There’s a saying in the Apple family, and it’s one that I reckon most farmer ponies would be able to relate to: ‘good things take time, but great things happen all at once’. It’s the kind of lesson a pony learns after tending to an apple orchard for so many years. You can’t rush growing an apple; you’ve got to care and tend to it day after laborious day. However, the best things in life have a funny way of jumping on you when you least expect them. Perhaps that’s part of what made them so great. For me, like any farmer, routine and predictability were what I modeled my life after. Surprises had a way of throwing wrenches into my scheduling. Maybe if I was more flexible I wouldn’t have been in the mess that I was.

My name’s Applejack, and I’ve got a problem.

Now it ain’t a problem like I’ve got five acres of trees to harvest and only one afternoon to do it in; that’s a practical problem, and I’m a practical pony. In fact, if that had been my only problem then I wouldn’t have been as nervous as a filly at her first hoedown. And it also wasn’t a problem like ‘what is the airspeed velocity of a swallow?’ because that’s more of a scientific quandary, and that’s the kind of noodle-scratching that Twilight loved to tackle.

No, my problem was a far more personal matter - I was in love. Under normal circumstances, that might have been cause for celebration. Everyone knows that there are few things in Equestria quite as amazing and wonderful as love, except maybe for one of Granny Smith’s fresh-baked zap apple pies. At the heart of my problem, if you’ll pardon the pun, was not the simple fact that I was in love, but it was whom I had fallen for.

I was in love with my best friend, Rainbow Dash, and I couldn’t figure out what to do.

It’s funny, really, when you think about it. I had never once in my life thought that I would be the type to have a problem with love. I had always been an honest pony at heart, and whenever I found a pony that struck my fancy, I went for it. While I have had my ego and heart bruised a few times before, it was never anything that family, friends, and a couple of pints of cider couldn’t help me recover from. So how did it come to be that a pony who has never had a problem giving a straight answer to her friends, even when the truth was ugly, suddenly found herself unable to say three little words to her best friend?

Maybe if Rainbow Dash didn’t spend all her time admiring herself, she would have noticed all the times I had shot glances in her direction, or how I always aimed to spend time with her even for the silliest of reasons (because if I really needed help harvesting apples, there were a million better qualified ponies than Rainbow Dash to call upon). I wore my thoughts as plainly as I wore my hat, but Dash couldn’t take a hint if you delivered it to her gift-wrapped with a bow. Sadly, I can’t blame my problems on Rainbow Dash, even if she might have noticed were she not spending so much of her time with that pretty little head of hers in the clouds. I’ve only got myself to blame for this mess.

Love, like most great things, had a strange way of sneaking up on you when you weren’t looking. I had always pictured myself going for some tall, dark, muscular stallion with strong work ethics and a chest so rigid you could crush apples against it. That was the kind of pony that would have been ideal for having on the farm and raising a family with. So how did a lazy, self-centered pegasus enter the picture?

Somewhere between our crazy antics, ego-baiting dares, and long hours in the orchard, I had come to rely on the pegasus, but not just for her ability to kick clouds about or sweep up apples, but for the emotional comfort and familiarity. Even when she teased me by singing that silly ‘Who’s a Silly Pony?’ song brought a strange sense of solace with it. Rainbow Dash was my best friend, and there wasn’t a pony I trusted more than her, even if she was be a bit brash and reckless. She made me laugh and things were never boring with her around. I couldn’t point to the exact moment where my feelings for her shifted from friendship to puppy-love infatuation to head-over-hooves in love, but the first time I was consciously aware of how I felt was during the ‘Running of the Leaves’ a few years back.

Everypony knows that I’ve got a competitive streak that runs from here to Canterlot when it comes to sports, but I like to think that I can take defeat with dignity and grace. With Rainbow Dash, however, you weren’t worth her time if you couldn’t keep up. She went where she wanted to, and if you were too slow then you get left behind. Losing the ‘Running of the Leaves’ to any other pony wouldn’t have been an issue aside from a bruised ego, but losing to Rainbow meant, to me, that I was somehow unworthy of her. The idea that Rainbow might not want to spend time with a slowpoke pony was silly but terrifying nonetheless. By the time the race ended, I wasn’t trying to prove that I was better than her, but rather trying to prove that I was worth her time. It was that day that I realized that my feelings towards Rainbow Dash were a bit more than just friendliness and over-competitiveness.

I should have said something back then, back when I wasn’t weighed down by so many doubts. Now every time I want to tell her, I get so nervous I can barely squeak, let alone talk. She’s my best friend, after all; one wrong step and I could damage that friendship. That thought alone scared me more than windigoes making camp in my orchards. I thought about talking to Rainbow during the big wedding at Canterlot, but with the whole Changeling invasion, I got a little sidetracked. By the time I worked up the courage, Rainbow was dancing with that Wonderbolt fellow and I lost my nerve. I guess even Rainbow had trouble resisting a stallion in a uniform.

I wanted to just be able to walk up to Rainbow Dash’s home, knock on her door, and tell her flat-out how I felt, but how was an earth pony supposed to visit a pegasus’ house in the first place? Even if borrowed Twilight’s balloon, I know for a fact that I would just get tongue-tied again. I would lose my nerve and fall back into the comfort of our friendship. Our friendship was my greatest boon and my biggest obstacle. Trying to get beyond it was harder than getting out of a warm bed on a cold winter morning. It was a trap of my devising. I was neck deep in indecision, and I couldn’t get loose.

And that was why I was in Canterlot, sitting in the jam-packed Celestial Gardens Arena next to Rainbow Dash in a box seat that cost me close to a month’s worth of savings, watching a Wonderbolts show that I could barely follow.

“Oh, wow! Did you just see that Flying Anvil manoeuvre?” Rainbow squealed in girlish delight as her favourite fliers swept over our heads.

The box seats I had bought for the occasion brought us so close to the stadium floor that we could feel the heat radiating off of Spitfire’s contrail whenever she zoomed by. A younger version of myself would’ve chastised me without mercy for spending so much money on tickets when cheaper seats would have been just as good. Seeing Rainbow smile as she cheered on her heroes, however, was worth the price of admission. Besides, the seats were a lot more comfortable than the regular aisle chairs, which was important if you were going to be sitting on your butt for a few hours with your neck cranked up to the sky.

Another passover by the Wonderbolts got Rainbow so excited that one of her wings hit me in the face. “Ohmygosh! Did you just see that?”

“Eyup, that sure was impressive,” I lied as I pushed my absent-minded friend’s wing aside. Lucky for me, Rainbow was too busy staring skywards, otherwise she would have seen ‘liar’ written across my face, along with a faint fluster. Actually, if she had noticed then maybe it would’ve forced the issue out of me, but with Rainbow more captivated by the show, she wouldn’t have noticed if I wrote ‘I love you’ on a piece of paper and stapled it to her forehead.

“You gotta watch this, AJ! Spitfire’s about to do her famous ‘Rising Phoenix’. It’s so awesome!” Rainbow was close to lifting out of her seat, and would’ve too were her wings not rigid in excitement and anticipation.

To be honest, my knowledge of fancy flying came solely from Rainbow Dash. I didn’t mind listening to her talk about the sport, but as an earth pony who’s spent her entire life with at least one hoof on the ground, most of the lingo went over my head. I never complained, of course, because I just liked listening to Rainbow talk. For a lazy pegasus, she sure was passionate about flying. Just seeing the excitement in her eyes when she talked about it made me forget that I couldn’t tell the difference between a barrel roll and a barrel of cider. All those twists, turns, and loop-de-loops just made my head spin. I’d probably get airsick if I ever tried flying like that.

My curiosity about this particular stunt of Spitfire was not something I had to tolerate for long. The Wonderbolt Captain went into a steep dive, almost plummeting straight towards the earth, but then suddenly pulled up at the last second, creating giant waves of vibrant flames that flashed outwards from her wings. I may have not understood flying, but it was still mighty impressive to me.

Rainbow Dash cheered so loudly, I had to pull my hat down a bit just to keep my ears safe. I never got bored watching her jump out of her seat in joy. “Oh man, this is the best night ever!” she proclaimed at the top of her voice.

“Sure is, Dash; it sure is,” I agreed, though a cheer from the surrounding crowds drowned my voice out. Making tonight the best night ever for her had been a part of the plan. Spending time with my friend, laughing and joking about, made me feel a bit more relaxed, and I hoped that would be enough for me to work up the nerve to tell her the truth.

“Okay, you’ve got to see this next one; Soarin’ does an amazing reverse Barnstorm Twister!” Rainbow exclaimed, once again edging herself to the very boundaries of her seat.

“Come on, AJ! You can do this. Just like you practiced,” I silently reminded myself as I continued rallying what courage hadn’t yet fled. Too bad a bathroom mirror was no replacement for the real deal. “Say, Rainbow Dash, there’s...um, something I gotta ask you.” Not the best way to bring up the subject, I admit, but it was the best I could manage. Unfortunately, the very moment I even thought about what I wanted to say, I felt my stomach tighten faster than Granny’s girdle.

“If you want to go to the bathroom, AJ, you don’t need to ask me,” Rainbow replied without taking her eyes off the action above. “But could you maybe grab me a soda and some nachos on the way back?” I rolled my eyes and resisted the urge to make any snappy comebacks.

I was making the wrong approach, so I used the bathroom request as an excuse to get some air. Between the cheering crowds, the over-enthusiastic announcer on the loudspeakers, and Rainbow’s own play-by-play commentary, it was hard for me to think straight. A chance to step away from the noise would help me think clearly and come up with a new game plan.

I decided to stop by the bathroom to give myself a quick pep talk at the mirrors.

“Come on, Applejack. You gotta bring your A-game for this one.” Once again, my reflection helped to give me some sense of reassurance, but it felt like a poor comparison to the real challenge. “Remember, AJ, you run a great business, have a good sense of humour, you’re fit as a fiddle, and you’re pretty darn good-looking to boot. You ain’t got nothing to be scared of.” Thankfully, with the Wonderbolts doing all of their big stunts, everyone was too glued to their seats to make a trip to the little filly’s room so I had free reign to take all the time I needed. “Just go up there and tell her. No small talk! No distractions!”

I did allow myself the small distraction of checking myself over in the mirror. In hindsight, perhaps I should have asked Rarity for some advice on how to make myself more enticing to Rainbow, but I worried that if I was too upfront at the start then Rainbow might’ve freaked out a bit. She may freak out now but at least I gave our friendship one last hurrah before I potentially put it through the cider-press.

Once I was through with my pep talk, which included telling a confused bystander to mind their own business, I made a detour to the concession stand for drinks and snacks as Rainbow had asked. By the time I returned to my seat, I had all but convinced myself of my new approach.

“Rainbow, I need to talk to you,” I said, firm and steady.

Sadly, while my attention was focused on target, my friend’s priorities were a little different. “Oh, sweet! Nachos!” She didn’t waste any time in helping herself to the snack still balanced upon my back. “You’re the best, AJ.”

Not wanting to get covered in our snacks, I held off on trying to get Rainbow’s attention until I had everything unloaded and was back in my seat.

“Rainbow, I need to tell you something.”

Unfortunately, as I was halfway through my sentence, the Wonderbolts must have done something spectacular because the audience erupted into a thunderous cheer. I couldn’t even hear my own worlds, let alone get them across to my friend.

“What was that?” Rainbow hollered back. She tried to lean in to hear me better, but by refusing to take her eyes off the action above, only a portion of her attention was focused on the increasingly one-sided conversation. “You’re selling what now?”

I tried raising my voice even louder, but the cheering legions of ponies seemed intent on matching me for every decibel. “Rainbow, I like you!”

Rainbow shot a brief glance in my direction before sliding the box of nachos towards me. “Of course, help yourself!”

“No, what I’m trying to say is that I love you!”

“I know! These nachos are the best!” The imagined discussion about nachos prompted Rainbow to shovel another hoofful of the cheesy treat into her mouth. Now I loved nachos as much as the next pony, but I couldn’t wrap my head around how a pony could be so obtuse as to think I needed to proclaim my love for snack foods.

Realizing that, once again, I had taken the worst approach possible to the problem, I sank back into my seat and helped myself to some of the nachos. What was I thinking? An air show was too crowded, noisy, and impersonal for a heart-to-heart conversation. Trying to admit my feelings at such a venue would have been cheesier than the nachos I was nibbling away at.

Not wanting to waste my evening, I tried to relax and just enjoy the show. I missed about half of it as I was more focused on Rainbow Dash and my own nerves, but even half of a Wonderbolts show was still a spectacle to behold. Watching those pegasi swooping and diving through the air reminded me of all the times I helped Rainbow Dash with her own routines, minus the inevitable ‘help get Rainbow Dash unstuck from the tree’.

Between the nachos and listening to Rainbow’s fangirl squeals, I soon forgot all about my prior woes and was enjoying the company of my best friend once more. I had almost forgotten about the whole reason I had blown half of my savings taking Rainbow Dash out to Canterlot until I felt the sudden warmth of Rainbow’s hoof around my own. I felt my heart do a double-take as my eyes met Rainbow’s. Those vibrant, magenta eyes of hers gave me an eager, expectant gaze. She grinned in the way she always did just when she was about to make a daring move or pull off her flashiest stunt.

I wanted to say something, but she had caught me so off-guard, my words had to fight through a layer of nacho cheese. “Rainbow, I—”

“Come on, AJ!” Rainbow didn’t even give me time to finish before I was hoisted from my seat. Along with her own, she threw my hoof upwards with another elated cheer, timing it in unison with the cascading wave of rising, cheering ponies that ran through the entire crowd. How in blazes did I not see that one coming? Rather than dwell on my embarrassment, I made sure I was more attentive during the wave’s next pass.

My renewed enthusiasm did not go unnoticed by my friend. “That’s more like it,” she said before giving me a playful punch in the shoulder. “For a second there, you looked like you were getting bored.”

“With you around? Not for a second,” I replied in a joking dismissal of Rainbow’s concerns. Perhaps I had been letting myself get too distracted. It would have been selfish of me to let my personal feelings ruin what should have been a fun outing between friends. As the Wonderbolts made their way around the arena for another pass, I got up on my hind legs and cheered until my voice went hoarse. I fell back into the warmth of our friendship; we were both happy, even if my heart did yearn for more.

By the time the show ended and we shuffled back out onto the Canterlot streets, the sun was already on its way down, but one could get the mistaken impression that the day was still in full swing given how my friend bounced down the streets. Most ponies got sluggish in the waning hours of the day, and yet Rainbow Dash was more energetic than ever.

“And did you see that finisher? What an athlete! Spitfire has got to be the second-best flier of all times!” Rainbow exclaimed while her excitement threatened to carry her off into the clouds. Earth ponies may have been known for their resiliency, but even I was having a hard time keeping pace with my friend.

“I know, Rainbow, I was there the whole time,” I said as I held back a small chuckle. Lucky for us, the streets of Canterlot weren’t as crowded during the evening, and once we got a few blocks away from the arena itself, I no longer had to worry about my friend carelessly flying into somepony.

“One day, I’m going to be up there with them.” Going into her boastful, day-dreaming mode, Rainbow Dash hooked her hooves around a nearby lamppost, performing a quick spin around it before hanging off the side like she was about to burst into song. “I’ll be the best Wonderbolt there ever was, and everypony will be cheering my name.”

“Just don’t you go forgetting about the ponies who’ve been cheering for you since the start,” I reminded my friend in the hopes that one day, she’d understand the concept of humility.

“Like I would ever forget my friends.” To no surprise, Dash dismissed the notion altogether. I refrained from reminding her how she behaved when she thought she was the greatest thing to grace Ponyville since Mr. Cake mastered his half-hour cupcake recipe. “Besides, you’d come to my shows, right?”

For a second, I thought I heard a hint of hesitancy laced through my friend’s voice. “Of course, I’d go. Wouldn’t miss them for the world.”

“Knew I could count on ya!” Whatever doubt may have crept up on my friend, it disappeared just as quickly. She hopped off from her perch, doing a small backflip through the air, and resumed her trot down the street alongside me. “After all, somepony’s got to show them how to do a proper Rainbow Dash cheer.”

“Heaven forbid we let that happen,” I joked, which prompted us both to fall into a chorus of laughter.

“So where are we going anyways?” Rainbow asked a few minutes later. I was wondering when curiosity would finally catch up to her given that we were walking in the opposite direction of the castle, where Princess Celestia had been so kind as to loan us a room for our stay.

“I thought a nice little drink at a tavern would be a good way to end the evening,” I elaborated. “I asked Shining Armour where the best watering holes were around town, and he said this place called ‘The Gilded Trough’ was a favourite for him and the rest of the Royal Guards.”

Rainbow raised a puzzled brow. “Sounds kinda fancy, and by fancy, I mean boring.”

“Hey, if Shining Armour says it’s a good place then I’m going to take his word on it,” I insisted. While there were plenty of places to get a drink that I would describe as ‘boring’ or ‘hoity-toity’, I figured a Royal Guard would prefer the kind of watering hole where a good drink was measured by how long it left you gasping for breath rather than how expensive the glass it came in was. Maybe after a pint or two, I’d be able to get all those doubting voices in my head to shut up for a few seconds.

Finding the Gilded Trough wasn’t as difficult as I had feared it would. Canterlot wasn’t the easiest place to navigate without Twilight or Rarity acting as a guide, but Shining provided decent enough directions that we were able to find the tiny little tavern tucked away beneath a bookstore called the ‘Twilight’s Sparkle’.

“We should totally take Twilight to this place,” Rainbow commented when we stopped for a brief moment outside the bookstore. We both thought it was rather curious that a bookstore would have blacked out windows, but we just figured it was some kind of specialty shop. A pity it was closed, otherwise I would’ve picked up a gift for Twilight. I made a mental note to swing by the place again tomorrow if I had the time.

As for the Gilded Trough, when I asked Shining for a place warm and intimate to have a drink with a friend, he seemed to take that to the extreme. The interior was not much bigger than Sugarcube Corner, and the bulk of it was dedicated to the bar itself, which was constructed in a fashion that honoured the tavern’s namesake. And despite there being fewer ponies present, it felt just as loud and intrusive as the air was thick with drunken revelry, body odour, and the faint aroma of fried pub fare. The fine layer of hay and sawdust on the ground kept my hooves dry, but it made me wonder, at first, what happened on such a regular basis as to necessitate the precaution. It took me four steps to discover first-hoof why that was the case.

“M-maybe we should find someplace else,” I suggested as I discretely wiped the mess off the bottom of my hoof. As much as I wanted a close environment, I could barely hear myself think, let alone talk. As much as I dreamed of shouting my love from the rooftops, I did not want to have to literally shout in order to make my feelings known. While I had my reservations, Rainbow’s eyes lit up upon her entrance.

“Are you kidding, AJ? This place looks awesome!” I should not have been surprised that Rainbow jumped at the chance for the party-like atmosphere. She didn’t even wait for my response before she swooped over to the bar, deftly weaving through the crowds of patrons, and waved the bartender down. “A bottle of your finest whiskey!”

The bartender was a gruff-looking stallion with a chin about the size of an anvil and covered in enough scruff to double as a cheese-grater. “I wouldn’t exactly describe any of my whiskeys as ‘fine’,” he replied in a voice that left little doubt as to his experience with whiskey.

“Then a bottle of your most expensive!”

“That’ll be a hundred bits up front.”

Rainbow was nearly floored as fast as if she had taken a shot of the aforementioned whiskey. She made the wise decision in changing her order. “Um...how about a bottle of the second-cheapest then?”

Despite my insistence, I couldn’t talk my friend out of buying the bottle, or even allowing me to share in the cost. She said it was ‘her treat to me’, though I would have preferred a cold pint.

“Try not to drink it too quickly,” the bartender warned as he poured out a couple of glasses for us then set the bottle aside.

Whether or not Dash heard the warning was irrelevant as she fell into her seat before her glass and eyed it like a cat hovering over a new toy. “Twenty bits says I can drink you under the table, cowgirl,” she said as she threw down the gauntlet with her gaze.

Downing drinks that were two steps away from being used a paint-thinner had not been my intention for bringing Rainbow here. However, once the challenge had been laid out, I couldn’t back down without the risk of losing face in front of Dash.

“Ha! You think a light-weight like you has a chance?” I knew I was going to regret this decision, but I couldn’t think of a reasonable excuse to back down, especially after Rainbow Dash had already paid for the whole bottle. I figured I may as well give it my all and hope for the best.

As far as bad decisions went, engaging in a whiskey drink-off with Rainbow Dash ranked somewhere between wrestling a mad bull and breaking a Pinkie promise. Within an hour, both of us had drank enough whiskey to stun a small elephant, and Rainbow had decided to start regaling the other patrons with how she saved Canterlot during the Changeling invasion. It was entertaining up until the point where she tried to reenact the climactic moments and wound up crashing into the jukebox.

“Ha! Who’s the silly pony now?” I teased.

“I’m okay!” Rainbow was quick to proclaim before she dusted herself off. “I’m still cool to fly.”

She glanced back to the inert jukebox behind her, which now sport a small dent in it thanks to her thick head. Fearing that she may have damaged it, Rainbow gave the jukebox a few shakes followed by a thump with her hoof. To everyone’s surprise, the jukebox sputtered back to life, belting out some classic rock songs.

“See? Good as new,” Rainbow reassured everyone.

“Are you kidding? I haven’t been able to get that blasted thing to work for a month now,” the bartender remarked.

“It just needed the ol’ Rainbow touch,” she said with a chuckle as though hitting the machine with her head had been her plan the entire time. The other patrons probably believed that more than they believed that she once took on ten changelings at once.

“Come on, Rainbow, sit down before you make a bigger mess,” I called out. The drinks hadn’t hit me as hard as they had hit my friend, but I had the advantage of still being in my seat. I reckoned that I would be stumbling a bit, too, if I tried to jump around the tavern.

Despite Rainbow’s crash, the evening hadn’t gone horribly, at least from an objective standpoint. I was still no closer to getting a decent conversation in with Rainbow, but my friend was having a good time, and that was just as important. I stayed at the bar, nursing a watered-down whiskey, and watched as my friend started doing a drunken dance in a small clearing near the jukebox. It was typical Rainbow Dash: giving everything she did her one-hundred-and-ten percent effort, even if it was a silly idea to begin with. There was just so much energy and life in her, and I wanted it for myself..

If I had her kind of fire, I wouldn’t have been sitting at a bar downing glass after glass of liquid courage. While courage may have been lacking, the whiskey was getting other parts of me heated, and I wasn’t just referring to my face, which was likely as red as Big Mac’s behind. Even in her drunken state, Rainbow was more graceful than I ever could be. As selfish as it sounded, a part of me hoped that Rainbow Dash never joined the Wonderbolts; that way I could enjoy her routines all the time without having to deal with crowded stadiums. Did wanting that make me a bad pony?

“Come on, AJ! You’re missing out on all the fun!” Rainbow’s sudden beckoning snapped me out of my train of thought. I had been so busy staring into my drink that I failed to notice my friend trotting over to me until she was already pulling me from my seat.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” I warned with a hint of hesitancy. Normally, dancing shouldn’t have given me pause, but I was worried that the whiskey may have left me with four left hooves.

“What’s the matter? Can’t hold your whiskey?”

I knew what Rainbow was trying to do. She was trying to goad me into going along because she knew my pride wouldn’t allow me to admit to such a weakness. Problem was, despite seeing straight through the least subtle ploy in history, it still worked like a charm.

“In your dreams, flygirl,” I scoffed.

It may not have been a proper hoedown, and I might not have been a ballroom dancer by any stretch of the definition, but when you had enough whiskey in your system, you just stopped caring about how silly you looked. And I had no doubt in my whiskey-addled mind that we looked like quite the pair of fools as we danced about the tavern. Part-way through our drunken reverie, Rainbow decided that she wanted a proper dance partner, and hooked her hoof around my mine.

“Shall we?” she asked rhetorically. I didn’t manage a reply before my friend spun me about until I was wrapped tightly in both of her hooves. Thank goodness the whiskey had already left me flustered, otherwise I might’ve burnt up right then and there. A part of me wondered if Rainbow pulled the move simply because the other patrons were now cheering us on, and she was just doing what she always did in front of an adoring crowd. Either way, I wasn’t going to complain since Rainbow didn’t give me much time to think before twirling me back out to hoof’s length.

“Pretty good hoofwork for a pony who couldn’t even walk to the lou,” I joked as the two of us started a quick shuffle across the dance floor. “I’m surprised you ain’t tripping over yourself.” I figured two ponies could play the goading game, and if I could get a nice dance with my friend, then where was the harm in a little teasing?

In a clear attempt to test my balance, Rainbow twirled me about in a very quick pirouette before swinging me across the floor. I managed to hold my own, however, though I was forced to keep a slightly tighter rein on my dance partner in order to keep my balance.

“Ha! That’s funny considering how you danced back during the wedding. You couldn’t dance to save your life,” Rainbow retorted as we did a few twirls about each other. It became apparent that our dance was just another contest between us; another test to see who could outperform and outlast the other. I could see the same fiery passion in her eyes; the glint in her eyes whenever a challenge was set before her. For me, it was just another test to show that I could match Rainbow step for step.

“I could dance rings around you!” Feeling embolden, I pulled back a bit and lunged at my dance partner. Without missing a beat, Rainbow caught me, holding me aloft as we spun in slow circles. Each rotation brought me closer to the ground, until I was being held low by my friend with our faces just mere inches apart.

Rainbow’s lips were curled into a smirk in the way that she always did when she felt triumphant. I froze in her hooves as she stared into my eyes. I could feel her breath against my face, hot and tinged from the whiskey. Those tender blue lips of hers were so close I could almost taste the drink on her breath. All I needed to do was just lean in and close that tiny gap. This was probably a crazy plan, but it was the best shot I had. Before doubt could creep in my mind, I closed my eyes and went for it.

“Hey! Somepony fixed the jukebox.”

The unfamiliar voice may not have caught my attention, but it did catch that of Rainbow, who let out a startled gasp before unceremoniously dropping me onto the floor.

“Ohmygosh, it’s Soarin’!” Rainbow blurted out. I didn’t need her to point that out as I could plainly see the famous Wonderbolt flier standing in the doorway of the tavern. To me, it was strange to see him without his usual flightsuit on, but between the wind-slicked mane and the goggles hanging from around his neck, it was hard to mistake him for anyone else.

“Salty, I thought you said the ol’ girl was dead for good this time,” Soarin’ continued as he turned his attention to the barkeep. The casual familiarity with which he addressed the bartender suggested that the Wonderbolt shared a similar taste in taverns as the Royal Guards.

“I thought so too, but then that one over there managed to give it the right thump,” the bartender answered as he motioned with a free hoof to Rainbow Dash. Soarin’s gaze shifted over to us, or at least to Rainbow since my butt was still on the ground.

If the Wonderbolt was surprised by my friend’s presence, he didn’t let it show. If anything, the other pegasus looked intrigued as he sauntered over. Given that Rainbow was too slack-jawed in awe to bother helping me up, I scampered out of the way before he trotted over my flank. With each closing step, it looked like Rainbow was about to break down into another bout of starstruck gushing.

“Well, well, well...Rainbow Dash,” the Wonderbolt mused upon reaching my friend. “First you save my life, then you save my pie, and now you’ve saved my favourite jukebox. It seems like good things keep happening whenever I run into you.”

“What can I say? I’m just that good,” Rainbow replied as she took the opportunity to strut her stuff like a young peacock with fresh tail feathers. “Maybe its fate trying to tell you that we should hang out more often.” She played it cool by not completely throwing herself at Soarin’, but I worried that Rainbow was trying to audition for more than just a spot on the Wonderbolts when it came to him. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a bit threatened by Soarin’s presence, but Ponyville politeness kept me from making a fuss over it. Besides, what was I going to do: tell him to buzz off? It was the Canterlot wedding all over again except with less of Pinkie’s tutti-frutti sherbet sugar punch.

Soarin’ chuckled at my friend’s bravado. “Who am I to argue against fate? Don’t suppose I could buy you a drink, maybe?”

Rainbow and Soarin’ having a drink? Needless to say, my mind jumped to the worst possible conclusions faster than Pinkie jumping on a black forest gateau. I didn’t want to be a stick in the mud, but I knew who was going to wind up being the third wheel in this wagon.

“I think Rainbow has had enough to drink for one night,” I said as I tried to place myself between the two pegasus. “Very kind of you to offer but,” I paused to fake a yawn as best I could, “it is getting mighty late, and we’ve got an early train to catch tomorrow.”

“Speak for yourself,” Rainbow scoffed before pushing me aside. “If you want to go back to the castle, go right ahead. This pegasus can fly all night long!” I should have known better than to try and use such a weak excuse. Rainbow would have walked across broken glass if it meant spending time with a Wonderbolt. And could one blame her? Soarin’ was a stallion in his prime with good looks, great physique, fame, and fortune all to his name. Heck, if I weren’t trying so hard to catch Rainbow’s attention, I would’ve enjoyed the extra company too.

Without a metaphorical leg to stand on, I fell silent as I watched Soarin’ lead Rainbow back to the bar.

“Were you in town to catch our show?” Soarin’ asked.

“Hay yeah! Best show of the season, too!”

As Soarin’ wound up taking my seat at the bar, I had to relocate to another chair, which kept me on the periphery of their conversation. I called upon a double-shot of whiskey to help me cope with the horrible sinking feeling that I was getting. I tried not to pay too much attention to their conversation; most of it was about famous fliers or aerobatic tricks so it was all nonsensical jargon to me. As the evening dragged on, the atmosphere inside the tavern became more manageable and peaceful. With fewer patrons, the noise levels died down to the point where one could hold a conversation without having to shout. I spent most of my time just staring at the amber pool at the bottom of my glass, watching how the light reflected off its surface as it swirled about its container with every motion. Now would have been the perfect setting to broach the dreaded subjected, but Rainbow’s attention was too fixated on the stallion next to her to notice a marching band if one passed by.

Another missed opportunity. Of all the taverns in this city, I had to to walk into the one that was frequented by one of Rainbow’s idols. Perhaps that was part of the whole reason that Shining suggested it in the first place. Why did he have to be such a thoughtful and considerate stallion?

The newfounded tranquility in the tavern came to an abrupt halt when another Wonderbolt walked through the door. Actually, it was less of a walk and more of a drunken stumble that almost resulted in the newcomer crashing into a nearby table. Despite wearing what appeared to be pieces of another team’s uniform and a necktie around her head, it was definitely Spitfire that floundered through the door. It looked like she did more than just a few victory laps around the bottle.

“Hey! Hey Soarin’!” the elated Spitfire called out as she scrambled back to her hooves. Judging by the lack of surprise from the other Wonderbolt or any of the patrons, this was not an uncommon occurrence. Spitfire stumbled a few more times, kicking sawdust and loose hay into the air each time, before making it over to her teammate. “Hey Soarin’! Guess how many rounds my drinking contest with Wind Waker went.”

Soarin’, while not looking too eager to play a guessing game, sniffed at the captain’s breath. “Six?” he said as his snout wrinkled in disgust. He did manage to keep a polite overtone, however.

The Wonderbolt Captain grinned from ear to ear, as if she had just won the biggest prize in stunt flying history. “Eleven!” she exclaimed while at the same time throwing up both hooves as if to signify the number with her limbs. Now a sober pegasus would have used their wings to keep upright after lifting half of their limbs, but Spitfire had enough alcohol in her to have her blood reclassified as a medical disinfectant. As a result, she crashed face-first into the sawdust.

“You okay, cap’n?” Soarin’ asked with only a slight pique of concern.

“Gravity is a harsh mistress, my friend,” Spitfire replied, “but she is also a warm and inviting one.” Despite its unsanitary nature, the pegasus seemed content with her new station and curled up on the floor.

Oddly enough, it was her behavior on the floor that seemed to trouble Soarin’ far more than her calamitous entrance or any of the subsequent crashes. He sighed under his breath and gave Rainbow an apologetic look. “I’m terribly sorry, but I think I’m going to have to cut this evening short,” he said. “Somepony needs to put the captain to bed before she does something to get herself in the tabloids again.”

“Hey! That last time was totally not my fault,” Spitfire insisted as she waved an unsteady hoof in the air. “That jerk totally deserved what he got.”

“That jerk was still the Princess’ nephew so it was still a bad idea to throw him into a fountain.” Soarin’s remarks were waved off by the drunken Wonderbolt who mumbled an incoherent slur before letting her hoof drop to the ground like a wet noodle. Soarin’ stepped over to the fallen captain and began tugging at her hoof to prompt her to get back up.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t happy to see that Soarin’ was being forced to leave. In fact, I felt kind of bad taking so much delight in seeing him compelled to do the gentlecolt thing and ensure that his friend and captain was returned home safely. But as I looked over to Dash, I could see the disappointment in her eyes. With any luck, it would be brief and I would be able to fill the void and bring a smile back to her face.

However, that smile came around a lot sooner than I had anticipated. That smile, in fact, made me worry more than anything else.

“Hey, you don’t have to go just yet,” Rainbow said as she hooked her hooves around one of Soarin’s. “Applejack could take her back.”

“She could?” Soarin’ quipped.

I could do what now? It took a considerable amount of willpower on my part to keep the surprise from showing as Soarin’ and Rainbow looked to me for my response. Rainbow Dash was even mouthing the word ‘please’ to me behind the Wonderbolt’s back. My mind scrambled to find a possible way to weasel out of the deal. How could I say no to Rainbow now? As even Spitfire’s droopy eyes gazed up at me, I realized that I had no choice but to do the right thing.

“Of course I could,” I answered with all the enthusiasm I could fake on short notice.

“Thanks! That really means a lot to me,” Soarin’ said with evident relief. “Here, let me write down the address for where the team is staying.”

As I hefted the semi-conscious Spitfire onto my back, her teammate scribbled down an address and some directions on a cocktail napkin for me. Thankfully, pegasus were never very heavy, so managing the extra load was hardly a concern for me.

Once upon my back with her hooves dangling by my sides, Spitfire started flapping her wings in a weak, tired fashion. “See? I’m still cool to fly,” she mumbled.

With my new passenger in tow, I marched a cautious path to the door, careful as to not upset her already impaired balance. With any luck, I’d be able to get the Wonderbolt back to her hotel safe and sound, and still have enough energy to head back to the tavern.

Fortunately for me, the walk back to the hotel, a Royal Canter Suites, was quiet and uneventful; Spitfire had tired herself trying to fly upon my back and drifted into a peaceful slumber for the majority of the trip. While this made my journey a bit easier, I did not appreciate the fact that the Wonderbolt Captain was something of a drooler when she slept. At the very least, the warm puddle collecting at the back of my neck was giving me ample motivation to finish my task in a prompt fashion.

The Royal Canter Suites was the kind of posh, upper-class hotel that I expected a Wonderbolt to stay in. Red velvet carpets and marble-lined walls greeted my arrival, along with a concierge who looked quite surprised to see a cowpony waltzing through the front door with an unconscious Wonderbolt on their back. He didn’t do anything to impede me, though, so he could think whatever crazy thoughts he wanted about the situation.

Spitfire was eventually roused from her slumber when I arrived at her suite. Now either the Wonderbolts shared rooms or being team captain offered her the perk of having one of the largest hotel rooms I had ever seen: sprawling tapestry, luxurious furniture, and even a complimentary basket filled with enough treats and drinks to make a full-course dinner for my family. It made even my lodgings at the Royal Castle seem quaint in comparison.

“Hey, cowpony girl!” Spitfire suddenly spoke up, which caught me by a bit of surprise as she barked it straight into my ear.

“First off, I have a name,” I replied back as politely as I could despite the auditory trauma. “It’s Applejack. Secondly, you don’t need to shout.”

“Sorry,” the Wonderbolt murmured in response. Her speech wasn’t quite as slurred as it had been before, so I took that as a sign that she had sobered up a little bit since her arrival at the Gilded Trough. “Rainbow Dash is your friend, right?”

I wagered it was rhetorical question from the tone of her voice. “Yes. What about it?”

“She’s not going to try and make any moves on Soarin’, is she? Cause he’s mine...sorta.” Spitfire’s words trailed off afterwards into an incoherent slur. It would seem that I was not alone in my concern over Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ spending the evening together.

“I didn’t know you two were together.” In truth, I wouldn’t have known if they had gotten married and raised kids for how little I paid attention to the aerobatic scene. However, given how much Rainbow knew and talked about them, if there had been something between the two Wonderbolts, it was a well-kept secret from the public.

Spitfire didn’t answer right away as we had arrived at her, and she opted to climb into bed instead. It was less of a climb and more of ‘rolled off my back’, which would have been more effective if she had chosen to roll to the side where the bed was at.

Laying on her back, the pegasus just stared aimlessly at the ceiling. “I wish, but that’ll never happen now. I should’ve taken my chance when the opportunity came, but I chickened out.” The pegasus let out a wistful sigh as I helped her back to her hooves and into her bed. “Maybe things would’ve been different if I had.”

I tried not to pay too much attention to her drunken ramblings. The effects that heavy drinking had on the tongues was ponies was something I was very familiar with thanks to my many years of experience selling cider. The warm, inviting bed soon distracted the pegasus’ train of thought. She smiled contently, if a bit bleary-eyed, before she crawled beneath the sheets until only her tail was visible.

“Should’ve said something when I had the chance,” a soft whimper emanated from beneath the sheets. “If only he...if only...”

Alas, whatever train of thought Spitfire might have been running had gone into the tunnel of sleep. All I heard from her from that point on was a muffled snore. Seemed like I wasn’t the only pony in the world that suffered from a case of the jitterbugs when it came to admitting how we felt. I was about two steps away from joining Spitfire, too. Not in the bed, mind you, but rather drunk and lamenting lost opportunities. Suffice to say, it was not a fate that I wanted.

I was too late.

When I got back to the Gilded Trough, there was no sign of either Rainbow Dash or Soarin’. According to the barkeep, the two of them left together about fifteen minutes before my arrival, which meant they could be anywhere in the whole dang city by then. Canterlot was way too big of a city to go searching by myself, and it was getting late.

Both emotionally and physically drained, I didn’t see any other option other than returning to the castle. During the lonesome walk back, I tried not to think about all the things that Soarin’ and Rainbow Dash might be doing now that they had their privacy. Unfortunately, my mind jumped to the worst possible conclusion and was soon flooded with a torrent of mental pictures of the two of them getting intimate. Entwined lips, caressing hooves, feathers everything - normally my fantasies about Rainbow Dash didn’t get me so sullen. By the time I reached my room, my brain managed to work through more more fantasies and positions than I had thought possible. How was it I could never get my imagination to be so vivid when I needed it to be?

Before I could slip away—ideally forever, but I would have to settle for just the night—I was spotted by the one pony whose presence I couldn’t ignore.

“Good evening, Applejack. Did you and your friend enjoy the show?” Seeing Princess Celestia shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me, given that this was her home and all, but I was nonetheless startled when I heard her voice pop up behind me.

“Oh, Princess Celestia! I...uh, didn’t you see you there,” I replied once I settled down. “The show was, um, good. Yup, it sure was a mighty fine show with all...uh, flying and stuff. It was a good show and a good evening, all in all.”

Now, between Celestia’s centuries of experience and my inability to keep eye contact, it took the Princess exactly half a second to see that I wasn’t being forthcoming with the truth. When she saw this, she looked more disheartened than annoyed.

Celestia looked to me with a most sincere expression of concern. “Applejack, is something troubling you?”

As much as I trusted and respected the Princess, I didn’t feel right getting her involved with my personal issues. If I told her what was bothering me, she would no doubt feel a compulsion to assist. No doubt it was from Celestia that Twilight picked up the same tendency to help her friends whenever possible. I was not going to be a burden to the Princess of all ponies.

“It’s nothing, your Highness,” I insisted. I kept my gaze fixed on the Princess while I opened the door behind me. “It was a very good night; it just didn’t go quite how I planned it to.”

The Princess looked genuinely saddened to hear that. “I am sorry to hear that,” she said. For a moment, she just stared at me with those sympathetic eyes of hers. I felt like she was weighing me in to decide whether she should intervene further. There was no doubt in my mind that Celestia noticed the conspicuous absence of my friend, and she was smart enough to put two and two together. “If you ever need to talk, Applejack, my door is always open.”

The Princess bid me a good night and carried on her way. I thanked my lucky stars that she was astute enough to tell that I wasn’t keen for talking about it at the moment. A good night’s rest was what I needed; some time to clear my head and start fresh tomorrow.

At some point during the night, I was awoken by the sound of something, or someone, bumping into my bedroom door. I ignored it at first, grumbling only to myself about the inconsiderate nature of some ponies, before rolling over in the bed to a slightly cooler spot. There was nothing quite like a comfortable bed after a long day to help you forget your troubles. While I was never one to consider myself fanciful or drawn towards the luxuries of high society, I had to admit that the beds were an exception to that rule. Granted, I wasn’t too fond of how big the thing was—I could fit my entire family on it and still have room for guests—but, sweet Celestia, was it ever soft. Up until the sudden and rude awakening from the ruckus outside, I slept like a baby the second my head hit the pillow.

The racket outside my door was beginning to get irritating, but the warmth and comfort of the bed made it hard for me to find the motivation to do anything about it. I figured the noise would die down eventually. No doubt it was some guard or some other castle staffer having a bit of trouble navigating through the candle-lit corridors. My patience paid off a few moments later when the noise settled down, and I was once again able to rest easy.

That is, until my bedroom door slammed open. At first, I thought it was just some night cleaner who hadn’t been informed that the room was in use and would turn around the moment they saw the occupied bed. That did not turn out to be the case as I heard the familiar clattering as somebody stumbled about as if they were navigating by Braille. Just when my patience went up in smoke like every other hope I had for the day, I felt a very sudden shift in the mattress, as if somepony plopped their flanks down next to me.

“What in tarnation?” I growled as I rolled over to find myself staring at an unconscious Rainbow Dash. What in the name of Celestia’s golden throne was Rainbow doing in my bed, aside from being passed-out drunk? Somehow, the jackhammering of my heart didn’t disturb the pegasus. “Um, Rainbow?” I asked in a quiet whisper. She didn’t respond other than letting out a whiskey-soaked snore. Thankfully, she was on her back so I was spared the full brunt of the foul odour.

When I had fantasized about this evening ending with both us together in bed, this was not what I had envisioned. Rainbow must have been so drunk out of her mind that she couldn’t fly straight or remember that her room was on the other side of the hallway. I felt awkward; I had Rainbow Dash exactly where I wanted her, but she was out like a filly after a Hearth’s Warming dinner. I shuddered to think how Rainbow Dash might react in the morning if she woke up with me next to her in bed. She might think I had intended to get her drunk in the first place. Nothing good ever started with waking up hungover in another pony’s bed.

“Rainbow, you gotta wake up,” I said a bit more firmly as I reached out to give her a nudge. Even the gentle prod did not rouse her from her sleep, and instead she rolled over towards me, pinning my hoof underneath her. “Hey! Get off me!” Once again, my attempts to fix the situation only made things worse as the pegasus responded to my calls by curling up against me, burying her face into the crook of my neck.

If I was nervous before, I was now so tense that you could play musical notes off my hairs. I was half-expecting Rainbow to wake up on her own accord, followed by a panicked shriek and some flailing before falling out of bed. As minutes ticked by, however, Rainbow neither woke or stirred in her slumber. The warmth from her body eventually eased my anxieties until I felt strangely comfortable with her presence.

I soon resigned myself to my fate. Evicting her would require far more effort than I was willing to put up at this point. I decided to just go back to sleep and worrying about the inevitable mess in the morning.

“Sweet dreams,” I whispered before leaning in to plant a small peck on her forehead. I took a few breaths to further calm my nerves, and immediately regretted it as the smell of whiskey was still quite strong on her. Thankfully, though, I didn’t smell anything that suggested that she had been hot and heavy with a certain stallion. Maybe I had been worried over nothing.

She may have been asleep, but for the moment this was probably the closest thing to what I had wanted from tonight.

“And I love you, Dashie.”