It Can Be Cruel Sometimes
They're at it each other's throats again, yelling in the center of Ponyville for all of us to see. Rainbow Dash is practically ramming her head into the orange mare and I can only wonder how they've stayed together for so long. Applejack deserved much better than that brash, argumentative pegasus. She deserved somepony who would treat her like she deserved to be treated, somepony like me. But all I can do is watch and wait for the lovely farm mare to notice me hiding in a doorway.
Somehow, I wasn't really certain, they'd gotten together. It was something they had kept between them, always avoiding a direct answer whenever I brought it up in conversation. It had something to do with those bruises on Rainbow's stomach and the bumps on Applejack's head, even if they tried to deny it. Apparently Dash had been pining for Applejack, just like I had . . . am, the difference was that she had been braver. She'd admitted her feelings to the lovely mare before I could and she'd won her affections, fair and square. It left me feeling like I'd missed my opportunity at happiness because I was too busy admiring from a distance.
It also made me feel like one of my closest friends had betrayed me, had purposely taken her from me for the hay of it. But that wasn't fair; Rainbow hadn't personally gone out of her way to date Applejack. She had feelings just like me, couldn't be helped, and I can't blame her for falling for Applejack. That nicely toned body earned from hours of farm work, those piercing green eyes, that lovely shaded coat and mane. AJ was the finest mare I'd ever laid eyes on, and it was only natural to assume she'd have other ponies, mare or not, feel the same way.
I thought that being one of her best friends would have made me different than all the rest, and I might've been right. The only thing I didn't consider was that maybe I wasn't the only friend with such deep affection for her. Maybe if I'd been more like Rainbow, more fearless, maybe it'd be me living on the farm with her, or visiting her Aunt and Uncle in Manehatten and going to some concert. Too many maybes made my head spin, like I'd just taken a ride on the world's fastest merry-go-round.
Applejack finally spots me and trots in my direction, with a smile that never stops melting my heart. I put on my own smile, fake as it is she never seems to see through my performance. "Hey ya, sugarcube!" heavenly seemed an ample description of how it made me feel.
"Hey," I reply, adding a happy tone that belied my actual emotions. After so long it seemed like I could switch to faux happiness in a heartbeat. "You and Dash fighting again?"
Applejack laughs, surprising me. "Yep," she giggled.
"Why are you laughing, doesn't yelling at each other get on your nerves?" I asked, my façade temporally fading in the confusion.
"Don't tell Dashie Ah told you this, but she's so adorable when her face gets all red."
'Adorable', did she ever use that word to describe me? I couldn't recall any instance, which was a painful enough blow to my already torn down ego. "If you say so," I shrug, walking down the road. I hear her hooves clopping on the sidewalk, following me from close behind. I'm not exactly sure how long they'll be together, but I can wait in the corner and offer whatever comfort I could when she broke it off with Dash, which she undoubtedly would. It was an ugly thought, but it gave me something to hope for. Try as they might I doubted they could maintain whatever relationship they'd managed. Too aggressive for their own good.
"Actually Ah've been wantin' to get somethin' off my chest for a while now, can you keep a secret?" it was a laughable question, could I keep a secret? I've managed to hide my awkward feelings for the past year, I'm sure whatever she has to tell me won't be any worse. She continued to stare at me with those bright, green orbs until I nod.
"Now this is serious, so Pinkie promise me you'll keep it under your hat."
I roll my eyes and place a hoof over one of them, "I Pinkie promise."
"Well Ah've had this . . . idea rollin' around in my mind for the past month or so, an' ya won't believe how big it is." From how dedicated she was to keeping this a secret, my excitement was cautiously skyrocketing. So many possibilities, but my mind is stuck in one particular space. Would it be a confession of reciprocated feelings of affection, or maybe a promising admittance of looming apathy towards Rainbow Dash. I really needed to get out of my head because her lips were moving but I heard absolutely nothing.
"Sorry, what'd ya say?"
"Ah . . . Ah'm gonna ask Rainbow ta marry me."
"Oh,"
A/N: Not everyone walks away happy, especially in matters of love.
First-person was a challenge to write, I've never really done it. But the appeal to write this as a mystery to which pony has a broken heart was too irresistible. Plus what better place to try out different styles of writing than a drabble collection?
I'm not too proud of how this came out though, each pony has specific personality traits and it was very constrictive to be vague.