The sun rose from the East and shined brightly at Dash’s estate. She rose from her bed and did her daily routine that she knew too well: brush her teeth, get outside, clear some clouds, and take a nap. One of the things that Dash likes most is napping. She has been a master of sleeping ever since she could remember; taking a nap everyday had become her tradition. She most commonly uses clouds, but when there are no clouds around, she usually selects a random tree and nap on its branch. Or she uses one of Applejack’s apple trees. Applejack’s apple trees aren’t very different from the other trees that Dash selects at random; she uses the apple trees so she could watch the hard-working orange mare. Her name was Applejack, the Element of Honesty and a mare that works hard in order to build her family. Rainbow Dash doesn’t remember her parents, not much was known about her childhood life. She might’ve been dumped in front of Cloudsdale Flight School one day for a reason that nopony knows, but that was another story.

A few months after she had met Twilight, Dash woken up to feelings that she had never felt in a long time. She knew the feeling from a long time ago, it was back in Cloudsdale Flight School, and she immediately recognized the feeling as love. She has had feelings for her for over three months now, and her love developed for Applejack around two months ago. It was during the winter holidays when Christmas was right around the corner. Dash was simply paying Applejack a visit in her cabin. But the blizzard chose that moment to go at its strongest, which made Dash unable to return to her cabin.

Two months ago, December 12

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were stuck in a cabin. The blizzard was still going strong outside. “Looks like you’re going to have to spend the night in here” said Applejack in her Southern accent. “Yeah, does this cabin only have one bed?”

“Yeah we’re going to have to share it” Dash’s face turned slightly red, but she tried to hide that. But Applejack can see through anything. “Aw c’mon, no need to turn so red, we’re just friends” This made Dash turn all the redder. But this time Applejack chose not to comment on that. I should’ve brought my sleeping bag if I knew that this was happening. Although she liked the orange mare, she didn’t feel comfortable about sharing a bed together, it seemed, she didn’t know how to describe it.

She has been crushing on Applejack for a long time, but never had the guts to tell her about her feelings. She didn’t want to lose a friend. She thought that she should give it a try right now. Without thinking, she simply blurted out “Uhh….Applejack?”

“Yeah?” Applejack replied instantly, it’s almost as if she had anticipated this, but she pushed that thought aside. What are you waiting for?! Tell her! Those words shouted at Dash inside her mind, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to. She should’ve thought twice about it before saying it, but it was too late to turn back now. She had already uttered those few words. “Thanks for letting me stay” That was all she could think to say “Even if I didn’t want to, I’ll still have to. Otherwise, where’ll ya sleep?” She said "otherwise" with her Southern accent, which made it sound like otha wahse.

The evening passed on agonizingly slow. Rainbow Dash had only intended to drop over for a minute or two. But it ended up turning into total isolation with Applejack. She was keeping herself occupied by thinking about what she could have said earlier today. One side of her mind told her that she should have told her about her feelings. While the other side, the opposition, argued back that if she did it, it could destroy or cripple their friendship. She didn’t know what she should have done, she thought about proceeding to Twilight for advice, but that would mean explaining to her about her feelings for their friend. “Rainbow? You all right?” asked Applejack all of a sudden “You look like you’re deep in thought about something” Dash’s train of thoughts were cut off as she struggled to find the right words to reply. She’s your friend, for Celestia’s sake! Just talk normally, don’t give anything away. Make it look like a normal conversation between friends. “Oh ummmm…….Yeah, I me-” …Normal conversation… The words rang in her mind again and again. “Care to tell me what it is?”

“Ummmm…..Nothing important, nothing you need to concern yourself about” And Applejack accepted that, which surprised Dash. She was expecting something like "I can tell from your look, Rainbow, what is it?" But Dash was glad anyway that she didn’t say it, since she wouldn’t be able to find a proper response except the truth.

Eventually the evening turned to night. The blizzard was still going strong at that time; it seemed like a miracle that the cabin was still standing. That night Dash found it impossible to sleep, the mare that she likes is just centimetres away from her. She thought if she was asleep, because if she was, she could kiss her lightly on the check, or the lips. After thinking that, she immediately snapped out of it Stop thinking about that! She’s your friend, just go to sleep. She told herself that over and over again. It was going to be a long night for her; but she fell asleep eventually, everypony does. But by then it was so late, it was almost early.

That other piece of memory was still fresh on Dash’s mind, one being that it happened quite recently, and the other being that that was the time her feelings for Applejack grown. She knew of  a fair number of quotes, popular ones. One of them being Sometimes there is no next time, no time outs, no second chance. Sometimes it’s now or never. It was another one of those popular quotes that somepony invented at some point. And then it became popular and was passed down generation after generation, and soon, everyone knew it and started quoting it. I kept thinking of the words It’s now or never… The feeling happened again, like it did at Applejack’s cabin. The feeling where there’s one side telling you to do it, and the other side opposing to it. Rainbow Dash never liked this feeling, it wastes her time by keeping her brain occupied in thinking about whether she should do it or not.

These thoughts were driving Dash crazy; she had no idea what to do. Twilight was the one who would obviously be of most help to her. And Pinkie Pie would be able to assist as well, with her ability to anticipate what she called “doozies”, she hoped that she can detect if Applejack was going to reject her or not. And Dash always feared failure, but this wasn’t just one of those competitions. This was reality, and also her love life. She didn’t want to proceed to anypony for advice, it would mean telling them her situation. She had thought about asking Twilight to research on the topic of love and how to ask another mare out, but it would only take her a second to figure out what she was on her mind. The same thing applies to asking Pinkie Pie to assist.

The two sides are still arguing like politicians in a debate. She didn’t know how much time has passed by. She had been sitting on her cloud all this time, thinking whether she should confirm her love. She eventually thought that sitting here was stupid. Dash had made up her mind, she was going to go to Twilight for advice. It will mean telling her everything, but she had to do it, what other choice did she have? If she went straight up to Applejack, she would end up with a tied tongue and would look stupid. Her mind was yelling at her “Don’t do it!” But she had already made up her mind, she’s doing it. And she’s hoping that she does it right.