It was a beautiful day on Sweet Apple Acres. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the squirrels were chattering, and everything seemed to be moving along perfectly.
Still, something wasn't right. Applejack couldn't help but notice that something seemed to be bothering Goldenrod. Normally, the filly was humming a tune or singing some song she had made up; but today, she was as silent as Mac when he was working. She watched as Goldenrod moved a full basket of apples and stacked it with the others, paused long enough to wipe a little sweat off her brow, and then looked up.
And then Applejack's world and her brain came skidding to a screeching halt as her young daughter Goldenrod asked her the question she had been dreading to hear for years now.
“Mama, where did I come from?”
A bead of sweat formed on the older mare's brow. “Now what kind of question is that?” Applejack asked with a forced giggle, reaching down and brushing a hoof through the thick golden stripe in her light brown mane that had given little Goldenrod her name. “You've always been a part of our family.”
Goldenrod scuffed a little hoof. “Yeah, but Toot Sweet said that every foal had to have a mommy and a daddy, and Miss Cheerilee said so, too; but I have two mommies. So where did I come from?”
“Uh...” Applejack was good at many things. Thinking fast while on the spot was not one of them. “Well, you see… uh… well…”
“Did I have a daddy?”
“Everypony has a dad,” Applejack admitted, “but... you...” Her voice trailed off.
Goldenrod saw her mother's hesitance, and tried to help. “Was it magic?” she suggested.
“N- no, Ah wouldn't say that...”
“Did mom magically get turned into a colt and cover you?”
“Wha-!?” Applejack blushed the color of her cutie mark. “Goldenrod Sugarcane! Where did you hear that language?”
“School,” Goldenrod answered innocently.
Applejack muttered something under her breath about standards lowering everywhere, and then she sighed. “No, there wasn't any of that magic stuff. Rainbow's a mare, has always been a mare, and is proud of it.”
“I'm just a filly, but I'm gonna be a mare, too, someday,” Goldenrod said happily, “and I'm plenty happy with that.” Then she frowned. “But that still doesn't tell me where I came from.”
She just didn’t give up. Applejack had to admit, she picked up quick. Still, she needed a answer; or at the very least, a diversion. “Ah'll tell you later.”
Goldenrod was taken aback. Mama had never given anything but a straight, honest answer. It took her a bit for her little mind to process this, but she soon nodded. “Ok,” she said hesitantly. “When's later?”
“Later is... later,” Applejack answered, wishing she were anywhere else but here.
A smile played on Goldenrod's lips, revealing a little gap between her front teeth. “Miss Cheerilee says you can't use a word to define itself.”
Applejack couldn't suppress a smile. She had a valid point. “A'ight, then. 'Later' is when you're older.”
Goldenrod tapped a hoof on her chin and considered this with all the mental power her filly's mind possessed. “Will I be older by bedtime?” she asked innocently.
Applejack frowned. “Yes,” she answered truthfully, “but...”
Goldenrod let out a little cheer and sprinted off.
Applejack pulled her hat over her eyes and groaned. That could definitely have gone better. And now tonight was just going to be all kinds of awkward.
* * *
Goldenrod was a tiny ball of quivering anticipation all throughout that afternoon, and all throughout dinner, and all the way up until bedtime. She brushed her teeth without being asked, climbed into bed, and sat up, waiting patiently for her answer.
Applejack peeked into the room, whimpered quietly, and then returned back to the living room, where Rainbow was laying back, relaxed, reading on the couch. Rainbow looked up as she came in, and raised an eyebrow at Applejack's dismayed expression.
“Rainbow, Ah need you to tell Goldenrod a bedtime story tonight.”
Rainbow lowered her book. “Why?” she asked suspiciously. “We both know you're the better storyteller.”
“Yeah, but this is one time Ah don't have the right story.”
Rainbow Dash frowned. “Why not?”
“Goldenrod wants to know where she came from.”
Rainbow's eyes widened. She set the book fully down and met Applejack's eyes. “You know we can't tell her,” she said.
“Ah know, but she thinks Ah'm gonna tell her tonight, and Ah've got no idea what to say!”
Rainbow looked down at the book she had been reading, and a smile flickered across her face. “Yeah, but I might.” She marked her place and trotted over to their daughter's room, closely followed by Applejack. She paused before entering, flicked her tail up in Applejack's face and whispered, “You owe me some good 'quality time' for this, you know.”
“Tomorrow,” Applejack promised.
Rainbow's wings wilted. “Tomorrow?” she whimpered.
“If'n Ah say tonight, she ain't gonna get a good story on account of you bein' too focused on what we'll be up to later.” Applejack gave her a gentle prod against her cutie mark. “Ain't that so?”
Rainbow opened her mouth and raised a hoof to protest... and then dropped it. “Yeah,” she admitted, “I guess. You know me too well.”
“Alrighty, then,” Applejack said contentedly. “One great story now for some sweet loving tomorrow.”
Rainbow paused just long enough to run her tongue over her teeth in early anticipation, and then she pushed the door open and confidently stepped inside. “Hey, sleepyhead,” she said.
“Hey, mom,” Goldenrod smiled sleepily, revealing once more that cute little gap between her front teeth. “Can I have a bedtime story?”
“Of course you can,” Rainbow said cheerfully. “Which one do you want to hear?”
Goldenrod fiddled with her hooves under the blanket. “Actually, I was wondering... Where did I come from? See, at school, Toot Sweet said that every foal...”
Rainbow rested a hoof on Goldenrod's smaller hoof and smiled. “I know. The whole two mommies thing?”
Goldenrod nodded timidly.
“Funny you should ask. See, once upon a time...”