I can keep you safe, I can keep you happy.

by Phxntxm

Just as things start to settle

Author's note:
I apologize for this taking so long, I usually do not take this long to write. I was trying to figure out which way to take my story, it could have gone many different ways and I kept changing things around. So thank you for being patient, and I promise Chapter 5 won't take this long.

Chapter 4

Rainbow Dash woke up after a completely nightmare-free sleep, it had been a long time since she was able to go to sleep without worrying about what she would see when she did. Even though it was obvious to her that no pony could fight something that was in a dream, it's still the feeling that there was somepony there that made all worries go away. When she woke up however she was alone in Applejack's bed, and she felt the pang of loneliness hit her as soon as she realized there was nopony with her. She yawned loudly and looked around her friend's room, she hadn't really been in this room too much. It was actually pretty empty which surprised Rainbow at first, but as she started to think about Applejack more it started to make sense. Applejack had a family that she was able to spend the time with and Applejack wasn't much of a loner. She probably spent most of her time with her family and didn't need to go to her room to be alone too much.

Rainbow rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and pulled the blanket off of herself as she got out of Applejack's bed. Today was supposed to be a slow day for the weather ponies and she didn't need to go into work today, so she walked outside as she tried to figure out what she was going to do today. She saw Applejack working in her field and decided to go say hi before she started her slow day. She started to float over to her friend slowly, as Applejack noticed Rainbow coming she stopped bucking apples and smiled to the pony she was now roommates with. Rainbow felt a little flutter of happiness bubble inside of her when she saw that smile, she found it odd because that had never happened before.

“Hey there Rainbow, didja sleep well last night?” Her smile seemed genuine so Rainbow didn't think she was making fun of her for the nightmare she knew made her look weak.

“After getting in bed with you I did.” Rainbow felt a little blush touch her cheeks as soon, and an embarrassed smile found it's way to her face as she thought to herself, “Why the hay am I blushing? That's soooo not awesome...”

Applejack's smile never faltered, and she didn't sound embarrassed at all when she spoke, “Ah couldn't just let ya sleep there through a nightmare could Ah? We all know nightmare's aren't somethin' ta mess around with. Now that ya live with me, Ah can be there if ya need help with anythin'.” Applejack's smile was starting to spread to Rainbow, it was making her feel happy, that annoyed Rainbow just a bit.

“Can we please stop this sappiness? Seriously...this is getting to be just too much for me. And also...don't tell anypony about last night, any of last night, that was, as Rarity would put it, uncouth. It would hurt my reputation if anypony found about that.” Rainbow puffed her chest out trying to show that she was still Rainbow Dash, the best pony around.

Applejack “That ain't a problem Rainbow, Ah can do that. What are ya up to today?” Applejack began to get back to work as Rainbow watched her.

“I really don't know, I don't have to go in to work today so I'll probably just practice for the Wonderbolts some more.”

“Ah think ya need to just sit back and take a break today Rainbow, yer life is going to be different now and Ah don't think that you've realized how much yet, just kick back today and do nothin'. Collect yer thoughts a little bit, figure out what yer goin' ta do now.”

Rainbow nodded, “I think I can do that AJ, thanks. By the way, can you not tell anypony about how lame I was being? That would severely hurt my reputation.”

“Ah can do that if ya want, it's not like Ah'm gonna go around trying to make you look bad on purpose. Now git.”

Rainbow smiled at her, thanked her, and flew into the sky to find a nice cloud to rest on. It was a pretty cloudy day, so she really didn't have to go far. She lay down on the soft material, sighed to herself, closed her eyes, and let her mind wander. She knew that she would be able to buy a new house, she was never very good at saving money and didn't have much saved away. So she was going to have to make the money back, her parents' place had been a pretty nice place, so it made her a little sad that she wasn't going to be able to get the same type of place back.

It did however mean that she was going to have to mooch off her friend for a little while, which she had mixed feelings about. She felt bad that she'd be taking advantage of Applejack's hospitality a little bit by living there and not giving anything in return. But it meant that she was living with Applejack, that was going to be pretty awesome. She was the mare that was closest to Rainbow in personality, in raw talent, and the friendly competitions they always had kept things exciting. Rainbow would definitely admit that Applejack was her best friend, no doubt about it.

She figured she could fix the bad feelings by helping out with Applejack's work on the farm when she needed it, so that was pretty simple to fix. But she seriously owed Applejack for letting her stay in her place in the first place. It had been only last night that Rainbow's place had been destroyed, but she didn't feel depressed at all. Staying with Applejack was actually cheering her up, and not having a home to go back to wasn't bad at all.

However it was the memories that were involved with the place that was killing her, she'd lived there since she could remember. She promised herself she would never let anything happen to it, and she failed. Not only did she fail herself, she felt like she failed her parents as well. She didn't like failure in general, and with something that was so important to her, it hurt her pretty bad. Rainbow sighed and tried to take her mind off of what had happened.

Applejack told her to collect her thoughts, so that's what she tried to do. After thinking about it for a while, she didn't even know if she wanted to get a new place to stay. She hated being alone, it didn't suit her well, she didn't have anypony to show off to at anytime of the day then. It was the sentimental value that kept her at her parents' place, and not the allure of having a great house. She sighed again and turned over to look down at the farm, she could see Applejack taking some apples back to a cart that was about half full.

Rainbow closed her eyes and her mind flashed back to when she was sleeping with Applejack, that was the fastest she had ever fallen asleep before, and directly after a nightmare? Usually that kept her up for another hour or so before she fell back asleep, but with Applejack it had been within in seconds. She had felt so comfortable, so safe, and every worry she had had just gone away immediately. Rainbow had never felt like that before and it made something stir inside her, but she had no idea why or what it was.

She shook her head and ignored the feeling, Rainbow didn't like anything she didn't understand. So she began to try to figure out what she was going do, find a new place and live in solitude again? Or ask if Applejack would mind if she stayed rooming with her. Rainbow figured that Applejack wouldn't care much, she was going to pay rent of course, that would be cheaper than buying a new place to stay anyway. But the problem would be Applejack's family, they just knew that she was staying there while she tried to get back on her feet. They were kind and all, but they were very family oriented, opposite of how Rainbow was.

The only decision Rainbow could come up with was that it was hard to think on an empty stomach. She'd completely forgotten about breakfast, so she got up and flew down to Applejack's house. It felt weird just walking straight in without knocking, but it was where she lived at the moment (whether temporarily or not). She walked into the kitchen and took a little bit of food, trying not to be rude and raid much of what was in there. She started to walk upstairs with her food before pausing and wondering if they minded if she ate upstairs. She laughed at the childish thought and remembered that she was an adult, she could wherever the hay she felt like.

After having a nice breakfast she laid down on the cloud bed she had failed to sleep on last night. On the desk next to her sat the photo of her parents, she tenderly put a hoof on the picture and took a deep breath in and out. She stared into the photo completely lost in it, she was completely lost in thought that wound up going all over the place. She ended up staring at her very last memorabilia from her house for three hours straight, completely oblivious to anything around her. She didn't notice Applejack come in the room at all.

“Are ya alright sugarcube?” Rainbow blinked and turned her head surprised.

“How long have you been there?”

“Just a couple minutes, Ah came up ta take a shower because Ah was done with the farm fer today and Ah came in and saw ya just layin' there, after Ah take a shower come down ta eat some dinner. The rest of the family is visiting relatives for a week and Ah'm taking care of the farm by myself right now. So things won't get weird or nothin'.”

“Dinner? But it's not that late is it? Isn't it lunch time?”

Applejack answered her simply, “Dinner is at this time for country folk, we usually work hard later in the day and don't have time to eat a big meal then, so we eat our big meal in the middle of the day.”

Rainbow got up and stretched her wings and legs, “That's weird, but I'm fine with that, I'm always in the mood to eat.” Applejack gave Rainbow a smile and walked over to the bathroom to clean up before going to eat. Rainbow began to walk around the house looking at her surrounding, she had never really been anywhere except Applejack's room and the kitchen before. She walked downstairs and turned into the living room, all around it were pictures of the various Apple family members. “Yep they're definitely family oriented.”

She couldn't walk into a single room without finding some type of picture, or something that was obviously memorabilia for somepony in the family. She began to wonder how she would have turned out if that traumatic incident from her past had never happened. Would she have been so headstrong? Would she have had the tenacity she had? Would she even have been anything like she was now? Rainbow shuddered as she thought about how a single moment can change who you are forever, it's a pretty scary thought to have and it made her worry about the future again.

She sighed and continued to walk around the house and check everything out, while still lost in thought. If she'd had a family to grow up with, she surely wouldn't have been any less awesome than she was now. She would have just been awesome in different ways, she could have been more of a family person than she was, and that sure didn't make Applejack any less of an amazing pony.

Again she had that feeling run through her, and again she put it at the back of her mind and continued walking around. She heard the water shut off from upstairs and decided to head back up to Applejack's room, she found the door open and walked in while Applejack was brushing her mane. “Ah'll be just a minute Rainbow, Ah'm almost done.”

Rainbow lay down and watched her brush her mane waiting for her to finish. When she did Rainbow followed her downstairs and into the kitchen, she always loved the Apple family's cooking, they were the best at what they did and no one could contest that. She made an excellent meal for the two of them, but Rainbow didn't eat all of it, telling Applejack “It's going to take me a while to get used to eating a big meal now instead of later. I might forage around for some snacks later.”

Applejack nodded and told her that was fine, and they spent the rest day talking and walking around the farm. Rainbow told Applejack that she was going to help on the farm whenever Applejack needed it, she was told that she didn't have to, and Applejack could handle everything. But Rainbow persisted, she wanted to hold a little dignity that she felt she was slowly losing with the past couple of days that she had been acting so “un-Rainbow Dash-ish” as she put it.

Applejack had learned from last apple season to accept help when it was offered, so she ended up agreeing to Rainbow help. The whole time she was with Applejack, Rainbow had been trying to figure out how to tell her that she had decided she didn't really want to find her own place again, but she couldn't figure out how to bring the topic to that. Eventually Applejack did it for her, “So Ah told ya ta collect yer thoughts earlier, didja figure anythin' out on how to find a new place for yer own?”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her mane with a hoof, “Well I did think about it, and honestly, I don't really want to find a new place.”

Applejack stopped walking and looked at Rainbow with her head cocked to the side, “What do ya mean ya don't want to find a new place? Where are ya goin' ta live then?”

“I was uh...kind of wondering if I could just stay with you permanently.” The look on Applejack's face told Rainbow that she was definitely taken aback, “I know it's a lot to ask but I put a lot of thought into it and I just don't like living by myself anymore. Just one day of staying here and I can already tell that, staying with a friend would be amazing, and I think it would do me good too. I've been happier here in one day than I ever was whenever I was alone in my place, and I wouldn't be much of a burden...I'd pay rent and everything.”

Applejack's face was still full of surprise as Rainbow watched her, trying to figure out what was going through her mind. Was she even considering it at all? It was obviously a lot to consider and Rainbow was about to take it back as Applejack exclaimed, “Why of course ya can! Yer always bein' such a loner Rainbow, living with somepony else is going to be amazing for ya! This is going to be totally amazing!”

Now it was Rainbow's turn to be surprised, that was definitely not the response she was expecting to get, she was expecting either a no or “let me talk ta my family about that before Ah answer” or something along those lines. But Applejack looked totally excited to have Rainbow living with her permanently, Rainbow got over her surprise and a grin spread over her face. “That was a lot easier than I was expecting!” It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from off of her and the happiness she had been feeling rushed back into her.

The rest of the day went by smoothly, with both of the mares talking and laughing the day by. They ate dinner....or as Applejack insisted, “supper” and continued the day as they were before. Before they knew it it had been dark for quite a while and they figured it was probably time they got in bed. Rainbow grabbed an apple before heading upstairs and began to walk to her cloud bed before pausing and taking a second look towards Applejack's bed. The memory of sleeping there last night, and feeling much safer and more comfortable came back to her. Applejack caught the hesitant look that Rainbow had and spoke softly to her, “Rainbow if ya don't want ta have another nightmare ya can sleep with me again. Ah don't mind at all.”

Rainbow still hesitated, already feeling like she was taking advantage of her friend when she was allowed to live there permanently now. However if Applejack offered, she decided it couldn't hurt. She climbed into the other side of the bed and gave Applejack a nervous smile. Applejack returned the smile and pulled her into a hug and the feeling Rainbow kept getting came back for the third time. She looked into Applejack's eyes and before she knew what she was doing, found herself kissing Applejack.

After a second her mind caught up to what her body was doing and her eyes flung wide open and she pulled back to see Applejack laying there with her eyes confused, and her mouth slightly open. “OH MY GOSH! I'm so sorry! I have no idea why I just did that, it was completely on impulse, I didn't mean to, I'm so sor-” before she could finish however Applejack had pulled her back and she found her lips meeting with Applejack's again.

Rainbow's mind was racing a mile a minute, asking herself a billion questions at the same time. “Does this mean I like mares? Do I like AJ? Does she like me? When did I start to like her? That's probably what that feeling is!” Applejack deepened the kiss, and Rainbow felt her body completely melt against Appleack's, and her mind clouded and she lost track of what was going on in there. Whatever this meant, she knew she liked it, and that's all that mattered.

After a minute or two Rainbow pulled back and looked into Applejack's eyes, there was something new in there but she couldn't figure out exactly what it was. Her eyes began to flutter shut as a sudden exhaustion came upon her, she scooted closer to Applejack for the second night in a row, and nuzzled herself into her mane. A huge smile was on her face as she fell asleep wrapped in Applejack's arms.

Here was another moment that was going to change her future drastically, but this time she wasn't worried, she was going to enjoy this change.

Comments

[ArmourFox]

You good sir/madam have now defined swag! I say!

[Agent Brony]

d'awwwwwwwwwwwww

[kbrony]

A great story I must say!

[Rainbow Shade]

I love the story, must be because i love appledash-shippings
However, it's not just because of the shipping that I'm loving this, but because your type of writing is really good.
The character-development my be a bit fast, but I think it's better than having to read about 10k words befor something happens
5/5 and eagerly awaiting part 5

[aporath25]

Great chapter! I knew Both Rainbow and AJ were meant to be together. Can't wait for the next chapter!

[StormHoof32]

D'AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

That...was beautiful.

[SolidFire]

And thus begins the blossoming of a beautiful relationship.

[Rainbow123451101Awesome]

Omg, I love Appledash stories!!!!!!!