//------------------------------//
// Miscarriage - First_Down 
// Story: AppleDash Group Collab 
// by DbzOrDie 
//------------------------------//

There was no warning. No grand reveal. Rainbow Dash was out in the park tossing a frisbee between Applejack and Apple Bloom like she’d done a hundred times before on clear afternoons, carefree as always. But when the feeling hit, it rooted her legs to the ground, paralyzed, and she barely registered the hard, plastic disc bouncing off her muzzle.

“Heh, gotta keep yer mouth open, sugarcube.” Applejack joked, but when she heard no response her expression turned. “Hey, Rainbow, you ok? I didn’t hit ya that hard.” Dash looked away, unsure how to answer.

“Is everything all right, sis?” Apple Bloom called out a few steps behind.

“Just fine, AB. Mind if I take a quick timeout with Dash here?” After she was gone, Applejack wrapped a foreleg around Dash’s shoulders. “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing,” Dash finally said, still not meeting her marefriend’s eyes.

“Don’t sound like nothin’ ta me.”

“I’m fine.”

Applejack sighed. “Ya ain’t no good ta me like this, Rainbow. You’ve even said so before.” Dash winced at that last line, so Applejack leaned forward gave a light kiss. “Come on now. Talk ta me. Please.”

At last Dash found the ability to move, if only to sink her body into the fresh grass. “I’m… jealous,” she said after a long pause. “Of you and Apple Bloom.”

Applejack raised her eyebrows in surprise. “‘Cause we was playin’ catch earlier?”

“No, not because of today!” Dash exclaimed, fiercely. “Nothing’s different today than any other day. So maybe I’ve always been jealous, and I didn’t realize it until now. I don’t know.” Her next line was a whisper. “Maybe it’s because I could’ve been a sister too.”

“Could’ve been… oh.” Applejack’s ears wilted at the tips when she realized what Dash was saying. “Oh, Rainbow, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“I never told you.”

“Well, sure but…”

“It was going to be a boy too. They say you can’t know for sure, but I did. It was going to be an awesome little brother that I could go racing with. And see Wonderbolts shows together. And break curfew all the time. And have big adventures.” Dash’s voice broke, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

“What happened?”

“Mom fell. It was an accident, and it didn’t look bad at first. But they said there was too much damage.” Dash shook her head and lowered it to the ground. “I’m sorry, Applejack. I don’t mean to be jealous. You’re a great sister, but sometimes I feel like I could’ve…”

“None a’ that, now,” Applejack said and kissed the top of Rainbow’s head. “Yer already a great sis, Dash. Apple Bloom loves ya. And I know Scootaloo thinks the world of ya. I promise these things count. Even if it ain’t blood, it’s still family.”

“Heh, yeah. That silly kid,” Dash smiled mirthlessly.

“If ya like I could go find her.”

Dash shook her head. “Stay?”

Applejack held her tight. “‘Course, Rainbow. As long as ya need it.”