"Rainbow. Spill it."
"What, AJ? There's nothing to spill."
"You're obviously upset. Is it or isn't it because I invited Apple Bloom along on our day out?"
"Now you're calling it 'our' day out. Because that's what I thought we were doing, but then—"
"It was a suggestion. Nothin' more. School was canceled, so I thought she might have been bored. But she could have easily spent the day with her friends. You told me you were okay with her comin' along."
"And, what, you couldn't have picked up that I clearly wasn't?"
"Who is this I'm talkin' to right now!? You have never had a problem with speaking your mind. What is it about me that all of a sudden you're okay with lyin'!?"
"Hey—calm down!"
"You lied to me, Rainbow! You lied to my face! I need to know I can trust you, and how can I ever do that if you're gonna try and hurt me like—"
"Don't you ever say that. Don't you ever say I would try to hurt you. Alright? I'm dumb, and I don't know what I'm doing, but I would never want to hurt you. Don't ever throw that at me. I'm just—I'm just dumb."
"...I..."
"What?"
"...Yeah. Yeah, y'are dumb."
"Well, I'm glad we can agree on something."
"I'll try to be more mindful of when I should leave my family out of time meant for us."
"Sounds good."
"Alright."
"...Hay Burger's around the corner."
"Again? You'll really shovel any old greasy food in your mouth."
"Eh. If it's cheap."
"Pfft. Sounds like you're good to pay for it, then."
"Done deal."
"I'm just saying, if I can sneeze on a letter and send it to Canterlot, you've gotta be able to invent some sort of spell that'll send ponies there."
"Spike! Spike, I'm telling you. Magic's not that easy."
Twilight and Spike sat in their respective seats next to the castle's map of Equestria, playfully arguing in between sips of eggnog. The library's roots hung from the ceiling, still suspending countless memories. Rainbow lay across her own seat, off to their right. The cutie marks on her and Twilight's thrones glowed brightly.
Spike tipped his glass about, watching the thick liquid slide along the walls. "I bet somepony could do it. Maybe you're not the Element of Magic after all!" He put his glass down on the map.
"Oh, that's—Hey! If you're going to set your eggnog on our strange mystical glowing map, at least use a coaster." She levitated Spike's glass in the air and slid the nearby wooden coaster underneath it.
Rainbow spent her time idly spinning her coaster in circles on the map, having no drink with which to make proper use of it. Twilight looked sidelong at Rainbow, lightly biting down on her lip, a silent sigh escaping her.
Spike looked out the window. "Man, it's getting late. Gonna be time to head to bed soon." He hopped off his seat. "But not yet! I'm gonna make some popcorn. Be back in a bit!"
Twilight watched Spike leave the room, then turned to Rainbow. She opened her mouth for a moment, then hesitated and closed it.
She breathed out. "Hey," she said. "I know you don't like to talk about this stuff, but—"
"You were right, earlier." Rainbow responded, still staring at her coaster. "When I came in. I just…" She looked at Applejack's empty seat, on the other side of Twilight. "I just want to be with her," she said quietly.
Twilight stammered slightly, taken aback. "Well I'm—I'm glad to hear you—I mean, not glad that—"
Rainbow smirked softly. "Applejack's always trying to get me to be more honest with other ponies. And myself. Guess it's working, finally."
The room was silent for a moment. Twilight waited patiently.
"I could have gone with her, you know. Like, if I'd pushed for it. She didn't say that I couldn't, just that… she wasn't sure if I should. I could have pushed. And I wanted to, but…" Rainbow gave her coaster another solid spin. "...If she's not sure, how can I be? Everypony else at the farm keeps saying 'Wow, you really fit in!' and 'You're here for life!' But whenever they say that, Applejack just... smiles, and looks like she's somewhere else.
"She's one of the most self-assured ponies I know. She's got so much confidence. Real confidence, not like… not like me." She breathed in. "I feel like I can do anything if she believes in me."
She rolled over, hiding her face from Twilight. "...I don't know what to do if she doesn't."
Twilight let the silence hang in the air a while longer. "I'm sure she does, Rainbow. I'm certain that's not what's going on. She is a confident pony, but… everypony has a weakness, I guess. Something so important to them that they can never fully trust that they won't… you know... I mean..."
Rainbow stayed curled up, facing away from Twilight. Twilight bit down on her lip again and looked up at the ceiling, frustration in her eyes.
After a moment, Twilight stepped off of her seat and walked over to Rainbow, gently rubbing her shoulder. "C'mon. I have something to show you."
Rainbow turned to face her with a weary expression.
Apple Bloom climbed the stairs to the second floor of the Pies' family home, poking her head up to see Applejack pacing back and forth near the bunk beds. Big Mac sat at the table nearby, head propped up on his front hooves, idly reading a book.
"Hey, you two! The Pies brought some cards out, and they're offerin' to teach us a new game! They keep score with rocks! Surprisin', I know." She grinned. "You guys wanna come?"
Big Mac turned to her and shook his head, before smiling and returning to his book. Applejack stopped her pacing for a moment to respond, "Eh… maybe later." She resumed pacing.
Apple Bloom smiled. "C'mon, Jack! You've been mopin' up here for—"
"Oh, no you don't." Applejack cut her off, and marched towards the stairs. "Only she gets to call me that. I ain't lettin' anypony else get used to it."
"Ah-ha!" Apple Bloom shouted. "That's the first time I've heard you say she's allowed to call you that!"
"Oh, for—Right, she's not allowed, but—Ahh, get movin' on to your game." Applejack turned away. Apple Bloom snickered as she walked back down the stairs.
Applejack continued to walk around the room, restless, thinking. Her hooves made an endless repetitive noise against the hard wood floor. Big Mac's brow furrowed as he tried to concentrate.
Applejack stopped near Big Mac. "...I mean, she could have come. I never said… I never said she couldn't. Just that I wasn't… sure."
Big Mac swiveled slowly in his seat, turning to face Applejack. He said nothing, looking her in the eye with a tired and stern expression.
"I s'pose I was… hoping she'd say that she was sure. That she knew it would be fine. I would have happily let her come along. But, I… One of us needed to be sure that she... belonged. Right?"
Big Mac said nothing.
"It wasn't like I was runnin' some sort of secret test or nothin'! That's—that's not how it works with us. I just…"
Applejack stared at the wall for a minute. "We're here tryin' so hard to make things work with the Pies... last thing we need is for somethin' to happen down the road, and then all the pictures taken here.. all the memories…
"I know Rainbow sometimes has... doubts… so I guess I could have put it differently…" She looked at Big Mac. "Apple Bloom's too young to really understand, but… I made the right decision, right? I'm makin' sense. Right?"
Big Mac clicked his tongue and held his gaze. "Eeeenope."
Applejack blinked, her mouth hanging open slightly. "Wh… But…"
"Hooo-wee! First round's done." Granny Smith's voice echoed from the stairs as she hobbled up slowly. "Pinkie's got the most o' dem rocks so far, but that can change! Prob'ly won't. But it could!"
She saw Applejack's pained expression. "Still frettin', eh?"
Applejack looked back at her and nodded slowly. "At this point I think I might just be a loon," she said, glancing at Big Mac briefly. "I don't know what I'm thinkin' anymore."
Granny called down the stairs. "Deal me outta the next hand or two! Ah'm gonna need a bit." She slowly moved past Applejack. "C'mere. Ah have somethin' to show you."
Applejack followed her, her head cocked.