Rainbow Dash growled angrily as she slammed the door of her cloud home behind her. Due to the door frame being made of clouds, it made no loud noise of any kind. This only served to anger her even more than she already was. She had just returned home from her little secret rendezvous with Applejack in the barn, and Applejack had spurned her again. Tank happily got out of his bed and began to walk to her, but she payed him no mind. She was in no mood for comfort, or a hug. Tank looked into the kitchen, where his reptile chow sat, unused. He was hungry.

Rainbow tromped noisily into her room, her teeth clenched in anger. She jumped into her bed and simply laid there. She could not fall asleep, or rest, due to her overflowing anger at her current situation. After a half an hour of laying down and stewing in her own rage, Rainbow Dash jumped up again and paced around her room.

She wished she could say that she couldn't understand it. She wished she could just chalk it up to not knowing and begin on the path to forgetting and healing....But she did understand it and she did know. These facts were habanero peppers in the steaming hot stew that was her rage. The pegasus usually flew around her house a few times to blow off steam. It hadn't worked. She had done it fifty times before she entered the house, still as angry as she was when she left the barn.

The barn reminded her of Applejack. Applejack reminded her of why she was so filled with fury. She gritted her teeth as her pacing came to a stop in front of her bed. Her ears splayed back as she screamed. She threw the heavy concentrated cloud mattress off of her bed and across the room. Tank, who had just entered the room to comfort Rainbow, retreated into his shell in fear. Rainbow threw her new Daring Donovel across the room into a wall, which she proceeded to punch. The cloud wall, which was concentrated heavily, was very hard and hurt the pegasus' hoof every time she struck it.

She didn't care. She turned and bucked her bedpost, breaking it.

Rainbow turned around, breathing heavily and surveying her room. Her mattress had knocked quite a few things off of one of her bedside tables, even knocking a bedside table over. Her bedpost, of course, was broken, and her new hardback Daring Do novel was ruined. This disheartened her, but not nearly as much as the next thing she saw. Tank's shell, undoubtedly containing Tank, was trembling slightly in the doorway to her bedroom. Rainbow sighed as she walked over to the shell and picked it up. She stroked the top lovingly.

"Shhh...Tank, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." She said, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry I scared you." Tank, feeling a tad bit safer at the sound of Rainbow's soothing tone, came out of his shell and looked up at her. Rainbow smiled down at him, a tear glancing off her cheek.

"I'm gonna get this mess cleaned up..." She said, putting him down gently. Rainbow stood and sauntered over to her overturned mattress, straining as she lifted it up and let it fall back onto the bed. After making the bed and adjusting the blankets to her liking, she picked up her bedside table and set it right side up, replacing the lamp (that was miraculously unharmed) and other trinkets that had fallen. Rainbow then picked up herDaring Do novel. She cringed, as she had paid many bits for the book. The spine was bent badly and many of the pages were wrinkled heavily. At the very least, it was still readable. After struggling to straighten the spine and flatten the pages to no avail, she laid the book back upon her nightstand. Examining the bedpost, she realized that there was nothing that she could do about it being broken, except have it replaced.

Rainbow Dash sighed as she walked into her bathroom. Her head was aching and she was tired. A nice, cool shower seemed to be the right way to go at that moment. Taking one of the small clouds she had stored in the shower, she punched it a few times to coax a steady stream of nice, cool water from it. Not freezing, not hot, but just right. She stood in the shower and washed her body, utilizing her soap to wash any post-roll-in-the-hay dirt from herself after her romp with Applejack in the barn earlier.

She tried to growl again at the thought of the farm mare, but couldn't manage it for the life of her. She had flown around her house fifty times at high speeds just minutes before her explosion, and it was catching up with her now. After washing her mane, she used her hoof on the wall to support herself as she breathed heavily, letting the water run down her face. She was broken, emotionally and physically and it seemed as if there was no recovery. The feeling of dread that spread through her like a plague hindered her thinking.

Rainbow Dash began to cry. She knew she rarely cried. She knew it was out of character for her to take something like this the way she was, but she didn't care. Not anymore. The only thing she even really cared about at the moment was her pet tortoise Tank, who was undoubtedly waiting for her outside the bathroom. She sniffled and exited the shower, using a medium sized cloud as a towel to absorb the moisture. After wringing the towel out and storing it for later use, she left her bathroom and layed down on her bed, lifting Tank up with her.

Rainbow Dash sighed as she stroked his shell, letting him relax. As Tank began to close his eyes, the pegasus began to think.

'You and Applejack both know that she's scared. Nothing's gonna change that.' Rainbow thought to herself, taking care not to wake Tank up. 'Shekissed you, Rainbow Dash. She owes you the truth...but how to get it...' She thought more and more, attempting to come up with a solution. Rainbow had already tried to get Applejack back by being sweet and understanding, then alluring and attractive. Both seemed to have a profound effect on the farm mare at the time of their execution, but ended up failing at the end. As far as Rainbow Dash could see it, there was only one more option.

Assertive and demanding.

The more and more Rainbow Dash went over the three words in her head, the more sure she became of their success. She had to be assertive and demanding this time. Catch her off guard, as it were, and demand for her to tell the truth. Applejack couldn't hide forever. Rainbow thought of the coldness with which Applejack refused her. She thought of the way Applejack lied to herself just to cover her own hide when she should take responsibility for starting the whole thing. Rainbow clenched her teeth again, but quickly calmed herself down.

'I'm gonna get to the bottom of this if it kills me.' Rainbow Dash thought angrily to herself. She tried to sleep, but she couldn't.

Not now.

Not until this horrible fiasco was over and done with.

_____

Applejack breathed heavily as she sat at the market, vending apples to the various ponies that traveled back and forth. No matter how much the mare told herself that it was for the good of her family, she couldn't shake the pure boredom and monotony of it all. Applebloom sat next to Applejack, bored out of her wits as well.

"Sis, how much longer do we have to be here?" Applebloom whined, sparking slight annoyance in Applejack. Applejack gazed upon the large clock on a building in front of the market entrance.

"Four more hours..." Applejack said, sighing. "Ah know it's boring, sugarcube, but we gotta do this. Ponies love our apples, so we gotta sell 'em so we can put food on the table."

"Ah know that." Applebloom countered, flopping her chin on the ground. "Ah just don't know why Ah can't go play at Sweetie Belle's or somethin'."

"So let me get this straight. Ya'd rather have Rarity make you try on a whole bunch of clothes than sell apples?" Applejack said, expecting her baby sister to be repulsed by the idea.

"Well, yeah. As long as Ah get to hang out with Sweetie Belle..." Applebloom said dejectedly. Applejack looked down at her, puzzled, and eventually sighed.

"Oh...alright." Applejack said. "Ah suppose Ah don't really need ya here." Applebloom jumped up, beaming happily at her sister. "But you go straight to Carousel Boutique, ya hear? Ah'll come get ya when Ah'm through here." Applebloom nodded quickly.

"Okay! Thanks, sis!" Applebloom shouted before sprinting in the direction of the boutique where her friend lived.

"Y'all be careful, now!" Applejack yelled worriedly after her.

"Excuse me, miss. A dozen of your finest apples, please." She heard a smooth, familiar voice say.

"Sir," Applejack said without even turning around. "Ah'd be happy to-" She stopped when she turned around and looked upon Caramel standing before her.

"Hey." He said with a smirk.

"Caramel!" She said with a small smile. "Ah wasn't expecting to see ya here."

"Well, I shop for groceries too." He said with a small chuckle. Applejack scoffed at herself.

"Of course ya do. Ah don't know what Ah was thinking." She said. "What did ya say ya wanted?"

"A dozen apples...Hey! I actually remembered this time." He said, poking fun at himself. Applejack chuckled, beginning to put the apples in a bag for him.

"Here ya go." She said warmly. "Hope ya enjoy 'em!"

"I'm really excited about tonight." He said.

"Tonight?" Applejack responded, raising an eyebrow. "What's tonight?" Caramel frowned slightly.

"Uh...Our date?..." He said, slightly worried. Applejack's eyes widened in suprise at her own capacity to forget.

"Oh, yeah!" She said. "Sorry, sugarcube. Ah just got a lot on my mind since yesterday." Caramel dismissed it with a wave of a hoof.

"Don't worry about it." He said. "Just shows that we have something else in common. So, how long have you been here?"

"Oh, just about two hours. The fun part of the job's over 'till next year." She said to him. He nodded.

"How much do you usually sell?" He asked her. Applejack adjusted her stetson, looking up to the left.

"Oh, usually half to the whole thing. Apples go like crazy 'round here." Applejack said with a small chuckle.

"I bet." He said. "Hey, Applejack, listen. I don't want to sound like a jerk, but that kiss after our first date a couple days ago...it just seems like we're moving a little too fast, y'know?"

"Yeah." Applejack said, nodding slightly.

"I just want to take the oppurtunity tonight to get to know you." He stated. Applejack nodded understandingly.

"Yeah, Ah get it." She said to him. "Ah'm sorry if Ah made ya uncomfortable." He shook his head.

"Quite the opposite, actually." He said with a small blush. "You're actually a really good kisser." Applejack blushed herself.

"Well, thank ya." She said. "Ah appreciate the sentiment."

"I gotta go. As you can see..." He said, gesturing to his overflowing saddlebags. "I've got a lot of groceries." Applejack laughed.

"Alright. Ah'll see ya tonight." Applejack called. He waved at her before walking away, leaving her, once again, alone at the apple stand.

'He really is a good guy.' She thought to herself. 'But what about Rainbow? You can't forget her.'

'Ah could forget her anytime Ah want...'

'No Ah can't...'

"What should Ah do?" She whispered to herself. She felt like she was running away from some great beast, and the only way out was to make up her mind and select the right passage to enter. She sighed as she dropped her face on the stand, frowning heavily. "You don't love her...you don't..." She reaffirmed this to herself several more times. She knew her friends wouldn't judge her if they found out about her and Rainbow, and she had seen no other signs of bigotry in Ponyville aside from the Cakes. But just because she didn't see any other judgemental ponies, didn't mean they weren't there...right? They could be important customers of hers, and if they were half as hateful as the cakes about fillyfooling, they would undoubtedly cease business with her.

"Ah miss her." She said. "Ah know ah do." The feeling of dread that seemed to be perpetual at this point flared within her.

"Okay...pros to bein' with Rainbow..." She whispered to herself, beginning to create a small list for herself.

"Hi, Applejack!" A cheerful voice said from in front of her, making Applejack shout out in suprise, only for her to behold Pinkie Pie, positively beaming, as always.

"Oh...hey, Pinkie." Applejack said, sighing.

"Are you okay?" Pinkie questioned, tilting her head slightly to the side, her puffy pink mane bobbing.

"Yeah. Ah'm okay. Ah just have a lot on my plate as of late." Applejack said tiredly. Pinkie Pie giggled happily.

"You made a rhyme!" She said. Applejack smiled.

"Ah suppose Ah did." Applejack said. "Ah'm a poet and Ah didn't even know it." Pinkie Pie burst into laughter, rolling around on her back. Applejack was sure the line had been used hundreds of times before, but Pinkie looked like she had just heard it for the first time.

"Oh! You kill me, Applejack!" Pinkie said, wiping a tear from her eye. "So, did you hear?!" Applejack raised an eyebrow and adjusted her stetson at the ambiguous question.

"Uh...hear what?" She said, confused.

"Rainbow Dash has a special somepony!" Pinkie exclaimed happily with a squeal. Applejack's heart beat heavily in her chest. She rubbed the back of her head and looked to the side nervously. "Love is in the air! I can smell it!...It smells like cake!...Wait, that's just Sugarcube Corner!"

"Uh...yeah, that's great Pinkie." Applejack said. "Uhm...any chance that she told ya who it was?"

"Nope." Pinkie said. "I just know he's a stallion!" Applejack sighed silently in relief. But this also struck a chord in Applejack. Had Rainbow Dash finally moved on to a nice stallion as well? The idea sent yet another feeling of dread through her, which she ignored.

"She came to Sugarcube Corner the other day and bought him a big, chocolate heart! She seemed so...happyto do it!" Pinkie Pie lied, but Applejack didn't know.

So Rainbow hadn't moved on...why would she think that? Of course Rainbow hadn't moved on. A pang of guilt assaulted Applejack as she sat behind the stand.

"I just thought I'd come over and say hi." Pinkie Pie said. "I guess I'll be leaving, now!"

"Where ya goin'?" Applejack asked the pink party pony.

"To go tell Twilight! I have to spread the good news!" Pinkie said, bouncing. "I would have done it yesterday, but I was sick from eating too much chocolate! Bye, Applejack!"

"See ya, Pinkie!" Applejack said with a smile. She flopped her chin down upon the stand counter and closed her eyes. She was already tired enough to go to bed. She opened her eyes and looked back up at the clock and closed her eyes, regretting it instantly. As if on cue, a cold wind blew and chilled her to the bone. Damned if it wasn't winter already, Applejack was cold.

"Three hours and forty-five minutes to go..." She said despairingly to herself.

Rainbow Dash flew from the weather patrol office with the determination she had always been known for. The near-freezing air battered her and tried to hold her back, as if it was trying to prevent her from reaching her goal. Not even an angry dragon could keep her from accomplishing what she had set out to do. Rainbow Dash was going to find Applejack, the element of honesty, and get her to tell the truth.

'Why don't you just quit, Rainbow?!' A tiny voice in the back of her head screamed at her. 'It's not worth it! Why torture yourself?' The point was a solid one, to be sure. Any normal pony would have just stopped, gone home and begun on the path to recovery...But Rainbow Dash was no normal pony.

'I'm doing this because I love her!' The pegasus thought to herself. 'And I know she loves me too!'

She wouldn't be cheated, not when the mare cheating her was cheating herself at the same time. No, even if Applejack wouldn't get back together with her, just to get the farm mare to admit to the truth, would have been enough for her. Night and freezing cold were descending upon Ponyville quickly, so Rainbow increased her speed to Sweet Apple Acres.

It was time to find out the truth.

The pegasus touched down in front of the Apple Family's farm house and knocked promptly on the door. It was opened after some time by Applejack's little sister, Applebloom. She looked up at Rainbow Dash and smiled. Rainbow couldn't help but smile back, despite how she was feeling.

"Well, howdy, Rainbow Dash!" She beamed.

"Hey there, Applebloom." Rainbow responded. "Is uh, Applejack around?" The filly shook her head.

"She's on a date with Caramel right now." Applebloom stated. "Oh, speakin' of, Ah heard the good news from Pinkie earlier! Congratulations!"

"Huh?" Rainbow responded plainly, tiliting her head slightly to the side.

"On findin' a new coltfriend!" Applebloom said excitedly. "You an' Applejack are gonna have so much to talk about, what with the both of you havin' new coltfriends and all!"

"Oh yeah, we do have a lot to talk about." Rainbow said with slight venom in her words.

"Rainbow Dash, it's really cold. Why don't ya come inside for some cider?" Applebloom asked sweetly. Rainbow smiled warmly.

"Aw thanks, Applebloom. But I gotta talk to Applejack about a special project we're doing together." Rainbow said. "Could you tell me where they are? It's really important. She'd want to know about this." Applebloom nodded.

"Sure. They're at Cafe Du Mane." Applebloom said before shivering. "You sure you don't need that cider?" Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks, Applebloom." Rainbow said before beginning to take off.

"What's the project?" Applebloom said, stopping Rainbow Dash where she was. Rainbow slowly turned to the filly and looked down at her.

"Uh...we're making something...for...Twilight. Yeah, Twilight." Rainbow said with a small, proud smile at the fib she had just created. Applebloom looked confused for a moment, but nodded.

"Okay! Bye, Rainbow!" She said before closing the door. With a newfound determination, Rainbow turned in the direction of Cafe du Mane. The cold wind chilled her to the bone, making her shiver, despite her previous disposition towards it. Rainbow Dash now wanted to reach Cafe Du Mane, not just to confront Applejack, but to get some warmth as well.

I could go for some cupcakes Right about now.....