beside me, and cracking an eye open I saw her lean forward a little, arms stretching out to either side.
“Can’t do it too much longer,” she sighed. “I’ll be living in the city where somebody will notice a girl with wings.”
“Like people ain’t seen video of us fightin’ the Sirens or when Twilight went mad at th’ Games,” I said. “Ah’m surprised nobody’s come looking for us to begin with.”
“I’m pretty sure Celestia and Luna keep it tight under wraps,” She said, standing up straight and turning to lean backward against the rail.
I turned halfway, looking at her. “Tell me straight, Dash,” I said. “Just so Ah’m clear on things, how do…”
“I got a mad crush on you, AJ,” she said, cutting me off. “Since I moved to town from Cloudsdale.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I never really got how this was supposed to work till Twi and Sunset got together. It was just me and Dad growing up.”
“So if we had inkwells, you’d have dipped my pigtails in them?” I smiled.
She mirrored the grin, snickering. “Yeah, probably.”
I put an arm over her shoulder. “Well, just like Ah said when Ah came up here, it’s late.”
She pulled away slightly, just enough for my arm to slide off her shoulders.
But she caught my hand before it made it all the way back to my side.
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
960 users online
1,474,907 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
7913606 Ohhhh! Yeah, I remember that one-off line now lol.
This was cute. I like how they played off each other. I didn't expect that Dash had gone out of her way to make sure she roomed with AJ.
Wow. This is such a good idea! I must admit I wish I had thought of it first. You're a great writer with great ideas. I don't even ship Sunset and Twilight but I think this story might just cause me to do so;) And I love how you write Appledash, which is a ship that I am completely obsessed with. Good job. I can't wait for more!
7914546
And it's adorable to see the length Dash would go to just to sleep in the same room as Applejack. ;) I think I'm going to follow you now. It's a well-earned follow!
7914547
Aw shucks. That's mighty kind of you.
7914568
Of course! You deserve it for such a great story.
Character depth. For me, it felt like you've really given Rainbow Dash a kind of 3-dimensional character I hadn't felt just from the movies (personality and background wise not animation wise). That's one of the things I love about your writing. This story is touching even if I'm more of a Sunlight than AppleDash fan because the characters feel so much more real and feeling. Thanks for such a great chapter~!
7914797
One of these days I'm going to be drinking something when I read one of your comments and short out my monitor.
But I always appreciate the humor, BW.
7914867
Oh, and there's going to be a Flutters style chapter in this vein too, and possibly a Rarity.
7915620
STOP! I can't take this PUNishment!
The first POV change of this story, and I have to say it is a really good one in terms of expanding on Applejack and Rainbow's characters and their evolving bond.
I'm a little confuzzled... What does this mean?
8020379
Back in ye olden days, you didn't have fancy pens with actual ink in them. You had quills or if you were well-to-do, a fancy pen to suck up a small amount of ink to write with. Now, when you went to school, inkwells were built into the desks and you would either put some ink in them that you brought with you from home or you would be provided with ink if you weren't from a more influential family.
Now, if a boy liked a girl, they would sometimes dip their pigtails (if they had those) in the inkwells to signify that they liked em. Of course, since they were young and probably still in that whole "Boys/Girls are icky" stage, they probably thought that the person was an asshole. But, that was usually the reason why.
Ooooh, I think we all know what that means.