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Find Yourself1,455 words
Introduce Yourself2,041 words
Talking to Yourself3,195 words
Amuse Yourself2,996 words
Do It Yourself3,325 words
Be Yourself2,281 words
Treat Yourself2,581 words
Love Yourself2,259 words
Help Yourself2,417 words
Accept Yourself1,826 words

Treat Yourself

THWACK

Applejack smirked as she sent the ball flying back to Dash’s side. She had to admit, when Dash first suggested coming back to the tennis court for their date, she was sceptical. Aside from it not really seeming like the most romantic thing to do, she was afraid of things going wrong like they did before.

But so far, she had been enjoying herself. By staying on opposite ends of the court, there hadn’t been much opportunity to talk. As a result, all her concerns about awkwardness after last night were put to rest. There was no uncomfortable silence as they struggled to think of what to say to each other. Just smashing a ball back and forth, with some good old friendly trash talk thrown in for good measure.

THWACK

Applejack squawked in surprise, as Dash’s return shot took the hat right off her head.

“Hah! Maybe that’ll teach you to stay awake!” The blue girl hollered.

Okay, so maybe the trash talk was getting a little old.

...

And she could have done without the victory dance as well.

Still, she had to admit it was cute in a way. The look of absolute glee on Dash’s face was just heartbreakingly precious, the jumps and spins were completely adorable, and even the way she kicked her legs up was-

Well anyway, the point was, as much as Applejack hated to lose, perhaps she could compromise once in a while.

Oh heavens to Betsy, now she was doing the belly dance again...

Rainbow couldn’t help laughing out loud as she prepared to end her victory dance with a grand finale. She bent her knees, jumped up and threw her head backwards.

THUD

“Shoot! You okay there Dash?”

What was supposed to be the greatest back flip the world had ever seen, had ended with Rainbow falling flat on her back.

Stupid two-legged, no-winged body...

Determined to save face, she jumped back up as nimbly as her aching body would allow and flipped her hair back in a “no really, I totally meant to do that” kind of way. Fortunately A.J seemed to buy it and the two returned to their game.

Rainbow let out another laugh as she dived to send A.J’s fast ball back. This was a date! She had been totally right, of course. Nothing made for a romantic getaway quite like a fast, fun game of tennis. Hah! Next time she saw Applejack, she was totally gonna rib on her for how wrong she had been!

Although...

She had to admit that while she missed having her double to join in with the smack talk, it was somehow more fun this time around. As she leapt up and smashed the ball back down again, she caught a glimpse of A.J’s face and felt that she understood why.

There was no denying Applejack could be a major stick in the mud. Never playing when she could be working, always putting a stop to jokes and pranks in case they went too far and hurt somepony’s feelings. But right here, right now...

A.J seemed to be having the time of her life. The way she licked her lips in anticipation as the ball came towards her. The way her brow furrowed and her teeth clenched as she sent it roaring back. The look of unbridled joy whenever Rainbow missed a return, earning A.J the point.

No doubt about it, A.J was enjoying this. And somehow...

That made Rainbow enjoy it all the more.

VROOM

Applejack flinched as the vehicle (they were called ‘karrs’ according to A.J) sped past the couple. She hated city life so much. So much noise. And it was even worse here in the human world. These horseless carriages were so fast. They kept racing up behind her, buffeting her in a wind tunnel. Some of them even blared horns that seemed to be designed specifically to pierce her ear drums and rattle her teeth.

She looked up to the sky. She wanted to see the moon and pretend it was the night her father proposed to her mother. But she couldn’t see it tonight. The lanterns that lit up the street left it invisible.

She hated the city.

But, this was the spirit of compromise. Dash had suggested playing tennis again, so Applejack had suggested another romantic walk. But Dash had compromised by toning down the competitiveness as much as she could, so Applejack figured it was only fair to take a walk somewhere Dash would be more comfortable with.

VROOM

HONK

Applejack let out a growl as another one of those things blasted by. She couldn’t resist the urge to clamp her hands over her ears. She was starting to get flashbacks of being in Manehattan.

Suddenly she felt a slight weight around her shoulders. She looked around to see Dash with her arm around her. Dash eased Applejack’s hands away from her ears. Then, with a certain amount of blushing and desperate trying to look like she was too cool for any of this, Dash took Applejack’s hand into her own, lacing their fingers together.

Applejack couldn’t help feeling a warmth spread inside of her. It was like Dash’s presence was giving her something to focus on. Something to blot out all the noise around her. She bit her lip and smiled as Dash rested her head against the taller girl’s shoulder. Applejack sighed happily and leant in as well.

She looked up at the street lights. They may not have been the moon, but she had her own source of light for her romantic stroll.

Rainbow was in a raging battle against her own mouth. She wanted to look cool, but her stupid, traitorous lips kept wanting to pull back into a goofy smile. But how could anypony blame her? She had just handled what could have been a bad situation in the smoothest way possible.

Rainbow liked noise and bright lights. Even as a little child, she refused to play with any toys that didn’t light up and make sounds. So while she had been less than enthusiastic about A.J’s suggestion of another walk, she appreciated the change of scenery from forest to city. This was her kind of environment! The whoosh of the traffic! The drunken singing of passersby! The horns! The yelling! It was the kind of thing that made her feel alive.

And yet, the moment she saw the effect it had on A.J, it was like the sounds were all shut off at once. She knew A.J had picked the city for her sake. And she appreciated it. But she also didn’t like to see A.J suffer on her behalf. So she paid the favour back. A.J had given her what she wanted. Now she gave A.J what she needed.

Walking along, hand in hand, heads together, Rainbow no longer noticed the noise around them. Instead she noticed the noise coming from her own body. Her hard beating in her chest as A.J squeezed her fingers. The blood pounding in her ears as they snuggled into each other. It was a different kind noise.

But it would do the job.

Maybe a romantic walk wasn’t such a lame idea.

The third and final activity of the night was dinner at a restaurant. Not the most original idea perhaps, but Applejack felt that if this “relationship” was to really be set in stone, there needed to be a point where the two were able to talk to each other.

Applejack flinched when she saw the amount of meat available on the menu. She half remembered some warning from Twilight’s lecture about human diet and her recommendation about sticking to the vegetarian section.

Disappointed to not find hay anywhere on the menu, she nonetheless picked the cabbage soup. As Dash was making her own order, Applejack engrossed herself with reading through the rest of the menu. It was interesting to see how human food differed from pony food. And it was even more interesting to see what dishes were the same.

Her absorption in the menu was certainly not anything to do with the pressing issue in that she had no idea what to talk about! It wasn’t a case of awkwardness at this point. Surprisingly enough, the date so far had actually been very enjoyable. It wasn’t too different from her usual hang outs with Rainbow back home. It was always fun doing stuff with her. In fact, the way Dash had been tonight, it was maybe even a little more fun than it usually...

But that wasn’t the point! A.J and Dash needed to connect emotionally and since A.J wasn’t here, Applejack was going to have to do it for her!

But what could she possibly talk about without giving away the game? She couldn’t mention...well...anything about her usual life, in case A.J’s experiences were different! She couldn’t even ask Dash about her life in case A.J already had. Oh how Applejack hated lying...

“So...” Dash spoke up. Applejack gulped. She had taken too long! Now Dash was going to raise a subject she wouldn’t know anything about!

“So...” Not much of a response. But it was all she had at this point.

“This whole thing with those pony version of us is pretty crazy, huh?”

Huh. That would work. That would work just fine. Applejack could talk plenty about that situation without Dash ever catching on!

“Uh...eeyup, sure is.” Applejack stumbled to find the words. “Heh...can you imagine what it must be like? Traipsin’ all over the place all cuz a map told you to?”

“Hah! I know, right? Like, how do you think that thing even works? You think it’s alive or something?”

Applejack chuckled to herself. She remembered Rainbow asking the same thing once, not long after she and Pinkie had returned from their first duo mission. “Darned if I know. Guess with all that magic they live with, must be real normal to them.” The words flowed easily now. Applejack had wondered about the Map before. But she had learned not to question Unicorn magic a long time ago and simply figured the Map was just another example of it.

“It’s weird though.” Dash lowered her voice slightly as the food was brought to their table. “I mean, they look like us, they sound like us...” she paused as she took the biggest possible bite out of her toasted cheese sandwhich, “but there’s so much about them and us that’s different.”

Applejack giggled to herself. She was tempted to reprimand Dash for talking with her mouth full. But it was kinda cute...

But more importantly, she had to find a way to move the conversation away from small talk. They had to make a connection. She racked her brains as Dash prattled on about the differences between the two worlds. She needed something that wasn’t too heavy...but something that was more personal. Something...intimate. She remembered A.J telling her about Dash comforting her over the death of Winona...

“Didja know Applejack’s parents in their world are dead??” She blurted out.

“...”

That might have been a little too intimate...

Rainbow stared at A.J in shock, mouth hanging wide open.

Which certainly didn’t help her coolness factor when a large chunk of toasted cheese sandwhich fell out onto her lap...

She barely even noticed it however, moving her legs slightly so it simply dropped to the floor. What was she supposed to say to that? Here they were, supposed to be on a romantic date and A.J just went and dropped that kind of bomb on her? She opened and closed her mouth a few times experimentally. What was the romantic way to answer that kind of question?

“Wow...dude...that sucks, huh?”

That wasn’t it.

A.J seemed to tense at her response. “Hehe...yep...pretty messed up, huh?” She seemed to be rubbing the back of her head, eyes fixed on the ceiling. “C-can’t imagine what that must be like. I mean...think of it. Findin’ out there’s other versions o’ you and your friends...but other people...” A.J seemed to grow more downcast. She gazed into her bowl of barely touched soup. “People you love just...ain’t there...”

Rainbow’s mind raced. She had to find a way to salvage this date before it got too depressing. If she couldn’t find a way to cheer A.J up, the whole mission would be a bust. This was part of dating, right? What kind of special somepony would Rainbow be if she couldn’t make her date feel better.

“Heh...yeah...” Rainbow begged and pleaded her brain to think of words to say. “That’s pretty messed up...”

A.J seemed to look both more nervous and depressed at the same time.

”No! Bad brain! Wrong thing to say! Think!

A.J’s shoulder sagged. Rainbow tensed up. She hadn’t often seen Applejack cry, but if A.J was anything like her, Rainbow could recognise the signs. But thinking of Applejack didn’t help here. Applejack never talked about her parents and Rainbow never asked. It always seemed to her like Applejack knew how to handle it...

Oh.

Oh that could work.

“Well...y’know...” Rainbow started, “I never would have guessed just by looking at her. I guess that means she’s over it, yknow?”

She caught a look from A.J that seemed to be a split second away from a glare.

“W-well not over it exactly! I mean like...it seems like she’s got it down. I mean, it looks like she can handle it.” She thought about how Applejack had been over the last few days. Taking charge of the mission, always thinking of ideas to solve the problem. “I mean, for all I know, maybe she’s totally torn up on the inside. But like I said, you’d never guess from looking at her. She always looks like she’s in control. So...maybe that’s a good thing?”

“How do you mean?” A.J’s voice was soft.

“Well...I mean let’s say the same thing happened to you...” Rainbow winced as A.J seemed to flinch at that. “Not to say it will! But if it did...well you guys are a lot alike. So if she can handle it, I bet you could too.”

“But...what if she ain’t handlin’ it?” A.J’s voice was even softer.

“Then she’s doing a radical job of pretending! Like, totally! It’s like...my parents drive me nuts sometimes, y’know? But if anything...happened to them...” Rainbow felt compelled to knock her fist against the wooden table, “I just...I dunno how I’d be. But if Applejack is hurting, she sure as heck makes it look easy...”

Rainbow let a breath out. It was surprisingly shaky. She’d never really thought about Applejack in that way before. Sure, she had been thinking about Applejack in a lot of ways she hadn’t before recently, but now... If the past few days had taught her that Applejack could be fun, this was the first time she really saw her as...admirable.

It almost made her feel bad about herself. He she was, just coasting along while Applejack was managing life on top of this tragedy on top of it all.

She was stirred from this thought by the feeling of a soft grip on her hand. She looked down to see A.J’s hand grasping hers.

She looked up to see A.J gazing at her, eyes glistening. Lip quivering.

Before she could say anything, A.J had leaned in, and their lips met.

Rainbow grinned into the kiss. Maybe Applejack could handle life.

But Rainbow knew how to handle Applejack.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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