//------------------------------//
// Chapter 18 
// Story: Applejoy 
// by BronyNeumo 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 18

Rainbow Dash shut her eyes as Nurse Redheart led her and Applejack towards the room Scootaloo had been set up in. Applejack kept glancing back towards her in concern, her face a mask of worry as the Nurse pony pushed open the door for them and stood aside. Gently, Applejack reached out and laid a hoof upon Rainbow Dash's shoulder, carefully guiding her through the doorway. The earth pony gulped as she looked up and saw the hospital bed. She felt like her heart was pounding from within her throat.

The room was sparse, with a few chairs and small tables set against the pristine, whitewashed walls. In the center of the room stood a cold, metal-framed hospital bed, with a clipboard mounted to the silvery footboard. The attached pieces of paper were festooned with so many numbers, strange diagrams and incomprehensible medical terms that Applejack felt her head hurting just looking at it. Sickly, mint green sheets were stretched across the bed, bulging in the middle where they harbored a fitfully sleeping pony. From underneath a loose corner of the blankets, Applejack could see the very edge of a white-wrapped cast where one of Scootaloo's hooves should have been. Her eyes were tightly squinted shut in a pained, unnatural slumber, and several tubes and wires ran to her head, her chest, and her free fore leg, hooking the unconscious young mare up to various pieces of unrecognizable equipment and several drip bottles of different liquids. It was nearly silent save for a quiet, methodic beeping; sounding from one small machine. It did not take long for Applejack to realize it was counting off Scootaloo's heartbeats, and they sounded few and far-between.

"Dash, Honey… ya can open yer eyes now," Applejack whispered, hesitant to break the quiet of the room.

Warily, Rainbow Dash blinked her eyes open, and immediately grimaced at the sight of the younger pegasus. She turned and buried her face into Applejack's mane, muttering something her wife could only catch two words of. "… my fault…"

Applejack did not even realize how warm the room was until she felt a bead of sweat roll down her fur, accompanied by several more. Suddenly, she felt the need to wipe her brow, despite the freezing chill of the night outside. Having Rainbow Dash pressed up against her body was certainly not helping matters.

It was almost uncomfortably hot. Yet before she could even voice her concerns, Nurse Redheart trotted up from behind her and spoke, as if she had read Applejack's mind. "We've turned the heat up in this room to counteract any possible hypothermia. She's still in a fragile state right now, so we're not taking any chances."

Applejack cast another worried glance toward the filly in question. "Is she… is she in pain?"

Well, we treated her leg with a local pain-killer, and she's been on anesthesia since the operation, so she shouldn't be feeling anything. When she does wake up she might very well feel some pain though. She's been through a lot."

"Isn't there… isn't there anythin' else ya migh' do? Could you give her more painkillers when she wakes up?" Applejack shuddered. Scootaloo certainly did not appear to be sleeping soundly to her.

"Well…" Nurse Redheart paused for a long moment. "That's what we're worried about. I'm not quite sure how to say this… but… she seems to be showing signs of… malnourishment, as well. Now, this would of course be a pre-existing condition. Would you mind telling me… has she been… eating well?"

Applejack blinked in surprise for a few moments. "What, well, yes… Ah've been cookin' nice, big meals for her and the whole family. Ah don't see any reason why…" realization dawned on her in an all-too-sudden crash, and her train of thought went screeching to an abrupt halt. "Unless she… oh, no." Applejack swallowed hard, suddenly feeling as if a large rock had settled into the pit of her stomach. Nurse Redheart waited patiently, her eyes wary and concerned. Finally, taking a deep breath, Applejack found her voice once again. "She's… she's only been livin' wit' us fer a few days. Before that she ways… she was on her own. Oh Celestia, Ah never thought she hadn't been eatin' well!"

"She was… 'on her own'? You mean…"

Applejack nodded hastily. "Mmhm. We took her in when we found her outside. Ah suppose she'd been livin' out on the street at times, and she said she'd been in n' out o' the orphanage, but…" Applejack trailed off, her eyes once again tracing their way up the blanketed, sleeping form. "Oh sweet Celestia…" She murmured.

"I see." Nurse Redheart nodded, her own gaze a mask of worry as well. "Thank you… thank you for telling me this, Applejack. I'll put her on a regimen of nutrients straight away." With a curt nod, the nurse trotted out of the room, very nearly breaking into a full gallop when she reached the hallway.

Applejack sighed. "Well, Ah guess there's not much left fer us ta do here, RD." She turned around, freezing when she saw her wife was not behind her. Applejack hastily cast her gaze about the room. She hadn't noticed Rainbow Dash leave. Come to think of it, she hadn't even noticed the pegasus leave her side. Worried once more, Applejack rushed back out into the hall, sliding on the polished tile surface as she turned the corner in the dark passage, heading straight for the double doors that marked the end of the hallway, and the lighted waiting room beyond.

The doors squeaked in protest for but a brief instant as Applejack bolted through them, skidding to a halt in the lobby. Her eyes immediately fell upon the figure of her wife. Rainbow Dash lay belly-up on one of the many couches. Her wings and tail draped over the side, hanging listlessly. A pillow obscured her face. Applejack trotted over to her, stopping just short of the couch, yet Rainbow Dash did not acknowledge her. Gently, Applejack bent down, knocking the pillow off her partner's face with her own nose. As it tumbled away, Applejack could see two distinct damp spots upon the fabric. Rainbow Dash had been crying.

The pegasus looked up at her in surprise. Applejack tried to smile for her, but the mare merely rolled away, displaying her back to the orange mare and burying her face in the back of the couch. Applejack sighed. "Rainbow? Darlin'? What's wrong?"

Rainbow Dash grunted something unintelligible.

"Oh, please, Honey…" With some difficulty, Applejack managed to climb into the couch beside her. She wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash's back and hugged her chest, pulling her in close and cooing softly. Rainbow Dash sniffled loudly. Applejack frowned. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"AJ…" Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof to wipe at her eyes. "I… I can't take it. It's my fault AJ. Scoot's here in the hospital and she's hurt… and sick, and she might not even make it. This is all my fault, I just know it."

Applejack squeezed her even tighter. "Hush, Rainbow. How could it be yer fault? You didn't know. You couldn't have known. What happened was a freak storm, t'ain't yer fault at all."

"But, that's just it, AJ. I didn't know. I was supposed to know, for Celestia's sake!" Rainbow Dash sat bolt upright, startling Applejack enough that she stepped back down onto the floor. "I'm the chief weather pony for all of Ponyville! I should have known about that storm! I should've been told, or I should've seen it coming, or… something!" She grabbed another pillow, collapsing so that her face landed in it.

Applejack stood up on her hind hooves, wrapping her fore legs around Rainbow Dash in another hug. "Now, Dash, that doesn't make a lick o' sense. How could you have known about that storm when nopony told ya? Ya may be chief weather pony, but even you need someone ta tell ya when somethin's amiss. That didn't happen, so ya never coulda known. Why, this whole mess is just as much yer fault as it is mine. We couldn't 'a stopped it if we even knew to try."

Rainbow Dash rolled over again. Upright, she returned Applejack's embrace, settling her head into the crook of her wife's shoulder, a place she knew well. "I should've stopped them this morning, AJ. I never should've let them go."

"Ah coulda stopped them, too, Dash. But Ah didn't know Ah needed to, so Ah didn't. This mornin'… this mornin' feels like a lifetime ago, Rainbow. It's almost mornin' again, now, it's a whole, brand new day. Please, Rainbow? Ya know Ah hate ta see ya like this."

"I know… I know. I'm sorry, AJ… I just… I just… I should've done something!"

"But ya did, Dashie. Ya did. You went out into the storm, all by yourself, when they didn't show up, just 'cause Ah was worried. You…" Applejack prodded Rainbow Dash's chest for emphasis, "you saved her, Dash. You went out, and you found her, and you brought her here safely. She has no one ta thank for her life but you."

"I know… but there's… there's something else."

"What is it?"

"When I was bringing her here… I was running too fast… and I got to the bridge, and I slowed down! I really did, and I tried to be careful, but the next thing I know I'm on my back on the ice and she's gone and I couldn't see her… and I was terrified..."

"Woah, slow down there, Sugarcube. Ya lost me. What happened at the bridge?"

"I dropped her, AJ. She fell into the water, and I dove in to catch her, but the current was so fast, and I didn't get to her soon enough. By the time I pulled her out of the water she… she… she wasn't breathing." Rainbow Dash looked up, her eyes met Applejack's and she fell silent for a moment, finding comfort in those beautiful green orbs she loved so much. Finally, she took a deep breath and continued, "She… she was so cold, Applejack. She was so cold, and the water was so cold, and the ice was so cold, and everything was cold, and I was cold. I thought… I thought right there she was gone. What if she was AJ? What if she had drowned, and it was all my fault?"

"But she didn't, did she? Whatever happened then, you didn't give up on her, and she's alive right now 'cause o' you. Isn't she?"

Slowly, Rainbow Dash nodded. "I… I gave her CPR, just like they taught us in first aid class at Flight camp…"

"See? That's what Ah'm takin' about. You didn't let it happen. You saved her. Ya know what that's called, Dash? That's called bein' loyal. And by golly, Ah know you know somethin' about that. And Ah'll tell ya what. Ah know something 'bout that river, and Ah know somethin' about bein' cold. An' let me tell you, Rainbow Dash, no matter how cold it gets, no matter how hopeless it ever seems, there's always a way out."

"Th-thanks AJ."

"So, Ah guess ya could say it's all water under the bridge now?"

Despite herself, Rainbow Dash had to fight back a sudden snort of laughter, shaking her head. "You're not funny, AJ."

"Aw, there! Now there's that smile Ah love so much!" Applejack grinned broadly before reaching out and pulling Rainbow's muzzle up against her own, locking their lips in a tender kiss.

When they broke, Rainbow Dash felt just a little bit better. She sniffed. "I love you, AJ…" As quick as it had appeared, however, her smile vanished. "That… that doesn't change anything, though. She's still here, and she's still sick and hurt, and even Nurse Redheart said she still might not make it."

Applejack shook her head. "She never said that, Dash."

"She said Scootaloo was in 'critical condition', and that's enough." The pegasus flopped down onto the couch once more, looking dejected. "And now I can't even do anything about it!"

"It's ok, Sugarcube." Applejack lay down next to her wife, stroking a hoof along her back as soothingly as she could, "Scoot's a tough little filly, she'll pull through. Ah can imagine she's been through worse before she came to live with us."

"Do you know what she said, AJ?"

"Who said what?"

"Scootaloo, at the riverbank. Right after I got her breathing again. She coughed up a lot of water, and then she rolled over, and she turned to me, and she said 'Mommy.' She said 'Mommy, I'm cold.'…" Rainbow Dash paused, crestfallen. "She's said it before too, once, when she woke up in our bed, she called me 'Mommy', remember? I thought it was just cute back then… I never thought… she needs a mommy, AJ. What am I supposed to be? I thought I was just going to be like a big sister… but she needs a mommy. Everypony needs a mommy."

"Sugarcube, Ah…"

"And I'm a terrible mother!" Rainbow Dash burst out, her voice echoing through the deserted waiting room. "What kind of mother lets their kid get caught in a snowstorm? What kind of mother drops their kid in a freezing river? Oh, Celestia I'm so stupid!" Rainbow Dash grabbed a pillow and slammed her hoof into it, "Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid!" She punctuated each exclamation with another punch.

Alarmed, Applejack leapt forward, wrapping her lover up in another hug and hauling the struggling mare back down to the couch. She rolled Rainbow Dash over and, before she could protest, grabbed her head, forcing her to look right into her eyes. She could see tears welling up already within Rainbow Dash's twin magenta pools. "Now, you listen to me, Rainbow. Ah'll tell ya somethin' Ah know fer sure: ya are a wonderful mother. Ah knew it that night Ah decided Ah wanted a foal, and Ah wanted ta have it with you. Ah knew it the day we came here, right in this very hospital, and Ah found out Ah was pregnant, and ya proposed ta me. Ah knew it the day Ah married ya. Ah knew it the day Applejoy was born, and Ah've known it for dang near about three years since then! So don't say that you're a terrible mother. Don't ya ever talk about yerself like that, 'cause Ah know the truth, and Ah… Ah love ya too much ta hear ya say things like that."

For Rainbow Dash, the floodgates finally burst. She closed her eyes, tears streaking down her face as she shook her head. "I'm… I'm sorry, AJ. What would I do without you." Without thinking, she launched herself forward, knocking Applejack onto her back and locking her in a tight, heated kiss. Applejack returned the favor gratefully, slipping her mouth open and deepening the kiss with her tongue. She felts tears drip onto her own cheeks, but whether they were from Rainbow Dash or her own eyes, she couldn't tell.

After a long while, the pulled themselves from each other, their passion mitigated only by their need to breathe. Applejack smiled up at Rainbow Dash, who had propped herself above her and was grinning back down as well. Applejack reached up with a hoof to wipe the last vestiges of tears from Rainbow Dash's face. Rainbow Dash nuzzled her hoof. "You're the best, AJ?"

Applejack chuckled. "Ah know."

"No, seriously." Rainbow Dash carefully climbed off of her wife, setting herself down onto the cushions once more. Applejack quickly rolled over, neatly tucking her hooves underneath her body and snuggling up against her Rainbow-maned lover. "You really are." They spent a long time sitting like that, head pressed up against one another, just thinking idle thoughts. Rainbow Dash's mind, however, kept returning to a single, unremovable thought. She gazed at the double doors leading to the corridor. She knew, somewhere beyond there, Scootaloo was resting, alone. The more and more she thought about her, the more she couldn't shake one, captivating idea. "AJ?"

"Hm?"

"Maybe… maybe Scoot doesn't need a mom… maybe she needs two moms."

Applejack giggled slightly, "Ah think we can make that happen."

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Applejack breathed deeply, inhaling the tantalizing aroma of a delicious meal being prepared. A smile crossed her lips and she opened her eyes, surveying the kitchen before her. The delicious spice notes and the smell of caramelizing sugars wafted all around her. She reached for a wooden spoon, taking it carefully in her mouth. Carefully, she placed its head into the pan set upon her stove and stirred the contents a bit to keep them from burning. She grinned to herself as she surveyed her hoofwork. The sautéed vegetable medley looked, and smelled, perfect.

The sudden ding of the oven's timer snapped her back into focus. Quickly dropping the spoon beside the stove, she reached for a hot-pad and carefully took that into her mouth, opening the oven door with it and extracting the laden dish. Her vegetable roast was finally done after slowly cooking for most of the day. She smiled as she placed the hot dish onto the counter, where it would cool. Quickly turning the dial to a higher temperature, she reached for her next oven-bound creation, one of her Equestria-famous apple pies sat on the kitchen table, ready to be baked to a golden-brown crisp with the roast out of the way. She slid it into place and closed the oven door.

Satisfied that the meal was coming along nicely, and that she could leave it to sit and cook for a while, she trotted into the pantry, removing a basket of dinner rolls adorned with a red and white checkered cloth. She set it on the dinner table aside six place settings. Applejack couldn't help but feel proud of herself. Only a few steaming mugs of warm apple cider would complete the veritable feast she was preparing, and that was already simmering away in a kettle upon the stove, right next to the vegetable medley and a pot of boiled potatoes, ready for mashing.

With a turn, she trotted back to the stove and turned the heat down on two burners. The potatoes were probably boiled enough and the medley had finished cooking, all it needed was a cover to keep it warm until dinner time. After placing that over the pan, Applejack was finally done. She shook herself out of her apron and trotted out of the kitchen.

She almost ran right into Big Macintosh. "Somethin' sure smells good, AJ. Can we eat now?"

Applejack chuckled. "Not yet, Big Mac. We still gotta wait for Rainbow and Applebloom to bring Scootaloo home from the hospital. It'll be our first dinner together as one, big family for over two weeks now."

"That's right…" Big Macintosh grinned sheepishly, nodding his head in agreement. "Ah almost forgot how long she's been in there. That storm seems like only yesterday."

"Mmhm…" Applejack paused reflecting on the night she and Rainbow Dash had stayed up late into the morning in the hospital waiting room, unsure of whether Scootaloo would pull through or not. She shuddered at the memory. " Ah know what ya mean, Ah still remember it mighty clearly too. Heh, Ah can still remember Applebloom beggin' us ta take her nearly every day, even when she started school after Winter Break ended. Ah don't think she could wait for this day ta come."

"Eeeyup."

"Hey, by the way, Mac. Where's Fluttershy?"

"Hm? Oh. She's in the nursery, puttin' the twins to bed. Said she wanted a quiet dinner with th' family. Actually, Ah was headed ta see her right now. If you'll excuse me." Big Macintosh dipped his head and trotted forward as Applejack stepped aside, allowing him to pass.

Applejack entered the living room, immediately spotting her daughter playing by the fire. Applejoy's back was to her mother, allowing the earth pony to sneak up behind her, smirking. "There she is!" Applejack cried as she scooped the young filly up into her embrace, lifting her high above her head while the filly shrieked in delight, dropping her Spitfire doll from her mouth while doing so.

Applejack brought her happily giggling child down to her face, lightly brushing muzzles with her. Applejoy squirmed and licked her mother's nose. They both laughed. Applejack set the filly down on her shoulders. "Mommy! Time to play!"

"Oof." Applejack grunted as she felt her daughter clamp onto the back of her neck in a vice-like grip, her face buried in her mother's mane. Applejack smiled, shaking her head up and down and listening to the filly's squeals as she bounced along for the ride. "Oh, Applejoy, you're gettin' so big! Can you believe it's almost yer birthday? You're almost three years old, baby girl!"

"Party!"

"That's right." Applejack grinned hugely, "Auntie Pinkie is gonna throw you a proper Pinkie Pie Party this year, whaddya think about that?"

"Yay!"

Just then, Applejack started suddenly as she heard the creaking hinges of the door swinging open, and the soft rush of a blast of outside air. That could only mean one thing. Quickly, she rushed into the foyer, coming face to face with her wife a wide smile spread upon both their lips. "Hey, AJ!" Rainbow Dash trotted forward, bestowing a kiss upon her forehead. "Hey, Little AJ!" She reached behind Applejack's neck to do the same to her daughter's cheek prompting a cute squeak. "I missed you both so much."

Applejack quickly reached out to capture the rainbow pegasus's lips in a quick peck. "Good ta see ya again, Sugarcube."

"Heh, you too. Hey, something smells awesome!"

"It should. Ah've been cookin' near all day now, Ah wanted ta have a feast ready fer when Scoot finaly got out o' tha hospital. Speakin' o' which, where is she?" Rainbow Dash did not respond, too busy was she tickling her daughter with one of her wings, to uproarious shrieks of laughter. "Dash?"

"Huh, what?"

"Ah said, where's Scootaloo?"

"Oh, she and Applebloom were right behind me." No sooner had the words left the pegasus's mouth than the door swung open again and the two fillies in question trotted inside, their tails swinging happily together. Applejack couldn't help but smile. Everything seemed right in the world. "Hey, AJ." Rainbow Dash leaned forward, whispering in her wife's ear so no one else could hear. "Do you have our little… surprise?"

Applejack nodded. Rainbow Dash grinned broadly. "Hey, Scoots." She called over to the other pegasus, "Come with us for a minute, we've got something to show you."

"What is it?" Scootaloo perked up, hastily following Rainbow Dash and Applejack into the other room. Applejack grabbed something off a side table. Scootaloo eagerly ran to her, hoping it was some sort of present. Applejack turned to face her. It was a scroll. Scootaloo's face fell. Gently, Applejack set it at the filly's hooves.

Rainbow Dash prodded the young pegasus with a hoof. "Come on, aren't you gonna open it? Go ahead, read it aloud. Start at the bottom, there… " She indicated the final paragraph. "That's the good part."

With a loud, exaggerated sigh, Scootaloo opened the scroll, fully expecting it to be something completely boring. "Ok… 'I, Mayor Mare…' wait, what is this?"

Rainbow Dash grinned back down at her. "Just keep reading." She leaned her head against Applejack's, the two of them watching Scootaloo intently.

"Fine… 'I, Mayor Mare, with all the power vested in me by Princess Celestia herself,  hereby grant the ponies, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, as stated above, the right to adopt as a child the pony known as Scootaloo, relieving her from the authority of Ponyville Orphanage.'…" Scootaloo looked up from the scroll to Rainbow Dash and Applejack, then back down again, and up again, several times in disbelief. "Is this… I mean, Are you… Are you serious? Did you really adopt me?"

"Only if ya want ta, Sugarcube." Applejack nodded, "But, yeah. We did."

"Are you kidding!" Scootaloo leapt up, hardly able to contain her excitement, "Of course I want to be! That would be awesome! I… I love you guys." The excited filly threw her fore legs around both Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They both leaned in and shared the hug.

Rainbow Dash laughed, nuzzling her newfound daughter's cheek. "Heh, heh. Welcome home, kiddo."