Love Yourself
As Applejack pulled back from the kiss, she was surprised to find herself not blushing with embarrassment. Oh the thought was there, certainly. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was vaguely aware that she had just initiated a kiss with a version of Rainbow without any real need to. She had heard enough from Rarity about dating to know that it wasn’t “proper” to kiss until the end of a date, so it wasn’t like it had been expected of her. Really her actions just now were, by all rights, somewhat forward. And yet when she searched for answers why her body would do such a thing, she came to one conclusion.
She didn’t care.
Forget being “proper”, forget doing things the way her parents might. Heck, forget the Map and its dumb mission. All she cared about right then and there was that had been one of the nicest things Rainbow had ever said to her.
Alright, technically it was the nicest thing Dash had ever said to her and admittedly, Dash had not said a whole lot to her in the time they had known each other, at least not compared to Rainbow.
But if Dash could say such a thing, Rainbow could too. It was irritating sometimes, to think Rainbow saw her as a rival. Only caring about beating her, about proving herself better. Anytime Rainbow picked up on one of Applejack’s flaws, she was so quick to crow about her superiority. But this proved that Rainbow was capable of...admiring her? Respecting her? Thinking highly of her? Not that Applejack wanted to be put on a pedestal or anything, her grandmother had raised her not to have a swelled head.
But still...
It was nice to think Rainbow was capable of giving out respect. And Applejack appreciated it. It didn’t even bother her to caress Dash’s cheek and brush a strand of yellow and orange hair from the girl’s eyes. She wasn’t trying to be romantic. She just wanted Dash to be aware of her gratitude.
Rainbow was mentally high fiving herself. A.J had brought the date so close to brink of disaster and then Rainbow swooped in and saved it all? Freakin’ score one for The Dashter!
Even the kiss was kind of nice. As A.J rubbed her cheek, Rainbow couldn’t help but nuzzle into it just a little. She had been proud of herself for kissing A.J the first time. It took a lot of guts to do something so weird and Rainbow had done it without hesitating!
Much...
But this kiss had felt better somehow. As if she had really earned it. It wasn’t handed to her because she had taken it, or even given to her because A.J had mistaken her for Dash. Even if this kiss was technically meant for Dash, Rainbow had been the one to say the words.
But even that wasn’t the half of it. Seeing the smile return to A.J’s lips, the light return to her eyes, hearing her giggle softly as Rainbow gave her a mischievous wink. The idea that she had been so sad a moment ago, yet Rainbow had pulled her back from it and made her feel better... It created a bubbly feeling in her stomach pulled her face into the goofiest grin possible.
Rainbow decided she liked it.
Eventually dinner came to an end. All things considered, it could have gone much worse. All the same, Applejack was eagerly looking forward to getting out of there. She was feeling exhausted yet restless, and not a little confused. Some time alone would help to set her mind straight.
The “couple” took their bill up to the bar, having already agreed to split things fifty-fifty. Applejack took a number of bits from her pocket and deposited them on the counter. Her “date” did the same. The barista eyed their money with disdain.
“Um, the bill is for twenty seven dollars and eighteen cents.” She picked up some of the bits and held them out for Applejack’s inspection. “What are these?”
Applejack’s mind began racing. Dohlurs? What were dohlurs? She double checked the bill. The number at the bottom was preceded by a symbol she didn’t recognise. Looking around, she noticed other customers paying for drinks and food, only they weren’t using bits. Some were handing over pieces of green paper while others were presenting differently coloured plastic cards.
She started to panic. If they didn’t have the right type of money, how were they going to pay for their meal? How could Dash not have known this? And come to think of it, if bits weren’t money in this world, why would Dash be using them anyway? How would she even have any to begin...with...
Eyes and mouth wide open, she turned to face Dash. Dash was looking at her with the same expression.
“Rainbow?”
“Applejack?”
“I can’t believe you.” Applejack muttered, picking up the next plate and dunking it into the hot soapy water. Since neither girl had any human money the restaurant had forced them to spend the rest of the night working as kitchen porters to pay off their meal. As she got more and more used to them, Applejack did have to admit that her new fingers were actually pretty useful when it came to cleaning dishes.
That point brought her little comfort in the wake of the revelation that her best friend had been pretending to be somepony else in order to date her.
Somebody else.
Whatever.
“For the last time,” Rainbow was saying, “how was I supposed to know it was you? I called you A.J, you should have told me who you really were!”
“I tried!” Applejack flicked water at the other girl in irritation. “But you had your tongue down my throat before I could get two words out!”
“Didn’t hear you complaining about it at the time!” Rainbow flicked water back. Applejack’s face turned bright red and she barely noticed that some soap had got right in her eye.
“Shut up!” She snarled back viciously. “We do our time here, then we go back to our other selves’ houses. Tomorrow we come up with a new plan. Once the mission’s done, we high tail it outta here, head home and never speak o’ this ever again!”
“Yeah? Well that goes double for me!”
“Well it goes triple for me!”
“Well-”
“Hey girls!”
Applejack and Rainbow turned away from the sink to find a waitress. A waitress who looked an awful lot like Pinkie Pie if she were a human.
“Whatcha guys dooooin’?”
Rainbow dropped the knife she had been cleaning. If she didn’t drop it she would have been tempted to stab herself and end the torment. Bad enough that she was enduring this humiliation with Applejack, but now the other version of Pinkie (who of course would just happen to work at this restaurant, why wouldn’t she??)knew about it?
“Uh, hey Pinkie.” Rainbow gulped. Pinkie wouldn’t know that they weren’t their human clones, right? Maybe another lie could solve all of this. “So funny story, A.J and me were just hanging out having dinner, and it was her turn to pay, but it turns out genius over here forgot her wallet!”
Rainbow ignored Applejack’s furious glare. If she didn’t want Pinkie to know the truth, she would have to play along. Would serve her right for flicking water like that.
“So yeah, now we have to work off our debt. Crazy, huh?”
“Well why didn’t you say so, silly billies!” Pinkie chirped. “I can cover your meal for you!”
“Aw shucks Pinkie, you don’t have to-” Rainbow clamped a hand over Applejack’s mouth. Trust her to turn down a chance for them to get out early!
“That’s awesome Pinkie, we really appreciate it!” Rainbow caught Applejack glowering at her. “I mean, y’know, we’ll totally pay you back tomorrow, absolutely!”
Pinkie violently shook her head, hair flying everywhere, yet curiously the waitress’ pencil tucked behind her ear stayed in place. “Nuh uh! This one’s on the house! Least I can do for my favourite-est couple ever!”
“Uhh...what’re you talkin’ about there, Pinkie?” Applejack spoke up nervously.
“Well duh! Me and the other waitresses have been watching you two all night from the kitchen! You guys were soooo cute! We had a pool going to see who would kiss who first!” She gave Applejack a nudge in the ribs. “You won me like seventy bucks! I can easily cover your meal!” She gave Applejack another nudge. “I knew you’d do it first. The itch in my ear, the ache in my knee and the twitch in my thigh told me so! Although that last one may have just been my phone...”
Rainbow and Applejack both remained silent. The idea that Pinkie and who know who else had been watching them all this time... Rainbow felt the blood return to her face. Suddenly the events of the meal no longer made her feel bubbly. Everything she said, everything she did, that stupid goofy smile! All of it had been on show to this dumb restaurant!
“Soooo, how long have you girls been back together?”
Rainbow ignored Pinkie’s probing for gossip. She thought of all the other customers. Had they been staring too? Didn’t they have anything better to do? Oh jeez, how corny must she have sounded when she was talking about Applejack’s parents? Rainbow decided right then and there, as soon as she got home, she was never dating anypony! Better to die an old spinster than face any more embarrassment! How much worse could it get?
“Cause I like to see you smile, smile, smi-”
Rainbow was jerked from her thoughts by the sound of song suddenly filling the room. She watched in confusion as Pinkie pulled a small device, kind of like the one Sunset had used when they first arrived, from her pocket and pressed a button.
“Yyyyyello?” Pinkie held the device up to her ear. “Oh hey Rainbow Dash!...Awww, that’s too bad about the game...so when are you coming back?...Awesome! I’m almost done with my shift, why don’t you come on over?...Yeah sure, bring her along too!...Cool, see you in a bit, buh-bye!”
Rainbow stared as Pinkie returned the device to her pocket.
“So hey!” Pinkie spoke. “Turns out Dashie’s Wonderbolt game got cancelled, so she’s heading home. Applejack’s done on the farm too, so Dashie and her family are picking her up and they’re all on their way here now!”
Rainbow stared at Pinkie.
Pinkie stared at Rainbow.
Applejack stared at Pinkie.
Pinkie stared at Applejack.
Pinkie stared at Rainbow and Apple-
“Waaaaaiiiiit a minute!”
Applejack rested her head against the picnic table. The night air was particularly cooling after the heat of working in the kitchen. She, Rainbow and Pinkie were sitting outside the restaurant, awaiting the arrival of Dash and A.J. They were going to be here any minute, it had taken this long to explain to Pinkie that they weren’t who she thought they were. Pinkie had responded with a dozen questions. Applejack had ignored them.
“Are you guys sleeping together? Who likes to be on top?”
“PINKIE!”
Well most of them.
She couldn’t believe how this night had gone. After starting out as something to dread, to turning out to be fun, sweet and even a little romantic...to now suddenly so mortifying. And the worst part was, she only had herself to blame. Well, herself and Rainbow.
Mostly Rainbow.
But this just reaffirmed what Applejack had always known. Lying never ended well. She knew they should have just talked to Dash and A.J to begin with. Oh, but they hadn’t wanted to talk about it? Well too darn bad! Applejack decided that the moment she saw them, she was going to grit her teeth and hash this all out! No more lies, no more secrets, everything on the table!
“How do ponies do it anyway? Do wings and horns come into it at all?”
“PINKIE!”
Well...maybe not everything on the table.
Rainbow psyched herself up as two familiar figures approached the restaurant. It had been decided that the whole thing would be too awkward to explain to Dash’s parents, so Dash and A.J had simply asked to be dropped off nearby.
“Now remember Pinkie,” Rainbow whispered to the other girl, “let’s keep everything on a need to know basis. They don’t need to know what we were doing in the restaurant. As far as you know, we were just hanging out, nothing more, you know nothing!”
“Got it!”
“Good.”
“Wait a second!” Rainbow groaned at the ponderous look on Pinkie’s face. “If I know nothing, doesn’t that mean I know something? I mean, I guess nothing is technically the opposite of something, but still, to say I know nothing, instead of, I don’t know anything still means I know...”
“Hey guys!” Dash mercifully interrupted Pinkie’s language/philosophy debate. “What’s going on, we having a party?”
“Yep!” Pinkie jumped up. “It’s a ‘Pony Applejack and Pony Rainbow Made Out in a Restaurant Because they’re Totally Sleeping Together’ party!”
Rainbow stared at Pinkie.
Applejack stared at Pinkie.
Dash stared at Pinkie.
A.J stared at Pinkie.
Pinkie turned to look at what they were all staring at.
Pinkie turned back.
“Ohhhhhh, don’t tell Dashie and Jackie that Pony Rainbow and Pony Applejack made out in a restaurant because they’re totally sleeping together. My bad!”
Everyone else continued to stare at her. Then, in one voice:
“PINKIE!”
“How do you guys talk in all caps like that?”
TO BECONTINUED...
Stats
Page generated in 0.027 seconds
Total duration
1,046 users online
1,937,402 hits today, 2,571,732 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.®
8379793
8382213
As a fellow Animorphs reader, I don’t think I was deliberately paying homage to the series, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’d been inspired by it subconsciously...
As for the Marks, it’s not really important to this story if humans have them or not. I think we’ll have to wait for an inevitable beach episode of EQG to confirm
Plot Twist: The next chapter is "Kill yourself"
Absolutely amazing!
I love this chapter, I wonder what will happen nexf.
You're a amazing writer dude!
Okay...that...was pretty funny.
No....
No....don't think about this.....This way leads to madness....And madness leads to fanfic ideas.....
I like the way Rainbow and Applejack found out they were their pony versions.
And this story's not finished yet, so maybe Applejack could still see her parents. Even if it's just a brief scene, it would be better than completely letting this opportunity go to waste.
Since bits are made of gold they over paid.
Fuckin hell Pinkie.
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Pinkie, thank you so much for coming.
goddammit pinkie pie...
Oh pinkie...
Oh! Nice break! I love it! I need to work on my subtlety, cause that was awesome!