Broken: Chapter Nine, Life
Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria, the coolest pegasus to come out of Cloudsdale, winner of the Best Young Fliers Competition and the first pony in history to perform the Sonic Rainboom, stood purposefully and proud alongside her two idols: Spitfire and Soarin' of the prestigious Wonderbolts. Ponyville had been devastated. Many buildings had been blown apart, windows smashed, blackened craters littering the streets...the list of the damages went on. In the midst of the town square, the remains of the small army of griphons filled the area, all casting shocked and enraged glances to the trio of pegasi. Rainbow didn't care that her experience in fighting griphons was incredibly limited. Dash was here to defend her friends, to defend Ponyville, but most of all she was here to take revenge.
"You think your Sonic Rainbomb was a little over-the-top?" asked Soarin', an amused grin spread across the only visible part of his face. Rainbow cackled.
"Entrances are everything," she mused.
"Spoken like a true Wonderbolt," said Spitfire, causing Rainbow's insane grin to brighten.
Dash's eyes darted around the square. To the left was Pinkie Pie, unconscious next to a puddle of sick. Rainbow couldn't believe it, the Drunken Hoof Style...failed? Rainbow had cast the idea around her mind that Pinkie Pie would possibly unleash the beast that was her inebriated self. However, there were several incapacitated griphons in the area around her. At least she went down fighting. Dash grit her teeth in anger, disgusted that any sort of creature would have the gall to harm the bubbly, peaceful Pinkie Pie, regardless of her disposition. A few yards to the right was Twilight Sparkle, half-conscious with a large gouge taken out of her back. She lay in a small bloody puddle, twitching from pain. As if this wasn't enough, Rainbow found her eyes lay on the one thing she had been dreading, on the one pony that she prayed from the bottom of her heart would be okay.
Applejack laid on her left side, beaten. The armored grieves around her hooves and legs had been torn apart, her signature stetson on the ground next to her, covered in blood and missing a section of the brim, as if it was sliced off. The orange mare's eyes were half-open, trying their best to focus on the cyan pegasus. She lay at the end of a trail of crimson, marking where she must have been thrown. Applejack's cheeks were wet with tears, her once brilliant emerald eyes were now dark and broken. Rainbow Dash felt her heart cringe, even more so when she saw the griphon standing over the pony that she loved. Gilda stood high and mighty, grinning malevolently at the cyan pegasus. Instantly she knew what her old foe had done. The griphon had been the one to singlehoofedly dispatch her three friends, the look on Gilda's face made that completely evident. The rest of the griphons in the street were all looking to her, awaiting direction. She was leading them.
"Rainbow Dash, there you are," she sneered. The two Wonderbolts beside Dash shifted oddly. "It's always a party when you're here."
Rainbow shook with a rage that erupted in her chest. The Element of Loyalty blazed to life, desperate to be unleashed. How dare she...how dare she? She had led the misguided army of griphons, taken Appleloosa, devastated Ponyville, and hurt her friends. Spitfire tapped a hoof to Dash's shoulder, but she didn't take her murderous gaze off Gilda.
"We got the others, defend the pony you love."
That's all that it took, the only thing that was holding the enraged dog foaming at the mouth was the chain that was the many other foes. The cyan pegasus felt her bonds and worries suddenly break. Gilda went to raise a talon towards Applejack, and Rainbow Dash cut through the air, prismatic trail destroying the visible light spectrum with a eruption of sound.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Faster than Gilda could have ever predicted she was torn from the street, tackled into the skies by a cyan blur. Her skull crashed through a wooden sign on a high building before being dolphin-bucked into the roof. Rainbow cried out in rage, plowing the griphon through the top of the building and crashing her against the uppermost floor. Dash plowed a hoof into the space where Gilda had been, turning her head to find the griphon flying through a window, back out over the town square. Rainbow Dash wasted no time in darting through the air, flying by with a well-placed hoof to the face. The enormous griphon flew backward into the remnants of a bread baker's shop at ground level. Dash landed to the ground with a resounding crash, all four hooves to the cobblestone. She couldn't see her foe, and found that flying straight into the pile of broken glass and concrete to be a bad idea. Rainbow's body convulsed with rage. Every millisecond that the griphon hadn't surfaced was unbearable. Dash waited as Gilda burst forth from the rubble, shaking the dust from her feathers casually, as if she had just come back from a relaxing swim. The bird cracked her neck in several places before giving the cyan pegasus a sidelong glance, smirking silently.
"You're quicker than I remember," she said calmly, making Dash's blood boil. Her foe's passive demeanor was like streaming hot water being poured over her head on a humid summer day. "But so am I."
Before Rainbow could blink, Gilda was high in the sky. The pegasus didn't even see the griphon's wings flap. When did she get so fast? Dash briefly allowed herself a second to look back, an enormous amount of relief washing over her soul as she spotted Applejack being carried off, away from the intense, final battle between griphon and ponykind. Twilight and Pinkie Pie were also being escorted off the town square. Her friends were okay, the rest of her worries were gone. Rainbow Dash turned back to Gilda, eagerly awaiting her opponent with her talons crossed. The cyan pegasus drove her wings downward, catapulting her into the sky. The griphon wasted no time in dashing towards her, a talon avoided by Dash with a swift roll. Rainbow Dash and Gilda traded strikes in the sky, their paths criss-crossing in several X formations. Rainbow landed a few punches, and the bird a few glances with her talons. Rainbow skidded across a rooftop on her hooves, Gilda atop an opposite building. The griphon had grown exceptionally fast, rivaling Dash's own speed and agility. The pegasus had no idea that she would be so quick, she had been sure that her own blinding speed would give her the advantage. Gilda may have been nimble and quick on the acceleration for her size, but Rainbow Dash knew for a fact that she had the highest top speed in all of Equestria. Despite the griphon's enormous wings, she knew that her large size would hinder her from performing something as intermediate as breaching the sound barrier, let alone a Sonic Rainboom.
"My, my, what anger," Gilda chided, causing a scowl to form on Rainbow's face. "Where have you been this whole time Dash? You missed all the fun. You should have seen that pink friend of yours, what a hoot."
"Shut up," Dash hissed.
"Oh and...Twilight was it? So much drive for such a lame little bookworm."
"Shut up."
"And then there was the cowpony," snarled Gilda, menace in her piercing yellow eyes. "Such a dense mare. Can you believe that she really thought she could take my army on all by herself? What a stupid-"
"SHUT UP!"
Rainbow Dash felt her entire being snap, her temper flaring into a burning blaze. The Element of Loyalty clawed at her insides, demanding vengeance for her fallen friends, for the town of Ponyville, for everything she had known and loved. She knew then that she had to be the one to save Equestria from this horrid foe. The cyan pegasus bolted forward through the air, instantly reaching the griphon before turning to the right, circling Gilda as a blur. Quickly the pegasus formed a prismatic cyclone, lifting a disoriented griphon from the roof and into the air. She attempted to lash out at Dash, although in vain. Gilda shrieked in frustration, unable to grasp the pegasus. Rainbow Dash doubled her speed as the tornado overtook the griphon. She moved it out of the already destroyed town, guiding the maelstrom to the fields North of Ponyville. The rainbow cyclone tore at the grassland, growing in size as Dash widened its radius with a steady howl of wind. Once Gilda had been spinning to the point of near unconsciousness, Rainbow shot her out of the storm by restricting the airflow at the bottom of the cone. The griphon corkscrewed into the sky. The cyan pegasus broke the storm, ascending to the skies in pursuit of her opponent.
With a flap of her great, brown wings Gilda dodged the strike. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. There was no way that had just happened. No creature's brain could recover after being in the center of a cyclone in such a short amount of time. How had she done that? With every strike the two traded, Rainbow noticed a new attribute in Gilda's prowess. She had become stronger, more agile and five times as durable. Dash didn't have the raw strength that Applejack may have had, but she was surprised to see Gilda get up so easily after every attack. Rainbow arched at the peak of her ascent, hovering fifty feet above the griphon. Even through her mind-encompassing rage, Rainbow could still think, she could still plan. Headlong attacks weren't going to work, that much was evident. Somehow Gilda's reactions were too quick, even for Rainbow's newly-refined speed.
Dash looked back downward to find that Gilda was nowhere to be found. The pegasus scowled, looking in all directions for the griphon that she was going to tear apart. Now she was starting to grow worried, and for good reason. Rainbow Dash felt a powerful force collide with the back of her head before she was careening downward, accelerating rapidly. Through her disorientated and ached mind, Rainbow couldn't tell how far she was from the ground until she made impact. The lush grass may have cushioned her fall, but the velocity she had reached in the descent was staggering. Rainbow skipped across the plains, sliding to a stop. She had experienced her share of falls before, so this wasn't exactly fatal. Dash didn't feel any broken bones, but the mere impact had forced the wind from her lungs. The pain in her right side and flank kept her from moving temporarily, until Gilda landed twenty feet in front of her. Rainbow slowly returned to her hooves, the determination remaining bright in her eyes. Dash couldn't imagine how Gilda had done that. The griphon had just disappeared into thin air. Her speed was just...frightening. Rainbow Dash had never met any creature to rival her in the sky. She didn't know what to do in this situation. Rainbow wasn't exactly one for planning and strategics like Twilight. She usually just charged headlong into her opponents, which was simply not a choice in this fight. Nothing she did was working. Dash had used every strategy in her arsenal, even though it wasn't very vast. Rainbow's best attributes were failing: her speed, her agility, her maneuvers...nothing. But she had to keep going. She had to stop her. Rainbow Dash was the last one standing against the mighty griphon leader. Nopony else would step in and take care of her if Dash fell. Rainbow had to stop her, because nopony else could.
"Not only are you quicker than I remember," Gilda started. "But you're so much more fun. I swear, I haven't had this good of a time in years! Especially considering I get to be the one to kick you right off of your undeserved pedestal."
Rainbow noticed something. The way Gilda was speaking wasn't the same as she remembered. Her mannerisms and dialect were more intelligible than before. The griphon had never been so well-spoken, but in short, rude utterances. What had changed? Perhaps it was the two years since they had been friends that changed her, or maybe even her experiences leading the griphon army. No, neither of those would change the way she spoke so much. Rainbow somehow recognized the dialect, but couldn't put a hoof on it.
"Now why don't you just-"
"GO BUCK YERSELF!" bellowed a female voice behind the pegasus. Rainbow whipped her head around to find a pony that made her heart soar. Applejack stood on the edge of Ponyville, her side heavily bandaged and her grieves missing. The farmpony's stetson had also been gone, letting her messy blonde mane flow precariously in the wind. Rainbow Dash felt her eyes widen. There she was, well and whole. "Come on Dash! Ya'll gonna let that ugly crow beat ya'?"
Suddenly all of Rainbow's doubt was gone, replaced by a need to defeat her foe. She didn't care about Gilda's new-found abilities. She was Rainbow Dash, she would overcome them.
"Here that Dash?" chided Gilda. "Sounds like it's time to end this...old friend."
Rainbow Dash turned back to the griphon leader with a calm sense of purpose. She gave the skies a curiously look, finding a range of black thunderheads rolling in from the direction of the Everfree Forest. Dash guessed that due to the battle, the Weather Team wasn't able to drive the oncoming storm away. It was close, close enough to give the cyan pegasus an idea. It reminded her of an attribute that she had previously forgotten due to her termination in Cloudsdale. It was a long shot, but it was her only shot. Rainbow Dash felt the familiar sensation of drums beating in her heart. The pegasus shot into the air, building acceleration as Gilda followed her.
"Let's make this interesting feather-brain!" Rainbow jeered over her shoulder. The cyan pegasus cut through the air, her adrenaline fleeting as the mach cone formed around her. Rainbow Dash held her speed. The resounding blast from a Sonic Rainboom would only hinder her plan. She needed Gilda to follow her into the clouds, not be thrown aside from a shock wave. Finally the pegasus shot through the dark gray mass, instantly drenched from the vapor. The clouds were like a thick fog around her, sparking with electricity. Her coat tingled with static. Being a long-time Weather Patrol Chief had granted her the unnatural ability to sense when lightning was about to strike close by. It helped that she had been struck by it once three years ago when she first got her promotion, but she didn't think too hard on that memory. Her sense wasn't always right, but it was her only hope in defeating Gilda. Once she was certain that she had lost her foe, Rainbow stopped. She closed her eyes and listened.
"Alright Dash, where are you?" Gilda immediately called out closer than Rainbow would have liked. The griphon was somewhere below her. Close enough. Rainbow Dash accelerated upward and eventually broke through the top of the storm, but she didn't stop there. Dash flew up high, only ceasing her ascent when she felt her breathing growing more and more heavy from the lack of oxygen. Rainbow hesitated, looking to the maelstrom below. She needed to time this perfectly. If she was even a foot off than she could easily lose her life in the blink of an eye...but it was her only move. Dash needed to literally be faster than a bolt of lightning. If she didn't make this, not only would she perish, but all of ponykind would fall to the griphon regime.
Mom, Dad...Please help me here, I need this to work. If it doesn't...then I guess I'll see you soon. Either way, I love you.
Rainbow Dash bolted downwards at break-neck speeds. Her light weight and aerodynamic frame granted her swift acceleration, causing the mach cone to reappear almost immediately. Faster and faster she fell, her wings burning from the amount of use. Rainbow ignored the pain even as tears flew from her eyes. She needed to do this. The mach cone tightened as the wind rushed through her mane. Sparks of multicolored bolts of electricity burst forth, flailing around her body. The cloud mass grew closer and closer, but Dash held her speed. Everything seemed to slow down to a stop once she breached the thunderheads, and a fleeting voice broke the fear in her mind: You can do it Rainbow, we know you can. Rainbow Dash felt the light barrier struggling against her, wanting to throw her back in the other direction. The cyan pegasus held her breath, and executed her final move.
With a burst of speed Rainbow shattered the barrier, calling forth the shock wave of the Sonic Rainboom right in the heart of the storm. The thunderhead roared as it lit up with an explosion of prismatic lightning, casting a radiant glow across the grassland. Dash was only in the clouds for a fraction of a second before the divine crash of electricity filled the skies. Rainbow cried out in triumph to find that she had escaped without getting struck. She looked back down just in time to pull upward, level with the ground before skidding to a halt across the grass. Rainbow panted heavily as she craned her neck upward in apprehension. She didn't have to wait more than a few seconds to find the charred, blackened mass of feathers falling limply from the sky. Dash watched it fall, her expression grim as the body of the griphon leader made impact with the ground.
"Goodbye," she whispered weakly. Rainbow Dash felt her head lose a considerable amount of weight. Her senses had started to dull as a sudden wave of nausea overtook her. She looked down to find her right foreleg completely coated in blood. Slowly the darkness surrounded her mind, her ears never hearing the cheering crowd of ponies behind her. The cyan pegasus felt her heart slow down to a dangerously low rate. Somewhere in the battle, Dash had been wounded. She must not have noticed it though her adrenaline. Rainbow had lost an enormous amount of blood, and now she was about to pay for it. This was it, she knew what was coming but it didn't matter. She had done her job, she had defeated Gilda, she had defended Ponyville. Rainbow Dash fell, relieved that she could finally see her parents again.
-=-
Applejack burst through the front doors of the hospital, weaving through the many doctors and patients that littered the lobby. The ward had been filled to capacity from the battle, ponies crying out in agony from the many wounds that had been dealt that day. The sight was horrid. Every single pony had shed blood in one place or another, limbs dislocated and even bent in the wrong direction. There was even one poor pegasus that had suffered a particularly nasty burn on his face. The orange mare had no time to waste, she was only here to make sure that one certain pony was going to live. Applejack galloped through the crowd, shoving through the line at the front desk. She ignored the angry protests.
"Where's Rainbow Dash?!" she almost yelled at the receptionist. The white earth pony's expression went from shocked to grim in a real hurry.
"Oh...Room Seven."
The look on her face, the tone of her voice.
No...
Applejack bolted from the desk and galloped down the hallway. Her heart was racing, and she ignored the burning pain under the bandages on her side. Immediately she found the room marked '7.' The orange mare plowed through the door and entered a large, private emergency room. Her four friends stood huddled together at the side of the bed, each one with tears in their eyes. Doctor Stable held a grim, solemn expression. In the bed laid a beaten Rainbow Dash, next to an EKG that was taking its sweet time between beeps.
"Oh!" exclaimed Stable. "Miss Applejack...It might be best if you weren't-"
"Don't ya' tell me where I need to be! Now tell me if Dash is gonna be alright!" Applejack yelled, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. Everypony in the room was quiet. Off to the side Rarity and Pinkie Pie had started wailing into their hooves. Doctor Stable took far too long to respond.
"She's...lost a lot of blood," he finally started, his voice hoarse and low. "She was brought here immediately but...It was still too late. She only has a few more minutes left."
Applejack's mind went numb, her brain not able to accept what the doctor had just said. The orange earth pony felt her entire world crumble. It wasn't true, it couldn't be true. There was no way that Rainbow Dash could just...die. Impossible was the only word that she could think of to describe the statement. Applejack could only stand there as everything she knew began to fall around her. Her eyes had spilled over with her sorrow as she stared blankly at Stable. The farmpony's breath shuddered as she felt her heart break.
"If you want to say goodbye...then now would be the time. I'm so sorry," came Stable's voice, barely heard through her ears.
"N-No she..." Applejack choked. "She can't be...There h-has ta' be somethin' you can do, there jus' h-has ta' b-be..."
But she knew her words were in vain. If there was anypony in the world that would do everything he could to keep the pegasus alive, it was Doctor Stable. Applejack looked to Rainbow Dash laying unconscious in the small, uncomfortable-looking hospital bed. Her brilliant rainbow mane was frayed and tattered, her left eye bearing a shade of purple around it. Her wings were hanging from either side of the bed, unbroken but lifeless. Dash's chest slowly heaved inward and outward, not enough for her to breathe properly. Her entire right side and flank had been covered in bandaging, just like Applejack's left. Around her right foreleg and shoulder was another set of bandages, these ones soaked in blood. Never had she seen the cyan pegasus so beaten and broken. It was a sight that her mind couldn't stand to take, but her eyes couldn't break away. The orange mare took off her scarred stetson, dropping it to the floor as she slowly approached her dying friend, ignoring what everypony else was doing. She stepped to Rainbow's left side, staring at her with tearful eyes. With every second that passed the beeping of the EKG slowed down dramatically. She wouldn't even get to say goodbye. She would never show Rainbow Dash how she felt. The pegasus had saved so many lives that day, and she would never even be around to see them again.
To Applejack's horror, the heart monitor wailed, signalling the passing of the only pony she would ever love. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle had broken out into loud, shuddering sobs. The orange mare just stood there. It wasn't real, it just wasn't real. This must have been a terrible nightmare. She needed it to be a nightmare. She needed to wake up and return to the real world right now. However, her hopes had been crushed once Doctor Stable said to a nurse behind her:
"Th-That's it. C-Call the time."
No. This wasn't the end. There was no way this could be how the tale had concluded. This was Rainbow Dash!
"No..." Applejack found herself whispering in sorrowful disbelief. "No!"
The orange mare raised her forehooves and pounded them to Rainbow's lifeless chest. One of the nurses tried to restrain her, only to receive an elbow to the face. "She's not gone! Ah'm not lettin' her go like this!"
Applejack furiously attempted to revive her fallen friend, repeatedly walloping her chest with her hooves. Again and again the nurses and Doctor Stable tried to stop her, and again and again they failed. The heartbroken mare pounded relentlessly, unable to accept the fact that Rainbow was gone despite the constant cry of the heart monitor.
"Get up Rainbow! Ah can't lose you! Ah know yer still here! Jus' get up!" she cried as her face was drenched in tears. The staff had simply given up on restraining her, unable to do more than sob at her sad, feeble attempts. "You can't die Rainbow Dash! Ya' have so many ponies that love ya'! Ya'll saved all o' our lives! Ah can't let you go! D'ya know what ya' even mean ta' me?" Applejack pounded her love's chest with every other word. "Yer such an amazin' pony Rainbow! How could a beautiful soul like ya' jus' leave?! Yer Rainbow Dash! Ya' can't go! Ya' just can't go! Please fer the love o' Celestia, JUS' WAKE UP!"
With a final blow to the pegasus' chest, Applejack collapsed on top of the lifeless Rainbow Dash, sobbing uncontrollably into her bloodstained coat. It was all over. Rainbow Dash was gone, leaving the orange farmpony to only cry, wallowing in the pain that her death had caused. The love in her heart seeped through her tears in undying agony. She couldn't live knowing that no other pony in the world would make her feel the same way. Rainbow had taught her what the word had truly meant, only to die tragically defending the lives of her friends. How could such a beautiful, heroic pony just die like this? Who in the right mind would think this was just? It was just wrong. It was just...
..................Beep.....
...Beep......Beep......
The world seemed to stop as Applejack whipped her head upright, staring at the heart monitor in disbelief. The solid, horizontal green line had jumped, making small spikes every few seconds. She was back...Rainbow Dash was alive!
-=-
Colors swirled throughout the mare's pounding skull. She felt herself awake as if from an age-long slumber, but she didn't have the strength to open her eyes. She couldn't hear anything save for the dull, repetitive thud against her brain. Her entire body was in pain, keeping her from moving a muscle. It didn't really matter, for she was too tired to so much as twitch. As her mind composed itself, thoughts had started to race through it. Where was she? What had happened to Ponyville? Were her friends alright? Was Applejack...Rainbow Dash opened her eyes with all her might, focusing on eight ponies surrounding her. She was in a hospital bed, her five best friends all staring at her with wide-eyed bewilderment as if she had grown a second head. The pegasus had noticed Applejack standing right over her with her forehooves on Dash's chest. The beautiful orange mare's shimmering green eyes where running with tears as if somepony had died.
"RAINBOW DASH!"
Each one of her friends pounced on top of her, sobbing happily into her coat. Rainbow grunted in pain from her wounds, her voice unheard by the many voices crying into her ears and chest. What was going on? She had woken up in the hospital plenty of times with them there. But never had her friends been so overwhelmingly happy to see her awake.
"Ah! Guys, what the hay?! You're hurting me!" she finally gasped. Her five friends hesitantly backed off to her bedside, except for Applejack, whom couldn't seem to let her go. She had her forehooves wrapped around Rainbow's neck, sobbing into her shoulder. Dash felt her face grow incredibly hot, and didn't move despite the pain that the embrace was causing her.
"Rainbow..." Applejack cried softly. "We...Y-You...Oh Rainbow, Ah thought Ah was never gonna see ya' again..."
Dash couldn't move. The love of her life was holding her so tight, her presence so warm and comforting. She didn't know what was going on, but she didn't care. Rainbow's heart beat with unbearable speed as she slowly wrapped her forelegs around the orange mare, stroking her tattered blonde mane with a hoof. Why was the farmpony in so much pain? It didn't make sense...it didn't need to make sense. She was in her hooves, and for the time being that was all that mattered.
"Rainbow Dash..." started Doctor Stable, walking into view with two nurses at his side. His expression was of pure shock. What the hay happened? "Y-You were...You were dead..."
The cyan pegasus didn't even know how to respond to that. Her eyes widened as Applejack regretfully let her go, simply staring at her with a small smile. She had been dead? What the hay did that mean?
"You came in after losing a lot of blood," Stable continued. "but once we got you into the bed, I realized that there wasn't anything we could do. It was too late, you were dying. After a while you just passed. Then Miss Applejack here...she somehow revived you."
Rainbow Dash was much more than taken aback. Her brain didn't know how to process her caretaker's words, or even the expressions on her friends' faces. How could she have died and then come back to life? Judging by Stable's surprised demeanor, Dash guessed that he didn't have the answer. What was more, how could Applejack revive her? Rainbow turned her gaze to the orange mare, whom was simply staring into her eyes with a look that she couldn't gauge.
"I...You...You brought me back...?" she stammered, the immense amount of information overwhelming her exhausted mind.
"It was amazing," came Twilight's shaking voice. Rainbow turned to the purple unicorn with curiosity. "We all were sure you...died, but then Applejack saved you. She just kept pounding on your chest until you came back"
The room went dead silent. Even Pinkie Pie hadn't uttered a word, but still sniffed back her tears. Fluttershy was still busy sobbing in the corner, her eyes buried in her forelegs as Twilight held a reassuring hoof to her shoulder.
"You guys," Rainbow started, her voice cracking as tears formed in her heavy eyes. "If it's alright with you, I think I need to talk to Applejack alone for a bit."
"Of course dear," said Rarity softly before the four of them gently hugged Dash, whom tried her best to return the favor. "We're so glad you're okay."
"Alright Rainbow Dash," came Stable's voice. "When you two are done we'll have to come back to make sure you'll be alright."
"Okay," she choked out. Her friends let her go, all casting glances of pure relief before departing along with the hospital staff, closing the door behind them. Outside Luna's moon shone brightly against the clear, starlit sky. It was a beautiful night, especially after such a disastrous day. Rainbow Dash looked back to Applejack, whom still gazed into her eyes with incredible depth, her eyes half-open in a heartwarming look. Dash's cheeks were still blazing, but she didn't bother to hide her face anymore. She had already confessed her love to the farmpony.
"Rainbow," Applejack started quietly, in almost a bedroom sort of voice. Hearing her name in that cowpony accent made Dash quiver with delight. "There's so much Ah needta' tell ya'. But first Ah jus' wanna say Ah'm so sorry for causin' ya'll so much pain. Ah'm sorry fer makin' ya' move away-"
"You didn't make me move," Dash interrupted. "I ran away. I was so afraid to face not just you, but anypony. I was being a coward. It's my fault and mine alone."
"Tha's not how Ah feel," said Applejack with a sense of sorrow. "Ah've felt so guity since ya'll left. Ah broke yer heart Rainbow, an' Ah drove ya' away."
Rainbow Dash couldn't find a reply as tears returned to the orange mare's face.
"Ah felt so terrible fer turnin' ya'll down," she sobbed. "B-But it made me realize somethin'...somethin' tha' Ah was afraid ta' face. Ah remembered all the times tha' Ah shared with ya' an'...an'..."
Applejack looked back into Rainbow's eyes, making the cyan pegasus shiver. Was she saying what she thought she was saying? No, there was no way. The farmpony was straight, completely and utterly-
Applejack leaned forward and pressed her lips to Rainbow's.
Rainbow Dash's eyes flew open, her mind alight with shock. The pony she had loved for so long, the pony she had known to be against fillyfoolers, was kissing her. Her lips were softer than Dash could ever have imagined, so warm and calming. Applejack broke the kiss, not able to open her eyes before Rainbow Dash pulled her in for the kiss she had been waiting for for so many years. The cyan pegasus felt her heart explode with her love for the mare, beating erratically as tears spilled from her closed eyes. Dash ignored her own sobbing as she continued the embrace. After a while they broke apart, their faces drenched with tears. Rainbow held Applejack in her forelegs as tight as she could. She couldn't believe it. This was actually happening. Rainbow couldn't help but cry, her happiness overwhelming her.
"I love you," Rainbow sobbed. She didn't care if it was too soon to say, she had to let her feelings out. "I l-love you s-so much."
"Ah...Ah love you too Rainbow Dash."