“Hey, Applejack! Where you going?”

“My chores are done. I’m spending the rest of the night with my special somepony.”

There was a long moment of silence, and then Apple Bloom laughed. “You’re yanking my leg! I know you ain’t got a special somepony. You spend all your time workin’ and hangin’ out with Rainbow Dash.”

There was a long, long silence as Applejack just looked at her sister, one brow quirked in a curious arch.

Did she really…not know?

Finally, she shook her head, a hint of a smile crossing her face. “You’ll understand when you’re older.” Her tone was good-natured –cheerful, even- but Apple Bloom scowled anyway.

Everypony was always saying she was too young to understand things, but it simply wasn’t true. If Applejack wanted to have a secret romance, that was one thing. But to say she wouldn’t get it…

That was another entirely.

“I best be going.” Applejack continued, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder and straightening her hat. She had an unusual gleam in her eye, as if something exciting was going to happen; as if she was rushing off to meet her destiny. “Don’t you stay up too late; you were busy today.”

And with that, she trotted down the porch steps and off into the descending darkness, tale swishing behind her.

Apple Bloom watched as her sister hurried off, eyes narrowed. Go to bed?

Fat chance.

-

So she followed.

Apple Bloom waited until Applejack was a good distance away, sneaking off from the porch and heading in the same direction the older pony had gone. She tried to be as stealthy as possible, alternating between glancing after her sister’s surprisingly bouncy silhouette and the ground – There was no way she was going to blow her cover by stepping on a twig.

Instead of heading into town, Applejack made her way deeper into the orchard, the moonlight peeking through the trees creating dappled shadows on her coat. She didn’t hesitate once, even in the face of the darkening night and the spooky shadows; in fact, her gait picked up speed the further she went until she was practically running full tilt, Apple Bloom galloping behind as fast –and quietly- as possible.

Where was she going?

Applejack slowed towards the edge of the orchard, speed decreasing as another figure –shadowed and anonymous- came into view. Apple Bloom paused beside a tree, stepping quickly behind the trunk and peering ‘round it to see what was happening. She watched, breath held, as Applejack paused, nearly prancing in place in anticipation, then barreled forwards, running to greet the other pony.

And still, she didn’t stop; instead veering sharply to the right, her mysterious somepony jolting to life beside her, easily matching and keeping her pace. They wove through the darkness and trees, hooves thundering, tails flying behind them.

Then they slowed, simultaneously, flanks pressed together, as if supporting each other. One of them leaned a little –in the darkness, Apple Bloom couldn’t tell who- and they fell, rolling across the ground in a tangle and laughing together, Applejack’s hat falling, forgotten for the moment.

And there, in that moment, as they tumbled across the grass, familiar laughter echoing through the night -as Applejack rolled on to her back, pulling the other pony down beside her- there, in a sliver of moonlight…

A flash of rainbow.

Apple Bloom felt the world tilt beneath her.

-

The walk back to the farmhouse was silent, save for the occasional rustle of leaves beneath her hooves.

Apple Bloom, naturally, had a thousand and one questions swirling through her mind, but who was there to ask them to?

And besides that…It seemed wrong to speak, now, in this strange, magical hour. As if her voice would shatter the perfect stillness of the precious few remaining hours of Hearts and Hooves Day. It didn’t matter if Applejack and Rainbow Dash wouldn’t hear her. She would hear herself, and that would be enough to spoil it.

You’ll understand when you’re older.

With the way Applejack and Rainbow Dash were always bickering and trying to outdo each other, Apple Bloom didn’t think she’d ever understand.

She mounted the steps, heading for her room, still silent. Even the creaking of a loose floor board seemed wrong and loud.

Even louder still, though, was the question rattling in her mind, bursting to get out: How long has this been going on?

-

Applejack, nestled at the base of a golden delicious tree, Rainbow Dash curled at her side, had no clue her sister had been spying on them.

Not that it would have mattered anyway; there was nothing else in the world at that moment.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t asleep, just lazy, snuggled on her side with her tail fanned behind her in the grass. She looked rumpled, windblown, beautiful, even with her coat covered in a layer of dust and a leaf stuck between the feathers in one of her wings. There was nothing in the world that could diminish Rainbow’s beauty; she was absolutely wild and untamed.

And Applejack loved her that way.

While doing anything with Rainbow Dash was bound to be exciting, it was running with her that made Applejack’s heart pound like a stampede. She wasn’t sure, but the first time they had raced, kicking up clumps of sod, wind whistling through her ears, Rainbow Dash cocky and determined beside her…And when Rainbow looked over at her, smiled, tucked her head low and plowed ahead…Well, that might have been the very moment she fell in love.

But it had not been a momentous occasion; nor had it been a life-altering event. Their mutual feelings had crept up on them so gradually that neither had noticed. Instead, they had slipped easily from something close to something closer, moving on in the natural progression of things, to nopony’s surprise.

There had been no declarations of love; there had been no need for them. It was as if they had just looked at one another one day and knew: I am going to be with her through everything.

Loving Rainbow Dash wasn’t always easy, but it was moments like this –perfect, peaceful moments- that made it all worthwhile.

Until…

Rainbow stirred suddenly, a grin stretching across her face as she sat up, rustling her wings. “Race you back to the house!”

…So much for peaceful.

“Yer on!” But who was Applejack to resist?

Cloud duty started early the next morning and Rainbow Dash had left before Apple Bloom ambled downstairs.

It wasn’t unusual to find the pegasus in the kitchen come morning; she stopped by –or spent the night? Apple Bloom wasn’t quite sure, now- often for breakfast. Rainbow Dash was no great cook and she, like everypony else, knew the best place to find a hearty breakfast was in the Apple family’s dining room.

Apple Bloom had never thought twice about it before; Rainbow Dash was her sister’s best friend, after all. It was normal for her to be there, joking around, bragging, or otherwise making breakfast a lively affair. There were a lot of ponies who found Rainbow Dash’s attitude sometimes unbearable –Applejack was one of them- but having her around usually made things interesting.

It was, therefore, quiet downstairs when Apple Bloom finally dragged herself out of bed. She had slept late, the result of her mind buzzing with questions as she lay in bed -trying to fall asleep- the night before. Sleeping in was pretty much a sin with all the chores to do, but nopony had had the heart to wake her – Unused to so many extra strenuous chores, she’d worked hard the previous day.

The question that had gotten lost among all the other more important ones: How did Big Mac do it every day?

Apple Bloom paused in the doorway, looking at her big sister, checking for subtle signs she may have missed that something was different; that Applejack was in love.

“Mornin’ Apple Bloom.” Applejack was at the sink, lathering up the dishes. She was a methodical worker, always certain in her task and the proper way to perform it. She didn’t even turn as the filly appeared, just continued on with what she was doing.

There was nothing to indicated that she had tender feelings for anypony.

“Thanks for saving me breakfast.” Apple Bloom made her way over to the table, where a covered plate was waiting, the morning’s apple pancakes still warm.

“Ain’t nothing.” Applejack dried her hooves, turning to smile at her before heading off to start the next job. “But you best hurry and eat; you’ve got chores to do before school.”

Apple Bloom nodded, tucking into the waiting food. She did have chores to do and she was late, late, late. Big Mac would be waiting for her; she was supposed to be helping with a broken fence.

Her questions would have to wait, for the moment.

-

Apple Bloom’s job was to hold a pan of nails for Big McIntosh.

It was hardly anything he couldn’t have handled by himself, but the family liked Apple Bloom to help out where she could; it was up to them to instill a strong work ethic in her, after all. How many times had she heard it? She needed to help out as much as she could. And though she was small, her seemingly insignificant contributions often made things run a lot smoother around the orchard.

With her passing along the nails, there was no reason for Big Mac to pause in his hammering to retrieve them.

The siblings worked in silence for a while, smoothly and without any real need for communication. Apple Bloom watched Big Mac intently, knowing exactly when he would need the next nail. It wasn’t the first time she’d helped like this, nor would it be the last, and Apple Bloom knew exactly what her brother needed.

At first, she didn’t speak because she was feeling kind of awkward – She’d never seen her big brother acting as weird as he had the day before. Granted, it had been in part her fault that he was being so sappy, but even knowing it was the work of the love poison didn’t help. Quite simply put, the whole thing had been incredibly embarrassing and Apple Bloom wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“Rainbow Dash is Applejack’s special somepony!”

…So she just blurted something out.

Big McIntosh paused in his hammering, looking down at her quietly for a moment, one brow quirked-

“Ayup.”

-then he turned back to the fence.

There was another long silence as Apple Bloom stared at his back, eyes wide, mouth gaping open. He knew? He knew and hadn’t said anything??

“You knew?”

“Ayup.”

“And didn’t tell me?”

“Nope.”

“…Why?? ”

Big Mac shrugged, glancing down at her again. “Thought you knew.” Didn’t everypony know? It was pretty obvious and it wasn’t like Applejack and Rainbow Dash were trying to hide it. They were together almost all the time, sat a little closer to each other than necessary, argued like they’d been married for years…

How could Apple Bloom not have noticed?

“How d’you reckon I coulda known??” The filly stamped a hoof so hard it send a cloud of dust puffing up around her. “Nopony ever said anything!” She felt stupid; was this something she should have known? Had somepony said something about it? Or maybe she’d just been too preoccupied to notice.

Big Mac blinked, tilting his head to the side. What did she mean, ‘nopony ever said anything’? It wasn’t like anypony had told him, either. It was just something he knew; something everypony knew.

Everypony, it seemed, except for Apple Bloom.

-

In a fit of frustration over the situation, Apple Bloom had galloped full speed to school.

She wound up getting there early; too early even to go inside, and that was why Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell found her pacing through the schoolyard, movements jerky, eyes narrowed. She was kicking up clumps of grass and sod, hooffalls angry and harsh.

She looked royally pissed off.

“Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Bell stopped short, eyes going wide at the sight of the pacing filly. It wasn’t often that Apple Bloom got that upset over anything; she was usually pretty easygoing and mellow. Sweetie Bell had never seen her angry like that before.

Scootaloo didn’t bother beating around the bush. She screwed up her face, giving Apple Bloom a strange look. “What happened to you?”

Apple Bloom didn’t pause, just continued trotting the path she’d worn into the grass, head down, brows knit. “My sister!” The words came with a burst of speed and she started moving faster.

“What about her?” Suddenly, Scootaloo was in front of her, facing her and backing around the same path Apple Bloom had been trotting for the past half hour or so.

If Sweetie Bell hadn’t been worried about her friend, she might’ve been laughing. Scootaloo looked ridiculous, backing quickly around the curve in the yard, bottom up, tail swishing as she hurried to match the agitated Apple Bloom’s pace and not get trampled.

“Her and Rainbow Dash!”

Sweetie Bell blinked. Scootaloo stopped dead, toppling over when her sudden halt caused Apple Bloom to crash into her. “Is that all?” The little Pegasus asked, head cocked as she blinked up at her friend, “Why are you getting so worked up about it?”

“You knew?! Apple Bloom leaned in, pushing her face close to Scootaloo’s. “How did you know?” Was the world going crazy? How was it possible that everypony else knew about her sister’s love life when she hadn’t had a clue?

“I thought everypony knew!” Scootaloo shoved Apple Bloom off of her and sat up, dusting herself off. “How did you not know? Haven’t you ever noticed the way they’re always making those…those schmoopy faces at each other when they think nopony is looking? Or how they’re, I dunno, always together?”

“It’s soooo romantic!” Sweetie Bell piped up, her eyes wide again, and sparkling this time, too. “Like this amazing secret love story from one of Rarity’s books about the noblepony who falls in love with a simple country girl…”

“It’s mushy,” Scootaloo scoffed, disgruntled at the very thought of her idol being sappy or –for that matter- a noblepony, “but it’s hardly a secret.”

Apple Bloom looked between the two of them, mind boggling. How were they being so matter of fact about this? “ARGH!” She threw up her hooves, exasperated, just as the bell rang, signaling the start of the school day, “This is not normal!”