The sun was rising and its light slowly spread over the land. It was behind her, it was creeping up on her, following her across the land. As she walked it finally hit her, the warmth touching her body and moving across her. The morning air was warm; it gently ran over her, as if trying to bring her comfort. She sighed and kept walking toward Ponyville.
Nopony was awake yet, the whole town was still and quiet. She was sitting on the edge of town, looking at all the familiar sights. Everything was exactly how she remembered it, The Carousel Boutique was a little bigger than she remembered, and Sugarcube corner was a lot more decorated, but all-in-all nothing had really changed. She sat in the town square, reminiscing. She felt nervous and excited. It was too early to start visiting, she wasn't sure who to see first, she didn't want to tell them about Applejack, but she knew she had to.
Twilight sat reading in her library. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves and placed the book on the ever growing pile, the wax candle on her stand had burned down to the pan. She yawned and gave her wings a well needed stretch as she walked toward her balcony. She had become accustomed to watching Celestia’s sun rise after long nights of studying. She looked out for a long time not staring at anything in particular, lost in thought. As her eyes adjusted to the morning light she noticed something. Not too far from her she could she a blue pony sitting out in the square, she rubbed her eyes and looked again but it wasn't just a vision. She turned back inside and called out to her assistant.
"Spike, come here, quick." The dragon rolled out of bed tiredly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "What is it Twilight?"
She pointed her hoof out toward the balcony and he walked to look. She followed behind him and sat next to the stunned dragon.
"Spike, is that..."
"Rainbow Dash..."
Rainbow sat outside, she was tired, her head hung low as she waited for the sun to rise completely. Her ears flicked back as she heard hoof beats approaching her. Somepony was running. She thought it sounded like it was getting closer. She lifted her head back to see who it was, but was tackled down before she could. "Rainbow! You're..." the assailing pony started crying, "You’re alive."
Rainbow was pinned to the ground, she smiled. Her friend hadn't changed much, but the long years of reading were beginning to show on her face. The wrinkles had formed by the corners of her eyes, a pair of reading glasses hanging around her neck. Rainbow managed to get her forehooves free and hug her friend. "Hey Twilight, did ya miss me?" she smiled, she wanted to keep up her cool attitude just like the old days, but she couldn't help but cry too. She missed her friends just as much as they missed her. They sat for a while, silent and happy to be in each other’s presence. Twilight smiled and broke the silence, "Let's go inside, we can talk there."
It had been a long morning and they were now sitting in the main library. Rainbow was looking at the piles of books that Twilight had acquired; there were too many for the shelves. Spike brought them some tea and went back into the kitchen to give them space.
"What happened to you Rainbow? We never heard much,' she sighed, "only the worst parts."
Rainbow paused, she knew the question would come, she couldn't tell her the truth. She didn't want to talk about that, it was too personal, too bizarre, and although Twilight might be the only one who could truly appreciate it she wasn't comfortable saying she was death incarnate.
"After the accident, I was in a coma. It lasted months; at least I think it did. The truth is I don't really know much about that. I remember being back at home, I woke up in bed. I thought it was all just a dream. The pain was the only reason I knew it was real."
"Why didn't you come back? We were all so devastated when we heard." The pained look the alicorn princess donned emphasized the truth of her words
"I was hurt for a long time; it was a few months before I could fly again. Plus, I was ashamed," she sighed; this part was at least the truth. "I didn't want you guys to be disappointed in me, I failed and I just couldn't see you be ashamed of me. So I found a job and kept away. Until… well until today."
The purple pony walked over and wrapped an arm around her friend, "Rainbow, we could never be disappointed in you. You have no idea how good it is just to see you and everypony else will think so too." She smiled and walked towards the door. "We should go tell everypony you're back!"
They walked together for a while, talking. Twilight was filling her in on all the things she had missed over the years. Rainbow was listening passively, she was trying to think of a way to tell them about Applejack, it was probably best to tell them all at once, after all the excitement had died down. They walked to Rarity's boutique first, Twilight knocked on the door. "Just one second darling, I'll be right with you," was all the reply that was given. After a moment of silence, there was a general noise of clutter and cleaning before the door opened slowly. The white unicorn stood in the doorway, she was as elegant as ever, her mane perfectly straightened and her outfit although simple was immaculately made. "Oh Twilight, it's so good to see yo...." she paused, her gaze locked on the blue Pegasus.
"Hi Rarity, long time no see." Rainbow smiled and waved her hoof. She tried to act as nonchalant as possible; in Twilight’s opinion she pulled it off quite well.
Rarity stayed still a moment, her eyes still locked on the Pegasus, scanning over her body as if trying to process what she was seeing. A smile crept across her face, a twitch began in her eye, and then she fainted. Rainbow and Twilight eventually carried her inside; they laid her down unto one of her many sofas, and waited. She was still for a moment or two but soon woke up. The smile had never left her face.
"Twilight, what happened?"
"Well, you fainted," she replied curtly, getting a smile out of the look on her friend’s face.
"Oh how undignified, but I suppose old habits are hard to break," she laughed, and turned to her rainbow friend and walked toward her. She let out a long sigh and hugged her tightly. "Rainbow, darling, it is so good to see you. I'm so glad you're okay..." She parted from the hug and looked at her friend a bit unhappily. "but do you have any idea the stress you put me through? It nearly ruined my complexion." She tried to look upset but could only smile, her friend was safe and back home. They sat and talked, Rainbow explained everything again, and Rarity told her about her business and plans. "Rainbow, I was always hoping that one day you'd let me design knew outfits for your little sports team, I had such delightful ideas." she smiled; happy she could have this conversation with her old friend. After a while Rarity let out a sigh.
"Do the others know yet?"
Twilight shook her head "No, not yet, just you and me."
"Well then we must go tell them at once, no sense in leaving them out."
Rainbow stood up, walking between her friends. "I think we should see Fluttershy first, I have a feeling Pinkie might be a bit excited." she let out a small chuckle and they walked towards the small cottage on the edge of Ponyville. They arrived by midmorning, it was still rather early; Fluttershy was out in her yard tending to her animals. She was carrying buckets of feed and water to the various cages and kennels when the three ponies walked up.
"Well good morning Fluttershy, we have exciting news." Rarity's voice startled her for a moment but she didn't turn around and continued to pass out the food.
"Oh, exciting? I don't know Rarity,"
Twilight spoke next, "Fluttershy it's really important."
"Good morning Twilight, I wish I could help but I just have so much to do today," the thought of something important and exciting was making her increasingly nervous. She clung closer to the ground as she fed her animals.
"Quit being such a scaredy-cat and come on,” came the final voice
"Rainbow Dash you are not going to bully me into this," she stopped, her body relaxing. Rainbow Dash smiled, they finally had her attention. Fluttershy put down the buckets and turned slowly, her eyes were closed. She opened them quickly; a smile instantly grew on her face. "Rainbow Dash!" she ran and hugged the Pegasus, but quickly shied away. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to, it's just that, I'm... I'm just glad to see you Rainbow." They all smiled, the group was slowly coming back together, Rainbow was happy but she knew that soon they would want to see Applejack, and then she would have to tell them. After they saw Pinkie, she thought. That would be best.
They stood outside in the field talking and laughing. Everypony was happy. They talked like they had only seen each other yesterday. It was the ease of such a strong friendship. After a while their stomachs started growling, they all agreed that now was as good a time as any to go and visit Pinkie Pie. They all trotted together into town, the warm air and sunlight comforting them, it was still relatively early and only a few other ponies were out. Some stopped to ask about Rainbow and she gave them a short explanation. As they walked up to Sugarcube Corner they were greeted by an amazing assortment of smells. As soon as they approached the door it swung open and a very messy pink pony stood happily at the doorway. "Hey girls, Hi Dashie long time no see, I'm so glad you're okay and not all dead like people said. When I heard I was so sad, my bestest friend Rainbow Dash gone forever, but now I'm happy again cause you're home and okay. So I baked all this food because I just knew we'd all be hungry when we got here and boy was I right, I'm starving."
They all followed the pink pony as she bounced inside, a table was covered in every pastry imaginable, it was clear that she had been working all morning on this. Rainbow smiled and hugged her friend, everypony was confused as to how Pinkie could have possibly known Rainbow was back, but she soon cleared that up. "Oh Rainbow, I saw you walk into town this morning. At first I thought “No, it couldn't be” but I looked again and I just knew it was you. I just wanted to run out and hug you but I knew you'd like a party even better."
Rainbow smiled, a small tear running down her face, she hadn't realized how much she had missed all her friends. “Thank you guys, I'm just glad that I can be back here with you." they all smiled and sat down to eat. After a moment Pinkie smiled "Oh, we almost forgot about Applejack."
Rainbow frowned, she had just bit into a peach but the pit in her stomach was an altogether different kind. "Yes, Pinkie is right, we mustn't forget about Applejack." Rarity added, Rainbow looked around, everpony was nodding in agreement, and she sighed. She didn't want to ruin the moment, but now was the best time to tell them.
"Guys, I have an announcement. I know it's not going to be easy, I really wish I didn't have to say it. I'm glad to be back, I really am, but the reason I came home was because I made a promise to Applejack. She told me that I had to come back and tell everyone the news." she paused, her head hanging low, tears forming in her eyes. "Applejack is... she's gone."
A day had passed since Rainbow returned to Ponyville, she had taken her friends to the site of Applejack's accident soon after she broke the news to them. Big Mac and Applebloom had already come across the site and cleaned up her body. It was cold and rigid, but there was still a faint proud smile on her face. Rainbow remembered it well, the smile that never faded from her face when she had seen her rainbow friend. Rainbow was thinking back on that moment as Applebloom performed her eulogy, the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders standing close by for support. They had already found their marks but they couldn't give up the name, now they helped other young fillies find their special talents. Rainbow smiled at Scootaloo. To Dash, she had become such an exceptional young mare. Rarity had said the young pegasus had taken the news of Rainbow’s accident exceptionally hard. Dash felt bad for leaving her they way she did. She hadn't had the time to talk to her, to apologize for never writing to her like she promised. They would have to have a long talk afterwards, but right now was a time to remember their friend.
The atmosphere was full of mixed emotions; it was such an awkward feeling. The mixture of excitement and devastation hung in everypony's chest and it brought them all together. Everypony had made their peace spoken their last words and final goodbyes, now Rainbow approached the stand. She stood up; she felt a calm pass over her. She took a deep breath and spoke.
"Applejack, was a great friend of mine, of everyponies really. She was strong, brave, honest, kind, and stubborn. I will miss her, we all will, but I know for certain that she will always be with us, looking down on us and smiling. She was proud of us all, and I've learned so much from her, she’s the reason I came home, the reason I can stand here today. I wish I could tell her thank you for everything she's done, but I think she already knows. Goodbye AJ, I'll miss you."
It was an odd day, having one friend return from death and losing another. Rainbow and her friends stayed long after the ceremony, they stayed after the burial just sitting and talking by the grave. They felt complete, they knew Applejack was there in spirit and were happy to be back together. There was not much to say, they enjoyed each other’s company. One day they'd all know the real reason Rainbow came back, the reason she stayed away. She couldn't tell them but when the time came they'd know. It made her sad to think about it but then she thought of Applejack, the thought of being the final figure her friends would see, the person to bring them peace in the most stressful part of their lives that made her smile. She was happy now, happier than she ever had been, and although she would always have to hide something, AJ had given her a reason to be proud of it. She was finally at Peace.