Clang! Her head rang along with the metal of the bell. Rainbow Dash remembered looking away for just a second, and now her head was singing along with the church bell. She sat on her haunches and grabbed at her thoughts, now thrown everywhere in her mind.

“Hey, Rainbow! You ok?”

Rainbow Dash looked down to see Applejack looking back at her with a concerned face. Rainbow dash remembered what she looked at. She blushed a little, her thoughts clouding some to what her mind imagined. She blinked a few times and laughed, trying to hide her thoughts.

“Y-yeah I’m fine!” Her voice cracked, a sign she was embarrassed. Please don’t let Applejack tell I was looking at her flank..

Applejack laughed softly “what distracted you so much as ta have you run int’ a bell?”
Rainbow Dash blushed more, think Rainbow think of something! “T-the new apples you laid out!” She mentally facehooved, great idea.. Think of apples as an excuse.

Applejack just rolled her eyes “Well y’all better pay attention to where yer lookin’ from now on, not be lookin’ at my apples when yer flyin’”

Rainbow Dash froze for a second, did she say.. What I think she said? Rainbow Dash blushed more and coughed a bit. “O-ok I’ll make note of that, gotta run!” On that Rainbow Dash flew off in a flash of color, too embarrassed to stay.

“Boy howdy she isn’t the best at hidin’ her feelins.” Applejack laughed to herself. “That filly needs to figure out if she wants ta date er not.”

~Later That Day~

“Stay cool Dash.. Stay cool.. You are the definition of cool.” Rainbow Dash shook her head a little. She had thought about what Applejack said before she zipped away. “She has to know, I couldn’t hide how embarrassed I was..” She swallowed hard and looked at the door she was standing in front of. It was warn and had cracks all over it, worn from many days of closing and opening. She shook her nervousness off and gave a few quick knocks, her nervousness immediately coming back. “what if she doesn’t answer, What if she laughs at me?” Her brain was imagining everything that could go wrong. “what if-“ Her thoughts were caught off when she realizes the orange pony staring curiously back at her.

“Took ya’ long ‘nough, thought you were gonna stay in yer head the rest of the night.” Applejack said softly.

“H-how long have you been standing there?” Rainbow’s voice cracked again, she was nervous even more than ever.

“Hmm.. Since you knocked?” Applejack laughed softly.

“O-oh.. Um.. Well.” Rainbow Dash stuttered. “Out with it Dash!” Her mind yelled.

Applejack simply raised an expecting eyebrow “Yes..” She waited patiently, a soft smile coming across her face.

“Iwantedtoknowifyouwantedtohangoutandmaybegogetsomethingto, eat..?” She gasped some, taking in a large breath. How does Pinkie do that? She thought quickly to herself.

Applejack smiled more and nodded her head softly “Whats got ya so nervous ‘bout hanging out and eatin’?” A soft knowing smirk spreading across her face, she stared into Rainbow’s eyes. Dern she is cute when she’s embarrassed, Applejack thought idly.

Rainbow couldn’t help but blush and cough “Y-you know, um, the fact it is just you and me?”

Applejack lightly giggled and gave Rainbow Dash a evil smirk “Ya mean like a date?” HHehe, lets see her reaction to that, Applejack thought.

Rainbow Dash coward a little, something similar to what Fluttershy would do. “M-maybe, I mean Y-yes!” Why can’t I keep my cool around her, Dash mentally sighed.

“Then what are ya waitin’ for? Let’s go!” Applejack grabbed her by the forehoof and pulled her. She is too easy to make her say what she wants. Applejack grinned softly, “where are ya gonna take me Dashie?”

Dash had to force her wings to her sides, embarrassed by Pinkie’s pet name for her and how Applejack was using it to embarrass her. “I was thinking maybe somewhere less crowded? A small more remote restaurant?” She liked to show off, but she didn’t want anything to go wrong with more ponies around.

Applejack nodded her head softly, moving closer to her, rubbing her flank against Rainbow Dash’s. I wonder how red I can make ‘er face by the end of the night. Applejack smirked again while Dash wasn’t looking, changing her face to a more subtle smile when she looked. “That sounds mighty nice a ya Dash, more relaxed place, I wonder if they’ll have any apples?” She emphasized the word apple, to make a point.

What is she doing? She is embarrassing me so much, or maybe it’s something else. Her wings twitched and wiggled a little. “Uh I don’t know, they probably will..” Keep your head cool Rainbow, she is obviously teasing you.

Applejack could tell Dash was losing it, her wings gave it away. She wasn’t too knowledgeable about the workings of a pegasus body, but she knew their wings acted out their emotions easily. Lets see if I can get them to spring up. Applejack rubbed her flank against Rainbow’s again, acting like she was doing it on accident. “The path here is mighty thin dontchya think Dashie?”

What is she- She is try to- OOOO Applejack! Rainbow Dash decided to take the offensive, obviously Applejack wanted to play. Rainbow rubbed her flank back, acting on the whole “thin path” shtick. “Sure is, better be careful one of us doesn’t fall.” Rainbow got closer to Applejack, rubbing her whole side against her.

“What’s the matter Dashie? Fraid ya gonna fall off the path?” Applejack snickered softly. This time she bumped her flank, trying to push her off.

“Nah I would be worried about falling if I were you.” Dash wobbled a little and bumped back harder, her competitive nature starting to heat up. It was snuffed out when she felt Applejack move too far from her.

“Whoa!” Applejack fell into a large puddle of mud, with a splash. She got up and stared daggers at Rainbow Dash. “Now ya dun gone too far.”

“Too far? Psssh, you started it. Why are you teasing me so much?” Rainbow Dash sat and steamed a little, mad at Applejack’s antics.

She shook herself off some, mud going all over. “I think yer darn cute when yer embarrassed.” Applejack smiled a little deviously.

Rainbow Dash blushed and looked down at the ground realizing what she was doing all along. “O-oh..”
“Look Rainbow, I know you like me.” Applejack said sternly

Oh crap.. Here it comes.. Rainbow Dash started to freak, ready to jump and fly away as quickly as possible.

“If ya haven’t noticed, I like ya back.” Applejack said softly.
Rainbow Dash looked up slowly, Wait.. What did she say-

Before she knew it, she tasted dirt and, what else, apples. She opened her eyes to see Applejack’s closed eyes staring back at her. She smiled a little and kissed back. What happened next Rainbow Dash didn’t expect. She felt Applejack’s hooves wrap around her neck, kissing Rainbow back more she suddenly grabbed her and pulled her into the mud puddle, thoroughly covering Rainbow in mud. Rainbow responded in grabbing Applejack and pulling her down into the mud, getting on top of her.

“I win.” Rainbow said as she held Applejack down, to which she had daggers staring back at her.

“Guess we can’t go eat now that we’re all cover’d in mud.” Applejack laughed softly, smiling warmly at Rainbow Dash.
She shook herself off and stepped to the side to help Applejack up. “Then what do you want to do?” Rainbow Dash tried to wipe more mud off herself.

“Well I reckin’ we could, ya know. Shower” Applejack said, laughing softly.

“Oh, yeah we could.” Rainbow blushed a little. She looked around to see exactly where they were, it was past day time and Luna’s moon was rising up into the sky. They were near the outskirts of Ponyville, still close to Sweet Apple Acres.
“What time even is it?” Rainbow asked out in thought.

“Reckin’ its around eight o’ clock” Applejack said while rubbing her chin with her hoof.

“You just kinda want to hang out at your house?” Rainbow Dash asked, not even worrying about eating now.

“Sure why not, sounds fun” Applejack shook off a little more, trying to get the mud off of her. “Les not take ‘r time though, we needa clean up”

Rainbow Dash leads the way, walking back the path they just walked on. “So.. Who is going first?” She smiled softly at Applejack.

“Who said anything bout goin’ seperatly.” Applejack gave Dash a sly grin, implying what she wants to do.

“Like what, share the shower? That sounds fun to me.” Rainbow smiled and flapped her wings a few times, settling them some.

They took a lot less time to get back to AJ’s barn, eager to rid the thick mud caked in their coats. They walked to the door, opening it. “Granny smith is asleep by now, and Big Mac doesn’t come home for another few hours, Applebloom is over at Fluttershy’s, so we basically have the house to ourselves.” They walked into Applejack’s large bathroom; Rainbow Dash looked at the large shower in front of her. Rainbow hesitantly got into the shower, nervousness creeping up her spine.

“Would ya relax? Yer practically shakin outa yer skin.” Applejack nuzzled Rainbow softly, kissing her on a less mud covered part of her face.

Applejack leaned forward and turned the knobs some, water pumping out like a geyser. She put one of her hooves in the stream, testing the temperature. “How do you like your showers Dashie? Steaming hot, or warm?”

RD smiled softly and tilted her head a bit in thought. “I am more partial to-o warm showers” She was still somewhat nervous standing in the shower with Applejack. Don’t stare at her flank, don’t stare at her flank.. Her mind repeated over and over.

Applejack fiddled with the knobs a little, tested them and then smiled, looking at Dash. She pulled the knob, turning both shower heads on, drenching Rainbow and herself quickly. She laid down next to Dash, simply letting the water do its job and rinse off the mud. She looked at Dash, who was still obviously nervous. Applejack laid her head down and smiled at Dash. “Jus’ lay down and relax Dash, you look like you saw a ghost yer somethin”

Rainbow looked at Applejack and laid next to her nodding softly. “You really like me back?” Rainbow finally stuttered out.

“Is that what yer so nervous about? Shoot Rainbow I knew you liked me for the longest time, and I liked you back, I was jus waitin’ for you to make up yer mind.” Applejack nuzzled up to Dash, mud still on both of them. “How bout I help clean you up?” Applejack stood up and grabbed a brush in her teeth, trotting over and scrubbing Dash’s coat slowly.

“You really mean it?” Dash said softly. She was always worried Applejack would stop being friends with her just for bringing up the idea, and now she is sitting in a large shower with AJ brushing her coat to get her clean. She smiled and stood up, surprising Applejack a little. Rainbow grabbed the brush out of Applejack’s mouth and pushed her up against the wall of the shower, water streaming down both of their faces. Rainbow leaned in and kissed Applejack softly, getting a cleaner taste this time from the orange mare’s lips. She let her wings finally spring out, the joints getting sore from her holding them down.

Applejack simply wrapped her hooves around Rainbows neck, kissing her back softly. Applejack smiled a little and ran her hoof through Dash’s mane, the colorful mane grabbing at her hoof. She sat down, the water running over Dash’s and her face. She kissed her back gently for a while, excitement zapping up her body.

They kissed just a little longer before Rainbow pulled away some “I don’t think I am ready to go too far yet, it’s only been a few hours.” She looked into Applejack’s eyes, getting lost in the green of her iris. She sat in front of Applejack, enjoying the warmth of the water running through her mane.

They were both clean now, the warm water doing what it does best. “That’s fine Dashie, we can always save the fun parts for later anyways.” Applejack gave RD a small wink, smirking a little afterwards. “How bout we finish up here and go to sleep?” Applejack asked, smiling softly.

Rainbow Dash nodded her head a little, smiling back. Good, she is willing to hold back for now, Rainbow thought to herself, a soft inner sigh escaping.

They both helped each other wash their backs, finishing before the water got too cold. They stepped out of the shower and dried off, heading to Applejack’s room. In the room was a large apple themed bed, fitting for a pony three times Applejack’s size.

“A’ll let ya have the window side, it is more comfortable.” Applejack said while climbing into the opposite side of the bed. She looked at Rainbow who followed suit, climbing in on the side of the window. Applejack looked into Rainbow Dash’s eyes and so did Rainbow to Applejack. They smiled and snuggled up to each other, giving a soft kiss before heading to sleep.