//------------------------------// // The Last Sonic Fall Weather Party for the Century Clause 1,2,3 // Story: Do These Waffles Taste Funny to You? // by tin77 //------------------------------// Except in this transfer of worlds, Rainbow Dash could not keep momentum, and she soon dropped into the dirt, the taste of soil overwhelming her taste buds. “Whoa there partner, are you alright?” Rainbow Dash lifted her head from the trail, blinking until the sunlight no longer blinded her.  Above her, outlined in the glow of a soft autumn afternoon, was Applejack. Whatever signs of age she held were gone. Instead, she looked strong and resilient, a certain type of snark brightening her face. “Guess the day is finally catching up to you there, Rainbow Dash. We don’t have t’keep it up anymore if y’don’t want to.” I’m dead, thought Rainbow, a weight setting on her soul. Sweet Celestia, Discord killed me. “…Something wrong?” Applejack began to blush, Dash’s stare unrelenting and intensely focused. “…Yer’ looking at me all funny.” How did this go again?  “Just admiring the view.” Applejack’s blush deepened. Her eyes darted left and right, but there was no escaping what had been said, and her surprise could not be hidden.  Is that what I said? That doesn’t feel like what I said.  “You’re, err, awfully polite today… Rainbow Dash.”  “You know me, I just call it like I see it.”  “…Is that so? Well, two can play at that game.”  What is going on.  Despite the confusion, despite the grand, paralyzing absurdity thrust upon her, Dash let the stream run its course, history replaying without any consideration for accuracy. It didn’t matter who said what, or if things happened earlier or later, moments were being relived, and Dash could now love what she had not known as fleeting. A wish for permanence no longer deceived.  A helping hoof was extended and the two ponies met each other standing up. Even with her embarrassment, Applejack was grinning.  Then Rainbow Dash hugged her and the feeling returned five times worse.  “Rainbow! Now what in tarnation has gotten into you?”  “Thank you…” she said, tightening her grip, “Thank you for today. All of it.” They stood in silence, the duo divided at the opposite ends of puzzlement. As the words set in, Applejack returned the hug, shedding her reluctance in favor of shared feeling and silent acknowledgment, truths left unspoken. “Ah’d sure like to keep goin’, but we better mosy back on over to the barn if we want to be there in time for Pinkie.”  Rainbow Dash broke from Applejack and took a few steps back, hoping to find her comprehension along the way. “…Huh?”  “Y’know, for the surprise party? You didn’t go on forgetting now… did you?”  “Oh I… I thought that was later. My bad.” Without saying anymore on the matter, Applejack began to lead the way, the two returning the way in which they came. Dash followed, unable to think of any questions that the world around her would be able to answer. Every time doubt creeped in, she looked ahead and saw the pony she was set to spend her life with, the nostalgic bliss powerful enough to launch her above the clouds.  She didn’t know how long it would last, but Discord had given her an antidote, and she was going to value every last drop. She was going to look around at colors so bright and tell herself how beautiful it was, and she was going to repeat it until she knew it to be true. It was beautiful, it was beautiful, it was beautiful.  Time progressed without consistency. Rainbow Dash’s surroundings were an extension of what she remembered and what she wished to remember. The highlights were sequenced in succession, the mundanity of the in-between wiped away in favor of endless celebration, misadventures that always wrapped up right when they should. The days went by in seconds, but their laughter could not be constrained to linear understanding. Together they travelled far into the future only to wind up right where they started. It mattered little. Each repetition was welcomed, and Rainbow Dash had nothing to change.  Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was all going to end a second time.  A certain surprise party had just begun anew, and as far as Dash could tell, that first autumn run with Applejack had occurred only minutes ago. Except this time, she smiled less and her heart was heavier, an undeniable sadness intruding on every joke and every comment.  Despite this, she still loved her friends, and that was almost powerful enough to last into infinity.  Pinkie was leading the conga line through the barn and together they passed the side entrance. It was there that Rainbow Dash first saw something too unignorable to deny as a mistake. Outside was a single parasprite, alone in a field. It hovered in place and followed Rainbow Dash, unblinking as it bobbed up and down, detached from the rest of the world. With it in view, the rapture of the party silenced and she had no choice but to acknowledge the anomaly more distinct than any of its surroundings.  “Everything alright there?”  Applejack stepped forward from behind, taking Rainbow’s side. If there was any dancing left in the barn, Rainbow could not hear it. “I’m… I’m not sure. Do you see that?”  She pointed straight ahead, extending a hoof directly towards the parasprite. How else was she supposed to answer the question? Did she respond to the old Applejack, or the one she had spent so many years growing old with? Speaking of which, where even was that Applejack?  “…See what now, exactly?”  Applejack gave Rainbow Dash the exact expression anypony would give if asked to stare at an object that wasn’t there. Yet the concern was restrained and understanding, their relationship growing in ways they had never expected. A domino effect of changing lives had pulled them together into the sparks of a bright future, their path uncertain but their destination clear. Except this was something Rainbow Dash knew already, and the look only reminded her of all that had yet to happen. Before she could respond, everything was gone, and her explanations were meaningless. There was always the comfort that it would all come back around a third time, but Dash was getting less and less sure, fear setting in.  But this is good, she thought, lost without location, as long as I stay here, I know there’s something to rely on. That’s what I need. Something to rely on. None of it has to change.  But if that was true, why did everything feel so different?  She landed on a hill. Her friends stood beside her, the familiar details of the present returning. Her hand was on Applejack’s shoulder and in the distance a young student was gazing at them, her potential unrealized.  Was this where everything went wrong?  As if the image meant to respond, this scene was wiped away, the colors melting into unison, the world drained into the recesses of Dash’s consciousness.  Instead, she found herself at an exam, a red F planted at the top of her paper. It shimmered only the light, waiting to change at any moment. No, this isn’t it either.  The grade corrected itself, transforming into a perfect score. The last thing Rainbow wanted to do was convince herself that achieving a dream was the basis for regret. Did she regret anything in the first place?  Before an answer could be ignored, an eruption of arguments filled her surroundings, bitter voices at odds with one another. The closer she listened, the more she recognized. Friends and family stood out against the rest, each line a great mistake waiting to be rewritten. The illusion of memory could no longer deceive. Each fight was real and distraction offered no exit. Everyone she had ever met was in front of her ready to remind her that mistakes were possible.  But the question still remained.  Did she regret anything in the first place?  Maybe right after they happened. Sometimes the frustration lasted months, the same feeling returning every night when she was alone with her thoughts and all too aware of who she was. But regretting the same moment twice was a waste of growth and ruminating on days turned sour only brought down future joy with it. It was Applejack who taught her that. An older Applejack who knew her more the slower things got.  In a frenzy of yelling and screaming, Rainbow Dash had come full circle and once again could not understand what she was doing. All she knew was that the second she got out of here, she was going to kill Discord. Chaos was supposed to be dancing animals and sporadic prop usage, not intense life reflection.  As if to spite her, the scenery snapped into place, an invisible floor slipping beneath her hooves. Rainbow Dash dropped through the clouds, unable to stretch her wings in the way she once knew.  Below, Rarity was plummeting, two Wonderbolts at her side. The ground was rising, ready to snatch them both, their survival an issue of no consideration. The faster Dash tried to move the more she fell apart, the inner machinations of her body rusty and rigid. Out of all the horrors bombarding her at every moment, this was the final culmination of them all, the greatest reminder that she was no longer the mare she once knew, the one she loved so much. Rarity was going to fall and there was nothing she could do about it.  Rainbow Dash shut her eyes and let the wind take her.  It was nice to surrender.