“Then we retired from the secret agent gig, I stopped drinking so much, Celestia helped us forge the paperwork to adopt you as our own foal, and we changed our names to Applejack and Rainbow Dash and then moved to this town so no one would ever know who we were. The end,” Rainbow said.
Goldenrod clapped her hooves and cheered. “Awesome!” she said. “That's a great story!”
“Of course it is. I told it, didn't I?”
“You did,” Goldenrod agreed, but then her face fell. “But that still doesn't answer my question.”
Rainbow looked at her bare pastern. “Oh, my, look at the time. It's time for little fillies to go to sleep.”
“Aww,” Goldenrod whined, but she lay her head down.
Rainbow couldn't bear to leave her daughter like this, so she said something she knew would regret later. “But don't worry,” she said, bringing a hoof up to brush her cheek. “We'll tell you soon. Promise.”
Relieved, Goldenrod snuggled deeper under the covers and breathed easier. “Good night, mom.”
Instinctively, Rainbow looked around to ensure she was alone, and then leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “Good night, Goldenrod,” she whispered.
* * *
Applejack was sitting up in bed, still wide awake, when Rainbow Dash entered the room. “That was quite the story,” she said.
Rainbow's ears pricked up. “Y- you were listening?”
“The whole time...” Applejack smirked, “Slowpoke.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes.
“She didn't buy it, though, did she?” Applejack didn’t even have to ask.
“Not for one second,” Rainbow grinned as she climbed into bed next to Applejack. “But I tried!”
Rainbow jumped as she felt a hoof brush against her cutie mark and slowly begin circling it.
“That's all Ah asked for,” Applejack said, quickly progressing beyond her cutie mark.
“Th- thought you said tomorrow,” Rainbow whispered, her back arching and the rest of her body responding instinctively to Applejack's ministrations.
Applejack smirked. “Ah lied.”