The sun had been down for a good hour and the stars were brightly shining when I secretly made my way over Sweet Apple Acres. I walked over to the side of the house where Applejack’s bedroom was and stood outside her window for a second. When I realized she wasn’t in the window, I cupped my hands around my mouth and started to call for her. I was whispering and yelling at the same time because I didn’t want to chance waking up one of her family members. Still, there was no sign of her, so I bent over, picked up a small stone, and tossed it at her window. It was a direct hit, so I waited a second for her to appear. I picked up another small stone and tossed it just as she opened the window.

“Ow!” she said, the stone hitting her right between the eyes. “Ah’m comin, ah’m comin,’” she assured, and shut the window. I ran over to a tree and sat behind it and eagerly awaited her to join me. I was excited and nervous at the same time; nervous because we were doing this in secret, excited because it was Applejack, and every single minute I spent with her was like spending a lifetime in heaven.

Just as I looked over the side of the tree to see where she was, she plopped down beside me on the side I wasn’t looking, causing me to jump up in fear. We both came close to cracking up in laughter that might risk waking up her family, but she placed her hoof on my mouth to prevent me from laughing and I placed my hand on hers to do likewise.

“Come on!” she whispered, and we took off running into the orchard. I burst ahead of her competitively and smiled with triumph, but just after I ran ahead, I felt my arms come in tight against my body, and before I knew it, I was lassoed on the ground. Applejack chuckled as she ran by.

“Trussed up like a turkey!” she yelled to me. It took me a second to realize what just happened, but when I did, I laughed and pulled the rope off of me and ran after her. I was already having so much fun.

We exited the orchard and stopped right in the middle of a meadow where we could lay down in the grass and gaze up at the stars. Applejack laid down in the grass and tilted her head toward the skies, and with her eyes closed, she took a deep breath of the fresh air. She opened her eyes wide and looked at me, as happy as ever. It really hit me at that moment what Granny Smith had said about her, and how she had always been a happy filly, but when I came into her life, she was somehow even happier and brighter. I smiled right back at her and laid down beside her.

“I wonder what kind of dreams our friends are having right now,” I said, gazing up at the night sky.

“Ah’ reckon Rainbow is the captain of the Wonderbolts right now,” she said.

“I bet Fluttershy is in the Canterlot garden surrounded by a bunch of animals. Rarity is making outfits for the Princess in Canterlot,” I said, and we both started to chuckle.

“Twilight is in a library surrounded by a bunch of magic books n’ that sort,” said Applejack.

“Pinkie is… hmmm… what do you suppose Pinkie dreams of?” I said. Applejack raised her hoof to her chin in thought.

“Pinkie? Hmmm, ah’ bet she dreams of… oh horseapples, ah’ don’t have a clue what Pinkie dreams of,” she said, and I just broke up in laughter that caused her to do the same. When we finished, I took a deep breath.

“When I was a young kid, I used to dream of a better life then the one I had. A life where I could experience true friendship, and maybe even true love if I was capable of it. That’s why being out here with you right now… well… it’s like a dream come true,” I said, turning towards her. Applejack lowered her head from the sky and looked at me like she never had before. She smiled, but tears were forming in her eyes. The look itself was enough to make my heart melt a thousand times over again. She closed her eyes and rested her head on mine.

“Saturday night,” she said, pulling her head back.

“What?” I said, confused. I honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

“Saturday night, sugarcube,” she said again. Her eyebrows were now down in a way that she had this devious smile on her face, as though she knew some dirty little secret. I looked at her again, except now I was smiling in bewilderment.

“What are you talking about?” I said again, my hands in the air.

“I talked with mah friend, Princess Cadence, the alicorn. You and me at the waterfall in the Everfree Forest, we’re gettin’ married on Saturday night, sugarcube,” she said, her eyebrows going up.

I looked at her with wide-open eyes for but a second, and then I threw my arms around her and hugged her as tight as I could, tears streaming down my face. Words simply could not describe how I was feeling. It was not a dream come true; it was more than that. When I came to Ponyville, I had no plans of falling in love outside of the love you see in friendship. Then Applejack happened.

The next thing I remember is getting up and yelling “yee haw!” at the moon like some kind of crazy cowboy. I danced a jig while Applejack laughed at me in amusement. I finally settled down and gently sat down beside her. I stared into those beautiful green eyes and raised my hand to her cheek.

“Thank you,” I whispered. Applejack lost herself in my eyes, and finally I rested my head on her belly. Snuggling with Applejack so innocently, that’s what I dream of, I thought as I drifted away on the warmest, softest pillow a creature could ask for. Applejack lowered her head to the grass, and together we drifted away, unaware of what lay ahead.