//------------------------------//
// Prologue 
// Story: Our Year 
// by AJtheRaven 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow Dash cracked her eyelids open reluctantly and yawned widely, sleepily stretching her arms and flexing her fingers underneath her blanket. She wasn't sure what had woken her up at such an ungodly hour; if her bleary eyes were reading her bedside clock correctly, it was just past seven o'clock. 
Beneath half-closed lids, her eyes flicked over to the space beside her where Applejack usually lay. The patch of rumpled blankets was still faintly warm, as if Applejack had left only recently, but it was noticeably empty. Rainbow pouted, feeling understandably cheated by the lack of early-morning kisses and snuggles. 
Well, maybe she could make up for this deprivation by finding Applejack and stealing a few kisses from her anyway. Feeling slightly cheered by this possibility, Rainbow forcefully rubbed her eyes and slipped out of bed, her feet tingling against the worn hardwood floor as its invigorating coldness seeped into them. She slid open the bedroom door and trotted lightly down the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Rainbow Dash yawned again as she entered the kitchen, casually rumpling her already messy hair and straightening the crinkled edges of her pajama shorts and tank top. Applejack was already sitting at the kitchen table, perched delicately on the edge of her chair, twisting her tanned hands around each other. "Morning, babe," Rainbow slurred drowsily, planting a clumsy kiss on her girlfriend's cheek and running a hand through her sunny golden locks. 
"Mornin'," Applejack replied vaguely, turning her cheek upwards to accept the kiss but doing little else to reciprocate the affection. This was unusual for her: she almost always kissed back when Rainbow kissed her, matching and sometimes even exceeding Rainbow's enthusiasm as she did so. But Rainbow  was still too tired to notice her girlfriend's failure to return the kiss, as well as the subdued weariness in her emerald eyes... 
Rainbow staggered over to the row of cabinets that lined the wall and opened the one on the far left. A voice suddenly spoke up from behind her; a familiar, soft voice tinged with a Southern accent. 
"Rainbow Dash, we gotta talk." 
Rainbow hummed tunelessly to herself, absent-mindedly flipping her polychromatic hair over her shoulder as she rummaged around in the kitchen cabinet for a breakfast bowl. "Yeah, sure, AJ," she answered her girlfriend distractedly. "Be right there."
The farm girl drew in a deep breath and shakily let it out again, her normally steady hands seeming to tremble. "No, Dash. Ah mean we gotta talk right now." 
There was something in Applejack's tone of voice that scared Rainbow deeply. It almost resembled the scarily patient tone that she used when Rainbow had broken a dish (again) or tracked mud inside the farmhouse - the tone that meant Rainbow was in big trouble - but it was wearier... sadder.
Suddenly wide awake, and feeling her heart began to pound ominously, Rainbow stuck her head out of the cupboard and pulled up a chair across the table from Applejack. "Alright, what's on your mind?" she asked teasingly, affecting a calm tone and reaching across the table to grasp her girlfriend's warm, strong hands. 
"Dash, Ah..." She gulped inaudibly. Only sheer willpower forced her to keep speaking. "Ah can't do this no more."
Utterly bemused, Rainbow blinked, scanning Applejack's face searchingly. "D - do what?"
Applejack pulled her hands out of Rainbow's and passed them across her freckled forehead, looking utterly miserable. "Be with you. Sugarcube... we can't be together."
"B-but..." Rainbow felt tears welling up in her eyes and furiously blinked them away. "We're dating! We - we love each other, we - "
"No, Rainbow!" Applejack snapped, her jade eyes narrowed. "No. Ya thought we did. There's a big diff'rence." 
Rainbow Dash was completely taken aback. "I - I don't..."
"Ya don't understand?" Applejack interrupted, her voice suddenly changing from sad to sneering. "Well, Ah do. Ya idiot, Ah only pretended t' love ya so's not t' hurt yore feelin's. Ah'll admit ya gave me some good times, but Ah can't take it no more. Yore insensitive... careless... brash... need Ah go on?"
A solitary tear rolled down Rainbow's face, but she ignored it. "AJ... I -"
"Don' call me that," Applejack spat. "Mah name's Applejack." Glaring at Rainbow Dash with something akin to hatred, she pushed back her chair and abruptly got to her feet, her golden braid swinging around her shoulders. "Ah'll give ya two hours t' git yore stuff an' git out," she said coldly. Without waiting for a response, she strode out of the room, her booted heels clicking on the hardwood floor, and slammed the door behind her so hard that the house shook. 
Rainbow stood up and prepared to chase after her, but was stopped in her tracks by the sudden appearance of... Pinkie Pie?! "Hey, Dashie!" the pink-haired girl beamed cheerfully, her face about an inch away from Rainbow's. "Want me to throw you a 'Congratulations-for-breaking-up-with-Applejack' party?"
Somehow, her random appearance coupled with the weird request was even stranger to Rainbow than what had just happened with Applejack. She drew in her breath, preparing to either scream or burst into tears - whichever happened first - but just then - 
***
Rainbow Dash shot up in bed, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. Her hands clutched her blankets as her eyes darted around in a wild panic. Where was Pinkie Pie? More importantly, where was Applejack?	
Rainbow's eyes fell on the space next to her, where Applejack lay sleeping, snoring softly. Rainbow Dash released a shaky, shuddering sigh of relief as she realized what had happened. A dream. It had all been a dream... one that was completely unfounded in reality, at that. Firstly, they weren't dating anymore - they were married. And secondly, Applejack would never leave her - why had Rainbow's brain even imagined it?
Suddenly feeling ridiculously happy, Rainbow settled down beneath the covers and rested a hand on her wife's pale, freckled shoulder, shining milky-white in the frosty moonlight. As Applejack slept peacefully, a faint smile creased the corners of her lips. Rainbow buried her nose in Applejack's mane of golden hair, breathing in its faint apples-and-cinnamon scent (well, duh) and allowed her arm to continue its downward sweep of movement, until it rested on Applejack's gently curved stomach. It had only been three months, so she was hardly showing yet, but she would soon. 
For resting within her, sleeping as peacefully as its mother, lay a child; their very own child. 
Rainbow Dash felt a thrill of excitement. Her child.    
She shifted position until her hair was grazing Applejack's ribs and brushed her lips to her wife's stomach. "I love you, kiddo," she murmured. "I love you so much."
Next to her, Applejack stirred a little and mumbled something incoherently, her hand coming to rest protectively over her stomach. Rainbow smiled fondly and wrapped her own hand over Applejack's petite one, nuzzling into the crook of Applejack's elbow and tucking her knees up so that her legs were entwined with Applejack's. She was asleep within seconds, her multicolored hair tumbling across Applejack's chest. 
Unbeknownst to her, a small smile graced her wife's face.
This is how their story ends: with love and warmth, with joy and peace, with family and friends and a child on the way. All that remains to be seen is how it begun...