The mare doth protest too much, methinks

by englishwitch

Decision

The mare doth protest too much, methinks
Fanfic by englishwitch
Disclaimer: The following is an entirely fan-created parody. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, it’s characters and all other affiliated merchandise are the intellectual property of Lauren Faust and Hasbro. Please support the official MLP: FiM show.
I make no profit, or money at all, for the production and distribution of this fanfiction.

Chapter 2

Rainbow Dash stretched on her napping cloud, clearing the sleep from her eyes with a foreleg. Getting up early wasn't her thing but it was worth it when you could clear away the clouds while every other pony was still having breakfast. Then you could spend the rest of the morning napping in the sunshine. There wasn't anything like a nap on a cloud on a beautiful sunny day.

Her stomach growled. It wasn't lunch time, but perhaps a snack wouldn't be amiss. She stretched, arching her back and sounding off several pops. She stretched her wings and jumped from her favourite napping cloud. She felt the breeze in her face, shaking away the last of her drowsiness. She was never more alive than when she was in the sky.

With barely a flap she glided to the ground and landed in the middle of the marketplace. Stalls were open and ponies were buying and selling some wonderful looking goods. Rainbow trotted over to Carrot Top's vegetable stall. "Hey C.T." She said brightly. "Some great looking apples there." She nodded at a couple Golden Delicious apples in the corner of the fruit and vegetable display. "Can I get one?"
Carrot Top just gave Rainbow Dash a glower of annoyance that made the pegasus mare's smile falter.

"We're all sold out of apples." She said in a flat, emotionless tone.

"What?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. She looked at the apples on the cart and back to Carrot Top. Then she smirked. "Oh, I get it. Funny. Ok, now can I get an apple?"

"We're all out of apples." She said in the same tone. She reached up a hoof to the awning over her stall. "And my name, is Golden Harvest." She yanked hard, swinging the awning down by its hinges to hide herself and her stock from view. The classic 'We're Closed' position for any market stall.

Rainbow stared at the blue awning with growing confusion. Carrot Top had never objected to her nickname before. She liked it so much she even introduced herself by it. The first time they'd met it had been two weeks before Rainbow learned her real name.
"Weird." She muttered in confusion. She shook her head and with a flap of her wings glided away from the stall. As soon as she was gone Carrot Top pushed the awning back up to open her stall again.

Rainbow flew over the town and landed outside the ponyville cafe. She'd beat the lunchtime rush so many tables were empty. Dash chose a seat with a great view of the street and slight shade from a tree so the sun wouldn't be in her eyes as she ate.

The second she landed the cafe waiter, Horte Cuisine, came over. He was not carrying a menu, but he was carrying a large frown. "I'm sorry madam." He said in his snooty tone. "But that table is reserved."

Rainbow looked at him doubtfully. "Okay." She pointed to another table. "Well I'll just sit over there."

"That table is also reserved."
Dash pointed to another table, before she even spoke Horte said, "Reserved."
Another table. "Reserved."
Another. "Reserved."
And another. "Reserved."
Dash rubbed her face with her hooves in frustration. "Every table? Really?! Who the hay are all these tables reserved for?"

Horte looked at her with the same annoyed frown. "They are reserved for ponies who are more tolerant over other ponies sexuality." He said flatly. "Now, I shall demand you leave. You are driving away my customers." He turned his flank on her and marched away back into the cafe. Rainbow stared after him, her mouth open wide in shock.

"Well...FINE!" She shouted furiously. "I didn't wanna eat at your crummy cafe anyway!" Her stomach growled loudly, a long, deep grumble like the growl of an annoyed manticore. "Traitor." She muttered, prodding her belly.

...***...

Twilight walked leisurely up the dirt road to Sweet Apple Acres. Two saddlebags were strapped across her back. Tonight she decided she would spend the night with Applejack at the farm instead of in the library. It really wasn't fair on AJ to be expected to stay at her place every time. The poor dear had to get up so early to get back to the farm and start her days work. They were still working out little kinks like sleeping arrangements. Their relationship was still relatively new. They'd spent time together, a couple of dates, even snatched a private hour or two to do what two mares in love did when they were alone. Though they'd been together in that physical way a fair number of times Twilight had only spent the night at the farm once, while Applejack had slept at her place a total of three times, if you counted last night. Most of the time after their lusts had been satisfied one of the happy mares would depart for their home. But now their relationship was out in the open they didn't have to do any of the sneaking around and returning to their respective beds. It said so in a book on relationships she had at the library; The In's and Out's of Loving Relationships For The Socially Inexperienced.

Once a relationship has progressed to the point you feel comfortable informing friends and family of your romantic connection with the significant somepony there is no longer a need to follow the "Covert Arrangements" discussed in Chapter 3.
New sleeping arrangements should be organised with the special somepony as soon as possible deciding which dwelling to sleep within and how often are the most important decisions. Other things to be considered are procedures concerning meal times and the encountering of family members (See pg 324 for section on Awkward late night/early morning meetings)...

They could work out those things while they were talking over other stuff. Twilight wanted to relate to AJ what she'd learned from Lyra and Bonbon. They had to both be prepared for Rainbow Dash to be harsh with hate mail, insults and cruel pranks. Dash had lost interest in Lyra and Bonbon after a few weeks, but she knew AJ and Twilight better. Twilight wondered if that would mean Dash would keep her campaign up a little longer? It was one of a list of things to talk over.

As Twilight crossed the gate into Sweet Apple Acres the list of topics were forgotten. Down the dirt road the Apple family were just sitting down to lunch in the sunshine. A long table had been set out, with Granny Smith at the head. Sandwiches, dandelion salad, apple pie, and apple cupcakes had been laid out along with a large pitcher of, of course, Apple Juice. The food wasn't the distraction for Twilight though, it was the sight of Applejack, still sweating slightly after a mornings hard work, carrying a large basket of freshly bucked apples to the table. The way her flank swayed when she walked was almost hypnotic.

Applebloom waved a hoof eagerly. "Hey Twilight!" She called. Applejack almost dropped the apples as she turned and looked down the dirt road. Her grin widened and she placed the basked down, almost missing the table because she didn't take her eyes off Twilight. Twilight increased her pace to a trot, eager to reach her marefriend.

Applejack stepped close to Twilight and kissed her lightly on her horn. Twilight responded by blushing furiously, her face burning hot and her cheeks turning a vivid Pinkie Pie pink. "AJ, not in public." She said in a hushed voice. She broke into a fit of giggles like a filly who knew she was doing something fun but naughty, like sneaking a cookie out of the jar before dinner. It was naughty, in a way; a unicorns horn was a special thing for them, the source and focus of all their magic, the extra limb as special as a pegasus's wings. To allow another to touch it was a very, very, personal act. Some unicorns didn't mind touching horns in public, Cadence and Shining Armour did quite often. But Twilight was a little more prudish in that regard.

"Yer just cuter than a kitten wearin a bow when yer all flustered." AJ laughed lightly. She nuzzled Twilight's cheek affectionately. Twilight tried to be annoyed but it was impossible for her to be angry at her for long. She ended up nuzzling the mare back.

"You're incorrigible." Twilight sighed.

"And you're usin words I don't know again." Applejack laughed. She blew lightly into Twilight's ear and noticed the shudder that went through the body of the purple mare.

"Celestia damn the day you discovered my ears are so sensitive." Twilight said in a sultry voice.

"You got sensitive hearin Twilight?" Applebloom’s voice cut into the private moment like a hot knife through butter. Both mares started to blush as they remembered the rest of the apple family were sitting at a table not ten feet away. Granny Smith was half asleep and probably hadn't noticed anything, Applebloom was smiling goofily as them, while Big Mac, who looked nervous and embarrassed, seemed to have found something rather fascinating about the dandelion salad in front of him that demanded all his focus and attention. "Can you hear stuff other ponies can't?" Applebloom asked.

"No Applebloom." Twilight said, trying to regain her composure. "It was just a figure of speech. My ears are..." She struggled for the right words for the young filly. Meanwhile her face was so hot she was surprised steam wasn't rising off her head. "Ticklish! Yeah, my ears are ticklish."

"Yeah, ticklish!" Applejack jumped in, nodded with extreme eagerness. "Ah jus likes to prank her with a good tickle." She laughed nervously, her eyes darting left and right. "Hoo! Is it hot out here, or jus me? Ah could use a nice cool applejuice. Twi?"

"YES!" Twilight practically yelled in her epically failed attempt to be calm and casual. "Apple juice. Great. The juice of the apple. A cool drink made of the Malus domestica. An apple that had been juiced. The liquid of the fruit removed and placed-" A glass was pushed onto her mouth, jamming her lips into a pucker. Twilight used her magic to pull the glass off her face and sipped her drink as quietly as she could.

"Thank you Twi." Applejack smirked. She poked Granny Smith gently with her hoof. "Granny, wake up. Soupçon. We got comp'ney." She pushed a glass of applejuice in front of the elderly mare.

Granny woke with a start, snorted and gasped. "Wha? soupçon? Cump'ney?" She gripped the glass of juice and drank it all down. It seemed to wake her up better than a cup of coffee. She blinked at Twilight and smiled. "Hey there young 'un."

"Hello Granny Smith." Twilight said with a respectful nod.

"Yur the Miss Sparkle dats a'courtin my young gran daughter." She said. Something in her tone told Twilight it wasn't a question but was, in fact, a statement.

"Yes. Yes I am." Twilight nodded.

"You love her?" Granny asked.

"Yes. Yes I do." Twilight and Applejack shared a flushed look and twin smiles.

"Good." Granny said with a nod. "If yer break her heart you'll have ter answer ter me." She added in a heavily serious tone.

"I understand." Twilight said. She glanced at Applebloom, wondering if Granny Smith knew the filly had said the same thing earlier today, then back to Applejack. "You have an amazing family, you know that?"

"I gots the best family." Applejack stated proudly, which earned smiles all around the table.

...***...

Rainbow sat on a cloud, prodding her stomach in an attempt to make it stop. Why wouldn't anyone serve her? Heck, she couldn't even get flowers from Rose. Every stall closed when she tried to approach, Horte Cuisine had thrown her out of the cafe and when she'd tried to go to sugar cube corner...well that party cannon was a lot less fun when it was actually aimed at you.
She'd flown home to find her pantry empty. She ate out so often she rarely bought any groceries. She was surprised she hadn't even had any potato chips or popcorn. She usually had something. For a few minutes she had thought about drinking from the rainbow river that decorated her homes cloud garden but had eventually come to the conclusion that she wasn't that hungry. While technically edible, being made mostly from cloud and sunshine, rainbows weren't known for tasting good and there was something about it. It would be like eating dandelions you just found growing on the ground rather than buying them from a store. You could, but it would be nasty. Eating stuff from the ground like some common animal.

Something was going on in Ponyville today and she was suffering for it. But what? She couldn't think right while her stomach was growling every few seconds.

Her mind was distracted my the sight of a little orange filly with purple hair. Scootaloo was sitting by the lake, throwing stones idly. Poor kid looked down in the dumps. If Dash could get her to buy some food she'd talk with Scoots while they ate.

Opening her wings Rainbow swooped down to the ground, doing a slight flip and a barrel roll to make the filly smile. As she landed Scootaloo didn't even glance in her direction. She just continued to stare gloomily out at the water. She tossed a flat stone from her hoof. It skimmed three times before splashing under the surface.

"Hey Scoots. 'sup?" Dash said in her jovial tone. Scootaloo gave her a sideways glance then shook her head, turning and walking away. Dash blinked, taken aback. It took a second before her brain clicked back into motion. She flapped and hovered over the walking filly. "Hey, kid, what’s wrong?" She sounded genuinely concerned.

Scootaloo stopped and inwardly sighed. It didn't look like Rainbow Dash was going to just go away. "I used to think you were cool." She said heavily. Dash was so surprised she actually landed.

"What do ya mean 'Used to?'" She tried to make her face grin. "I mean, c'mon. It's me, Rainbow Dash! The coolest of the cool! Future Wonderbolt. Fastest of the fa-"

"Hater of gay ponies." Scootaloo jumped in. She sounded both furious and on the verge of tears. How she sounded made Dash stop, what she'd said was processed a second later. Dash's fake smile dropped and a very real frown took its place.

"Scoots you're too young to understand these things." She began. Scootaloo didn't let her get started.

"When two ponies are in love why should it matter if they're both mares?" She demanded.

"Because-" Dash started, but found herself cut off again.

"Love may be filled with dumb sappy stuff but its still something special. Even I know that!"

"Well-" Dash was cut off even quicker.

"Twilight and Applejack are your best friends. Now you hate them?"

"You-"

Scootaloo shook her head and yelled, "You're gonna suddenly hate somepony just because of who they decide to love? That's dumbest thing I ever heard!"

"Now wait-" Dash yelled back even louder but Scootaloo actually jumped right into her face.

"What if I fell in love with a girl?" She yelled, her eyes bulging in her fury. "You gonna start hating me?"

Dash looked like she'd taken a kicking to the face. "You like girls?" She couldn't think of anything else to say. Her argument had faltered, stalled then had been derailed entirely by that last sentence.

"I don't know!" Scootaloo yelled back, unaware of Dash's confusion. "When I'm all grown up who knows who that special somepony is? What does it matter if they're a mare or a stallion, as long as they make you happy? Make you feel all that dumb stuff all those ponies talk about when they're in love?"

"Becauseitswrong!" Dash yelled back. She grabbed Scootaloo between her hooves and looked at her with anger. Scootaloo bucked and wriggled free of Dash's grip and ran back until ten feet of space was between them.

"Only thing I see wrong here is you hating ponies for no good reason." She turned her back on Rainbow. For a second she wished she could fly to make her exit even more dramatic. "See ya around Rainbow Dash. Let me know if ya ever grow up." She ran off at full speed back toward Ponyville.

Dash continued to sit by the lake. Her head was a confused mess of thoughts. Suddenly the cold shoulder from Ponyville started to make sense. But everypony? Seriously? Everypony was supporting those two tail lickers? Even Scootaloo? The young filly was smart and cool in her own way and even she was on the side of Twilight and Applejack. But it was wrong, disgusting, perverted and heaps of other words she didn't know. Was everypony crazy? How could they support the two mares? How?

A realisation came on Dash like the slow dawning of the sun. It was a thought she'd never had before. A thought she could, would and should, never consider. But absolutely everypony else couldn't be wrong, so that only left, "What if..."

...***...

Fully sated from the large Apple family lunch the two mares in love were out in the backfield, sunning themselves under the boughs of one of the larger trees. Applejack lay on her back, her Stetson hat cocked over her eyes. Twilight lay at her side, her head resting on the mares chest. She was falling into a dreamy daze as she listened to the rhythm of Applejack's heartbeat and breathing. This was perfection.

As her mind bounced around random thoughts while it shifted through that grey area between awake and asleep it suddenly decided to remember Rainbow Dash and all the things she'd heard from Lyra and Bonbon. This thought swung through her head like an acrobat on a sugar high, sparking the synapses of her brain and dragging Twilight further away from the peaceful nap she wanted and back to reality. Twilight tried to get her mind to drift again, to find that restful place, but it was impossible. The more she focussed the more awake and alert her mind became.

After a full minute of trying, Twilight gave in and sighed quietly to herself. Opening her eyes she lifted her head gently. Applejack looked like she was snoozing peacefully it was a terrible thing to have to wake her but she felt she had to.
"AJ." She lightly placed a hoof on her chest and gave her a light shake. Applejack stirred but didn't wake. Twilight tried again, shaking harder. "AJ."

"Granny," AJ mumbled. "five more minutes."

Twilight smirked. She gave the edge of Applejack's hat a push with her hoof, exposing AJ's eyes to the sunlight. "Come on, Sugarcube." She said, putting on a mock of Applejack's accent. She leaned in and kissed Applejack's nose.

One bleary eye opened, then the other. Finally a smile rose on Applejack's face. "Twi. I was nappin'." She said with something approaching annoyance, which evaporated when Twilight kissed her on the nose again.

"I know." Twilight said with a nod. "And I'm sorry. But I just remembered I had to talk about a few things with you."

Applejack stretched and shifted to sit up. She could tell by Twilight's tone that this wasn't going to be the kind of conversation done in a relaxed half-asleep position. "What is it sugarcube?"

"Well..." Twilight sat up and sighed. The cosy mood was over. Gone as though it hadn't existed in the first place. "It's about Rainbow Dash."

Predictably, Applejack stiffened. She took a deep breath and nodded. "What about her?" Twilight was grateful that Applejack was willing to discuss it.

"Well it's not just us." Twilight said with a sigh. "Lyra and Bonbon have had some...let's say disagreements, with her too."

"Disagreements." Applejack said with a nod. She could imagine.

"Well." Twilight said with a sigh. "Some good news is that Rainbow will probably loose interest if we don't let her get to us. After...a few months."

"So a few months and that's it." Applejack said with less enthusiasm than Pinkie showed for ending a party. "She'll leave us alone and we'll leave her alone. No more Rainbow Dash. We won't have to listen to her hatin us nomore, but she won't be our friend neither?" She shook her head slowly and looked at Twilight. Their eyes met, sharing twin looks of hurt and sadness. "I ain't sure I like that Twi. Rainbow's mah friend. We'd be together, ah like that. We'd have our other friends, ah like that too. But our love has driven one pony we both care about. Ah don't like that."

Twilight looked to the ground. She wasn't sure where Applejack was going with this. Maybe AJ herself didn't know and was just doing what she always did, speaking from her honest heart. "I don't like it either. But what can we do?"

"Ah don't know. Yur the smart one, I thought you'd know." Applejack said with a sigh. "Ah guess my first reaction is for us to break up." She saw Twilight flinch and spoke quicker to explain before Twilight started freaking out. "But that won't fix nothin and just leave all of us miserable. It's foolish little filly thinkin' ta believe breakin up would put everythin back the way it was before we got together. We both know it won't."

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. Applejack was right and she chided herself for her unnecessary worry. There was only one thing left she could think of and she already knew it wasn't her best idea. "Rainbow's stance against us is out of ignorance." She began, then stopped as she convinced herself that her idea wasn't going to work.

Applejack leaned close and nuzzled Twilight's cheek. "What is it Sugarcube?"

Twilight smiled at the warm, comforting, touch. "It's dumb but, well...since ignorance is all about a lack of knowledge, I figure, if we could try and talk to Rainbow, try and help her understand..." She trailed off, shaking her head.

Applejack continued nuzzling at Twilight's cheek, it was starting to tickle. "Yur just amazin." She said softly into the purple mare's ear. "Jus like with Discord, even when it looks like ya lost the fight and all the odds are against ya, you still keep fightin for friendship."

Twilight's smile widened. "I'll always fight for my friends and their friendships. We care too much about Rainbow Dash to let something like her lack of understanding drive a wedge between our friendship with her. We've all been through so much together. We owe it to her, and us, to do something. To talk with her, teach her and help her understand that our love is just as beautiful and valid as everypony elses."

Applejack stopped nuzzling Twilight's cheek. She used her hoof to turn Twilight's head to look at her then kissed her passionately. Twilight felt sparks flow through her, making heat rise up her spine and her heart race. The kiss continued for seconds but it felt like a lifetime flowed by. Yet still it was too brief.
When the kiss broke Applejack was the first to speak. "Yur jus too special. Ah don't deserve you."

It occurred to Twilight that this was a side of Applejack that no other pony saw. Loving, caring and gentle ponies did see but this was more. From the comforting nuzzling of her cheek to the beautiful compliments she bestowed upon her. This was the Applejack that appeared when they were alone, the Applejack that loved Twilight with all her heart, from hooves to mane. This was Twilight's Applejack.
"Maybe." She said with a cheeky smile. "But you're exactly what I want." She leaned to Applejack and the two of them kissed again. The fire of passion passed between the two of them. Twilight swore she felt AJ's pulse race under her gentle touch.

As the kiss broke Applejack felt the warmth in her core that came from arousal. If they so much as touched again she would forget everything and just take Twilight right then and there in the middle of her families orchard. The flush on Twilight's cheeks, and the way her ears were twitching, told Applejack Twilight felt the same, or close to it. It was tempting to give in to the urges, so very tempting. "Maybe we should try and find Rainbow?" She said half heartedly, hoping that Twilight would disagree and they could enjoy each other.

Twilight's head jerked as she snapped back to reality. "You're right." She said with renewed vigour. Applejack just nodded. Deep down she'd known that would be Twilight's reaction. "Okay." Twilight continued. "Maybe we should split up. We can cover more ground that way and..." She wore an embarrassed grin. "we'd have less chance of being distracted." She laughed lightly. "Now. Pinkie is throwing that party for us in an hour, so we have that long to find Rainbow. I'll take the park, the market and around the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. You can take the lake, the outskirts along the river up to Rainbow Dash's home. Whether we find Rainbow or not let's meet at Pinkies party."

"Gotcha." Applejack nodded. "See ya there." She jumped to her hooves, tapped her hat down securely on her head, then charged off at full speed as fast as she could go. Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated. Her horn glowed and with a flash of light she vanished into thin air.

...***...

With a flash of light Twilight reappeared in the middle of Ponyville Park. She staggered for a second as a wave of dizziness passed. Travelling so far by teleport was always draining but it was quicker than running and the effects wore off after a couple of seconds. Twilight looked left and right but there was no immediate sign of Rainbow Dash.

She turned to the nearest pony, a grey pegasus mare with light yellow hair. "Derpy, have you seen Rainbow Dash?"

Derpy turned her head, and one of her eyes, to look at Twilight. She smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes." She said. "She's a pretty pegasus pony. With a blue coat. And awesome rainbow hair. And she takes care of the weather. And she flies really fast."

"No. Derpy that's not what I meant." Twilight jumped in before Derpy could finish a long description of her friend. "I meant, have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere around today?"

"Oh!" Derpy nodded in understanding.

Several seconds of silence passed.

"Well?" Twilight pressed. "Have you?"

Derpy blinked. The eye that had been looking at Twilight rolled away, but the other eye shifted to look directly at her. Twilight felt a shiver run through her. There was something creepy about witnessing that. "No. I haven't." She said with her innocent smile.

Twilight facehoofed. "Okay. Thank you Derpy." She said with a sigh. She walked away slowly as she waited for her tension headache to go away.

"You're welcome Twilight!" Derpy called, waving her hoof excitedly as she took flight and headed away backwards, facing Twilight all the way.

Twilight turned her attention to a female unicorn with a pale pink coat, iris mane and tail with a light glaucous streak. "Sea Swirl, have you seen Rainbow Dash?"

To Twilight's relief Sea Swirl nodded her head. "I saw her heading out of town about half an hour ago. She was heading towards the forest." She pointed her hoof in the direction of the Everfree forest.

"Thank you." Twilight yelled over her shoulder as she jogged off.

...***...

Fluttershy scattered grain on the ground for her little chicken friends. They clucked gratefully and started scratching and pecking. "Try and go slow now Elizabeak. Remember when the seed got stuck because you ate too fast and I had to give you a heimlich maneuver." She said in her gentle cadence.

A shadow passed overhead. Fluttershy squeaked in fright, fearing a huge eagle that had come to carry away one of her chickens, or maybe the mice who were making a new home in the thick grassy turf of her roof.

Rainbow Dash, not an eagle, landed in her yard. "Fluttershy." She was nervous, even on-edge, about something. Fluttershy could tell by her Trying-too-hard-to-sound-casual voice. "Hey. What's happening?"

Fluttershy's usual cheery disposition faltered, then faded completely. Without saying a word she walked past Rainbow Dash, up her path and into her home, closing the door gently because she didn't want to slam it and frighten away all her animal friends. The second she was inside her head hung low and sighed heavily. It made her feel terrible to do that to a friend. It was cruel to reject Rainbow Dash like that. She tried to reason with herself, tried to remind herself that the things Rainbow had said about Twilight and Applejack had been worse. She knew she was right but it didn't make her feel any better. Rainbow had to be taught the lesson that the others weren't happy with her attitude. If they had to be cruel and blank her so she'd learn that lesson, then so be it.

There was a faint flap of wings for a second and then nothing but the usual sounds of the cottage. Fluttershy risked a look out of the window, Dash was gone. "Oh dear." Fluttershy whimpered to herself. "I do hope I wasn't too cruel."

Comments

[Lelouch Vi Britania]

well that escalated quickly

[Evilpresident]

Pretty good, though I wonder whether or not Dash has a reason for being so judgmental

[Darth Arcaneus]

I>>1734087 Could Rainbow Dash possibly be...a fillyfooler herself?!?

[Paradox949]

1734912 That's my reasoning so far, unless it's been cemented into her head by her parents (all too common for my liking).

[Ghrathryn]

1734912

Way I see it she probably is, but parents, siblings and/or previous friends made her dislike them, heck I wouldn't be surprised if Gilda had something to do with her attitude given they were supposedly good friends during the Junior Speedsters, which would probably be the time she would be thinking about things like that.

I'd also not be surprised to find that part of her outburst when Applejack and Twilight revealed that they were a couple was because she wanted one or both of them herself, probably buried under at least some self hate for feeling that way about another mare, but still jealousy and anger tend to get mixed in together fairly regularly.

[Darth Arcaneus]

1736103 That's another possible reason.

1738977 If Rainbow Dash is indeed a fillyfooler herself, maybe she discovered that she was attracted to other mares earlier during her life but she might have witnessed how other fillyfoolers are treated badly by homophobes and she decide to bury her attraction to other mares and force herself to be somepony she wasn't.