Annotations

by bookplayer

Chapters

• To Tell the Truth (Chapter 1) - Fic is rated MATURE
• The AppleDash Project (What's So Great About Cider)
• The AppleDash Project (Tough Ponies)
• Best Young Flyer (Too Late)
• To Tell the Truth (Chapter 3) - Fic is rated Mature
• The AppleDash Project (A Better Pony)
• A Fact for Twilight

To Tell the Truth (Chapter 1) - Fic is rated MATURE

Annotations in blue, because I like blue. This commentary is not as serious as the fic, I hope you guys don't mind. I will sometimes joke at inappropriate times.

Okay, first up, talking to Discord. I'm not saying now if it's Discord or not, but I'll tell you why this is part of the story. I needed someone to say the worst things AJ was thinking. AJ would never admit that she thinks like this, and I wasn't about to turn anyone in Ponyville out of character to say them, but Discord makes the perfect mouthpiece for this. And you have to admit, if he had access to somepony's mind and found these things, he'd go for it.

I was in this garden like ones I've seen in Canterlot. There was a big hedge 'round it, and no way in or out. And there, in the center, was that darn statue.

“How did your date go, Applejack?” His voice said. I'd had this dream too many times, it wasn't really him. Or I didn't think it was him. Or if it was him he couldn't do nothin' but read my mind, so as long as he stayed in my mind he was just a nuisance.

“Shove it.” I snapped. I might be stuck here till I woke up, that didn't mean I hadta be polite to Discord.

“That well? Don't worry, I know. Rainbow Dash's hooves were particularly eager tonight, weren't they?”

I didn't say nothin'.

“You were especially eager as well. That was one of the funniest parts.”

“Glad it gave ya' a laugh.” I said, glarin' at the statue.

“Oh, it did! And the look on her face when you told her again that you. . . how do you always put it? You aren't ready yet?”

I sighed. “I'm not. Dash loves me. She understands.”

“Of course. She understands that you don't want to have sex with her. That's all she needs to know, it gives her that delightful disappointed expression.”

“I do wanna be with her. I wanna make her understand, but. . .” I trailed off, cause there was really no use explainin' things to some voice in my head no matter how annoyin' he was.

“Let me finish that for you. 'But the Element of Honesty can't tell the truth'. You know, I've always suspected that they just handed those to the first ponies who came along. I shouldn't have bothered teaching you the failures of honesty, it turns out you built your life around the beauty of lies.”

I'm actually with Discord here. I mean, not that AJ isn't honest, but the excuses for giving them their elements were pretty flimsy. AJ's especially. (And I'm sorry, but if Dash couldn't figure out that the Shadowbolts, whom she'd never heard of and happened to be hanging around the ruins of an old castle and couldn't wait 5 damn minutes for her to tie a rope weren't eeeevil, then she's dumber then she looks. That's not loyalty, that's common sense.)

“I'm not lyin!" I yelled. "I'm just not ready to tell her yet.”

“There seem to be a lot of things you're not ready for. You'll never be ready. It's for the best, really, you wouldn't want anything to overshadow your memories of that glorious first time.”

I couldn't take no more. I ran and bucked the statue, hard. It didn't do nothin', it never did. The statue wasn't real stone, it was somethin' from a dream.

He just went on, “I tip my hat to your uncle for sowing that seed. It just laid buried, waiting to grow into a wedge between you and anypony you'll ever love. I couldn't have done it better myself.”

And this is me almost giving away that this is very similar to what Discord did to AJ, just a more serious version.

I just fell down, cryin', 'til the alarm clock rang and pulled me back to the real world.

***

I'm gonna take a minute here and talk about first person: I love first person. And I love first person in AJ accent especially. I don't know if it gets on anyone's nerves, but in my original fiction novel I have a character with an accent similar to AJ's, and I have dozens of side stories for her that are first person. So I'd always wanted a first person AJ fic, and this was it. I don't think I could do this fic without being inside her head.

I hadta tell Rainbow Dash the truth.

It hurt to admit it. That here I was, Element of Honesty herself, and right in the middle of my life was a great big lie. I never told a lie 'bout it, not that it woulda worked if I tried since I'm so bad at lyin'. I just told the truth 'round it and let folks believe what they wanted.

But not tellin' the whole truth had made somethin' that sure looked like a lie. And now me and Dash had been datin' a few months, and I could see the lie gettin' bigger. Just like before, I never had to say nothin' that wasn't true, just had to let her think it.

She thought I was shy 'bout lettin' her touch me cause it was my first time. 'Cause I was careful 'bout stuff like that. And now that it'd been a couple months, I could see her startin' to think maybe I didn't want her that way, maybe I didn't think she was special enough for my first time.

None of that was true. She wasn't gonna be my first time. She missed that by more then a decade.

More then a decade is an estimate, of course. My head canon puts the events of Cutie Mark Chronicles about 12 or 13 years ago. But one thing I do as a writer is try not to contradict other peoples head canons whenever possible.

I was standin' in the farmyard watchin' for her when I saw her flyin' in fast. For the time bein' I pushed all of it to the back of my mind, where it belonged. It didn't belong here on Sweet Apple Acres, or in Ponyville, or in my life.

This and the next part actually get closest to my reasons for writing the story, the idea that most of the time you can't tell who might have been affected by something like this. They act like normal, and usually they aren't going to come out and tell anyone but very close friends. The next couple of lines were supposed to be typical Applejack/Rainbow Dash teasing, to show that there's no reason to suspect that AJ might have had something like this happen.

Dash landed in front of me with a grin. “Ready to go? I thought we'd race to Sugarcube Corner, loser buys the cupcakes.”

I grinned back. She made it so easy to forget. If there's one thing Dash knew how to do it was grab my attention and keep herself smack in the center of it. How could I not fall in love with that? It made up for an awful lot of her big head and bigger talk.

“Sure thing!” I answered before I could think.

“Great! Make sure you've got the bits.” She teased.  

“Course I do. I'll be usin' them to get a drink since you'll be buyin' my cupcakes.”

“On your mark. . . get set. . .“

So, I went back and forth on this. The scene almost ended here, with me saving her telling Dash for another chapter. However, one thing about me: I love dialogue. If my characters have problems, and there is somepony they can talk about their problems with, they will talk. So even if it would have been more dramatic later, I wouldn't have had somepony for AJ to talk to about it until later. That would have been hard to write, and I don't write things that are hard for me to write.

“Hold it.” I said, shakin' my head. I woulda much rather raced to Sugarcube Corner than have this talk. But I had to have this talk, and I had to do it before she got hurt. “Dash? I can't go to Sugarcube Corner right now. I gotta talk to ya' a bit, someplace private.”

“Is this a bad talk?” Dash asked, seemin' worried.

I didn't really know what to say. It was a real bad talk, but not the way she meant. She meant was I gonna break up with her, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

“It's. . . Don't you worry, okay? Just let's find someplace and lemme say my piece.”

She didn't seem all that happy with my answer, but she walked with me towards the far orchards. She didn't even fly, and she brushed up against me, I guess tryin' to figure if I'd pull away. I didn't, I walked as close with her as I could. I wanted to feel her there.

I spent years hidin' from gettin' this close with anypony. But when Dash asked me out one day, I couldn't help givin' her a shot. She's pretty, anypony can see that. And we were best friends, and I trusted her all the way. If I was ever gonna be in love, I wanted it to feel like that.

Turns out it did feel like that. Everythin' was just the same, we still fought and played, but now there were rough kisses after a good game, and Dash's teasin' way of flirtin' smoothin' the edges off harsh words. I loved every second of it, and every darn day I looked forward to seein' her.

The only real problem was what I hadta talk to her 'bout today. Dash moved fast in datin' as much as anywhere else, and I knew I was tryin' her patience when two months in I still pulled away if her hooves moved to my flank. I had to make her see that it was tryin' my patience, too. That I loved kissin' her, and havin' her close, and I wanted more so bad. But soon as she got any farther back than my cutie mark it felt all wrong, and I had to pull away.

This story line worries me a little. Not all abuse survivors have problems like this. It's kind of a cliche. But at the same time, some of them do. And it's a cliche because it makes a dramatic representation of the problems abuse can cause. It's one of the things I hope to handle carefully, which is why I haven't done a lot with it yet. It makes me a little nervous.

After a ten minute walk where neither of us said much of anythin', I went and sat down under a tree. I knew Mac was workin' on the other side of the farm, and there was nothin' 'round us but apple trees so Apple Bloom and her friends wouldn't show up.

I have no idea how big Sweet Apple Acres is. I have no idea how fast ponies walk. But ten minutes sounded good for some privacy.

Dash flew up in the air a little. I didn't mind so much. She was nervous, she liked to be ready to fly if she had to. I trusted her, she was my friend. She wouldn't fly away from me.

“So. Talking?” Dash said, rubbin' the back of her head with her hoof.

“It's 'bout me, and why I have trouble bein' close with you.” I looked down. I knew I was bein' foolish, but I felt so darn embarassed, my cheeks were red and I was fightin' back tears, and I hated it. I just wanted to be back at Sugarcube Corner, with my marefriend and a cupcake.

“O-kay. . .” She said, a little uncomfortable. I dunno whether that was cause she was worried 'bout a break up, or cause she wasn't real good with sharin' feelin's and stuff.

I took a deep breath. This was the time, and I knew the words, so I just had to spit 'em out for the first time in my life. “I. . . I was raped, Dash. So gettin' close to another pony is kinda-”

Dash went off like a firework before I could finish. Her eyes were wide and she was flyin' this way and that.  “WHAT?! No way. When? Who? I'll kill 'em! How could somepony. . . I mean, you're as tough as me! Were you drugged or something?”

Dash is a subscriber to the theory that tough ponies can't get raped. She is probably wrong, but this is a story and not an essay on rape, because I'm never going to write an essay on rape.

I just sat there, quiet. I couldn't fight with 'er for a chance to talk just now, I was pretty sure I'd start cryin'. I'd just have to wait for her to settle down.

She noticed for once. Her face went soft, and she flew right down to me and put a hoof on my shoulder. “Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I just. . . what happened?”

I looked down so my hat hid my face. “It was a while ago. A long time ago, really, when I was in Manehatten. My uncle. . . I don't really wanna talk 'bout this, Dash.”

Her mouth fell open, and she whispered, “You were just a little filly?”

I nodded and glanced up.

She looked for a second like she was gonna cry, but Dash don't like to cry anymore then I do. She grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes. “I'm. Gonna. Kill him. I'm gonna kill that sick bastard with my own hooves!”

I sighed, “Don't Dash. It was a long time ago, and I don't want nopony else to know. I just wanted you to know the reason I have trouble when we get close. It ain't cause I don't love ya.”

Oh boy am I in a corner here. I know folks in the comments of the story are calling for blood along with Dash, but that was never my intention for the story. I won't say how it ends, but it's probably not with the death and/or dismemberment of uncle Orange. Unless I cave to the pressure of the comments (wouldn't be the first time.)

“No wonder you have trouble! AJ, I will never, ever push you. I'm totally here for you, however you need me. If you wanna talk about it, just tell me to shut up. And I'll never tell anypony, I promise.” She looked in my eyes, and I could see how sorry she was for me. “I love you, and it kills me that you had something like that happen to you. I just want to fix this, and I can't. But tell me anything I can do to make it better, it'll happen right away, no questions.”

I smiled a little. “Sugarcube, you already made it better. You were the rainbow that reminded me where my home was, where I could be safe and happy again. Without you, who knows how long. . . I'll never be able to repay ya', Dash.”

“If I could give up every sonic rainboom I ever did to make that not have happened to you, you know that I would.” She said, those pretty magenta eyes lookin' into mine. I could see she meant it with all her heart.

I was really glad no one tried to argue me on this line. Because I know that Dash would say that if any of her friends had something like this happen, and I know she would absolutely do it if she could. I was worried that someone might say it was OOC and I'd have to smack them down.

I pulled her into a hug. There was nothin' more I could say 'bout it, really. She hugged me back so tight I could feel her forelegs shakin'. It almost hurt, but it felt good to know somepony so strong loved me so much.

We held each other for a bit, but I'd spent too much of today on this already. I had to get back to my real life before I started thinkin' too much, so I whispered to her, “Can we race to Sugarcube Corner now?”

She pulled away, lookin' confused. “Are you sure you want to? I mean, whatever you want.”

“I wanna race ya' to Sugarcube Corner, I wanna have a fight 'bout who wins, I wanna see Pinkie Pie and whoever else stops by this evenin', and laugh and have a good time with my friends.” I said with a smile.

Dash was just starin' at me. “I can't believe you just. . . live with this.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Now, what else am I supposed to do?”

She blinked. “I- I don't know. So we just race to Sugarcube Corner like everything's normal?”

“Everythin' is normal.” I said with a shrug.

“It is.” She said soft, and I could see her piecin' it together. It happened before I met her, before I met most of my friends. Every time we'd talked, every adventure we'd gone on, every fight we'd had, I was livin' with it. Whatever she thought of me this was part of it, even if she never knew before.

“It's over, sugarcube. Been and gone. How ya' know me is how I am. You just know me a little better then anypony else now.”

She smiled, but it wasn't a real happy smile. “Yeah, thanks for trusting me.”

“I love ya'. Now, let's have us a race.” I grinned and got up, and stretched out some. “Don't you even think 'bout lettin' me win. I'm gonna beat ya' fair and square.”

She just nodded. “Okay.”

That worried me a bit. It wasn't like her to just let me say somethin' like that, not without talkin' smack back at me. But I didn't have time to think much on it, 'cause a second later she was in position, so I took mine beside her and nodded.

Alright, y'all, I know everyone is in love with supportive Dash, and she's certainly doing everything she knows how to help, but I hope you can see where this is going to turn into a problem between her and AJ. AJ wants things to be normal. That doesn't really included Dash babying her. Nopony is to blame there, but it's going to come up soon.

She took a breath. “On your mark. . . get set. . . go!”

***

After that I just went about my life like always. Most days, I never even thought about it. I got up, filled up my time with workin' or bein' with friends, and if I got some time to really think it was about how beautiful my farm was, or how much fun my life was. Most days I was one of the happiest ponies in Equestria, which is how I reckon it oughta be.

That's why what happened a few days later caught me so off guard.

Me and Mac were workin' together, stackin' barrels of apples in the barn. He was as good company as he always is, so you coulda heard a pin drop unless I got it in my head to tell him somethin', but I didn't mind much. That was just how workin' with my brother was, and I kinda liked it.

I set down a barrel and asked 'im, “Ya' hear from Braeburn recently?”

“Eeyup.” He said.

“How's he doin'?”

“Good.”

“How's the family?” I asked. I had to keep on askin' questions if I ever wanted to know anythin'.

Mac set down a barrel. “Good. His niece is goin' to stay in Manehatten like you did.”

I'd just loaded up another barrel on my back, but at that I froze. “With Aunt and Uncle Orange?”

“Eeyup.”

I turned so fast the barrel fell offa my back. “No! We gotta write and stop 'er!”

Mac looked at me like I lost my mind. “AJ, just cause the city wasn't for you, don't mean-”

“It ain't the city, Mac. It's Uncle Orange. He's-” I stopped. I couldn't say it, so I just said, “He ain't good folks. No filly oughta be stayin' with him. You gotta believe me, this is real important.”

“I believe ya'.” Mac said, still seemin' calm. “But ya' never said nothin' before, and I never heard nothin' like this from anypony else who stayed there.”

“Who else stayed there?” I said, feelin' my stomach churnin. We got such a big family, sometimes it's all ya' can do to say howdy to one pony before you're talkin' to somepony else. But if I'd heard any of my cousins were goin' there, I sure woulda said somethin'. Maybe not everythin', but somethin'.

“Well, Apple Fritter went a few years after you did, and Apple Tarty. Guess after that I kinda lost track. All them foals, ya' know.”

I was just starin' at him. Fritter and Tarty were just a few years younger then me. Likely I was too young for anypony to mention it when they went. And Mac was right, with all the foals in the family nopony could really keep track of who was doin' what and who all got their cutie marks.  

And nopony knew not to send their fillies to stay with the Oranges. Nopony knew, cause I didn't say nothin'. Who knew how many of my cousins mighta been in that place with him, mighta been through what I went through, all because I was too scared to warn 'em. All I could do was pray to Celestia that I was the only one, that it only happened that one time. But I didn't have a lot of hope for that.

“Applejack? What's goin' on?” Mac looked so worried 'bout me it near broke my heart. I must've looked as scared as I felt.

I opened my mouth, but I couldn't make myself talk. If I told 'im, Mac was gonna feel awful. He was my big brother, he was supposed to keep stuff like this from happenin'. Not only that, but he'd think I was dumb for not sayin' anythin'. Especially now, when we'd just figured that any number of our folks mighta been in danger 'cause of me.

I really can't imagine anything worse for AJ, than realizing that hiding the truth has put her family in danger. It's the perfect torture for her.

“I. . . I. . . I feel sick.” I said, and it was the truth.

I ran outta the barn to the bathroom in the house, and I threw up all my breakfast. Then I started to cry and I just couldn't stop. I laid down on the floor of the bathroom and it all came back to me like it happened yesterday.

I am trying to be judicious with my "crying on the bathroom floor" scenes. This is one of them. But it's really really important to me that AJ doesn't have a breakdown every chapter. She has a new, sickening perspective on things but she has also lived with this for years. How she normally acts is how she deals with it.

He was so nice to me the whole time I stayed there. That night he was tellin' me how pretty I was and how grown up I seemed. But while he was talkin', he started puttin' his hooves on me, nudgin' me to sit closer to him. Then he told me we were gonna do something that'd make me real grown up. I started to get scared, and he said I was actin' like a little foal from Ponyville and not a sophisticated Manehattenite. So I did what he told me.

Important to note here: This is as graphic as the description will ever get. People who want to read things like that should not be reading them in this particular fic.

After, I couldn't stop cryin'. He said I was obviously too much of a baby for this, that I was real bad for makin' him think I was grown-up, and that anypony I told would know I was a bad girl cause I made him do this. I believed him 'cause I felt so dirty then, like I knew I'd done somethin' wrong.

When I got home, everypony was so proud of me for gettin' my cutie mark and takin' up farmin' that I just couldn't tell them, I couldn't let them be ashamed of me.

As I got older I got smart enough to see that it wasn't me who'd done somethin' wrong, that creep had lied to me on top of everythin' else. I felt like a fool for ever believin' him. I'd gone that long not tellin' anypony, and I figured if they never knew then they'd never see how dumb I'd been.

And none of that was any excuse for not tellin' the truth. I let down my family. I let other ponies get hurt the way I got hurt. I just wanted it all to go away so bad, and it was never goin' away. I couldn't see how I could ever look another pony in the eye, knowin' what I'd done.

But I couldn't stay in the bathroom forever. So I washed my face and hurried outside, callin' to Granny that I was gonna have a look at some trees in the south orchard. I'd been plannin' to do that tomorrow, but I couldn't go back to that barn and face Mac. He'd go back to askin' what happened, and I couldn't lie to him.

I couldn't lie, but I had years of practice at not tellin' the truth.

So there we go. Feel free to comment with any questions or if you wanted to add anything!

The AppleDash Project (What's So Great About Cider)

First, the title. It is both a question and a statement of what I intended to say in the fic. It's a little long, but I love it.

Cider had been acquired and drunk, and Applejack didn't lose her farm. It was truly a great day.

Rainbow Dash was curled up in a hay pile in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, napping with her empty mug propped in front of her nose so that she could dream she had more of the delicious apple beverage. She'd worked her tail off that morning, and while she normally would have selected a nice apple tree for napping, it was easier to get the cup to stay put in the hay. She discovered another benefit to sleeping closer to the ground when she awoke to feel a nuzzle at her cheek. The first thing she smelled was cider and the first thing she saw were those beautiful green eyes.

“Why isn't waking up this cool all the time?” She mumbled happily.

This was a happy accident. Dash sleeps up high most of the time. I never realized that until I had her waking up in the hay, but it means she almost never wakes up to seeing AJ, except maybe down below whipping apples at her.

Applejack chuckled, “Dash, I got a surprise for ya.”

“Yeah? A good surprise?” Dash said, blinking and yawning.

“I reckon it's towards the top of a list of things you want.” Applejack said, backing up to give Dash room to get up.

“You and Spitfire in a tub of cider?” Dash said with a grin as she rose to her hooves and stretched her wings.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Does that sound like somethin' I'm likely to have for ya'?”

I have a text document for each fic, where I jot down pieces of dialogue, or sometimes whole scenes if I think if them before it's time to write the chapter. The Spitfire thing was written long before I wrote this.

“A pony can dream.” Dash said. Her eyes fully adjusted to being awake and she noticed that AJ was wearing two bulging saddle bags with a pot hanging from one. But most the most important thing was the small wooden cask strapped to her back.

Dash's eyes grew wide. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yup.” Applejack said, grinning. “But ya' can't have any yet. We're gonna go down the Whitetail Woods and make a night of it.”

“Does making a night of it include. . .?” Dash asked hopefully.

AJ smirked, “Most likely.”

Dash flew into the air and did a small loop, grinning. “Yes! Sex and cider! You really do love me!”

Applejack laughed and shook her head. “I have never in my life seen a pony get so worked up over cider. I just don't get it. Now zap apples I could see, they're kinda special bein' magic and all, but cider's just pressed apples.”

“Zap apples are okay, I guess,” Dash said with a apathetic shrug. Then she grinned again. “But your cider is the best tasting thing in Equestria! So, what else do you have in there?”

“Stuff to really make cider. We sell it plain 'cause everypony likes it different, but if ya' really want somethin' special it just starts with fresh Sweet Apple Acres cider.”

If you can't tell from this fic, I love hot mulled apple cider. Not quite as much as Dash, but I can't wait for fall right now.

Dash's wings stopped in shock, and she fell to the ground. “There's something more special than cider? What are we waiting for!?”

“Nothin', Sugarcube. Let's get goin'” Applejack said, laughing at Dash as she set off at a brisk trot. Dash was right behind her.

They made their way to the Whitetail Woods as the sun was setting. Applejack lead the way to a clearing in the woods and used her tail to sweep it clean. Dash helped her to gather wood and light a bonfire in the center of the cleared area, well away from any trees. The night promised to be crisp and cool, and the fire provided a comfortable warmth.

Once the fire was going, Applejack put the pot on and emptied the cask of cider into it. Then she pulled a jar of what looked like dirt out of her saddle bag. She opened the jar and started to pour it into the pot.

“WAIT! What are you doing to the cider?” Dash asked, her eyes wide.

Applejack finished pouring, then set down the jar and laughed, “Calm down, Sugarcube. It's just spices. All part of the recipe.”

“Okay,” Dash said, suspiciously. “But if you messed up perfectly good cider. . .”

Applejack raised her eyebrows with a smirk, “I think I know a thing or two 'bout cider, Dash.”

I am still looking for a chance to work applejack (the beverage) into a fic. It almost went in here, but I didn't get to it.

If you've never checked out what applejack actually was: You take cider and ferment it, making hard cider (essentially apple beer.) Then you put the hard cider into a barrel, and let it sit outside all winter. When it freezes over you take out the chunks of ice, leaving the alcohol (this is called "jacking"). By the end of the winter you basically have apple moonshine, or applejack.

The stuff they sell in stores isn't made that way anymore (it's dangerous in all the ways regular moonshine is, but less likely to blow up), but I bet that's how the apple family makes it.

Dash rolled her eyes. “I guess so. We'll see.”

Applejack settled in next to the fire, and Dash sat down across the fire from her, staring intently at the pot warming there.

After a little while Applejack said softly, “Dash, I gotta thank ya'.”

“Huh?” Dash asked, looking up from the pot. “Oh, no problem. You don't think I'd let you lose your farm without doing what I could to help, do you?”

“No, I mean, well, thank ya for helpin' today, but I really gotta thank ya' for the talk we had on the train ride home the other day. If I didn't feel like I had you when I thought we lost, I. . . I can't even think what I woulda done. But it wouldn't have been pretty, lemme tell ya.”

Dash smiled. “Yeah, when Granny agreed to take them on I was a little afraid your head would explode.”

Seriously, check out that scene in the episode. AJ looks like she's going to be sick when Granny bets the farm. I'm pretty sure she wanted to put Granny in a nursing home right then.

“No kiddin'. It may be that no one calls Granny a chicken, but I had a mouth full of words I wouldn't have minded callin' her at the time.” She sighed and shook her head. “I did not need that all that stress. What all did she think we were gonna do if we'd lost?”

Okay, so coming off of The Last Roundup, this was going to be much more of the chapter. And it probably should have been. But I was worried about beating it into the ground, and I was worried that people weren't reading my stuff for the drama, so I backed off. Right choice? I have no idea. But this chapter is one of my favorites, so I'm happy at least.

“Take up cherry farming?” Dash said with a teasing grin.

Applejack gave a bemused stare.

“I hear it makes a nice change from apples.” Dash couldn't help snickering.

“And here I thought you wanted some cider. . .” Applejack said with a smirk.

Dash's face fell in an instant, and she responded quickly, “I'll never mention cherries again. There's no such fruit.”

Applejack laughed and picked up the ladle to stir the cider.

This brought Dash's attention back to the pot of cider, and she grinned eagerly. “Is it ready yet?”

“It takes time, Dash.” Applejack said with the ladle still in her mouth.

I can write AJ's accent without thinking. I can't write ponies with stuff in their mouths.

“You're teasing me. Stirring that right in front of me.”

Applejack lowered her eyelids seductively. She slowly circled the ladle around the pot, lifting it and letting the cider drip out.

“Wow,” Dash said, a familiar tension growing in her wings. “Now I want you and the cider.”

Applejack set the spoon aside and sat back down. “Give it time and you'll get both. What is it 'bout the cider that drives ya' so crazy?”

“I don't know.” Dash got a dreamy smile thinking of the drink. “It's just. . . really amazingly good.”

“So's apple pie, but I never see ya' try to eat it off the dirt.” Applejack pointed out.

“I can have apple pie any time. Cider is special. It only comes around once a year, and you can only get it here.”

“Other places got cider, Dash. Maybe not Sweet Apple Acres cider, but. . .”

Dash shook her head, “No, I mean. . . on the ground. I never had cider until I moved away from Cloudsdale.”

“Oh.” AJ said, mildly surprised. “Well, I suppose not. It don't keep well, that's why we sell it fresh.”

Dash got a far away look as she remembered her first mug of cider. “It's so different from anything I'd had before. The first time, I couldn't believe what I was tasting, it was like drinking the best apple ever. It's the weirdest, coolest thing in the world. Cider is like everything good about the ground in a cup.”

Applejack smiled a little. “I guess I never thoughta that. I mean, I been 'round cider my whole darn life. 'Course, I been on the ground my whole darn life, too.”

“Yeah.” Dash nodded. “Try to imagine moving to Cloudsdale. Think about how weird and different everything would seem. Stuff I grew up with, like lightning fizz or snowcloud slushies, might be amazing to you. I should have made you get some of that while we were there for the young flyers competition, but it seems so boring to me that I completely forgot that you've never tasted anything like it.”  

I want lightning fizz. I made it up and I still want to try it. I imagine it tastes something like Mountain Dew, but way more awesome.

“I guess somethin' that different would be awful special. Maybe we'll go again someday. I'm glad you like the cider here, though.” She was still smiling gently at Dash, and Dash smiled back.

“It's my second favorite thing on the ground.”

Applejack blushed a little, then looked down at the simmering pot. “I think this is done now. Now this is a family recipe, passed down for years. All the ponies in line just go and drink their cider up, they never bother to do it right. This is how the Apples do it, so you know it's good.”

She picked up the ladle, and scooped some into a mug for each of them. Dash grinned and picked up the mug with a reverence she usually reserved for items The Wonderbolts had personally touched.

I capitalize The in The Wonderbolts. This is because the wikia capitalizes it. I usually refer to the wikia as my style guide for anything pony related. In this case it's probably wrong, and I might stop, but I'm not about to go back and edit all my fics.

Rainbow Dash stuck her muzzle in the top of the mug and breathed in deeply. The heat made the smell of the cider even stronger, and the spices added the scents of cinnamon and nutmeg and a few more subtle ingredients. But as if that wasn't enough, the faint scents of woodsmoke in the crisp air, the trees around her, and the earth they were sitting on mingled with the unbelievable beverage. To a pegasus more used to the smells of fresh air and clouds it was an exotic and powerful combination.

First of all, I love cider and I love camping. So this is pretty much "what Emily loves about cider and camping." And I honestly think it's one of the best things I've ever written, and I include my novel in that.

It's strange, I never describe things. When I try to do it in the flow of writing, it's awful. But when I stop the story to do it, I'm not half bad.

Second, notice how Dash turned to Rainbow Dash up there? I sometimes do that when I feel like a line or paragraph is important, or sweet, or extra nice in some way. AJ becomes Applejack a lot more often, you can't always tell with her because it's one word, but she's usually Applejack when I think a line is important.

“What is this?” Dash whispered.

“Just cider and spices, heated up. You okay?” Applejack said, sounding worried. But Dash focused only on the cider.

“I'm. . . I'm. . .” Dash took a sip and a huge grin spread over her face, tears of joy in her eyes. “You. . . made. . . cider. . . better. Oh my gosh, I should have known you're the only pony who could make cider even better!”

Yet another reason AppleDash is best ship.

“I'm glad ya' like it.” Applejack chuckled.

Dash looked at AJ, who sat illuminated by flickering firelight, smiling at Dash and drinking her own mug of cider happily. Around them the peaceful forest occasionally gave way to rustling and far away calls of animals going about their business. The fire crackled and popped, and the scents of the cider and clearing still filled her nose.

Dash loved clouds. She loved the air, and she loved flying more than anything in the world. But this seemed like a totally different world, like a dream or a story. Nothing in the sky, in her cloud house, or in all of Cloudsdale could offer this combination of sensations. For this moment, this forest clearing was a little world of everything amazing about cider.

Clouds are neat, but you can't go camping on clouds.

She took a long drought, then set down her mug and walked over to Applejack. For some reason it felt like flying would break the spell. Applejack set down her cider, smiling warmly as Rainbow Dash leaned in and kissed her.

The taste of cider and Applejack's lips mingled on Dash's tongue, and she pushed the completely willing earth pony to the ground. After a long, deep kiss she pulled away and looked into AJ's eyes. She wanted to try to explain it, but she didn't think Applejack could really get how awesome this all was. Cider was normal to her. Woods were normal. Laying on the ground was normal.

Rainbow Dash reached over and picked up Applejack's mug and took a drink. She set it back down and as she leaned in to kiss Applejack again, she said the only words she could think of to get across how this felt.“I really love cider.”

Me too, Dash.

Feel free to comment with questions, or to add anything.

The AppleDash Project (Tough Ponies)

Applejack stared at the wall of her dark bedroom. She was so tired, and all she wanted was sleep. She tried closing her eyes once again, but she was greeted by the same terrifying yellow eyes, and echoing laughter. Her eyes snapped open a second later.

With her eyes open, she could see that everything was normal. When she closed them, she couldn't be sure.

From behind her in her bed, she heard a whimper, followed by a sharp cry of fear, and Dash's wings opened, ready to fly.

Applejack rolled over to face the pegasus. Rainbow Dash was still asleep, but the whimpering continued, and Applejack shook her gently. “Dash, wake up. It's a dream, Sugarcube. He ain't here, it's only me here.”

Dash gasped deeply for breath, and rose a few inches off the bed as her wings flapped in panic. She seemed to notice Applejack there and tucked her wings away, landing close against AJ. Applejack wrapped her forehooves around Dash, who returned the hug with almost uncomfortable force.

If you've never slept with someone who has nightmares, it sucks. Because you know they're going to be terrified when you wake them up, and there's nothing you can do to keep it from happening. No matter how gently you try to wake them, they're going to be startled and yell.

After catching her breath for a few seconds, Dash relaxed a little. “Sorry. You know. . .”

Applejack knew exactly. It was the reason that Dash had been sleeping at Sweet Apple Acres for the past week, and also the reason nopony knew it. Since they defeated Discord, neither of them had been able to sleep without the other. They would never admit it to anypony, and by mutual agreement they didn't say the word to each other, but they were scared.

Applejack couldn't close her eyes without seeing him. That meant that she didn't get to sleep until she was so tired she didn't know she was doing it. Dash had no problem falling asleep, but had awful nightmares once or twice a night. It was after one of those that she had flown to Sweet Apple Acres and knocked on AJ's window in a panic.

They both agreed that first night that taking over a pony's mind was low-down, dirty cheating. Fighting a dragon, they knew where they stood. Win, die, or run away. But the idea that they could have spent their lives as those hollowed out husks, never knowing friendship or love, or even that there was anything wrong with the world, was too much for the two straight forward ponies to take. They couldn't buck something that could use their own minds against them.

Okay, from an in character perspective, Discord is objectively terrifying. He can rewrite reality. He can rewrite reality. Not to mention that he's a chimera that's normally, like, five times as tall as a pony. Anyone want to face down a 30 ft tall monster who can rewrite reality? Didn't think so.

Fear burrowed into their minds even though he was defeated. They hated it, and they each knew exactly how much the other hated it. So Dash came to AJ's window every night, and they helped each other through it with as little fuss as they could.

My very favorite thing ever about this ship. AJ and Dash are the only ponies who would understand each other on this. They both like to think they're tough, they don't want to be scared and they don't want to be pitied. Now, it's a natural reaction to try to comfort someone who's scared, I'm not blaming any of the others. But none of them would understand that's not what AJ or Dash want. They want to feel strong, and in control.

AJ and Dash get each other.

“Yeah, I know. It's okay. Need some water or somethin'?” Applejack said in a low voice, so as not to wake the rest of the household.

“No.” Dash responded with a sigh, also keeping her voice down. “I just need to talk about something normal.”

Applejack nodded and relaxed into the pillow, letting go of Dash so that she could do the same. “Alright then. I got a new record.”

AJ being familiar with country music is canon (Luna Eclipsed). Dash being familiar with rock music is canon (Sonic Rainboom). They always use that phonograph thing, so I assume they buy records and listen to them.

Dash raised a skeptical eyebrow, “Is it one of those country music things?”

AJ smiled, “Sure is. I know you wanna hear it tomorrow.”

“You know, I think there's some kind of weather stuff I was supposed to do all day tomorrow.” Dash said with a smirk.

Applejack chuckled softly, “Funny how that always seems to work out.”

“It's not really that funny. You just have the worst taste in music.” Dash said as the smirk became a teasing grin.

“Beg pardon?” Applejack said, raising her eyebrows in mock offense, “You're the one that listens to that screamin' and yellin' rock music.”

Dash nodded. “Right. I listen to awesome rock, and you listen to lame country.”

Applejack grinned, “Oh, you wanted to hear me tell ya' again 'bout all the great and talented country music stars of history? Well sure. Now real country music started with-”

AJ so rarely gets to really tease Dash, so this is one of my favorite lines in The AppleDash Project.

“Please stop?” Dash interrupted. “I'll kiss you if you stop.”

Applejack chuckled, “I guess I can shut up for that.”

“Double win.” Dash grinned and pressed her lips to AJ's. It was a chaste kiss, neither of them was interested in doing anything in AJ's house.

The kiss broke, and they settled back into their pillows. AJ went on, “Anyhow, the record is Tawny Cash. You like Tawny Cash, remember?”

Johnny Cash worked so well here, having that nice pony-like noun for a last name as well as being a country musician that most rock fans have to admit is cool. And "cash" is canon for bits, I looked it up. (it's in Call of the Cutie)

“He's not bad.” Dash agreed. “Kinda mopey though.”

“Soulful is how it's generally put, Dash.”

“Whatever.” She replied. “It means the same thing. But at least Tawny Cash is tough and mopey. Maybe we can curl up and listen to it in the barn when you finish work.”

Applejack smiled, “I'd like that. I'll make a country fan outta ya' yet.”

Dash responded by rolling her eyes and pretending to gag. “Please, I was just looking to make out with my marefriend and listen to some okay music that just happens to be country. Rainbow Dash is not now, and is never going to be, a country fan.”

How most rock fans feel about Johnny Cash.

Applejack gave her a teasing grin, “I dunno, Dash, you'd look mighty cute in a stetson.”

She would.

“That's only because I look awesome in anything.” Dash grinned.

“Too bad we'd never find one big 'nough for-” Applejack interrupted herself with a yawn, “For your big head.”

“What time were you up yesterday?” Dash asked suspiciously.

“5 o'clock. Same as always.” Applejack said. Just saying it made her sleepy.

“And what time is it now?”

“1:30, or thereabouts.” AJ said as she yawned again.

“You were up this late last night, too. You need sleep, AJ.” Dash pointed out, surprisingly sensible for a change.

“I know, but I can't.”

Dash just nodded, “You should have said so earlier. Roll over and close your eyes.”

“Thanks, Sugarcube.” Applejack said as she rolled over, facing away from Dash. She closed her eyes.

There they were. Those awful yellow eyes staring back at her. The laughter started soon after that. Her body tensed, and she fought her instincts to keep her eyes closed, until she felt Dash's body pressed against her back, and heard her voice whispering, “Applejack, it's okay. He's not here. I'm here with you, I'm right here. I understand, and I love you. You're brave, AJ. We both are. We won't be like this forever. Everything out there is normal, and soon we'll be normal again too. Until then, I'll be right here for you. And you'll be here for me. That doesn't make us weak. It makes us way stronger then he was. . .”

That part makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

Rainbow Dash kept whispering to Applejack until all she could see was the darkness behind her eyelids, and all she could hear was Dash's voice. She was finally able to relax and drift off to sleep, and her last thought was of how lucky they both were to be strong enough to take care of each other.  

***

I almost never switch character perspectives in a chapter of The AppleDash Project. I write in a very tight third person (that is, it's third person but you're obviously in one pony's head.) and I'm always careful about that. It's one of my pet peeves when authors just jump around whenever they want. You're not supposed to do that in writing.

Anyway, any time I do switch it's when I change scenes, and in this story I separate that with a page break. This is one of three times I can think of, just because I wanted to add this scene.

Rainbow Dash awoke early the next morning to a knock at the door. She was expecting it, before she went to sleep she had turned off AJ's alarm clock. This plan involved making Applejack furious at her, and letting Big Mac know that Dash had been sleeping in his sister's room, but those weren't even in the top five most dangerous things she'd done this month. Of course, the Discord thing was throwing that list off a little.

Dash got up and flew to the door quickly, before the knocking could wake AJ. She opened the door to find Big Mac standing there. He looked surprised to see her, but she held a hoof to her mouth to signal him to be quiet until she could step out into the hall and close the door behind her.

AJ must have been really tired if Mac knocking woke Dash and didn't wake her. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Once the door was safely closed, Dash swallowed nervously. ”It's not what you think.”

Mac just stared at her.

“Applejack and I are. . . dealing with something. But she's barely had any sleep for the past few nights, and she can't get up and work today. So you're gonna let her sleep, and I'll do her chores. Got it?” She said, her voice barely cracking at all.

Yeah. . . "dealing with something." I probably wouldn't have bought that, if I were Mac.

“AJ know about this?” Mac asked.

“Well. . . not exactly." Dash admitted. "But you know she'll work herself to death before she'd think about taking care of herself. It's my job to take care of her, and right now that means letting her get some sleep.”

He seemed to consider this, then said slowly, “She ain't gonna be happy when she gets up.”

“Yeah, she'll be pretty mad at me, but I can take her.” Dash said, then she grumbled, “I'll be listening to a lot of country music to make up for this one.”

“Eyup.” Mac said, smiling.

Since Mac was smiling, and not trying to rip her wings off, Dash decided the plan was probably a success. The fact that success meant that she had to do AJ's chores just went to show the extreme level of sacrifice Rainbow Dash was willing to make for Applejack. “So, um, what kind of chores are these, exactly? Are there chickens to wake up or something?”

I personally love this little display of how little Dash knows about farming.

Mac raised his eyebrows, still smiling. “How 'bout if I take carea the chores, and you just deal with AJ?”

Dash grinned. “Deal.”

Mac turned and started down the stairs, while Dash turned back to the door to AJ's room.

“Sucker.” They both muttered at exactly the same time.

I think Dash got the better deal. She can always just fly out the window.

Feel free to ask about anything or leave your opinions!

Best Young Flyer (Too Late)

The first thing you read in any chapter of any of my fics is almost always the last thing I wrote. This fic is no exception. The Scoot telling off Dash part was one of the first things I wrote in the entire story. . . sort of. More on that later. Then I wrote the reactions, then I realized that I could actually publish this chapter and get comments if I just sat my butt in a chair and wrote a beginning. So here is it.

After the Wonderbolts performance at the Gala, Scoot met up with Dash to fly home. Scoot was on top of the world, she had a great time with Sweetie and Apple Bloom, and then a pretty amazing time with Skylark. Dash seemed quiet, Scoot thought she probably had a much more boring time. But even if she was quiet, Scoot still had to talk to her. The sooner Scoot told her about Skylark, the easier it would be.

As they flew, Scoot tried to start the conversation. “I had an awesome time, thanks so much for bringing me Dash. I got to hang out with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, and I ran into Skylark. . .”

“Yeah?” Dash asked casually.

“Yeah.” Scoot smiled a little and took a nervous breath.  “I even asked her out, like, on a date. . .”

Dash was silent.

Scoot looked over at her, worried. “Dash? I mean, you know I've had a great time with you, right? But, you've gotta be getting bored with me, and I'd kinda like to have a real marefriend, ya' know?”

The older pegasus was staring straight ahead.

“Dash? Please say something.” Scoot pleaded. Dash couldn't be upset about this, could she? They'd agreed this was just until they found somepony else, and Dash had to know how hard it would be for Scoot to find somepony, she really had to jump at any chance she got.

I just noticed that Scoot asks herself more questions than any other character I write. I think it's a character thing- Scoot is more uncertain than other characters I usually write.

“We. . . need to talk.” Dash answered, banking to the side, towards some clouds waiting to cover Canterlot tomorrow.

Scoot followed, and landed on the clouds a few seconds after Dash.

She had barely tucked her wings in when Dash blurted out, “Scoot, I. . . I love you.”

Scoot's mouth fell open, and she just stared at Dash.

Dash grinned, “I really love you. So don't go out with Skylark. I'll be your marefriend and it'll be awesome.”

“But. . . but. . . why me? Why now?” Scoot couldn't feel anything but utter confusion.

“I've been feeling this way for a while but I was. . . waiting until the time was right to tell you. Heh, you kind of made it so I had to tonight.” Dash rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

“Why?”

“So that you don't go and fall in love with another pony?”

“No, I mean, why didn't you tell me? Why wasn't the time right? Why did you let me think-” Scoot remembered it suddenly, it all came flooding back. Every painful reminder that Dash wasn't hers. Every hour of worry about seeming too clingy or about the other pony Dash would fall in love with any day now. That had all been for nothing, a waste of time. But only Dash had known that.

Okay, so this was the first thing I wrote. But not this version. In the original version of the story, Scoot's big issue was going to be self confidence. She was going to be convinced that she wasn't good enough for Dash, and that Dash was lying about wanting to be with her. That felt like a good basis for a ScootaDash fic. But at the same time, I felt like this was kinda cliched. When you're writing the only ship fic for a pairing, and you feel like it's cliched, you're doing it wrong.

Then DbzOrDie told me I needed more scenes in chapter 2 (it was originally just the conversations between the mane six and the CMC.) One of the things I added was the bit at the end with Scoot forcing herself not to fall in love, because from the get go I wanted to make it clear that the plot here wasn't Scoot falling for Dash and getting her heart broken. But forcing herself not to fall in love really opened things up in terms of what her problem was going to be here. It made things more complicated, but. . . I'll get to that in a minute.

Scoot narrowed her eyes. “This is seriously uncool, Dash.”

“I'm sorry, Scoot. . . I thought you'd be happy.” Dash said, seeming pretty confused herself now.

“I thought I would be too!” Scoot snapped. “I didn't know you were messing with me for who knows how long! How long, Dash? How long was I freaking out like an idiot while you were falling in love?”

“A month or so.” Dash said, looking worriedly at Scoot. “I didn't know you were freaking out, you should have said something.”

“No, you should have said something! Because I was just trying to keep to the agreement that we both made. Apparently that agreement was only to make me crazy, you were allowed to feel however you wanted and I had to not fall in love with you.”

“Do you love me? Just tell me that, Scoot. I'll make up for everything, I promise.” Dash was past worried and moving towards panicked.

“No, I don't love you!” Scoot said with more ease then she ever could have imagined. Of course she never could have imagined being this angry at Dash. “Do you know what I put myself through, trying not to fall in love with you? All the time I spent reminding myself that this might be the last time I'd see you like this, that any other pony you smiled at might be the one you'd leave me for, all because I thought that little bit of pain was worth it to be with you. . .”

It's my theory that in any good emotional scene, whatever emotion you're trying to express, there should be at least one line where a character honestly tells another character (and the audience) what they're so emotional about. That was it.

Dash's eyes were wide, as if she couldn't believe this was happening. “It's okay now, Scoot. You don't have to do that anymore. You can love me. . . Please love me.”

“It's totally not okay! You thought I'd always be there, and I'd be happy enough just to be in the same room with you. That was what mattered, right? What about when I wasn't with you? Did you even think for a second about how I felt? That I might want a chance to love you and know you loved me, to think that maybe we had a future together?”

“I'm sorry, Scoot. I'm really-”

Scoot just glared at her and rose into the air. “Well don't worry about it now. You're a jerk, Rainbow Dash. I don't know why I ever cared about you.”

You know, sometimes I have trouble because I try to stick to MLP level language in dialogue, and "jerk" often doesn't pack the same punch as "fucking asshole." But I actually think that Scootaloo calling Rainbow Dash a jerk does pack that punch.

“Scoot, wait, let me explain.” Dash said, taking off as if to follow her.

“Let me go!” Scoot shouted.

She flew towards home as fast as she could. She knew she couldn't outfly Dash, so she just had to hope that she'd made herself perfectly clear. It seemed to have worked, Dash didn't follow her. When she got to her house she shoved open the door and flew straight to her bed, throwing herself on it and sobbing.

Okay, so here's where things get complicated. It's easy to explain "Scoot doesn't think she's good enough for Dash." What actually ended up happening is harder to explain, and this was where I tried to do it. I don't know whether I love or hate the next few paragraphs. They explain everything, and they're pretty emotional, but I would have liked to be able to explain it in one or two lines and just play with emotion the rest of the time.

This was hooves down the worst night of her life. How could she have been so close to an unbelievable dream, but find it so hollow? She could have loved Dash so easily. Or she always thought she could have. She never thought that Dash could be so selfish, so unfair.

This whole thing was unfair. Dash had no right to be selfish with her love when she had everything! She knew how little Scoot had, Dash knew the dreams Scoot had given up along the way because they just weren't possible. Dash never had to give up those dreams, is that why she just couldn't see how much a dream like being with her would mean to Scoot?

Rainbow Dash had been flying since before she could walk, and Scoot had struggled for years to get off the ground. Rainbow Dash had large, strong wings and an athletic build, Scoot's wings were small and any muscle she had was hard earned. Dash had been a Wonderbolt from birth. All she had to do was reach for it and it was hers. Scoot could have worked her whole life and never had a chance.

Rainbow Dash could fall in love with whoever she wanted, and Scoot had to wait and hope that someday, somepony would notice her.

And Rainbow Dash herself had noticed her, and loved her, and didn't bother to tell her! Dash could never make Scoot a serious flyer, and she couldn't help Scoot fly before it was time for her to figure it out, but Dash could have made a dream she didn't even dare to imagine come true, and she didn't. She just didn't say anything, and would never have said anything if Scoot hadn't threatened to actually take something away from Rainbow Dash, the pony who always got everything.

Well not this time. Scoot didn't have a lot of room to dream, but she could dream of a marefriend who wasn't a lying, self-centered jerk. A marefriend who would care about how she felt, and who would make sure Scoot knew how much she cared. And since Dash obviously couldn't handle that she'd have to find another adoring fan to use however she wanted.

Not that that would be hard for Rainbow Dash.

Scoot cried herself to sleep, furious at Rainbow Dash, herself, and everypony in all of Equestria for existing in general.

I really like that line, because that's how I get when I'm really angry at a situation.

~*~

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to find she was being assaulted by the evil, painful brightness of a sunny day. She knew she had been drinking the night before, and worse then that she knew why she had been drinking the night before. She didn't know why she was sleeping someplace so uncomfortable and bright. At least, she didn't until somepony spoke.

“Um, Rainbow, are you awake? I mean, I'm sorry I woke you, if you were asleep that is. I just thought that maybe you would want to, um, wake up? Or at least move to the couch? Or you can stay on the floor if you want to, I don't mind.”

Oh Fluttershy. Fluttershy is my sixth favorite of the mane six, and my (x)th favorite pony on the show, where x = all the ponies who have ever been on the show. Not a Fluttershy fan. So this is actually the longest scene I've ever written with Fluttershy. But I couldn't get past that Fluttershy is who Dash would go to when she's hurt, and I'm not ashamed of the job I did writing her.

The floor of Fluttershy's cottage. That made some sense. She considered that the couch might be more comfortable then the floor, but the idea of moving meant that eventually she'd have to wake up. And waking up meant facing a world where last night had happened. Here she just felt numb, which was the best of all possible feelings given what had happened.

“I'm never moving again.”

Okay, I've said before that I love dialogue. I've been heavily influenced by a few writers, including early Kevin Smith stuff. Added into that is that this whole fic has sort of a 90's slacker movie feel to me, and I feel like you could pretty much give Dash's lines in this scene to Dante Hicks from Clerks without much trouble.

“Oh. Okay then.” Fluttershy said, apparently content to let Dash lay on her floor forever.

“Fluttershy? What happened last night?” Dash asked. She had all of the pieces, the Gala, the cloud, someplace with alcohol, and here, but she wasn't sure how they all fit together.

“Well, I think you had some sort of fight with Scootaloo-”

“Not that part.” Dash cringed. She remembered that part too well. “After.”

“I'm not sure. I mean, I think I'm not sure. You must have had something to drink, and you knocked on my door, and you were crying. So I brought you inside and tried to find out what was wrong, but, um, all I could understand was that you and Sco-

“Stop saying that name.” Dash growled.

Fluttershy jumped a little. “Sorry! Was that you and. . . somepony? Had a big fight.”

Dash sighed. “It wasn't a fight.”

“Oh, good.”

“She just called me a jerk. Then she left me.”

“Oh Rainbow, I'm so sorry!” Fluttershy said sincerely. “I'm sure she didn't mean it.”

“She meant it. Because I was a jerk. So I ruined everything, just like always.” Dash closed her eyes.  “What's wrong with me, Fluttershy?”

“You don't ruin everything always.” Fluttershy said, sitting down next to her. “And there's. . . well there's nothing wrong with you.”

“Yeah, there is. 'Cause I had the perfect pony, beautiful and fun and crazy about me, and I managed to convince her that I'm a jerk. I think that takes talent, right? I'm Equestria's best loser.”

Fluttershy stroked her mane. “You're not a loser. You're a Wonderbolt. . .”

Dash rolled her eyes. “A Wonderbolt who's going to die alone.”

“. . . and a wonderful friend. You've saved Equestria. You're an amazing pony.”

“I know.” Dash sighed. “So why couldn't I show her that? No, it's dumber then that. She already thought I was amazing. All I had to do was not make her think I was a jerk. Why couldn't I just not be a jerk to the one pony who really mattered?”

“Um. . .” Fluttershy hesitated, and then said even more softly then usual, “I don't think you want me to answer that.”

“Go ahead.” Dash said flatly.

“Well, I think that maybe. . . when it comes to ponies you love, you might be a little, well. . .scared?” Fluttershy squeaked the last word.

Dash's eye's shot open, and she started to sit up. “Scared? Me? Do you know who you're talking to?”

“The pony who didn't want to tell the mare she loved that she loved her because she didn't want to break up with her someday?”

“Oh. . . yeah.” Dash admitted, falling back to the floor. “So if that was true, that I was. . .”

“Scared?”

“Yeah, that. If that's true. . . why? Love isn't supposed to be scary! Nopony else is scared of love. I mean, except you.”

“I'm not scared of love. I'm scared of talking to ponies.” Fluttershy pointed out.

“Great. So literally nopony, including you, is scared of love. So why would I be?”

“Because you're not good at it. Nopony is, really, but most other ponies can just work at what they aren't good at until they get it right. You're good at everything you do, so you don't know how to keep trying something you're not good at. It makes you feel like a failure, and you hate that.”

“Hey, I work at things until I'm good at them.” Dash said.

“No, you practice things you're good at until you're the best. I know you've always worked hard at your flying, but you were already talented. You never started out like me or Sco- other ponies, not even able to get into the air. But it seems like in love you can't get into the air, and that scares you.”

Scoot really went into this earlier, but I think it's pretty interesting. Dash has had a pretty charmed life. She's always been very good at exactly what she wanted to do. Yeah, we've seen her break down trying to do a sonic rainboom, but she was trying to do something legendary for the second time in her life. I bet most pegasi would give a hoof just to do it once.

So the idea of actually trying to do something that ponies all around you can do is pretty alien to Dash. Scoot, on the other hand, knows it too well. Not only does she have personal experience, but her job is helping foals who have the same problems she did.

Just sayin'.

Dash just laid there, letting her silence concede the point.

“So, um, did you want to get up off the floor? Not that you have to.” Fluttershy asked softly.

“I told you, I'm never moving again.”

“Well. . . I suppose I'll just tell Angel to dust around you, in that case.”

“Sounds great.”

Dash probably got up sometime after lunch.

If you have any questions or observations, feel free to comment!

To Tell the Truth (Chapter 3) - Fic is rated Mature

I would like to state for the record that it's hard to write dialogue tags for a disembodied voice, especially when your narrator has a somewhat limited vocabulary.

“You seem to be in better spirits.” Discord's voice said in my dream, which was true. I'd steeled myself for this, and I wasn't layin' on the ground cryin' like the last few days.

“I am. I had a good talk with Dash.” I answered, still on guard.

“That's wonderful. Have you been able to, as they say, seal the deal?”

“No.” I said, sighin' a little. “But that ain't important. She don't mind. And she ain't mad that I never told nopony, neither.”

“Oh, well if Rainbow Dash isn't mad. . . that fixes everything, doesn't it?”

“It don't fix it, but we can work together to do what we can now.” I took some slow breaths and reminded myself that I done wrong, but I'm a good pony.

“And what exactly is that?” He laughed. “Can you take away the pain and terror you let your cousins experience?”

“No. But I can keep it from happenin' again.”

“Oh, you can? How? You can't tell anypony, you're ashamed of how you helped him.”

“I dunno yet, but we'll think of somethin'.” I knew we would. We had to.

“Oh good. Well take your time on that. You wouldn't want to interrupt anything.” He said, tauntin' me.

I glared at the statue in the middle of the garden. “What the hay are you talkin' 'bout?”

“Didn't you know? He has another filly there right now. While you're sleeping peacefully, he's in that room with her. . . moving closer. . . laying his hooves-” Every word he was sayin' twisted my stomach. I felt like it was me in that room.

Discord hadn't been evil enough in this scene until just then.

“STOP!” I screamed. I shook my head to get those thoughts out. “Y-you don't know that's true.”

“You don't know it's not. But don't worry, you'll think of something. Someday. Maybe even before he dies of old age.”

“I will! I'll stop 'im, I swear it!” I stomped my hoof down. I had to do somethin'. I had to think of a way to keep other fillies safe.

“Go right ahead.”

I woke up shakin'. It was two in the mornin'. I dunno why I woke up, I'm usually stuck in the dream the whole night. I started to wonder if it was cause he let me wake up, which was a scary thought. He was just a dream. I was pretty sure he was just a dream. He didn't have no powers or nothin', he's just a statue. Just that voice.

But he might be messin' with me. If it was really him, if he was somehow inside me, all Equestria might be in trouble. And he might be controlin' when I was asleep. And he mighta been tellin' the truth 'bout what was happenin' in Manehatten.

I jumped outta bed and put my hat on quick, tryin' to decide whether to go to the Library or to Manehatten or just straight to Princess Celestia herself. I had to tell somepony-

I stopped. Tell somepony what? I had a bad dream. Like I have every night. But this time I woke up. Oh yeah, and I dreamed there might be a kid gettin' hurt in Manehatten. I'm sure the Manehatten guards would be real interested in my nightmares, they'd probably laugh me back to Ponyville.

That's actually probably debatable in Equestria. But it's an interesting question. How would the guards treat a dream one of the elements of harmony had about a crime taking place? What about Pinkie sense? Is there a "magical witness" report they can fill out? I'm kinda making up Equestrian law enforcement as I go along.

I had a bad dream, that was all. But I had to do somethin', at least to make sure the part 'bout the other filly didn't come true. I didn't know if there were any fillies in Manehatten he might be able to do that to, but I could at least make sure nopony sent any to 'im. Mac had already written Braeburn, so the folks in Appleloosa oughta be safe. I'd just write everypony else and tell 'em not to send any foals there. They didn't haveta know why, just somepony sayin' it oughta make 'em think twice.

So I pulled out some paper and set it on my nightstand, and I took a pencil in my mouth and started writin'. Just a short note to each part of the family, “Dear So-and-so, I just want to let you know you shouldn't send any foals to stay with the Oranges. It's real important. Love, Applejack.”

Just want to point out, because I think it's neat: When Applejack writes, she doesn't write in an accent, but she writes in the same word usage. So she writes "I just want to" instead of "I just wanna," but she still writes "It's real important." I figure that's just the words she would use, while in her mind when she says "wanna" she's actually saying "want to."

I got through three of 'em when there was a knock at my door.

“Come in.” I said.

Mac opened the door. “Applejack? What're you doin' up?”

“Writin' somethin'.” I said.

“Writin' what?” He asked, confused. I couldn't blame 'im, two thirty in the mornin' ain't usually a time to be catchin' up on paperwork.

“Just some notes to the family, sayin' what you told Braeburn.” I said, tryin' to sound casual.

“Need some help?”

“Cause you're so good with words?” I teased 'im. “Nah, I got it. What're you doin' up?”

“Wanted a snack.”

I chuckled a little. “It's no wonder you're big as a barn, ya' know that?”

He smiled. “Eeyup.”

“So what'd ya' have? Anythin' good?” I said, smilin' back at him.

He gave a shrug. “AJ, speakin' of what I wrote to Braeburn. . . the other day, when ya' said Uncle Orange ain't good folks, what did ya' mean?”

I tensed up straight away, and the smile fell right off my face. “Just that.”

“What makes ya' say it?” He asked, soft.

I stared at him. I thought about tellin' him. But when I thought it, I could just picture the way his face would look. Horrified, then angry at Uncle Orange, then so disappointed, in me, in himself. I knew soon as I said the words I'd be puttin' him through Tartarus, and I couldn't do all that to 'im.

But what was I supposed to say? He'd know a lie. I tried to think of somethin' that wasn't a lie but wasn't the truth, but I never been good at riddles.

I'd been starin' too long, and he just asked, “Applejack?”

I gave up. I looked down and whispered, “Stop it, Mac.”

“AJ, I'm worried. I just wanna-”

“I said, stop it. Please.” I looked up into his eyes. I was beggin' him to let this be.

“I'm your brother,” he said, lookin' so gentle, and so scared. “I love you. Whatever happened, you can tell me.”

I hated that he looked scared. I knew he was makin' guesses, and he was probably guessin' pretty close. I kinda panicked, I wasn't ready for him to know.

Big Mac has known since the day in the barn, he just really hopes it isn't true. He's tried giving AJ time to say it herself, he really is trying to be the perfect big brother, but he never counted on AJ's need to control this.

I shouted, “Get outta my room, now!”

“But sis-” He started.

“OUT!” I yelled, loud 'nough to wake the house.

He looked shocked, and backed up to the door. “Okay. . . Sorry.”

He left and closed the door behind him, and I just stared at the spot where he'd been. I never meant to yell like that, in the middle of the night. It wasn't my fault, he got too close, and he was tryin' to make me say it, and he just wouldn't listen.

Out in the hall, I heard Apple Bloom's voice. “Macintosh? I heard shoutin'. Is everything okay?”

“It's fine. Lemme get ya' tucked back in.”

“You're sure it's okay?”

There was a long pause, and then he just said, “Eeyup.”

Apple Bloom is my ace in the hole for this story. I can promise that nothing bad will happen to her, or the rest of the CMC, but I'm well aware that scenes between her and AJ will pack an emotional punch, so I'm holding her in reserve.

The next mornin' I muttered an apology to Mac over breakfast, and he kinda nodded back. Then right after that I took off for town to mail my letters and find Dash. She found me along the way instead, and swooped down to fly next to me.

“Heya, where are we going?” She said, smilin'.

I chuckled, “Well I was gonna mail some letters. And I wanted to talk to you, so I guess ya can tag along.”

“What kind of letters? And what kind of talk?”

“The letters are just some advice I wrote to my family. And I wanted to talk to you 'bout the same subject.”

She landed next to me, serious all of a sudden. “Okay. Go ahead.”

“I think I wanna tell the girls, Dash.”

“You want to, right?”

I nodded.

“Are you sure?”

I sighed. “No. But you were right the other day. I need some help figurin' stuff out and I wanna ask Twilight, but I can't unless she knows. And I guess if I'm tellin' Twilight, I might as well tell everypony at once. Get it over quicker, ya' know?”

“I think that's a great idea.” She said, smiling a little. “How about tonight at the library?”

I swallowed, and said, “Tonight?”

She saw how nervous I looked, and said real gently, “Whenever you want.”

“Nah, tonight's fine, I guess.” I said, still kinda nervous.

“Okay. But you want to do it, right?” She asked again.

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Dash. I wanna do it.”

Suddenly Pinkie jumped outta a bush and said “Hi guys!”

Me and Dash both yelled and jumped a little, as a pony'll do when somepony pops outta nowhere. I smiled soon as I saw it was Pinkie, and went to say hi, but Dash spoke up first.

“Don't scare AJ like that!” She kinda snapped.

Me and Pinkie were both smilin', and we kinda blinked at her. I chuckled and said, “Dash, it's just Pinkie. I reckon it's my own fault for not expectin' her to pop outta a bush by now.”

“Sorry I scared you, Applejack," Pinkie said, smilin'. "But I wasn't trying to jump out of the bush in a scary way. I was trying to jump out in a hey-why-am-I-sitting-in-this-bush-look-there's-Applejack-and-Rainbow-Dash kind of way!”

“Well it wasn't nice.” Dash grumbled.

I just kinda stared at her. Dash was a great friend, and I loved her, but I'd never heard her worry 'bout anypony bein' nice to anypony but Fluttershy. I could see her getting' her tail in a twist if Pinkie startled Fluttershy, but any other time I'd expect her to be there in the bush with Pinkie, waitin' to jump out and startle me then laughin' like crazy.

“I think I'll be okay, sugarcube.” I said.

“I know.” She said, noddin' as we started walkin again, this time with Pinkie along. She walked extra close to me, and even draped her wing over my back. But we asked Pinkie to come to the Library this evenin', and she said she'd be there. Then once my letters were mailed we split up to ask the rest of the girls.

That night Dash walked with me to the Library. Everypony else was already there, and Dash had warned Twilight that what I had to say probably wasn't somethin' for baby dragons to hear 'bout, so Spike wasn't around.

Soon as I got there Twilight looked concerned, and said to me, “What going on? Is everything alright?”

“Well, uh. . . It's sorta. . .”

Dash scooted close to me, then said to the girls, “Okay guys, AJ has something she needs to say, and nopony is going to inturrupt her. And she doesn't have to tell any of us anything she doesn't want to. Got it?”

They all nodded, lookin' confused and worried.

I was lookin' at all those big eyes, the ponies I loved all lookin' right at me, waitin' for me to tell 'em. I took a breath and I tried. It was like there was a wall there, between where I was thinkin' the words and the mouth that needed to say 'em. I had to push it down to say somethin', so I started talkin', thinkin' maybe it'd give me a runnin' start.

“Well. See, I know this is gonna sound bad. But it's been a long time, and things are okay. Mostly okay. I mean, they ain't okay at all, but I'm tryin' to make 'em okay, and that's why I need to tell y'all. Not that I didn't wanna tell y'all anyway, I just wish so bad I didn't have to tell y'all. I know it's gonna make ya' sad, and angry, and I don't wanna do that to you guys. I just-”

“Applejack, dear, just tell us.” Rarity said, gentle as she could.

Dash flew right up in her face. “I said don't inturrupt her!”

I said in the commentary of the first chapter that I couldn't do this fic if it weren't first person, and that's still true. But here I'll add that I really wish I could get more into Dash's head. I might have to give her a chapter someday, because it's also interesting.

Dash is also being messed up by this. She didn't sign up for this when she asked AJ out, and she'd never abandon AJ but she doesn't know what to do. She's scared, she's never had to think about this sort of thing happening, she wants to try to retroactively protect AJ, she furious that AJ hasn't gone after this pony. . . there's a lot going on with Dash that AJ doesn't notice, and wouldn't be able to handle if Dash let her see it.

“Dash! Stop that!” I snapped. Then I looked back the rest of the girls, who were lookin' between me and Dash, kinda confused. “I. . . I can't do this. I'm sorry, y'all. I'm real sorry I wasted your time.”

“AJ, wait.” Dash flew right over to me and put her forehooves on my shoulders, facin' me. “I'm sorry, AJ. I just didn't want anypony to say something wrong. I'll shut up, I promise.”

“It ain't you, I just can't.” I said. “I wasn't doin' so good before Rarity said anythin'.”

“Applejack. . .” Fluttershy said. “You didn't waste our time. We're still here with our friends. If you wanted to, we could sit down and have some tea, and just talk for a while. And if there's anything you wanted to say, you could say it. But if you don't want to say anything, that's okay too.”

“Thank ya', Fluttershy. That sounds nice.” I smiled a little. There's somethin' about Fluttershy, when she talks she can just calm anypony right down.

“I'll go make some tea.” She said. “You just make yourself comfortable.”

Twilight brought out some cushions and I sat down, 'long with the rest of 'em.

“I'm very sorry I interrupted, darling.” Rarity said.

“Wasn't your fault. I just. . . anyhow. Uh. It's been real pretty weather, ain't it?” I asked, bein' as it was the only thing I could think of besides what I'd been goin' to say.

“Um. . . yeah!” Twilight said, “Lots of nice sunny days. Of course I always feel a little guilty when we get too many sunny days in a row, don't your apple trees need rain?”

I smiled. “Nah, we had that whole week of rain not to long ago. Long as it don't go on too long, they'll be fine.”

“Oh, don't remind me of that week. My parents were out of town, so I had Sweetie Belle staying with me the whole week. Inside. With nothing to do.” Rarity shuddered just thinkin' 'bout it.

I chuckled. “I recommend havin' a barn. There ain't too much a stir-crazy foal can mess up out there.”

Fluttershy and Dash came back in with tea for all of us and they sat down too.

“I wish I had a barn to play in when it rained!" Pinkie said. "I wish I had a barn to play in all the time, actually. It's a great place for parties, and you can build forts out of hay, and-”

“Like I said, it's a great place for stir-crazy foals. . . and ponies who never grew up.” I teased her, and Pinkie giggled.

“Did you play there a lot when you were a foal?” Twilight asked.

I nodded. “Yup. When it rained, me and Mac would head out there and play all day. . .”

I kinda trailed off. Thinkin' of those days, of me and Mac playin' together, it made me feel so bad for last night. My brother loved me, he wanted to keep me safe, and he was just tryin' to show me that and I darn near bit his head off for it.

Then I had my friends, sittin' here cause I said I needed 'em, with me not able to say why. These ponies all loved me. They weren't gonna hate me, and they wanted to help. I just had to let 'em.

“Guys? I said, takin a deep breath. “I'm gonna tell y'all somethin', what I asked y'all here for today. And it's hard to say, and I know it's gonna be hard to hear. But not sayin' it. . . it's messin' up too darn much. I don't want it to take away anymore.”

Everythin' was silent. It almost hurt how quiet it was, it made my heart beat sound like a drum in my head. And that wall was still there, keepin the words inside. But no one was forcin' 'em out of me 'cept me. I was the only pony who could make me say it.

I looked down. “When I was a filly, when I was in Manehatten, my Uncle Orange. . . he raped me.” I could hear the gasps, Pinkie and Rarity especially. Dash gave me a squeeze with her wing, and outta the corner of my eye I saw her motion for folks to keep quiet.

I fought back some tears, but I didn't break down. I just went on, “I never told nopony, 'til I fell in love with Dash and had to. . . well, I had to tell Dash. And Dash said I oughta think 'bout tellin' y'all, cause I need some help. See, I found out that some other fillies in my family mighta stayed there after me. So they mighta. . . It's my fault. I'm the element of honesty! All I had to do was tell somepony, anypony. . . I'm sorry, y'all. I'm sorry.”

My voice was kinda shakey by the end, but I wasn't cryin'. I looked up, into the stunned and sorry faces of my friends, wonderin' if somepony was gonna say somethin', or if they all just couldn't believe I'd done somethin' so bad.

“Applejack?” Pinkie said, more softly than I ever heard her. She came up and gave me a nuzzle. “It's okay that you're sorry. I'm sorry too. But you know that you shouldn't have to be sorry, because you shouldn't have had to tell somepony to stop your uncle from hurting fillies, because he never ever should have hurt you like that to start with, right?”

“Pinkie is. . . right.” Twilight said, clearly surprised to be sayin' it. “Maybe saying something would have helped, but you were just a kid. You never should have had to think about that. . . I'm so sorry.”

Rarity smiled at me. “The pony responsible for these horrible acts deserves every single bit of blame. Do not waste an ounce of it on yourself, darling. None of us will.”

“But I coulda saved 'em.” I tried to explain. “I coulda saved 'em from the worst things a pony can feel, and I didn't. And he's still out there and I wanna make sure it never happens again, but I feel like if I tell. . . I'll be showin' the whole world what an awful pony I am.”

There is a version of those lines that much more heart wrenching, but it might have crossed the line into cheap drama. So you got that one instead.

“Nopony thinks you're an awful pony. Nopony.” Dash said.

“I think that you're really brave,” Fluttershy said. “I mean, if I had been through that I think I'd be scared. . . um, even more scared.  And you're almost never scared.”

I smiled a little. “I'm scared sometimes, but only of dumb stuff.”

“Like what?” She asked.

I blushed. “Well, the reason I told Dash is. . . I get scared when somepony touches me.”

Pinkie's eyes got real big. “But we touch each other all the time! Oh no, you aren't scared all the time, are you? I don't mean to be scary like that, it's just all my friends are so cuddly and I love to cuddle them but I never thought it could be scary!”

“No, Pinkie, not when somepony hugs me or's playin', or even fightin'. It's when somepony starts to get. . . close. Like, ya' know, a marefriend.” I shook my head, “Like I said, I know it's dumb. And Dash's bein' great 'bout it.”

“It's nothing, AJ.” Dash said, leanin' against me.

“And that's not dumb,” Twilight added, real kind. “It's understandable. Sometimes a situation will remind you of something scary, and you'll get scared again. That's just your brain trying to protect you.”

I smiled. “We'll it'd be nice if my brain would let up on Dash. For one thing, she ain't gonna hurt me, and for another I know darn well I can take her.”

Another jibe at Dash that Dash doesn't react to.

“I can not believe there's a pony in the world who would be so evil,” Rarity said, her eyes narrowed. “To steal that from you, on top of all the suffering he put you through. . . ponies like that should be destroyed.”

“I don't know about destroyed, but he should definitely be punished somehow.” Twilight agreed.

“Punished painfully.” Dash added. “Destroyed painfully works for me, too.”

“Now, I don't want nopony I love gettin' in trouble over this.” I said, mostly to Dash. She nodded.

“I could write to Princess Celestia!” Twilight said.

“No!” I shouted. My eyes went wide. If I was a little scared that my friends and the ponies I loved would be disappointed in me, the idea of the princess findin' it out scared the livin' daylight's outta me.

“Why not?” Twilight asked, confused.

“'Cause. . . what if she won't let me be honesty no more, when she finds out I been lyin' and hidin' things?  What if she don't want ya' to be friends with me no more?” I said, my voice getting' shaky again.

Twilight just stared at me with her mouth open. “Applejack, that's crazy.”

I stared right back at her and I felt tears in my eyes again, cause she was right. Just like Dash was right 'bout me tellin' my friends. And I thought 'bout yellin' at Mac, and the dreams I was havin', and snappin' at Dash when she said I was messed up. I was messed up, real bad. I couldn't even tell who I could trust when it came to this.

More on that subject next chapter.

I started to cry, but I just muttered. “Fine. Fine, go on and write the darn letter.”

“No.” Dash pulled me close to her, and I dried my tears on her neck. “No, it's not fine, AJ.”

She looked up at the girls, who were lookin' kinda confused. “Okay, guys, there are some things you all have to understand. Nothing happens with this unless AJ wants it to happen. We don't say anything to anypony, including the princess, unless she really wants to. Even if that seems weird to us, even if her reasons are messed up. Everything about this is AJ's choice.”

“I'm sorry, Applejack.” Twilight said softly. “If you want me to write to Princess Celestia, just let me know.”

“Let any of us know if there's any way we can help.” Fluttershy added.

Rarity nodded. “Yes, darling. Whatever you want.”

I told 'em the truth. “I want for things to be normal. This all kinda blew up on me at once. First with Dash, then I found out 'bout my cousins, and now my brother wants to know what's wrong and I'm stuck dealin' with this day in and day out and I don't want it. I just wanna forget again.”

“Okay then. . .” Pinkie said, smilin' “Let's have a slumber party!”

“Pinkie! AJ doesn't want a part-”

I cut Dash off. “I do. I wanna have a slumber party. Would you girls mind? I know it ain't the best start to one. . .”

They all looked around confused, 'cept for Pinkie who was grinnin'.

Finally Twilight smiled, “Um, sure!”

“Of course. A slumber party could be. . . fun.” Rarity said, not quite sure what to make of this.

Fluttershy sorta blinked. “If you're sure that's what you want. . .”

Dash shrugged. “Okay. Slumber party. Right.”

“Goody!” Pinkie bounced up off her cushion, and pulled out her party canon. I'd love to know where she keeps that thing, it's come in handy more than once. She had the room all partied up in no time, and Twilight got out extra blankets and pillows for us all.

We spent all evenin' havin' fun. We talked and played games. I let Rarity give me a makeover, on the condition that me and Dash got to give her a makeover. I reckon I did look kinda pretty, if a pony likes half an inch of make-up on a mare. And Rarity looked pretty too, if a pony likes clowns. But it was all in good fun, and we were crackin' up by the end.

I love the idea of Dash and AJ trying to put make-up on Rarity. I don't think they tried to make her look like a clown, but using make-up is a skill and it's really easy to make someone look like a clown on accident.

It was just what I needed after the day I had, some time with my best friends where I could forget everythin' bad. I didn't think anythin' 'bout it all evenin', and I drifted off to sleep with Dash's wing draped over me, feelin' happy and safe.

The AppleDash Project (A Better Pony)

(Authors note: Credit to dbzordie for the idea for this one, and for proofreading it for me, and for being generally awesome all the darn time.)

So, what all did DbzOrDie do for me here that was so awesome? Well, I PMed him whining as I often do. This time, it was about how I had planned to make this a Fluttershy jealousy fic, but I felt like I resolved that plot in Team Players, so what was I going to do? He just PMed me back and told me that AJ isn't jealous of Fluttershy this time, she's just jealous that Fluttershy has wings and she doesn't.

And the heavens opened up and rays of light shone through as angels sang. I sent him back an all caps PM informing him that he's a genius. As for why the idea excited me as much. . . well more on that later.

Of course there was a party that evening. Ponies were happy that something happened, and Rainbow Dash knew that Pinkie couldn't resist throwing a party for that anymore than she and AJ could resist a challenge. Dash stayed by Fluttershy for most of it, making sure that she didn't hide and that other ponies knew that they couldn't have done it without her. After spending most of her life getting laughed at for her poor flying, she knew how important this was to Fluttershy.

But a few hours into the party, Dash noticed a conspicuous absence. She knew Applejack was around here somewhere, but she hadn't seen her in a while. So she left Fluttershy with Pinkie, and went searching for her marefriend.

It took a while, but Dash found her outside of the party, leaning against a wall and looking at the night sky.

“Hey AJ, you okay?” Dash asked, worried.

Applejack didn't seem to have noticed the question. “Fluttershy really came through for ya' today, huh?”

“Yeah. I wasn't sure she had it in her, but she did great.” Dash answered, a little confused.

“Good.” Applejack said with a nod, still looking at the sky.

“Wanna go inside and get some cake?” Dash said, really hoping that they weren't getting ready for another game of 'guess what's bothering AJ.'

“Maybe in a bit. First, I gotta tell ya' somethin'. Cause, ya' know, we're a team and all.”

Dash breathed a huge sigh of relief, and made a mental note to fix the humidity around the Carousel Boutique to be exactly right for a good mane day. “I'm listening.”

There is nothing as awesome as being about to have to go through the same annoying thing your signifigant other always does, and having them pull out of it and act like a rational person. Or pony, in this instance.

Applejack bit her lip, then said, “I'm jealous. Of Fluttershy.”

Dash rolled her eyes, “Again? Sheesh AJ, how many times do I have to say it-”

“Not like that.” Applejack interrupted quickly. Then she sighed and went on, “It's just, when I saw how hard you were workin', how much it meant to you to do this thing right, well. . . there's nothin' in this world I wanted more than to help you. And in the end, it was Fluttershy who could come through for ya, not me. All cause I don't have. . .”

Dash wasn't sure what that last word was until she followed AJ's gaze to the wing resting at her side. “Oh Applejack. . .”

Applejack blushed. “I never wanted 'em before in my life. I don't even like bein' in the air, you know that. But I wanted so bad to be there for you, and I couldn't. I'm sorry, Dash. After all the times you been there for me. . .”

Okay, I have a deep interest in pony social structure as it relates to different types of ponies, especially earth ponies. I love the questions of self-esteem and equality it raises. So when DbzOrDie was like "Write about AJ feeling bad because she's an earth pony, I was like YES!

AJ seemed close to crying, and Dash knew better than to say anything that might make her cry. AJ hated crying almost as much as Dash did. She decided it would be best to keep her mouth shut, so she just walked up next to AJ and nuzzled her cheek.

“Ya' know, normally anypony that said I was just an earth pony would be wipin' my hoofprint off their face, but that's how I'm feelin' right now. I'm just an earth pony, and Fluttershy's a pegasus, so of course she's gonna be more help to ya'. 'Course she's the one who's gonna be there with ya', the one you're gonna be proud of.”

I see this as a huge things for AJ. I always see her as being an extremely proud earth pony, who would be insulted by the idea that earth ponies weren't as good as other ponies. So for her to admit that she envies a pegasus is a huge deal for her.

“AJ, come on, we both need help from other ponies sometimes, and it can't always be each other. I mean, most of the time when you need help you get Big Mac, 'cause it's stuff I'm nowhere near strong enough to do.” Dash said quietly.

“Mac's my brother. That's different.” Applejack said with a huff.

“Fluttershy is practically my sister. It's the same thing.” Dash pointed out.

“You sayin' you never wished I had wings?”

“I- I-” Dash wanted to say something to make AJ feel better, but she knew that her answer wouldn't do that. She knew that AJ knew the answer already, her hesitation had confirmed it, so she went on honestly. “I've thought about it. But not because I want you to be more help, and not because I'm not proud of you. Just because it would be fun, ya' know? I love flying, and I love you, and it'd be so amazingly awesome to fly with you.”

This goes back to the chapter Ropes and Feathers, where I had Dash fantasizing about AJ with wings. It seems natural to me that Dash would wish AJ had wings, even outside of shipping. AJ is the only pony who can keep up with Dash, but she can't fly. If she could fly Dash would have that much more fun.

“Fluttershy can fly with ya.” Applejack said with a sigh.

“That not what I dream about, AJ.” Dash said, nuzzling her cheek. “Even if I'd love to have you in the sky, I love you more on the ground than any other pony anywhere.”

“But you'd love me more in the sky. I bet you were wishin' I could be there for ya' today. . . and I let ya' down.”

Dash considered that for a long time. “I was thinking about you. A lot. But I wasn't thinking for a second about you having wings.”

So I had to find a happy ending here. AJ wasn't going to get wings, Dash wasn't going to stop wishing AJ had wings. . . but I had to find something to cheer AJ up. Then I watched the episode again.

“What do ya' mean?”

“When I found out that we'd never break that record, and we might not even have the wing power to raise the water, I thought about just quitting. I mean, what's the point if I couldn't be awesome, right?” Dash said, raising her eyebrows.

Applejack just rolled her eyes.

Rainbow Dash smiled. “But there was this little voice in my head, saying 'Dash, ya' can't let Cloudsdale down. There's gotta be somepony everypony can depend on, and right now that's you.' And that voice had a cute cowpony accent.”

This is a subplot in Hurricane Fluttershy that's pretty much glanced over. When Twilight figures out that they don't have enough wing power to raise the water and everyone looks to Dash, and she decides to go for it anyway. It's such an AJ thing to do, to give her all for such a civic minded thing, we've never really seen Dash do something for Cloudsdale or Ponyville before.

Applejack gave her an almost hopeful look.

Dash thought about that moment, when everypony turned to her to make the call, and how she felt like AJ was there inside her, a part of herself that she couldn't let down. “You didn't even have to be there to help me, AJ. You helped me without ever leaving the farm. Being with you has made me a better pony. . . a pony I hope you're proud of?”

Applejack beamed and nuzzled Dash's cheek happily. “Oh Dash, you know I'm proud of ya'. You worked your tail off for this, and even if ya' didn't get all that glory you wanted you came through for everypony, and that's what matters in the end. You really think I helped ya' do that?”

“Do I usually give credit to other ponies for cool stuff I did by myself?” Dash said with a teasing grin.

Applejack chuckled, “Fair 'nough.”

“Let Fluttershy help with the flying, AJ. That's not the important part of this, not to me. It's awesome that we managed to get the job done, but we never would have started the job if it wasn't for your voice in my head. Fluttershy helped me today, but you've changed me forever. So, thanks Applejack. I couldn't have done this without you.”

Applejack just blushed and smiled, “Aww shucks. I didn't change ya', Dash. This was in you the whole time, I reckon I just helped ya' see it.”

“Whatever you did, it worked. Does that make you feel a little better?”

“A lot better.” Applejack said smiling. “This talkin' bout stuff ain't that bad.”

“Great!” Dash smiled. “Oh, and while Spitfire was here I brought up the whole you and her and a tub of cider idea. She's totally cool with it, she said to meet her in her hotel room later.”

I had the Spitfire joke planned for What's So Great About Cider, but this one was a surprise.

“You did what now?!” Applejack said, eyes wide.

Dash tried to keep the smile, but it only lasted a few second before she burst out laughing. “Oh Celestia, your face. I totally got you.”

Applejack just smiled at her. “Did I say I was proud of you? Cause I meant to say that you're a great big pain in my rear end.”

“Yeah, but I'm a dependable pain in your rear end.” Dash said, still snickering.

“Yup. I can always depend on that.” Applejack chuckled.

I use a variation on this gag a lot, but I never reuse the same one.

A Fact for Twilight

First, let's talk about the title. Originally the title was going to be ""True Fact" (Is Redundant)" and the fic was never going to get featured. Then DbzOrDie had school that day, so he couldn't get around to editing it, and he didn't like the title. So I changed my mind, made that the subtitle/alternate title, and the rest is history.

On subtitles/alternate titles, having a title for the only chapter of a one shot, I always like to think of them in that classic lit way, "A Fact for Twilight, or "True Fact" Is Redundant." But I'm weird like that.

Twilight smiled and closed the book in front of her, an index she had made of the information in her astronomy notes. She was proud of it, feeling that a good index was one of the joys of life. She set her quill down on the desk, then heard a knock on the door. Spike had said he was making dinner, so Twilight went to answer it.

I don't really like this paragraph. As usual it was the last thing I wrote, and I just wanted to get the story finished.

On the doorstep she found Applejack, who greeted her with a smile. “Heya, Twilight. How are you doin' this evenin'?”

“Great! I just finished a project I've been working on. What about you? How are you?”

“Can't complain. I gotta get home for dinner, but I wanted to stop by and ask ya' somethin'. . .” Applejack hesitated, then added,  “If ya' don't mind, that is.”

“Ask me anything, Applejack! I love to try to help.” Twilight smiled. There really was nothing she liked better than answering questions for other ponies.

Applejack took a deep breath. “Okay, well, would ya' like to go out with me sometime? On a date, I mean.”

There are approximately a billion ship fics where ponies seem to be incapable of asking another pony on a date without running away to the Everfree forest, or having any number of comic misunderstandings. This is not one of those fics. It's not easy for Applejack, but she manages to get the words out without bodily harm.

Twilight froze with the smile on her face, trying to process the new and completely unexpected question.

A concerned look crossed Applejack's face. “I kinda figured ya' might need some time to think it over, or think of how to tell me you don't wanna.”

Twilight blinked, the only sign that she could move at all. She had no idea how to even start answering Applejack. Scenarios were compiled and played out behind her eyes as she furiously calculated the likelihood of each.

“You take all the time ya' need.” Applejack said cautiously. “Don't you worry 'bout tellin' me you'd rather not, if that's how ya' feel. I'm a big pony, I can take it and I'll still be your friend, just like always.”

Finally, Twilight broke through the fog of firing synapses. “I- I need some time to think about this.”

Applejack laughed. “Now we're caught up. You just let me know, either way.”

“Okay.” Twilight nodded. Then she grinned nervously. “Yes, I'll let you know! Um, do you mind if I go do that now? Think, I mean, not let you know, because I'd have to think before I let you know, or I might be letting you know the wrong thing!”

I wanted Twlight to giggle at the end of that line, but I couldn't figure out how to write it. She doesn't use the "heh" that Dash and AJ use, her nervous laugh is more a "hehehe." That looked stupid to me, so I gave up.

“I don't mind a bit, sugarcube, as long as ya' try and relax some.” Applejack smiled gently. “You're wound up like a fancy watch right now, and this ain't worth all that. The way I see it, either you'll wanna go out with me or ya' won't. Either way Princess Celestia'll keep on raisin' the sun, and I'll still be your friend. So you just decide what ya' think is best.”

“Decide what I think is best. I can do that.” Twilight nodded.

“I know ya' can. I'll see ya' later.” Applejack turned to go.

“Um. . . yes! I'll see you later!”

Applejack stopped, and looked over her shoulder. “Oh yeah. Twilight?”

“Yes?”

Applejack blushed a little. “I just wanted to remind ya'. . . I might not be the smartest pony in Equestria, but I generally ain't foolish. Ya' know your heart'd be safe with me, and I'd never let nothin' get in the way of our friendship.”

Twilight stared at her.

“I- uh- just figured you're gonna make a list or somethin' about why ya' might wanna go out with me. Wanted to make sure you remembered that one.”

The whole scene, starting from Twilight freezing, is trying to show that if AJ had been planning to ask Twilight out she certainly would have thought about ways Twilight might react, and maybe even talked it over with Dash. And they certainly know each other well enough that AJ would be able to figure out how to handle the most likely things that Twilight might have done.

“Okay. I'll keep that in mind.” Twilight said quietly.

“Thanks.” Applejack started to walk away again.

Twilight watched her leave, then turned around and closed the door. She had a lot to think about, and absolutely had no experience with this subject. She needed help, she needed guidance.

“Spike! Spiiike! I need every book we have on the subject of dating!” Twilight yelled. Spike came hurrying in from the kitchen.

“Dating? Who's dating?” A look of fear crossed Spike's face. “It's not Rarity, is it?”

“No, it's me! Or it might be me!”

Spike looked skeptical. “You're going out with somepony? Who?”

“Applejack. And I don't know if I'm going out with her, she asked me and I said I need to think. And by that I mean I need to read. And by that I mean I need a book!”

“Woah! Okay, here, hold a cookbook while I find a book on dating.” Spike said, holding up a book defensively. Twilight took it in her magic and opened it, staring at the page.

She sighed with relief. “I feel better. Now, I need to find out if I should go on a date with Applejack.”

“Applejack, huh? Weird.” Spike observed as he climbed up a ladder to one of the higher shelves.

“Weird? What does that mean?”

“Just, why would AJ ask you out? You guys don't have much in common, you don't really seem like her type.”

Twilight looked up from the page in front of her. Why would Applejack ask her out? There were ponies in town who were prettier and cooler and nicer. She might be the smartest pony in town, but why would that impress an apple farmer who rolled her eyes when Twilight tried to explain that second pony plural was still “you”?

I love the phrase "second pony plural." I think grammar would be much cooler if we talked about ponies instead of persons.

There must be a simple explanation. With Applejack, there was always a simple explanation.

“Here you go, 'Details of Dating: A Step by Step Guide to Romantic Interactions.'” Spike said, holding up a book. Twilight dropped the cookbook and pulled the relevant book toward her.

“Thanks! This looks like a perfect place to start!” Twilight said happily, opening the book and starting in on the first chapter.

She studied the rest of the evening, but found very little helpful information in her books. The dating books she went through first were vague on the subject of what kinds of ponies one should go out with, except to say that she should like and trust the pony. They had interesting and, to Twilight, slightly terrifying sections on asking out another pony, making Twilight very glad that she wasn't the one who did the asking.

Once she had realized the dating books weren't helpful she moved on to the history of romance, and nearly got lost in the complicated romantic intrigues of the Roanman Empire. After a few hours, she realized that as interesting as it was that Eagleium married eight ponies, two of whom were his own siblings, it had absolutely nothing to do with the matter at hoof.

DbzOrDie said I should explain why she jumped from dating books to history. I didn't, but I will here: There aren't a lot of ways to research romance. Science on romance is pretty hit or miss, so you end up with history as being the next most likely place. I would think that Twilight would save fiction as a last resort, because as she notes later they often don't resemble real life.

As a last resort she turned to fictional romance novels, but only got through a half of one. She wasn't sure either she or Applejack were comparable to “Torrid Fire” and “Raven Knight,” and the idea of AJ having a smoldering gaze made her giggle. Finding nothing really relevant to her situation, she stacked the books neatly and tried to formulate another plan.

Her questions were too specific. The authors of her books didn't know her or Applejack, so they couldn't offer advice on whether Twilight should accept this invitation, or why Applejack might have asked her out. She needed information from ponies who knew both of them, who understood why this might be a good or bad idea.

Twilight smiled and climbed into her bed late that night. Tomorrow she would talk to her friends, and figure out the right answer.

***

So one of the things a few vocal people didn't like was Rarity's characterization coming up. When they mentioned that, I thought about these scenes, and realized that I had no idea why I wrote them. But I did, and I think Dash gets a few good lines out of the deal.

Twilight left the library the next morning in search of Rainbow Dash. Being Applejack's closest friend, Twilight hoped Dash could tell her why Applejack had decided to ask her out. She also planned to see Rarity for romantic advice, but since finding Dash was more of a challenge Twilight decided to start there.

She scanned the skies over the park and all of Dash's favorite training spots, and levitated a mirror to check all of the clouds around town, but couldn't find Dash anywhere. Dash could be hanging out at Sweet Apple Acres, but that wouldn't help because she couldn't very well ask Dash what Applejack was thinking in front of Applejack.

After looking all morning Twilight was about to give up and go to the Carousel Boutique to talk to Rarity, when she was surprised to see a rainbow tail sticking out behind a large cloud moving across the sky towards the edge of town.

“Rainbow Dash!” she called.

The cloud stopped and Dash's face popped up. “Hey, Twilight! What's up?”

Twilight smiled up at her. “What are you doing? I've been looking for you all morning.”

“Um, work? I do that sometimes so that they keep giving me bits. I've been back and forth to Cloudsdale all morning.” Dash said, rolling her eyes.

“Oh!” Twilight said, slightly surprised to find Dash actually patrolling the weather. “Well don't let me interrupt you, but when you get a break could you-”

That was actually a nod to fanfic. If you went by fanfic, you'd think Dash never actually works. So there she is, working.  

Dash was on the ground at her side in a second. “I heard somepony say 'break.'”

“But, I can't tell you when-”

“Definitely heard it, so it must be time for a break!” Dash leaned against the wall of a building. “So what'd you need me to do on my break?”

“I needed to talk to you,” Twilight said. “You see, Applejack asked me out, and I was wondering if you knew why.”

Dash grinned. “Applejack asked you out? Finally!”

“Finally? She wanted to ask me on a date before this?”

“Sure. It took her a while to work up the guts. Not a problem I have, of course. If I wanted to ask a pony out, I'd just fly up to them and be like, 'Hey, good lookin'. I must be psychic, 'cause I see a date with Rainbow Dash in your future.'” Dash said with a toss of her mane.

I love the idea that Dash would claim she was going to use a cheesy pick up line, then totally chicken out when it came down to it.

“Right. That's sure to work.” Twilight said dryly. “But we weren't talking about you, we were talking about Applejack. I need to know why she asked me out!”

“Because she likes you, duh,” Dash said, rolling her eyes. “I thought you were supposed to be smart.”

“But why does she like me?” Twilight was getting frustrated. “I am smart, but why would Applejack care about that?”

“Beats me.” Dash shrugged. “I know she thinks you have awesome flanks. . .”

“What?” Twilight's eyes went wide. She had never considered that anypony, let alone Applejack, had been looking at her flanks.

“We were just talking about flanks the other day.” Dash said with a wave of her hoof.

In answer to jokerpony's question, I think it would be hilarious to have Twilight tease AJ about this, but by the time Twilight is comfortable enough to do that at the end, it would kind of break the mood. But on the second date I'd imagine AJ would hear all about this.

“Is that it? She just finds me attractive?” Twilight felt a little let down.

Dash noticed and shook her head. “Twilight. I seriously doubt she's been one of your best friends for years because of your flanks. I don't know what she thinks is so special that she wants to be more than friends, we don't really talk about all that mushy feelings stuff. But AJ is a special pony, and you should totally give her a chance.”

“Maybe I should. . .”

“And she has really great flanks too.” Dash grinned.

Twilight though for a moment about Applejack's toned, muscular body, a blush rising to her cheeks. “She does, doesn't she?”

Dash just winked. “You crazy kids have fun, okay? Don't do anything I wouldn't do, 'cause whatever it is, it would be really boring anyway.”

Twilight giggled. “Thanks, Dash.”

“No prob! Seeya!” Dash said as she trotted off.

As Twilight walked to the Carousel Boutique, she thought about the new information she had. If a pony was one of your best friends and you thought she had nice flanks, that seemed like enough of a reason to ask her on a date. But Twilight couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She'd hoped that there was more, that maybe Dash would tell her that Applejack admired her taste in literature, or her athletic prowess. Well, athletic competence.

The more Twilight thought about it, the less she could imagine Applejack and Rainbow Dash talking about things like why they liked somepony. That didn't mean that there wasn't a reason, Twilight just wasn't going to find it out from Rainbow Dash.

On the other hoof, now she knew that Applejack thought she had nice flanks, which gave her a proud smile and the tiniest sway in her step as she walked into the Carousel Boutique.

Oh boy, this scene coming up. Some people thought it was OOC for Rarity, some people didn't. I think this comes down to two things:

1) I will fully admit that I could have improved it by giving more care to tagging the dialogue. I think Rarity comes off as harsher than I intended her. For the record: what I meant for her was to be sure that Twilight and Applejack wouldn't work out, but genuinely concerned for Applejack at the same time. I'm not sure how that came across.

2) If that did come across and it still seemed OOC or too harsh, I think it's a matter of character interpretation. Specifically, the question comes down to how much she took away from her interaction with Prince Blueblood. There she seems to have a pretty narrow view of what would be the perfect pony for her, and I'd imagine that she would have narrow views for her friends (different for each, but it would not include AJ/Twilight). If you think she learned her lesson there and did a complete flip, then she should be more supportive. But I don't think she changed that much, more likely chalking it up to one bad stallion rather then canning her personal views on romance.  

Rarity looked up from the dress she was pinning and smiled. “Hello, Twilight. You look like you're having a nice day.”

“I am!” Twilight walked over to Rarity. “But I need your help. I need an expert on romance.”

“Well you've certainly come to the right place, darling!” Rarity's smile widened to a grin. “Who is the lucky pony?”

“I don't really know yet. I mean, Applejack asked me out, and I haven't figured out what to say.” Twilight said with a slight frown.

“Applejack?” Rarity pursed her lips, then sighed. “Oh dear, how to let a friend down gently. . .”

“No, the problem is that I don't know if I want to let her down.” Twilight explained. “I've been doing some research and I think I might want to give her a chance.”

Rarity raised her eyebrows. “We are speaking of the same Applejack, correct? Applejack the farmer, with the constantly messy mane and muddy hooves?”

“Do you know another Applejack?” Twilight asked.

“I simply don't understand why there's a question. She's a dear friend, but not exactly date material.” Rarity said with a toss of her mane.

“What makes somepony date material? My books just said that it should be somepony who you respect, trust, enjoy being around. That's kind of vague, but it certainly applies to Applejack.” Twilight noted.

“Well. . .” Rarity considered for a moment. “What is your ideal special somepony like?”

Twilight frowned and sighed. “A slender unicorn between four and five feet tall, with an excellent education who likes daffodils, the smell of chalk, and long evenings of calculus. They would have light eyes, a rumpled mane, and laugh at inappropriate times in the conversation but be embarrassed about it. They would know the history of-”

Rarity raised her eyebrows and said carefully, “That. . . may be a bit too detailed, darling. One doesn't usually get to order a special somepony from a catalog. But do any of those things describe Applejack?”

“Um. . . no.” Twilight admitted, looking down.

“That was my point. If she can't compare in any way to what you want in a special somepony, she isn't the right pony for you to date.”

This is actually a good point. If AJ doesn't seem like Twilight's ideal pony in any way, it's fair to question her reasons for wanting to date her. And since Twilight doesn't actually know herself yet, I don't think Rarity is unfair in her advice.

“But. . .” Twilight tried to put her thoughts together. “I like Applejack.”

“Of course you do.” Rarity gave Twilight a comforting nuzzle. “This is why it's so important to find a way to let her down gently.”

“No, I mean. . . I've never met anypony like my ideal pony that I actually liked. I met a few ponies like that, but there was always something wrong. Applejack isn't my dream pony, but I really do like being around her. And I respect her, and I trust her. And there's something else, but I can't put my hoof on it.” The thought was tugging at the back of her mind, something simple she was forgetting or not noticing.

“It seems unlikely to work out.” Rarity said skeptically. “But I suppose there's no harm in a single date, and perhaps that will get it out of your system.”

“That a good idea!” Twilight smiled. “I can go out with her once, and if it doesn't work then I can figure out how to let her know.”

“Come and see me when that comes to pass, dear. I'll think of something to tell her. I do want for all of my friends to be happy.” Rarity said sympathetically.

“I know. Thanks Rarity! I'll head over to Sweet Apple Acres right now.”

Twilight left the Boutique and started down the road to Sweet Apple Acres, trying to figure out what that something else that she felt about Applejack was. It was something more than liking her, but it certainly wasn't love, at least not the way that the romance novel had described it. Whatever it was didn't involve yearning, passionate hunger, or burning desire. She was kind of glad, because those sounded uncomfortable.

She tried to analyze what she'd always thought about Applejack, and realized that she never had thought much about Applejack. That was a little confusing, Twilight had thought a lot about her friends. Not as dates, of course, but just trying to find out what made them tick. They all seemed to have so many unexpected twists; Fluttershy's commanding presence when pushed into a corner, Rainbow Dash's paralyzing fear of failure, Rarity's shrewd understanding of how ponies think, and Pinkie. . . Twilight could write several books, a thesis, and a play for the Canterlot stage from the amount of time she spent trying to figure out Pinkie. But Applejack was just. . . Applejack. She was friendly and dependable, stubborn and proud, but anypony could guess those things if they spent any time with her.

Twilight grinned as she solved the puzzle of why there was no puzzle. Applejack was honest about who she was. She didn't try to pretend to be anything she wasn't, so Twilight never had to try to figure it out.  That was refreshing, in a way. There was a basic fact to start from: Applejack was Applejack, exactly as she seemed.

This is an interesting thing, and is either the reason there aren't more Applejack episodes, or the reason we should see more. Most of the other characters, including Twilight, have had episodes that showed some unexpected deeper layer. Applejack's episodes are pretty predictable for her character. This might be a sign that she needs more depth, but I've never felt that she was a shallow character, and you have to admit that it kind of makes sense for the element of honesty.

So what did Twilight think about Applejack? She worked hard. She loved her family and her friends. She was usually a little messy, and stubborn, and some of the things she should have learned in the Ponyville school house didn't seem to have stuck, but Applejack would be the first to admit those things.

She felt safe around Applejack. Not that she didn't feel safe most of the time, but she felt extra safe around her strong, dependable friend. From the day she came to Ponyville, Applejack had been looking out for her. Even if Twilight could take care of herself, when Applejack was around there was always another set of eyes and ears watching for problems, and another brain analyzing what was going on. If Twilight had to pick a pony to take care of an issue when she couldn't be there, chances were it would be Applejack.

There are people, and ponies in the world who are born to be second in command. Applejack is one of those ponies. She usually the second most logical after Twilight, sometimes the most logical when Twilight starts going crazy. She's not a leader, but she gets things done and doesn't need to be told what needs doing.

That seemed like a good thing in somepony to date. She remembered what Applejack had said to her, that she'd be careful with her heart and she'd never let anything ruin their friendship. Twilight knew that she could count on that, if Applejack said it then she meant it. As Twilight approached Sweet Apple Acres, she felt confidant in her decision. Going on a date with Applejack was the right thing to do.

She found Applejack carrying a load of apples to the barn. Twilight caught up with her, and grinned. “Hi! I wanted to let you know I made my decision, and I'd like to go out with you.”

“Well now, that sure is good news!” Applejack grinned. “How 'bout we go right now? It'll just take me a minute to get finished up here and pick up a few things.”

The smile fell from Twilight's face. “Now? But- but- I only got to skim the chapters on actually going on a date!”

“If you got more studyin' to do, we can do it another time.” Applejack said, sounding a tiny bit disappointed. “But I got somethin' special in mind and this looks like a good day for it. So if you're willin' to trust me I'll make it real easy for ya', and I bet you're smart enough to figure what to do.”

I admit it: I didn't want to write a getting ready for a date scene, I just wanted to get to the cute sunset. Sometimes writers cheat.

“But what if I go home afterward and study and realize that I could have done something better?”

“Then we'll haveta go on another date.” Applejack smiled and nudged her. “But just havin' you there's gonna be treat enough for me, you got my word.”

Twilight smiled. “Okay. We'll go on a date right now.”

“That's the spirit. Just lemme take care of some things.” Applejack grinned.

Applejack dropped off her apples in the barn, then went into the farmhouse. She returned a few minutes later with a picnic basket on her back.

“All set. You don't mind a bit of a walk, do ya?”

“No, no not at all! It's a beautiful day.”

“This way then, sugarcube.” Applejack started walking through the orchards, away from Ponyville. Twilight walked next to her and tried to think of something to say.

“So, um. . . what do you think about?”

This is always an interesting question to ask someone. Also: "What are you thinking?" is a good conversation starter with friends/significant others. Warning, the first few times they will react like AJ does here.

“What do I think about what?” Applejack knitted her brow.

“In general.” Twilight said with a shrug. “When you aren't thinking about work and the farm.”

“That's a strange kinda question.”

Twilight signed and looked down. “Well you didn't give me time to study, so I don't know the right kind of questions to ask.”

“It ain't wrong, sugarcube.” Applejack said quickly. “It just ain't somethin' anypony's ever asked before. I guess I think some 'bout rodeo, and some 'bout plans for things to do. Mostly I think 'bout ponies in town, 'bout our friends. Sometimes I try and figure 'em out. I dunno if ya' noticed, but they can be kinda weird sometimes.”

“I do the same thing!” Twilight smiled and relaxed a little. “I was just thinking about that on the way here, and how I don't think about- um, I mean, so why do you think Fluttershy is so scared of everypony? She's certainly tough enough when she has to be.”

“I reckon Fluttershy just don't like tryin' to work things out, it makes her nervous. Ponies ain't always what they seem to be, and she gets all worried tryin' to figure out just what she's supposed to say. But you take that bunny of hers. Ornery little cuss, I'd buck 'im in the head after a day or so, but he lets Fluttershy know exactly what he wants. He don't pretend to be nice to her, or try to hide when he's mad. She likes knowin' just where she stands, and the critters give that to her more than anypony can.”

Twilight nodded. “That makes perfect sense. And since most ponies aren't entirely honest most of the time, she has no way of figuring out which ponies are being honest with her, so she has to worry that every pony might be hiding something. But she can open up with us to some extent, because we've proven ourselves to be generally honest in our intentions.”

There are times in my life where I've been as shy as Fluttershy (I've also hidden behind my hair a lot) and this was the reason. It makes sense for Fluttershy, too. Her uncertainty and constant questioning of whether it's okay for her to have said  or suggested something fit with the idea that she just can't tell how other ponies are reacting to her, and that makes her anxious.

“Right. So she loves us like she loves her critters. And with how she cares 'bout those critters, we're some darn lucky ponies.” Applejack smiled. “So, if you been thinkin' 'bout this too, think ya' can tell me why Rarity's really tough as nails, but likes to play at swoonin' and carryin' on? I never could figure that one out.”

Twilight smiled and explained her thoughts on Rarity and each of their other friends as they walked together. Applejack explained her thoughts as well, and it turned out that they both had some insights that surprised the other. Twilight hardly noticed how far they'd come until Applejack stopped.

“This is the spot. Why don't I lay out a blanket, and we can have some supper?”

“That sounds nice.” Twilight said, looking around.

They had walked a long ways, to the far edge of the orchard. The end of the neat rows of trees marked the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, and the edge of Ponyville in fact. Past that point was an unclaimed meadow, overgrown with grass and wildflowers, and beyond that trees seemed to indicate a forest.

Applejack spread the blanket on the ground, and unpacked the picnic basket, pulling out cornbread and a covered dish of fried squash, and two bottles of apple juice.

“Here we are, Granny's best. And there's apples too, of course, but I didn't see no reason to carry 'em all the way when they're growin' right here. I'll get ya' one if ya' want.”

“This looks delicious.” Twilight sat down on the blanket. “Maybe I'll eat an apple later for dessert.”

Twilight heard a strange noise and looked up. Applejack was trying very hard not to laugh, and Twilight thought over what she said. Her eyes went wide, then she cringed and covered her face with a hoof.

“Not what I meant! Not what I meant!”

“Aw, sugarcube, I know that. It just came out funny, is all.” Applejack said, chuckling as she sat across the blanket from Twilight. “Just relax and enjoy your supper.”

Twilight smiled gratefully, and magically lifted some squash to her mouth.

Over dinner they had a winding conversation about things going on in town, Ponyville history, the magic behind zap apples, the Everfree forest, and the adventure where they'd first met. Twilight found it all fascinating, and Applejack seemed just as engaged, and before Twilight knew it the sun was going down.

That would be an interesting conversation to write out. Maybe I will someday, it makes sense as a conversation between them, and I'd love to think of Twilight's thoughts on Zap apples.

Anyway, this is a good place for me to talk about me and TwiJack. I'm an AppleDash shipper, first and foremost. But there are a few big things about TwiJack I love. To me, TwiJack is a stable, quiet ship. Both of them are fairly sensible, and not prone to jumping to conclusions. I've also gotten the sense though the series that Applejack is looking out for Twilight and a little more protective of her than she is of anypony else, even Fluttershy. Combined with what I said before, about seeing AJ as Twilight's second in command (AJ is where Twilight went first to un-discord the ponies, for example,) I can totally see this ship. Not in a passionate, "I want your flank" kind of way, but starting as a partnership that other ships have to build towards through a fanfic.

I'll also disclose that this ship is the closest to the main couple in my novel, so there's that too.

She glanced in the direction of the sunset and gasped. “Oh wow, Applejack, look!”

The meadow in the shade of the trees was already dark, and tens of thousands of fireflies hovered over it, mirroring the stars beginning to show in the deep blue sky. The sunset shone through the upper branches of the trees like the flame on a candle lighting the whole world in a warm, rosy light.

Applejack smiled. “That right there's what I wanted to show ya' on our first date. What it looks like way out here, with the sun just gone down.”

Twilight was entranced, so much so that she didn't notice that Applejack had moved until she sat down beside Twilight.

“First time I heard your name, I thought of this.” Applejack said quietly. “Lotta folks would think Twilight Sparkle sounds like a fancy name, all magic and stuff. But it can be simple too, just the settin' sun and the fireflies dancin' and the stars peekin' though. I been meanin' to show ya' for some time but. . . I was scared it's a little too home grown for you. I thought you might take it wrong.”

That right there was the first thing I wrote, and more or less the basis for the whole fic.

“It's beautiful, Applejack.” Twilight said. Then she blushed. “I- I remind you of this? How could I take it wrong? It's one of the nicest things anypony has ever said about me.”

“Well that ain't right. I can think of a whole barn full of nice things to say 'bout ya'.” Applejack leaned against Twilight and gave her a gentle nuzzle.

Twilight smiled and returned the nuzzle. “I've been thinking a lot of nice things about you, too. Should I say them?”

“I reckon there ain't much nice to say 'bout me.” Applejack blushed and looked down. “But you can always tell me what you're thinkin'.”

“Well, I was thinking that. . . sometimes I think too much.” Twilight said sheepishly.

Applejack gave an amused snort, but there was a tender smile on her face.

“I know.” Twilight nodded. “But I was thinking that there's somepony that I don't think too much about. She's just there, exactly what she seems to be, honest and dependable and beautiful- um, er, I mean. . .”

Applejack smiled softly. “Go on, sugarcube.”

Twilight relaxed against Applejack's warm body, laying her head on her shoulder. “Well, it's nice to not think, sometimes. It's nice to just know somepony, to not worry that I'm missing something, or that I'm not understanding you. You're just something that's true. Princess Celestia raises the sun each day, spring comes after winter wrap-up, and Applejack is just who she is. . . and she'll always be there for me.”

“You know that's the truth.” Applejack whispered.

“I like that. A lot. And. . .” Twilight hesitated, and looked into those big green eyes. “I like you a lot.”

I don't like to have ponies talking about love right off the bat. Especially not sensible ponies like AJ and Twilight.

“I like you a lot too, Twilight.” Applejack said meeting her gaze. “Uh, would ya' mind if I kissed ya'?”

Twilight didn't answer, she just leaned over and kissed Applejack tenderly on the lips.

As they parted, Twilight grinned. “See, I didn't even have to think about that! I'm with a beautiful pony whom I like very much, in a perfectly romantic setting. It was just natural.”

Applejack smiled. “Then I reckon ya' won't mind if I return the favor.”

Applejack kissed Twilight just as tenderly, but pressed the kiss slightly deeper. It felt loving and strong and gentle, Twilight decided it was a kiss only Applejack could give.

They parted slowly, their faces just inches apart. Applejack whispered, “Twilight Sparkle, you're the prettiest, sweetest, smartest pony I know.”

Twilight blushed and answered breathlessly, “Then will you believe me that you don't need the 'all' part of 'you all'? And when you use it for singular it doesn't even make sense.”

I love the idea that Twilight has no concept that sharing her more intellectual thoughts will break the mood.

Applejack looked confused for a second, then leaned back and chuckled. “I reckon that ain't gonna happen, sugarcube. But that ain't why I think you're so smart, anyway. It ain't 'cause ya' remember all that fancy stuff 'bout words and big ol' math thingies and barrels of spells. What makes ya' so smart is that behind all that stuff you're just lookin' for what's real and true, all the time. That's what all that's for, right?”

“Well . . . yeah. Yes it is.”

It's easy to get lost in intellectualism, but nice to have somepony remind you the purpose of all of that. Folks out there who are in school should remember that- every now and then you need to figure out what the basic purpose behind the stuff you're learning actually is.

Applejack smiled at her, “Now that's a job I can respect, even if I'll never understand half of what you're thinkin'.”

Twilight's eyes lit up as pieces fit together. “The whole idea of study is to find the things in the world that are always true. I mean, it's really the dream of any scholar to discover a new fact, a new law of the universe.”

She glanced over and Applejack was smiling at her. Twilight smiled back at the pony who was always true and constant, dependable to the end.

“Applejack, will you be my fact?”

I wish I had more to say about that line, but it kind of came out of nowhere.

“Sure as sugar.” Applejack gave Twilight a nuzzle on the cheek and pulled her close.

Twilight watched the glow fading from the horizon, feeling Applejack's strong body against her, and whispered, “You know, that phrase doesn't really make sense. . .”

Applejack chuckled and smiled at her. “Just kiss me, Twilight.”

“That one makes perfect sense.” Twilight said happily, and she did.

Okay, I'll hide this here at the end. I write oneshots fast. My rule is two days or it goes in the folder of WIP doom, probaby never to be heard from again. You'll notice my one shots are rarely longer than 3000 words, for that reason. This one is just shy of 5000.

That's because every now and then, a story just hits me and I plow through it, working on it every spare minute. These are always my best stories. I wish I knew what did it, and how to do it on command, but I don't.

So anyway, this story was written Monday and Tuesday, sent to DbzOrDie early Wednesday, proofread Thursday, and posted  Friday. Now it's Saturday and the story has been sitting in the feature box all day. I would probably be a better writer if I sat on my stories longer, and sent them for more pre-reading, but I'm happy with my stories in general and I think this is one I'll love to reread.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to put them in the comments here!