The gryphons were not always monsters. That came later.

In the earliest days, they were our friends. They flew alongside pegasi. They shared the land with earth ponies. They studied beside unicorns. There was no fear between us. That came later too.

Time drew our people apart, but it was not time that made them monsters. They made that choice themselves; they chose their fate. And it was the greatest gryphon who sealed it.

He was born, many years ago, on a mountain far to the north...

Applejack stumbles upon Rainbow Dash while she's fitting a wedding dress for Rarity.

Awake and alone, Applejack will find a way to survive.

And here's a TV Tropes page, if you're into that kind of thing.

Something is eating at Rainbow Dash. Ever since the Royal Wedding in Canterlot, she's been quiet, aloof, and distracted. After a long day's work of shaping the rainclouds over Ponyville, she can no longer keep the truth bottled in. The only problem is, as a picnic with her close friends looms over the horizon, she's at a loss to find a pony she can comfortably share her thoughts with.

Applejack needs a full night of sleep for apple bucking tomorrow. It's too bad that Rainbow Dash's restlessness isn't letting her get a single wink.

Since dating Rainbow Dash, Applejack's ordinary days are few and far between, especially when Rainbow comes to her asking her to help her find her cloud house which had blown away in a storm just over a week ago.

There's a little more to Rainbow's problem than meets the eye, however, and it's not just where the house landed that's the problem: her own feelings are starting to get involved too...

Contains Appledash, rated teen for mild sexual themes

Applejack and Rainbow Dash share a moment together while apple bucking.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash share a moment together before dawn.

When the Cutie Mark Crusaders dig up an ancient magical artifact, they unleash a spell on the town that allows everypony to see a "lie meter" floating above each other's heads. While attempting to solve the mystery, Twilight Sparkle has to analyze the tenuous balance between friendship and honesty. She doesn't like what she finds.

Based on a story idea conceived by theworstwriter
Written and posted with his permission

Twilight never cared much for romance, but after falling for Rainbow Dash, she's ready to make her move. But what happens if those feelings are unrequited? Should she hold onto hope? Is it even possible to let go and move on?

I've read a bunch of shipfics that are all happy resolutions after the confession so I wanted to try an alternative. So here is a slightly darker TwiDash fic because I am a terrible person who must make ponies suffer. Oh God Why?!

Edit: Now with addition of new cover pic used with permissions from aeroytechyon_x
Reformatted with less walls of texts and less Lavender Unicorn Syndrome as of 03/20/2015

Sequel here.