It's Not Easy Being In Love (Chronological Version)

by Gutovi

Chapter 2

Date: Seven years prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return
Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s StifR ⓢⓈⓘⓀ.
Location: Whitetail Woods, Ponyville’s Outskirts
Point of View: Rainbow Dash

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Date: Seven years prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return
Applejack and Rainbow Dash decide to tell their friends that they aRe ɐʇpbıu.
Location: Town Centre, Ponyville.
Point of View: Applejack

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Date: A year prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return
Rainbow Dash’s first visit to Ghastly Gorge
Location: Ghastly Gorge, Ponyville’s Outskirts.
Point of View: Applejack

“Wow…” the daredevil pegasus exclaimed.
“Breathtakin’ huh?”
“Yeah… How did you find a place as cool as this?”
“Ah used to come here to play when Ah was a filly,” Applejack explained looking at her friend, who she had invited to spend a day in ‘a place she would probably love’.
And here they were, walking next to the cliff, enthralled by the jaw-dropping and, at the same time, bloodcurdling scenery. The orange mare continued her explanation.
“Imagine to be here, alone, being jes a kid n’ listen a wolf’s howl… it was spine-chillin’ but Ah loved it!”
“Aww, how I would have loved to spend my foalhood here.”
“Well RD, y’all still have the mind of one,” said Applejack, grinning.
Rainbow Dash didn’t get angry, and she just pushed her friend affectionately.
“Now don’t take this here place easy, Ah’ve learned to respect it… the hard way,” Applejack said sternly.
“Oh yeah? What happened to you?”
“The rocks near this cliff are not stable y’all know? So Ah was walking, next to the cliff n’ one of’em, the one Ah was walkin’ on, fell. Luckily Ah could jump jes in time to get to safety. After that one fell, others followed and a rockslide started. Y’all don’t wanna be under a rock in the bottom o’ this gorge…”
“Yeah, doesn’t seem so pleasant, gotta remember that,” she said, cringing, but then she smiled and continued, “Though a flight here must be amazing!”
“Don’t go around testin’ yer luck RD… at least not with me here to worry fer y’all. If y’all wanna go ‘round playin’ daredevil, do it alone.”
“You’re such a scaredy cat, Apples.”
Applejack looked at her, trying to deduce if she was being serious or not. “Are y’all kiddin’ me? If Ah’m a scaredy cat, what’ do y’all call Fluttershy?”
“There are no words to describe her.”
“Ah’m not a ‘scaredy cat’ missy, it’s jes y’all are my best friend, n’ Ah worry ‘bout yer safety, that’s all.”
“Well, I’m the best flyer ever, so don’t worry your pretty, little head about me.” She walked towards the edge of the cliff and with a cocky expression she added, “Besides, I’m luckier than you.”
As if by a jinx, a crack was heard and the ground under Dash’s hooves began trembling. Her wings stuck to her body and she froze in fear.
Applejack never saw Rainbow Dash react this way and knew something was wrong.
“Rainbow? Get yer rump outta there!”
But the cyan pony didn’t move an inch. Applejack knew there was one thing to do, it was a long shot but it was the only way, seeing her friend wasn’t moving, so she prepared to do it.
A loud rumble was heard and Dash, along with part of the ground beneath her, fell off the cliff.
As Applejack saw her friend beginning to fall, she jumped towards her “Here goes nuthin’!” Tackling the startled pegasus mid-air, and in the blink of an eye, she threw her lasso around a thick and hard tree root that protruded from the other face of the gorge. Using the momentum to swing, she was able to make it to a stable rock on the other side big enough to support both ponies. Her body took the blow of both her and Rainbow Dash’s hit and it did hurt quite a lot.
“Darn it, Sugarcube, Ah gotta stop bakin’ y’all those apple pies everytime y’all ask me to.”
After noticing her friend was not answering Applejack pushed Rainbow Dash off her and shook her. “Rainbow, are y’all ok? Answer me!”
But it was useless, the daredevil mare was unconscious. “Guess it was too much fer the ‘great’ Rainbow Dash to handle,” the orange farm pony mockingly said.
“Who said I couldn’t handle what?” the rainbow maned pegasus grumbled still unconscious.
“Heh. Looks like her pride is greater than her instincts.” Applejack chuckled but soon became serious. “But what if Ah didn’t catch’er on time. Or if Ah wasn’t here at all... what if Ah lost her forever?” She looked down to the mare laying on the rock. “Can Ah live mah life without y’all Dashie? Jes how much Ah care fer y’all?”
She tried to think exactly how important the pegasus was. “Y’all are jes an airhead, daredevil, lazy, good-fer-nuthin’, sweet, funny, loyal, beautiful pony… Is it... is this L-lo...”
The words couldn’t leave her throat. She wasn’t ready to say them... not yet.

Date: A year prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return
Rainbow Dash’s first visit to Ghastly Gorge
Location: Ghastly Gorge, Ponyville’s Outskirts.
Point of View: Rainbow Dash

“Wa…What the hay happened? My head is spinning…” said Rainbow Dash as she regained consciousness.
Applejack looked at her tenderly, smiled and hugged her. Rainbow Dash thought she even saw a tear run down her cheek before the orange cowpony hugged her.
“Don’t y’all ever scare me like that again! Best flyer of Equestria my flank, getting wing-locked from a lil’ rockslide. Never thought Ah’d live to see the day y’all get wing-locked from fear.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Y’all walked next to the cliff even after Ah told y’all not to. A rockslide started under yer hooves n’ yer wing stuck to yer body, n’ y’all froze in place.” She took a deep breath, it seemed to Rainbow Dash, that the blond mare was still quite in shock. “After that Ah had to jump, risking mah life to save yers, luckily fer both, Ah had mah rope, n’ a very good aim. Y’all almost knocked on heaven’s doors n’ left me here all alone. Y’all gotta pay fer that.”
Rainbow Dash was speechless. It was too much information for such a short time.
“I almost died? I got wing-locked? That never happens to me! I mean, I’ve performed the most amazing aerobatic ever, broke the sound barrier... how can I get wing-locked!?” She looked at Applejack. There was a slightly pink aura surrounding her “And AJ… she… she saved my life! And she was crying because she almost lost me… And I haven’t said anything yet! The hay is wrong with me?” “You saved my life?”
“Ain’t much of a big deal RD” she replied blushing while wiping her tears with a hoof.
“Of course it is! How can I ever repay you?”
“How ‘bout never talking of this again n’ lookin’ fer some help… unlike y’all Ah don’t have wings to get mahself up there.”
“Why look for help? I’ll give you a ride!” She turned around and lowered her body and looking over her shoulder she said “Hop on!”
“Ah… Ah rather not do that” Applejack looked nervous and was trying to look away from Dash.
“You’re coming with me, the good way or the hard way.” She stated as she flew in a loop to end up behind Applejack, grabbing her forcefully from the barrel and carrying her to Sweet Apple Acres.
Noticing her friend was frozen she asked snickering “Afraid of heights AJ?”
“Not exactly… but Ah feel a bit uncomfortable, still a bit shocked ‘bout sum recent revelation, n’ y’all aren’t helping.”
“Care to share that ‘recent revelation’?”
“Not the time Dash, but maybe sumtime Ah’ll tell y’all.”
“Fair enough for me. Hey! I can spot the barn! We’re getting closer.”
“N’ its getting mighty dark… I-if y’all feel tired or… Ah dunno, there’s always the guest’s room if y’all wanna… dunno have a sleepover?”
“That’d be awesome! I love waking up in the same room as you…”
“Huh!?”
“Yeah, ‘cause that means you’ll make breakfast, and you make the best breakfasts ever!”
“Oh… y’all meant that.”

Date: A year prior to Nightmare Moon’s Return
The night after Rainbow Dash’s first visit to Ghastly Gorge
Location: Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville.
Point of View: Applejack

As the two ponies entered the house, they were assaulted by the sweet smell of pie.
“Howdy Applejack, honey. Oh, n’ hello there Rainbow Dash, come on in n’ get a slice of apple pie”
As soon as the pegasus set eyes on the famous Apple Family apple pie, her mouth opened and started watering. She thought she heard AJ say something about ‘digging in’, but she wasn’t paying any attention.
She felt the earth pony nudge her, breaking her trance. “Huh?”
Applejack chuckled and said “Ah said ‘That sounds mighty good, whadda y’all say Dash, we dig in?’ But Ah guess yer face was the best answer Ah could get.” She then sat on a chair and added “C’mon or y’all are gonna end up with no pie!”
“I’m sitting, I’m sitting!” Hastily exclaimed the chromatic mare, anxious for a slice of pie.

After eating they went upstairs and Applejack showed her the guest room.
“…N’ here y’all can fin-”
“I’ve been here several times AJ, I know everything there’s to know about your house.” Rainbow said deadpan. “What’s wrong with you tonight?”
“Don’t mind me.” She turned around and over her shoulder she said “Ah’ll be in mah room if y’all need sumthin’, jes knock n’ Ah’ll be there to help y’all. G’nite.”
“Apples wait!” Before she could go, Rainbow hugged her tightly and whispered into her ear. “Thank you, for everything. You saved my life, today and many other times, in many ways. I’ll never talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’ll always remember it.”
The earth pony never hugged her back, which made Dash worry. She un-wrapped her hooves off Applejack, but as soon as she did so, the blonde cowpony walked away blurting “Ah gotta go, sleep tight.”

Some hours later, the pegasus couldn’t sleep, thinking about her best friend’s attitude earlier. She decided she should talk to her “She said I could knock on her door if I needed something, right? Well, I need to know what’s wrong with her!”
When she was at the corridor heading to Applejack’s room, she noticed the lights inside were on. She got closer and started hearing a clopping noise and her farm-mare friend sigh “Oh Rainbow!”.
“What’s going on in there?”
She walked closer and noticed the door wasn’t entirely closed, so she peeked through the gap and saw the orange mare pacing around the room and talking to herself.
“Oh, what am Ah gonna do with y’all? Ah’m not even sure Ah- Oh who am Ah kiddin’? Ah know it’s true!”
“Huh? Did I do something wrong? Well… she’ll tell me what it is soon. She never lies or hides things to me. I guess she’ll tell me when she’s ready.”

Date: Nightmare Moon’s Return.
Moments after Luna and Celestia re-unite.
Location: Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, Everfree Forest.
Point of View: Applejack

“YOU KNOW WHAT THIS CALLS FOR?” Pinkie Pie said.
Applejack, along with the other six ponies, looked at her with expectation, but the answer never came, in fact no sound was made by the pink party pony.
Rainbow Dash walked towards the blond cowpony and whispered close into her ear, “Do you think Pinkie’s gonna snap out of it anytime soon?”
“Don’t think so Sugarcube…” Applejack answered, trying not to look at Rainbow Dash in the eyes. Having her so close made her heart flutter and her cheeks flush. “C’mon not now, don’t get this close with everypony here lookin’ at us, even the princesses are here!”
Rainbow Dash noticed the orange pony was avoiding her, so she started moving in order to make her look straight in the eyes “Applejack, is there something wrong? Why won’t you look at me?” Applejack noticed the cyan pegasus was gulping “D-did I do anything wrong?”
“Not at all Sweetheart… Ah… Uh…”
“Why are you blushing? Are you feeling okay AJ?” asked the cyan filly
“Dang it Rainbow, stop it!” “Umm Ah… No, Ah can’t say Ah’m feelin’ completely okay.” “‘Cause y’all aren’t mine… yet.” “B-but it’s nuthin’ to worry about Dash.”
She wasn’t lying… so she hoped Rainbow Dash to shrug it off and stop checking her out like a fox trying to figure which chicken is the most suitable for his hunger.
She watched the cyan pegasus sigh and walk towards Fluttershy. Applejack let out a breath she didn’t know was holding and walked in the opposite direction, towards Rarity. She wasn’t actually the apple she would usually prefer biting, but still she was a good friend, she needed advice, and she had to get away from Rainbow for a spell.
“I must say dear, that collar really brings out your beauty,” Applejack heard while she was getting close.
“Huh? Thanks, Rare, yers looks uh… mighty fine on y’all too.”
“Now I do not want to sound rude, but darling, we both know you did not come here just to chat. What is worrying you?”
“Well… y’all see…”

Date: Nightmare Moon’s Return.
Moments after Luna and Celestia re-unite
Location: Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, Everfree Forest.
Point of View: Rainbow Dash

She learnt as a kid, that she was the only pony that could see these “auras” around each pony, so she never talked about it with others anymore, but she found it quite useful to help her during certain situations.
After all these years Rainbow Dash could partly understand what each colour meant. Orange was confusion, yellow was concern and fear, blue was sadness, red was anger, green was joy... but there was one colour she still couldn’t get, mostly because it was usually mixed with some of the other colours. It was Applejack’s pink. She first noticed it a year ago, and since that day, every time Applejack looked at her, her aura changed, getting slightly pink. Green with pink, red with pink, blue with pink... but she could never get what it meant. She never saw that aura on some of her other friends and if she saw another pony with that colour, she barely knew him or her and Rainbow was not going to ask him or her “What are you feeling right now?” She was inconsiderate sometimes, but not THAT much.
She tried asking Applejack what was her problem, or what was she feeling subtly, but the orange mare never got the hint, or didn’t want to tell her.
She needed to talk to somepony, but not just anypony, the only pony that could always tell her the exact words she needed. Her oldest friend, Fluttershy. Applejack was avoiding her, again, so it was the best moment to talk to the yellow pegasus.
When she was in front of the pink-maned mare, she noticed the yellow around her.
“I know you’re worried, and yes, I am here to talk to you about something, but I’m not dying nor something that tragic, chillax.”
Fluttershy sighed and then said “I still can’t get used to you knowing what I’m going to say, could you... uhm... not tell me next time? If you don’t mind.”
“Okay I’m sorry, won’t do it again.”
“Thank you. Now, what is your problem? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Uhh... no, I don’t mind, that’s why I came here to talk to you.” Rainbow Dash said trying not to laugh.
“Oh... well, that makes sense.”
“Anyways. I have this little problem with Applejack a-”
“Oh no! You two had a fight?” Fluttershy asked, worry visible in her frown.
“No, no! It’s just that... she’s kind of avoiding me, and she acts all weird whenever I’m around. It’s been like this like... for a year. Ever since that day when...”
“W-when?”
“Uh... sorry, she told me never to told anypony what happened .”
“Oh... it’s okay but... can’t you tell me something about what happened to her or something?”
“Well... she did something very important for me, and she said she had a ‘revelation’, and she has been acting this way since then. I’m not sure, but I think her ‘revelation’ involved me somehow.”
“Oh...” Fluttershy exclaimed, and she seemed to be thinking, but made no other sound.
“You... you got something?”
“I... maybe, but I’m not sure... I-I’m not sure enough, and if it is what I think, is something very important so... I better not risk it.”
“Ok, I trust you Flutters.”
“Well, you read people very well, couldn’t you get anything from her?”
“That’s the thing, I don’t know what is she feeling. She’s not mad or disappointed at me or anything. In fact, since that day she seems to enjoy our get-togethers even more, and we hang out more often, which I thought it wasn’t even possible. And the other thing, is that I can’t find that feeling on any of you guys, so I can’t ask you about it.
“Oh... Oh dear.”
“What is it, are you sure now?”
“Uhm... I think I am... but I can’t tell you, sorry.”
“Huh? Why not?” asked the rose-eyed pegasus.
“It is something really, really important, and I really want to see you two happy. But if I tell you what it is, you may not be ready to hear it and you may act in a way you would regret later. And it could hurt both you and Applejack, and I could never forgive myself if that happens.”
“Wow... it’s that important? Then tell me what can I do!”
“Oops, you know? You should forget what I just said, unnecessary pressure. J-just... keep having get-togethers with Applejack, and spend as much time as you can with her. Oh and... uh... you should pay close attention to her, and how you feel about her. How much do you care for her. Think about what you two are... You may discover things about yourself you don’t even know.”
“Huh? What do you mean? She’s my best friend, I already know that!”
Fluttershy simply walked away, towards Twilight, the new girl.
“That was an strange chat... What did Fluttershy meant by that?”

Comments

[psychostasis]

Why did you leave out chunks of the story?

[Bilbo Swaggins]

AHHHHHHHHH.

The feels. They just so strong!!!!

[Appledash_Gurl]

Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s StifR ⓢⓈⓘⓀ.

Applejack and Rainbows first kiss.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash decide to tell their friends that they aRe ɐʇpbıu.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash decide to tell their friends that they are dating.

I like how you have to decode things sorta. Cool.

~ADG