Sooner or Later

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There was a weird breeze blowing as Rainbow Dash banked to descend onto Sweet Apple Acres. It sent a shiver down her spine as she circled the farm. She flew low over the apple trees dotted with red fruit and the barnyard scattered with chickens, empty bushels, watering cans, and sacks of fertilizer before something different caught her eye: the scraggly zap apple trees had scraggly dark leaves today.

She headed in that direction, and sure enough there was Big Mac, hauling a cart heavy with stacks of bushels, while she found Applejack unloading a similar cart and placing the brown baskets around the bases of the crooked trunks.

Rainbow grinned and landed in the middle of the row. Applejack was turning away from a tree to get a new bushel, her careless ponytails just barely holding onto all that blonde mane and tail and the dust clinging to her damp, messy coat. Anypony who didn’t think AJ looked hot when she was working obviously wasn’t into mares—at least, not awesome mares. Applejack noticed her and smiled in return, but she didn’t pause on the way back to her cart.

“All ready for tonight?” Rainbow asked, using a hoof to casually smooth her mane.

“I’m glad ya came by, I was gonna send Apple Bloom with a note.” Applejack hoisted a bushel onto her back and headed to the next tree. “The timberwolves were howlin’ last night, so the zap apples are comin’ and I’m busy as a bee at a flower stall. I’m gonna have to reschedule.” She paused and looked up at the branches.

Rainbow’s face fell to an annoyed frown. “Come on, you can’t work all night!” She smiled again and trotted to where Applejack was carefully placing the bushel, then gave her a nudge with her shoulder. “You’ll need a break, and a date with Rainbow Dash is the most awesome way to relax!”

Applejack chuckled and shook her head as she turned to go back to the cart. “‘Rainbow Dash’ and ‘relaxin’’ ain’t exactly words I’d put together. Besides, I don’t wanna be dog-tired on our first date.”

“Planning on being pretty active, huh?” Rainbow smirked, leaning against the tree. A sharp shock from the bark jolted her standing again, and she glared at the thing.

“I’m plannin’ nothin’ of the sort.” Applejack smirked back. “We’re doin’ this to see how we like it, and if you can go three hours without drivin’ me crazy.”

“Three hours is easy! I bet I could go four and a half hours without driving you crazy!” Rainbow said, grinning as Applejack turned her back to get another basket. Rainbow Dash stuck a hoof out and moved the already-placed basket about a foot to the left.

“Prove it,” Applejack said over her shoulder.

“I will!” She eyed the basket she had moved, then silently snickered. “…Later. So if you can’t go out tonight, how about tomorrow?”

Applejack turned around and smiled at her, trotting to another tree with a basket on her back. “I’m gonna be busy all week, Dash. But I was thinkin’, if I work hard and everythin’ goes right, I could take off Saturday evenin’. That’d be the day before harvest, and there’ll be a meteor shower that night. It seems right nice for a date.”

“I was going to Canterlot Saturday night.” Rainbow frowned. “Sunday they’re doing fittings for flight suits for Wonderbolts reservists, and I wanted to be first in line.”

Applejack bumped the bushel to the ground. She turned to Rainbow and shrugged. “Then we’ll have to wait for next week. I’m gonna be neck-deep in zap apples ’til then.”

“You can’t be working the whole time!” Rainbow flapped into the air to cross her forehooves.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “I already told ya when I can catch a break, but you got Wonderbolts stuff.”

“This totally isn’t fair.” Rainbow waved a hoof. “You can’t ask me to choose between you and the Wonderbolts.”

“Who’s askin’ you to choose between that?” Applejack trotted over to Rainbow and laid a hoof on her foreleg. Rainbow slowly sank back to the ground. “It’s just a first date, sugarcube. Either we wait another week and you go to Canterlot Saturday, or we could go out Saturday night and you could fly out early Sunday for your fittin’.”

“Well, before I decide…” Rainbow smirked and looked Applejack over for the millionth time, taking in all her curvy muscles. “How many dates is it gonna be before we get to the good stuff? Is there a chance we’re making out on the first date, or do we need to get another date in before that?”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Well… I reckon we could make out on the first date.” She cocked her head to the side, considering. “Shouldn’t take more than a week to get a weddin’ together after that. Then, of course, you can’t rush foals, so it’ll probably be next winter before the first of those comes along.”

Rainbow’s eyes shot open wide. “Foals?! I don’t want to marry you or anything, I just wanna kiss you!”

“I just figured you’re in such a rush…” Applejack said with a shrug.

“Yeah, to date you.” Rainbow shook her head clear. “We’re both awesome ponies who like doing awesome stuff, and there’s even more awesome stuff we can do if we’re going out. I mean, maybe someday we can get married and have a foal… when we’re old and already did all the awesome stuff.” She shrugged. “And when we figure out how two mares are gonna have a foal.”

Applejack chuckled and nudged her with her shoulder. “I’m messin’ with ya. The rooster’s got a lotta crowin’ to do before we get to that stuff, if we even get there. First we gotta have a first date, and I reckon we’ll find out then if I wanna kiss you.”

“Well, I wanna find that out as soon as possible.” Rainbow smiled. Applejack’s athletic body being so close to her made her think right now was a good time.

“Then that’s Saturday night,” Applejack said, trotting back to the cart.

“But the Wonderbolts…” Rainbow sighed, watching her trot away.

“I guess you can’t have your cake and find out if you’re gonna kiss it, too.” Applejack smirked over her shoulder. “Sometimes you gotta make the tough choices.”

Rainbow wrinkled her muzzle. “I hate tough choices.”

Applejack shook her head. “This really ain’t all that tough. It’s gonna be good either way.”

“It’s going to be good either way, but if you could go out with me tomorrow it would be awesome both ways,” Rainbow pointed out.

“I think you’re underestimatin’ how awesome good stuff can be,” Applejack said, bumping a basket onto her back and bringing it to another tree.

“Whatever. I guess…” Rainbow sighed. “We’ll go out next week. It’ll look really good to the team if I’m first in line.”

Applejack smiled. “That sounds just fine.”

“But you’ll let me know if you have time before then?” Rainbow asked.

Applejack walked past her. “I sure will, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. Zap apples never hurried up for nopony before.” As she passed, she gave the basket near Rainbow a kick to the right, and raised an eyebrow at Rainbow.

Rainbow snickered for a moment. Then she took off, calling behind her, “I’ll see you later!”

As she flew over the gray zap apple trees, Rainbow frowned down at them. If it wasn’t for those trees, Rainbow would be going to get ready for an awesome date right now. A thought entered her head, the kind of great idea that she knew better than to tell anypony about because they always wasted a bunch of time telling her it wasn’t a great idea. Zap apples might not have hurried up for anypony before, but zap apples had never met Rainbow Dash. She adjusted her wings, caught an updraft, and headed in the direction of the Everfree Forest.

• • •

Over the Everfree, the clouds were churning in a slow, lazy circle a couple miles wide.

All weather had magic in it that pegasi could feel; normally it felt like pieces clicking together or snapping apart between the pony and the standard Cloudsdale weather components. As Rainbow Dash flew over the moving clouds she could feel the magic here shifting, changing shape, fighting against her own magic. She grinned. It reminded her of wrestling with the forces and magic just before a sonic rainboom, and winning that match always felt awesome.

Rule number one of the Ponyville Weather Patrol was “Do Not Mess With the Weather Over the Everfree.” Rule number two was “Especially Not the Zap Apple Weather.” There was a good reason for that. Weather magic was one part skill, one part physical prowess, and one part natural talent, and to try to mess with the untamed stuff a pegasus had better be sure they were on top of all three parts. While a lot of pegasi thought they could handle it, and even more of them would claim they could handle it, Cloudsdale knew better than to let them risk their tails with a wild magic thunderstorm.

But those pegasi had never mastered a sonic rainboom, and they didn’t have a wild storm keeping them from a date with Applejack.

Rainbow set her sights on one of the clouds and came in for a landing. As her hooves touched the surface it set off a crack of thunder, and a bolt of lightning shot down somewhere in the forest. Wind whipped her mane and tail as the cloud shifted and rolled beneath her until she set her jaw and willed the thing to stay in one shape. It still moved across the sky, but she was riding it comfortably… masterfully, even. She smirked out at the rest of the weather, ready to work some magic.

The magic had to follow some pattern, she figured. The zap apples came on schedule, controlled by the weather magic, so right now the weather was just slowly getting to where it would need to be in the next few days, to set off the zap apples.

But if that weather got there faster, the zap apples would come faster. Heck, even if it just got there a day faster Applejack would be free on Friday night and they could go out then.

Taking off from her cloud, she made another sweep over the rough, tumbling sea of vapor below. The magic pushed and pulled in every direction, but there seemed to be something spinning it around a center point. That was just what she was looking for.

Rainbow flew to the center, working to keep control in the rough winds and unexpected shifts in the drafts. Once she found the spot, she dove down through the clouds, and through the winds and occasional lightning bolt under them, aiming for a clearing in the trees.

As she landed, the floor of the Everfree Forest was darker than ever, and wind shook the trees and brush, casting constantly moving shadows and reedy moans. The clearing wasn’t very large, and the movement around the edges could have been either shaking trees or horrific monsters waiting to eat her, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t that worried. The space was big enough for what she needed, and she’d be out of here in a few seconds.

Before she took off again, she spread her wings, feeling for the magic in the wind. The tumbling currents slipped through and around her feathers and her magic. Closing her eyes, Rainbow cleared her mind like she was pushing the force cone for a rainboom, her face twisted in effort. Her magic clamped onto the magic in the wind, and she was ready.

Rainbow started slowly flying in large circles around the clearing. It wasn’t a clean circle, thanks to the wind whipping around her, so she picked up speed. Moving faster let her cut through the currents more easily, dragging the magic she had grabbed behind her with the wind attached.

As she got her bearings, she tightened the circle, until she almost had a small tornado formed in the Everfree Forest. At that point she started moving up to the level of the canopy—the last thing she needed was a wild magic tornado to charge off toward Ponyville. At the treeline she was out of that danger, but the winds around her got even rougher, forcing her to increase her speed again.

The magic she was holding trailed after her, gathering more as she flew. It was turning from a strong breeze into a powerful gust of wind. If she let go now, there was no doubt it would sweep over her like a wave, tossing her like a foal’s pail in the ocean. She grit her teeth and held onto it with all of the magic inside of her.

Finally, when she was sure the magic was strong enough to hold up against the huge pool of magic above her, she flew in a tight corkscrew toward the clouds in the middle. As she burst through them, the winds behind her caught on the magic in the storm and it started spinning faster and faster.

Safely above the clouds, she had left most of the magic below, so she released what she had left. A sharp wind hit her from behind, but she was moving fast enough to hold steady. She looked down to see the sky below spinning quickly, the clouds darkening and rolling, lit up by the occasional flash of lightning.

She reached up to wipe her brow with her hoof and grinned as she shifted direction to speed over the storm toward Ponyville. That was what pegasus magic could do. Unicorns thought they were all cool—oh look at me, I can float stuff around in my glowy magic—but how many of them could take the reins of a mass of magic and energy miles across? None of them. Okay, well, maybe Twilight could’ve, but that’s why they made her a princess. Pegasi didn’t need horns to give the magic of nature a flying kick to the—

A sudden downdraft took her by surprise, sending her off course by at least twenty yards, where she found herself in the middle of a shifting system. She fought to regain control but the pressure was all over the place.

She descended to try to catch some wind, and she did, but it was a powerful blast left over from her magic that shoved her down into the clouds. Storm clouds gave off shocks and shot lightning bolts toward the ground as she tumbled through them. She couldn’t see in this mess, and with the constantly shifting winds she wasn’t even sure what direction she was headed.

Rainbow Dash reached out through her wings for the magic of the wind, to steady her and give her speed, but it just seemed to rip at her feathers and slip away.

Her heart starting to beat faster, she aimed for what she was pretty sure was up, and flew with all her might. Wings beating like mad against the wild magic and powerful winds, she prayed to Celestia she was moving in a direction that would take her out into the open sky.

As she approached the top, she could faintly hear the caw of crows above the wind and see fluttering shadows through the clouds. Her wings caught more familiar, steady magic and drove her faster until she finally broke free.

But she didn’t come out the top of the clouds. For just a second, Sweet Apple Acres spread out like a map in front of her.

Then she slammed into it, and everything went black.

• • •

As Rainbow opened her eyes, she was confused about why the sky had turned green. She could feel the soft grass under her back, so she was pretty sure she should be looking at blue.

She blinked, revealing that it wasn’t the sky, it was some number of blurry green ponies. Another few blinks and she decided it was a single, less-blurry pony. A colt with a green face and a red and orange forelock.

“That looked bad, Mom. Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

Rainbow shook her head, rolling over to stand up. Was ‘mom’ what the foals were calling older mares these days? That was totally uncool, she wasn’t that old. Her body was sore from the crash, but nothing seemed to be broken as she pulled herself to her hooves.

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Dash, you okay?” Applejack was trotting up fast, followed by a brown pegasus filly with an orange mane and tail streaming behind her. Somehow Applejack had ended up with a baby carrier with a little blue baby attached to her side. “I told you to be careful flyin’ during zap apple season, those storms’ll take you like a cat on a cricket.”

“Yeah, just a little banged up.” Rainbow tried her wings, flapping into the air. She looked around; she was surrounded by apple trees, so she was probably in the orchard at Sweet Apple Acres. But AJ hadn’t mentioned anypony else around. “Where’d all these kids come from?”

Applejack chuckled, nuzzling the baby’s green mane. “Sometimes it seems like they just wandered onto the farm, don’t it? But I kinda like ’em, so I guess they can stay.”

Rainbow tilted her head to the side, examining the kids. The colt seemed to be the oldest; he was about the age that Scootaloo and her friends were, but Rainbow had never seen him around. He was an earth pony, green with a mane streaked red, yellow, and orange, and no cutie mark yet. The brown filly seemed younger, and her orange mane was tied in a ponytail like AJ’s. She had freckles like AJ, too. Probably a relative, but Applejack had never mentioned being related to any pegasi. The little blue baby with the green mane was also a pegasus, and… probably a colt, as far as Rainbow could tell. Whatever it was, it was definitely too little to have just wandered onto the farm.

“Don’t they have parents or something?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. “Where’d you find them? I was just talking to you, like, fifteen minutes ago, before I crashed.”

Applejack stared at her, and her smile fell. Her eyes darted to the green colt and brown filly, then back to Rainbow as she said slowly, “Rainbow Dash, what day is it?”

“Wednesday?” Rainbow asked.

“No, it’s Saturday!” the filly corrected, giggling at her.

Rainbow furrowed her brow. “I was laying here for three days?”

“What month?” Applejack went on.

Rainbow raised her eyebrows. “June?”

Applejack nodded and seemed to relax a little. “Year?”

“1005,” Rainbow answered easily. Then she caught the mix of worry and skepticism on AJ’s face.

The green colt rolled his eyes at Rainbow. “Mom, stop fooling around.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes right back, and crossed her forelegs. “Why do you keep calling me Mom?”

“Okay, everypony, up to the farmhouse!” Applejack said suddenly, before the colt could respond. “I gotta have a talk with Mom.”

“Is she gonna be okay?” the colt asked.

“She’s gonna be fine,” Applejack said, nudging him to start walking and looking around to make sure Dash and the brown filly were moving too. “Just got her brain rattled around when she crashed. Celestia knows she’s probably done it enough in her life.”

Rainbow frowned, flying along with AJ down the row of trees. “My brain is—”

The little brown filly flew up next to her. “Do you need Mama to kiss an owie, Mommy?”

Whatever she had been about to say was lost in total confusion at that statement. “I… uh…”

“That’s just what she needs, half-pint,” Applejack said with a smile at the little girl.

“What if something is really wrong?” The colt trotted along with AJ on the ground, his brow furrowed in worry. “She could have a concussion… or brain damage! A lot of pros mess up their brains after too many crashes…”

“Then we’ll go see a doctor,” Applejack said, ruffling his mane. “Don’t you worry.”

“AJ, I don’t wanna have brain damage!” Rainbow darted down on the other side of Applejack. Her eyes were wide and there was a sudden twisting feeling in her gut.

“We’re gonna take care of it.” Applejack glared at Rainbow, then leaned over and whispered, “Dash, don’t get ’im worked up. Tell ’im it’s okay.”

Rainbow blinked, then looked over at the foal. He was looking really concerned, so she swallowed and smiled. “It’s… um… okay. It’s all cool.” She shrugged and tossed in a dashing grin. “Nothing to worry about.”

The boy didn’t seem convinced as they came to the farmhouse. “If you say so…”

Rainbow did say so, and as the small group made their way to the farmhouse she almost started to believe it herself. But she still found herself flying close to Applejack’s side.

If Not Now, When?

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The farmhouse looked exactly the same as when she flew in that morning. Rainbow was pretty sure of that. Except for the red apple weather vane being a zap apple. And… were some of the curtains different? And the chicken coop should be orange, and it was brown. The more she looked, the more details she found that she was pretty sure weren’t right.

As they stepped inside, she was totally sure the living room wasn’t right. There was a big fluffy-looking couch, a trophy case in one corner, and kids’ toys everywhere. The rocking chair and old-fashioned couch were nowhere to be seen, and the wood trim and curtains were still dotted with apples, but the walls had totally different pictures than they had the last time she was here.

“Leaf, keep an eye on Cider and Sky,” Applejack said, taking the baby out of the carrier and setting him down to toddle across the floor. Then she turned and nudged Rainbow toward the stairs.

“Sure…” the colt said with a nervous glance at Rainbow.

“Can we have fritters?” the filly asked, looking from Applejack to Rainbow with wide, green eyes.

“One each,” Applejack said, nudging Rainbow again and following her up the stairs without a glance at the kid. “And there’s a dozen there, so there’d better be nine left.”

Rainbow had only been in Applejack’s room a few times, but the door Applejack led her to wasn’t it. Applejack opened a door at the end of the hall that Rainbow had never been through.

The room was big, with a large bed in the middle. The walls were split between wooden panels below and bright blue paint above, which made it feel almost like it was open to the sky. The bed was covered with a fluffy white quilt embroidered with zap apples, and the curtains were white with rainbow trim.

That was as much as Rainbow took in before she turned to see Applejack glaring at her. “If this is a prank, it ain’t funny.”

Rainbow flapped into the air, scowling. “It’s not a prank, I don’t know what the hay is going on!”

Applejack’s face softened, her mouth gaping and her ears starting to droop. She hesitated, then said softly, “You really think it’s 1005?”

“Yeah, because that’s when it is!” Rainbow insisted, because she had to. Because any other option didn’t make any sense. Because if it wasn’t the year she thought it was, when could it be?

“Dash, that was fifteen years ago,” Applejack said, her expression unchanging except for her slowly widening eyes.

Rainbow just stared at her. She knew Applejack’s expression was probably some combination of shock, fear, and panic, because that’s exactly what Rainbow was feeling and her face started to mirror Applejack’s.

“AJ… stop it. This really isn’t funny.”

“I ain’t laughin’.” Applejack shook her head. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I came to see you. You were just starting zap apple harvest, and we had a date for that night, but you had to reschedule. I flew away, and… uh, ran into a storm, and next thing I know I’m laying on the ground and that kid is looking at me.”

“I—I remember that, I think. The third sign kicked up right after you crashed, two days early, but then it was near a week before the fourth one. That was when the zap apple harvest started goin’ as it pleased. The fourth sign came on our first date.”

She paused and bit her lip before she looked Rainbow in the eye and said, “We been married eleven years now.”

Rainbow took off, flying in circles around the room. It was cramped, but she had to fly to process this. There was no way to mistake the plain truth coming from Applejack, so Rainbow started to try to wrap her head around it. Married. Eleven years. That was, like, half of her life! But it wasn’t, because she was fifteen years older than she thought she was. She was thirty-six. That was almost old!

Then something else hit her like a brick, and she stopped in the air and turned a terrified gaze on AJ. “Applejack… those foals who keep calling me mom…?”

“They’re ours. Apple Leaf, Cider Splash, and Orchard Sky. You are their mom,” Applejack whispered. “You… don’t remember your own foals?”

Rainbow worked her mouth a few times before words finally came out. “I—How—We’re both mares!”

Applejack took a breath. “Well if you wanna get all technical about it, I had Leaf and Cider, and you had Sky last year. But you’re their mom, no questions about that.”

“I have foals?” She started flying in circles again. “Three foals? What about the Wonderbolts? How do I have time?”

“You left the Wonderbolts eight years ago, not long after Leaf was born,” Applejack explained in a gentle but dazed voice.

“I left the Wonderbolts? Why would I do that?”

“You wanted to spend more time with us.” Applejack shook her head. “Could you land already? You’re makin’ me dizzy.”

Rainbow landed in front of Applejack, her eyes wild. “So I went nuts?”

Applejack laid a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. She looked calm and strong, though it was obviously taking a lot of effort. “Rainbow Dash, I think you gone nuts now. You’re missin’ fifteen years.”

“This can’t be happening. This can not be happening.” Rainbow squinted her eyes shut. “It’s… it’s a dream! Princess Luna! Help!”

“Keep it down, the kids’ll hear ya,” Applejack said with a brief glare. Then she took a breath again. “It ain’t a dream, but we gotta get you to a doctor.”

“A doctor will fix it, right? I’m not stuck like this?” Rainbow pleaded.

“Course they will. And if not, we’ll head straight to Twilight. We’ll get you patched up before supper.” Applejack nodded, then she glanced nervously at Rainbow. “I—uh, I reckon we shouldn’t tell the kids? It’d be awful scary thinkin’ their own mom don’t remember ’em.”

“Why are you asking me?” Rainbow waved a hoof. “I don’t know anything about kids!”

Something shifted behind Applejack’s eyes, but she swallowed hard and said, “Okay. We won’t tell ’em until we know what we’re workin’ with. Let’s just tell ’em we’re goin’, and pretend nothin’s wrong.”

“Okay.” Rainbow took a deep breath. “Got it.”

Rainbow followed Applejack out of the room and down the hall. By the time they came to the bottom of the stairs, all three foals were waiting, the baby perched on the back of the older colt.

Rainbow stared at them. Now that she knew, she could see that the pegasus filly, Cider Splash, she guessed, looked just like AJ except for the wings and darker colors. The earth pony colt, who must be Apple Leaf, had Apple family coloring, but he wore his mane in a spiky style like Rainbow’s. And the baby… that was the one she’d had. Orchard Sky did look an awful lot like baby pictures of Rainbow, except for his mane.

“Kids,” Applejack said calmly, almost cheerfully. “Me and Mom need to go to the doctor. We’ll take Sky over to Uncle Mac’s, and Leaf, you stay here with Cider—”

“When will you be back?” Cider asked, a frown on her little face.

“That depends what the doctor says, half-pint,” Applejack said as she strapped the baby carrier around her waist.

“But Mommy is supposed to take me to get flight goggles for Flight Camp this afternoon!” Cider’s ears drooped and her eyes seemed huge and pitiful as she looked up at Rainbow. It seriously wasn’t fair that kids could do that, even if Rainbow knew that this was kind of more important than flight goggles.

Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes as she set the littlest foal in the carrier. He grabbed the end of her mane and waved it around a few times, but she pulled it away from him without looking back. “Well then… Leaf, you wanna take Cider to get flight goggles?”

“Sure,” he said with a nervous smile and a glance at Rainbow.

Before she could think, Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Hold up, does he know how to pick out flight goggles?” She might not know about kids, but she knew about flying, and she was pretty sure that somepony who knew about flying had better make sure the girl was set for flight camp.

Leaf looked at her, confused. “I got you yours last Hearth’s Warming. You said they were awesome.”

Rainbow glanced at Applejack, who was giving her an almost panicked look.

“Oh! Yeah, I mean… they were… great!” Rainbow smiled, probably a bit too much. “I was just wondering because… because she’s so small, and it can be hard to get the right fit on little foals! And you gotta get them off to the right start, if they’re gonna grow up to be Wonderbolts.”

The kid raised an eyebrow at her, then looked over to Applejack. “Ma… are you sure Mom doesn’t have brain damage?”

Applejack sighed and nudged Rainbow toward the door. “She’s gonna be fine. Just trust me, Leaf. I’ll explain later.”

Once they were outside and on their way toward Ponyville, and Rainbow had glanced back at the house a dozen times to make sure Leaf and Cider hadn’t followed them, she leaned in and whispered, “That kid is onto me. What’d I say?”

“Dash, that kid is your son,” Applejack whispered back. Then she glanced back at Sky and went on softly. “And he knows more about flyin’ than you do. He can talk about flight goggles ’til the fruit falls from the trees. And we all know Cider’s got less chance of bein’ a Wonderbolt than I do. If that girl’s cutie mark ain’t in cookin’ or farmin’, I’ll eat my hat.”

Rainbow tilted her head. “He’s an earth pony, why would he know about flight goggles?”

Applejack glanced at her with a sadness in her eyes that made Rainbow sorry she’d asked the question. “He’s been goin’ to Wonderbolts shows since he was born, to see you. Then after you left the team, you’d always take him to watch. He loves it, wants to be a flight choreographer or somethin’ or other.”

Rainbow frowned. “Um… he’s… an earth pony.”

Applejack was silent for a moment, then she said softly, “You always said he’ll be the best one ever.”

“Oh… sorry.”

“That’s okay. You didn’t know.”

The frown remained on Rainbow’s face, but it had nothing to do with the kid. Maybe she was blowing smoke up his tail, maybe he was a genius at designing flying tricks, how the hay did she know? She didn’t know anything about him; she barely knew anything about foals except that they were little, dumber ponies. She didn’t know anything that was going on right now, and everything she said felt dumb.

Sweet Apple Acres seemed the same as they walked through it. The bright green trees in the sunlight with their red dots of apples felt like a trick. Everything was normal, she and AJ were just walking to Ponyville… until she saw the kid on AJ’s side.

Now that she looked closely, Applejack herself had changed a little—she was a little softer, though the weight had landed in the right places, and her blonde hair hid it well but there seemed to be a few streaks of white in her mane. Rainbow decided that AJ looked hot, for a mom who was pushing forty. But not quite as hot as she looked back when Rainbow asked her out last week.

It hit Rainbow that she hadn’t looked at herself. There was nowhere to find a mirror on the path, so she glanced back at her body. She’d put on some weight, just barely. She had had a kid, after all. But her wings looked better than ever, and there was no gray in her tail or mane that she could see.

As they came to the edge of town, Applejack stopped at a cottage where Cheerilee answered the door. Rainbow waited while Applejack unstrapped the foal and Cheerilee scooped him up in one arm. They had a quick conversation Rainbow wasn’t paying attention to, though as they walked away Cheerilee called out, “Get well soon, Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow just frowned.

“Cheerilee’s been married to Mac a while now,” Applejack said as they walked toward the hospital. “Since just after Granny passed.”

“Granny Smith died?” Rainbow blinked.

Applejack nodded. “She was an old pony, died in her sleep. I was tore up at the time, but you were right there for me through it.”

“How long ago was that?”

“’Bout ten years now.” Applejack frowned. “It was rough. Sweet Apple Acres just seemed so empty without her and Mac. And you were a Wonderbolt, and Apple Bloom was gettin’ ready to move out. That’s when you got it in your head we oughta have Leaf.” A smile started to creep onto her face. “You were never big on havin’ foals, but you said I’d lose my mind if I didn’t have a family, and you didn’t wanna be married to a crazy pony.”

Rainbow just furrowed her brow, trying to imagine that playing out in her life. “What else changed, AJ? I mean, it feels like pretty much everything, right?”

Applejack took a breath and her eyes widened. “Oh boy, just about. Fluttershy’s married to Bulk Biceps, they got two foals and they’re livin’ in Fluttershy’s cottage. Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich got twins, they travel a bunch, but darn if she ain’t back in Ponyville for just about every birthday here, so she’s around plenty. Rarity got married to a fella from Manehattan, but that’s over now, and good riddance. Durin’ the divorce I thought I was gonna have to lasso you to keep you from givin’ his flank a good kick, and I was tempted myself a few times. It’s hard, seein’ a friend cry like that.” Applejack shook her head, then smiled at Rainbow. “We still love ’em all. That’s never gonna change.”

Rainbow looked at her. It had never occurred to her that anything could have changed their friendships, though she felt dumb again because in fifteen years anything could have happened. But it didn’t, she reminded herself, and took a deep breath. “Good. What about Twilight?”

Applejack considered that. “She’s… just the same, I think? She didn’t get married, no foals, she says she’s got plenty of time and she’s real busy princessin’.”

A strange sense of relief passed over Rainbow. Maybe she had started to feel like everypony had left her behind… even herself. Or maybe it was just knowing that there was somepony she could go to who would be completely familiar. Whatever it was, she felt a little more optimistic as she asked, “Cool, and the foals? I mean, Apple Bloom and her friends, not your, um, our foals.”

Applejack chuckled. “They ain’t been foals for ages. The three of them are livin’ it up in Canterlot, workin’ with Princess Luna to find ponies with cutie mark problems and havin’ a grand time, from what I hear.”

“That sounds awesome.” Rainbow grinned. At least somepony was having fun, and probably doing amazing stuff, and not being old and boring with husbands and wives and kids.

Applejack nodded. “They oughta live it up while they’re young, I always tell Apple Bloom. Anyhow… we’re here.” She nodded across the street to the hospital.

Rainbow stared at it and nodded. “Let’s do this.”

• • •

A few hours later they were sitting in the library of Twilight’s castle. The ponies at the hospital had poked and prodded and scanned Rainbow every which way, and then shrugged. There was nothing wrong with her that they could find, despite a number of frustrating conversations with both Rainbow and Applejack pointing out that there was very clearly something wrong with her. Finally they were left with nothing left to do but go to see if Twilight could find something.

By the time the pair had explained the situation to Twilight, and listed all the tests the doctors had already run, the princess was ready for a puzzle. Twilight did a few magical tests of her own, and hooked Rainbow up to some fancy new magic equipment she’d never seen before, then pored over the results.

After a half an hour of watching Twilight read, circle things, and do calculations, she finally looked up and trotted over to them.

Twilight gave a half smile. “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the doctors were right. Your brain is absolutely fine. In fact… you’re not even suffering from memory loss.”

Applejack sighed and slapped her hoof to her face. “Not this again.”

“Twilight,” Rainbow said slowly, having had the same conversation with doctors five times already. “I can’t remember the last fifteen years. That’s, like, a ton of memory loss. And I promise, I’m suffering from it.”

“I know.” Twilight’s face fell to a frown. “What I’m saying is that this is magic. Your brain has reverted to a perfectly normal state from fifteen years ago. That’s the bad news: I can’t just get back the memories from the time in between, because they were never formed in this version of your mind.”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide. She had never considered that Twilight might not be able to do something. She was Twilight Sparkle. She was a princess. Of course she could fix it. She started to panic, until Applejack laid a hoof on her shoulder.

“It’ll be okay, sugarcube.” Applejack turned to Twilight. “So, she’s stuck like this?”

Twilight’s face shifted between answers before she finally settled on sighing. “I don’t know, I’m not even sure what happened. But I’ll do everything I can to try to help. She crashed during a storm of wild magic, that’s going to make it hard, there’s no written spell or magical structure to start with. I need all of the information I can get, every detail either of you can tell me about the situation.”

“Whatever you need,” Rainbow said quickly.

Twilight floated over a quill and scroll. “Applejack, what was going on before Rainbow crashed?”

“The timberwolves were howlin’ last night, so we were gettin’ set up for harvest. The second sign hit, and Dash thought it’d be safe to try to fly some of the baskets out to the trees, even though I told her not to do that durin’ zap apple season, ’cause we never know how fast it’s comin’.” Applejack gave Rainbow a look out the side of her eye. “She said that was all the more reason we needed to work fast, and she’d land if anything came up. Then the clouds rolled in like a freight train, and she went down just before the birds started makin’ the third sign. Leaf rushed off before I could catch him, and I grabbed Cider and ran right after.” Applejack bit her lip, her eyes wide. “Thank Celestia Dash was okay. If he’d found her…”

Applejack was blinking back tears, and suddenly she was leaning against Rainbow, her muzzle tenderly nuzzling just under Rainbow’s jaw. Her breath tickled Rainbow’s neck, sending a shiver through the pegasus that was actually pretty nice, but totally weird. Rainbow stepped back quickly.

Applejack looked at her, confused, then closed her eyes and hung her head. “Well, maybe ‘okay’ ain’t really the right word.”

“Um… sorry…” Rainbow said. She hadn’t done anything, but AJ just looked so sad, and that wasn’t cool.

“No, it was my mistake, I’m just…” Applejack swallowed hard.

Rainbow hesitated, then wrapped a wing around Applejack. She felt a tension leave Applejack’s body as she leaned against her.

“Thanks,” Applejack whispered.

“So, Rainbow Dash…” Twilight went on as she finished scribbling on the scroll. “What do you remember before your crash?”

“Me and AJ were supposed to go out tonight on our first date, but the zap apples were coming. We postponed ’til next week, and… um… as I was flying off one of those magic storms kicked up. And I crashed.” Rainbow’s eyes darted nervously. While she totally hadn’t done anything to make AJ sad in the current present, as far as she knew that morning she kind of… totally did do something. But that was technically fifteen years ago, and she was pretty sure if AJ found out she might kill her, so it was probably not important enough to mention.

“That was the first time the third sign came the same day as the second,” Applejack explained to Twilight. “Before that, we woulda been expectin’ the third sign the next day. Dash had no way of knowin’ there could be trouble back then. And it came in strong that year, too. Darn near blew over the barn.”

Twilight nodded. “What do you remember about after she crashed fifteen years ago, AJ?”

Applejack pursed her lips and looked into the distance, concentrating. “Darn, I dunno. It was a long time ago. I—I saw her go down while I was watchin’ the sign, and I ran to her. I know she ended up sittin’ by where I was workin’ the rest of the afternoon. I always thought she mighta got banged up, but wouldn’t admit it.”

Finishing up her notes, Twilight scanned them and said, “So, back in 1005, the zap apple weather starts acting strange, Rainbow crashes in it, then she spends the afternoon hanging out with you, possibly injured. In 1020, Rainbow crashes in the zap apple weather, and then she thinks she’s woken up after the 1005 crash. Are you two sure there’s nothing else important…?”

Applejack nodded. Rainbow opened her mouth, then she caught sight of Applejack, and closed it quickly.

“Well then, there are a few things that could have happened.” Twilight floated books off the shelves as she spoke, opening some of them in front of her and sorting others into piles. “Magical amnesia is the most simple. Head trauma in a highly magical atmosphere can result in brain damage that the magic immediately heals by just ignoring the damaged part. But usually it’s just a few days or weeks missing. Losing fifteen years would indicate something major, it would be amazing that that’s the only way you were affected. Of course, the synchronizing of the events might explain that…”

“Can you undo it?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight frowned and hesitated, the books pausing in the air around her. “It’s never been done before… but, that’s not a no. I can study it, see what’s been tried, and if there’s anything I can think of that might work where other treatments haven’t. It’s a long shot. The problem is that I’m not sure that’s what happened.”

A different set of books floated off the shelf as Twilight went on. “Another possible scenario is that it might have actually brought your mind forward in time. There was probably a lot of wild time magic floating around, since something had broken whatever kept the zap apples on a schedule before that point.”

By this point Twilight was surrounded by piles of books, some of them tottering dangerously.

Rainbow raised her eyebrows. “So… this might really be me from fifteen years ago, here now?”

“Your mind, at least,” Twilight said, nodding. “But Applejack and your kids are here too, which means this is what was supposed to happen. At least in this timeline, which I think is a pretty good one. Though I guess I might be biased…” Twilight got a confused frown on her face and stared off into the distance for a moment.

“I reckon we oughta work with this timeline bein’ right,” Applejack noted, pulling Twilight back into the conversation.

“Yes, of course. Applejack, did you notice anything different about Rainbow after the crash in ’05?”

“I don’t think… huh. I guess I did, but I dunno if it’s worth mentionin’.” She blushed and hesitated, but Twilight motioned for her to go on. “Well, when Rainbow first asked me out she was flirtin’ pretty heavy, and… let’s just say she wasn’t shy about what she was hopin’ for. To be honest, I didn’t think it was gonna work out, I thought I was gonna be pushin’ her off me all night. Even then I knew I needed a pony who wanted more than a roll in the hay, but Rainbow was a friend and I thought it wouldn’t be fair not to give her a shot. But when our date came ’round, she wasn’t pushy at all. She was real sweet, and we had an amazin’ time, and by the time we were watchin’ the meteor shower I was the one that kissed her and… ahem.”

Applejack’s blush grew stronger. Rainbow felt her cheeks warming, too, but she wasn’t sure if it was from knowing that she totally had sex with AJ on their first date, or knowing that before that she had almost totally screwed up her chances of having sex with AJ.

Twilight just looked lost in thought, but it probably wasn’t about Rainbow getting laid. “Hmm…”

“Hmm?” Rainbow repeated. “What’s ‘hmm’ mean?”

“Well, that could be a coincidence, or an effect of your original crash,” Twilight said, scribbling notes on her scroll. “Or, it might mean that you’ll eventually return to that exact point, knowing that you’re only going to sleep with AJ if you keep your tail down on your date. Or your brain got switched.”

Rainbow was nodding, she liked the sound of going back to the same point, but then Twilight finished. “Wait, what was that last one?”

“Your brain got switched. You, from now, are in your body from fifteen years ago. So you’d know enough about AJ to not be a pig on your first date,” Twilight explained.

“If it’s that one, can you switch us back?” Rainbow asked quickly.

“And if it’s that first one, where’s my Dash now?” Applejack added. “Will she come back when this one goes away?”

Twilight held up a hoof to both of them, biting her lip. “One at a time. Rainbow, in answer to your question… I can try. But what’s meant to happen will happen, and… it doesn’t look good. If you’re meant to go back, when you get there you could write a note or leave some kind of hint… you could even have come to talk to me yesterday, knowing that it’s time for you to switch with your younger self, since you used to be your younger self. But… as far as we know, you didn’t do that.”

“That doesn’t mean anything!” Rainbow insisted. “I probably meant to, but I forgot or something! Or maybe there’s some boring thing coming up and I knew about it so I decided to go chill in the past and make past me do it!”

Twilight raised her eyebrows. “I’m not saying that couldn’t happen, but would you really put yourself and AJ through all this just to avoid doing something you don’t want to do?”

“Yes!” Rainbow nodded firmly.

Applejack frowned at Rainbow and shook her head. “No, ya wouldn’t. Not the pony I went to bed with last night. Not without a darn good reason.”

Rainbow looked at her to argue, but there was a certainty in her face…and Rainbow realized that she couldn’t match that. Not about the Rainbow that Applejack knew, at least, the one who left the Wonderbolts and had a bunch of foals. She scowled and crossed her forelegs.

Twilight shook her head clear. Then she closed her eyes. “And, AJ… do you really want to know the most likely answer to your questions?”

There was silence for a few moments. Applejack’s face didn’t move, it was like she was frozen. “I reckon I get the picture.”

Rainbow’s scowl disappeared as she watched AJ. “So… everything is messed up.” She looked from AJ, who just looked away, to Twilight, who reluctantly nodded.

“I still have a lot of work to do on this,” Twilight pointed out. “Nothing is certain, time magic and wild magic are both ridiculously complicated, and the change that AJ noticed might have been a coincidence, or seeing you in a different context. But I’ll do my best with everything we have to go on.”

“We know it,” Applejack said softly. “Thanks, Twi.”

Rainbow nodded, looking down. She wanted to tell Twilight she trusted her. She wanted to beg Twilight to come through for her. More than anything, she wanted Twilight to have an answer for her right now. But Twilight knew all of those things already, so there was nothing really left to say.

Applejack turned to go, and Rainbow started to follow her out of the library.

“And, you guys?” Twilight called after them. They both stopped and looked at her, and she offered them a sad smile. “Well… just take care of each other. You both need it, right now.”

“Will do.” Applejack nodded with a sad glance at Rainbow.

Rainbow hesitated. She looked at Applejack, and she knew that she could count on her. Applejack had always been the pony to count on, the pony who took care of other ponies. And on top of that, she loved Rainbow, at least the Rainbow Dash who was supposed to be here in this life.

But Rainbow was… not that pony. She was many, many, many awesome things, but the pony who took care of other ponies wasn’t one of them.

Still, Applejack was her best friend, and when it came down to it, Rainbow had done some dumb things to her. She was just going to have to be a pony who could take care of her, and be awesome at it.

Rainbow grinned at Twilight and Applejack. “No problem.”

Present Tense

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The sun was going down by the time Rainbow and Applejack picked up Sky and headed back to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack had been relieved to find that Mac was up at the farmhouse, giving the other kids dinner and entertaining them until she got home. Rainbow wasn’t sure why they couldn’t eat fritters for dinner just this once, but Applejack and Cheerilee had frowned when she suggested it.

Other than that stop, the walk had been quiet. Rainbow had been a little distracted trying to figure out who she was.

She knew who she was, of course. She was the best flyer in the world, a hero of Equestria, a future Wonderbolt, a loyal friend, and an all-around awesome pony. That was Rainbow Dash. But… was she also the pony who got married to AJ, and left the Wonderbolts, and had three kids who called her Mom? Rainbow Dash wasn’t a mom. Moms were old and uncool and worried about what their kids ate for dinner. Rainbow wasn’t that.

But Rainbow was a pony who didn’t let ponies down. If she promised to love AJ, if she decided she would raise some foals, she had to do that, right? She didn’t remember why those things seemed like a good idea, but that didn’t matter. She promised. Unless it was some future version of herself who had promised… did that even count?

But this was for the rest of her life. Which wasn’t even as long as it should be already, because she was fifteen years older than she thought. Sure, she wanted to sleep with AJ, that part would be cool. But only ever sleeping with AJ? Besides the fact that being married probably involved more than that. She wasn’t even sure what it did involve, so clearly she was unqualified. And that wasn’t even getting into the whole mom thing….

“We’re gonna have to tell the kids somethin’,” Applejack whispered, breaking the silence and Rainbow’s train of thought. They were in the orchard now, and the lights from the farmhouse were just visible in the fresh darkness, on the top of the next hill.

“Okay…” Rainbow agreed, because she assumed that AJ knew these things. “What?”

Applejack frowned. “I dunno… I don’t wanna tell them you don’t remember ’em, I don’t want them thinkin’ for a second you might not love ’em.”

Rainbow shook her head. “AJ… I don’t even know them.”

“Hold up a sec.” Applejack stopped, holding a hoof out to stop Rainbow. She glanced back at Sky, who was fast asleep in his carrier, before going on in a firm whisper, “Rainbow Dash, you weren’t a foal fifteen years ago. You’re a grown-up pony, and these are little kids we’re talkin’ about. Your foals, who love you with all their hearts, and who need to know you love ’em even more. Whether you remember ’em or not, and however you might feel, you gotta make them believe that, ’cause it would be just plain wrong to take that away from them. Understand?”

Rainbow’s stomach tied in a knot, and the weight of AJ’s words felt like it was crushing her. She could see the pressure in Applejack’s eyes, and there was no way out. She might not have wanted foals, but she didn’t hate kids or anything, and AJ was totally right… She couldn’t just tell them their mom didn’t love them anymore, especially if she was their mom.

“Yeah,” Rainbow whispered. “Just… tell them whatever you think is right. I’ll go with it.”

Applejack sighed. “Okay. I’ll think of somethin’.”

They walked the rest of the way to the house in silence. To Rainbow, the homey house with the warm glow in the windows seemed more like a court, and she was about to go on trial. Except that she wasn’t the one who would be punished if she was found guilty, and that wasn’t fair. None of this was.

As soon as they stepped inside, hoofsteps rushed into the living room from the kitchen, and the two foals hurried across the room.

“Ma! Mom!” Leaf shouted, running over to them and throwing his forelegs around Rainbow in a tight hug. “Are you alright, Mom?”

“She’s gonna be fine,” Applejack said, patting him on the shoulder.

“Uncle Mac has been playing cards with us!” Cider chirped, nodding to the doorway to the kitchen which was filled by Mac’s huge frame.

“Has he now?” Applejack rustled her mane, then smiled at her brother. “Mac… thanks for sittin’ with ’em. I didn’t think it’d take that long.”

“Everythin’ okay?” he said, walking cautiously toward the family gathered by the door.

Applejack bit her lip. “We’ll talk later. The kids had dinner?”

He raised an eyebrow, but just answered, “Eyup.”

Applejack nodded, leading Cider over to the couch and motioning for Leaf to join them. Leaf reluctantly loosed his grip on Rainbow, and Rainbow followed him to the sitting area.

“Thanks for that, too,” Applejack said. “I reckon you oughta get home to Cheerilee and the foals. Tell Cheerilee I said thanks again.”

“Will do,” Mac said, heading out the door with a glance over his shoulder at Rainbow. “Take care.”

As the door closed, Applejack swallowed and looked at the foals. “Now, Leaf, Cider, we gotta talk to you.”

Leaf’s face fell. “Something’s wrong.”

“Somethin’s sorta wrong.” Applejack nodded. “The doctors all said your mom is fine, but… she’s havin’ a hard time rememberin’ some things from before she crashed. So y’all need to be good for her, and help her if there’s stuff she don’t remember. Can y’all do that for her?”

“Sure!” Cider grinned and flew over to Rainbow. “Mommy, my favorite ice cream is strawberry. And I’m going to flight camp in two weeks!”

Rainbow hesitated, but she had to smile despite her nerves. “Uh… thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Do you wanna see my new goggles?” the filly asked, flying to the hook by the door.

“Yeah, let’s see ’em.” Rainbow nodded as the kid came flying back with the new eyewear in her hoof. She could handle checking out flight goggles. Maybe this wouldn’t be too hard after all.

What she was presented with weren’t like any flight goggles she’d ever seen. They were foal’s flight goggles all right, but they were too light, and the material of the casing was molded in some smooth, swoopy way.

“Those look real nice,” Applejack said with a smile, but it didn’t take being married to her to know she had no idea what she was talking about.

“What they hay are those made out of?” Rainbow asked, examining them carefully.

“They’re just the flex-plastic,” Leaf said from the couch with a shrug. “I didn’t think she needed the lightweight alloy, she’s not doing sonic rainbooms or anything.”

“They look weird.” Rainbow frowned at them, then raised an eyebrow at the colt. “These are good?”

“You endorsed them when they first came out, Mom.” He eyed her suspiciously. “How much don’t you remember?”

Rainbow glanced at Applejack, then at Leaf as she stammered, “I… um…”

Leaf nodded. “Okay, dumb question. It’s not like you can remember all the stuff you forgot.” He considered, and for a moment Rainbow thought maybe she was off the hook. Then he went on. “Do you remember the last routine I thought up?”

Rainbow thought about bluffing, but she was looking him in the eye. There was something about his expression that he obviously got from AJ; he could see right through her. Finally she shook her head. “No.”

He looked really serious now, almost angry, but his ears started to droop. “What about the Blazing Feather Control Fall?”

Rainbow swallowed and looked down. “Sorry.”

When she glanced up, she saw the quiver in his stiff lip and his ears fully at rest. The poor kid, right then she would have loved to remember the whatever-it-was feather fall. She looked away, angry at herself.

Applejack piped in, “Kids, Mom still had a rough day. How about we let her go up to bed early tonight, and I’ll play ya one more round of cards before bedtime?”

“Okay!” Cider agreed.

Leaf took a breath, his face returning to his serious expression. “Sounds cool. But Mom’ll be around tomorrow, right?”

“She sure will.” Applejack nodded. Then she looked at Rainbow and the smile fell away. She hesitated, then added, “I—I’m gonna need her to keep an eye on y’all while I finish settin’ up for the zap apples.”

“It’ll be fine, AJ.” Rainbow tried to offer her a confident smile. “I can handle it.”

“I’ll help her out,” Leaf added quickly.

Applejack still looked concerned, but she nodded. “Okay. Dash, go on up, I’ll be there in a few.”

Rainbow started up the stairs, and was surprised to find Applejack following her. She glanced over her shoulder with a quizzical expression.

Applejack nodded to her side. “Gotta put Sky in his crib first.”

“Oh,” Rainbow said. She sometimes forgot the baby was there. That probably wasn’t a good thing, she figured as she made her way to the bedroom she knew belonged to her and AJ. Especially since that one had come out of her own body at some point. But there were three of them, that was way too many foals to keep track of! Youngest foals were probably used to that.

Inside the room, Rainbow leaned against the door and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. This whole thing was crazy. She’d never done anything in her life to deserve something like this.

…Well, okay, she had kind of screwed up the zap apples because she wanted to get laid. But there was no way that was worth making her… whatever it made her do. Still, she definitely needed to tell Twilight about that, right after she’d sworn her to secrecy so Applejack would never find out.

Rainbow looked around the room. She didn’t want to rest, and AJ probably didn’t expect her to rest. They just needed to get her away from the foals before she freaked them out. She remembered the look on that kid’s face—on Leaf’s face, and she cringed.

Then Rainbow’s face brightened. Maybe Applejack would let her become a Wonderbolt again so they could afford the therapy bills…

That reminded her. She scanned the room again, this time with a purpose.

There was a white chest of drawers in one corner, and she flew over to it and opened the top drawer. Rope and some black boots and some kind of folding chair… not what she was looking for, but it did make her wonder if she and AJ had some really interesting hobbies when the foals went to bed. The next drawer down was winter saddles, which was both not what she was looking for and boring.

She found what she was looking for in the bottom drawer, under a thick layer of drawings and letters and newspaper clippings. There, folded and pressed, was a Wonderbolts flight suit. Her Wonderbolts flight suit, the one she’d dreamed about since she was a foal. The one she’d worked for her entire life to wear. She ran a hoof over the yellow and blue fabric, picturing herself in it.

She had worn it. She must have, Applejack said so, and this was proof. She strained to remember anything about it, how it felt, how she felt when she put it on… nothing. Just what she could imagine. And what she could imagine seemed hollow when she was holding the real thing in her hooves.

She sighed. Her ears drooped, and she laid the flight suit back in the drawer to rub her face with her hooves. Then she glanced at the other things in the drawer.

There were a bunch of bad crayon drawings. Those must have been the kids’; they looked like every other drawing a foal had ever done: ponies with sticks for legs and big red smiles, sometimes with a red barn and a big yellow sun behind them. Some of the drawings had been folded into cards, with “Hapy Berthday” or “For thE bEst MoM” written on them. Most of the letters in the drawer were from Applejack, dated before the kids would have been born, but Rainbow got bored reading the first one she opened. It was about how Applejack had done in some rodeo she probably couldn’t even remember now. She tossed it back in the drawer.

She picked up a newspaper clipping. There she was, in black and white, in that uniform that she couldn’t remember. She stared at it for a long time before she even looked at the headline. “Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash’s Daring Rescue.”

Rainbow grinned. Of course she had made a daring rescue! This must have just been one of them, she probably daringly rescued ponies all the time when she was a Wonderbolt. She started reading the article about how she had broken form at a Wonderbolts show to catch a foal who fell off the stands, then made it back to her spot, picking up the routine like nothing had happened. That was exactly the sort of thing she would do, when she was a Wonderbolt.

Or, when she had been a Wonderbolt. She rummaged through the drawer for more clippings. Some were about stuff she’d done with her friends, or stuff her friends had done, but there were more about “Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash” too. She devoured those, reading one after the other.

It felt like no time at all when she heard the door open behind her, and glanced over to see Applejack come in.

“Sorry, ended up playin’ two rounds, then I had to read Cider a story.”

Rainbow looked down at the clippings again, then hesitantly put them back in the drawer, along with the other stuff. “It’s okay.”

“Here, I thought we could look at this.” Applejack had an album balanced on her back, which she bumped onto the bed. “If you’re gonna spend the day with the kids tomorrow, you’re gonna need a crash course.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You know how I am at studying.”

“Anything’s better than nothin’ at this point, Dash.” Applejack sighed and shook her head. Then she opened the album as Rainbow walked over to take a look. She pointed to a page full of pictures. “Here, these are from right after Leaf was born. I never seen you be so careful with somethin’ as you were with him.”

Rainbow saw herself over and over in the pictures, holding a tiny green foal, feeding him, carrying him on her back. She looked awesome, because she was Rainbow Dash. But she had to admit she looked really happy, too. She turned the page to see more of the same kinds of pictures, with the same kind of Rainbow Dash, or occasionally with AJ or both of them.

“There are a lot of pictures of me and Leaf,” Rainbow said. There were more than there were of Leaf and Applejack.

“You thought he was the coolest thing you ever saw. Every time he so much as sneezed you wanted somepony to take a picture. It’s no wonder that boy worships you, you always have been each other’s number one fans.” Applejack smiled and shook her head. “Course, that ain’t all good. To be honest, he could come out from under your wing a bit more. But don’t worry about that none. It’ll work itself out.”

Rainbow looked down at the album as Applejack skipped ahead by a chunk of pages. The images now were her or Applejack with baby Cider, though Leaf was still in most of the pictures with Rainbow and his baby sister.

“These are from after Cider was born. She was the happiest baby ya ever did see, and into every darn thing on this farm.” Applejack pointed to one of Cider asleep on what looked like a nest. “That’s where she went missin’ one afternoon and you found her sleepin’ in the chicken coop. After that you taught her how to nap in apple trees, so she could stick close to me. Still scares me half to death, but she loves it. I reckon she’d be sleepin’ in one now if I’d let her.”

Applejack smiled down at the album and turned the pages slowly. Rainbow watched as the kids in the pictures got older, and the family’s moments played out before her: Hearth’s Warming mornings with presents under the flagpole, Summer Sun Celebrations with the kids half-asleep on their parents’ backs, cider seasons and zap apple harvests, Leaf with a Wonderbolts saddlebag on what must have been his first day of school, then Cider at the same age with a yellow apple on her bag.

Applejack stopped at a picture of Rainbow. At least it looked like her at first, the same color and mane, but her face was round and her whole body seemed swollen, and she glared at the camera with a flat expression that Rainbow understood to mean that the immortalization of that moment was not appreciated.

“This one here is where you were pregnant with Sky. I never knew a pony could be grumpy for that long. You swore up and down you were never goin’ through that again. But here’s right after he was—”

“Wait, is that a new Daring Do book?” Rainbow cut in, noticing a book in the pony’s lap with an unfamiliar cover featuring the adventurer.

“I guess so…” Applejack said, looking more closely at the picture.

Rainbow’s eyes lit up “There are probably a ton of new Daring Do books! And I haven’t read them yet! Or, at least, I don’t remember reading them!”

The revelation was met with silence for a long moment, then a glare from Applejack. “I’m tryin’ to tell you about your foals, and Darin’ Do is what ya care about? Really?”

“Yeah, because I know Daring Do… Everything else about this makes no sense!” Rainbow said, gesturing at the album.

“I’m tryin’ to explain it to you, if you’d listen!’ Applejack snapped, shoving the album toward Rainbow. “This is your darn life here, Dash! Your wife, your kids, everythin’ you care about… I’d think you’d at least try to seem interested in it.”

“But I don’t care about it!” Rainbow shoved the book back toward Applejack. “I mean, you’re awesome and everything, but I don’t love you. I just asked you out the other day because I thought it would be fun to mess around after we go running. And I never wanted kids, I want to be a Wonderbolt.”

Applejack looked like she’d been slapped. No, she looked like she’d been slapped by one of her best friends; the mix of shock and hurt on her face made Rainbow’s eyes grow wide. She searched for a way to make Applejack’s expression go away.

“AJ… I didn’t mean it like that…”

Applejack took a deep breath and let it out, her face falling to a flat, unreadable expression. “No. I get it.”

“I care about you a whole bunch, you’re one of my best friends,” Rainbow went on. She searched AJ’s face for some hint of forgiveness. “I just… I’m not ready for this. It’s like I missed all the good stuff, and all the important stuff, and now everything is different and… I’m really trying. I mean, I have to try.”

They stared at each other for a moment, and Applejack’s expression softened. She looked down and shook her head.

“Wait here,” Applejack said as she walked out of the room.

Rainbow waited, hoping that Applejack was okay. She looked like she understood. Rainbow knew that what she had said was probably stupid, but she wasn’t sure what Applejack expected. This was like looking at somepony else’s boring family pictures, but even worse because they made her feel like a jerk for not caring. At least Daring Do was something good about all of this, something she could remember and feel something about.

It wasn’t long before the door opened again, and she heard Applejack’s voice.

“Dash, I got someone I think you wanna see.”

Rainbow looked up. Cradled in Applejack’s foreleg was a dark green tortoise shell with a propeller attached to the top by a leather strap.

“He was hidin’ behind the couch,” she said with a sad smile as Tank’s head cautiously emerged from his shell. “Sky likes to try to chew on his propeller if he can get to it.”

Feelings were not something Rainbow Dash was good at. That’s why she tried to only have one at a time, usually whichever one could be most easily interpreted as cool. But after the day she had had, seeing Tank attacked her with at least a million feelings, and she wasn’t sure she could fight them all off.

She grinned as she snatched him from Applejack and cuddled him close, but she felt her eyes getting watery at the same time and quickly buried her face on Tank’s shell. “Hey there, buddy! Boy am I glad to see you. You haven’t changed, have you?”

Tank answered with a nuzzle, and Rainbow just held him tighter.

After a few moments, Applejack sighed. Rainbow wiped her eyes as best she could on the hard, wet tortoise and glanced over at her.

Applejack was looking down and biting her lip. Then she shook her head. “Aw, hay. Dash, I’m… I’m sorry. I got fifteen years under my saddle that you’re missin’ right now. Twilight was right, I oughta be takin’ care of you as best I can, and all I been doin’ is layin’ into you harder.”

Rainbow sniffed before she could stop herself, then she set Tank on the bed. She stroked his back and sighed. “It’s—it’s okay, you’re thinking of the kids. Somepony has to. I can handle this.” She smiled at Applejack. “If anypony can catch up when they’re fifteen years behind, you know it’s me.”

“I know it. You never let me down yet.” Applejack smiled back. “How about if we get some sleep? Maybe everythin’ will seem better tomorrow.”

“That’s not a bad idea. I’ve had a really busy day.” Rainbow scooped up Tank and walked over to tug back the covers on the bed.

Applejack blinked at her, then she sighed. “Dash… that’s my side.”

Rainbow blinked at the bed, then at Applejack. Her eyes went wide as it began to dawn on her that this was their bed. They were married.

But.. were they married? The kids were one thing, Applejack had been right; however Rainbow felt, it wasn’t right to take their mom away. But married ponies who had a bed they slept in together, and cuddled in, and had a lot of sex in were supposed to love each other.

Rainbow didn’t love Applejack, not like that. Was she supposed to try to, like she was with the kids? Could a pony even try to be in love with another pony like they were married, did that even work?

Applejack cleared her throat, and Rainbow realized she had been staring for too long. But Applejack went on. “If ya want me to sleep on the couch, I’ll tell the kids we wanted to make sure you rested up. At least, until we decide what we’ll do…”

It made Rainbow feel a little better to know that Applejack didn’t know what they were going to do either. Holding Tank, she flew to her side and smiled at AJ. “We’ve shared a bed before. I mean, before we dated, at slumber parties and stuff.”

“If that’s what you want, sugarcube,” Applejack said, cautiously approaching her own side of the bed.

Rainbow nodded as they climbed in bed, each huddled on their own side. “Yeah. It’ll be okay. And maybe things will be back to normal tomorrow.”

Applejack turned out the lights and whispered, “Sweet Celestia, I sure hope so.”

Yesterday and Today

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The next morning, things were not back to normal. Rainbow woke up confused; while the bed she had slept in was comfortably fluffy, it clearly was not a cloud, and the room she woke up in was not in a cloud house. The events of the previous day came back to her, and she hugged Tank and considered just staying in bed. If she got out, she’d have to face a world she didn’t recognize, and another day of looking like an idiot as she tried to figure out what the hay was going on.

Of course, that seemed to be her life for the foreseeable future. Maybe she could just stay in bed forever.

She doubted Applejack was going to go for that, and she turned out to be correct. It wasn’t long before Applejack called for her to come down to breakfast, and Rainbow walked into a busy kitchen where Applejack was putting food on a table that seemed to be swarming with foals.

“Cider, get your mouth off that!” Applejack said, barely looking over her shoulder as the filly stopped with her mouth halfway to the stack of pancakes.

“I was just gonna put some on my plate!” Cider protested.

Leaf was sitting next to Sky’s highchair, distracting him by tossing a ball in the air, but he stopped as soon as he caught sight of Rainbow. “Mom! Are you feeling better? Do you remember stuff again?”

Applejack’s ears perked up as she flipped another stack of pancakes off the stove.

Rainbow sighed and sat down on an empty chair. “‘Nope.”

“Aww, sugar, it’ll be okay.” Applejack brought the last plate of pancakes to the table with a slight frown. “We’ll get by, we always— darn it, Sky! Dash, could you?” She nodded to where the baby pegasus had flown out of his highchair, and was hovering in the corner, grinning.

“Huh?” Rainbow said.

“Get him down,” Applejack said, sighing. “Whoever thought babies oughta know how to fly oughta have a cutie mark in bad ideas.”

“I’ll get him, Mama!” Cider said, flying out of her seat. Applejack caught her by the tail just before she upset a pitcher of orange juice that was sitting on the table.

“You sit down, missy.” Applejack said, through her clenched teeth. “Dash?”

“Oh, right. On it.” Rainbow flew up to the corner of the room and grabbed the kid. He wasn’t particularly happy to have his playtime interrupted, and he squirmed and whined all the way back to his highchair. Once there, Applejack distracted him with a pancake.

“Dig in, y’all,” she said.

The kids and Rainbow grabbed for food. Rainbow got her plate full first, and captured the bottle of syrup just before Leaf grabbed it.

“Sheesh, Mom, you didn’t have to take it out of my hoof,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“I guess you oughta be faster, then.” Rainbow smirked as she coated her pancakes.

Applejack shot Rainbow a glare.

Rainbow frowned and handed the syrup to the kid, muttering “It wasn’t like I was gonna keep it or anything.”

“You sure you’re gonna be okay today, watchin’ the kids?” Applejack asked as she took some pancakes from the remaining stack and waited for the syrup.

“Sure,” Rainbow said, shrugging. “How hard could it be?” She took a bite of pancakes.

“Mama!” Cider said urgently. “I got syrup in my mane!”

Rainbow looked over, and the end of the filly’s ponytail was covered in syrup. It looked like she must have poured it right over the hair.

Applejack gave a heavy sigh. “Over to the sink, let’s wash that out.”

“How the hay did that happen? Did she not see her mane there?” Rainbow asked Leaf.

“Mom,” Leaf said, giving her a poke on the wing.

“What? It’s hard to do that on accident, doesn’t everypony look at their pancakes when they’re pouring syrup on them?”

“No, Mom, Sky.” Leaf pointed to the ceiling.

Rainbow looked up to see the baby whiz past towards the living room. “Shoot.” She flew after him and caught him by the tail, dragging him back to the breakfast table.

After she plopped the kid back in his highchair, Rainbow stared at him. “How do we make him not do that?”

Leaf just stared at her, confused. “He always does that.”

“Well that’s gotta change.” Rainbow thought for a moment, then called across the room. “Hey AJ, do we have any duct tape?”

“In the barn. Why?” Applejack said as she rinsed Cider’s mane.

“We could tape this kid to his chair,” Rainbow suggested.

Applejack’s head snapped up. “Rainbow Dash. Ya’ can’t duct tape a baby!”

“Did Mommy ever duck tape me, Mama?” Cider asked.

“Of course she didn’t, half pint. Your mom’s just kiddin’. Right, Dash?” Applejack said without looking over.

“Uh… sure,” Rainbow said, furrowing her brow. “What about tying him down?”

Leaf snorted a laugh.

“What?” Rainbow asked him.

“You’re not kidding?” His mouth dropped open.

“Ha. Nah, I’m totally kidding.” Rainbow gave a grin that she hoped would save her. Now that she thought about it, she’d never seen a pegasus foal tied down, so there was probably a reason for that? It seemed like an awesome idea.

Leaf just shook his head, smiling, as Applejack and Cider returned to the table. Cider sat down and dug right into her pancakes, while Applejack finished fixing her own plate and took a bite. As she chewed, she was looking at Rainbow with a worried expression.

“What?” Rainbow asked, her own mouth full of pancake.

Applejack swallowed. “I could get Fluttershy, see if she could bring her kids over here and help ya’ out.”

Cider and Leaf groaned in unison.

“Not Fluttershy, Ma. Anypony but Fluttershy,” Leaf said, waving his hooves theatrically.

“We’ll be extra good for Mommy!” Cider added with an angelic smile.

Applejack glared at the foals. “Both of y’all cut that out! Fluttershy is our friend, and she’s a grown up pony, and I won’t have y’all actin’ like that.”

“But she’s so boring!” Leaf whined.

“Yeah, everything’s too dangerous!” Cider said, rolling her eyes. “Flying is too dangerous, going outside is too dangerous, seeing if we can build a catapult big enough to launch Sky is too dangerous…”

Rainbow snickered.

“Dash!” Applejack snapped, turning her glare on Rainbow.

“What?” Rainbow shrugged. “The kids have a point. Fluttershy would be a totally boring babysitter.”

“She knows how to handle foals, and she knows the kids.” Applejack frowned. “And I still ain’t convinced you ain’t gonna need some help.”

“What about Twilight? Or… maybe Pinkie Pie is in town?” Cider suggested.

“Ma, I can totally help Mom,” Leaf said, sitting up straight with a serious expression.

Rainbow smiled. “AJ, I can handle this.”

Applejack hesitated for a few moments. “Okay. But stay on the farm, and if the fourth sign comes up, take cover. And if there’s any problems I want somepony to come find me right away.” She turned and narrowed her eyes at Leaf. “Ya’ hear that, Leaf? Right. Away. Before you go stickin’ your muzzle in it.”

He nodded. “Yes, Ma.”

“Right, then.” She sighed and gave one last worried look at Rainbow. “I guess I oughta get movin’.”

“Have fun, Mama!” Cider said, leaning over to give her a nuzzle.

Leaf shoveled the last of his pancakes into his mouth. “Love ya’, Ma.”

“Relax.” Rainbow leaned back, waving her hoof. “Go farm some apples.”

Applejack shook her head and sighed, and headed out towards the zap apple orchard.

Once she was gone, Rainbow looked around the table. “Okay, so… what are we gonna do today?”

“I made up a new trick.” Leaf cocked his head to the side. “How are your wings after the crash yesterday?”

“Ready to fly! Let’s see what you’ve got.” Rainbow stretched her wings. Of course her kids wanted to watch her show off her flying, they were probably raised to know awesome. This mom thing would be a breeze.

“Can me and Sky watch from a cloud?” Cider grinned, bouncing in her chair.

Rainbow shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

Leaf nodded. “We’d better go to the east orchard, so Ma doesn’t catch us.”

“Yeah… right…” Rainbow said, a slight frown crossing her face. That sorta sounded like AJ wouldn’t like their plans. But… AJ was probably a worry wart. Like wanting Fluttershy to come help. It was pretty clear that Rainbow was the awesome mom.

That made Rainbow smirk. They just wouldn’t let AJ catch them.

"I can make a picnic lunch!” Cider said, flying out of her seat and opening cabinets.

Rainbow nodded. “That sounds good!”

“Mom. Sky,” Leaf said.

Rainbow looked around to see the kid flying out of the room. “Shoot!”

They spent the next few minutes getting ready to go out. Rainbow figured out how to put on the foal carrier, only getting tangled up once, and got Sky into it. Leaf went upstairs and came down with his Wonderbolts saddlebags on, and Cider flew out of the kitchen with a big picnic basket, which she slid on Rainbow’s back.

They made their way to a spot where the apple trees opened up over a field of some kind of crop; wheat or oats or hay, Rainbow didn’t know what it was. Leaf sat by the treeline and pulled out a notebook, and Cider spread out a picnic blanket.

Cider and Sky played in the tree branches while Rainbow sat down next to Leaf to look over his notes.
She had to admit, they were awesome. They were designed for her, so they were all blow-your-feathers-off, Wonderbolts-level stunts. She squinted at one and followed the notes in her head.

“Uh… this one’s impossible. Even I can’t make that turn.”

“Sure you can.” He pointed to a note on the list of steps. “If you come out of the flip at the right angle, the momentum is still there to give you a push.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “But if you come out at the wrong angle, you fly into the ground and break your neck.”

Leaf smirked. “Then don’t come out at the wrong angle.”

“That’s the sign of a great trick.” Rainbow grinned. “What else ya’ got?”

“Well, I originally designed it to go into the Buccaneer Blaze, but last night I was thinking… if you went into this one.” He turned to one of the most recent pages. “I haven’t named it yet, but you could come out on your way to the top of the sky, to do a Rising Star, or a Comet Burst, or—”

“Or a sonic rainboom! Oh wow, that would look awesome!” Rainbow squealed.

As she read through the trick again her wings barely twitched, mimicking the adjustments they would make as she flew. She noticed she was doing it, then looked at the number of full pages in the notebook and shook her head in awe. “How do you do all this on paper?”

Leaf hesitated. “Mom, what happened yesterday?”

Rainbow panicked inwardly, she’d said something wrong again. But she kept her cool and shrugged. “Nothing. Just a crash, ya’ know?”

“Something’s weird with you.” Leaf frowned. “Like, you know how I do this. You always helped me, and— now you’re asking me how I do it?”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Rainbow said quickly. “I meant… um… you’re just so awesome at it! Like, this is totally cutie mark territory, I don’t even know how you don’t have one yet.” She shook her head and turned the page, looking for something else to talk about. “Wow. This is a whole squad routine.”

Leaf looked down at the grass and smoothed it nervously with a hoof. “Just messing around.”

Rainbow grinned and nudged him with her foreleg. “I’m surprised the Wonderbolts aren’t using it yet.”

His head snapped up, frowning. “You promised.”

Rainbow bit her lip. She was back in dangerous territory, but promises were important, and she didn’t want to break one she didn’t know about. “Uh… remind me?”

“You promised you’d never tell them about these. Or anypony else.” He crossed his forelegs, glancing away. “Not until I get my cutie mark.”

“Nopony else has seen these?” She looked at him, her head tilted in confusion. “Are you nuts?”

He shook his head. “They’re not ready yet. When I get my cutie mark, I’ll do one that’s really amazing, and then you can show that one to the Wonderbolts.”

Rainbow frowned at the notebook. Some of the stuff in here was as good as what the Wonderbolts were doing… well, what they’d been doing fifteen years ago at least. Unless things got really wild in the time she was missing, she was pretty sure ponies would want to see this. But hey, they were his tricks, and it wasn’t like she’d even get to do them as a Wonderbolt…

She sighed.

“I’m getting better,” Leaf insisted. “It’ll be soon.”

“Huh?” Rainbow stared at him, suddenly pulled from her self-pity.

“I know you wanna show them,” he said with a sad smile. The he swallowed and frowned at the notebook. “I just— I want the tricks I show them to be as awesome as your flying, Mom.”

Rainbow furrowed her brow. What the hay was the kid talking about? These were already awesome, and when a pony could do something awesome, they should show it off. If they got more awesome later, even better. And it wasn’t like ponies would think it was the best he could do, the kid didn’t even have a cutie mark yet.

But she didn’t wanna stick her hoof in her mouth again, so she shook her head. “Hey, don’t sweat it. Let’s put together a quick routine here, I’m dying to get in the air.”

Leaf and Rainbow spent the morning looking through the notebook, talking through a killer series of his tricks. Rainbow wished she had more of an audience than just the kids, she was going to look awesome. She always loved the prospect of looking awesome, and the more excited she got, the more Leaf’s eyes lit up and the faster he talked, tossing ideas at her and making notes for new ones to figure out. Rainbow couldn’t help getting lost in a conversation about flying.

After a while, Cider and Sky landed. Rainbow was kind of surprised to see them, which she had to admit probably wasn’t a great thing when she was supposed to be in charge. But they were both in one piece.

“Lunch time!” Cider announced, sticking her head in the picnic basket she’d packed.

Rainbow glanced at Leaf and shrugged. “Sounds like a good idea. Flying takes fuel, after all!” She turned to Cider. “So, what’s for lunch?”

“Mama’s fritters, and Mama’s apple crisp, and Mama’s donuts that she hides in case I get into the fritters and apple crisp, special Cider Splash sandwiches!” Cider explained, laying out the food around the blanket. “See, you take two of Mama’s cookies and fill them with Mama’s apple butter.” The filly demonstrated, taking a bite out of the result.

Leaf leaned over and whispered, “The sandwiches are pretty sweet. I’d go with Ma’s baking.”

He got himself some apple crisp, while Sky grabbed a fritter and started muching.

“Uh… yeah.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. She was pretty sure Pinkie Pie would be jealous of the amount of sugar here. “Shouldn’t you have packed something besides dessert?”

Cider replied with her mouth full. “It’s all got apples in it. Mama says there’s nothing healthier than apples!”

Rainbow shook her head and shrugged, grabbing a fritter. It sounded reasonable, when she put it like that. All the kids were getting fed, at least.

“Mom’s gonna do some of my tricks for us soon!” Leaf told his siblings.

“Oooh!” Cider squealed. “And we get to sit on a cloud, right?”

“Sure thing.” Rainbow grinned and nodded. This taking care of foals thing was easy.

They finished eating and Rainbow grabbed a cloud for Cider and Sky. She set it over the trees, far enough back that she could use all the air over the open field and not worry about knocking them off. The pegasus foals flew up and bounced on the fluffy mass a few times before settling in.

Leaf sat on the ground by the edge of the field. As Rainbow flew into the open air to get in place, she wondered if he minded being the only one of them without wings. It was a tough break, the kid probably would’ve loved to fly. But even from the air she could see the huge grin on his face, so it didn’t seem to get him down.

Rainbow turned her attention to flying, doing a quick run through of some of the tougher new tricks before starting on the routine they’d worked out. They worked great, he’d figured out just the right number of wingbeats to pick up speed, and the momentum pushed her to the natural but unexpected next point once her form was right. When she had those down, she got ready to put it all together.

She looked down and gave Leaf a quick salute, which he returned, and she grinned as she set off.

Twisting and flying through the air felt more right than she had since her crash yesterday. She focused on that feeling of weightless tumbling, and the adrenaline of waiting for exactly the right moments to adjust, pulling her up seconds before the impact of hard earth, or sending her spinning while her wings wrestled forces for control.

The sky hadn’t changed, and she loved it. She’d loved flying from her very first memories as a foal, and she’d love it until she died. As she pushed her body and beat her wings, the air rushing through her mane and feathers, it didn’t matter how old she was, or if she had kids or not, or what she could remember. All that mattered was she was there, and the sky was there, and they were doing awesome things together.

Leaf watched her the whole time, he barely moved. The grin stayed on his face, but she could practically see the gears turning in his head, taking apart every move she made and building new ones. It made her extra careful to keep her form right; not only should he see everything exactly the way it should be done, but she had to guess he’d spot it right away if she got lazy with her leg or tail positions. But that made the flight even better, giving her a good reason to be on top of her game. No wonder her body was in such good shape after having a kid.

She could’ve stayed in the air for hours, but she was just about to finish the routine after about twenty minutes when she saw it happen.

Cider was distracted, she had been for the past few minutes, looking over the edge of the cloud at the tops of apple trees below. Sky was pulling off pieces of cloud to chew on, like any of them might taste different from any other. Cider didn’t notice Sky crawl under her hooves until she tried to take a step back, then she lunged forward to keep from stepping on her brother, falling head first over the edge of the cloud.

She shouted, and her wings sprung open, but she didn’t catch air.

Rainbow flipped in the air and zoomed for the ground under the treeline where Cider had almost instantly disappeared. There was a few seconds of branches whipping her face and wings, and then her forelegs were full of the little brown filly. She was close enough to the ground to use her hooves to brake, skidding to a stop among the trees.

Panting, Rainbow looked down at Cider.

The filly blinked up at her, then started to sob, wrapping her forelegs around Rainbow’s neck. “Mommy, I was scared, and my wings didn’t work right, and I fell, and the trees hurt, and—”

“Hey, you’re okay. I got ya’. Dives can be tricky, especially if you weren’t ready.” Rainbow noticed Cider had scratches all over her face and neck; she was bleeding on Rainbow’s coat. Or, at least some it it was Cider, Rainbow had a few scrapes herself.

“Mom!” Leaf yelled, running over. “Is Cider okay?”

Cider was starting to calm down, sniffling and wiping her face on Rainbow’s coat.

Rainbow nodded.“Yeah, she’s—”

Suddenly Cider wailed again, and the waterworks returned. “I have an owie! Mommy, I’m hurt!”

Rainbow sighed. “It’s just a few scratches. You’re fine.”

Cider shook her head and gasped, “I’m not fine, Mommy! I need a bandaid!”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Come on, kid. Stop crying. I saved you.”

Cider answered by crying even louder. By now she sounded like she’d lost a limb, it’d be amazing if AJ didn’t hear it across the farm. Rainbow looked at her again, but she definitely wasn’t hurt. Rainbow had seen kittens do more damage to a pony than the fall had done to Cider.

Rainbow looked at Leaf with a confused shrug.

Leaf nodded, then said, “Hey, Cider, you knocked down, like, a hundred apples.”

“I did?” Cider looked up, the crying stopping right away. She gave a few leftover sobs, but she was blinking and looking around.

“Yup. Look over there,” Leaf motioned to where Cider and Rainbow had both crashed through the apple trees, and the ground was littered with fruit.

Cider smiled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof. “Do ya’ think Mama will let me help with harvest this year?”

Rainbow regarded the suddenly sunny filly in her forelegs with the flattest look she could give. “Probably not by falling on your face.”

“And not if she finds out you were on a cloud without Mom,” Leaf added. “We need to figure out something else to tell Ma.”

Rainbow blinked, suddenly remembering the whole not-letting-AJ-catch-them thing. “She’s not supposed to be on a cloud?”

Leaf nodded. “It’s against the rules.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that!?” Rainbow asked both of the foals, waving a hoof.

Leaf shrugged, his eyes wide. “I thought you knew! You and Ma made the rules!”

“Great. Just great.” Rainbow smacked her hoof to her face. “Okay, what do we tell AJ?”

“You could tell her you took us to pick blackberries,” Leaf suggested. “Cider always gets her face scratched up picking blackberries. But you’d need to figure out how you got scratched too.”

Rainbow nodded. “I’ll tell her a branch snapped back and caught me in the face.”

“If we were picking blackberries, we’d have blackberries to eat,” Cider said, pouting. “Now I want blackberries.”

“Good point.” Rainbow turned to Leaf. “Can you run into town and buy some blackberries?”

“Sure.” Leaf nodded.

Rainbow grinned. “Great. I’ll take Cider back to the house and we’ll get cleaned up. And when AJ gets home, we were picking blackberries all day.”

“What about Sky?” Leaf asked, looking up.

Rainbow blinked. Then it hit her. “Shoot! I’ll get him, you get the blackberries.”

Rainbow set Cider down and took off for the cloud, as Leaf ran off towards town.

***

That evening, Applejack seemed to buy the story hook, line, and sinker. Rainbow was surprised, Applejack’s lie-detector was usually better than that, but she wasn’t about to complain. Of course, AJ might have been distracted, because it turned out their picnic lunch had consisted of every sweet in the house. Since Cider was hurt that only earned her a stern word or two, and Rainbow got off with an exasperated look and a few grumbles.

Other than that, the evening was peaceful. Applejack made a blackberry and apple pie, and Rainbow found the shelf with her Daring Do books, starting with the oldest one she couldn’t remember. Leaf and Cider played a board game on the floor, though they spent most of their time keeping pieces away from Sky.

All in all it wasn’t a bad time. Sure, the kids were kinda noisy and distracting, but there was pie, so it evened out. And after a while AJ went upstairs to put the kids to bed, and even the noise died down.

Rainbow was still reading when Applejack came back down. But all of a sudden the quiet stopped.

“Rainbow Dash, why would you leave those babies alone on a cloud?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow looked up, her eyes wide. Applejack’s mouth was set in firm line, and her eyes were narrowed.

“Cider told me,” Applejack added.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and set her book aside. “That snitch!”

Applejack frowned. “She ain’t a snitch, she just told her mama the truth.”

“That’s, like, the definition of snitching,” Rainbow explained.

“Well it was the right thing to do, and what you shoulda done from the start!” Applejack snapped. “Why in Equestria would ya’ let her do that?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I didn’t know she wasn’t allowed!”

“She’s a little kid! You think she’s gonna pay attention to the edge of a cloud and how fast she’s gotta start flappin when she falls off it?” Applejack asked, sitting in a chair and crossing her forelegs.

“She’s a pegasus! Pegasus foals play on clouds!” Rainbow waved a hoof for emphasis. “I only played on clouds when I was her age.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but you lived in Cloudsdale. She’s lived on the ground her whole life.”

Rainbow frowned. “She should be able to handle it.”

“She poured syrup on her mane this mornin’, Dash,” Applejack pointed out. “I know ya’ didn’t mean for anypony to get hurt, but you’re the grown-up, you gotta think ‘bout this stuff. We talked about this before, and we decided after flight camp she oughta be good enough with her wings to handle herself.”

“Fluttershy fell off a cloud at flight camp,” Rainbow muttered.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “So ya’ thought Cider oughta practice fallin’ off clouds? We had to make a decision, and that’s what we decided on to keep the kids safe. If you don’t think that’s right, you gotta talk to me, not just go behind my back and try to hide it when it didn’t work out how ya’ thought. We need to be able to trust each other.”

Rainbow sighed. It wasn’t her fault that Cider didn’t know how to pull out of a dive. Well, maybe it kinda was, but only because she should have taught her way before this. The kid was going to flight camp. Sure, she didn’t seem to care about flying, and she didn’t totally suck at it or anything, but the last thing they needed was for her to turn out to be a basket case like Fluttershy.

“Has she ever been to Cloudsdale?” Rainbow asked.

“A few times.” Applejack hesitated. “Maybe you oughta take her up before camp and show her around?”

Rainbow smiled. “That sounds good.”

Applejack smiled too, and she seemed to relax a little. “Better make it soon, I don’t wanna be stuck dealin’ with Sky on zap apple harvest day, and Cider ain’t gonna wanna miss the jammin’. She looks forward to it all year.”

“So you… uh… don’t know when the zap apples will come?” Rainbow glanced at the walls and floor, anywhere but at Applejack. She still couldn’t quite believe she’d permanently thrown who knew how many years of magic out of whack.

“Not for fifteen years.” Applejack gave a snort. “It’s a right pain in the tail, all this waitin’ with only one day to harvest. But magic is as magic does.”

“I guess.” Rainbow said. Sometimes magic was as pegasi did. But she had a great reason, and at least that had worked out. Sort of. Of course, she wasn’t sure exactly how...

“AJ, what was our first date like?”

Applejack smiled at Rainbow. She gave a happy sigh, and settled into her chair. “I dunno that it was the best night I ever had, but it was up there on the list. It was real simple, we went to that old cafe that used to be in town for supper—”

“The cafe closed? They had the best tulip sandwiches!”

Applejack nodded. “The fella that ran it moved to Hoof City. Me and you went there the last day they were open. It was sad to see it go. Anyhow, we had dinner there that evenin’, then we stopped by the park, cause the Ponytones were rehearsin’. That was my idea, I figured you wouldn’t try nothin’ in front of Mac. We listened to them for a bit, then you said you had somethin’ special to show me.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“I was kinda nervous, but I trusted you. And you took me back here to the farm, to one of the big hills, where you had a blanket laid on top. Then, we talked.”

“Talked?” Rainbow furrowed her brow. What kind of pony just wanted to talk to a hot mare like AJ?

“Yup. With words and everythin’. “ Applejack chuckled. “It started off bein’ about how great you were, so I just let you talk. Then the real stuff started comin’ out.”

Rainbow regarded her suspiciously.

Applejack tilted her head, still smiling. “You just told me all about you, about why you wanted to be a Wonderbolt, and the kinda pony you try to be, but you know you ain’t, sometimes. And that scared ya’.”

Rainbow’s cheeks started to feel hot as she opened her mouth to protest, but Applejack cut her off.

“I understood ya’, Dash,” she said in a soft, firm voice that made Rainbow relax. “And I told ya’ the kinda pony I try to be, and how hard it can be to know I ain’t always that pony inside, even if I am outside. And… I’ll hurt myself that way, but I’m too scared to show it. And you got me.”

Rubbing the back of her neck, Rainbow had to look away from Applejack. There was something in her eyes, like she expected Rainbow to say something —or know something — and Rainbow didn’t even know where to start.

Applejack went on, “And then, the fourth sign for the zap apples came, the meteor shower, and we were so high up it was like we were in the middle of it. And you took my hoof, and looked me right in the eye, and you said, ‘AJ, if you wanna date me, sometimes I might do dumb stuff. But I promise I’ll always come through for you in the end.’ And I knew you meant it. And… I knew I was fallin’ in love with you.”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “On our first date?”

Applejack just stared with a faraway look in her eyes. “There was somethin’ about you that night. We got each other, and the more we talked, the more it was like we’d always known, but it was a surprise at the same time. Love’s another kind of magic, and I figured that’s what it was.”

“Do you think it was me who did that?” Rainbow asked with a frown. She was thinking about all the stuff Twilight said, about her brain getting switched, or somehow going back there knowing what she knew now.

Applejack looked at Rainbow, and the smile fell from her face. She sighed, then said, “I dunno. I feel like I don’t know nothin’ anymore.”

Rainbow snorted. “You and me both.”

“I reckon I oughta go to bed.” Applejack stood up and headed for the stairs. “Turn out the lights when ya’ come up.”

“G’night,” Rainbow said, but there was no answer.

Rainbow looked after her. She hadn’t meant to make AJ confused, but… well, this was confusing. She was just trying to figure things out. Not that knowing all that made anything more clear, it just added to the pile of stuff that made no sense.

She sighed and picked up her Daring Do book. At least she always understood what Daring did and why she did it. She tore through another five chapters before she decided she’d better get to bed.

When I Grow Up

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The next morning, over a breakfast of muffins and oatmeal, Rainbow Dash smiled across the table at Cider. “Hey, what do you think about flying up to Cloudsdale today? I could show you the flight camp airfields, and make sure you know how to get around.”

Cider’s eyes lit up. “Ooh! Can I pack a lunch?”

“Ain’t enough sugar left in the house for her to pack another lunch,” Applejack muttered to Leaf, sitting next to her. She tore off a piece of muffin for Sky on her other side.

“How about if we get something while we’re there?” Rainbow suggested as she took another bite of muffin.

“Okay!” Cider grinned and bounced in her chair. “Can I wear my new flight goggles?”

Rainbow finished chewing and swallowed. “You don’t really need flight goggles for this trip…”

“But Mommy, I never get to wear my flight goggles!” Cider frowned and crossed her forelegs.

“You just got them two days ago,” Rainbow said, raising an eyebrow.

“And besides,” Leaf added, “you’re just gonna lose them.”

“Will not!”

“Will too.”

“Will not!”

“Kids!” Applejack shouted, causing both foals’ mouths to clamp shut. She went on calmly. “It’s up to you, Dash. But if she takes ’em, make sure she keeps track of them.”

“Please, Mommy?” Cider asked, her eyes wider than saucers, lower lip pushed out.

“You really don’t need—” Rainbow started.

“Pleeeease?” The lower lip quivered. It was totally unfair.

Rainbow sighed. “Okay. Sure. You can wear your flight goggles.”

Applejack smirked. “Ya big softie.”

“It’s the eyes!” Rainbow waved a hoof at the kid. “What am I supposed to do?”

“I know it. And so does she.” Applejack smirked and shook her head, then turned to Leaf. “Ya mind helpin’ me and Uncle Mac with settin’ up for zap apples?”

Leaf frowned. “Cider gets to go to Cloudsdale, and I’m stuck helping on the farm?”

“Two bits,” Applejack said, face flat.

“Five,” Leaf answered with the same expression.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Two, and I’ll cook whatever ya want for dinner. Take it or leave it.”

“Deal.” Leaf nodded.

Applejack returned her attention to her breakfast and took a sip of coffee. “Ya know, back in my day nopony had to bribe me just to help out with the farm.”

Leaf smirked. “Back in ancient times, when dinoponies roamed the world?”

Rainbow snickered, almost spraying juice across the table.

“Ha ha.” Applejack frowned, but a smile was twitching at the corners of her mouth. She eyed Rainbow. “Why’re you laughin’? You ain’t a spring chicken yourself.”

“Yeah, Mom.” Leaf grinned at Rainbow. “What was the first Hearth’s Warming like?”

“I wasn’t at the first Hearth’s Warming,” Rainbow said, mimicking a huff. “You can tell ’cause I would’ve finished off those windigos in one kick.”

Applejack chuckled. “What did Equestria do ’til you came along?”

Rainbow shrugged with a grin. “It was mostly boring.”

“Well that explains history class.” Leaf nodded.

“You know it.” Rainbow offered him a hoof for a bump, which he returned.

Applejack chuckled, then she glanced at the wall and her eyes went wide. “Sweet Celestia, look at the time. I gotta meet Mac.” She grabbed the baby carrier and strapped it around her trunk. “Leaf, first thing I need ya to do is clean up after breakfast when y’all are done.”

“No problem,” Leaf said with a wave of his hoof.

Applejack plopped Sky in the carrier, and headed toward the door. “Love y’all! See ya later!”

“Love you too, Mommy!” Cider called after her.

Rainbow just sat there, kind of awkwardly, wondering if she should respond. She knew it was probably habit for AJ, or maybe it just took less time than saying it to Cider and Leaf. Rainbow figured she should probably just say “later,” but by the time she thought of that AJ was out the door.

• • •

Rainbow and Cider took off after breakfast. The sky was clear and blue, and even flying at a foal’s pace the feel of air in her mane made Rainbow’s day a hundred times better. It was probably less than a foal’s pace, actually; Cider kept flitting around her and darting off to look at some view of the land below.

Watching Cider, Rainbow thought of her concerns from yesterday. Technically, Cider was an average flyer, maybe even pretty good at maneuverability. But even if she managed not to fall off the clouds, she flew like a ground pegasus. Pegasi raised on the ground always looked down or at the pony flying with them when they were flying high, like the blue expanse of sky was weird to them. Any Cloudsdale pegasus would notice that, and foals, well, they weren’t exactly cool about that sort of thing.

“So… looking forward to flight camp?” Rainbow asked Cider as they flew.

“Yup!” She grinned, flying over to Rainbow’s side. “I’m gonna make a bunch of new friends, and learn to fly good enough that I don’t fall off clouds!”

“Awesome.” Rainbow smiled. She tried to make the next question casual, she didn’t want to scare the kid. “Do you know what to do if other foals are making fun of you?”

“Why would other foals make fun of me?” Cider cocked her head.

“Because they’re dumb, and they make fun of everypony. They might… well, they might say mean things because you live on the ground, and because AJ’s an earth pony.” Rainbow cringed a little, she could almost hear it: Bet your feathers are all full of dirt ’cause your mom’s an earth pony. Careful, the ground filly probably got the clouds all muddy. It made her grit her teeth and want to punch some imaginary bullies right now.

Cider grinned and shrugged. “I’ll just tell them they’re dumb, and my Mommy was a Wonderbolt, and she lives on the ground now because our farm is so awesome! It has a clubhouse, and all kinds of apple trees to nap in, and twenty-seven different kinds of apples, if you include zap apples, which are totally magic! And we grow lots of food for ponies’ dinners, and make yummy apple treats, and we make cider, like my name! And I bet Cloudsdale doesn’t have any of that.”

Rainbow relaxed a little. Even if the kid wasn’t the best flyer, or as tough as a Cloudsdale foal, Rainbow was pretty sure she’d be okay. She had confidence, and that was the most important thing when dealing with bullies. She knew who she was, no matter what they said. Rainbow even had to laugh a bit, wondering if AJ had made the kid memorize that little ode to Sweet Apple Acres.

“You really love the farm, don’t you?”

“It’s the best place in Equestria!” Cider squealed. “Someday, I’m gonna be able to buck apples like Mama, and make cider, and pies, and fritters, and Mama and Aunt Bloom are gonna teach me to make zap apple jam.”

AJ had said Cider was gonna get a cutie mark in farming or cooking or something, and that was sounding about right to Rainbow. She thought of Leaf; it kind of sucked that Cider got wings and he was an earth pony. Of course, what did she know? She was a pegasus who loved flying, so that was easy, but maybe an earth pony who loved flying would still want to be an earth pony.

“Do you wish you were an earth pony?” she asked Cider.

“Nope!” Cider said, without even thinking. “I love it when Mama lets you take me up high to see the whole farm, all at once. It’s like… like a blanket. A really warm blanket that’s wrapped around me and Mama and you and Leaf and Sky. But I couldn’t see it from there if I wasn’t a pegasus. And I couldn’t sleep in apple trees, or fly around the branches… my wings are fun!”

Rainbow glanced over at her. “The Apples are mostly earth ponies, though.”

Cider nodded. “Except me and you and Sky. But we’re Apples ’cause we’re a family and we love each other, and we make Sweet Apple Acres a home. Mama says that’s way more important than if a pony’s got wings or a horn.”

That made Rainbow smile. It sounded like something AJ would say. “Your Mama would know, huh?”

The filly just grinned. “Yup! Mama’s an expert at Apples!”

They flew on, until they came to Cloudsdale. Once they got near enough that there were more pegasi sharing the sky, Rainbow made Cider fly next to her, and kept track of the drafts from the filly’s wingbeats. They circled the city until they came to the layers of clouds and skytracks where the flight camp was set up every year.

They landed, and Cider scampered across the clouds, hopping or flying between them, circling through the practice hoops. Rainbow kept a close eye on the kid; even if she had gotten bored, there were constant calls of “Watch me, Mommy!” to remind her.

Once Cider had been all over the camp clouds, and Rainbow had given her a quick primer on how to pull up from a fall, Rainbow led the way toward the rest of the city. Along the way, she made sure to point out cloud buildings and sculptures, and spots where a pony could see the weather factory and rainbowfall. She didn’t think the kid would need to know all this, but you never knew what foals would get into, and this way Cider wouldn’t get totally lost in Cloudsdale if she left the camp.

Rainbow kept an eye out for a traditional Cloudsdalian diner. There were a lot of unfamiliar businesses—she figured most of the places she knew would have closed like that café in Ponyville—but Cider spent enough time filling up on farm food; it was time she got a taste of some pegasus cooking. Maybe some lightning-fried falafels with some snowcream for dessert.

They came to a quieter neighborhood on the topside, the kind of place with homey awnings and nice perches outside the buildings. It suddenly occurred to Rainbow that this was a ton more flying then the little filly was used to; she was probably going to end up carrying the kid home. But for the time being, she spotted a little patch of clouds that pegasi would consider a park, where a few other pegasi were resting or eating their lunch.

“Hey, Cider, how about if we land for a while? I can ask around about a place to eat.”

“Sure!” Cider answered, still just as enthusiastic as she was that morning. Rainbow started to wonder if earth pony genes combined with the ability to eat her body weight in sugar could somehow give a filly infinite energy reserves. That would explain Pinkie Pie, come to think of it.

They landed in the park. Cider stretched out her wings, and Rainbow did a little minor preening on the girl, fixing feathers that had come out of place in the wind. Memories came back of her own mom adjusting her feathers in parks just like this one; it was such a mom thing to do. Rainbow looked around quickly, hoping nopony saw it, and patted Cider’s wings closed.

Then a pony in a Wonderbolts windbreaker landed in front of them and took off her sunglasses.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash! How’s it going?” Fleetfoot asked.

“Uh… great!” Rainbow said. She was startled, not just by the sudden arrival, but by the casual greeting. It dawned on her that not only was Fleetfoot a pony she knew, she was a pony she’d worked with for years. Rainbow had no idea how they’d worked together, so she tried to play it cool. “How are things with you?”

Fleetfoot nodded absently, smiling. “Not bad, not bad. Just keeping the ’Bolts out of trouble. You know how that is. It’s like herding sparrows sometimes.”

“Heh. Yeah,” Rainbow agreed. It sounded like Fleetfoot was captain now, which made sense. If Spitfire retired it probably came down to her or Soarin.

“Did you hear Rain Dancer finally got out of the hospital?” Fleetfoot grinned.

Rainbow had no idea who Rain Dancer was, but it seemed like she should be happy about this. “That’s awesome!”

“I know.” Her smile turned grim. “She’s Wonderbolt-tough, coming out of a crash like that in one piece. You should go to see her. She recognized Winger the other day when he went, and her husband was thrilled.”

The smile fell from Rainbow’s face, and she nodded. She might not know Rain Dancer, but hearing about a crash that bad was enough to make any trick flyer flash back to all of their own close calls and hospital stays, and thank Celestia it wasn’t them. This time, at least.

Fleetfoot sighed. “So, how’s the wife and kids?” She smiled down at Cider. “This is Cider Splash, right?”

“Yup!” Cider answered, fluttering into the air.

Rainbow looked down at Cider, then back to Fleetfoot. “They’re cool. Cider is going to flight camp, so I was showing her around the city.”

“Are you as good a flyer as your mom?” Fleetfoot asked Cider.

Cider shook her head, her ponytail whipping back and forth. “No way, nopony is as good as my mommy!”

Fleetfoot raised an eyebrow at Rainbow. “You’ve been teaching her, huh?”

Rainbow grinned. “Well…”

“Can’t argue with the truth.” Fleetfoot laughed. “You were one of the best ever.”

“I still am,” Rainbow said quickly, a heat rising in her. Even if she wasn’t a Wonderbolt, she hadn’t left because she couldn’t cut it. Her flying the other day had been as good as ever.

Fleetfoot raised her eyebrows. “You’re keeping yourself up? I haven’t heard much outta you lately.”

“I had a foal last year.” Rainbow shrugged. “Sky… um… Orchard Sky! A pegasus colt.”

“No way!” Fleetfoot’s eyes widened. “You really are in shape… if you ever wanna go out for the team, I can kick a few ponies out for you.”

Rainbow frowned. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

“I’m kidding.” Fleetfoot smiled. “I know you don’t have time, anyway.”

“What if… what if I did have time again?” Rainbow asked, her heart pounding. “Seriously, any chance you could squeeze in an audition for me?” Just asking lit a spark in her. For the past two days, she’d thought it was dead, but at that moment it might have been brighter than ever.

“Seriously? If it was anypony else, they’d need to wait for a spot like the rest of the newbies. But… between you and me, I’d give my left wing for a whole team of you. I think I can find some wiggle room in the roster.” She grinned. “Without screwing anypony over.”

“I’ll think on it…” Rainbow said, fighting the urge to squeal and hug Fleetfoot.

“Cool. You know where to find us.” Fleetfoot gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Anyway, great seeing you again, but I’ve gotta fly. Say hi to AJ and Leaf for me!”

Rainbow waved at Fleetfoot flew off. “Will do! Great seeing you, too!”

She watched as Fleetfoot flew off down the block. Once she was safely out of sight, Rainbow flew into the air and pumped her hoof. “Yes! Rainbow Dash is back, baby!”

Then she remembered she was in a public park, and landed as she smoothed her mane. This was awesome! She didn’t totally miss her dream! Even better, she could make a triumphant return to her probably anxious fans. She must have had a lot of fans, after all. And there was no reason she couldn’t be a Wonderbolt and still have time for the kids.

Kids. Oh yeah. She looked around for Cider.

Cider wasn’t there. She wasn’t on the cloud, she wasn’t in the air nearby. There were no foals of any kind to be seen.

Rainbow’s heart stopped.

“Cider? Cider?!” She rushed to the edge of the cloud. Had the kid fallen off? They were in Cloudsdale for Celestia’s sake, a fall like that could—

No. She couldn’t think of that. She yelled at the top of her lungs, “Cider Splash! Get your tail back here right this minute!”

“I’m right here, Mommy!” Cider called from below the cloud. She flew into view, and Rainbow let out what felt like all the breaths she’d ever held. “I was trying to find my goggles.”

Rainbow blinked as Cider landed in front of her. Sure enough, the flight goggles weren’t strapped around the kid’s head. “What happened to your goggles?”

Cider shrugged. “They fell.”

“They were on your head!” Rainbow pointed out, waving a hoof in disbelief. “How did they fall?”

She shrugged again. “I dunno…”

“For Celestia’s sake…” Rainbow slapped a hoof to her face. Now that Cider was safe, the frustration with the stupid goggles that she shouldn’t have brought mingled with the adrenaline of those frantic few moments.

“You scared the hay out of me!” she snapped. “Do I have to watch you, like, every second?”

“I’m sorry…” Cider looked down, her ears drooping.

Rainbow frowned. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was angry, or who she was angry with, and she really didn’t feel like figuring it out. She sighed and said, “Look, let’s just go get you some new flight goggles and go home.”

“We were supposed to get some lunch.” Cider peeked up at her hopefully.

“Yeah, well you weren’t supposed to drop your flight goggles off Cloudsdale,” Rainbow shot back. “Sometimes plans change.”

• • •

They got back to Sweet Apple Acres as Applejack and Leaf were finishing their lunch. Cider made a beeline for the table and started gobbling down apples and salad like she hadn’t eaten in weeks. Rainbow just stood in the door to the kitchen, a stormy look on her face.

It barely took a second for Applejack to notice, her eyes widening. “What happened?”

“She dropped her darn goggles over the edge,” Rainbow growled.

Applejack relaxed and smiled at Cider. “What am I gonna do with you?”

Cider looked down at her plate, but she went on eating.

“It’s not funny,” Rainbow snapped.

“Dash, it was an accident,” Applejack pointed out gently.

Somehow, that made Rainbow even angrier. “She always does stuff like this!”

Applejack shrugged. “I reckon she’s kinda absent-minded.”

“Yeah, like how she absent-mindedly packed all the dessert in the house for lunch yesterday.” Rainbow glared at the filly, who blushed as she pretended not to notice anything but her lunch.

Applejack shook her head. “She’s a foal, Dash. What do ya expect?”

“Leaf doesn’t do this stuff!” Rainbow motioned at the colt, who was staring slackjawed between her and Applejack.

Applejack shot Rainbow a look. “Leaf is three years older! He’s darn near gettin’ his cutie mark, I’d hope he’s more grown up.”

Rainbow crossed her forelegs and glared at Applejack. “Well, maybe she needs to grow up some.”

Applejack gave a short sigh. “What was she doin’ when she dropped her goggles?”

“She doesn’t know,” Rainbow answered.

“…But you oughta know.” Applejack regarded Rainbow with mild suspicion.

“I was talking to Fleetfoot for, like, a minute,” Rainbow explained. “When I turned around, she was flying down to look for them.”

Applejack raised her eyebrows, her expression flat. “So you didn’t have an eye on her?”

“It was one minute!” Rainbow waved a hoof in exasperation.

“Well that’s how long it takes a little foal to find some trouble,” Applejack pointed out.

Rainbow’s mouth dropped open. “Are you saying this is my fault?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “It’s nopony’s fault, but neither of you were makin’ sure it didn’t happen.”

“Why is it my job to make sure she doesn’t do something stupid?” Rainbow asked with a wild shrug.

There was a pause as Applejack stared at her for a moment, before shouting, “’Cause you’re her mom, genius!”

Rainbow opened her mouth, but there was nothing she could say to that. She closed her eyes and hid her face in her hoof as she cringed.

“I gotta get outta here…” she muttered, then she turned and headed to the front door.

“Dash, wait—” Applejack called, but Rainbow was already out the door and in the air.

She flew away from Sweet Apple Acres over the Whitetail Woods. Green treetops spread below her, occasionally divided by meandering streams or paths. In the distance ahead she could see the faint gray landscape of Ghastly Gorge. She didn’t really care where she was going, she wasn’t planning to land, she just had to fly away.

The farther she got from the farm, the better she felt. Anger faded away with each mile of cool air.

The first thing to go was her anger at the world in general. The freedom of flight calmed her, and as trees and trails rushed by below her she realized that while she had every right to be angry at the world—she had gotten a raw deal after all—it wasn’t going to help anything. The world didn’t care if she was angry, and without something to direct her anger at there was no way to make it change.

As she soared over the path they followed for the Running of the Leaves, she stopped feeling angry at Applejack and Cider. AJ had been right, after all, it was her job to keep Cider out of trouble. That’s why kids had moms, because they were literally too dumb to live.

And Cider wasn’t really dumb, for a filly. She knew how to get what she wanted out of Rainbow and AJ for one thing. That was probably the smartest a kid could be, when you really thought about it; knowing the history of the Wonderbolts wasn’t going to get Cider any extra dessert. And Rainbow had to smile as she realized that for all of Cider’s food and farming obsession, she had a sneaky streak that she sure didn’t learn from AJ.

Yeah, this hadn’t been AJ’s fault, and even if it was kinda Cider’s fault she couldn’t really blame a five-year-old. And she definitely shouldn’t have been such a jerk to Cider. Being a jerk to a kid was a whole new level of jerkitude, and that wasn’t the kind of pony she wanted to be.

By the time Rainbow decided that AJ and Cider were okay, she was flying over the gorge. She decided against a deep run; she needed more open sky to try to clear out the last bunch of anger that was knotted in her chest.

She flew straight up. There was a long way to go up. And there was nothing there to distract her, just Rainbow Dash versus gravity. She fought and won with each flap of her wings, moving farther away from everypony and everything below. It was flying in the deepest, truest sense, moving up, into the sky.

But that knot of anger didn’t budge. If anything, with all the other anger gone, it started to grow. What was wrong with her? Cider fell off a cloud just yesterday. They were in Cloudsdale; if she had fallen off instead of those goggles, she could have died. There wouldn’t have been any awesome rescue—Rainbow didn’t even know how long she’d been gone before she noticed. All because Rainbow was busy trying to get back in the Wonderbolts? What kind of pony did that?

Nopony was asking the impossible, just pay some freaking attention to her own foal. There were plenty of idiots out there who managed to be good parents. There were no excuses. And if she couldn’t handle just finding out she had a shot at being a Wonderbolt and still keep her foal safe, well, maybe that was it—the reason she had left the team. Like it or not, they were her kids, and she didn’t deserve to be a Wonderbolt if she even thought for a second about putting that before ponies whose lives depended on her.

Rainbow stopped flying up, hovering there high in the air. She stopped trying to fight it, and hung her head. Equestria stretched below her, tiny and indistinct. To one side of the sky the sun was starting to set, while on the other side stars were appearing in the growing darkness.

There was only one pony to be angry at. One pony whose fault this was, from the very start the other day. The only pony Rainbow couldn’t fly away from.

But… it didn’t matter now. She still had to go home. As she turned and started to descend in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, that thought did what flying away couldn’t: it made her feel at peace. She felt guilty and dumb, and kind of sad, but she wasn’t angry, even at herself.

She was a pony who would do whatever it took to make things right. Wonderbolt or not, she would make things right.

• • •

By the time she got back to the house the living room was empty except for Applejack, lying on the couch with a book open in front of her. Rainbow looked at her for a moment, not sure what to say.

“Hey,” she said, closing the front door softly behind her.

Applejack looked up, but her expression didn’t change. “There’s dinner in the fridge.”

“Thanks…” Rainbow said softly.

“And Cider made ya this.” Applejack moved the book, a photo album, aside and revealed a piece of paper under it. She offered the paper to Rainbow, who took it in her hoof.

It was a foal’s crayon drawing, the kind her dresser upstairs had dozens of. This one was a little brown pony hugging a bigger blue pegasus. Both ponies were smiling, and written below were the words “I’m sorry mommy.”

Rainbow swallowed a lump in her throat. “I really messed up, didn’t I?”

Applejack shook her head. “Me too. We shouldn’t have been fightin’ like that in front of the kids… I dunno what I was thinkin’.”

“It was my fault. I just suck at this mom thing.” Rainbow sighed and sat in a chair.

“It’s been three days, Dash. Nopony can blame you,” Applejack said, offering a sympathetic look.

Rainbow looked at the picture again, at the happy mother and daughter. “Cider can.”

“Cider don’t blame ya, sugarcube.” Applejack smiled. “She’s a foal, she figures all grown-ups are crazy and get mad at goofy stuff. If there’s a ma out that didn’t yell at a foal over somethin’ foolish sometime…” She paused and considered. “Well, okay, I reckon there’s Fluttershy.”

Rainbow frowned.

“Dash… a few years ago, when Leaf was around Cider’s age, we took the kids to the Crystal Empire. I must’ve asked Leaf a million times if he brought his snow boots, and he said yeah every time. Well Cider cried darn near the whole way up, and me and you took turns walkin’ her up and down the train the whole ride while she wailed in our ears. We got there, and our nerves were shot, and Leaf wanted to play in the snow right away. And when I looked in his bag, he had three snow boots.”

Applejack chuckled. “Woo-ee, I just about bit that colt’s head off. I couldn’t have been madder if he’d freed all of Tartarus. I was ready to turn everypony around and get on that train and head on home. But you came through for me. You took Leaf and bought him some new boots, and kept him out all afternoon. I took Cider to the palace and got her laid down for a nap, and by the time you got back I had my head on straight. And we all had a fine time, I reckon Leaf don’t even remember now how mad I was just then…”

She walked over and nuzzled Rainbow’s cheek. “Point bein’, it happens to everypony. It don’t mean you ain’t cut out to be a mom. I know what kinda mom you can be. We just gotta work together.”

Rainbow tugged away. “That was after years of figuring stuff out. By the time I figure all that out again, the kids are gonna have moved out.”

Applejack frowned. Her ears drooped, and she walked back to the couch. “I reckon you ain’t gonna be just the same. I’m… startin’ to see that. But I reckon you can be good enough, if ya work at it. I know all that’s inside you, even if you ain’t figured how to show it yet.”

“You’re okay if everything’s not exactly the same?” Rainbow said, her ears perking.

“Yeah.” Applejack sighed. “Ya gotta play the hand you’re dealt, ya know?”

“When I was talking to Fleetfoot…” Rainbow hesitated, not sure she should even bring it up. If she couldn’t handle it, there was no point. But… maybe AJ would know better if it was something she could handle; she did know more about being a mom. Rainbow went on. “I asked her about joining the team again.”

“Oh.” Applejack looked shocked. “She… said ya could?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t make a decision.”

“I always said it’s your choice…” Applejack said slowly. “But ain’t this kinda sudden? It’s only been three days since your crash. We ain’t even talked to Twilight to see how she’s gettin’ on…”

“I’m trying to play with the hand I was dealt, like you said.” Rainbow shrugged. “I mean, I hope Twilight can fix it, but if she can’t I don’t wanna waste a bunch of time… I already lost a bunch.”

“I guess that’s true…” Applejack agreed.

Rainbow bit her lip and looked down at the picture in her hooves. “But, what about the kids? They come first. Are they gonna be okay if I’m not around as much? I’m already so bad at this mom thing, I don’t wanna mess them up more. But… maybe me not being around would be kinda good. Less time to mess them up, ya know?”

Applejack sat back and considered for a long time. “I think Cider’d be okay. She’d miss ya, but you can’t keep that girl down. Leaf… he’d understand, but he’d take it harder when you ain’t around. You’d have to make darn sure to spend time with him when ya can. Sky’s just a baby, you’ll miss a lot, but he’ll grow up knowin’ ya however ya work things out. And—” She stopped. Then she took a deep breath. “Well, I think everypony’ll get by okay.”

Rainbow nodded. “I’ll go talk to Twilight tomorrow, to see if there’s a chance of getting this fixed, and… I guess we’ll see after that, right?”

“Sure,” Applejack said, glancing at the album she’d been looking through, now sitting abandoned on the back of the couch.

A noise from the stairs distracted both ponies. Rainbow looked over to see a little brown freckled face peeking down.

“Mommy?” Cider asked.

Applejack frowned. “What’re you doin’ out of bed?”

“I wanted to see if Mommy came home,” Cider explained. “I wanted to make sure she got my picture.”

“Of course I did.” Rainbow looked at it again, then smiled at the filly as she got to her hooves. “Come on, I’ll take you back up to bed.”

Cider waited on the stairs until Rainbow got there and gave her a nudge. Rainbow followed her into the bedroom that used to belong to Applejack. The light inside was dim; there was a softly glowing nightlight and moonlight coming through the window. It looked more or less like Rainbow remembered, except that the bed was full of plush farm animals, and a small play stove was against the wall, with fake food and foal-sized dishes in a bushel next to it.

Hopping in the bed, Cider snuggled in among the animals, smiling up at Rainbow.

Rainbow sat by the edge of the bed and sighed. Then she looked down and said, “Look, Cider… I wanted to say… I’m sorry. I said some really dumb stuff, and I was mad about things I shouldn’t have been mad about.”

Cider just looked up at her with those huge green eyes. “I didn’t mean to make you mad, Mommy.”

“I’m not mad anymore, and nothing you did was wrong.” Rainbow paused. “Well, I mean, you shouldn’t drop your flight goggles off Cloudsdale, but you didn’t mean to do that, right?”

“No, it was an accident,” Cider said.

Rainbow smiled. “I know. And I know you’re really a smart little filly. Smarter than you let on. You knew I forgot that playing on clouds by yourself was against the rules, didn’t you?”

“Yes?” Cider said.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “That wasn’t fair. But I’m not mad about that either. Can I tell you a secret?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I woulda done the same thing.” Rainbow and Cider shared a smile. Then Rainbow went on. “So… we’re good now? You know I’m not mad?”

“Yup!” Cider chirped.

“Cool,” Rainbow said, relaxing. The kid was okay, that was all that mattered.

Rainbow stood to leave. As she made it to the door, Cider called softly, “I love you, Mommy.”

She stopped and turned around, looking at the little pony surrounded by all her toys. It was weird to realize that was meant for her, that the little filly over there loved her, probably more than anypony had ever loved her in her life. It was scary, she still didn’t think she could live up to that. But… it was also really, really awesome.

Rainbow walked over and nuzzled the filly’s cheek, and whispered, “I love you too, Cider.”

She left the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Then she went and got the picture Cider drew, and took it upstairs to the drawer that held all the other pictures and clippings and her Wonderbolts flight suit. All of the other pictures in the drawer were still just stuff, but as she laid the drawing of her and Cider in there, it was hooves down the most important thing there.

Looking Forward

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After breakfast the next day, Rainbow headed into Ponyville to talk to Twilight.

Of course, it hadn’t exactly been that easy. Leaf and Cider had to get ready for school, which involved searching for Leaf’s homework in the piles of paper and notebooks in his bedroom, and checking Cider’s bags every fifteen minutes to make sure her flight goggles didn’t “somehow” slip in there after Rainbow and AJ told her they were not leaving the house until the day of flight camp. Rainbow had to get Sky down from the ceiling half a dozen times, but at least Applejack agreed to take him for the morning, as long as Rainbow swore to every princess in Equestria that she’d be back by lunchtime so that AJ could make up for the past day and a half of working with a baby on her side.

But after that, Rainbow headed into Ponyville to talk to Twilight.

Spike let her into the castle. He hadn’t been around on her previous visit, and fifteen years made a noticeable difference in a young dragon. She couldn’t help but stare; he was taller than her now, and had a much longer snout, and had overall gone from “baby” dragon to “hey, Spike’s a freaking dragon” dragon.

“Something on my scales?” he asked with a grin that revealed some very dragon-like teeth as he led her toward the library.

Rainbow blinked. “Uh… no. You look… normal! Totally normal, like you always do, since you got huge.”

Spike laughed. “I know what’s going on with you, Dash. And so does everypony else, if that’s the best you can do.”

“I’m usually better.” She shook her head. “Everypony else didn’t get five feet taller and grow teeth as long as my feathers.”

“Well, I need them.” Spike shrugged. “Ponies have tough skin.”

Rainbow stopped, her eyes wide.

Spike just looked at her for a moment before he doubled over laughing. “I can’t believe you fell for that! I’ve been dying to try it since Twilight told me…” He calmed himself. “I still eat gems. Twilight says I’m the Crystal Empire’s biggest trade partner.”

“In more ways than one, huh?” Rainbow looked up at him and chuckled.

He laughed and opened the door to the library. “If Twilight sends you back, better remember to be nice to me, huh?”

She grinned and gave him a nudge as she went in. “You’re getting some really nice birthday presents from me from now on.”

“Good luck!” he called, as he headed back down the hall to whatever dragon thing he was doing. Probably reading comic books.

In the library, Twilight was sitting at her desk when Rainbow entered.

“Heya, Twi. How’s it going?” Rainbow asked, flying over to see what Twilight was working on now.

Twilight answered with a groan, and banged her face against the desk.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, frowning. “That good, huh?”

Shaking her head, Twilight turned away from the desk. She looked exhausted. “I’ve ruled out magical amnesia. According to my calculations, the chances of you taking a significant amount of brain damage and then the wild magic being able to perfectly reconstruct your brain from fifteen years ago without any reference but stored memories are so tiny that they’re barely worth mentioning. That leaves time travel, which fits with AJ’s observation of your first date, so that’s where I’m focusing. But…” She trailed off, shaking her head again.

“You can’t fix it?” Rainbow asked, feeling her hopes sinking at the exact rate her ears started to droop.

“I haven’t even gotten there. I’m still trying to figure out if I should fix it!” Twilight rolled her eyes and motioned sharply to the desk.

Rainbow blinked. “Uh… I can help with that one. Yes. You should fix it.”

“It’s not that simple…” Twilight sighed.

“Why not?” Rainbow asked, giving Twilight a suspicious look. On the one hoof, it was definitely that simple. On the other hoof, she started preparing herself, because when Twilight Sparkle said something wasn’t that simple, it probably involved theories named after dead unicorns and math that didn’t even use numbers.

Twilight took a deep breath. “There are two kinds of time travel that we currently know of. Closed-loop is the most common; it’s the kind of spell Star Swirl the Bearded originally designed. If you go forward or backward in time, all of the events that would result in the futuremost point you see are locked in. Anything you tell yourself or do to prevent that future is not just useless toward preventing it, you’re required to do it in order to bring about that future. You make the choices, but everything you would do is already calculated by destiny the same way your cutie mark is.

“Open-loop is where something has broken time. In that case, you can change things in the past, but the futures aren’t stable. This can cause all sorts of nasty problems and paradoxes…

“If your mind is in an open loop… well, it would almost have to have been switched with the older you, because somepony has lived your life, in your body, to this point. But that pony wasn’t you, so sending you back could be disastrous. You could do things differently, and your children might never be born, or anything we’ve done since you left could be undone, or turn out differently. I… I don’t know if it’s fair to risk Leaf’s life to give you back fifteen years. On the other hoof, it should be your choice to live whatever life you want, and if that doesn’t end up including Leaf, or it ends up turning Equestria into a barren wasteland… it’s only fair that you got to make your own choices.

“Not to mention that if we don’t send you back, that would mean a part of you is somehow in a fifteen-year loop. The future, or present for us, could keep shifting as she does different things each time, and eventually living the same fifteen years could turn a pony pretty crazy, right?”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide. She was catching about five words of every sentence, but they were pretty awful words.

Twilight saw her face and nodded in agreement. “Luckily, there’s magic we can use to determine if you’re in an open loop. I saw it when Starlight Glimmer sent me into an open loop; Zecora used it to figure out that I was in the wrong future. If you’re in an open loop, your mind is in the wrong future because you weren’t there to make the choices that led you here.”

“Uh… good?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, sort of. Zecora is traveling in the southern jungles right now, so it’s going to take some time to find the recipe for the potion.” Twilight raised her eyebrows. “For the record, it’ll also tell me if you’re a changeling, so if there’s anything you want to let me know…”

Rainbow furrowed her brow. “Would it matter if I was?”

Twilight snorted. “At this point, I’d prefer it. That would be a much easier ethical issue than this time-travel nonsense.” She frowned as she went on. “If it’s a closed loop, it’s less complicated, but there are still issues. Whatever will happen is what’s supposed to happen. I just don’t know what that is, or if it even involves me. And, more importantly, there’s what AJ was worried about the other day: in a closed loop, we know that everything that happens to bring you to this point will be okay, but we don’t know what happens after. And we don’t know what happened to the version of you that was here before, or if there’s any way to get it back.” She took a deep breath and looked at Rainbow with big, pitiful eyes. “In this instance, there’s a really good chance that whatever sends you back to the past… kills you here. Am I supposed to be a part of that? I mean, how can I look for an answer that might mean doing that to you, not to mention AJ and your kids and our friends…?”

“I dunno…” Rainbow said in a daze.

Twilight frowned and shook her head. “The more I think about this, the worse it gets.”

“Stop thinking!” Rainbow shouted urgently, startling both herself and Twilight.

Twilight blinked a few times and gathered herself. “Well that brings us back to the start, doesn’t it? Should I even be doing this?”

“I don’t know!” Rainbow rubbed her face with a hoof. Then she sighed. “Maybe you shouldn’t. Maybe I deserve this.”

“Rainbow, it was an accident,” Twilight said gently. “You haven’t done anything—”

“I crashed because I was trying to speed up the zap apples so AJ would be free to go out with me sooner!” The words tumbled out of Rainbow’s mouth.

Twilight stared at her. “…What?”

Rainbow hovered in the air. “That morning, fifteen years ago, AJ told me she needed to postpone our date, because of the zap apple harvest. So, I decided to speed things up. I went into the Everfree Forest, and… I gave the weather a little kick—”

“A little kick?” Twilight said with a flat expression.

“I…” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. “I grabbed the winds and stuck a tornado in the center of the storm. I was just trying to speed it up! But… that’s why the sign hit the farm like it did, and that’s why I crashed, and… that’s why I’m here, and why the zap apple harvest broke.”

Twilight nodded. “Well, that does explain a few things. It also opens up a few more questions. Like… what were you thinking?!”

Rainbow looked down, biting her lip. She dared a glance at Twilight. “That the sooner AJ and I went out, the sooner I’d get to have sex with her?”

Twilight took several deep breaths until she seemed calm. “Okay. You were young, and a lot dumber back then.”

“In my mind, that was four days ago,” Rainbow pointed out.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You know, I don’t think I need to correct that. Especially since you didn’t think this was important to mention when I asked you for all of the details from before your crash.”

“I couldn’t tell you in front of AJ!” Rainbow protested. “She would’ve killed me!”

“She’s not actually going to kill you, but she’s probably going to be really mad. But that’s not going to get better when she finds out her wife has been lying to her!” Twilight waved a hoof in exasperation.

“That’s why you need to fix this before I have to tell her!” Rainbow said, landing in front of Twilight.

“Okay…” Twilight took a breath. “This does give me new information to work with, but it doesn’t really change any of the ethical problems.”

Rainbow considered that. “Well, you should do that magic test, right? To find out if it’s an open or shut case or whatever.”

“Open or closed loop,” Twilight corrected. “That’s true.”

Rainbow went on. “Then, if it’s a closed thing, it won’t really matter, right? ’Cause if I’m supposed to go back, I’m going back no matter what anypony does, and if you’re not the one who’s supposed to send me back, it’s not going to work.”

“Good point…” Twilight nodded. “The trick with a closed loop is just doing whatever you would do. And I feel like it’s reasonable that I would at least try to find a way to send you back, with the results of that coming out however they’re supposed to,” she said as her magic shuffled the notes on her desk.

“And… if I’m supposed to go back, I have to, right? Even if it means I don’t know if future me will make it back, that’s how I end up married to AJ and having the kids and everything.” Rainbow put on her most innocent expression to counter the skepticism on Twilight’s face when she glanced over.

“Yeah…” Twilight frowned and thought for a moment. Then she nodded. “Okay. Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to work on getting you back. If I figure out how, and if it’s a closed loop, then obviously that’s what’s supposed to happen. But if it’s an open loop… I’m going to destroy my work. I just can’t risk it, Rainbow. I’ve seen too many ways the future can become a disaster when you’re dealing with an open loop. Maybe this one isn’t the best for you, but it’s good for too many other ponies to change it unless something goes wrong. So you’ll just have to get by.”

Rainbow swallowed. “Okay. That’s fair. And… maybe it won’t be that bad. I was talking to AJ about joining the Wonderbolts again.”

Twilight looked at her for a moment, her brow furrowed. “How is AJ doing?”

Rainbow blinked. “AJ? She’s good. I mean, it’s hard for her ’cause I keep messing up with the kids, but she’s been pretty cool about that.”

“What about between you guys? Do you keep messing up there, too?” Twilight looked over the notes on her desk and then casually glanced back at Rainbow.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Well, to be honest… there’s not much between us. It’s really weird… we’re supposed to be married, but we’re not, like, in love.”

Twilight frowned again, but she nodded. “Have you talked about it?”

“Not really?” Rainbow shrugged. “I mean, it’s not going to matter if I go back, right?”

“Rainbow…” Twilight shook her head. “You have to talk to her. I’ve known AJ longer than you have, but you know her too. If something is really bothering her, she’s not going to seem scared or sad, and she’s not going to come out and tell you because she thinks it would be putting a burden on you. She’ll just let it hurt her.”

Rainbow bit her lip. Twi was kinda right about how AJ tended to act, but… “Look, I don’t really know what to say. If she is hurting, nothing I can say will make it better. And she seems fine, so… why open up that can of worms? Maybe it’s better if we just act like it’s not an issue.”

Twilight thought for a moment. “Maybe I’ll talk to her…”

“If you want.” Rainbow gave a shrug.

Twilight just sighed in response.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Twilight shook her head, and then looked at Rainbow like it was definitely something. “Nothing, Rainbow, just… try to take care of her? She needs it more than you think she does.”

“I’m totally taking care of her. In fact, this afternoon I’m taking Sky so she can get the zap apple harvest set up!” Rainbow pointed out.

“That’s not really what I’m talking about,” Twilight said, shooting Rainbow a look.

“Well, that’s what she needs. You know how she is about getting her work done.” Rainbow couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew exactly what Twilight was talking about, and this wasn’t it. “I’ve… gotta go do that now. And you really should get back to work. Thanks again for the help!”

“You’re welcome,” Twilight answered, but the worried look didn’t leave her face. “You know I’ll do my best.”

Rainbow smiled. “I know you will. Things will be back to normal in no time. Later!”

She left the castle slightly faster than she normally would have, and once outside she took to the sky with a rainbow trail behind her. She still had time before she had to be at home, but she needed to clear her mind before she saw AJ. Otherwise she’d remember what Twilight had said.

• • •

Rainbow wasn’t sure how to deal with AJ, but for once the busy life of a family worked in her favor. That afternoon, while Applejack worked, Rainbow and Sky took Tank out and had a great time chasing the tortoise around the barnyard. Sky thought it was the funniest thing in the world when Tank pulled his head in and stuck it out, and Rainbow had to admit that watching Sky crack up at it every single time was kinda cute.

Leaf and Cider came home, and there were snacks, then homework and playtime. They decided to make dinner, a real one, to help AJ out after a long day. Rainbow wasn’t exactly awesome at cooking, but she could make spaghetti, and between her, Leaf, Cider, and a recipe book they managed to put together a pretty good tomato sauce. When Applejack got home she had a warm dinner waiting, and that put her in a good mood.

As things wound down for the evening, Rainbow used her Daring Do book as a shield when the kids didn’t need anything, and after they went to bed Applejack settled in with some kind of ledger and only spoke up to note that flight goggles cost too darn much for being a couple pieces of plastic and a strip of leather. Rainbow pointed out that ponies didn’t usually need to buy them twice a week.

The next day was more of the same, until Rainbow saw Twilight headed into the orchard around lunchtime.

Rainbow knew Twilight was going to talk to Applejack; she’d said yesterday that she was going to. She was tempted to spy on them, but Sky was taking a nap, so Rainbow was stuck in the house until he woke up.

She didn’t really know why Twilight had to talk to Applejack anyway; there was nothing to talk about. Applejack wouldn’t want Rainbow to try to really be married to her, like she was trying to be a mom to the kids. That was totally different. And Rainbow hadn’t even been pushy about having sex, since she knew that wasn’t really what AJ wanted.

Twilight had asked Rainbow to take care of AJ, but AJ didn’t need taking care of. She totally had it together, work was good, the kids were good… Okay, maybe she would rather have Rainbow’s older self around, but there was nothing they could do about that.

Besides, Rainbow was the one who had to deal with a whole life she hadn’t asked for. AJ had one little thing change, while Rainbow had to get used to everything being different, and she was totally fine. She didn’t need taking care of, so AJ shouldn’t either.

By the time Rainbow decided that, the baby woke up, and an afternoon of foal stuff kicked off.

• • •

That evening, while AJ was putting Sky to bed, Cider and Leaf settled down and Rainbow had a chance to slip up to the room she shared with AJ. She’d been wanting to do this since she crashed, but having foals around took up a lot of time.

She opened the bottom drawer of the dresser, and pulled out the Wonderbolts flight suit. Laying it on the bed, she carefully unfolded it, smoothing the creases. Then she unzipped it reverently and draped it over her back, sliding her limbs into the sleeves and through the slits. Finally she zipped it back up and stretched.

A mirror hung over the dresser, and she flew over to it, watching herself hover. She looked perfect. She had flown with the team a few times as a reserve, but this… this was her suit. This was what Rainbow Dash the Wonderbolt had actually looked like.

She was turning to see every angle when she heard a voice from the doorway.

“Dash, do you know where Leaf’s—” Applejack stopped, staring at her. Finally she leaned against the doorframe. “You always did look good in that.”

“Thanks.” Rainbow gave a smile over her shoulder. “Ya know, you don’t look bad yourself…”

“Thanks,” Applejack replied, still watching her.

“I… uh… saw you talking to Twilight,” Rainbow said, returning her focus to the mirror. “What’d she have to say?”

Applejack shrugged. “She just wanted to know how things were gettin’ on.”

“What’d you tell her?” Rainbow asked, watching Applejack’s reflection.

A brief frown crossed Applejack’s face before she sighed and shook her head. “I told her I dunno. I ain’t gonna lie to Twilight.”

“Makes sense.” Rainbow nodded.

“Yup.” Applejack hesitated, then stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She started softly, “Dash…”

“I need to lose some weight,” Rainbow said quickly, looking back at her hindquarters. “This thing is tight across the flank.”

Applejack blinked. Then she smiled and followed Rainbow’s eyes. “Can’t say I mind.”

There was something in AJ’s voice that made Rainbow shiver in a really nice way. She looked at Applejack again and smirked. “I guess it depends on if I want to wear the suit for flying or for… other stuff.”

Applejack raised her eyebrows as she slowly walked toward her. “You can guess my vote.”

Rainbow landed in front of Applejack. She lowered her eyelids, the smirk still on her face. “You’re just trying to distract me from the Wonderbolts with sex.”

“I was not…” Applejack grinned and stepped even closer, their muzzles almost touching. “But, you reckon that’d work?”

“You’d have to try it and find out.” Rainbow couldn’t help but notice how hot the flight suit was getting as she felt AJ’s breath on her muzzle.

But that was nothing compared to the wave of heat when Applejack suddenly planted a hard, passionate kiss on her lips. Her heart started beating faster as her mouth parted and pressed in, their lips and tongues exploring each other.

They parted just slightly, and Rainbow could only whisper, “…Wow.”

“Oh, Dash…” Applejack breathed, kissing over the flight suit up toward Rainbow’s ear. With a nibble on the ear she whispered, almost pleading, “Dash… just say you love me…”

That snapped Rainbow out of it. She stepped back quickly, her eyes wide. “I… uh…”

Applejack stood almost frozen, her raised chin giving her posture a hint of pride. “Do you wanna love me?”

Rainbow bit her lip and glanced around nervously. She took a deep breath and tried to explain. “I… want to have sex with you. I mean, if you feel like it, I can totally take care of that for you.”

“I’m sorry,” Applejack said softly. Her ears drooped, and she slowly hung her head before turning away. “I shouldn’t’ve… Sorry.”

“AJ, wait,” Rainbow called, and Applejack looked over her shoulder. “I mean, it was okay to ask. I’m not mad. Are you?”

Applejack sighed and shook her head. “Nope.” She continued out the door.

Rainbow shook her head, then caught sight of herself in the mirror again. She felt different, seeing herself in the flight suit. She always associated it with ponies who were in charge, in control, at the top of their game. The best of the best. But right now, she didn’t feel like the best of the best. She felt kind of crummy, even though she knew it wasn’t her fault. She couldn’t make herself feel stuff she didn’t.

And what kind of question was whether she wanted to love AJ? Sure, AJ was hot, but love wasn’t something ponies wanted, it just happened sometimes. A pony wanted sex, and sometimes they had to deal with falling in love. At least, that’s how Rainbow assumed that it worked, judging from movies and stuff.

She heard hoofsteps behind her. “Look, I totally didn’t mean—oh, hey.” She was surprised when she looked up to see Leaf standing there, his brow furrowed.

“What are you doing wearing that?” he asked.

She smiled. “Just seeing if it still fits.”

Leaf cocked his head. “Why?”

Rainbow paused for a moment, trying to decide what to say. “Sit down for a minute.”

She motioned to the bed. Leaf walked over and hopped up on it, and Rainbow stood in front of him.

“Leaf, how would you feel if… I wanted to be a Wonderbolt again? I mean, that would be pretty cool, huh?” She gave a hopeful smile.

He raised his eyebrows. “Well, yeah… but… that’s a lot of work.”

Rainbow’s face fell slightly. “Yeah, but I’ll still be around. And you probably won’t even notice, you’ll have your cutie mark soon, and you’ll be working with other ponies…” She grinned again. “Or maybe even with me and the team!”

“That’s not what I meant.” Leaf shook his head while he thought. “I meant… you’d give the ’Bolts one hundred percent. You’d be the best. That’s what it means to be a Wonderbolt.”

“Totally.” Rainbow gave the serious expression that deserved as she nodded, but she almost smiled at the pang of pride she felt. She’d raised her son right.

Leaf nodded. “But… you give us one hundred percent. You’re the best mom in Equestria.”

Rainbow blinked, not sure she was ready for the title of “best mom in Equestria” quite yet. Another week or two, maybe. But that was close enough. “Uh… yeah.”

“Can you do that?” Leaf asked.

Rainbow smiled. “Do you even know who you’re talking to?”

Leaf just stared at her, quirking an eyebrow. “Two hundred percent is a lot, Mom.”

“Well I’ve got it!” Rainbow insisted with maybe a little too much force.

It barely seemed to register to Leaf. He just thought about it, frowning slightly. Then he looked her in the eye. “I just know that you want to be the best you can be, just like I do. I’d never go to the ’Bolts unless I knew what I could give them was awesome, was… was worthy of being a Wonderbolt.” He gave Rainbow a half-smile. “I know you wouldn’t, either.”

Rainbow looked at the smiling colt while an uncomfortable feeling grew in the back of her mind. She hated being told she couldn’t do something; that was just a chance to prove somepony wrong. But what was on his face and in his words was pure respect for her. She couldn’t prove that wrong. She couldn’t let that be wrong.

“You know it, Leaf.” She smiled back at him. “I’m just thinking about it.”

Leaf nodded and hopped off the bed. He started to the door, then paused and looked over his shoulder. “You really do look awesome in that flight suit, Mom.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow said, as he turned and walked away.

She glanced at herself in the mirror again. Leaf was right, she did look awesome. But she didn’t feel awesome anymore.

She unzipped the flight suit and took it off, folding it neatly. Looking down at it on the bed, she smoothed out the wrinkles so it would look just as good the next time she wore it, and carefully placed it back in the drawer.

Time's Up

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“We gotta talk,” Applejack said.

It had been a day and a half since their kiss, and everything had been what Rainbow was coming to consider normal: spilled drinks and rushing the foals out the door, a day of chasing after Sky, and an evening of catching up with Daring Do while the foals played.

The only thing different had been Applejack. Since the other night, she’d been quiet. Not really angry—at least she kept insisting she wasn’t when Rainbow asked her repeatedly—but more lost in thought. Rainbow wasn’t about to ask what she was thinking; it was probably about apples or something.

Rainbow looked up from the book she was reading while Sky napped and noticed the serious expression on AJ’s face. She… probably hadn’t been thinking about apples.

“O-kay,” Rainbow said slowly, setting down her book. “Shoot.”

Applejack took a breath and looked Rainbow in the eye. “First off… I owe ya an apology for the other night. I was a darn fool, puttin’ you on the spot like that. I shoulda known how ya felt before you answered me, and you got every right to feel that way. I ain’t gonna try nothin’ like that again, you got my word.”

Rainbow shrugged, still a little nervous about whatever was coming next. “It’s okay. I mean… it was weird, but we’re cool.”

“Good. I want us to still be friends, and we gotta work together for the kids.” A frown pushed at the corners of AJ’s mouth, and she looked down. “Now, the second thing is… I think you oughta think about gettin’ your own place.”

Rainbow blinked. She lived here. She was just getting used to it. She had to take care of the kids. It wasn’t like she snored or anything…

Applejack glanced up and went on. “I ain’t kickin’ you out or nothin’, you can stay as long as ya want. I can sleep downstairs. And I’ll give ya some bits if ya want, until you get back on your hooves. But Twilight said she didn’t know how long this’d go on, or… or if it’ll ever get fixed. So… I reckon we oughta start thinkin’ how it’s gonna work. And it ain’t right for us to pretend to be married when… we ain’t.”

Rainbow frowned. “We aren’t really pretending to be married… we’re just kind of not correcting ponies who think we are.”

“We’re sleepin’ in the same bed, and sittin’ together every night, and raisin’ foals side by side,” Applejack pointed out.

“That doesn’t mean anything.” Rainbow shrugged.

“It means somethin’ to me,” Applejack said quickly and firmly. She paused and shook her head. “There’s no reason for it to mean anythin’ to you. I know it. But… we were married eleven years, and that means somethin’ to me.”

“Okay,” Rainbow agreed, mostly to buy time. She felt like she was on a ledge, halfway down a cliff, that was crumbling beneath her. She’d already fallen into this weird new place, and now she was falling again. Rainbow Dash didn’t like falling, that’s why Celestia gave her wings. “I mean, I won’t be around to help with breakfast and stuff…”

“Well… you’re talkin’ about joinin’ the Wonderbolts anyhow.” Applejack sighed. “I reckon a lot’s gonna change.”

“Not, like, right away!” Rainbow protested. “And I still haven’t decided…”

Applejack shrugged. “That’s up to you. I just know…” She paused, then pushed herself on. “I need ya to not be here.”

“But—”

“Dash,” Applejack said sharply. Then she caught herself and gave Rainbow a sympathetic look. “I’ll do everythin’ in my power to make things right with you, but it’s gotta be right for me, too.”

Rainbow stared at her. That was… kinda right. Well, actually, totally right. AJ sometimes needed stuff, too. She just couldn’t understand why she needed this. But… asking about it seemed to be making her upset.

“Okay… I guess I can get a cloud house or something—”

“Leaf,” Applejack corrected her. “You’re gonna want a place for him to stay.”

“Right.” Rainbow nodded. “An apartment in town, then. It… kinda sucks. I was just getting used to stuff.”

“You’ll settle in.” Applejack gave her a sad smile. “You just start lookin’ to get set up, and I’ll work with you on gettin’ comfortable. If you don’t want the kids around as much at first, or you want ’em there a bunch to get used to it, we can work it out.”

Rainbow frowned. “The kids aren’t gonna like it. Do you think they’ll be okay?”

Applejack’s face fell, and she bit her lip. For a moment hesitation filled her face, but finally she shook her head. “They’ll have to be. We’ll show ’em we both still love ’em, and we’re always there for them, and for each other. I never wanted somethin’ like this to happen to them, but I reckon nopony plans on somethin’ like this. It ain’t the worst it could be.”

“There’s gotta be something we can do,” Rainbow insisted, setting her face in a determined line. Leaving when she didn’t want to was one thing, but the kids…

“There ain’t,” Applejack said plainly. Then she swallowed and looked down. “You don’t love me, and you don’t wanna love me.”

Rainbow hesitated just a second. “I mean, maybe I could—”

Applejack’s head snapped up, her eyes flashing. “Don’t you dare lie to me, it ain’t what you want.”

Rainbow froze as their eyes locked for an uncomfortably long time. Lying was out, totally out, because those green eyes promised that AJ would either pluck out every one of her feathers or… cry. That was in there, too, and that was the one that really scared Rainbow.

She broke their stare, looking over at the wall. “What does that even mean, ‘what I want’? Love is a feeling, you don’t want feelings, they just happen to you.”

“Love’s a feelin’, but a marriage ain’t.” Applejack sighed. “Sometimes, you go through rough patches, and… well, maybe you don’t think what you’re feelin’s love, really. But you know how things can be, and that’s what you want, so you work at it. We done that before, we had our blows, but we both knew that we wanted the same things, so we worked to make it right.”

Rainbow looked back at AJ. She was staring into the distance, but her eyes caught Rainbow’s, even more sad now that the anger was washed away.

Applejack went on. “You don’t wanna work for it, and I can’t blame ya. You don’t even have a clue what you’d be workin’ for. And… I can’t let you work for somethin’ you might not even want. I’d never take advantage of you like that.”

Rainbow just nodded. “What if the future me comes back? Am I gonna be pissed that I messed everything up?”

“I reckon she’d understand.” Applejack swallowed. “And she could come right back home. Nopony’d be happier than me.”

“If that happens, it’ll mean we’re in a closed thingy.” Rainbow frowned, considering.

“Huh?” Applejack tilted her head.

“A time thingy, like Twilight said.” Rainbow waved a hoof. “It means everything will happen the same. I’ll fall in love with you anyway when I go back.”

“I don’t know nothin’ about that, but…” Applejack shook her head sadly. “I’d be a lucky mare.”

Rainbow rubbed her face with her hoof. Everything was wrong, somehow. Applejack couldn’t be like this; Rainbow needed her. Since she got here, AJ had been the pony who helped her understand everything. And now she was telling her she had to leave, and she seemed like she might cry. Applejack didn’t cry. And she didn’t let Rainbow down.

They took care of each other, but Applejack didn’t need taking care of, because Applejack was okay.

Rainbow blinked, and looked up at Applejack. “Um… are you okay?”

Applejack raised her eyebrows. “I lost my wife, Dash. No. I ain’t okay.”

“That… really sucks,” Rainbow said, surprised. She knew that, obviously, but… of course AJ wasn’t okay with it. She knew things were weird between them, but they were weird for her. For AJ, they were weird and really, really awful.

“It ain’t your fault.” Applejack sighed. “It’s nopony’s fault.”

Rainbow felt her ears start to droop. It was kind of her fault. But there was no way she could ever tell AJ that now, so she said softly, “Yeah, but it still sucks.”

“The kids are healthy, and you’re still there for ’em. And maybe she’ll come back to me, someday.” She gave half of a shrug. “Just gotta get by, ya know?”

“Yeah, but that sucks.” Rainbow frowned. “Who wants to just get by?”

“It ain’t so bad. It’s just what a pony does.” Applejack looked up at the ceiling. “This here, this was the hard part. Well, this and tellin’ the kids.”

“I should tell them. You don’t have to,” Rainbow said quickly. It would hurt to see them sad… now that she thought about it, she really didn’t want to do it. But AJ totally shouldn’t have to do it, it wasn’t AJ’s fault.

Applejack shook her head. “It’s gotta be both of us. We gotta show ’em we’re both okay.”

“But you’re not okay,” Rainbow pointed out.

“I can be, for y’all,” Applejack said, taking a deep breath. She managed a small smile.

Seeing her smile, Rainbow realized that AJ had been okay for them all week, even when it was just her and Rainbow. But she hadn’t been okay for herself. For a moment, Rainbow was almost in awe. How could a pony just do that and not even say anything? At the same time, even if she didn’t realize how bad it was, a twisting in Rainbow’s heart reminded her that she should have noticed something. She was her friend, and she was supposed to take care of her.

But there was nothing she could do to help, except leave.

Rainbow took a breath. “So… how do we tell them?”

Applejack looked out the window at the orchard. “I’m just about done settin’ up for harvest, now it’s just waitin’ on the signs. I was thinkin’ we could spend some time together tomorrow, the whole bunch of us, so long as the zap apples don’t come. That way the kids’ll see that we really are still friends, it ain’t just a bunch of hooey to make ’em feel better. Then we can tell ’em after dinner.”

“That sounds like fun,” Rainbow said. Then she felt a lump growing in her throat as she added, “I mean, except for the last part. But… I like it when we’re all together.”

“Me too.” Applejack sighed and nodded, then she rose to her hooves. “Anyhow, I gotta wrap things up and let Mac know I ain’t gonna be around tomorrow.”

“Okay. I’ll see you at dinner.” Rainbow watched her walk out. She sat for a few moments, not sure what to do. Her book was still laying there, but finding out if Daring managed to save the world this time seemed kind of pointless right now. She obviously did, or else somepony would have mentioned it. However she did it, Rainbow didn’t feel like reading about it right now.

She decided to look around for Tank. They could play with Sky later, and for now, until Sky woke up, she could rub his shell. He liked that. He’d smile at her, and she’d know that he was totally okay.

She needed to make somepony feel okay.

• • •

The next morning, breakfast was happening loudly around Rainbow, but she barely noticed. She was watching Applejack.

Applejack was working fast, getting the last of the pancakes cooked at almost the same time she was pouring juice and answering a knock-knock joke. She moved from one thing to the next like a pony in a show, who always knew her next step and next line. She was like this every morning, and every dinner, and she almost always had a smile on her face just like she did now.

Even though she wasn’t okay.

Rainbow tried to picture what breakfast would be like at her house. She could make eggs. They were pretty good eggs, but she knew from experience that if she got distracted, like if she was reading a Daring Do book, they usually ended up burned. She hoped the kids liked the little black bits. They’d probably never had them before, since AJ probably made perfect eggs.

Maybe she could get Applejack to teach her how to cook something. AJ would probably be happy to help. She’d want the kids and Rainbow to have a good breakfast. Heck, when she thought of it she’d probably send things over sometimes to make sure Rainbow was eating right. AJ was the kind of pony who thought of things like that.

Even when she wasn’t okay.

While she was thinking, she realized that most of the movement around the table had stopped. The older kids were both looking at her.

Rainbow blinked. Applejack’s face looked like she’d asked her something.

“Uh… sure,” Rainbow answered.

Applejack, Leaf, and Cider all dissolved into laughter.

“Mama asked if you wanted her to put your pancakes on your head!” Cider explained through her giggles.

“After I asked three times how many ya wanted,” Applejack said with a smile.

“Oh.” Rainbow shook her head. “Uh, four is good.”

“You okay, Mom?” Leaf asked, loading his plate with pancakes.

“Sure…” Rainbow glanced at Applejack, who was carrying the last stack of pancakes to the table with a smile.

“Say, kids,” Applejack said as she sat down. “How about after breakfast we all head down to the swimmin’ hole?”

Leaf and Cider looked up right away, and smiles spread across their faces.

“You don’t have to work today?” Leaf asked.

Applejack shook her head as she cut up a pancake for Sky. “We’re all set up. Unless both signs hit today, I’m free as a bird.”

Leaf grinned. “Cool!”

“Yay!” Cider bounced in her seat. “I’m gonna jump in from so high up, you won’t even believe it!”

“Mommy’s gonna set a cloud as high as you can go,” Applejack pointed out, fixing a plate for herself.

Cider turned to Rainbow. “Set it really high, Mommy. I’m gonna be an aquapony like Great-Granny Smith.”

“Mom, will you pull me on water skis?” Leaf asked.

Rainbow couldn’t help grinning. This was sounding like more fun all the time. “You bet!”

“Will you give me a bump up, Mama?” Cider asked AJ.

“Oh, me too!” Leaf chimed in.

“Sure thing.” Applejack smiled.

“Can we play Clover Clever?” Leaf asked. “We’d all need to play, it wouldn’t be as fun with just three of us.”

“I reckon we’ll see… maybe when Sky takes his nap.”

Cider leaned over to Leaf and said in a loud whisper, “Mama’s just afraid she’ll never be able to catch Mommy.”

Rainbow burst out laughing, partially at the innocent look on Cider’s face and partially at the shocked look on AJ’s.

“I am not afraid I can’t catch your Mommy,” Applejack said, pulling herself up straight. “First of all, even if I couldn’t it wouldn’t matter as long as everypony’s havin’ fun and playin’ fair. Right, Rainbow Dash?”

“Sure, if you’re only gonna tag the foals.” Rainbow smirked.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “And second, nopony could miss your Mommy, even with their eyes closed. She flaps around like a duck takin’ off.”

“Hey! I’m a master of stealth!” Rainbow protested.

Applejack raised an eyebrow and said to Leaf and Cider, “Ya know, one time she tried to dress up like a ninja and forgot to pull her tail in.”

Rainbow waved a hoof. “Nopony was supposed to see me!”

Leaf snickered. “So you decided to wave a rainbow behind you?”

“Okay, maybe that wasn’t my best-thought-out plan.” Rainbow crossed her hooves and leaned back in her chair.

“Actually, I reckon it mighta been…” Applejack calmly took a sip of coffee.

Rainbow leaned over the table and pointed at AJ. “That’s it. You’re going down, cowpony.”

“Gonna have to find me first.” Applejack smirked, and their eyes locked. For a moment it was almost like the kids weren’t even there, just the two of them ready to go head to head, just like it should be.

“Yay! We’re gonna play Clover Clever!” Cider cheered. Rainbow gave her a sidelong look, but the filly just smiled like a little angel.

Applejack smiled and shook her head. “Anyhow, everypony eat up and let’s get goin’.”

• • •

It was after lunch when Rainbow gave each of the older kids a turn on waterskis, then left them to play as she came up onto the shore where AJ was sitting with Sky.

“Hey guys. How’s my little buddy?” She leaned down to where Sky was steadily taking shovels full of sand and dumping them on the blanket and Applejack’s rear hoof. He looked at Rainbow for a moment, then went back to his task.

“I reckon he’s tryin’ to bury me, real slow.” Applejack chuckled, stretched out on the blanket, her blonde mane and tail untied and spread out to dry in the sun.

“Can’t say the kid isn’t ambitious,” Rainbow said, sitting down in a beach chair. She put on her sunglasses, which made it easier to see the kids in the water, and more importantly let her stare at AJ as much as she wanted.

Applejack looked hot, no doubt about that. Her coat was dry and shining in the sun, and her mane and tail were still a little damp, just enough to give her a sporty look that hinted at all sorts of fun physical activities.

As Rainbow looked closer, she noticed that Applejack seemed totally relaxed, except for her face. She was looking between Sky and the older foals, but every now and then her lips pursed for no reason and her whole face grew tense. It made Rainbow tense too; she wished AJ wouldn’t look like that.

“The kids are great swimmers,” Rainbow said, mostly to distract AJ as she started to get that look again.

Applejack turned to her and smiled. “Course they are. You don’t think me and you would let ’em sit around the house any time we could be out havin’ fun, do ya?”

“I don’t know, Leaf seems to like his notebook a lot.” Rainbow smirked. “I figured it was too much time around Twilight.”

“He is right smart.” She nodded and looked back out at where he was sneaking up on Cider under the water. “I know Twi and Cheerilee helped him some with the math stuff he needs for those flyin’ tricks. But Apple Bloom was always smart that way too, it’s no excuse for a foal not to get plenty of exercise.”

Leaf popped out of the water and the foals disappeared for a moment in an explosion of splashes.

Rainbow considered the kid. “The flying tricks have gotta be his cutie mark, right? I mean, he’s too good at it.”

Applejack smiled. “That’s what ya tell me. I reckon if he’d ever show ’em to anypony, he’d realize it’s the truth and not just his mom talkin’.”

“Yeah.” Rainbow nodded. “What’s with that?”

“Foals are funny.” Applejack gave a happy sigh. “Ya try to teach ’em, and they see you and learn how to be, but then it all comes out how you didn’t expect. I reckon we both tried to tell ’em how if they tried their hardest, they could be amazin’. But Leaf takes it to mean that if ya ain’t amazin’ enough, you ain’t tryin’ hard enough. He ain’t amazin’ enough for himself just yet, but he set his sights sky-high to start with.”

Rainbow was quiet, thinking about Leaf, but Applejack went on. “Now, Cider, she ain’t all that worried ’bout hard work or bein’ amazin’, with her it’s all love and fun. She reminds me a bit of Pinkie that way. But I reckon with how she loves Sweet Apple Acres, she’ll learn enough about hard work and probably won’t even notice she’s doin’ it.”

“I wonder what Sky’s gonna be like,” Rainbow said, looking down at the baby foal. He’d discovered that he could dump sand on his own hooves, too, and had forgotten Applejack’s in favor of the new project.

“That’s part of the fun, ain’t it?” Applejack grinned. “We’ll teach him things, and show him things, and one day we’ll look up and he’ll be a little pony, with his own ideas and everythin’.”

“That’s kinda awesome.” Rainbow smiled. Then a bunch of splashing came from the edge of the lake, and two wet foals came running to the blanket. Water sprayed on Rainbow and everything else as they shook themselves and Cider flapped her wings. “Hey! Watch it!”

“Both of y’all have towels, ya know,” Applejack said with a flat expression, sitting up. She grabbed her hair ribbons and started tying her mane and tail.

Leaf made a face. “Yeah, but if I use mine now, it’ll get all wet, then when I go back in the water I’ll have to dry off with a wet towel.”

Cider blinked at her brother, then shrugged. “I just forgot.” She picked up her towel and tossed it over her back, flapping under it to dry her wings.

Rainbow watched as Cider tossed the towel off, revealing wings that looked like pompoms. “It’s gonna take forever to preen you tonight.”

“I’ll sit really still!” Cider said, trotting over and giving Rainbow a nuzzle.

“Promise?” Rainbow asked, nuzzling back.

“Yes, Mommy!” Cider looked at Rainbow with wide eyes that meant she knew it was what her mom wanted to hear.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, then caught sight of AJ chuckling. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey, isn’t it almost time for Sky’s nap?” Leaf said, looking between Rainbow and Applejack.

“Yup, just about,” Applejack agreed.

“And then we’re gonna play Clover Clever, right?” Leaf prompted.

Applejack smiled and raised an eyebrow. “I thought I said ‘maybe.’”

“Yeah, but then you said you could catch me, so we can’t really trust you here.” Rainbow slid her sunglasses down her muzzle and smirked.

Applejack’s smile grew to a grin. “Sugarcube, you can always take my word to the bank. Lemme get Sky laid down.”

Rainbow stood up and stretched out while Applejack dusted off Sky and took him over to a quiet, shady spot still in view of the lake. Rainbow had to be ready to give Applejack a run for her money, after all. The older foals splashed back into the lake and started arguing over where boundaries would be until Rainbow followed them in and picked them out herself, settling the matter.

Applejack joined them after Sky was asleep in a bassinet in the shade, and the game was on.

The first few rounds passed between the foals. While the kids aimed for their moms, at times calling out “Clover” every few seconds and tracking one parent or the other’s answers of “Clever” like a sonar, AJ and Rainbow were both skilled swimmers and athletes. Even taking a casual approach with the foals, they usually found it easy to get away unless they wanted to purposely throw the round. Rainbow didn’t even consider that; no foal of hers would want to win that way. AJ seemed to be thinking the same thing, and the foals kept trying and never complained.

But eventually the slow pace caught up to Rainbow. She wasn’t paying attention to where Leaf was during his past few calls of “Clover,” and by the time she noticed that he was just yards away, she also realized she was pinned in the corner of the boundaries she’d set. She took a breath and tried to dive under, but in the murky press of the water around her she felt the rippling currents of movements, followed by a hoof solidly hitting her folded wing.

She came to the surface to hear Leaf shouting, “I got Mom! I got Mom!”

Applejack grinned across the pond at them. “Good job there, Leaf!”

He was beaming. Rainbow smiled. He deserved it; after all, he got her fair and square. Besides, now the game could really get going.

“Guess I’ve gotta step it up, huh?” She smirked, nudging him with her wing.

“Yeah!” Cider shouted, splashing her wings in the water.

Leaf smirked back. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Let’s do this.” Rainbow closed her eyes and started counting loudly to ten. She made sure to go slow to give the kids time. The pond was noisy for a few moments and the three other ponies scattered and repositioned themselves, but as the count came to an end silence settled over the water.

Rainbow gave a shout of “Clover!” and listened for the responses, then swam directly for her target. The kids would be too easy—they weren’t too fast and they were really noisy. She could hear Cider trying not to giggle as she quietly tried to move away from her former spot. Rainbow didn’t go for easy, Rainbow went for a challenge. She was hunting cowpony.

Luckily, “Clever” had a lot of vowels in it, so AJ’s voice was easy to pick out of the chorus.

Rainbow stopped after a good swim and let out another call. AJ had managed to skirt the edge of the boundary, and Rainbow adjusted her course. As she was swimming she shouted again, and heard the call coming from a few yards directly in front of her, but it was followed by a small splash.

Rainbow stopped, and heard another soft splash to her left. She lunged in that direction and let out another call. “Clover!”

“Clever,” came the out-of-breath reply in Applejack’s unmistakable accent. Perfect: AJ was wearing herself out. Of course, Rainbow’s own panting was just because she was currently swimming. She had AJ right where she wanted her.

For a while she chased AJ around the center of the pond. A few times she was able to make a dive for exactly where Applejack should be and ended up with a hoof-full of swirling water and a splash in the face as AJ hauled tail just in time.

Finally, after a call and answer, she heard Applejack dive under the water, and felt a movement to her right side. She pushed toward it quickly, and felt her body run into something warm and wiggling as she fell on top of it.

Rainbow stood up quickly, sputtering water, and she didn’t even open her eyes until she heard Applejack doing the same. The kids were laughing and cheering as they caught their breath.

Applejack brushed her wet bangs out of her eyes. “Darn it, Dash! Ya tryin’ to drown me?”

Rainbow grinned. “Hey, when Rainbow Dash tags a pony, they know they’re tagged.”

“Fair enough.” Applejack chuckled. “I reckon I do know I got tagged. Lemme know when you’re good.”

“I’m always good.” Rainbow smirked and nudged Applejack.

“Okay, I walked into that one.” Applejack shook her head, but she was still grinning. “Lemme know when I can start countin’, ya featherbrain.”

“Come on, Ma, let’s go!” Leaf called from across the pond.

“You heard the kid,” Rainbow said, glancing around the pond and planning her escape.

Applejack closed her eyes and started counting, and Rainbow swam hard for an area of the pond toward the blanket, a good distance away. She got there well before the counting stopped and stood still.

Applejack finished and called out, “Clover!”

Rainbow yelled back her response, along with the kids, and she saw Applejack head in Leaf’s direction. Rainbow relaxed and grinned. She could use a breather, even if she’d never admit that to AJ. And besides, she knew AJ could have come after her, then she could have gone after AJ, but this game—this day, really—was for the kids. They needed to have a blast, to try to make up for later…

Rainbow felt her face fall, and she tried to put that out of her head as she answered another “Clover!” with “Clever!” It actually wasn’t hard to do. The round with AJ had put her in an awesome mood; there was something about working that hard and pushing herself that never failed to make her feel great, especially when she eventually succeeded.

She smiled and watched AJ lunge at Cider as the filly tried to swim behind her brother, who darted out of the way. Applejack could always give her that feeling; that’s why they had such an awesome time together. AJ was kind of like gravity that way: they were both forces Rainbow could count on to push back with their full strength, and it made beating them the two best feelings in the world.

It wasn’t long before Cider squealed and giggled, and Leaf shouted, “Cider’s it!”

“Way to go, AJ!” Rainbow called, even though they both knew Applejack could have caught Cider in her sleep. It was a part of the game, and AJ was making the game fun for the kids. Rainbow had to cheer that on.

• • •

When they got home, Applejack cooked dinner while Rainbow and the kids played cards at the kitchen table. They could’ve gone in the living room, but Rainbow wanted to keep everypony together, as if it would draw out the easy fun of the day.

But soon the food was done and dinner was served.

“Eat up, y’all,” Applejack said as she slid a roast squash on the table among the side dishes.

“My favorite!” Cider said as Applejack loaded up the filly’s plate. “Did you put brown sugar on it?”

“Sure did.” Applejack smiled almost sadly as she started on Sky’s plate, cutting the food up small. She added, “And I made carrots with plenty of butter.”

“Awesome! Thanks, Ma!” Leaf opened a side dish and started shoveling them on his plate.

“And there’s mashed potatoes with garlic, and no skins…” Applejack glanced at Rainbow and nodded to another dish.

Rainbow wasn’t sure if she’d ever had mashed potatoes and garlic, but she liked both of those things and hated potato skins, so it sounded really good. She was guessing, from the reactions around the table, that AJ was trying to make this meal as good as the day had been for everypony there.

Cider blinked at her plate. Then she eyed her moms, and started eating.

It was Leaf who spoke up. “Um… there’s no green vegetables?”

“Shh!” Cider shot her brother a look.

Applejack looked at the table, seeming a little surprised. “Uh… no, I reckon there ain’t!”

“What’s going on?” Leaf asked suspiciously.

“Somepony doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut,” Cider muttered, rolling her eyes. “That’s what’s going on.”

Rainbow wanted to laugh, but she just glanced at AJ nervously.

“It’s okay, Leaf. We can have a treat from time to time,” Applejack said with a nervous smile.

Leaf ignored his dinner and focused on Rainbow. “What’s going on? We went swimming, and you played cards with us, and now we all get our favorite foods and no vegetables for supper? Are you joining the Wonderbolts, is that what this is about?”

Rainbow blinked. “I, uh, still haven’t decided yet…”

“Well something is up,” Leaf insisted.

“Sugarcube, we’ll talk about it after supper,” Applejack said softly.

Leaf pursed his lips and glared at Rainbow and Applejack. “I’m not hungry.”

Rainbow swallowed a lump in her throat. She couldn’t blame the kid. The food was all great, but she was losing her appetite too. She looked over and saw AJ looking down at her plate.

She elbowed Leaf and whispered, “Leaf, eat something. Your ma worked hard on this.”

“Why?” Leaf said, not bothering to try to stay quiet.

“Because she cares about us, okay?” Rainbow snapped.

“Dash, it’s okay.” Applejack looked up, her mouth set in a firm line. “Don’t worry ’bout it. He don’t have to finish.”

“Well, he should,” Rainbow muttered. She took a bite of her potatoes. They were amazing, but she still had to choke them down.

The whole table was silent. Cider was eating quickly; she seemed to have decided that was safer than talking right now. Rainbow was picking at her food, and Sky was mashing carrots on his plate with his hooves. Leaf sat staring at the wall, while Applejack just looked down at her plate and sighed.

After a few moments, Rainbow noticed Applejack take a napkin in her hooves and bring it to her face. But she didn’t wipe her muzzle with it.

Rainbow frowned. Applejack was crying.

This wasn’t right. Applejack didn’t cry unless somepony had died. And their family wasn’t like this, everypony avoiding each other, hiding things, Leaf being rude to AJ…

Somepony had to do something.

Doing something was Rainbow’s specialty. Especially when she had no idea what she was doing.

“AJ? We need to talk. In the other room.” Rainbow got up and motioned with her head to the door.

Applejack looked up at her, confused, but she stood up. “Okay…”

Rainbow led the way into the living room, Applejack right behind her. As soon as the door was shut, Rainbow turned to her.

“We can’t do it. Not tonight,” Rainbow whispered.

Applejack shook her head and said softly, “Dash… we knew it was gonna be hard, but we gotta… it ain’t gonna get easier.”

Rainbow rubbed a hoof over her face. “I get it. But… it shouldn’t be like this. This feels like… like it’s ruining everything. Today was too awesome.”

“That was the point, Dash, to show ’em it’s all okay,” Applejack pointed out with a frown.

“Yeah, but what if next time they’re having an awesome day, they’re like ‘boy, I haven’t felt this good since the day my moms said they were splitting up!’ and it totally ruins it for them?” Rainbow shook her head. “Look at that table. Is that how you want them to feel about fun stuff like today?”

Applejack considered that for a moment. “So we gotta make ’em see it’s gonna be okay, but not too okay?”

Rainbow realized she wasn’t sure what she meant. There wasn’t really anything that would make it not suck. But this sucked way too much, so she nodded. “Yeah. That’s part of it.”

“What’s the other part?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“You,” Rainbow said, looking her in the eye.

“Me?” Applejack’s eyes went wide. “What do I got to do with this? I’m the one that came to you…”

“I know, but…” Rainbow hesitated, not really sure what she meant to tell AJ. “This is all happening really fast. And you’re not okay. And I’m not saying we should change the plan or anything, but maybe… we need to get used to being friends again before we do this.”

“We always been friends,” Applejack said gently. “That’ll never change.”

Rainbow frowned. “I know, but I haven’t been a really good friend to you for the past week. Twilight told us to take care of each other, and I didn’t even know you weren’t okay.”

Applejack snorted. “Sometimes I dunno how there ain’t room in that big head of yours for more than one pony.”

“I was worrying about the kids too, sometimes,” Rainbow pointed out.

Her face softening, Applejack nodded. “You been real good on that. I gotta say I’m impressed.”

“Thanks.” Rainbow gave a quick smile that turned to a determined expression. “But it’s not enough. I’ve gotta worry about you too, even if it’s just as friends. So, I want to make it up to you tomorrow.”

“How?” Applejack asked suspiciously.

“It’s a surprise.” Rainbow grinned. She had the beginnings of an idea, but she had to check with some ponies first.

“Dash…” Applejack sighed and shook her head. “I don’t think I need surprises right now.”

“You need this surprise.” Rainbow insisted. “Just give me an hour to go set it up, okay? Then tomorrow we can figure out how to really tell the kids, and I’ll feel better that things are good between us.”

“I dunno…” Applejack bit her lip.

Rainbow gave her best smile. “Trust me.”

After a moment, Applejack nodded. “Okay. I want ya to be sure things are right with us.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow said, offering a hoof for a bump.

Applejack smiled and bumped it, everything about her seeming to relax. “Well, guess we better go talk Leaf into eatin’ his dinner. If he’s gonna get off without vegetables, he’s darn well eatin’ everythin’ on his plate.”

Rainbow snickered as they went back into the kitchen. “You got it, boss.”

Now For You

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The next morning, when Applejack got out of bed before the sun had been pulled over the horizon, Rainbow rolled out of bed too. She was pretty sure the power that took was just slightly less than Celestia would be expending in the next hour. She rubbed her eyes with her hoof like she was trying to grind the sleep out of them.

“Well now, I reckon this is a surprise.” Applejack chuckled, plopping her hat on her head.

“This isn’t—” Rainbow interrupted herself with a massive yawn. “—the surprise. This is a sacrifice, that I’m making for you.”

“My hero.” Applejack smirked, but she waited for Rainbow to trudge over next to her before heading out to the hall and down to the kitchen.

Rainbow winced as Applejack turned on the lights in the kitchen. “Where’s the coffee?”

“I’m puttin’ it on now,” Applejack said, heading over to the stove.

“How can you think enough to make coffee without coffee?” Rainbow wondered, sitting down at the table.

Applejack snorted. “Somepony’s gotta make it. How’d you think it got in the pot?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I thought it was a gift from Celestia so ponies wouldn’t poke themselves in the eye with their forks at breakfast.”

“Well, if you wanna think of me as a gift from Celestia, I ain’t gonna argue.” Applejack smiled and set out a mug for herself and Rainbow. “So, what’re you doin’ up at this hour?”

“I wanted to get the kids up today. I gotta talk to Leaf, and then get them ready to go to Mac and Cheerilee’s for the day.” Rainbow caught Applejack’s look of surprise. “I asked last night. It’s cool, and if we see the zap apple signs I’ll go pick up the kids and you’ll meet Mac in the orchard.”

Applejack nodded as she took the boiling pot off the stove and poured the water into the coffee pot. “And what’s this we’re doin’ that the kids can’t be around for?”

Rainbow took a deep breath as the smell of coffee filled the room. She could almost feel herself waking up just from that. Then she realized she hadn’t answered AJ. “Mostly just hanging out without the kids around. I just want a day where I can focus on you, without worrying about other stuff.”

“Dash, I don’t need—” Applejack started with pursed lips.

“Well I do. We talked about this,” Rainbow pointed out. “I was thinking we could hang out, go for a run, maybe go to the spa—”

Applejack shot her a look, eyebrow raised. “You hate the spa.”

Rainbow grinned. “Good to know I still have some concept of awesome. But this isn’t about me, it’s about you, and you like massages. It’s payback for me being so uncool to you this week.”

Applejack frowned and poured two cups of coffee. “I ain’t upset.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You’re not okay, either.”

Applejack set Rainbow’s coffee in front of her, then walked back over to the counter where her own mug sat next to the stove. She set a skillet on the hot burner. “This can’t fix all that.”

“I know, but… maybe it’ll help.” Rainbow took a long drink of coffee.

They didn’t say anything as Applejack cracked eggs and chopped vegetables and Rainbow got through about half of her coffee. Rainbow felt the fog of sleep clearing from her brain and a grin crossed her face at thoughts of what was in store that day. It was going to be so much fun, just hanging out with Applejack. Like the game yesterday, but longer. Then there was the surprise she had planned; it took most of the hour last night, but it would totally be worth it.

“It’s just about the time I usually go knock on Cider and Leaf’s doors,” Applejack spoke up. “Cider first, then Leaf, then Cider again. But she’s always at the table first, Leaf takes his time tryin’ to find what he was workin’ on before he gets down here.”

Rainbow nodded and took one last swig from her mug. “Okay. I’ll be back down in a bit.”

She headed up the stairs and knocked on Cider’s door. “Time to get up!”

There was no answer from inside, so she shrugged and moved onto Leaf’s room. “Hey, Leaf, time to get up.”

Leaf’s bleary voice came through the door, “Mom? Is everything okay?”

Rainbow leaned toward the door. “Yeah, everything is cool… mind if I come in?”

There was a pause, and then, “Sure.”

Rainbow opened the door and stuck her head in first. Leaf was sitting up in bed, his blue bedspread bunched at the foot. His room was messy: books and papers were stacked on the surfaces, obscuring the dates and locations advertised on the Wonderbolts posters on his wall, while crumpled-up papers littered the floor.

“Hey…” Rainbow smiled. “Nothing’s wrong. Your ma’s downstairs cooking breakfast, and I got up early today to help her out.”

“Okay.” He nodded, eyeing her. “So… why aren’t you downstairs?”

“I wanted to tell you to get ready to go to your Uncle Mac’s house today,” Rainbow said as a poster caught her eye. She could see one of the Wonderbolts in the formation had a rainbow tail waving behind her. She smiled at it for a moment, before she remembered what she’d been talking about and shook her head. “Me and your ma have some plans.”

“What kind of plans? Is this about whatever was weird last night?” Leaf’s brow furrowed as he got out of bed and walked over to a small mirror. He ran his hoof over his spiky mane.

Rainbow bit her lip, not sure what to say. She owed the kid some kind of explanation, something weird was clearly going on. On the other hoof… there was a lot she could say that would freak a kid out, and she should at least talk to AJ before she did that.

“Last night… Uh, yeah.” Rainbow shook her head. “Leaf, your ma has been having a rough time for the past week. You know how after my crash, I forgot some really important stuff, like your routines and rules for you guys?”

Leaf looked at her and nodded, sitting down on his bed.

Rainbow walked over to face him. “Well, I forgot some stuff that’s really important to your ma, too. And I haven’t really had time to make it right yet. And if you didn’t know that, well… that’s how strong your ma is, she didn’t want us to have to worry about her.

“Last night…” She sighed. “Last night was supposed to be about making things easier for her. We decided to wait, but if that comes back up, I want you to remember that: your ma needs help sometimes, so we need to be strong too and give her the help she needs.”

“I’m sorry…” Leaf said, looking down. He added, “About not wanting to eat dinner, I mean.”

Rainbow had to smile. “It’s okay. You didn’t know. But today is about helping your ma, too. She needs some grown-up time with me, so you guys need to stay with Cheerilee and Mac today.”

Leaf looked up. “But why does she need—” His cheeks turned red. Then he looked away and went on quickly. “Know what? Never mind. That’s all I need to know.”

“Huh?” Rainbow just stared at him. Why in Equestria was he blushing? Then it hit her and she burst out laughing. “Ha! You think we’re sending you off so we can have sex!”

“Mom!” Leaf got a horrified look on his face. “Eww! Don’t say that!”

Rainbow smirked. “You’re the one who was thinking it.”

“I was trying not to think about it!” He hurried to his desk, looking through stacks of papers. “And I’m going back to not thinking about it!”

“I mean, I’m not saying I wouldn’t—” Rainbow teased.

“Lalalala! Not listening!” Leaf picked up papers and a book and crammed them into a saddle bag. “I’m getting ready to go to Uncle Mac’s house!”

Rainbow snickered as she left the room. As she headed back to the kitchen, she heard crying from Sky’s room. She banged on Cider’s door again as she passed it.

“Cider, get up! You’re going to stay with Aunt Cheerilee and Uncle Mac today!”

Cider’s door flew open, the filly fluttering in the doorway. “Can I bring my flight—”

“Not a chance,” Rainbow said, continuing toward Sky’s room to grab the baby. “Get ready to go!”

• • •

A few hours later, the kids were at Mac’s house, and Rainbow’s hooves were steadily pounding the packed dirt of a forest trail, AJ keeping pace at her side. Despite the exertion, Rainbow was finding it easier to breathe with the wind in her face and the trees passing swiftly. From the grin AJ wore, Rainbow had to guess she was feeling the same way.

The day was sunny and warm, but in the cool woods, with the sweat coating their bodies hitting the air as they ran, Rainbow felt great. They had started out at a jog, but after a while a wordless smirk passed between them and the race was on. They didn’t talk about a finish line; that wasn’t the point. The point was to run as fast as they could, to try to keep up with a pony they already knew was just as good.

Besides, they’d just end up arguing about the winner either way. They didn’t need an endpoint to do that.

There was something Rainbow loved about running in the woods; it reminded her of flying in open air. The woods were peaceful, so she could ignore them as they blurred by. There was nothing but the pony next to her, driving her to push herself, and her hooves hitting the ground with each stride.

They ran in comfortable silence; even if they could have had a conversation, they didn’t need to. Having a pony to run with was fun, and Rainbow didn’t need words to know it was AJ next to her; if there was a pony next to her at this speed, it was Applejack, no question.

But when Applejack said, in a huffing voice and without slowing down, “Hey, Dash, up for somethin’ wild?” Rainbow had to admit to herself that made it even better. The wicked gleam in AJ’s green eyes made it perfect.

“You know it!” Rainbow answered.

“Follow me. And keep your eyes open!”

They ran another stretch of path, then Applejack motioned to a trail branching off to the right. Rainbow remembered it as a kind of steep path they never bothered with; it was no good for running. But Applejack made the turn, so Rainbow followed right behind.

Applejack barely slowed down, galloping down the narrow path that descended between thick brush on both sides. Rainbow wasn’t sure they could slow down; actually, on the slope it was hard to keep from running faster. Ahead of them, Rainbow could see a downed tree trunk, with the path turning not far after it. She grinned. It was a good jump, high enough to be a challenge, especially having to land with a solid footing to turn right away.

They came at it full speed and Applejack took the jump, landing cleanly and moving into the turn. Rainbow launched herself into the air right after, her wings twitching to spread and avoid the jolt of landing. She managed to keep them at her sides and made the landing, but nearly lost her footing at the turn, her hooves scrambling at the gravel.

The next stretch of path snaked unevenly back and forth around craggy rocks. Rainbow relaxed just a little. She had always been more agile, and she was able to catch up to AJ and stay neck and neck. But she knew if AJ promised something wild, that jump and some sharp turns weren’t all of it, so she kept her eyes ahead and focused.

“You don’t know the path. Use your wings if you need ’em,” Applejack said as they leaned through turn after turn at full speed.

“You don’t need wings, I don’t need wings.”

Applejack grinned as they took the last turn and barreled straight ahead. “You’ll break your fool neck like that.”

In front of them, a tree spread thick, low branches across the path, from knee to head level. Rainbow glanced at Applejack, eyes wide. There was no way they could jump over those. But Applejack ran straight for them, gaining speed.

“AJ…” Rainbow said in a panicked voice as Applejack barreled on like a freight train.

“Under!” she shouted, then at the last second she put a hoof on her hat and kicked her rear legs in front of her, falling to the ground and sliding under the obstacle.

Rainbow did her best to do the same thing, and she mostly succeeded. She and the ground weren’t on good terms, and it reminded her with the soft caress of sharp rocks and rough sand grating across her cutie mark, but Rainbow made it out the other side.

Applejack rolled out of her slide and to her hooves, starting right back into a run. Rainbow stumbled to her hooves and took off after her.

“Told ya you could use your wings!” she said as Rainbow caught up.

“Didn’t need ’em!”

Applejack nodded approvingly to Rainbow, then nodded ahead of them. “Got some more jumps.”

Three in a row, first a small pile of rocks, then a tree trunk, then a small creek cut across the path. AJ and Rainbow cleared each one together easily.

“Almost done.” Applejack panted. “This last one’s got a drop after it.”

Rainbow nodded. The bush ahead of them seemed about cutie-mark height, not an easy jump to start with, and knowing there was a drop on the other side made a formidable challenge. Rainbow narrowed her eyes.

They launched themselves into the air. Rainbow could see AJ next to her in perfect form. As they cleared the bush, the path on the other side was about three feet lower than where they’d launched. Applejack landed perfectly, and Rainbow managed to stay on her hooves, but the unexpected fractions of a second before landing made her stumble a step.

Applejack slowed to a stop with Rainbow beside her, both of them out of breath. They stood on the bank of a river at the bottom of the hill, catching their breath. Both of them were filthy, covered in sweat and dust, and Rainbow’s thigh was burning where she’d slid on it.

“Good job,” Applejack said with a friendly bump of her shoulder. “That’s a rough course to start with, must be right crazy doin’ it blind.”

A huge grin grew on Rainbow’s face as the heart-pounding tension of the run started to wash away. “That was so cool…”

Applejack chuckled and sat down on a patch of moss. “It sure was.”

“You looked great!” Rainbow’s wings were the only part of her not worn out, so she flew over to join Applejack. “Not just hot, but the way you took those turns and jumps and slid under that branch like you were Daring Do or something was awesome.”

“Aw, thanks,” Applejack said, looking down at the moss and nudging it with her forehoof.

Rainbow laid back on the soft ground, her forelegs folded behind her head as a pillow. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she looked at the branches and flecks of blue sky above them.

“Ya know, sometimes when you’re farming and cooking all the time it’s hard to remember that you can do that stuff,” she said, glancing over at Applejack.

Applejack snorted, but she was smiling too. “I don’t see ya complainin’ about farmin’ and cookin’ when you’re tuckin’ in for supper.” She took a breath and leaned back on her elbows. “But I reckon you don’t know… You mighta been a Wonderbolt, but you’re lookin’ at the three-time All-Equestria Rodeo Champ. Least, I was back before Leaf was born.”

“Really? That’s so cool!” Rainbow looked back up at the trees and sky. “You don’t compete anymore?”

Applejack gave a wistful sigh. “Nah. I do an exhibition from time to time, mostly ropin’ and a jump course, maybe a hay toss… those were the parts I really like anyhow. If I never gotta ride another bull, I’ll be a happy pony. Last time out, I drew Wild Bull Hickock… he’s right nice over drinks, but in the ring that fella means business straight out the gate.”

Rainbow smirked. “He’d probably say the same about you.”

“Darn tootin’!” Applejack laughed. “I stayed on all eight seconds of one of the toughest rides he ever gave, and between us we set a record that’s still standin’ today.”

“Way to go!” Rainbow looked over at her with a grin, but Applejack was looking into the distance. Her grin fell to a sad smile, and she went on more gently. “I was there, wasn’t I?”

Applejack chuckled a little, but she didn’t look over. “Ya said you didn’t know if you were more jealous of the trophy, or of the bull for gettin’ that ride.”

“Yeah, that sounds like me,” Rainbow said, laying her head back.

Applejack nodded, then they fell into silence. Rainbow thought for the first time about the things she’d missed, not for herself, but for other ponies. Things that were important to them, that she should have been there for. That she was there for. But now… it was like she wasn’t there for them when they needed her to celebrate or comfort them.

AJ had a ton of those. The kids, too, and her friends… It didn’t hurt as much as the things from her own life that she’d missed, but she felt bad for them. Most of them didn’t even know it, but Applejack knew it every day.

She was surprised when Applejack spoke, and even more when it was in a relaxed and happy tone. “I gotta thank ya, Dash.”

“For what?” Rainbow asked, looking over at her.

Applejack was smiling, still looking into the distance somewhere in the woods. “I needed this today, and I didn’t even know how much. Everythin’s been so…” She started to frown, then looked over at Rainbow and smiled again. “But you were right, I needed to relax and let out some energy. And I needed to know that whatever happens, you’re still my best friend.”

“No matter what.” Rainbow pulled a foreleg from behind her head and offered a hoof for a bump, which AJ met with her own. Rainbow rolled on her side, laying next to AJ. “And… I guess I haven’t said thanks yet…”

Applejack stared at her. “What for?”

“For… everything this past week.” Rainbow motioned with a hoof. “For being there for me, and helping me. And for being so tough, ’cause one of us had to have it together, and…” Rainbow hesitated, then shook her head. “In your horseshoes, I don’t think it could’ve been me.”

Applejack was quiet for a moment. Then she said softly, “I know that, sugarcube. But you gotta know that I couldn’t’ve done what you have this week.”

Rainbow furrowed her brow. “What do you mean? You do it, like, all the time.”

“Tryin’ to adjust how ya live your whole life?” Applejack raised her eyebrows at Rainbow. “Jumpin’ into somethin’ you never even thought of? And somethin’ like bein’ a mom where there’s no way ya ain’t gonna mess up? And you can just get it in your head and fly with it, and fall in love with it, and make it part of who ya are…”

Rainbow blinked. She had done something like that, but it wasn’t like she had a choice.

Applejack shook her head and went on. “I can’t change like that. Never could, even when I wanted to when I was a filly back in Manehattan. If you’d ended up there, you woulda been livin’ it up with the rich ponies in no time…”

Rainbow grinned. “I could get into that…”

Applejack smiled at her. “I always thought that was amazin’ about you. Wherever ya are, you just head forward, full speed. Barely even stop to ask directions.”

Rainbow could have mentioned a few times when that bit her in the tail, but there was no reason to bring it up when a pony was talking about how amazing she was, so she just relaxed and let AJ keep going.

“Ya know, when you said you wanted to quit the Wonderbolts, I tried to talk you outta it.”

Rainbow’s head snapped up at that.

Applejack didn’t seem to notice. She was staring into the distance again, a confused look on her face. “Me givin’ up rodeo was one thing, that was always just a hobby, but I couldn’t get how you could just stop doin’ somethin’ that was so important, that you worked for your whole life. But you loved bein’ a family so much, all of a sudden that was who ya were, and your mind was set…”

Rainbow swallowed. Thinking back on the past week, she was almost starting to understand what had happened. “It’s not quite that easy…”

“I never said it was easy.” Applejack looked her in the eye. “Like I said, I can’t do it. But you make it look easy. It makes us a good team; I can hold strong when we need it, and you can spin on a dime when we need it, and we can get each other through anythin’.”

Looking into Applejack’s eyes, Rainbow realized that they were both crazy.

She was crazy because she had somehow forgotten that she asked Applejack out. Sure, it was because she was hot, but it was also because AJ could run next to her, and take a downhill obstacle course at full speed without missing a beat, and toss her that smile that meant you’re on that made Rainbow’s blood start pumping. And AJ was right here, and she could still do all of that… and way more, besides. Which, if Rainbow weren’t a crazy pony, should mean she wanted to go on a date with Applejack even more.

Applejack was crazy because she had somehow forgotten that Rainbow asked her on a date. Not Rainbow, the mare who quit the Wonderbolts to have three kids. The date was with Rainbow, the mare who moved her apple baskets when she wasn’t looking and whined about their date being postponed a week. It had only been a week since she was that pony, but Rainbow had been working her tail off, so if Applejack wasn’t a crazy pony, she should want to go on a date with Rainbow even more.

Sure, they couldn’t pick back up where AJ had left off with her wife, but… maybe they could pick back up where Rainbow had left off with her best friend.

“AJ… do you wanna go out on a date sometime?”

Applejack blinked. Then her eyes went wide. “Dash, that ain’t what I was after. I shouldn’t’ve been talkin’ like that…”

“I know it’s not.” Rainbow shook her head, mostly to buy time to think of how to explain it to AJ. “It’s just… I asked you out before, and it was because you were hot. And you still are! But it was because you were my hot best friend… and you still are. And, I know we aren’t really married, but if I’m not married and there’s this hot, awesome pony, I have to wonder why I’m not dating her.”

There was a long pause, and Applejack’s face shifted several times; first she smiled, then that turned to an almost pained look, then her mouth fell to a flat line with her brow furrowed, and finally she frowned and shook her head.

“I dunno if I can,” she said softly. “I had somepony I loved, and we both know you’re different.”

“I know, but… you gave me a chance before, and it turned out okay, right?” Rainbow offered a hopeful grin to hide her nerves.

“It did,” Applejack said, almost to herself. Then she looked at Rainbow, her eyes almost pleading. “I can see what you’re sayin’, and I reckon it’s right. But… I can’t just turn like you, Dash.”

Rainbow raised her eyebrows. “So, let me help you. I’ll lean on you for being strong and being there for the kids, and you lean on me for trying to find something new.” She looked into Applejack’s eyes. “AJ, I really wanna try.”

After another long pause, this time with an unreadable expression, Applejack nodded. She gave a nervous smile. “Okay. I reckon a date can’t hurt.”

Rainbow grinned and reached over, pulling Applejack into a tight hug on the mossy forest floor. “Sweet! We’re gonna have such a great time.”

Something about the word “time” prompted Rainbow. She looked around. “Uh, what time is it?”

“’Round one o’clock?” Applejack said, pulling away from the hug with a confused look on her face.

“Oh! Shoot! Your surprise!” Rainbow flapped to her hooves, pulling Applejack’s forehoof. “Come on, we gotta hurry.”

“What kinda surprise? I thought you said we were just hangin’ out?” Applejack raised an eyebrow as she got to her hooves.

“I said we were going to the spa,” Rainbow pointed out, flying behind Applejack to push her toward the path.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Dash, Aloe ain’t gonna mind if we’re a few minutes late.”

“It’s not Aloe I’m worried about!”

Rainbow finally got Applejack moving at a jog and flew beside her along the paths toward town.

• • •

Confetti filled their vision as Rainbow and Applejack entered the spa.

“Surprise!”

“Pinkie!” Applejack grinned as the cloud of glitter cleared and Pinkie came into view, along with the rest of their friends. “What are y’all doin’ here?”

Rarity laid a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “Rainbow told us all about what’s going on. It took a little doing, but we agreed that under the circumstances a last-minute spa visit was the least we could do to support you two.” She pulled her hoof away and scraped it on the floor, then pointed to a door to the right. “Now go shower before we get in the hot tub. You’re both disgusting.”

Rainbow laughed. “Thanks, Rares. You too.”

Applejack chuckled and shook her head, walking through the door to the showers, Rainbow right behind her.

“You got everypony to come down here? Just last night, while you were out?” Applejack asked as she quickly rinsed off.

“I fly fast.” Rainbow washed away the sweat and dust from her body and wings. She was already feeling more relaxed; the hot tub would be awesome.

Applejack grinned and waited by the doorway for Rainbow. “You’re really somethin’, ya know that?”

Rainbow smirked as she joined Applejack and headed out to the spa. “Yeah, I know.”

Their friends were already in the hot tub by the time they got back. Rainbow flew over and landed next to Twilight, her body thanking her over and over as she slipped into the warm water. Applejack climbed in on her other side, between Rainbow and Pinkie, and breathed a happy sigh.

Rarity leaned across Pinkie and gave Applejack a nuzzle. “There we go. Much better, darling.” She turned to Rainbow as she sat back. “You really don’t remember anything from the past fifteen years?”

“Nope.” Rainbow shook her head.

Fluttershy offered a sympathetic look. “That’s awful… so much has changed…”

“Do you want to hear a song about it?” Pinkie asked. “I wrote one about everything that’s happened to us in the past fifteen years!”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Uh… I’ll pass.”

“Are you suuure? It’s a rrrumba…” Pinkie wiggled her eyebrows.

“Probably best if we don’t,” Twilight cut in with a smile. “If Rainbow does end up going back to fifteen years ago, she should probably still be surprised by some things.”

“How’s that comin’, Twi?” Applejack asked.

“I’ve made some progress…” Twilight hesitated. “Actually, I think I know how to send her back, if it’s a closed loop. We don’t know that yet. I’m still waiting to hear from Zecora.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened slightly at that. She reminded herself that they didn’t know yet, but…

Then she caught sight of Applejack. AJ’s forehead was lined with worry, and it made something in Rainbow feel the same way. The chances of her older self coming back weren’t good. She’d just be gone, from here at least. What would AJ and the kids do? But if it was a closed loop… Twilight said she had to go back…

“I’m sure she’s got her hooves full,” Applejack said, frowning. “Anyhow, just let us know when you hear somethin’.”

Twilight offered Applejack a wan smile and nodded.

“I certainly don’t envy you, Applejack.” Rarity bit her lip. “What happened to Rainbow is shocking, but… not even knowing if… I simply can’t imagine.”

“Yeah… well…” Applejack sighed and looked down.

“Applejack, you know we’re always here for you,” Fluttershy said gently. “No matter what happens…”

Applejack nodded.

“Applejack,” Pinkie said, turning toward AJ. She was smiling, but in a subdued way Rainbow had never seen. “You’re gonna get through it. It’s gonna be good, and it’s gonna be bad, and you’re gonna get through it. ’Cause that’s life, right?” Her smile grew, and something in her eyes twinkled.

Applejack gave a shaky smile. “Yup. Sure is. And it’s crazier than a upside-down chicken coop sometimes.”

Pinkie wrapped a foreleg around Applejack’s shoulder. “You know it, cousin. That’s why we have parties.”

“Thanks, Pinkie,” Applejack said, really smiling now and giving Pinkie a nuzzle.

“Whenever you need it.” She gave a squeeze. “And sometimes when you don’t! It’s more fun, those times.”

Applejack chuckled, and all six of the girls were smiling again. Rainbow almost felt okay—whatever happened to her, their friends would be there for AJ. But something in the back of her mind kept nagging her that she probably wouldn’t be, and that wasn’t okay.

Rarity broke Rainbow’s train of thought. “What are you doing in the meantime? I can’t imagine it’s easy, living with something up in the air like that.”

Rainbow shrugged, shifting in the tub. “Just trying to get comfortable. I mean, I might be here forever…” She looked at Applejack. “And while I’m here, there’s a lot to take care of.”

“No kidding! Hopping right into having three foals is nothing to sneeze at.” Pinkie tilted her head, considering. “Unless you get talcum powder in your face.”

Rainbow laughed. “You know, it’s not as bad as I would’ve thought. The kids are awesome. I mean, they’d have to be with me for a mom, right?”

Applejack nodded. “Dash’s been doin’ a good job there. It was a mite bumpy at first, but I reckon Dash has always been ready to take whatever ya throw her way.”

“I couldn’t do it without you.” Rainbow smiled at Applejack and gave her a nudge. “And don’t pretend it’s nothing, you’ve been holding both of us together.”

“So, how are you and Rainbow Dash doing?” Pinkie asked. “Making each other comfortable?”

Twilight frowned. “Pinkie, I’m not sure that’s—”

“Well…” Applejack cut her off. She glanced at Rainbow, then around the tub. “Truth be told, we were gonna separate. Ya know I still love ’er, but Dash don’t remember datin’ me or gettin’ married, and it’s all kinda awkward.”

Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy nodded sadly. Pinkie just stared with her eyebrows raised expectantly.

Applejack looked at Rainbow again with a small smile. “But Dash decided if she’s single, she wants to date me. And I reckon I’d like that, so… we’ll give it a whirl.”

“Really?” Twilight’s eyes lit up. “That’s great!”

“Certainly better than I had feared,” Rarity nodded with a smile. She tilted her head. “It’s rather romantic, actually. Falling in love, all over again…”

Applejack frowned slightly. “We’re just datin’. We both got a lot tangled up here.”

Fluttershy nodded. “You want to make sure you’re in love with the ponies you are, not the ponies you think you remember.”

“You get to have a first date again!” Pinkie grinned. “Oh, and if you like each other, you can have another wedding!”

“I dunno that we’d go through all that…” Applejack said.

“But Rainbow doesn’t even remember my awesome bachelorette party,” Pinkie pointed out, pouting.

Rainbow grinned. “Nopony said we couldn’t have an awesome party.”

“Not like that one, ya ain’t,” Applejack gave a look, targeted at both Rainbow and Pinkie.

Twilight giggled. “Pinkie took ‘paint the town’ literally.”

“You can still see the rainbow in the Manehattan harbor when the tide is low…” Rarity said wistfully. “On misty mornings, with the sunlight elbowing its way between buildings. There, just at the edge, a glittering reminder of the vibrance of youth. The joyful music, the tinkling of champagne glasses, the well-dressed ponies dancing and laughing, unaware of the ravages of time waiting in the shadows to wear them down to dull mundanity.” Rarity blinked, noticing the confused faces of her friends. “Oh, terribly sorry. It was a lovely party, Pinkie.”

“Somepony needs a glass of wine,” Applejack muttered.

“It sounds like it was a blast,” Rainbow said with a sad smile.

“Oh, dear.” Fluttershy frowned. “This must be so hard to talk about.”

“I’m okay.” Rainbow tried to put a little more strength in her smile. “I mean, I wish I could remember stuff like that, and being a Wonderbolt, and when the kids were little, but… I’ve just got a lot going on right now, no time for moping, ya know?”

“Atta girl, Dashie,” Pinkie said, giving her the same smile she’d offered Applejack earlier. Rainbow could feel her own smile growing.

Applejack wrapped a foreleg around Rainbow and pulled her close. “If you want a party to remember… we’ll make sure ya get one, sugarcube.”

Twilight looked at Rainbow and Applejack and shook her head. “I have to say, you’re both amazing. When you first came to me, I was really worried about you guys… about your whole family. Whatever I figure out… well, somepony will be living with something really hard.” She offered a sympathetic smile. “But the way you’re facing it together, supporting each other… I’m really proud of you both.”

Rainbow grinned and gave Applejack a nuzzle. The strong foreleg around her and the feeling of Applejack’s cheek against hers made her feel like it would all be okay, somehow. Applejack grinned back and gave her a squeeze.

“What can I say?” Rainbow answered Twilight. “We make an awesome team.”

Author's Notes:

Just an interesting factoid: So, AJ’s joint record with Wild Bull Hickock. For those who don’t know, bull riding is scored as follows: The score is out of a hundred points, and fifty of those points are earned by the bull — how fast and powerful he is, how high his rear legs kick and how low he dips, basically how rough it is for the rider to hang on. The bull gets the score no matter what. The other fifty points are the rider — how stable and in control they can seem, how well they keep rhythm with the bull. And the rider has to stay on for eight seconds, while only using one hand, to get their score and for it to count for the event.

I think this would be kinda awesome in Equestria, where the bulls know they’re being scored and want to win as much as the rider. It’s a weird kind of competitive/cooperative thing — the bull still gets full points if he throws the rider, but he can get more points (and prestige among ponies) if he can give a rough ride that the rider can take well.

So AJ’s record implies that Wild Bull was at the top of his game, and AJ was at the top of hers.

For the First Time

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Tank stuck his head out of his shell with a pop. Sky laughed.

Rainbow smiled and shook her head.

They were sitting in a sunny spot on the living room floor, where light flooded in from the clear sky outside. Applejack was out there somewhere doing farm stuff, while Rainbow played with Sky and Tank. It had been a few days since she and AJ had their day out, and the fourth sign of the zap apples still hadn’t shown up. Applejack was starting to grumble about that, but underneath the complaining there was a light in her eyes. Rainbow knew; she was looking for it to make sure.

This was the eighth time in a row Tank stuck his head out, and Sky still thought it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. But Rainbow could see Tank’s head was starting to droop; he was ready for a nap, so Sky was going to have to find something else to do for a while.

“Alright, kiddo,” Rainbow said, scooping Sky up in her foreleg. “Break time for Tank.”

The kid wasn’t light; she was going to have some serious muscle soon. She looked around the living room for something to distract him while Tank slowly made his way to the safety of behind the couch.

Her eyes landed on the bookshelf. The lowest shelf was full of kids’ books, a lot of them beat up or chewed after being handled by three careless mouths and sets of hooves.

“Let’s read a book. How about…” She looked at the shelf. Half of the books sounded like what happened when you asked Fluttershy how her day was: Fluffy Bunny Learns to Hop, What Mr. Sparrow Said, A Little Field Mouse Built a House. The other half looked like Pinkie wrote them after a two-week candy bender. A few days ago Rainbow had found My First Adventure, a Daring Do book they made for little kids. She tried it for three days, but Sky totally wasn’t into it. She figured they could come back to it later.

But right now she needed something that Sky would pay attention to. She glanced up, and noticed the shelf of photo albums. There was an idea… She’d been getting kind of curious about them anyway.

Rainbow pulled an album off the shelf and held it up for him. “How about we look at this? You like pictures.”

Sky looked at it and chewed on his hoof, so she took that as an okay. She flew over to the couch with the album in one foreleg and the baby in the other. Sitting sideways on the couch, she nestled Sky in front of her. His baby wings tickled a little when he twitched them, but she didn’t mind. It was kind of nice knowing he was comfortable there.

She laid the album in front of them both and opened it.

On the first page was a large picture of her and Applejack. She was wearing a Wonderbolts dress uniform, starched and pressed and looking sharp. Applejack was wearing a white gown, and they stood next to each other in front of an arch formed by two apple trees in bloom.

What really made Rainbow pause was the smile on her own face. She didn’t recognize it. She looked at herself a lot—she was one of her favorite things to look at—but she’d never seen herself smile like that.

She wanted that smile. It was everything she’d ever wanted to be, strong and dedicated and proud. With that smile, she knew she would be unbeatable; anything she’d said she would do was as good as done. But she wouldn’t even have to, because that smile said she’d already won everything she ever wanted.

Rainbow blushed, but Sky didn’t notice. “Okay, so… That’s Mommy and Mama. And it looks like this is when we got married.”

She turned the page to find pictures of the Apple family and their friends, all dressed to the nines. She pointed to first one, then the other. “And this is Uncle Mac, and Aunt Bloom, and that’s Granny Smith. She died before you were born. This one is Twilight and Pinkie and Fluttershy and Rarity. And they’re all dressed up for the wedding. I bet Rarity made those.”

“And this is Spitfire and Soarin. They used to fly with…” She paused. Had they flown with her, really? Or with that pony in the uniform? “With Mommy when she was a Wonderbolt. And this is Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.”

The next pages were big portraits of Applejack and her. She frowned slightly. There was that smile on her face again.

“And this is your Mama. She looks awesome, right?” Rainbow smiled at Sky. “That’s a trick question, your Mama always looks awesome. And this is Mommy. That’s a really cool-looking uniform, isn’t it? You could wear one someday, ya know. Just work those wings.”

Sky pounded a little hoof on the book and tried to crawl across it, but Rainbow pulled him back with one foreleg. “I meant later.”

She turned the page in the album. The picture was of her and Applejack during the ceremony, standing in front of Princess Celestia. Applejack was looking at the princess, but Rainbow was just smiling at Applejack. “And this is Mama and Mommy at the altar. And it looks like Princess Celestia was doing the wedding.”

On the other side of the page was a picture of her and Applejack locked in a deep kiss. Rainbow bit her lip; she’d only kissed Applejack like that once, and it hadn’t gone well. “And this… this is right after they got married.”

Rainbow moved on quickly. Sky probably didn’t want to see his moms doing that anyway.

There were some snapshots from the reception next. Rainbow grinned and pointed to one. “This is the party. That’s Mommy smushing cake into Mama’s face, and… I don’t think Mommy was supposed to do that.” She chuckled a little at the expression on Applejack’s face. Then she pointed to the next one, of Applejack dumping a glass of champagne on Rainbow’s head. “And this is Mama getting even. You can always count on her for that.”

“And… this is Mommy and Mama dancing.” There was that smile again; this time Rainbow had her eyes closed while she and Applejack held each other.

“And looking at each other. And…” Rainbow trailed off, partially because she wasn’t sure what they were doing in all of the pictures; talking to ponies, standing there, sitting next to each other. But it was more because she was distracted. In most of the pictures, she was looking at Applejack with that smile that she’d never smiled.

Rainbow felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t smile like that, she didn’t know how to feel that. She didn’t know she could feel that.

Obviously she could. She did in the picture. Somehow.

But… what if she couldn’t? She wasn’t that pony. What if she’d missed whatever important thing would let her feel like that? What if she could never give Applejack that smile? Applejack would know it. She’d figure it out eventually.

And there was no way Rainbow could compete with that smile.

She swallowed a lump in her throat. What was she even thinking? That was the pony Applejack loved. That was Leaf and Cider and Sky’s mom, the pony who could smile like that. Rainbow felt like… a fake. She looked like the real thing, probably acted like it most of the time, but she didn’t have it inside.

Applejack had to know it. It made Rainbow wonder why AJ even agreed to go out with her. She thought about canceling the date, but she couldn’t do that. Maybe AJ thought she’d be leaving soon, and it wouldn’t matter. That would be fine, they could have a good time together. But… if Rainbow never got to go home, this was the pony she had to be, for AJ and the kids.

She’d just have to figure out how to be that.

Without realizing it, she’d flipped to the end of the album. On the last page was a picture of Winona with a rainbow bow around her collar sitting next to Tank, who was wearing a red bow tied around his propeller.

“And that’s—” Rainbow pointed, but Sky slammed his hoof down on the picture.

“Tak!” he said, grinning.

Rainbow blinked. It almost sounded like he said… She shook her head and pointed to the tortoise. “Who’s that, Sky?”

“Tak!” he said. Then he looked around the room. “Tak Tak Tak?”

Rainbow set the foal on the floor, then scooped Tank out from behind the couch. He poked his head out, blinking drowsily. Rainbow pointed at the real Tank this time. “Sky, who’s this?”

“Tak!” Sky squealed.

“That’s right!” Rainbow grinned and lifted the foal as she flew into the air. He laughed as she spun him around. “You know a word! And Tank is an awesome first word.”

Looking at his giggling face, she felt like she was going to burst. Part of it was that he was so awesome. Not only did he figure out a pretty huge thing like talking, but he totally recognized how cool Tank was. She hoped they’d always be best buddies as he grew up, just a colt and his tortoise, palling around Ponyville.

But on top of that, she was there. She was an awesome mom, looking at pictures with her foal, and it had obviously been the right thing to do. She hadn’t managed to mess him up, she gave him the things he needed, and he was growing up like he was supposed to. He was safe and happy and totally a genius, and part of that was because she was there.

A little dark cloud in the back of her mind reminded her that part of it, most of it probably, was because of that pony in the pictures, and it was sad she was missing this. But Rainbow pushed that away. That pony had tons of moments like this, with Leaf and Cider, and other things Sky had done. This was hers, forever, and she needed it. It was proof that she could do this.

Spinning the kid around was making her forelegs tired, but she didn’t care. She shifted Sky into one foreleg and grabbed Tank in the other. “Come on, guys, let’s go show AJ.”

• • •

“TAAAAAAAAAK!” Sky wailed.

Rainbow grit her teeth. He was in the foal carrier at her side, so it was practically in her ear.

Then Leaf let out a cough like he might have been possessed by something they’d need the Elements of Harmony to get rid of.

It was supposed to be the night of Rainbow’s date with AJ. She was supposed to be halfway to Fluttershy’s right now, to drop the kids off for the evening. But Sky had recently decided that he wouldn’t be separated from Tank, and he was making this known at top volume, while Leaf had come home from school with a runny nose. He promised both Applejack and Rainbow Dash that he was okay, but that cough sounded the opposite of okay.

And Cider had disappeared sometime within the last ten minutes. She was waiting by the door last time Rainbow had checked, but now Rainbow was there with the colts and Cider was nowhere in sight.

“Cider! It’s time to go!”

There was no answer.

Rainbow knew she couldn’t have gone upstairs; that’s where Rainbow had just been, helping Leaf find the very specific paper that he kept in a big stack with all the other notebooks and very specific pieces of paper. Sometimes she wondered if Leaf would get his cutie mark the first time he could actually find whatever trick he was looking for.

But if Cider wasn’t upstairs, she’d either gone outside, or she was in the kitchen. And she’d better be in the kitchen; she wasn’t allowed to go outside without asking somepony.

“Cider Splash! Get your tail out here!”

“TAAAAAAAAAAK! Tak Tak Tak!” Sky shouted, almost drowning Rainbow out. He kicked his little hooves, and the steady thumping against her side was starting to give her a bruise.

Rainbow glanced at the clock. She wanted this date to be special for Applejack. She didn’t want to have to rush through dinner, or not have time to take the walk she had planned. She wanted to do whatever it took to make a spark that would let her feel like she had in those pictures.

Maybe she could ask Fluttershy to keep the kids overnight…

Leaf coughed again.

…and give Leaf some cough medicine.

She glanced toward the kitchen. Cider had to be in there. “Cider! If you’re in the kitchen, and I come in there, I’m not going to be a happy pony!” She marched across the living room to the kitchen door.

Rainbow stepped inside and her mouth fell open.

The floor where her hoof landed was wet and sticky. The floor was wet and sticky because it was covered in honey, which was because a large honey pot on the counter was lying on its side, slowly dripping down the cabinets into a spreading puddle on the floor. There was a trail of small hoofprints going from that puddle to the sink, where the water was running and splashed all over the counter and floor. From there a trail of honey and water led to the door where Rainbow was standing, and finally under the kitchen table, where it seemed to end.

Rainbow looked at the table and narrowed her eyes as Sky continued to cry in her ear.

“Get out here. Now,” Rainbow growled.

Cider slowly appeared from beneath the table, covered mane to tail in honey, except her wings, which were dripping water. Her eyes were as large as a filly could make them, and she looked up at Rainbow. “I was trying to clean it up.”

Rainbow closed her eyes and physically fought the urge to scream.

“Dash?” Applejack’s voice came from the other room, barely audible over Sky’s continued crying. “I thought y’all were leavin’…”

“Don’t come in here, AJ. You’ll get all sticky,” Rainbow called back.

“Sticky? What in Equestria…” Applejack appeared in the doorway, and her mouth fell open exactly as Rainbow’s had as she took in the scene.

Cider bit her lip and glanced between them, as Applejack’s eyes narrowed.

“Cider,” she said slowly. “What did I tell you ’bout the honey?”

Cider looked down. “Not to touch it.”

“So just what were you doin’ in here?” Applejack went on, her stare never leaving the filly.

“I was making sure there was enough for the zap apple jam,” Cider said, glancing at the wall.

For a moment, the only sound was Sky’s crying, then Applejack said, “Did you just lie to me?”

Cider looked up and glanced around frantically before they landed on Rainbow. “Mommy sometimes lies to you!”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “Hey, leave me out of this!”

Applejack ignored her and raised an eyebrow at Cider. “And when your mommy lies she gets herself in plenty of trouble. Now you get on upstairs to the bathroom and get ready for a bath. And you ain’t gettin’ dessert for a week.”

“But—” Cider started with a quivering lip.

“NOW!” Applejack shouted and stomped her hoof.

Cider hopped into the air and zoomed between Applejack and Rainbow, then through the living room and up the stairs.

Applejack looked over at Rainbow and sighed.

Rainbow closed her eyes and nodded. “You clean her up, I’ll get Sky put to bed and then head over and tell Fluttershy we’re not going out.”

Behind her, Leaf started coughing again.

Rainbow turned around and walked over to him, giving him a nudge toward the stairs. “You oughta get in bed, too. You need some rest. I’ll bring you some cough syrup or something.”

• • •

Rainbow got back from Fluttershy’s to find Applejack sitting in the living room. There were no books open; she seemed to just be waiting for Rainbow to get home. Her mane and coat were damp from Cider’s bath, but she was smiling.

Rainbow gave a half-smile back. “Hey. Cider in bed?”

Applejack nodded. “She sure is. And I checked on Leaf, and took him up some hot tea. And Sky’s stayed asleep. I dunno how you did that, he was right worked up when you took him up there.”

Rainbow sighed. “I stuck Tank in the crib with him. I just couldn’t deal anymore.”

“Can’t argue with results.” Applejack chuckled. “So, ready for our date?”

Rainbow blinked. “Uh… we can’t go out. We’ve got a house full of foals.”

“And a kitchen to clean, too.” Applejack nodded. Then she stood up with a grin. “Good thing I ain’t a fancy pony.”

“You want our first date to be cleaning the kitchen?” Rainbow stared at her. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

Applejack shrugged. “I reckon a date’s more about the company than where ya go or what ya do. The kids are in bed, so me and you got a whole evenin’ together.”

Rainbow raised her eyebrows. “It doesn’t seem very awesome.”

“Maybe not, but it can still be good. Come on.” Applejack smiled and motioned to the kitchen door as she headed inside.

Rainbow followed her in. All of the mess was where they left it: puddles of honey, trails of water, sticky hoofprints. Applejack frowned at the honey pot and shook her head, then pulled a mop and bucket and a sack of rags out of the broom closet. She smiled at Rainbow.

“How ’bout you start over there, and I’ll try and get up this mess of honey?”

Rainbow nodded and grabbed the mop. “Sure.” She filled the bucket of water in the sink, and started cleaning up the sticky hoofprints by the door.

There was silence for a moment. Rainbow felt like she had to say something to AJ; this was a date after all. She looked over at where Applejack was crouched down, using rags to scoop up the honey.

“So… you look good tonight.”

Applejack gave a small laugh. “Thanks. You ain’t too shabby yourself.”

Rainbow frowned, thinking about how this was supposed to have been. “I was gonna brush my mane for you.”

“That’s okay, I like it wild.”

“You do, huh?” Rainbow smirked in Applejack’s direction.

Applejack looked over her shoulder and smirked right back. “You shoulda guessed that.”

Rainbow grinned. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

Applejack turned back to the mess and went on, sounding casual. “So, you been thinkin’ about the Wonderbolts any more?”

“Sure,” Rainbow said, leaning on her mop. “But not as much as I was. I just haven’t had time, there’s been so much with the kids and you… but…” She hesitated. “I just feel like it’s important, ya know?”

“I know. I really do, Dash,” Applejack said, glancing over at her with sympathy. “And I meant it when I said it’s up to you. I’ll be honest, I love havin’ you around all the time. But I got married to a Wonderbolt, and I had my first foal with a Wonderbolt. I knew what I was signin’ up for, and that hasn’t changed.”

“So, the dating thing isn’t off if I join the Wonderbolts?” Rainbow asked cautiously.

“Of course not.” Applejack stood up to rinse a honey-soaked rag in the sink. “You just gotta be straight with me about what you want, and we’ll see if it all works out. And promise me you’ll be safe, I worry somethin’ fierce when you’re doin’ all them death-defyin’ tricks.”

“You totally don’t need to worry about me.” Rainbow rolled her eyes, but she had to smile. It was kinda cute. “I’m the best flyer in Equestria.”

Applejack raised her eyebrows. “Not two weeks ago you crashed so hard ya broke time, Ms. Best Flyer in Equestria.”

“Hey, that was a magic storm,” Rainbow pointed out. “Weather patrol makes sure there’s perfect weather at Wonderbolts shows.”

“Anyhow, we ain’t havin’ this fight again, I know how it goes.” Applejack smiled and shook her head. “I finally got ya to admit there’s a chance it was dangerous and promise you’d be safe. You even wrote me a letter, in case something happened in a show. But I never had reason to read it.”

Rainbow flashed a grin. “I bet it’s a blank sheet of paper, ’cause there was no way I was going to get hurt.”

Applejack chuckled. “I wonder if I’ve still got that thing. I haven’t even thought of it since you left the team.”

“Is there anything you wanna do with your life?” Rainbow wondered. “Other than the kids, I mean. Like, stuff you need me to make sure you have time to do.”

Applejack chuckled. “Well, I do got this dream of runnin’ a farm one day.”

“Bor-ing.” Rainbow grinned and got back to mopping. “Nah… living here is cooler than I would’ve thought. For a place on the ground, you have a ton of airspace, and room for all the kids, and awesome food. This farming thing isn’t half bad.”

Applejack nodded, using a dry cloth to wipe down the sink and counter. “I can see why ya never got it. There’s a lot of stiff backs and early mornin’s, and not a lot of glory. But when it comes to livin’, ya know, the part of life between the big stuff, I reckon it’s the best sorta life a pony could ask for.”

Rainbow considered that as she looked for the last signs of honey on the floor. “Yeah, that’s totally what I mean. It’s not a great place to be something, but it’s a great place to be.” Satisfied that she got all of it, she rinsed out the mop and set it outside to dry in the sun tomorrow.

“Well, you fly off and be all the somethin’ you want. I’ll make sure this place is always here when you come home lookin’ fine in that flight suit.” Applejack grinned and pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down. “Or that dress uniform. Mmm, you were somethin’ in that.”

“You thought I looked good in that, huh?” Rainbow tried to sound casual, but she couldn’t help thinking about the wedding album as she joined Applejack at the table.

Applejack nodded. “Yeah, it made you look darn near respectable.”

Rainbow smirked a little uncomfortably. “I thought you like it wild?”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Rainbow Dash, I know you. No matter how respectable ya might look, that’s always underneath.”

Lapsing into silence, Rainbow wondered if that was true. What if it had only been the version of her in the picture? What if she put on the dress uniform and looked awesome, but not in the way Applejack was thinking?

She took a deep breath and scooted her chair closer to Applejack with an unromantic scraping sound. Then she put a hoof to Applejack’s cheek and looked into her eyes.

“Applejack, I just want you to know… I think you’re awesome.”

“Dash, sugarcube…” Applejack said softly. “You’re gettin’ honey all over my cheek.”

Rainbow blinked. Then she shook her head as she got up to wash her hooves. “This is why I didn’t want to spend our first date cleaning.”

Applejack laughed. “So you can be smoother when you’re butterin’ me up?”

“I wasn’t buttering you up!” Rainbow protested, drying her hooves on the way back to the table. “I think you’re awesome!”

“I know ya do when you say it like that.” Applejack picked up the dish towel Rainbow had used for her hooves and wiped off her cheek. “When ya come over here and get all sappy, it’s like Cider givin’ those eyes. It means you’re up to something.”

“I’m not up to anything. I was just trying to be… I dunno.” Rainbow looked around the kitchen. “What are we gonna do for dinner?”

“I can whip somethin’ up real fast,” Applejack suggested.

Rainbow frowned. She hated to make Applejack cook on their date, but unless AJ wanted eggs with black bits, that was probably best. But she had to make this special somehow. “I could, like, set the table with candles and stuff.”

Applejack shrugged and stood up, walking to the stove and turning on the heat under the skillet. “If you want to… there’s some in a box in the closet.”

“Great!” Rainbow smiled. “Tablecloth?”

Applejack looked over her shoulder and raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Upstairs in the linen closet. But you don’t gotta—”

Rainbow wasn’t paying attention. “Do we have any wine or anything?”

After thinking for a second, Applejack answered slowly, “I got a bottle of sparklin’ cider I been savin’ for a special occasion. Ya want that?”

Rainbow’s head snapped toward Applejack. Her eyes went wide and a grin flashed across her face as she nodded vigorously.

Applejack chuckled and shook her head. “Yeah, I reckon I didn’t hafta ask. I’ll pull it out for ya.”

Rainbow flew around the house, gathering the things to set the table. While she was upstairs getting the tablecloth she took a quick detour into the bedroom to look in the mirror. Instead of brushing her mane, she used a hoof to scrunch it up; if AJ liked it wild, she’d make sure it was wild.

She headed back downstairs, where she spread the tablecloth on the table and set the candles in holders. Applejack had retrieved the bottle of sparkling cider so Rainbow added two wine glasses, along with plates for them both. The smell of roasting vegetables and spices was filling the kitchen, and it wasn’t long before Applejack brought three steaming dishes to the table.

“Got some sautéed chickpeas and zucchini, caramelized brussels sprouts, and creamed spinach with garlic,” she said with a smile.

Rainbow’s eyes went wide as her mouth started to water. “That’s your idea of whipping something up real quick?”

Applejack smiled and glanced away. “Well…”

Rainbow sat down and tucked into the table. “Well?”

“I like feedin’ ponies,” Applejack said as she sat down and pulled a dish toward her. “It makes me feel good, like I’m takin’ care of ’em. And you were goin’ to all this trouble, I had to make somethin’ nice to go with it.”

“It looks great,” Rainbow said, scooping food on her plate. It smelled even better; the chickpeas and zucchini were full of spices and mingled with the garlic from the spinach.

“So does this little set-up ya got here.” Applejack smiled and took a bite.

“I just wanted something special for a special pony.” Rainbow smiled. She wanted it to look like that smile in the wedding album, but she wasn’t sure she quite had it.

“Uh… thanks,” Applejack said, looking slightly wary. “So… other than the Wonderbolts, is there anythin’ you’re sad you missed? You were talkin’ about Pinkie’s party the other day…”

Rainbow looked into Applejack’s eyes. “Just a lot of time with you.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? I thought ya also said somethin’ about the kids…”

“I’m not worried about the kids tonight. Just you.” Rainbow rested an elbow on the table, and her chin in that hoof, trying to gaze into AJ’s eyes. It would have been a lot easier if AJ wasn’t looking at her like she was nuts.

“Rainbow Dash… what the hay are you doin’?” Applejack frowned.

Rainbow blinked and sat up. She bit her lip, and tried one more time. “Appreciating a beautiful, amazing mare?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “You’re tryin’ to get laid, ain’t ya?”

“No! I mean, yeah, but that’s not why I said that!” Rainbow said, her eyes wide.

“Well you’re doin’ it again, bein’ all sappy.” Applejack raised her eyebrows. “What am I supposed to think?”

“That we could fall in love!” Rainbow blurted out. Then she felt her face get hot, and looked down to carefully study her dinner. She took a bite to safely occupy her mouth as she barely glanced up at Applejack.

Applejack had her head tilted to the side in confusion. “That ain’t somethin’ you gotta sweet-talk me into thinkin’. If I didn’t think that we could fall in love, I wouldn’t be on a date with ya.”

“But what if I can’t?” Rainbow asked, mostly talking to her brussels sprouts.

“Well… we go back to the plan from before,” Applejack said gently.

Rainbow looked up and swallowed a lump in her throat. “I was looking at the wedding album the other day.”

Applejack nodded. “I know. Ya left it sittin’ out.”

“I could tell that what I was feeling in those pictures was amazing.” Rainbow sighed. “You deserve that, AJ. And I wanna feel that, it looked like everything I want to be.”

“You really want that, that bad?” Applejack whispered.

Rainbow nodded and frowned. “But… I’ve never felt it before. What if I can’t? What if I missed whatever made it so I could?”

A small smile crept across Applejack’s lips. “You can’t stand lookin’ at a finish line you ain’t at yet, can ya?”

“Not if I don’t know if I can get there,” Rainbow muttered.

“That ain’t how love works.” The smile grew on Applejack’s face, and she reached over and put a hoof under Rainbow’s chin. “Ya never know if you can get to that finish line. You don’t even know where the finish line is. You find a pony you think you wanna find it with, then… you start lookin’ inside. Inside you, and inside them, and it don’t come all at once. Not love like those pictures, at least. And sugarcube? Those pictures ain’t half of it. That’s three years of lookin’, I had ya for fifteen.”

Rainbow looked into Applejack’s eyes. She wasn’t sure why AJ was smiling, that just made it seem more impossible, but AJ went on. “But, with love, ya don’t do it ’cause you’re lookin’ for the finish line. You do it ’cause you love the race.”

A memory flashed through Rainbow’s mind at those words. Running as fast as she could, hoofbeats next to her, keeping pace. No finish line, not even a real start, just a glance. Finding the fastest she could go, and finding out that the other pony could keep up.

Rainbow smiled at Applejack. It wasn’t the smile from those pictures. This was a weak smile, uncertain but hopeful. But it felt true, and she knew it was somehow related. Right now it was the closest she could come.

“AJ…” Rainbow said. “If there’s a pony next to me in a race, it’s you. And that’s the best feeling in the world.”

“Then just relax and enjoy it, Rainbow Dash. We’ll see how far we can go together.” Applejack’s hoof brushed her cheek. “And if we’re lucky, we can both win.”

They sat there like that for a long moment, until a flash from outside caught Rainbow’s eye. She turned to the window and cocked her head.

“What the hay is that?”

Applejack grinned. “The fourth sign. For the zap apples. Come here.”

She led Rainbow outside into the cool night air. The stars were bright against the dark sky, but even brighter were the meteors streaking like fireworks. Standing in the farmyard, Applejack leaned against Rainbow, warm and heavy but soft and comforting at the same time. Rainbow opened a wing and laid it over Applejack’s back, squeezing her closer.

As they watched the magic work, a strange sense of déjà vu came over Rainbow. She was sure she’d never bothered to check out the weird zap apple signs before, but this seemed familiar, and she turned toward the zap apple orchard seconds before the trees lit up with blue sparks like a science experiment. She nudged Applejack, who turned to look, a huge grin on her face.

“It’s right pretty at night, ain’t it?” she whispered.

“Yeah…” Rainbow said slowly.

“I reckon I oughta send for Apple Bloom. The harvest oughta start in the next few days.” Applejack laid her head against Rainbow’s. “But I reckon that can wait ’til tomorrow.”

She started to slowly sink to a sitting position, and nudged Rainbow to do the same. They sat in the dark yard for the rest of the meteor shower, and afterward they stayed there looking at the stars. The back door was open behind them in case a foal came looking, but they were all quiet.

Applejack and Rainbow were quiet for a long time, too. Rainbow was thinking about zap apples, and about Applejack, and about first dates. Applejack had said that the fourth sign had come on their first first date, the one Rainbow had never been on.

Rainbow wondered if she’d ever go on that date, with a young Applejack who didn’t know what love was, or the pony Rainbow would turn into, but started feeling it anyway. That AJ had seen something different about her, and Rainbow wondered if it was what she learned here. She knew if she went back now, she’d treat AJ way differently—these past two weeks had been a crash course, in more ways than one—and the more time she spent with the pony she knew AJ would grow into, the more she understood how she could be there for AJ, how she could grow into the pony in those pictures.

She wondered if she should tell this Applejack about why she was here, what she’d done to the zap apple weather, and why.

Applejack’s head was resting on Rainbow’s shoulder. Rainbow looked down at her face. Her eyes were closed, and she wore a peaceful expression. Rainbow knew that wouldn’t stay there if she spoke up. There was a good chance telling her would ruin everything.

But Rainbow knew that if she did end up staying here, there was a good chance that not telling her would ruin everything. And… if she was going to ruin everything, it should probably be for a better reason than wanting to get laid for a while. A reason like trying to be the pony in that picture.

“Applejack?” she whispered, hoping that AJ would be asleep and not respond.

“Mmm?” Applejack said, her eyes opening slightly.

“AJ… I, uh, need to tell you something. Remember when Cider said I sometimes lie?” Rainbow shifted nervously, but she was careful not to disturb Applejack, who was still leaning against her.

Applejack smiled. “Foals see every darn thing, Dash. Just try to be better.”

Rainbow took a deep breath. “I will be. I am. That’s why I need to tell you… this whole thing is my fault. I was trying to speed up the zap apple harvest so we could go out sooner. I caused the storm I crashed in, and I messed up the harvest so it doesn’t come on time. Whatever happens because of this… it was because of me. And I’m sorry.”

Applejack stared at her. “You…?”

She just nodded. “I wish I hadn’t. I messed up everything. I mean… I ruined your life. AJ, if I’d known, or even thought, I never would have—”

“I know,” Applejack cut her off. Then she was silent for a long time, before she added, “Rainbow Dash, you’re a darn fool.”

“I know,” Rainbow agreed.

Applejack sighed. “Celestia help me, this is what I get.”

Rainbow wasn’t sure what to say. Or do, really; Applejack hadn’t moved. She was still nestled against Rainbow, with her eyes closed. She had to be mad at her. And AJ didn’t usually hide when she was mad.

Applejack spoke again. “One time you said if I loved ya, you’d do dumb things, but you’d come through in the end. That still true?”

“I promise,” Rainbow said firmly.

“Ya mean that?”

She didn’t even have to think; even if she wasn’t the pony who said it, that was her, it was who Rainbow Dash was. “Totally. One hundred and ten percent. I’ll always come through.”

Rainbow felt Applejack breathing, but she didn’t move or say anything. Finally she nodded.

“Good, ’cause I reckon I’m gonna fall in love with ya all over again, and the only thing keepin’ me from stranglin’ you right now is that promise.”

“That’s fair.” Actually, it was more than fair. Rainbow probably would have agreed to let AJ get a good punch in, as long as it meant they were totally even and it wasn’t going to mess anything up. But a promise she would have made to AJ any time, any place, and in exchange she got AJ lying here next to her, still wanting to try having a relationship? That was way more than fair.

“And don’t think you’re gettin’ dessert anytime soon,” Applejack added.

Rainbow considered that. “By dessert, you mean sex?”

“Yup.”

Rainbow almost snorted a laugh. She smiled down at Applejack, and AJ was smiling too, her eyes still closed. Rainbow gave her a squeeze with her wing, and laid her head against the top of AJ’s. “Totally fair.”

When All Is Lost

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Apple Bloom’s voice called from the kitchen, “I keep tellin’ Applejack that if y’all would just redo the kitchen in pink polka dots, it’d save me a mess of time every year.”

It was the next afternoon, and Rainbow was trying to entice Sky with Daring Do again, while Apple Bloom was preparing for the zap apple jamming. Applejack had sent word to Apple Bloom that morning, and she’d arrived on the noon train from Canterlot. Rainbow had filled her in on the whole memory situation while Applejack and Mac made sure everything was still in place for the harvest.

“Ugh.” Rainbow made a face, imagining cutsie pink dots all over everything. “I’m guessing AJ keeps telling you there’s no way we’re living with a pink-polka-dotted kitchen all year just so you can use it one day?”

“That’s pretty much it.” Apple Bloom grinned as she came into the living room, pink paint smudged on her cheek. She’d grown up into a regular pony, and Rainbow wasn’t sure if her head had gotten bigger or her bow had gotten smaller, but somehow those seemed to have evened out. “I gotta come up with a new angle. Maybe ’bout how it’d be a tribute to the Apple family heritage.”

Rainbow smirked. “If AJ wants a tribute to her heritage or whatever, she can paint anything she wants like a zap apple.”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow, still smiling. “That just means paintin’ it like a rainbow.”

“Hey, I always thought it was a good look.” Rainbow laughed.

She shook her head at Rainbow and sat down. “I got all the shoppin’ done on the way here. Once the paint’s dry in there, will ya yell at the jars for me? You’ve always been the best at it; ya said it’s like havin’ a bunch of rookie Wonderbolts to shout at again.”

Rainbow hesitated. It sounded really silly, but then so did just about everything to do with zap apple jam. “I guess I can give it a shot… why do we yell at the jars again?”

“’Cause sometimes they crack under pressure.” Apple Bloom caught the look Rainbow was giving her and shrugged. “Don’t ask me how it makes any sense! Magic is as magic does, and sometimes magic does weird.”

“You’ve got that right.” Rainbow rolled her eyes, as a knock sounded from the front door.

Apple Bloom stood up with a huff and walked to the door. “Oh come on, folks, the fifth sign ain’t even here yet.” She opened it and smiled, slightly surprised. “Oh, howdy, Spike! What’s up?”

Spike’s head came through the doorway as Apple Bloom stepped back. “Twilight sent me. Rainbow Dash? She heard from Zecora. She has the potion, whenever you guys are ready.”

Rainbow froze, and her eyes slowly grew wide. This was it. She was going to find out what would happen to her. If it was an open loop, she was staying here, with a family to be there for and a truly awesome pony whose hoofprints she had to fill. If it was a closed loop, she’d be going back, to go on her first date with Applejack, and become a Wonderbolt, and become that awesome pony while she built this life.

Her feathers ruffled, and her brow started to furrow as she realized for the first time that she wasn’t sure which one she was hoping for and which one she was scared of.

“You wanna go?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I—I can’t,” Rainbow said. “AJ has to be here when the sign hits.”

Apple Bloom shrugged. “Go get her and tell her Spike can stay here, and if the sign hits then he can stay with Sky and I’ll run and help Mac.”

Spike nodded and squeezed through the doorway. He was nearly as tall as the ceiling, but he found a spot next to the chair to crouch comfortably.

“Is Sky gonna be okay with him?” Rainbow looked between Spike the dragon and her tough but very small baby foal. “I don’t want him to get freaked out.”

Spike bent down, so his long snout was level with Sky’s face. He grinned, baring his mouthful of sharp teeth.

Sky tilted his head, then reached over and tried to stick his hoof in Spike’s nostril.

“Hey! That’s just gross.” Spike pulled his head away and chuckled. “We’re cool, Dash.”

“Okay…” Rainbow stood up and set Sky on the floor. She bit her lip, and started to fly toward the door.

“Good luck,” Apple Bloom called after her. “I really hope everythin’ works out okay.”

Rainbow glanced back at Sky and nodded. “Me too.”

• • •

Every muscle in Rainbow’s body felt tight as she stood in the castle library next to Applejack. From the second they stepped into the room, she had focused like a laser on Twilight.

Twilight had been bent over her desk, reading a scroll, but as soon as Applejack cleared her throat she looked over her shoulder at them. She walked over, her hooves tapping softly on the floor with each step.

“Hey…” she said with a sad smile.

“Spike said you made the potion,” Rainbow said. She thought her own voice sounded weird; maybe it was shaky, or she needed to clear her throat. Every detail seemed to stand out to Rainbow: the individual colors and textures of the books, the smooth crystal floors and the places those had been scuffed by hooves, the bright color of Applejack’s coat and the silkiness of her mane and the different silkiness of her ribbons…

The thin smile on Twilight’s face, and the way she shifted from one hoof to the other as she said, “Yeah, I heard back from Zecora yesterday. She sent instructions with it, and I made sure I understood them. I even ran some tests on the potion, to make sure it would work. I’m ready whenever you guys are.”

Rainbow breathed. More importantly, she noticed she was breathing. It felt strange, and she tried to breathe normally, but then she realized that she never felt herself breathe when she was breathing normally, so she had no idea if she was doing it or not.

“Are you going to be okay?” Twilight asked softly.

“I’ll get by. But I’d rather know sooner than later,” Applejack answered, her face tense. She looked to Rainbow. “How ’bout you?”

“Me too,” Rainbow said in her currently weird voice, but nopony else seemed to notice it was weird.

“Are you both sure?” Twilight looked at Rainbow first, then at Applejack. “AJ, we can wait until the girls can be here, if you want. I know they’d come right away. Or… if you guys need me to explain everything again…”

Applejack held up a hoof to stop Twilight. “We can deal with all that after, when we know what’s what. I got Dash here… for now, at least.” She looked over at Rainbow, and leaned in to nuzzle her.

Something about the feeling of Applejack’s cheek distracted Rainbow enough to breathe and stop noticing the direction the bookcases had been dusted.

Twilight gave Applejack a worried look. “What if you guys are having… different emotions about the results?”

Rainbow spoke up, sounding more sure than she felt about anything right now. “I’m here for AJ, and she’s here for me. We’ll take care of each other.”

Twilight bit her lip. “Okay, we’ll do it now.”

A glow of magic surrounded a jar on Twilight’s desk and undid the lid. The jar floated over to Twilight and she scooped some green mud-looking stuff out of it with a hoof.

She paused in front of Rainbow, her hoof full of the mud and inching toward Rainbow’s face. “I’m going to smear this on you. It smells kind of funny, and it might be cold at first…”

Rainbow managed a smile. “I take care of a one-year-old. Getting smeared with stuff that’s cold and smells funny happens, like, every day. At least this time I know what it is.”

Twilight giggled. “Okay, well, just hold still.”

Rainbow closed her eyes as she felt the chilly goop stick to her face. She kept them closed, and just breathed. She tried to clear her mind; there was no use hoping for anything now. Whatever this was going to tell them had already happened, and in just a minute they’d know what that was.

As more of her body was touched with the cold wet stuff, Rainbow felt magic tingling through her nerves. It made her ruffle her feathers, and sent a shiver down her spine. The shiver didn’t stop, and she felt like she was just barely shaking, though she wasn’t sure if it was nerves or magic.

What had to be a few seconds seemed to stretch to an hour where she couldn’t move, or couldn’t let herself move. There was no noise from the other two, just the sound of her own breath and the beating of her heart.

Finally, Twilight broke the silence. Her voice was soft, but it sounded loud and clear to Rainbow. “It’s a closed loop. I can send you home.”

Rainbow opened her eyes. She was going home. She didn’t have time to decide how she felt about that before she saw the look on Applejack’s face.

Applejack’s eyes were closed, and she looked almost normal except for the tightness around her lips. She was taking slow, steady, deliberate breaths like it was a job she had to focus to do.

“AJ… I’m sorry,” Rainbow almost whispered, so she wouldn’t disturb her. “I’m sorry for everything.”

“Rainbow…” Twilight said, staring at her. She sounded sad, and there was a look in her eyes like she might cry. “This isn’t going to be easy for you, either. I can send you back, but… like I said before, we don’t know what happened to your future self. There’s a good chance she’s… gone. If your future self doesn’t come back here, when this zap apple harvest comes around again in your life…” Twilight trailed off, avoiding the conclusion.

Rainbow got the picture, and between that and Applejack, still silent next to her, her stomach started to turn. This was supposed to be good. Good for her at least, she’d get to be a Wonderbolt, and marry AJ. But… the day she went back to the past to do those things might mark the last day of her life.

“What if… I don’t go back?” she said, looking at Twilight with guarded hope.

Twilight just shook her head and floated a towel over to wipe the mud off Rainbow’s face. “It’s a closed loop. You do go back. Even if I don’t send you back, something will, and probably soon. You didn’t seem different to me or the other girls; I doubt you would have been able to hide having lived more than a month or so in the future without us knowing.”

Rainbow swallowed. “Are you sure this is right?”

“Close to certain. You crashed in a storm of wild time magic, but you’re still in the right timeline, and it explains the change AJ saw in you on your first date.” Twilight hung her head. “If I sent you back, and it wasn’t a closed loop, it could destroy this future. I told you I wouldn’t do that, and I’m willing to send you back now. It’s… what’s supposed to happen.”

“Applejack—” Rainbow turned to her, only to stop cold when she saw Applejack’s eyes open and seeming to stare into her soul.

“You lied to me,” Applejack said. The emptiness in her voice and that stare sent Rainbow’s mind racing.

“What? About the zap apples?” Her mind grasped at things to say to make Applejack not look like that. “I couldn’t fix it, and—”

“Not about the darn zap apples. About this!” Applejack’s eyes narrowed, and they were about the only thing that existed in Rainbow’s world right now. “You’re goin’ back in time, and you’re gonna promise me you’ll always come through… and you’re gonna know you probably ain’t. You’re never gonna tell me this is comin’.”

Rainbow swallowed, and said the only thing that kept that from being true. “…I wouldn’t do that.”

“You’re going to,” Twilight said softly. “Even if you want to tell her about all of this, you won’t.”

“I wouldn’t do that!” Rainbow snapped at Twilight, then she turned back to Applejack. “AJ, I swear, I won’t do that to you. I’ll find a way…”

“You don’t,” Twilight insisted. “Rainbow, listen to me. When I tried to change the future in a closed loop, I just ended up doing the exact things that made the future that way. That’s what a closed loop is: it’s closed, it can’t change.”

“Then it’s wrong!” Rainbow flew into the air and pointed at Twilight. “You said it figured out what I would do already, and I wouldn’t do that to Applejack! I—I saw our wedding pictures, and I couldn’t have smiled like that if I’d known this would happen!”

Twilight sighed and closed her eyes. “Maybe you learn to live with it. Maybe you think you tell her, but it somehow doesn’t get across. I don’t know… but I do know that if you get crazy about trying to change it you could create an open loop and destroy this future.”

“Maybe I will!” Rainbow shouted at her.

“Dash… don’t,” Applejack said quietly, laying a hoof on Rainbow’s.

Rainbow landed in front of Applejack and looked into her eyes. “AJ, this can’t be right. I can’t go back in time and lie to you about something like this, and wear a Wonderbolts uniform, and kiss you at our wedding, and play with my kids, and… leave you all without even saying goodbye. That’s not what I’d do, and if a closed loop means I have to do that, I’m not in a closed loop.”

Applejack held her gaze for a moment, then glanced to Twilight, then back to Rainbow. When she looked back her brow was furrowed. “If Twilight was wrong, and she sent you back, it might mess up the whole world. Twilight’s sure enough to send you back… That’s Twilight Sparkle, Dash, she knows what she’s doin’.”

“She’s. Wrong. I can’t go back, not until we figure out what’s going on.” Rainbow bit her lip and searched Applejack’s eyes. She could see the doubt there, and she tried to talk straight to that part of her. “Applejack. I don’t know what happened before, but I know what happened the other night. I made you a promise to always come through for you, and I meant it. And I’d do anything to keep it.”

“If you don’t do all that, there might not even be a me to promise.” Applejack swallowed. “Not this me, at least.”

Rainbow closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck, trying to consider what Applejack was saying though everything inside of her screaming was it was wrong.

“Rainbow,” Twilight said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “What if this is how you come through for AJ? By giving her fifteen years of love and three beautiful children? And your future self might come back… it’s not likely, but it’s a happy ending we can hope for.”

Rainbow cringed. Applejack deserved a happy ending. But Applejack deserved it with a pony who hadn’t been lying to her for fifteen years. And even if Rainbow did make it back, who would she even be? Who was that mare in the pictures, if she was hiding this the whole time?

Twilight swallowed and went on in a shaky voice. “And… you know I’d do anything I could to stop this, but… if you don’t come back, you know you’ll have fifteen years of an amazing life full of everything you’ve ever wanted, and Applejack will have all of her friends and family to take care of her. It’s not perfect, but—”

“I don’t care about perfect!” Rainbow shouted, her eyes still clenched shut. “I mean, perfect would be awesome, but there are things more important than that. Things like taking care of the kids, and keeping promises, and being the kind of pony I know I can be, whether I’m a Wonderbolt or a wife or a mom. I can live with ‘not perfect,’ as long as I can do that stuff.”

She opened her eyes to see Twilight’s shocked face. Rainbow took a breath and shook her head. “But I can’t do that if my marriage is a lie, or if I’m leaving my kids.” She turned back to Applejack, and saw the sympathy in those green eyes. “AJ… you understand, right?”

“I understand, sugarcube.” Applejack nodded and laid a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Twi, I think me and Dash need to talk for a bit.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Twilight agreed. “Try to get her calmed down.”

Rainbow glared at Twilight. “I don’t need to—”

“Dash,” Applejack said, giving her a nudge toward the door. “Come on home and talk to me.”

As they left the library and walked through the castle, neither of them said a word. Rainbow took a few deep breaths. She didn’t need to calm down, some things were worth fighting, and a future where she couldn’t be the pony she knew she should be was worth fighting. But Applejack knew that. She understood, she had to, or… or maybe it wasn’t worth fighting.

By the time they emerged onto the streets of Ponyville, Rainbow still felt shaken, but she was pretty sure she looked normal to other townsponies. Even things worth fighting weren’t worth trying to explain to all of Ponyville if they stopped her to ask what was wrong.

She glanced over at Applejack and said in a low voice, “AJ… I don’t need to calm down. You know me. I told you why I want to be a Wonderbolt. You know I want to be the pony in those wedding pictures, strong and sure and totally dedicated. If… if that’s all a lie… I won’t deserve the Wonderbolts. And I won’t deserve you. I can’t live like that, it can’t be true.”

Applejack didn’t respond. Her lips were pursed, brow furrowed, and she looked deep in thought.

After a moment, Rainbow added, “Twilight has to be wrong. I know you’re used to just going with whatever Twi says. We all are, she’s a genius. But I’m telling you… Please believe me?”

Applejack glanced over at her, then straight ahead. “I wanted to leave ’cause I need to think. My heart is tellin’ me you’re right… I want ya to be right, for you, and for me, and for everything we had, but that don’t make you right. My head is tellin’ me only a darn fool thinks with her heart. Twilight ain’t just some doctor or magician, she’s Twilight… she’s never steered us wrong before.”

“She’s made mistakes,” Rainbow pointed out as they passed the market. Everypony in town seemed to be going about their normal lives. It seemed strange that they had no idea that Rainbow’s fate, and probably Applejack’s fate and maybe even their own fates, were being argued in hushed tones as Applejack and Rainbow walked back to Sweet Apple Acres.

“We’re talkin’ about something big here. She probably figured everythin’ out twenty different ways. Unless there’s somethin’ she don’t know…” Applejack eyed Rainbow. “You told her about the zap apple magic, right?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, the second time I went to see her. I knew she needed to know.”

Applejack frowned. “So… how could Twilight get somethin’ like this wrong?”

Rainbow shrugged, then hopped into the air in surprise at the sound of a familiar voice behind them.

“Mom! Ma!” Leaf called. He and Cider were galloping from the direction of the schoolhouse with their saddlebags on their sides. “Hey, what’re you guys doing in town?”

“Does this mean the zap apples didn’t come?” Cider asked, pushing her way between Rainbow and Applejack as Leaf fell in step next to Rainbow.

Rainbow’s face fell into a grim line as she looked at the kids. How could anypony suggest that she would leave them without saying goodbye, if she wasn’t sure she was coming back?

“I dunno, half-pint. Your mommy and me had to come talk to Twilight ’bout somethin’ real important.” Applejack gave her a nervous smile.

Leaf craned his head back. “Are your cutie marks buzzing? Are you going someplace?”

“Can we come?” Cider added.

Applejack shook her head. “Nope, wasn’t about that.”

“Then what?” Leaf pressed. “Is everypony okay?”

“Everypony’s fine, sugarcube,” Applejack said with a sigh.

Leaf frowned and looked up at Rainbow. “Mom doesn’t look fine.”

Applejack bit her lip. She caught Rainbow’s eye, almost pleading. “Dash, tell ’em you’re fine.”

“I—I’m cool, Leaf.” Rainbow shook her head. “Just thinking about something.”

“Is it whatever was weird last weekend?” Leaf asked, raising an eyebrow at Rainbow.

They had come to Sweet Apple Acres; the path was lined with the white split-rail fence and rows of apple trees behind it. Everything about it looked orderly and neat. Even the green grass under the trees was never unruly. But it meant more than that to Rainbow now; it meant something that didn’t change in a world that kept flipping over on her. It meant something good, a silver lining around storm clouds. Cider had said that from above, Sweet Apple Acres looked like a blanket. That’s what it felt like. It felt like home.

Rainbow stopped. She looked at Applejack, who had stopped to see what she was doing, and then nudged both foals to the side of the path. “Guys, come here.”

She helped Leaf and Applejack over the fence, and then sat down on the grass with the two kids while Applejack stood over her shoulder with a concerned look on her face. Rainbow looked up at her; she knew AJ was probably worried that Rainbow was going to do exactly what she was going to do. But Rainbow had to do it anyway.

She frowned, and took a deep breath. “Okay, look. I need to tell you guys what’s going on. When I crashed, and started acting weird, it was because I didn’t remember anything from the past fifteen years. I didn’t remember getting married to your mama, or being a Wonderbolt, or… how awesome you guys are. I was really confused, and it was really scary. But I did my best to learn everything, as fast as I could. Some of it was hard, but some of it was really easy. It was easy to learn how awesome you guys are, because you’re the most awesome ponies in the world, and… I love you both. Always remember that, I love you both so much.”

Leaf stared at her, his mouth open. “I knew something weird was going on!” Then his face softened, and he looked at Rainbow with his eyes almost filling with tears. “I love you too, Mom.”

Cider fluttered over to Rainbow’s side and hugged her tight. “Me too, Mommy. I love you.”

Rainbow wrapped a wing around Cider and gave her a squeeze. “That’s the best thing in the world. But we came to town to talk to Twilight, because she’s been trying to fix things. And she thinks she knows how things have to get fixed, but if she’s right, I might have to—”

“You don’t gotta do nothin’!” Applejack said, loud enough to make everypony there look at her in shock. Her mouth was a firm line, but her eyes seemed full of fire as she looked at Rainbow. “You’re right, Rainbow Dash. Twilight’s wrong. There’s no more point in talkin’ about this, we just gotta find out how to convince Twilight.”

Leaf looked at Rainbow suspiciously. “What does Twilight think you might have to do?”

“We’ll tell ya later,” Applejack said, with a look that told both Leaf and Rainbow that this conversation was over.

He rolled his eyes. “You know, Ma, for a pony who used to have the Element of Honesty, you really don’t like telling us the truth about what’s going on.”

Applejack got a pained expression on her face, and Rainbow frowned.

“Leaf, this isn’t—”

“No, it’s okay. I reckon I owe ’im an explanation for that at least,” Applejack said, sitting down and looking Leaf in the eye.

“Sugarcube…” she started. Then she paused and started over. “Apple Leaf. Maybe I shoulda told you sooner. But the truth is… I ain’t been too sure what the truth is. The truth ain’t always what you think you know right at the moment. Sometimes it’s guesses and hopes and fears, and what your gut tells ya.”

Applejack glanced at Rainbow. “Before your mom remembered how awesome y’all are, I knew inside she was gonna get it fast. There was no reason to make y’all scared it might not happen when that was the truth. And when I told ya she’d be fine, I knew that too. I never wanna tell y’all a lie, but I never want to tell you a truth that might hurt until I know it’s really true. I never wanna hurt you if I don’t have to.” She looked Cider then Leaf in the eye. “But you gotta trust me, both of you. When I know the real, honest truth, I’ll give it to you, no matter how much it hurts. And your mom will too, and that’s a fact.”

“But—” Leaf started with a frown.

“Leaf, your ma’s, like, an expert on this stuff.” Rainbow smiled at Applejack. “Trust her.”

Rainbow felt a poke at her side and looked down. She saw Cider looking up at her with a serious expression.

“We better get home before the zap apples come!”

Applejack chuckled. “Right you are, half-pint. Can’t be slackin’ all day when there’s work to do.”

• • •

They got home to find that the zap apples still hadn’t arrived. Spike left for the castle, and a series of looks exchanged between Applejack and Apple Bloom inspired the latter to distract Cider and Leaf with some very important jam preparations while Applejack and Rainbow slipped upstairs to their room.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Rainbow leaned against the wall and raised an eyebrow.

“So, I’m right and Twilight’s wrong, huh?”

Applejack took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I was Leaf’s age when my folks passed. I couldn’t watch ya tell them you might…” She looked over, into Rainbow’s eyes. “What I told him’s true. Sometimes the truth is just what ya know inside. I know you’d never let that happen to them, and you’d never keep that from me all these years. So the truth is, Twilight’s wrong.”

Rainbow walked over and nuzzled her. “AJ… thanks.”

“You don’t gotta thank me,” Applejack said, nuzzling back. “Wherever my Dash is, I know she was just the pony I knew and loved.”

“She was,” Rainbow whispered.

Applejack nodded and looked down. With her eyes on the floor, she walked over to her nightstand and opened a drawer, pulling out an envelope. “I… reckon it’s time I oughta read this. I dug it up yesterday after we talked.”

“What is it?” Rainbow asked, flying over next to her.

“That letter she wrote, back when she joined the Wonderbolts.” Applejack closed her eyes, but tears slipped out anyway. “I always knew she was gonna go out flyin’.”

Rainbow stared at the sealed envelope. “AJ… that’ll prove whether I’m her or not. If I wrote it, I know you’re not going to read it until now. I could use it to explain everything, and tell myself to go back…”

“And if it ain’t from you, we can show it to Twilight and she’ll see we gotta start all over.” She hesitated for a moment, then looked at Rainbow and offered it to her. “Here… I reckon you oughta read it. You deserve to know first who she was.”

Rainbow shook her head and pushed it back. “It’s for you. It’s from a pony who loved you a lot, who you… aren’t going to see again.”

Applejack nodded, and stopped fighting her tears. She was still holding herself together, barely, but Rainbow knew nothing she could say would help at this point.

She stepped away and glanced at the door. “I… uh… I think I should leave while you read that. I mean, you… you wanna say goodbye, and…”

“Thank you, sugarcube.” Applejack sniffed and offered her a sad smile.

Rainbow got halfway to the door when she paused and looked over her shoulder. “You didn’t read it when you found it… you thought she might come back when I left.”

“I had a hope, but I wasn’t countin’ on it. But yeah, I wasn’t sure.” She took a breath and looked at Rainbow. “But I’m sure now.”

“AJ…” Rainbow bit her lip and almost decided not to ask. But standing here, in the shadow of that pony, she had to know the truth. Even if it hurt. “Why did you say you could love me, if you thought I might get sent back, and she’d come back to you?”

“’Cause… I wanted to know if I could see just a tiny spark of the love we had in your eyes, for however long I could get it. If she never came back, and you left, and I pushed you away before that… I’d spend the rest of my life kickin’ myself for it.” Applejack shook her head sadly. Then she smiled over at Rainbow. “I wasn’t disappointed, sugarcube.”

Rainbow nodded and flew over to Applejack. She slowly leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on her muzzle, looking into her eyes despite the tears. Applejack locked eyes with her for a moment, until Rainbow slowly turned away.

“I’ll wait downstairs. Take as long as you need.”

Rainbow closed the door behind her as she stepped out into the hall. She slowly walked toward the stairs, and down to the living room. Outside she could hear the foals laughing as they took part in the silly magic of the zap apples. Rainbow just sat on the couch, waiting.

She knew, whatever that letter said, she wasn’t the pony who belonged here. She didn’t belong anywhere, not anymore. If she was right, she’d practically murdered a pony, a better pony than she was. And now she was falling in love with that pony’s wife, and raising that pony’s foals, and just trying her hardest not to mess things up. She might have a shot at being a Wonderbolt herself, but only because that pony had been the best.

If she was wrong… if that pony was her, she’d always been a fraud. AJ, the Wonderbolts, they’d thought she was the best. They’d thought she was a pony who did what was right, who came through for the ponies she cared about. But she was a liar, a pony who knew she wasn’t coming through for other ponies in the end.

Rainbow had always wanted to be a Wonderbolt because they were the best. She’d always wanted to be the best; she tried to make other ponies believe it because she always tried her hardest to make it true. But without that to hope for… what kind of life would that be?

She heard hoofsteps on the stairs, but she didn’t look up. Applejack sat down next to her, her face tear-stained but dry. She gave Rainbow a nuzzle, but Rainbow didn’t respond. Then she pressed the letter into Rainbow’s hoof.

“Read this.”

Dear AJ,

If you’re reading this, and I died in a Wonderbolts show, you were right. (But I bet it wasn’t my fault, either. I’m the best flyer in Equestria, but other ponies aren’t.)

Winning an argument probably isn’t as cool if I’m dead. I’m sorry. I just want this to make you feel better, somehow.

You can be mad at me. I didn’t listen to you. I also lied when we used to play Scrabble and I’d say something was a city Daring Do went to. I always just used that to use up all my letters when they sucked. And when you’d get a cookie, then get up and leave the room, and I said Winona ate it… that was totally me.

I’m pretty sure you knew all that stuff. I guess this is my last chance to tell you stuff you don’t know, since you promised not to read this until I’m dead.

You don’t know that I’m the one who messed up the zap apple harvest. It was right before our first date, and the harvest came in, and you were going to have to postpone it for a week. But I couldn’t wait. It was for a stupid reason, too. I just wanted to get laid.

Well, it worked. Kind of. After that the signs started coming at random. But we did go on our first date, the night of the fourth sign.

That night, I was still just thinking about getting laid. I had that spot set up, and I was hoping you’d think I was charming and stuff, and pop your tail for me. But then we really started talking, and I found my best friend. I mean, we were friends before, and I’ll always love the girls, but nopony has ever known me like you do. I never thought I’d just want to talk to a pony. I never thought a pony would understand all the things that are important to me, but you do, because they’re important to you too. I found a pony to always have my back. A pony to push with, together, to be our best. A pony who’s helped me hide my cracks, and let me help her hide the cracks that are even deeper than mine.

When you’re done being mad at me, I just want you to be happy we had that, because it made me the happiest pony in the world. I’m sorry about the zap apples. I’m sorry that I’m gone. But I’m not sorry for a single second in between, because I had the most awesome best friend, and the most awesome wife a pony could ask for. I love you and respect you more than anypony I’ve ever met. I’m not good at words, but I don’t think anypony could come up with words that would make this piece of paper say how I feel.

I guess you can be sad, too, but only at my funeral. You can cry a lot and throw yourself across my casket and tell everypony that nopony could ever satisfy you after being with me. It’s a natural reaction, after all.

You know that’s a joke. I just want you to be okay, however you do that. I love you.

Love,

Dash

Rainbow blinked at the paper.

“I’m sorry,” was all she could say.

Applejack nodded. “We’ve gotta go tell Twilight. Then she can figure out what really happened.”

Rainbow looked up at her. “What do you mean?”

Applejack raised her eyebrows. “Dash, it ain’t an open loop. The potion showed us that. And it ain’t a closed loop, the letter proves it.”

Rainbow worked her mouth a few times before the words came out. “But, those are the only options. I mean, Twilight said—”

Applejack frowned and rubbed her chin. “Then I reckon Twilight’s more wrong than we thought.”

Change is the Only Constant

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After some quick words with Apple Bloom, Rainbow and Applejack headed toward Ponyville for the second time that day. The letter was tucked safely in Applejack’s hat, and Rainbow flew next to her, glancing at the hat, then letting her eyes travel down to the determined and troubled face of the pony wearing it. Applejack walked like she was going to get answers, and it made Rainbow glad they were the same answers Rainbow wanted.

Rainbow was able to fly steady next to her, but only because shifting focus in the air was second nature to her. She looked at the castle in the distance, where Twilight might tell them anything, really. Everything but time travel had been ruled out, and now that was about to be ruled out. The thought crossed Rainbow’s mind that maybe she was a changeling and didn’t even know it, but the potion from earlier ruled that out too.

Her eyes darted to the hat again. It wasn’t a closed loop. She didn’t have to go back and lie to everypony, and her life wouldn’t end with this. And it wasn’t an open loop, so she hadn’t come from the past to displace the pony AJ loved. There should have been a sense of relief from that, but she couldn’t relax. If she didn’t know how this had happened, she didn’t know if something even worse was in store.

They got to the castle, and marched and flew right into the library. Twilight was laying on a pillow, reading a book, with a half-finished cup of tea next to her. She looked up and a gentle concern filled her face.

“Are you calmed down now?” she asked Rainbow as she got to her hooves.

Rainbow responded by snatching Applejack’s hat off of her head and flying over to Twilight as she yanked the letter out. “You have to read this!”

“So that’s a no…” Twilight sighed as her magic took the paper being shoved in her face.

“Well, she’s worked up for a reason,” Applejack said, walking over to take her hat back from Rainbow and setting it firmly back on her head. ”Dash is right, it ain’t a closed loop. It can’t be.”

Twilight frowned. “Not you too, AJ.”

Applejack nodded. “Well, yeah, if it comes down to it. I know Dash better than anypony, and I trust her. But it happens she’s right on this one, anyhow. Read that letter she gave ya. Dash wrote it way back when she joined the Wonderbolts.”

“It proves it’s not a closed loop,” Rainbow added, as Twilight’s eyes scanned the page.

“This doesn’t prove anything, Rainbow,” Twilight said as she finished. “It is more evidence to take into account, but so is that test earlier.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “If I’m supposed to know that AJ won’t read that until today, why wouldn’t I use it to tell myself to go back? Why would I admit to something I already admitted to?”

Twilight shrugged. “Maybe you go back and knew you wrote it that way.”

“Twilight, this is gettin’ a bit ridiculous.” Applejack shook her head, then motioned to Rainbow. “Dash can’t remember all our birthdays—”

“Hey, I know most of them!” Rainbow protested. “And Rarity’s is sometime in November, I remember that!”

“It’s in October,” Twilight corrected her.

“I was close.”

Applejack sighed. “The point bein’, there’s no way she’s gonna memorize a letter and go back and write it just the same. And if she’s writin’ it different, why wouldn’t she say what she wants to say?”

“Maybe by that time it is what she wants to say. Maybe she takes this letter back with her. Maybe when she goes back she gets—” Twilight stopped, then her brow furrowed and she looked off in the distance.

“What? What do I get?” Rainbow asked, her head tilted in confusion.

“New evidence…” Twilight muttered without looking at Rainbow or AJ. She turned to walk over to her desk and started rifling through a pile of papers. She found one at the bottom, and picked up her quill. “There was another option. Give me a minute here…”

Applejack and Rainbow watched Twilight in silence, not daring to utter a word that might distract her. The only sound was the scritching of Twilight’s quill, and her occasional mutters about which formula to use or if words Rainbow didn’t understand would affect other words Rainbow didn’t understand.

Finally, she said more audibly but still to herself, “But that only works if…” Then she turned to look at Rainbow over her shoulder, her eyes wide as if she’d seen a ghost. Rainbow shifted nervously.

Twilight seemed to force her face into a more neutral expression as she looked to Applejack. “AJ, when Rainbow crashed, what did it look like?”

Applejack blinked. “Like a pony fallin’ outta the sky? It looked like she crashed.”

“No, exactly what did it look like?” Twilight pressed. “Did the clouds run into her and knock her out of the air? Or was she trying to get out of the way, and she landed at the wrong angle?”

“I didn’t see what she was doin’ before, or how she got in the air, but the clouds rolled in and I looked up, and she kinda came outta them like a rag doll bucked from a bull.” Applejack frowned and swallowed with a glance at Rainbow.

Rainbow shivered just imagining it. There were a few important things a pony needed to do to stay safe in a crash. In an uncontrolled free fall like that, all she could have done was pray to Celestia.

Twilight was still focused on Applejack. “And she went down in the orchard? Nopony saw her hit the ground?”

Applejack shook her head. “Nope, just the treeline.”

“Did she hit any branches on the way down?”

“She didn’t break more than some twigs, I woulda seen it later, but she mighta knocked her head or somethin’,” Applejack said with a shrug.

Twilight grimaced, then she nodded. “Thanks.”

She turned back to her paper, then gathered it and several others in her magic and turned around. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, Rainbow. You were probably right. In light of new evidence, I don’t think it’s time travel at all. The confirmation of Zecora’s potion makes open-loop travel impossible, and the letter and Rainbow’s general refusal to cooperate makes closed-loop travel unlikely.”

Rainbow nodded, leaning forward. “We know that! So what is it?”

Twilight took a deep breath, then said, “Well, it turns out that having taken control of the zap apple magic and bent it to your will makes magical amnesia much more likely than time travel. Remember I said there was almost no way it could have reconstructed your brain from exactly fifteen years ago at random?”

“Is that something you said?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, you say a lot of stuff sometimes.”

Twilight leveled a stare. “Yes. It is something I said. But what I didn’t know when I did my initial calculations was that it wasn’t at random. It was a familiar magical resonance, in fact probably the last magical resonance that had directed the magic, since very few ponies are stupid enough to try to control the zap apple weather.”

Rainbow just stared at her as questions started to swirl through her brain like the zap apple storm she remembered all too clearly. Did this mean she was the pony in those pictures? Did it change anything if she still didn’t remember it? Could Twilight fix her? Did this mean that the zap apple weather had a copy of her brain stored, ready to slam it into anypony who ran into it? Could they get rid of that? Because she was pretty sure she didn’t want some random other pony running around with her thoughts and memories, especially the ones about how hot Applejack was…

She wasn’t really surprised when Applejack got it together first. “So… that’s it? She’s the same pony, she just don’t remember?”

“Well…” Twilight hesitated then gave a nervous laugh. “That’s an interesting question. She’s the same pony in that her mind belongs in that body. And it’s fair to say she’s the same pony we became friends with and you agreed to go out with, maybe more so than she was right before her crash. But going forward from the time of the first crash she’ll have different experiences this time, she’ll form different opinions from those experiences, and she’ll probably grow to be a different pony. Of course, if she’d gone into a coma she would be even less like herself than she’ll grow to be, but you’d consider her the same pony—”

“It’s complicated. Gotcha,” Applejack said with a nod.

“Can you fix it?” Rainbow asked. If Twilight could make her right again, she could leave questions about who she really was to the eggheads. If Twilight couldn’t fix it, she’d probably do that anyway. They could let her know when they figured it out, she wasn’t going anywhere.

Twilight looked at Rainbow and bit her lip. Then she shook her head sadly. “Nopony’s managed to cure magical amnesia when it’s only a few days or weeks missing, and something on this scale is unprecedented. I’d have to make the medical breakthrough of a lifetime before I could even start figuring it out.”

Rainbow nodded and sighed. There wasn’t much to say. Unless Twilight had made another mistake, it was time to accept that where she was now was what she had to work with. Applejack walked over next to her and offered a nuzzle, leaning against her as if she was trying to share the weight.

“I know how important those memories are,” Twilight said gently. “It’s practically your whole life, and even if you have plenty more in the future, the ones you lost are… well, irreplaceable. But…” She stopped, then almost whispered, “This is way better than the alternative.”

Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, I mean, it’s better than having to be somepony I’m not for the rest of my life, or messing with open loops.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Twilight shook her head. “You weren’t listening when I told you about magical amnesia the first time you came to me about this, were you?”

“Um…” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck, glancing around.

Twilight sighed. “It’s a spontaneous magical restoration of brain damage. It usually only smooths over the damaged portions, with a few weeks lost at most. Nopony has ever lost years before.”

“I’ve had plenty of concussions, I would’ve been fine.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Twilight, losing a few IQ points isn’t a big deal for most ponies.”

Applejack looked from Twilight to Rainbow with a worried expression. “Dash, maybe you oughta fire up some of what you got left.”

Twilight frowned. “Rainbow, I think you destroyed your brain in that crash. It could have been the magic of the storm, or tumbling through it, or a directed impact from a tree branch or the ground, but you suffered severe intracranial trauma without more than a few bruises on your body. However it happened, for your brain to be so damaged that it wouldn’t resist a total restructuring, you’d have to have almost no conscious functioning at all.”

“What’s that mean?” Applejack asked cautiously.

Twilight looked Applejack in the eye. “She should be dead, or at least in a vegetative state. Without the magical amnesia, she wouldn’t be with us in any form after that crash. It rewrote her brain from almost nothing into a pony who can still kiss her foals goodnight, or talk to you, or consider flying with the Wonderbolts again…”

Rainbow just stared at Twilight, her eyes slowly growing wide as she processed that. “…Wow.”

Applejack nuzzled her again, this time wrapping her in an almost crushing hug. Rainbow barely noticed her forelegs moving to hold Applejack, but a moment later she wasn’t sure she could let go if she wanted to.

The whole time, Rainbow had been treating it as a mistake. She had thought she should be in another time, but she was here, so something was wrong.

Now it was dawning on her that the mistake was that she was alive. She should be dead, but she was here. That was what was wrong. That mistake was amazing.

Rainbow nuzzled Applejack, smelling her mane. It smelled like sweat and an earthy musk; she’d been working all morning. She felt the weight of AJ’s body against hers, and her soft coat rubbing her own. She noticed the cool air of the crystal palace they were in, and the awesomely boring smell of lots and lots of books. She saw Twilight, watching them with a sad smile on her face, looking all friendly and smart and Twilight-y.

“I almost lost everything,” she whispered.

“You didn’t,” Applejack whispered back. “And what ya lost ain’t as important as what you’ve still got.”

Rainbow’s mind continued to take stock of everything good in her life. Her foals. Her friends. Tank. Parties, Daring Do books, her wings, the sky. She started to feel overwhelmed by how much stuff there was, and could be, and it was all because of one day, fifteen years ago, when she couldn’t wait to get laid.

Rainbow bit her lip and pulled away from Applejack’s hug. “Guys… I totally don’t deserve all of this. I mean, I messed up your zap apples, then I lied to you about it all this time, and instead of crashing and dying like I should have, it saved my life.”

“Don’t you ever say that, sugarcube,” Applejack said as she tried to look into Rainbow’s eyes.

Rainbow glanced away, avoiding her.

Applejack frowned for a moment, then she smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t forget, you’re the pony who saved it all, too.”

Rainbow furrowed her brow. “I did? What did I save it from?”

“From me,” Twilight said, giving her head a sad shake. “If I had sent you back in time, it would have made an open loop. Who knows how things would have turned out? It could have been really bad.”

Applejack ran a hoof down Rainbow’s mane. “But you know who you’re supposed to be, Rainbow Dash. And you held onto that, and you came through for us all.”

Rainbow blinked. Then a grin grew across her face. “Yeah! I guess I did! I totally won against Twilight!”

Twilight smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Of course the timeline wouldn’t have needed saving if you’d mentioned playing with the zap apple magic when I asked you for all of the details.”

“Hey, I wasn’t playing with zap apple magic, I was mastering zap apple magic,” Rainbow explained.

Applejack shot her a look. “You messed around with it for a darn fool reason, then ya broke it. If that’s masterin’ it, then Cider is probably masterin’ somethin’ right this minute.”

Rainbow looked between Applejack and Twilight. “Look, guys, I think the important thing here is that I saved my life and the world.”

“That it is,” Applejack said with a chuckle. She walked over and planted her muzzle against Rainbow’s in a deep kiss that lasted a long time, but only left Rainbow wanting more. As they parted, Applejack grinned and whispered, “My hero.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” Rainbow grinned.

Twilight giggled. “I’d love to have you guys stay for dinner, but I get the feeling you might want to go home and celebrate.”

Rainbow nodded and nuzzled Applejack. “Yeah… I think so.”

“And Celestia knows when the zap apples are comin’.” Applejack rolled her eyes and looked pointedly at Rainbow, but the look melted into a smile after another nuzzle.

“Well, good luck, both of you,” Twilight said as her friends started toward the door. “And I’ll set aside some books on recent history for you, Rainbow.”

“It might be a while, Twi,” Rainbow said over her shoulder. “I’ve still got a ton of Daring Do to catch up on.”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “I understand. Priorities.”

Applejack and Rainbow took the walk home slowly, Rainbow’s wing draped over Applejack’s back. From time to time, seemingly out of nowhere, Applejack leaned over to rub her cheek against Rainbow’s. It was late afternoon, almost dinner time, and Rainbow wanted nothing more than to curl up with Applejack and take a nap. Her body wasn’t even that tired; it was almost like her feelings were tired. That sort of made sense: she’d given them all a Wonderbolt-level workout that day.

But now, walking with Applejack, she finally felt calm. Even as the remnants of the day’s twists and turns played through her head, there was a distance to them, and Applejack was still standing there right next to her. As tired as she was, she felt more clear-headed than she had in a long time.

“Dash…” Applejack whispered after another nuzzle as they left the town behind them. She shook her head and looked down. “I can’t believe I almost lost ya.”

“I’m sorry,” Rainbow said softly. “I mean, I don’t know what I was thinking, but I wasn’t being safe. I know that’s hurt you these past two weeks, and it almost… Maybe I am the best flyer in Equestria, but I have to be there for you and the kids, and that means I need to think a little more.”

Applejack nodded. “I reckon that’s true. But it was a freak accident, and I know it. It ain’t like I’m gonna ask you not to fly around. It just… goes to show how fast things can turn.”

“I’m still here to help you turn.” Rainbow leaned over and gave her a nuzzle.

“Thank Celestia.” Applejack smiled. “We had a lot of path behind us, and I ain’t gonna say I won’t miss it… but if I had to start over, I’m darn lucky to have you to start again.”

“You think you’re lucky?” Rainbow said, watching the apple trees pass by as they moved toward the main gate of Sweet Apple Acres. “I almost didn’t get to start over. It’s weird, I’ve spent the past two weeks thinking about how much this sucked, and… now it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Applejack smiled sadly at her. “Well, to be fair there’s a lotta stuff that happened to ya that you don’t know happened to ya.”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, but even counting stuff like our wedding and the kids being born, not dying because of a freaky magic coincidence has gotta be up there. I mean, if I’d skipped that one, the others wouldn’t matter.”

“You got a point there,” Applejack agreed.

As they turned onto the path toward the farmhouse, they fell back into silence. Rainbow could see the house in the distance; she was glad they were almost home. She smiled, and looked over at Applejack.

Applejack was focused on the farmhouse, but she was smiling too. Rainbow knew she was probably even more glad to be getting close. She’d been through just as much today, and what she needed more than anything was for life to get back to normal, work and foals and Rainbow at her side. Rainbow understood that; she felt like she understood a lot more about AJ now than she ever had before. And the more she understood, the more she realized that Applejack was an awesome pony that Rainbow needed at her side.

“AJ…” Rainbow said, breaking the silence.

Applejack looked over at her with the same smile she had been directing at the farmhouse.

Rainbow gave her a nuzzle. “Thanks. I said before I couldn’t have done this without you, and what happened today… I really couldn’t have done it without you. I knew the kind of pony I should be, and that’s how I knew it was wrong, but… I also knew if I did that stuff, I’d lose all the respect you’ve ever had for me, and anything special we might be able to have. That’s what made me fight.”

Applejack stopped and turned to face her. Something seemed to shine in her eyes and through her smile as she looked at Rainbow like there was no other pony in the world.

“I have never been prouder of you, Rainbow Dash. You’re the pony I always thought you were, and then some.” She leaned in and kissed Rainbow’s cheek, then whispered in her ear, “And I reckon tonight, I’m gonna give you some mighty sweet dessert.”

Rainbow smirked. “I think I’ll take a raincheck.” She pointed behind Applejack, where storm clouds were gathering over part of the orchard. “You’re gonna be all worn out from the zap apple harvest.”

Applejack looked over her shoulder and gave a long sigh. “Dang it, I guess I am,” she grumbled, then turned back to Rainbow with a weary smile. “Ain’t that how it goes?”

Rainbow smiled at Applejack. “Yeah. And it’s awesome anyway.”

• • •

Two weeks later, Rainbow and Cider flew toward Canterlot, landing neatly in front of a restaurant by the Wonderbolts stadium. Cider was wearing her saddlebags and flight goggles—she had just finished flight camp and it seemed to have paid off. Rainbow had her own saddlebags with her, just in case things worked out like she hoped.

Rainbow grinned and offered her a hoofbump. “Looking good!”

Cider beamed and returned the bump with her little hoof.

They walked inside together. It was a family place; bright and cheery and not too expensive, but with good hayburgers and salads with lots of flower petals. It was the perfect place to grab dinner before taking the foals to a Wonderbolts show. Rainbow looked around and spotted Applejack, Leaf, and Sky at a table against the window.

“Hey, guys!” Rainbow called as she and Cider made their way over.

Applejack stood up and scooped Cider up in a hug. “There’s my little half-pint of cider! Oh sugarcube, I’ve missed ya.” She pulled away, smiling down at the filly. “Did ya have a good time at flight camp?”

Cider grinned and fluttered into the air. “It was awesome! I learned how to fly really fast, and there were other foals and we had contests and races and I can go through hoops better than anypony! I even got a trophy for it!”

Rainbow gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Way to go, champ. We’ll put it right in the case with ours.”

Avoiding the high chair where Sky was banging a spoon on the table, Rainbow took a seat next to AJ’s chair. AJ returned to her spot as Cider flew over and sat next to Leaf.

Cider went on, barely able to sit still. “Everypony there wanted to come to the farm and have some cider and zap apple jam and fritters and pie… I told them all about it, and a lot of them had never even been to a farm!” She looked around the table as if this news should shock everypony present. Then she smiled proudly. “So they’re all gonna ask their folks and I told them they better bring a lot of bits.”

Applejack furrowed her brow. “Sugarcube, you can have your friends over for treats without them buyin’ anything.”

“I know, but there were a lot of foals there, Mama. It’ll be really good for business!” Cider said with a grin so innocent that Rainbow had to snort back a laugh.

“Now where’d you get it in your head to worry ’bout business?” Applejack looked shocked.

“I wonder,” Rainbow muttered to AJ, smirking. “Looks like Sweet Apple Acres is gonna corner the Cloudsdale market.”

Cider shrugged, and then turned over her paper placemat and grabbed a crayon from a jar at the end of the table. “There’s just ponies up there who need apples and treats, and we’ve got the best ones in Equestria.”

Applejack chuckled and shook her head. “Well, I reckon I can’t argue with that.”

“Speaking of food, everypony know what they’re getting?” Rainbow asked, opening her own menu.

The conversation turned to what was going to be ordered, who was going to share what with Sky, and the various dessert options that Cider wasn’t having for dinner. A waitress came over and took their orders, and brought drinks to the table.

As they were waiting for dinner to arrive, Rainbow kept an eye on the door to the restaurant. A few ponies came and went, and finally the pony she was waiting for walked in.

Fleetfoot caught sight of them and flashed a smile as she walked over. Rainbow waved to her. The rest of the family looked up; AJ smiled and gave a nod, while Cider took note and went back to drawing on the back of her placemat.

Leaf looked at Rainbow, his head tilted. “What’s Fleetfoot doing here?”

Rainbow shrugged. “When I wrote about the tickets, I told her we’d be here. I said she should stop by if she had time before the show.”

“Hey, Rainbow Dash! Brought the whole family, huh?” Fleetfoot said as she got to the table.

“Yup!” She grinned. “Thanks for the VIP box.”

Fleetfoot shrugged. “No problem, the crowds would mob you. They probably will anyway as you’re getting in there.”

“Like that ain’t what she’s hopin’.” Applejack chuckled and shook her head.

“It’s not my fault if ponies love me, AJ,” Rainbow said with mock innocence. “I’m a very loveable pony.”

Applejack raised her eyebrows. “You’re somethin’ all right.”

“So I talked to the team about what you wrote, about your crash.” Fleetfoot frowned. “The whole team is glad you’re okay.”

Rainbow gave a sad smile and a shrug. “Any crash you walk away from, right? But tell them thanks.”

Fleetfoot nodded. “And I had a talk with Legal. If you’re still interested, it’s okay to take you on as long as you can handle the flying.” She chuckled a little. “Actually, some of them seemed to think brain damage was a requirement for being a Wonderbolt.”

Rainbow looked at Applejack and raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t say it.” Applejack smirked. Then her face softened. “Sugarcube, you know it’s up to you. We’re all behind ya, no matter what.”

“I…” Rainbow started. She hesitated, then took a deep breath and went on. “I’ve been thinking about it. What if I did some guest flying, to keep my hoof in, then when Sky is a little older I come back for a season or two?” She smiled at AJ, then looked back to Fleetfoot. “I’m still getting stuff straight at home, and I don’t wanna come back until I can really focus.”

Applejack smiled at her. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Fleetfoot nodded. “We can see how that works out, sure.”

Rainbow grinned and relaxed. “And I’m gonna be a pain in the tail about safety. I think I’ve used up all the luck I had.”

“You can keep us one hundred percent by the book. Some of the rookies we’ve got can probably use the example.” Fleetfoot rolled her eyes. “You know how kids are, they think they’re invincible.”

Looking around the table, Rainbow smiled. “They don’t know what they’ve got to lose yet.” Her eyes landed on Leaf, and she took a breath and turned back to Fleetfoot. “So, how’s the flight choreography these days? Got any new tricks?”

“Mom!” Leaf said, his eyes growing wide.

Rainbow looked at him and cocked her head. “What? I was just asking her about the routines.”

Leaf frowned and crossed his forelegs across his chest. “Yeah, right.”

“Leaf…” Applejack said in a warning tone.

“Um, should I go?” Fleetfoot asked, looking between Rainbow and Leaf.

“No. Wait here just a minute. Leaf, come here.” Rainbow stood up and grabbed her saddlebags, and nodded for Leaf to follow her.

They walked to the back of the restaurant, and Rainbow stopped in an empty corner by the swinging kitchen door. Leaf glared at her.

“Do you think I don’t know what you’re doing?” he said in a low voice.

Rainbow looked him in the eye. “I promised I wouldn’t tell anypony. I didn’t tell anypony. But I’m giving you an opening—”

“I don’t need an opening!” Leaf insisted. “They’re not ready.”

“They’re never gonna be ready, Leaf,” Rainbow said, her face dead serious. His head drooped, but she went on. “You’re never gonna design a trick that’s awesome enough for you. But that doesn’t matter.”

Rainbow put a hoof under his chin and lifted his head to look her in the eye again. “What matters is that everything you do, you give it your all. You show the Wonderbolts the best trick you can design, and do the best job you can do. Never settle for less than that. But you can’t wait for everything to be awesome, or you’re going to miss how awesome good stuff can be.”

“But I’m still getting better,” he said softly.

Rainbow smiled. “Of course you are. That’s no excuse for not giving it your all right now.” She reached into her saddlebag and handed him the book that was inside. “Here’s your notebook, Leaf. Go be awesome.”

Leaf looked at the notebook, then over at Fleetfoot. Then he looked at Rainbow and swallowed. She just nodded back to the table where Fleetfoot stood. Finally, Leaf started to walk over, and Rainbow followed him.

“Um… Fleetfoot?” he said once he was next to her, as Rainbow sat down and nudged Applejack to watch.

Fleetfoot looked down at him and raised her eyebrows. “What’s up, Leaf?”

“I… I’m kind of interested in flight choreography, and I designed some tricks and routines… would you take a look at them?” He offered her the notebook like she might bite his hoof off.

Fleetfoot took it, then looked to Rainbow with a raised eyebrow.

Rainbow smiled and nodded. “You wanna see these.”

“Okay… sure.” Fleetfoot shrugged and opened the book.

At first Leaf winced as Fleetfoot flipped through the pages, nodding occasionally and raising her eyebrows at something here or there. But as she got to the more recent tricks she was nodding more often, and Rainbow saw her wings twitching as she followed along in her head. Leaf’s expression changed to one of pure anticipation, watching her every move.

She turned another page and gave a low whistle, then looked down at Leaf. “You know there’s some really good stuff here, right?”

Leaf seemed frozen for a few seconds before he answered, “…Yeah.”

Fleetfoot looked back at the book and raised an eyebrow. “Looks like you’ve got the velocity and angles worked out and everything. Do you do any group routines?”

“There are a few in there…” Leaf’s ears drooped slightly. “They’re not my best, I just started messing around with that.”

“Still learning?” She gave him a considering look.

He looked down and nodded.

“That’s great. A pony should always be pushing their limits.” Fleetfoot grinned and snapped the notebook shut. “Leaf, I think you oughta come and talk to our choreographer. How about if I set something up for your mom to bring you by during a rehearsal?”

“I… uh…” Leaf gaped as he looked over at Rainbow.

Rainbow just raised her eyebrows. “It’s up to you.”

Leaf turned back to Fleetfoot in a daze and nodded. “Yeah.” He seemed to wake up as soon as he said it, and a grin spread across his face. “Yeah! That would be awesome!”

“Cool… cool. Mind if I show him this?” Fleetfoot motioned with the notebook. She saw him hesitate and grinned. “Don’t worry, your mom would send us to Tartarus if we tried to steal anything.”

“You know it.” Rainbow nodded firmly.

“Sure!” Leaf said, still grinning. “I mean, if you wanna use anything, just ask. I—I made them for the best flyers to fly.”

“Great! I’ll be in touch.” Fleetfoot tucked the book under her foreleg and took off hovering. “And I’ll see you guys later. Enjoy the show!”

Rainbow and Applejack waved as she flew off toward the door. Leaf just stood there, beaming, looking like he might explode from happiness and excitement. Rainbow looked at him and grinned. He didn’t even notice the glow, but Rainbow felt AJ pat her urgently.

“Leaf…” Rainbow said. He looked at her with the same amazed grin. She almost laughed as she just said, “Your flank, Leaf.”

He looked back and his eyes went wide as he spotted the red apple with dark green leaves spread behind it like wings. “My cutie mark! Mom, I got my cutie mark!”

“Congratulations, sugarcube,” Applejack said, standing up and walking over to hug him and nuzzle his cheek.

Rainbow couldn’t stop grinning. Her vision was getting blurry and she had to reach up and wipe her eyes as Leaf tried to hug Applejack and look at his cutie mark at the same time. They broke the hug, freeing Leaf to stare at it again.

“Ya big softie,” Applejack whispered to Rainbow as she sat back down.

Rainbow rolled her eyes a little, then looked back at the colt. “Leaf, that was awesome. I’m really proud of you.”

Leaf rushed over and threw his forelegs around her, hugging her tight. He looked up at her like she had just raised the sun. “Thanks, Mom. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Rainbow hugged him back tight. “Sure you could have. I just did what a mom’s supposed to do.” As she let Leaf go, keeping a foreleg wrapped around him, she grinned at Applejack. “It just so happens I’m awesome at it.”

Applejack chuckled, leaning over to kiss Rainbow on the cheek. “You sure are, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow wasn’t sure if she’d ever been happier than that moment. She’d probably never be sure of that. But surrounded by the ponies who needed her, and took care of her, and loved her, she was as close as she could imagine to being totally happy.

She was counting it as a win.

Lost Time

by bookplayer

Sooner or Later

If Not Now, When?

Present Tense

Yesterday and Today

When I Grow Up

Looking Forward

Time's Up

Now For You

For the First Time

When All Is Lost

Change is the Only Constant