But much to Rainbow’s disappointment, Applejack didn’t come back the next day. She did come the day after, though, and apologized profusely.
“Ah had to help Mac out, finishing the cider pressing,” she said. “Could’ve lost our whole harvest if Ah’d left.”
“Nah, it’s ok,” Rainbow said, bracing herself. “Actua-”
“Ah thought you’d say that,” Applejack interrupted, “but Ah figured Ah owed you somethin’ special anyway.” She gestured to the saddlebags that Rainbow hadn't seen, and she pulled out a wide spread of food.
Rainbow felt her mouth water. Her bad news could wait.
After lunch, Rainbow sat back and pushed her plate away. “Great, as usual,” she said, steeling herself to do something she really didn’t want to do. “You know, it's been kindof nice to see you here, but you really shouldn't be coming over so often.”
“Why not?”
Rainbow fiddled with her hooves. “Like I said before, we're just... you know... and I... but you deserve...” Her voice trailed off as she noticed something. “Hey, Applejack?”
“What?”
“Is it just me, or are you sinking?”
“Sinking?” Applejack shook her head. “You ok, Rainbow?”
“I’m serious,” Rainbow said, forcing herself to her hooves. “You look like you’re sinking through the cloud floor.”
Applejack chuckled. “Why would Ah be sinkin’? It’s not like these sandals are gonna have the charm wear off, now, is it?”
Both looked at each other for a brief, horrifying moment, before suddenly the spell on the sandals wore off and Applejack fell through, taking with her a huge chunk of cloud and leaving a large hole in Rainbow's floor.
Rainbow didn’t even blink before jumping up and following her through the hole. Her body protested violently but she forced herself to straighten out, becoming more aerodynamic and quickly catching up to Applejack, who was flailing desperately as she fell. Instinctively, Rainbow reached out, grabbed her, and pulled her in close, instinctively rotating herself so that Rainbow would hit the ground first. Her wings spread in an attempt to slow them both down, but even if she had her wings at full capacity, it wouldn’t have been enough; her wings simply weren't powerful enough to slow them down. Rainbow grit her teeth and pulled Applejack close. If she had to die, this wasn’t such a bad way to go.
As for Applejack, she couldn’t believe what was happening. Her initial rage at Twilight and her magic faded away as Rainbow pulled her in close, and desperately she clung to Rainbow Dash. Even now, with the wind rushing through her mane and her stomach somewhere in her throat and the thought that they were both going to die a very painful death, she felt at peace, as if this were truly the place for her.
* * *
As if on cue, a donkey pulling a wagon full of unbundled hay trundled underneath, and the two falling mares slammed into it, smashing the wagon and sending wood and hay everywhere (much to the annoyance of the donkey pulling it).
When Applejack could breathe normally again, she turned to Rainbow in shock. “You saved me? You’re half-dead and you saved me?”
Rainbow smiled shakily, though it came out more as a grimace as her body painfully protested her unexpected flight. “Well, I’m not exactly known for my good decisions, now, am I?”
“Ah’m glad you’re not.” Applejack paused. “Then again, neither am Ah.”
And she leaned down and kissed Rainbow Dash, right on the lips.
* * *
Deep in the caverns of The Library of the Crystal Empire (a place so fancy that even The Library was always capitalized), Spike was sifting through yet another large tome, this one far older than he had seen in a long time. His eyes widened and he dropped the gem he'd been eating as he took in the words on the page, and turned to call for backup. “Hey, Twilight, look at this.”
Twilight's ears pricked at Spike's voice. “Did you find something?”
“Well, it’s not about scars, but I think you should see this.”
Twilight poked her head up and quickly realized she wouldn’t be able to easily extract herself from behind the veritable fortress of books she had built, and so she lit her horn and teleported out, appearing on the table right in front of Spike. She leaned down to examine the book and her eyes widened. “This book… I’ve heard of this one! This is the legendary Clover the Clever’s Guide to Various Maladies! I’ve never seen this one before! They say it had cures for maladies and sicknesses that we're still trying to recreate!” She lifted it up and examined it. “I can't believe I'm seeing this! All the copies were thought to be lost in the Great Fire of Canterlot!”
“Well, apparently no one told the Crystal Empire,” Spike observed with a grin.
Twilight scanned the page. “It’s on nerve damage,” she observed. She nodded in appreciation. Clover was much more Clever than even she had thought.
“Yeah, and there’s this spell down here that could help a pony recover the use of her limbs after fire damage.”
Twilight ripped the book out of Spike’s claws and read. “Nerves… recovery time reduced by ninety percent… pegasus recovery from lightning strike… regained full feeling and movement… regained power of flight... Spike, I think you found something!”
“Still doesn’t answer how you’re going to power it, though. It needs three unicorns in sync,” Spike pointed out. Syncing unicorn magic was a tricky procedure, as every unicorn has their own wavelength and as anyone who has studied waves knows, if one mare’s magic had a peak where another mare’s had a trough, they would superimpose and cancel out. That could wreak havoc on a spell’s casting… and had landed Moondancer and Twinkle Shine in the hospital while Twilight was back at school.
Then again, they had been trying to pull a prank on their teacher, so Twilight didn’t feel all too bad for them.
Twilight examined the spell walk-through, mentally completed a few calculations, and grinned widely. “Spike, do you know how old this book is? The level of magic for the average unicorn has grown since this book was written.” She almost launched into a long explanation on how replacing grazing with more complex carbohydrates combined with the lack of desperate survival conditions had increased magic capabilities.
Almost.
“We’ll only need two?” Spike asked hopefully.
“I can do this one myself.”
* * *
Maybe it would have happened anyway, and their recent near-death experience only sped up the process. Maybe they owed their relationship to that failed spell. She would never be able to say for sure. What she did know is, she loved Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was not her coat, her fur, her scars, her achievements, or even her cutie mark. Rainbow Dash was Rainbow Dash because of who she was, and no matter what she looked like, that would always stay the same.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and she let out a small squeak of protest as Applejack reached a hoof behind her head and pulled her tighter into the kiss. After a few seconds, Applejack pulled back with the intention of licking Rainbow’s lips and asking for entry, but apparently Rainbow had the same idea, because her tongue hit Rainbow’s instead. She pushed with hers, trying for dominance, but Rainbow tilted her head for leverage and pushed back. As Applejack responded with more pressure, she was startled when Rainbow instead opened her mouth and pulled Applejack’s tongue into her own mouth, holding it prisoner. Applejack couldn't suppress a small whimper as she once again tasted the slick, sweet taste of Rainbow's mouth and the natural preening oil in her saliva. She quickly recovered, and brought up a hoof to stroke Rainbow’s uninjured left side, only pulling back when she ran out of air (it is, after all, rather difficult to breathe when your tongue is completely extended). As she pulled back, Rainbow grabbed at her lower lip, holding it in her teeth as long as she could before Applejack pulled away, whereupon Applejack responded by licking Rainbow’s face, right up the middle, before leaving a kiss on Rainbow’s forehead.
“Ah love you,” Applejack whispered, resting their foreheads together and crossing over to stroke Rainbow’s right cheek. “All of you.”
Rainbow’s defenses finally fell, and she finally managed to say something she’d been wanting to say for nigh on two months now. She scrunched up her face, trying desperately not to cry.
“I love you too, Applejack.” She buried her face in Applejack's chest. “Never leave me again.”
“Ah won't. And that's a promise.”