//------------------------------// // Time's Up // Story: Lost Time // by bookplayer //------------------------------// “We gotta talk,” Applejack said. It had been a day and a half since their kiss, and everything had been what Rainbow was coming to consider normal: spilled drinks and rushing the foals out the door, a day of chasing after Sky, and an evening of catching up with Daring Do while the foals played. The only thing different had been Applejack. Since the other night, she’d been quiet. Not really angry—at least she kept insisting she wasn’t when Rainbow asked her repeatedly—but more lost in thought. Rainbow wasn’t about to ask what she was thinking; it was probably about apples or something. Rainbow looked up from the book she was reading while Sky napped and noticed the serious expression on AJ’s face. She… probably hadn’t been thinking about apples. “O-kay,” Rainbow said slowly, setting down her book. “Shoot.” Applejack took a breath and looked Rainbow in the eye. “First off… I owe ya an apology for the other night. I was a darn fool, puttin’ you on the spot like that. I shoulda known how ya felt before you answered me, and you got every right to feel that way. I ain’t gonna try nothin’ like that again, you got my word.” Rainbow shrugged, still a little nervous about whatever was coming next. “It’s okay. I mean… it was weird, but we’re cool.” “Good. I want us to still be friends, and we gotta work together for the kids.” A frown pushed at the corners of AJ’s mouth, and she looked down. “Now, the second thing is… I think you oughta think about gettin’ your own place.” Rainbow blinked. She lived here. She was just getting used to it. She had to take care of the kids. It wasn’t like she snored or anything… Applejack glanced up and went on. “I ain’t kickin’ you out or nothin’, you can stay as long as ya want. I can sleep downstairs. And I’ll give ya some bits if ya want, until you get back on your hooves. But Twilight said she didn’t know how long this’d go on, or… or if it’ll ever get fixed. So… I reckon we oughta start thinkin’ how it’s gonna work. And it ain’t right for us to pretend to be married when… we ain’t.” Rainbow frowned. “We aren’t really pretending to be married… we’re just kind of not correcting ponies who think we are.” “We’re sleepin’ in the same bed, and sittin’ together every night, and raisin’ foals side by side,” Applejack pointed out. “That doesn’t mean anything.” Rainbow shrugged. “It means somethin’ to me,” Applejack said quickly and firmly. She paused and shook her head. “There’s no reason for it to mean anythin’ to you. I know it. But… we were married eleven years, and that means somethin’ to me.” “Okay,” Rainbow agreed, mostly to buy time. She felt like she was on a ledge, halfway down a cliff, that was crumbling beneath her. She’d already fallen into this weird new place, and now she was falling again. Rainbow Dash didn’t like falling, that’s why Celestia gave her wings. “I mean, I won’t be around to help with breakfast and stuff…” “Well… you’re talkin’ about joinin’ the Wonderbolts anyhow.” Applejack sighed. “I reckon a lot’s gonna change.” “Not, like, right away!” Rainbow protested. “And I still haven’t decided…” Applejack shrugged. “That’s up to you. I just know…” She paused, then pushed herself on. “I need ya to not be here.” “But—” “Dash,” Applejack said sharply. Then she caught herself and gave Rainbow a sympathetic look. “I’ll do everythin’ in my power to make things right with you, but it’s gotta be right for me, too.” Rainbow stared at her. That was… kinda right. Well, actually, totally right. AJ sometimes needed stuff, too. She just couldn’t understand why she needed this. But… asking about it seemed to be making her upset.  “Okay… I guess I can get a cloud house or something—” “Leaf,” Applejack corrected her. “You’re gonna want a place for him to stay.” “Right.” Rainbow nodded. “An apartment in town, then. It… kinda sucks. I was just getting used to stuff.” “You’ll settle in.” Applejack gave her a sad smile. “You just start lookin’ to get set up, and I’ll work with you on gettin’ comfortable. If you don’t want the kids around as much at first, or you want ’em there a bunch to get used to it, we can work it out.” Rainbow frowned. “The kids aren’t gonna like it. Do you think they’ll be okay?” Applejack’s face fell, and she bit her lip. For a moment hesitation filled her face, but finally she shook her head. “They’ll have to be. We’ll show ’em we both still love ’em, and we’re always there for them, and for each other. I never wanted somethin’ like this to happen to them, but I reckon nopony plans on somethin’ like this. It ain’t the worst it could be.” “There’s gotta be something we can do,” Rainbow insisted, setting her face in a determined line. Leaving when she didn’t want to was one thing, but the kids… “There ain’t,” Applejack said plainly. Then she swallowed and looked down. “You don’t love me, and you don’t wanna love me.” Rainbow hesitated just a second. “I mean, maybe I could—” Applejack’s head snapped up, her eyes flashing. “Don’t you dare lie to me, it ain’t what you want.” Rainbow froze as their eyes locked for an uncomfortably long time. Lying was out, totally out, because those green eyes promised that AJ would either pluck out every one of her feathers or… cry. That was in there, too, and that was the one that really scared Rainbow. She broke their stare, looking over at the wall. “What does that even mean, ‘what I want’? Love is a feeling, you don’t want feelings, they just happen to you.” “Love’s a feelin’, but a marriage ain’t.” Applejack sighed. “Sometimes, you go through rough patches, and… well, maybe you don’t think what you’re feelin’s love, really. But you know how things can be, and that’s what you want, so you work at it. We done that before, we had our blows, but we both knew that we wanted the same things, so we worked to make it right.” Rainbow looked back at AJ. She was staring into the distance, but her eyes caught Rainbow’s, even more sad now that the anger was washed away. Applejack went on. “You don’t wanna work for it, and I can’t blame ya. You don’t even have a clue what you’d be workin’ for. And… I can’t let you work for somethin’ you might not even want. I’d never take advantage of you like that.” Rainbow just nodded. “What if the future me comes back? Am I gonna be pissed that I messed everything up?” “I reckon she’d understand.” Applejack swallowed. “And she could come right back home. Nopony’d be happier than me.” “If that happens, it’ll mean we’re in a closed thingy.” Rainbow frowned, considering. “Huh?” Applejack tilted her head. “A time thingy, like Twilight said.” Rainbow waved a hoof. “It means everything will happen the same. I’ll fall in love with you anyway when I go back.” “I don’t know nothin’ about that, but…” Applejack shook her head sadly. “I’d be a lucky mare.” Rainbow rubbed her face with her hoof. Everything was wrong, somehow. Applejack couldn’t be like this; Rainbow needed her. Since she got here, AJ had been the pony who helped her understand everything. And now she was telling her she had to leave, and she seemed like she might cry. Applejack didn’t cry. And she didn’t let Rainbow down. They took care of each other, but Applejack didn’t need taking care of, because Applejack was okay. Rainbow blinked, and looked up at Applejack. “Um… are you okay?” Applejack raised her eyebrows. “I lost my wife, Dash. No. I ain’t okay.” “That… really sucks,” Rainbow said, surprised. She knew that, obviously, but… of course AJ wasn’t okay with it. She knew things were weird between them, but they were weird for her. For AJ, they were weird and really, really awful. “It ain’t your fault.” Applejack sighed. “It’s nopony’s fault.” Rainbow felt her ears start to droop. It was kind of her fault. But there was no way she could ever tell AJ that now, so she said softly, “Yeah, but it still sucks.” “The kids are healthy, and you’re still there for ’em. And maybe she’ll come back to me, someday.” She gave half of a shrug. “Just gotta get by, ya know?” “Yeah, but that sucks.” Rainbow frowned. “Who wants to just get by?” “It ain’t so bad. It’s just what a pony does.” Applejack looked up at the ceiling. “This here, this was the hard part. Well, this and tellin’ the kids.” “I should tell them. You don’t have to,” Rainbow said quickly. It would hurt to see them sad… now that she thought about it, she really didn’t want to do it. But AJ totally shouldn’t have to do it, it wasn’t AJ’s fault. Applejack shook her head. “It’s gotta be both of us. We gotta show ’em we’re both okay.” “But you’re not okay,” Rainbow pointed out. “I can be, for y’all,” Applejack said, taking a deep breath. She managed a small smile. Seeing her smile, Rainbow realized that AJ had been okay for them all week, even when it was just her and Rainbow. But she hadn’t been okay for herself. For a moment, Rainbow was almost in awe. How could a pony just do that and not even say anything? At the same time, even if she didn’t realize how bad it was, a twisting in Rainbow’s heart reminded her that she should have noticed something. She was her friend, and she was supposed to take care of her. But there was nothing she could do to help, except leave. Rainbow took a breath. “So… how do we tell them?” Applejack looked out the window at the orchard. “I’m just about done settin’ up for harvest, now it’s just waitin’ on the signs. I was thinkin’ we could spend some time together tomorrow, the whole bunch of us, so long as the zap apples don’t come. That way the kids’ll see that we really are still friends, it ain’t just a bunch of hooey to make ’em feel better. Then we can tell ’em after dinner.” “That sounds like fun,” Rainbow said. Then she felt a lump growing in her throat as she added, “I mean, except for the last part. But… I like it when we’re all together.” “Me too.” Applejack sighed and nodded, then she rose to her hooves. “Anyhow, I gotta wrap things up and let Mac know I ain’t gonna be around tomorrow.” “Okay. I’ll see you at dinner.” Rainbow watched her walk out. She sat for a few moments, not sure what to do. Her book was still laying there, but finding out if Daring managed to save the world this time seemed kind of pointless right now. She obviously did, or else somepony would have mentioned it. However she did it, Rainbow didn’t feel like reading about it right now. She decided to look around for Tank. They could play with Sky later, and for now, until Sky woke up, she could rub his shell. He liked that. He’d smile at her, and she’d know that he was totally okay. She needed to make somepony feel okay. • • • The next morning, breakfast was happening loudly around Rainbow, but she barely noticed. She was watching Applejack. Applejack was working fast, getting the last of the pancakes cooked at almost the same time she was pouring juice and answering a knock-knock joke. She moved from one thing to the next like a pony in a show, who always knew her next step and next line. She was like this every morning, and every dinner, and she almost always had a smile on her face just like she did now. Even though she wasn’t okay. Rainbow tried to picture what breakfast would be like at her house. She could make eggs. They were pretty good eggs, but she knew from experience that if she got distracted, like if she was reading a Daring Do book, they usually ended up burned. She hoped the kids liked the little black bits. They’d probably never had them before, since AJ probably made perfect eggs. Maybe she could get Applejack to teach her how to cook something. AJ would probably be happy to help. She’d want the kids and Rainbow to have a good breakfast. Heck, when she thought of it she’d probably send things over sometimes to make sure Rainbow was eating right. AJ was the kind of pony who thought of things like that. Even when she wasn’t okay. While she was thinking, she realized that most of the movement around the table had stopped. The older kids were both looking at her. Rainbow blinked. Applejack’s face looked like she’d asked her something. “Uh… sure,” Rainbow answered. Applejack, Leaf, and Cider all dissolved into laughter. “Mama asked if you wanted her to put your pancakes on your head!” Cider explained through her giggles. “After I asked three times how many ya wanted,” Applejack said with a smile. “Oh.” Rainbow shook her head. “Uh, four is good.” “You okay, Mom?” Leaf asked, loading his plate with pancakes. “Sure…” Rainbow glanced at Applejack, who was carrying the last stack of pancakes to the table with a smile. “Say, kids,” Applejack said as she sat down. “How about after breakfast we all head down to the swimmin’ hole?” Leaf and Cider looked up right away, and smiles spread across their faces. “You don’t have to work today?” Leaf asked. Applejack shook her head as she cut up a pancake for Sky. “We’re all set up. Unless both signs hit today, I’m free as a bird.” Leaf grinned. “Cool!” “Yay!” Cider bounced in her seat. “I’m gonna jump in from so high up, you won’t even believe it!” “Mommy’s gonna set a cloud as high as you can go,” Applejack pointed out, fixing a plate for herself. Cider turned to Rainbow. “Set it really high, Mommy. I’m gonna be an aquapony like Great-Granny Smith.” “Mom, will you pull me on water skis?” Leaf asked. Rainbow couldn’t help grinning. This was sounding like more fun all the time. “You bet!” “Will you give me a bump up, Mama?” Cider asked AJ. “Oh, me too!” Leaf chimed in. “Sure thing.” Applejack smiled. “Can we play Clover Clever?” Leaf asked. “We’d all need to play, it wouldn’t be as fun with just three of us.” “I reckon we’ll see… maybe when Sky takes his nap.” Cider leaned over to Leaf and said in a loud whisper, “Mama’s just afraid she’ll never be able to catch Mommy.” Rainbow burst out laughing, partially at the innocent look on Cider’s face and partially at the shocked look on AJ’s. “I am not afraid I can’t catch your Mommy,” Applejack said, pulling herself up straight. “First of all, even if I couldn’t it wouldn’t matter as long as everypony’s havin’ fun and playin’ fair. Right, Rainbow Dash?” “Sure, if you’re only gonna tag the foals.” Rainbow smirked. Applejack rolled her eyes. “And second, nopony could miss your Mommy, even with their eyes closed. She flaps around like a duck takin’ off.” “Hey! I’m a master of stealth!” Rainbow protested. Applejack raised an eyebrow and said to Leaf and Cider, “Ya know, one time she tried to dress up like a ninja and forgot to pull her tail in.” Rainbow waved a hoof. “Nopony was supposed to see me!” Leaf snickered. “So you decided to wave a rainbow behind you?” “Okay, maybe that wasn’t my best-thought-out plan.” Rainbow crossed her hooves and leaned back in her chair. “Actually, I reckon it mighta been…” Applejack calmly took a sip of coffee. Rainbow leaned over the table and pointed at AJ. “That’s it. You’re going down, cowpony.” “Gonna have to find me first.” Applejack smirked, and their eyes locked. For a moment it was almost like the kids weren’t even there, just the two of them ready to go head to head, just like it should be. “Yay! We’re gonna play Clover Clever!” Cider cheered. Rainbow gave her a sidelong look, but the filly just smiled like a little angel. Applejack smiled and shook her head. “Anyhow, everypony eat up and let’s get goin’.” • • • It was after lunch when Rainbow gave each of the older kids a turn on waterskis, then left them to play as she came up onto the shore where AJ was sitting with Sky. “Hey guys. How’s my little buddy?” She leaned down to where Sky was steadily taking shovels full of sand and dumping them on the blanket and Applejack’s rear hoof. He looked at Rainbow for a moment, then went back to his task. “I reckon he’s tryin’ to bury me, real slow.” Applejack chuckled, stretched out on the blanket, her blonde mane and tail untied and spread out to dry in the sun. “Can’t say the kid isn’t ambitious,” Rainbow said, sitting down in a beach chair. She put on her sunglasses, which made it easier to see the kids in the water, and more importantly let her stare at AJ as much as she wanted. Applejack looked hot, no doubt about that. Her coat was dry and shining in the sun, and her mane and tail were still a little damp, just enough to give her a sporty look that hinted at all sorts of fun physical activities. As Rainbow looked closer, she noticed that Applejack seemed totally relaxed, except for her face. She was looking between Sky and the older foals, but every now and then her lips pursed for no reason and her whole face grew tense. It made Rainbow tense too; she wished AJ wouldn’t look like that. “The kids are great swimmers,” Rainbow said, mostly to distract AJ as she started to get that look again. Applejack turned to her and smiled. “Course they are. You don’t think me and you would let ’em sit around the house any time we could be out havin’ fun, do ya?” “I don’t know, Leaf seems to like his notebook a lot.” Rainbow smirked. “I figured it was too much time around Twilight.” “He is right smart.” She nodded and looked back out at where he was sneaking up on Cider under the water. “I know Twi and Cheerilee helped him some with the math stuff he needs for those flyin’ tricks. But Apple Bloom was always smart that way too, it’s no excuse for a foal not to get plenty of exercise.” Leaf popped out of the water and the foals disappeared for a moment in an explosion of splashes. Rainbow considered the kid. “The flying tricks have gotta be his cutie mark, right? I mean, he’s too good at it.” Applejack smiled. “That’s what ya tell me. I reckon if he’d ever show ’em to anypony, he’d realize it’s the truth and not just his mom talkin’.” “Yeah.” Rainbow nodded. “What’s with that?” “Foals are funny.” Applejack gave a happy sigh. “Ya try to teach ’em, and they see you and learn how to be, but then it all comes out how you didn’t expect. I reckon we both tried to tell ’em how if they tried their hardest, they could be amazin’. But Leaf takes it to mean that if ya ain’t amazin’ enough, you ain’t tryin’ hard enough. He ain’t amazin’ enough for himself just yet, but he set his sights sky-high to start with.” Rainbow was quiet, thinking about Leaf, but Applejack went on. “Now, Cider, she ain’t all that worried ’bout hard work or bein’ amazin’, with her it’s all love and fun. She reminds me a bit of Pinkie that way. But I reckon with how she loves Sweet Apple Acres, she’ll learn enough about hard work and probably won’t even notice she’s doin’ it.” “I wonder what Sky’s gonna be like,” Rainbow said, looking down at the baby foal. He’d discovered that he could dump sand on his own hooves, too, and had forgotten Applejack’s in favor of the new project. “That’s part of the fun, ain’t it?” Applejack grinned. “We’ll teach him things, and show him things, and one day we’ll look up and he’ll be a little pony, with his own ideas and everythin’.” “That’s kinda awesome.” Rainbow smiled. Then a bunch of splashing came from the edge of the lake, and two wet foals came running to the blanket. Water sprayed on Rainbow and everything else as they shook themselves and Cider flapped her wings. “Hey! Watch it!” “Both of y’all have towels, ya know,” Applejack said with a flat expression, sitting up. She grabbed her hair ribbons and started tying her mane and tail. Leaf made a face. “Yeah, but if I use mine now, it’ll get all wet, then when I go back in the water I’ll have to dry off with a wet towel.” Cider blinked at her brother, then shrugged. “I just forgot.” She picked up her towel and tossed it over her back, flapping under it to dry her wings. Rainbow watched as Cider tossed the towel off, revealing wings that looked like pompoms. “It’s gonna take forever to preen you tonight.” “I’ll sit really still!” Cider said, trotting over and giving Rainbow a nuzzle. “Promise?” Rainbow asked, nuzzling back. “Yes, Mommy!” Cider looked at Rainbow with wide eyes that meant she knew it was what her mom wanted to hear. Rainbow rolled her eyes, then caught sight of AJ chuckling. She couldn’t help but smile. “Hey, isn’t it almost time for Sky’s nap?” Leaf said, looking between Rainbow and Applejack. “Yup, just about,” Applejack agreed. “And then we’re gonna play Clover Clever, right?” Leaf prompted. Applejack smiled and raised an eyebrow. “I thought I said ‘maybe.’” “Yeah, but then you said you could catch me, so we can’t really trust you here.” Rainbow slid her sunglasses down her muzzle and smirked. Applejack’s smile grew to a grin. “Sugarcube, you can always take my word to the bank. Lemme get Sky laid down.” Rainbow stood up and stretched out while Applejack dusted off Sky and took him over to a quiet, shady spot still in view of the lake. Rainbow had to be ready to give Applejack a run for her money, after all. The older foals splashed back into the lake and started arguing over where boundaries would be until Rainbow followed them in and picked them out herself, settling the matter. Applejack joined them after Sky was asleep in a bassinet in the shade, and the game was on. The first few rounds passed between the foals. While the kids aimed for their moms, at times calling out “Clover” every few seconds and tracking one parent or the other’s answers of “Clever” like a sonar, AJ and Rainbow were both skilled swimmers and athletes. Even taking a casual approach with the foals, they usually found it easy to get away unless they wanted to purposely throw the round. Rainbow didn’t even consider that; no foal of hers would want to win that way. AJ seemed to be thinking the same thing, and the foals kept trying and never complained. But eventually the slow pace caught up to Rainbow. She wasn’t paying attention to where Leaf was during his past few calls of “Clover,” and by the time she noticed that he was just yards away, she also realized she was pinned in the corner of the boundaries she’d set. She took a breath and tried to dive under, but in the murky press of the water around her she felt the rippling currents of movements, followed by a hoof solidly hitting her folded wing. She came to the surface to hear Leaf shouting, “I got Mom! I got Mom!” Applejack grinned across the pond at them. “Good job there, Leaf!” He was beaming. Rainbow smiled. He deserved it; after all, he got her fair and square. Besides, now the game could really get going. “Guess I’ve gotta step it up, huh?” She smirked, nudging him with her wing. “Yeah!” Cider shouted, splashing her wings in the water. Leaf smirked back. “I’m ready when you are.” “Let’s do this.” Rainbow closed her eyes and started counting loudly to ten. She made sure to go slow to give the kids time. The pond was noisy for a few moments and the three other ponies scattered and repositioned themselves, but as the count came to an end silence settled over the water. Rainbow gave a shout of “Clover!” and listened for the responses, then swam directly for her target. The kids would be too easy—they weren’t too fast and they were really noisy. She could hear Cider trying not to giggle as she quietly tried to move away from her former spot. Rainbow didn’t go for easy, Rainbow went for a challenge. She was hunting cowpony. Luckily, “Clever” had a lot of vowels in it, so AJ’s voice was easy to pick out of the chorus. Rainbow stopped after a good swim and let out another call. AJ had managed to skirt the edge of the boundary, and Rainbow adjusted her course. As she was swimming she shouted again, and heard the call coming from a few yards directly in front of her, but it was followed by a small splash. Rainbow stopped, and heard another soft splash to her left. She lunged in that direction and let out another call. “Clover!” “Clever,” came the out-of-breath reply in Applejack’s unmistakable accent. Perfect: AJ was wearing herself out. Of course, Rainbow’s own panting was just because she was currently swimming. She had AJ right where she wanted her. For a while she chased AJ around the center of the pond. A few times she was able to make a dive for exactly where Applejack should be and ended up with a hoof-full of swirling water and a splash in the face as AJ hauled tail just in time. Finally, after a call and answer, she heard Applejack dive under the water, and felt a movement to her right side. She pushed toward it quickly, and felt her body run into something warm and wiggling as she fell on top of it. Rainbow stood up quickly, sputtering water, and she didn’t even open her eyes until she heard Applejack doing the same. The kids were laughing and cheering as they caught their breath. Applejack brushed her wet bangs out of her eyes. “Darn it, Dash! Ya tryin’ to drown me?” Rainbow grinned. “Hey, when Rainbow Dash tags a pony, they know they’re tagged.” “Fair enough.” Applejack chuckled. “I reckon I do know I got tagged. Lemme know when you’re good.” “I’m always good.” Rainbow smirked and nudged Applejack. “Okay, I walked into that one.” Applejack shook her head, but she was still grinning. “Lemme know when I can start countin’, ya featherbrain.” “Come on, Ma, let’s go!” Leaf called from across the pond. “You heard the kid,” Rainbow said, glancing around the pond and planning her escape. Applejack closed her eyes and started counting, and Rainbow swam hard for an area of the pond toward the blanket, a good distance away. She got there well before the counting stopped and stood still. Applejack finished and called out, “Clover!” Rainbow yelled back her response, along with the kids, and she saw Applejack head in Leaf’s direction. Rainbow relaxed and grinned. She could use a breather, even if she’d never admit that to AJ. And besides, she knew AJ could have come after her, then she could have gone after AJ, but this game—this day, really—was for the kids. They needed to have a blast, to try to make up for later… Rainbow felt her face fall, and she tried to put that out of her head as she answered another “Clover!” with “Clever!” It actually wasn’t hard to do. The round with AJ had put her in an awesome mood; there was something about working that hard and pushing herself that never failed to make her feel great, especially when she eventually succeeded. She smiled and watched AJ lunge at Cider as the filly tried to swim behind her brother, who darted out of the way. Applejack could always give her that feeling; that’s why they had such an awesome time together. AJ was kind of like gravity that way: they were both forces Rainbow could count on to push back with their full strength, and it made beating them the two best feelings in the world. It wasn’t long before Cider squealed and giggled, and Leaf shouted, “Cider’s it!” “Way to go, AJ!” Rainbow called, even though they both knew Applejack could have caught Cider in her sleep. It was a part of the game, and AJ was making the game fun for the kids. Rainbow had to cheer that on. • • • When they got home, Applejack cooked dinner while Rainbow and the kids played cards at the kitchen table. They could’ve gone in the living room, but Rainbow wanted to keep everypony together, as if it would draw out the easy fun of the day. But soon the food was done and dinner was served. “Eat up, y’all,” Applejack said as she slid a roast squash on the table among the side dishes. “My favorite!” Cider said as Applejack loaded up the filly’s plate. “Did you put brown sugar on it?” “Sure did.” Applejack smiled almost sadly as she started on Sky’s plate, cutting the food up small. She added, “And I made carrots with plenty of butter.” “Awesome! Thanks, Ma!” Leaf opened a side dish and started shoveling them on his plate. “And there’s mashed potatoes with garlic, and no skins…” Applejack glanced at Rainbow and nodded to another dish. Rainbow wasn’t sure if she’d ever had mashed potatoes and garlic, but she liked both of those things and hated potato skins, so it sounded really good. She was guessing, from the reactions around the table, that AJ was trying to make this meal as good as the day had been for everypony there. Cider blinked at her plate. Then she eyed her moms, and started eating. It was Leaf who spoke up. “Um… there’s no green vegetables?” “Shh!” Cider shot her brother a look. Applejack looked at the table, seeming a little surprised. “Uh… no, I reckon there ain’t!” “What’s going on?” Leaf asked suspiciously. “Somepony doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut,” Cider muttered, rolling her eyes. “That’s what’s going on.” Rainbow wanted to laugh, but she just glanced at AJ nervously. “It’s okay, Leaf. We can have a treat from time to time,” Applejack said with a nervous smile. Leaf ignored his dinner and focused on Rainbow. “What’s going on? We went swimming, and you played cards with us, and now we all get our favorite foods and no vegetables for supper? Are you joining the Wonderbolts, is that what this is about?” Rainbow blinked. “I, uh, still haven’t decided yet…” “Well something is up,” Leaf insisted. “Sugarcube, we’ll talk about it after supper,” Applejack said softly. Leaf pursed his lips and glared at Rainbow and Applejack. “I’m not hungry.” Rainbow swallowed a lump in her throat. She couldn’t blame the kid. The food was all great, but she was losing her appetite too. She looked over and saw AJ looking down at her plate. She elbowed Leaf and whispered, “Leaf, eat something. Your ma worked hard on this.” “Why?” Leaf said, not bothering to try to stay quiet. “Because she cares about us, okay?” Rainbow snapped. “Dash, it’s okay.” Applejack looked up, her mouth set in a firm line. “Don’t worry ’bout it. He don’t have to finish.” “Well, he should,” Rainbow muttered. She took a bite of her potatoes. They were amazing, but she still had to choke them down. The whole table was silent. Cider was eating quickly; she seemed to have decided that was safer than talking right now. Rainbow was picking at her food, and Sky was mashing carrots on his plate with his hooves. Leaf sat staring at the wall, while Applejack just looked down at her plate and sighed. After a few moments, Rainbow noticed Applejack take a napkin in her hooves and bring it to her face. But she didn’t wipe her muzzle with it. Rainbow frowned. Applejack was crying. This wasn’t right. Applejack didn’t cry unless somepony had died. And their family wasn’t like this, everypony avoiding each other, hiding things, Leaf being rude to AJ… Somepony had to do something. Doing something was Rainbow’s specialty. Especially when she had no idea what she was doing. “AJ? We need to talk. In the other room.” Rainbow got up and motioned with her head to the door. Applejack looked up at her, confused, but she stood up. “Okay…” Rainbow led the way into the living room, Applejack right behind her. As soon as the door was shut, Rainbow turned to her. “We can’t do it. Not tonight,” Rainbow whispered. Applejack shook her head and said softly, “Dash… we knew it was gonna be hard, but we gotta… it ain’t gonna get easier.” Rainbow rubbed a hoof over her face. “I get it. But… it shouldn’t be like this. This feels like… like it’s ruining everything. Today was too awesome.” “That was the point, Dash, to show ’em it’s all okay,” Applejack pointed out with a frown. “Yeah, but what if next time they’re having an awesome day, they’re like ‘boy, I haven’t felt this good since the day my moms said they were splitting up!’ and it totally ruins it for them?” Rainbow shook her head. “Look at that table. Is that how you want them to feel about fun stuff like today?” Applejack considered that for a moment. “So we gotta make ’em see it’s gonna be okay, but not too okay?” Rainbow realized she wasn’t sure what she meant. There wasn’t really anything that would make it not suck. But this sucked way too much, so she nodded. “Yeah. That’s part of it.” “What’s the other part?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You,” Rainbow said, looking her in the eye. “Me?” Applejack’s eyes went wide. “What do I got to do with this? I’m the one that came to you…” “I know, but…” Rainbow hesitated, not really sure what she meant to tell AJ. “This is all happening really fast. And you’re not okay. And I’m not saying we should change the plan or anything, but maybe… we need to get used to being friends again before we do this.” “We always been friends,” Applejack said gently. “That’ll never change.” Rainbow frowned. “I know, but I haven’t been a really good friend to you for the past week. Twilight told us to take care of each other, and I didn’t even know you weren’t okay.” Applejack snorted. “Sometimes I dunno how there ain’t room in that big head of yours for more than one pony.” “I was worrying about the kids too, sometimes,” Rainbow pointed out. Her face softening, Applejack nodded. “You been real good on that. I gotta say I’m impressed.” “Thanks.” Rainbow gave a quick smile that turned to a determined expression. “But it’s not enough. I’ve gotta worry about you too, even if it’s just as friends. So, I want to make it up to you tomorrow.” “How?” Applejack asked suspiciously. “It’s a surprise.” Rainbow grinned. She had the beginnings of an idea, but she had to check with some ponies first. “Dash…” Applejack sighed and shook her head. “I don’t think I need surprises right now.” “You need this surprise.” Rainbow insisted. “Just give me an hour to go set it up, okay? Then tomorrow we can figure out how to really tell the kids, and I’ll feel better that things are good between us.” “I dunno…” Applejack bit her lip. Rainbow gave her best smile. “Trust me.” After a moment, Applejack nodded. “Okay. I want ya to be sure things are right with us.” “Thanks,” Rainbow said, offering a hoof for a bump. Applejack smiled and bumped it, everything about her seeming to relax. “Well, guess we better go talk Leaf into eatin’ his dinner. If he’s gonna get off without vegetables, he’s darn well eatin’ everythin’ on his plate.” Rainbow snickered as they went back into the kitchen. “You got it, boss.”