Rainbow looked down and grinned. “Yeah, it’s me again,” she said, bringing up a hoof to rub at her chest. It had been aching all morning; she’d have to see somepony about that. “Guess I've been coming so long it's just habit now. Good habit, though.”
Applejack's tombstone remained silent, but Rainbow liked to think she would be flattered.
Rainbow leaned forward to brush some imaginary dust off the top with her wing. “Yeah, lots has been happening, I guess. Apple Fritter’s pregnant, again, so that’ll make six for her now. Cheerilee’s nearly wetting herself with excitement.” She paused. “Or maybe that’s just a natural thing for how old she is. She’s tough, though.” Rainbow thought about what she’d said for a moment, and then blushed. “Not that I’m saying you weren’t,” she quickly corrected herself. “It’s just… you put a lot of stress on your body.” Her shoulders slumped. “Never realized what a sacrifice it was for you to come to all my things and get all your farm work done. Well, I guess I did; but it just seemed so natural coming from you.” Rainbow cracked a wry smile. “You were just as loyal as me, you know? And… well, I guess you did, because you’re you; but I don’t think I ever told you as much as I should have, and I’m sorry if I didn’t.”
She stepped closer and rested her head on the tombstone. The cold granite was somehow comforting. She exhaled. “I hope you understood just how awesome you were to me.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that, sugarcube. Ah understood.”
“That’s good. Because sometimes I wonder, you know? I’m not good at sharing all these sappy things, and I’m still not, even after all these years. I mean, you’d think by now, right? But…” Her voice trailed off as she recognized that voice. Rainbow shot to her hooves and looked behind her. There stood Applejack, just as she’d remembered her: large hat, mane ribbon, freckles, gleaming green eyes, and best of all, that little smile she’d missed.
Rainbow took a couple of steps forward, half-expecting this apparition to disappear; but Applejack remained. She slowly stretched out a hoof, afraid to touch her and reveal she was just a figment of her imagination. “How…?”
Then she froze. Another option had come to mind. A rather distressing option.
She looked back over to see herself, her head leaning on the headstone, wearing a peaceful smile on her face, her wings slowly unfolding in death. Rainbow stomped on the ground. “Aw, horseapples!” she swore. “This is how I die? I wanted to go out doing something cool! A reverse buccaneer blaze! A granny Rainboom! Anything! Ugh!” She dropped to her haunches and pouted. “So not cool.” Scowling, she turned towards Applejack and pointed at herself. “This is how I’m going to be remembered, all sappy and stuff. This bites.”
“It’s good to see you too, Rainbow,” Applejack deadpanned.
“Oh, yeah. You’re looking good, AJ,” Rainbow said, getting back up and facing her.
“Thanks.”
The two stared at each other for a few moments.
Rainbow swallowed. “Like... really good. Can I… touch you?” she asked hesitantly. “Or are we both, you know, all ghosty now?”
Applejack grinned. She straightened up. “Why don’t you try it?” she invited.
Trembling, Rainbow stretched out a hoof again. Applejack held herself still as Rainbow neared, except for the corner of her mouth that curled up at Rainbow’s hesitation.
Finally, Rainbow’s hoof brushed against Applejack’s cheek. Her orange fur parted at her touch. Unable to stop, Rainbow continued, brushing up behind her ear and stroking her mane, which felt coarse and healthy like a mane should be. Applejack turned her head slightly, giving Rainbow better access.
“Oh, it’s just like I remembered,” Rainbow whimpered.
An easy smile crossed Applejack’s face. “Feels pretty good for me, too.”
“You can feel it? Even though you’re… you know…?”
Applejack chuckled. “Rainbow?”
“What?”
“You can feel it, too, Rainbow. And you’re also… you know.”
“Oh.” Rainbow dropped her hoof. “Right.”
Applejack grinned. “Didn’t say you should stop.”
“Right.”
Applejack primly lay down, and patted the ground, indicating that Rainbow Dash should sit next to her. With a strange sense of eager hesitation, Rainbow did so. Applejack rested her head against Rainbow’s chest, and Rainbow brought a hoof up to stroke her mane. It was her. It was really her. After all these years, it was really her.
And then the next thing Rainbow Dash knew, she was straddling Applejack, their bodies pressed as closely together as she could, her tongue exploring once more Applejack’s familiar and inviting mouth.
Rainbow sat up and chuckled nervously. “Maybe… maybe I should’ve died a long time ago,” she panted.
Applejack laughed and brushed her hoof against Rainbow’s cutie mark. “Rainbow, to me, Ah ain’t been dead but for an hour or so.”
“Really? You’re coping well.”
Applejack smirked. “Ah’d say you’re getting along fine, too, seeing as how you just kicked the bucket a few minutes ago.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow shrugged. “I’m sure it’ll set in here pretty soon, and I’ll start wailing about how I shouldn’t have died so young-”
Applejack snorted.
“-and reviewing my last words to ponies, like telling Blueberry Pie that... that I did want to go to her birthday party and, uh, Scootaloo... talking about her kids and how proud I am of her.” She paused and set her hooves down, resting them on Applejack’s barrel. “Actually, I think I’m pretty good on that aspect.”
Applejack cracked a smile. “Ain’t that like you, living life with no regrets.”
“I’ve lived a good life,” Rainbow agreed. She looked down into Applejack’s eyes. “Missed you, though,” she said quietly.
Applejack put on her smarmiest grin. “How much?”
“This much.” She leaned down and kissed her again. This one was deeper, gentler, and longer. After a moment, she broke it, just to press her lips gently against hers again. This was a different kind of kiss entirely; though the first was full of fiery passion, this one was full of tender love.
Applejack chuckled, and it was at this point Rainbow realized she didn’t actually have to breathe. “Wow-ee. You are sappy. You’ve gotten soft in your old age, Rainbow.” She reached up and poked Rainbow in the stomach. “Soft as a marshmallow.”
Rainbow scowled, lifted a wing-
Applejack saw what she was about to do a split second before she did. She held up her hooves. “Don’t you dare-!”
But Rainbow dared. She brushed her wing right where she knew Applejack had been most sensitive.
Applejack let out an ‘anh!’, squirmed like she’d been dipped in ice water and bucked her off, an impressive feat considering she was still on her back.
“Haha!” Rainbow crowed, now hovering in the air, flapping her wings. “That still works?”
Applejack hid a smile as she put her hat back on her head. “It makes you happy, Rainbow, so yeah, it works. Where we’re going, it’s a place of happiness; so anything that makes you happy can happen.” She lifted a hoof and flicked something metal under Rainbow’s neck. Rainbow looked down and realized that she was once more wearing her 'Property of Applejack' collar. “Anything,” she repeated.
She cracked a wide smile, then looked back up at Applejack. “There are a few things that would really make me happy right now.”
Applejack bent her legs slightly. “Is one of them a race?”
Rainbow tapped her hooves together. “I was going to suggest a cider bath with you, but a race is a close second!” she said cheerfully as she flapped her wings harder and rose higher into the air. She looked down and winked. “Think you can keep up?”
Applejack grinned… and then pressed her hoof against the thin air and pushed up. She galloped up vertically through the air, and stood in front of Rainbow as if standing on an invisible platform. “Oh, yeah. Ah can keep up.” A playful smirk crossed her face. “The question is, can you keep up with me?”
Rainbow laughed. “I love you so much, Applejack. First to the farmhouse?”
Applejack shook her head. “I’m thinking a little further. How about ‘first to Vanhoover’?” she asked, a little smile playing at her lips.
Rainbow licked her lips, mentally drawing that map. That would be long (trains usually took a day and a half from Ponyville), but wow, would it be fun. “That's something I can do. Winner gets to wear the hat!”
“Ha,” Applejack said. “You ain’t ever gonna wear the hat if we keep betting like this.”
“Why don’t you put your hat where your mouth is and line up?” Rainbow challenged.
Finding an adequate line (Applejack’s tombstone), they lined up right next to each other, and counted down as they always had.
“Three!” Applejack started, as she was the one who had issued the challenge.
“Two!”
“One!”
And together...
“Go!”