Rainbow Dash woke up the next morning and fed her tortoise. She had returned to her cloud home the previous night after her altercation with Applejack angry and confused. Applejack, as far as she knew, never really cared what other ponies thought of her, provided they were thinking negative things. How was it so different now? No matter the case, Rainbow cared for Applejack deeply and valued her immensely. She knew she had to make things right with her love. Shewas in love with Applejack and she would do anything for her, including support her, no matter how she felt about revealing their relationship to their friends and family. Rainbow Dash patted Tank's head and left her home, descending upon Ponyville to find Applejack.

When the cyan pegasus arrived in the market, she layed her eyes upon the apple stand, currently being run by Big Macintosh, Applejack's brother. As she approached, Big Mac nodded at her.

"Mornin' Miss Dash." Big Mac said politely. "What'll it be?"

"Hey, Big Mac. I'm not buying anything, but do you know where Applejack is? I have to talk to her about a big project we have coming up." Rainbow said to him.

"She ain't here. She's down at the farm for today. But Ah'm sure she'd be happy to see ya." He replied to her. Rainbow nodded.

"Alright. Thanks, Big Mac!" Rainbow said before flying in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

"Eeeyup." Big Mac said, even though he was certain that Rainbow could not hear him anymore.

Rainbow flied over the town before finally coming upon Sweet Apple Acres. She spied Applejack down in front of the barn, moving barrels of apples. Rainbow flew down and landed behind Applejack, who noticed her presence.

"Morning, AJ." Rainbow said. "Working?"

"Yep." Applejack said simply. She set the barrel up and turned to Rainbow, who was walking towards her. Applejack began walking toward the stacks of barrels outside the barn. Rainbow went to hug her, but received no reciprocation from the farm mare.

"Sorry, Rainbow. Gotta get all this stuff done." Applejack said, a slight deadpan tone in her voice.

"Oh...uh...don't worry about it. No problem." Rainbow said before sitting down to watch Applejack work. Back and forth she went, moving the heavy barrels of apples into the barn.

"So...you guys getting all of those ready to be sold at the market?" Rainbow asked her.

"Yep. Things go like candy." Applejack said. "Funny that we're still strugglin' to make ends meet." Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah, that's why it's pretty awesome to live in the clouds. I made my house." Rainbow said proudly, making Applejack roll her eyes slightly as she continued to work. Rainbow rubbed the back of her head nervously as she struggled to talk.

"Uh...um...Look, I'm just going to get to the Ursa Major in the room. Last night..."

"We ain't gotta talk about last night." Applejack said. "Nothin' needs to be said."

"Yeah, it does." Rainbow replied. "We do need to talk about this." Applejack sighed before standing a barrel up and turning to face Rainbow.

"Alright, fine." Applejack said. "Let's talk." Rainbow cleared her throat.

"Okay, look, I...I may have overreacted last night." Rainbow said. Applejack scoffed lightly. "I know you may be nervous about revealing...us to anyone right now. I just got a little impatient with it. I can wait for you." Applejack looked up at the sky for a moment then back to the pegasus, a sweet, genuine, hopeful look on her face. Rainbow moved forward and nuzzled Applejack's cheek, making the farm mare's stomach flutter for a moment. Applejack didn't respond to the nuzzle, however, and let Rainbow step back. Judging from her disappointed look, Applejack knew Rainbow had wanted a kiss. Applejack frowned as she got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She sighed.

"Okay, Rainbow...Ah appreciate you considerin' me..." Applejack said. "But, uh...there's somethin' Ah gotta tell ya." Rainbow became nervous at this comment, but nodded anyway.

"Alright." Rainbow said, smiling at her sweetly. Applejack frowned and looked down. "I'm all ears, AJ."

"You an' me..." Applejack said, stopping for a moment to gain control of herself. She blinked away tears and adjusted her stetson. She looked to the side, away from Rainbow. "You an' me ain't uh...workin'." Rainbow's eyes widened slightly.

"What?" Rainbow asked.

"Ah think we should...y'know...break up." The pegasus' heart stopped and her mind went numb. The statement took a moment for Rainbow Dash to register. The fire that burned in her chest, created whenever she layed eyes upon Applejack, was extiguished and frozen over. Her bottom lip had begun to quiver. She sat down, losing strength in her back legs, producing a muted thump. Her mouth hung slightly open, astonished at what she had just heard.

Applejack's heart broke at the scene before her, seeing Rainbow like this. Something inside her screamed for her to stop this, to say it was a joke and hold her, to kiss her and reassure her of their love for each other. But what Granny Smith had said the previous night to her, that it was just a phase, and they would both get over it eventually, pushed it aside and took prescedence. Her fear had become dominant.

"Rainbow, look, it's uh...it's not you, it's me. And Ah know that sounds really chiche, but-"

"Why?" Was all Rainbow said, looking at Applejack. Again, the farm mare averted her eyes.

"Well, uh..." Applejack said. "Uhm...well...we're two of the Elements of Harmony."

"So?" Rainbow said, raising and eyebrow.

"So...it's a b-bond between you, me, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie b-based on friendship. Our l-love could p-potentially change that." Applejack looked to the side and scuffed a hoof on the ground, adjusting her stetson again.

"That's ridiculous." Rainbow said, outraged. "Love is the highest form of friendship."

"Ya don't know that." Applejack said.

"How could it not be?" Rainbow said. She stood. "You're lying to me, aren't you?"

"No, Rainbow, Ah'm not." Applejack said.

"Yes, you are. You know how I can tell?" Applejack said nothing. "Whenever you lie, you stutter and look away from whoever you're talking to." Rainbow said, stepping toward Applejack. "All those times you told me how much you enjoy my company, you were looking me straight in the eyes." Applejack sighed and looked at Rainbow, brows furrowed. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as she felt a bead of sweat going down her temple.

"Ah ain't lyin' to ya."

"Oh, sure, now you look at me, when I've pointed out your tell." Rainbow said, anger lacing her words like a poison. "Why don't you tell me the real reason you're ending it? Like I don't alreadyknow." Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "You're scared."

"Ah ain't scared of nothin'." Applejack said, anger rising in her as well.

"Sure you are. You're terrified of what anypony else would think of you if they found out you were in a relationship with another mare." Rainbow said. "This is disappointing, Applejack. Especially coming from you."

"This was just a phase and you know it." Applejack said, stepping toward Rainbow, further closing the distance. Rainbow, further astonished at this statement yelled-

"Just a phase!? Are youkidding?!"

"No Ah ain't! We've both had coltfriends before, Rainbow!" Applejack said, raising her voice as well.

"And that changes anything how? This is ridiculous." Rainbow said, looking away and shaking her head. She looked back at Applejack. "You're ridiculous. You started all of this when you kissed me the night of your hoedown. I didn't ask you to lay one on me, but you did!"

"You sure as hay didn't reject it!" Applejack said.

"Why didn't you stutter when you raved about how much you love spending time with me, huh?" Rainbow demanded. "Why didn't you look away whenever we made love?!"

"Made love? Never thought Ah'd hear ya say that, Dash." Applejack said, with a sarcastic chuckle.

"Don't bucking change the subject!" Rainbow said to her. "This is all a big lie, and you know it. It all boils down to one simple fact." Rainbow got nearly nose-to-nose with Applejack. Applejack did not move back, instead looking Rainbow Dash in her eyes.

"What's that?" Applejack asked.

"You. Are. Scared." Rainbow said, eyes narrowing. Applejack shoved Rainbow back.

"Ah ain't scared of nothin'!" Applejack yelled. Rainbow laughed lightly.

"Sounds like denial to me." She said, this statement doused the fire that was Applejack's anger with gasoline.

"Oh yeah!?" Applejack said to her. "How about this?" She focused all of her willpower to grab each of Rainbow Dash's shoulders and bring her to look her in the eyes. She poured all of her effort into getting the words out perfectly. "Ah never felt anything but lust for you. You read too much into it." The gesture was like a sword in Rainbow Dash's stomach. Her eyes widened as she looked into Applejack's eyes. Her confident, smirking face morphed into an expression of hurt and heartbreak. If looking away and stuttering was Applejack's tell, it didn't show now. Tears flooded Rainbow's eyes as Applejack's hold softened along with her heart. Applejack's stomach turned as she realized what she had just done. She let go as Rainbow stepped back.

"I..." Rainbow said, a single tear falling down her cheek. "I don't believe it..."

"Rainbow..." Applejack said, tearing up as well. "Ah still want to be your friend..."

"That's what they always say, isn't it?" Rainbow said, wiping her tears and straightening up. "But then, what happens whenever you see your ex? You don't want to talk to them, right?" Applejack adjusted her stetson.

"It doesn't have to be that way, Rainbow Dash..." Applejack said.

"I still don't believe you...just yesterday...the look you had in your eyes was unmistakable. You're still lying to me." Rainbow said, brows furrowing.

"Ah'm not, Dash. It's best w-we just...end it now." Applejack said. "Look, a little while ago, Rarity told me that Caramel likes me. He's still single, so Ah'm gonna talk to him later. Ah'm serious about this." Applejack's head was overflowed with thoughts contradicting the statement. More tears fell from Rainbow Dash's eyes, but she stood firm, she did not sob, falter or break down. Seeing Rainbow like this made Applejack's chest hurt.

'Coward!' The farm mare thought to herself. 'Look what you're doin' to Rainbow Dash! Your sweet Rainbow Dash!' She pushed these thoughts away and sighed, looking at Rainbow. They stared at one another for a while, not moving, only stopping their eye contact to blink.

"Ah gotta get back to work." Applejack said.

"Fine." Rainbow said, unfurling her wings. "The element of honesty can't lie...at least not very well." Applejack merely sighed and returned to rolling the heavy barrel into the barn. Rainbow Dash began to fly away back to her cloud home.

Applejack finished with her work and after she shut the barn door, sat down and looked over Sweet Apple Acres. Her mind was buzzing with constant thoughts of Rainbow Dash and what had just transpired. Her insides felt rotten as she sat, frowning. Big Mac approached her, returning from the market.

"Sold out today." Big Mac said, a small smile on his face. When Applejack didn't reply, he looked at her, slightly worred. "Everythin' alright, sis?" Applejack looked at him for a moment before looking away again.

"Yeah, Big Mac. Ah'm fine." She said, looking down at the ground in front of her. Big Mac sighed.

"Alright, sis. Come inside soon. It's goldurned cold out here." He said. Applejack nodded.

"Ah'll be in in a minute. Just got a lot to think about." She said. Big Mac nodded. Her thoughts were uninterrupted by the small conversation she just had with her brother.

"She'll be okay." Applejack whispered to herself. "Dash is tough. She'll get over it." She turned to go into her house. "It's for the best..." She felt no less disgusted with herself, and no less sorrowful for the partnership she had just lost. A tear formed in her eye before she quickly wiped it away.

"Caramel's a nice stallion."

_____

Rainbow sniffled as another tear fell down the side of her face onto her cloud pillow. She moved slightly on her bed where she had fallen and stayed since she had arrived at her home. Tank was curled up next to her belly, reassuringly resting his chin on her side. Applejack had changed so radically since the day before on their date...well, she hadn't actually changed herself, just her behavior. Rainbow wiped her tear and hugged onto Tank, pulling him closer.

"Thanks, Tank. You're a good friend." Rainbow said. "I needed someone to hug onto." The statement was something she wouldn't want anyone else but her pet to hear her say.

"Maybe that's how Applejack feels..." Rainbow wondered aloud. "No, it's not. I wouldn't really care that much if Twilight heard me say that I like snuggling with you, Tank. Sure, I'd be a little embarrased, but..." Her voice lowered slightly. "I'm not scared like...Applejack." Tank looked up at her and blinked slowly.

"Goddesses, I wish you could talk, Tank." Rainbow said. She fluffed her pillow and layed back down on it. She sighed heavily as she wiped tears from her eye. "I mean, whenever we would go on dates, I could see that Applejack loves me...I could tell it from the way she acted, the way she looked at me, and everything else..." Tank rested his head back down on Rainbow Dash's side. She sighed and adjusted her laying position to where her legs were on the cool part of the bed. She hated it whenever her bed warmed up.

Rainbow's mind was a crass menagerie of different emotions, thoughts and feelings. Betrayal iced her insides and kept them chilled, making her want to stay in bed and not move, which we was currently doing. Hurt burned her mind and made anger contradict fear, which also staked a claim on the pegasus' thought pattern. However, confusion reigned supreme in the pegasus. Applejack had adored Rainbow Dash, that much was undeniable. Her happiness could be felt in the air whenever they were together, and now she was acting so cold toward Rainbow. The immediate contradiction to her previous thoughts drove Rainbow Dash mad with it's pure ridiculousness.

Applejack had been lying to Rainbow and herself the whole time. Even though she had momentarily fooled Rainbow when she purposefully hid her tell, Rainbow knew the truth. She loved Applejack, and Applejack loved her too. But Applejack was scared. She had been since the night of their first date when she overheard what the Cakes had said. Rainbow slowly closed her eyes and sighed.

"I'll get her back, Tank." She said. "I swear I'll get her back."

Badass Rainbow lol

So...... I heard america has accepted gay marriges.......
...........nice.