“I'm telling you Applejack! I do NOT look like a damn bag of skittles!”
Rainbow and Applejack had just finished their shower and were on their way back to the barracks. Applejack rolled her eyes.
“The only way you could look anymore like a bag of skittles is if you had red skin.”
Applejack unscrewed the cap off of a bottle of water she was carrying with her and took a drink. Rainbow Dash smirked evilly.
“In my defense, I know people would just LOVE to taste the rainbow. Just ask Fluttershy.”
Applejack choked mid-drink and coughed madly, her cheeks flushed deep red.
“D-Dammit Dash Ah did not need ta hear that!!”
“Bahahahahahaha!! Too easy!!! Hahahahaha!!”
Applejack glared at Rainbow as she kept walking. Soon they entered the barracks and plopped down on their respective beds.
“Ugh...”
Silence.
“I miss the girls already AJ...”
“Me too Dash. Me too.”
“Why did WE have to get called into this?”
“Both our names were on the ballad, Dash. We signed the papers when we turned eighteen remember?”
Rainbow Dash grunted angrily.
“Stupid government mandate.”
“Yeah.”
“AJ?”
“Yeah Rainbow?”
“If there was one thing you could choose that you regret. What would it be?”
Applejack took a moment to think before taking a deep breath, and letting it out with a sigh.
“Ah regret leavin' ya'll after losin' the rodeo a few years back. It was right foolish of me. Ah shoulda just fessed up instead of trying to hide it.”
“Yeah well, we still forgave you.”
Applejack smiled at the rainbow haired girl.
“What about you?”
Rainbow Dash frowned a bit.
“I regret not accepting my dads apology before he passed...”
Applejack felt her heart sink at the sudden confession.
“I remember when I came out to my parents. When I told them I was gay...I got mixed reactions. Mom was proud that I had the courage to tell them. She said as long as I was happy, then so was she. My dad on the other hand...he didn't take it as well as she did. He just kinda stayed quiet and I asked him what was wrong. He said...”
Rainbow Dash started tearing up trying to hide her sadness.
“It's okay Rainbow. Ya don't have ta continue if ya don't want...”
“No. I have to....”
Applejack nodded and waited for her friend to continue.
“H-He said I was a monster. A freak....an abomination...that all I needed was some dick and that would steer me on the right path. I told him that I knew what I was doing and I wasn't interested in guys. B-But...what he said next really hurt me...”
Applejack sat patiently, now sitting up on her bed with a look of concern. Rainbow Dash bit her lip and steeled herself for her next bombshell.
“H-He said...‘Then you are no daughter of mine.’...”
Applejack gripped her bed sheets with anger. Gritting her teeth she could feel her temper skyrocketing.
“I...I ran out of the house crying. Came back a few hours later but I didn't talk to him. I didn't want to see him. Didn't talk to him for months. Eventually I got my own apartment. Got a job and everything. A couple of months go by and I hear knocking at my door. And wouldn't ya know it...it's my dad. S-So he starts rambling on about how he was in the wrong...how he should have never said those things to me and practically begged me to forgive him.”
Rainbow started sobbing quietly to herself.
“I-I was still so mad at him...I just...shut the door in his face and walked away. Never heard from him again...until about another six or seven months go by and I get a call...I-It was my mom...s-she called to tell me that dad had passed away in his sleep...had a heart attack or something...and...for the first time in over a year I showed true emotion towards him...I just crumpled to the floor and started screaming and bawling...”
Rainbow looked up at the blonde cowgirl with tears in her eyes.
“I-I never got to say goodbye...I never got to talk to him again because I was too stupid to put aside my anger and forgive him...I'll never get the chance now...”
The rainbow haired girl finally started sobbing louder. Applejack quickly moved to her and wrapped her in a hug. Rainbow immediately accepted.
“Oh sugarcube...ah'm so sorry....Ah know how ya feel...not about the gay thing...but Ah know what it's like ta lose people ya love...even if ya might not want to love them fer somethin' they did. If ya ever wanna talk about somethin' that's eatin' ya up. If ya got somethin' on yer mind ya need ta get out in the open. Ah'm here for ya.”
Rainbow sniffled and took a few minutes to get her emotions under control.
“T-Thank you AJ...”
“Anytime honey...”
A few seconds later the doors of the barracks opened and Staff Sergeant Fury's voice echoed through the building.
“Lights out ladies! We got a early start tomorrow!”
She walked off without another word.
“Well. Ah guess we should be gettin' ta bed.”
“Yeah...”
Both girls slipped under the covers of their respective bunks. Rainbow Dash took the top one, while Applejack took the bottom one.
“Night Dash.”
“Night AJ.”
Within minutes both girls were sound asleep ready for tomorrow's training.