• Published 14th Aug 2013
  • 7,667 Views, 71 Comments

My Heart Won't Let Go - CommissarAJ



Applejack and Rainbow Dash are the best of friends. Together, they've shared dreams, joys, hardships, and more. But there's one thing Applejack hasn't shared...

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Chapter Two

Part Two:

The next morning, I had awoken to a surprising sight: the complete absence of the pegasus who had passed out next to me. Had it all just been a crazy dream brought about by too much sulking and whiskey? I wouldn’t have put it past me, even if everything about the night before felt very real to me. What was more disconcerting, however, was that there was no sign of Rainbow Dash anywhere, including her own bedroom.

What if she had woken up and became so disturbed by seeing me asleep next to her that she ran out of the room? That seemed a bit unlike Rainbow Dash, and given her uncoordinated state last night, I doubt that Rainbow would have been able to pull that all off without waking me up in the process. Still, there was a good chance that Rainbow woke up before me and just left. If that was the case, then why? Why leave without waking me up? It didn’t make a lick of sense, and the possible reasons were worrisome. I needed to find answers.

Given the size of the castle, I figured if anypony knew if my friend had run off, it would be the Princess. The more time that passed, the more worst-case scenarios popped into my mind. It gave me motivation to pick up the pace, and by the time I arrived at the throne room, I had been galloping through the castle halls. Lucky for me, the Princess wasn’t in the middle of any important business when I arrived, so the guards let me in without any hassle.

“Good morning, Applejack,” Celestia greeted. I must have arrived at the same time as the royal breakfast, as a platter of assorted fruits and sandwiches sat before the Princess. She didn’t appear bothered by my appearance, though I imagine she could hide such emotion with practiced ease, but she did raise an eyebrow at the haste with which I arrived. “You seem to be in quite the hurry. Is something the matter?”

“Nothing terribly important, your Highness,” I answered after a quick bow. I tried not to let my concern show, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if Celestia saw through that facade with ease. “I’m just looking for Rainbow Dash. I haven’t seen her since last night, and she wasn’t in her room when I woke up.”

Celestia was halfway to floating a teacup to her lips when my words gave her pause. It was not surprise on her face, but rather a look of hesitation. I got the impression that my question was not unexpected. “I saw Rainbow Dash earlier this morning,” she explained before taking a slow sip. “She seemed very distracted when we spoke. I know it is not my business, but is everything okay between you two?”

“Of course!” I insisted at first. “Well, that is to say, I’m pretty sure we are.” That wasn’t entirely honest either, and I soon corrected myself. “I hope we are. Do you know where she is now?”

“I’m afraid I do not.” I feared for the worst when I heard those words. “She said she had some important business that she needed to take care of. She also asked me to tell you that she would not be joining you on the train ride back to Ponyville, and would be finding her own way back later.”

Whatever anxiety I might have been feeling was promptly crushed beneath the weight of the despair I now felt. Maybe Rainbow Dash wasn’t as asleep as I had thought she was. What if she heard what I said last night? I didn’t want to jump to conclusions but my mind seemed to be doing that all on its own. There was nothing more discouraging than having questions and no way to get answers to them. Right then I didn’t care about love or romance; I just wanted my friend back.

*******************

I don’t think I could’ve ever experienced a more lonesome train ride than I had that day. The train car may have been filled with other passengers, but it felt as empty as an old barn house to me. I spent the entire trip in the corner, watching the world go by and wondering where in blazes that darn pegasus could have flown off to. What was so important to her that she needed to leave without telling me?

The only thing that worried me more than the whereabouts of my friend was what I was going to tell everyone else when I got back to Ponyville. Twilight and the others were waiting at the platform when I stepped off the train. Their vibrant, hopeful smiles were shattered when I told them what Celestia had relayed to me. Pinkie Pie was understandably the most distraught about the news, though I think she was just overreacting a touch. It took Twilight and Rarity most of the walk back to town to reassure Pinkie Pie that Rainbow Dash hadn’t run off to join the circus or go on some Equestria-spanning trip of self-discovery. And I thought I had jumped to wild conclusions.

Pinkie Pie had a ‘welcome back’ party arranged for us back at Sugarcube Corner, but with only one of the guests of honour present, none of us felt like partying. Pinkie tried to jump-start the party a few times, but all she accomplished was covering Rarity in confetti, not that I didn’t find it amusing. My attitude didn’t help matters either, as I was too fraught with worry to even think about partying. We convinced ourselves that Rainbow would arrive soon and we could all party like we had planned, but as the hours passed, our party was still one pony short.

“Did she say when she would be coming back?” Twilight asked. I imagine for her, the whole situation felt a lot like my sudden departure after the Canterlot rodeo. I hoped that Rainbow Dash would know better given everything we had learned after my attempt to run away from Ponyville. Then again, this was the same pony who seemed to forget every other week that being a boastful show-off was not well-received by others.

“I get the feeling that Rainbow didn’t think that far ahead,” I remarked.

“I don’t get it; Rainbow Dash would never miss one of my parties,” Pinkie lamented from the far side of the room. I think she was talking to Fluttershy, but it was a one-sided conversation so she could have been talking to a sack of flour again.

“And you have no idea what caused this?” It wasn’t the first time that Rarity asked me about the events of the prior night, but for obvious reasons I left out the part about Rainbow passing out drunk in my bed. A small part of me was still trying to convince myself that, perhaps, it had all been a silly dream.

I gave Twilight an uncertain shrug. It was easier for me to lie through a simple gesture than with words. Plus, I wanted to hold onto the small hope that this wasn’t my fault and that I hadn’t ruined my chances with Dash.

“Well we can’t just sit here and wait!” Twilight announced as she rose from her seat. “We tracked down you after the Canterlot rodeo, we can track down Rainbow Dash!”

“You’re right!” Pinkie Pie chimed in next before she leapt onto the table with a suitcase in tow. “If Rainbow Dash won’t come to the party, then we’ll bring the party to her!” She then proceeded to stuff balloons and party decorations into the suitcase—somehow. “It’s time for an adventure, girls!”

I was thankful that my friends could muster up the motivation and enthusiasm that were faltering in me after an emotionally draining day.

“We can’t waste any time.” Taking the lead, Twilight motioned for the rest of us to follow before marching to the exit...only to see Rainbow Dash standing in the doorway.

“Found her! Shortest adventure ever!” Pinkie cheered. While the rest of us looked on, stunned, Pinkie popped open her suitcase, which caused the contents to burst out in a shower of balloons, confetti, and streamers right into Dash’s face.

“Hey, girls, did I miss the party?” Rainbow greeted with a cheerful grin despite a faceful of confetti and streamers that made it look like a rainbow just dropped on her head.

As for me, I was just overwhelmed with emotion to the point where I wanted to crash-tackle that silly pegasus to the ground. Whether it was to hug her in relief or crush her for all the worry she put me through was debatable, but either way I stood my ground and kept my emotions in check.

Having concluded the shortest quest in Equestria’s history, our happy gang trotted back over to the nearby table. Despite Pinkie’s insistence on getting the party started, there were far too many questions to ask. I had a million and one questions on my mind, but I refrained from saying anything right away and allowed Twilight to voice her concerns first. I wanted to keep a calm composure so it wasn’t too obvious how Rainbow’s absence had affected me.

“Where have you been?” she asked with the obvious question first. “Applejack said you had some sort of important business to attend to.”

“Yeah, sorry about bailing on you like that, AJ,” Rainbow apologized as we took our seats. I bet she hadn’t the slightest clue how much duress she put the rest of us through, especially me. If I did any more worrying, my mane would’ve gone as gray as Granny Smith’s.

“No harm done, but you did have me a might bit worried,” I replied. Whether or not I fooled anyone with trying to downplay my concern was a mystery to me. Thankfully, everyone else was too busy pressing on the obvious question to call my bluff.

With everypony trying to ask at once, Rainbow silenced the crowd by raising a hoof into the air. “I have an announcement, girls, I—pause for dramatic effect,” she began as she rose from her seat. Leave it to Rainbow to always make a spectacle out of everything. Everyone was holding their breath in anticipation, while I was ready to have a mental breakdown as the worst-case scenarios ploughed through my brain like a runaway train.

“She’s pregnant! No, she’s getting married. Wait! She’s wanted by the police! She’s joined a coventry and has taken a vow of celibacy! She’s been diagnosed with fatal apple syndrome!”

I may have made up the last one, but Rainbow’s dramatic pause was only serving to put my nerves through a full-force rodeo. The others had a look of restrained concern, save for Pinkie Pie who was probably hoping for something that she could use as reason to throw another party.

“—am joining the Equestrian Royal Guard!”

“Oh, thank goodness!” I had been a bit quick on the expression of relief, which caused understandable confusion amongst the others. I would’ve felt sheepish about my nonsense response had my mind not registered what Rainbow had actually said. “Wait, you did what?!”

“You heard me,” Rainbow confirmed, “I’ve enlisted!”

Everyone at the table just stared at Rainbow with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. Rainbow Dash wanted to be a Royal Guard? Suddenly, the coventry seemed like a more palatable outcome. While I didn’t have a hard time picturing her in the fancy gold-plated armour, the idea of Rainbow ‘Mandatory Afternoon Naps’ Dash being prime guard material eluded me. I was about to ask what in the world could have possessed Rainbow Dash to enlist, but someone else beat me to the draw.

“Why in Equestria would you want to be a guard?” Rarity asked. Her voice echoed the same concern that I felt, which meant that for once we agreed on something. “It is very hard work from what I’ve heard.”

“And dangerous,” I added.

“And you have to be up early every day,” Fluttershy chipped in.

“And you have to stand around and be all guardy!” Pinkie Pie intruded as she hopped onto the table in a half-panic. “Can you imagine having to stand around for hours doing nothing at all? You’re not even allowed to talk unless something bad is happening.”

“Pinkie Pie, there’s more to being a guard than standing around,” Twilight corrected before tugging on the pony’s tail to bring Pinkie back to her seat. Out of everyone present, Twilight appeared to be the only one who seemed unconcerned by the news. “It’s about a commitment to Equestria to serve and protect its citizens.”

“Exactly,” Rainbow Dash insisted, “I wanna do it for all that stuff that Twilight said. I mean, sure it’ll be hard work, but just because I don’t like hard work doesn’t mean I can’t do it when I need to!”

I was not convinced of this. Rainbow Dash could work hard when asked to by her friends, but to do so everyday without question? No, there had to be an ulterior motive to this sudden change. I suspected Soarin’ had a hoof in helping Rainbow make her decision. He was wearing a military uniform back during the wedding. Maybe he moonlighted as a recruiter between air shows. While we were rattling off the reasons against this idea, I saw the flickers of hesitation in Rainbow’s eyes. The others may have missed it, but I didn’t. She didn’t like the idea of early mornings and constant parade drills anymore than I liked the idea of her stepping out of my life like this.

“But why? This ain’t like you at all,” I asked.

“You think I want to be stuck as a weather pony forever? I need something more to get the Wonderbolts to notice me, and a few rounds in the guard is just the ticket.” Rainbow shot back. “Besides, high-flying danger and excitement sounds right up my alley, and I think I would look totally awesome in the armour.”

“Danger is not supposed to be exciting!” I snapped. We already led dangerous enough lives, and we didn’t have jobs that involved us going out and looking for that danger. I didn’t want to imagine the kind of dangers that a guardpony might have to deal with.

Unsurprisingly, Rainbow Dash all but dismissed the idea of danger with a roll of her eyes. “Oh, come on, AJ, this is me we’re talking about. If something wants to hurt me, it’s got to be able to catch me first.”

I don’t know what it was, but the idea of Rainbow being so careless with her own well-being just rubbed me the wrong way. I cared about her too much just to see her be so reckless. I was about to unleash a verbal stampede on her, but Twilight intervened. She must have seen my temper flaring and put herself between us before things got out of hoof.

“Girls, I think we’re forgetting that this is Rainbow Dash’s decision to make,” Twilight said in her usual calm and poised manner that calmed everyone down. I had no idea how she could stay calm at a time like this. “And I, for one, whole-heartedly supports Rainbow Dash on this decision, and am very proud of her.”

Oddly enough, the only pony surprised by Twilight’s position was Rainbow Dash. “You are?” she said before correcting herself. “I mean, of course! This is my choice to make, remember? But, um, you’re actually proud of me, Twi?”

“Well of course,” Twilight explained. “No offense, Dash, but you can be a bit—”

“Lazy?” I interrupted.

“I was going to say ‘unmotivated’,” she corrected before giving me a brief stink eye. “As I was saying, I think this would be a great experience for Rainbow Dash, and would really help give her some guidance and direction in life.”

Fluttershy, who remained her typically quiet self during most of the conversation, spoke up once more with another poignant observation. “But that means you have to leave, doesn’t it?”

During all the objections about danger and how this might’ve been a poor choice for Rainbow, we had all forgotten the most obvious thing about this decision: Rainbow Dash would have to leave us for Canterlot. We were going to be losing our dear friend, possibly even forever. As this realization settled in, a dreary silence fell across the table. In a way, Rainbow Dash was one of the main reasons we all became friends, and it was hard for any of us to picture our life without her presence.

Fluttershy was, once again, the first to speak up. “I’m really going to miss you.”

“Leaving? You can’t leave!” Pinkie blurted out whilst flailing of her limbs. “Who am I going to pull pranks with? Who am I going to have as my super-duper ultimate pony friend?”

“I thought Fluttershy was your super-duper ultimate pony friend,” Twilight remarked. That struck me as a bit weird since I thought I was Pinkie Pie’s super-duper ultimate pony friend—or was it ultra-deluxe compadre? It was hard to keep track.

“No, silly, she’s my ultra-riffic gal pal,” Pinkie corrected with a giggle as though our confusion was an amusement to her.

“We’re all going to miss you,” Twilight added as she rested a hoof upon Rainbow’s shoulder. “But the important thing is that we support you in this decision, and that we make use of the time we still have together.”

“I’m leaving tomorrow, Twi.”

There was a chorus of ‘what’ from around the table, though Twilight wound up shouting it right into Rainbow’s ear, making the pegasus recoil for a moment. Now even the fatal apple syndrome seemed like a preferable alternative.

“Sorry to have to cut it so short, but the next training camp starts tomorrow, so its either now or I wait four months,” Rainbow Dash explained. “And, you know, I kind of want to get the whole training camp thing over with so I start doing the actual guardpony stuff.”

I was willing to bet that she wanted to get it done with so that she couldn’t get cold hooves and drop out. In fact, I’d bet the whole barn that Rainbow would change her mind if she had even a week to think this decision over.

“Well, um, on the bright side,” Twilight struggled to find some good news to this development, “at least we’ve already got a party set up. We’ll just have to call it a ‘going away’ party instead of a ‘welcome home’ party.”

Twilight’s calm, rational approach was having trouble coping with the emotional turmoil; the strain was evident in her forced smile. Couldn’t say that I blamed her, as even I was having trouble keeping a level-head in light of the news. I was torn between whether to shed a tear at the loss of a friend, support her as one, or panic and cling to her so that she’d never leave. I didn’t want to lose her; not when I was so close to being able to tell her how I felt.

“Yeah, good thing we’ve got a party all set up already,” Rainbow agreed with a hint of bittersweetness to her voice.

“Oh, nonononono!” Pinkie Pie suddenly blurted out as she turned to Dash. “We can’t have a party like this; this is a ‘welcome home’ party! Just look at the banner!” She didn’t even give Dash a choice over the matter as she pulled the overhanging banner and shoved it into the pegasus’ face. “Oh, this won’t do at all. A ‘going away’ party is completely different. It needs a bigger cake, and more balloons, and streamers!”

Taking a casual glance at the party decor already in place, which consisted of numerous balloons, banners, and streamers, Twilight quipped, “I think we have enough balloons already, Pinkie.”

“Enough balloons?” Pinkie gasped in shock. “No such thing!”

“But Pinkie, we used all of your balloons preparing for this party,” Rarity informed us.

Pinkie Pie then let out a horrified gasp before freezing momentarily on the tabletop. I got the impression that for her mind, the words ‘no balloons’ was akin to dividing by zero. “No...balloons?” she murmured under her breath as her unfocused gaze drifted away from us.

“Um, Pinkie?” Rainbow asked with a cautious nudge of her hoof.

“Emergency reserve!” Pinkie shouted all of a sudden. She bolted off of the table and raced over to behind a nearby counter. She slid open a panel on the wall to reveal a lever with the words ‘in case of party emergency’ written above it. Upon pulling said lever, a hatch above us swung open, dumping what could be best describe as a mountain of deflated balloons upon our heads. I hadn’t seen ponies react that badly to rubber since that time as a filly and we had the school lecture on the facts of life.

By the time we had managed to dig our way free of Mount Balloon, we found that Pinkie Pie was already hard at work inflating them. “Pinkie, what are you doing?” I asked despite knowing that the sensible answer was plain to see. One should not, however, presume sensibility when it came to Pinkie Pie.

“Don’t you girls worry,” Pinkie replied between heavy breaths. “I’ll have these balloons ready in a jiffy, and then we’re going to have the biggest, bestest ‘going away’ party in Equestrian history!” Were it any other pony, I would’ve pegged that statement as full of hot air as the balloons, but this was Pinkie Pie we were dealing with. She’d have those balloons inflated or die trying.

“We should probably help before she passes out,” Twilight suggested. We all nodded in agreement. “Rarity, maybe you could get some supplies from your boutique to help decorate.”

“I’ll have Sugarcube Corner looking magnifique within the hour,” Rarity said with great confidence. Her first step towards improving the party was by removing the now-inaccurate ‘welcome home’ banner. With a quick ‘adieu’, she headed on her way back to the boutique to get to work.

“Fluttershy and I will handle things here,” Twilight continued as she motioned for Fluttershy to help with balloon duty. “And Pinkie Pie, you go spread the word; Rainbow Dash was a part of Ponyville, and its only fair that everypony gets a chance to say good-bye.”

When Twilight turned to me, I felt a sudden surge in hesitation. If this was going to be Rainbow Dash’s last day in Ponyville, I didn’t want to spend it huffing into balloons and hanging banners; I wanted to spend every second of it with her. If I could get Rainbow alone, maybe I could find a way to convince her to stay. I wasn’t so egotistical as to think she’d stay just for my sake, but if I told her how I felt, and what she meant to me and the others, maybe I could change her mind. That hope became forlorn when pitted against Twilight asking for help.

“Applejack, could you see about baking some more treats for the party?” Twilight asked.

How could I say no to a request like that? Anything other than an enthusiastic ‘yes’ would paint me as uncaring or unsupportive. Everyone else would want to spend as much time with Rainbow Dash as possible, too, so how could I, in good conscience, try to horde all of her time for myself? As much as I didn’t want to be stuck in a kitchen, my hooves were tied.

“Sure thing! One humdinger of a banquet coming up.”

*******************

Since watching ponies ready a party was ‘super boring’ according to Rainbow Dash, she opted to use her last day in Ponyville to get her affairs in order and visit a few ponies just in case they couldn’t make the party. She also mentioned something about finding Tank a temporary place to stay during her training period. As much as I would have liked Rainbow to stay, I couldn’t find a reasonable excuse to use to keep her from leaving. I had promised to bake for the new party, and I couldn’t let everyone down in order to chase after her. It felt like the worst decision of my life even if I had made it for all the right reasons.

I was stuck in the kitchen, and the hope of spending time alone with Rainbow was looking bleaker by the hour. The Cakes were out so I had free reign of Sugarcube Corner’s facilities, which were a lot better than what I had at the farm. I had two pies in the oven within an hour, along with a pan of apple crumble, and was working on getting a new cake prepared. I admit that my progress could have been better, but needless to say, I was distracted.

As I toiled away at a giant mixing bowl of flour, water, and eggs, I could hear Twilight and the others chatting in the other room. They were talking about Rainbow, of course, sharing memories and funny stories.

“Do you remember the time when Rainbow Dash...”

“Wasn’t it hilarious when Rainbow...”

“I’ll never forget the time that she...”

I could’ve gone into the other room and joined in on the laughter and joy. There was plenty of time to get the cake ready, and if I wound up pressed for time, I could take some things from the Cakes’ stock and pay out of my own pocket. There was time to join the others, and I even stared at the door swinging doors separating the two rooms, but I couldn’t bring myself to step through them. I had my own memories of Rainbow Dash, and I didn’t need the others reminding me of everything that I was soon to lose.

“Hey, you girls remember the time when Rarity made that Daring Do costume for Rainbow?”

I found it funny that Twilight was bringing that old story up considering that Rainbow’s antics nearly led to a stampede through the library. I chuckled to myself as I reminisced about that day; Rainbow was happy as a pig in mud when she got the gift from Rarity. No sooner did Rainbow dress herself up as Daring Do did she insist on dragging me along for some ‘harrowing adventure’ through the Everfree Forest.

“Hey AJ, look at this! I think it’s some kind of ancient relic!”

“No, that’s just one of Zecora’s guano jugs.”

“What’s guano?”

“Bat poop.”

“Ew! Gross!”

I could still picture the look on Rainbow’s face when we visited Zecora later that day and she offered my friend something to drink from a familiar-looking jug. We never did manage to find any ancient treasures despite our repeated excursions into the Everfree forest. I think it just became an excuse to go looking for something exciting to do, even if that ‘something’ was falling into the occasional patch of poison joke.

Unfortunately, all my daydreaming accomplished was giving me a sinking feeling in my heart. My nostalgic chuckles subsided into a drawn-out sigh as the realization set in: I was losing my best friend in the whole, wide world. There would be no more Daring Do-themed adventures into the unknown; my friend was going to be wearing a new kind of get-up from here on, and facing new challenges. I don’t know why, but there was something very depressing about the idea of Rainbow Dash going off on an adventure without me. Rainbow had been a constant factor in my life for so long, it was hard for me to imagine life without her cheerful, cocksure grin. I had gotten so used to her presence that I kind of got used to the idea of her always being around.

Why would she want to leave us all? Rainbow may have claimed that it was because she didn’t want to be a weatherpony, and to make herself look better for the Wonderbolts, but I had a hard time swallowing it. She had done crazy things to get the Wonderbolt’s attention before, but that was exactly the point: they were crazy, over-the-top stunts that were meant to bypass all that ‘hard work’ stuff that normally got a pony’s attention. Hard work and dedication just sounded too mundane for Rainbow’s normal way of thinking. Was this because of that Soarin’ fellow? Maybe she was trying to impress him...or worse, get closer to him! Or maybe waking up next to me in bed freaked her out and now she was trying to get as far away as possible. There were so many horrifying possibilities, and every one just felt worse than the last.

“Applejack?” Twilight’s voice snapped me out of my train of thought. I had become so engrossed in my own contemplation that I hadn’t even noticed the tears forming in the corner of my eyes.

“Oh, hey Twi,” I hastily replied before wiping the tears away, “how goes the preparations? I’ve almost got the first set of treats ready.”

“I can tell; they smell delicious,” she complimented. “But I actually came to check on you.”

“Me? Well that’s mighty kind of you Twi, but it ain’t needed,” I insisted with the hopes that the wet stains around my eyes wouldn’t betray me. “I’m fine, really.”

As I had feared, but expected, Twilight was as unconvinced as if I had just told her to sky was green. “You don’t have to hide your feelings from me, Applejack,” she said with a sympathetic tone. “I know you always try to put a brave face on everything, but you don’t have to hide it from your friends. We all know how close you and Dash are.”

“Oh? Y-you do, huh?” A sudden pang of nervousness ran up my spine. Had Twilight and the others deduced my feelings for Rainbow? Twilight was perceptive enough for it, but I had figured that somepony would have brought it up if my secret had been discovered. Spike’s crush on Rarity was certainly no secret, and it came up in conversation from time to time.

“Well of course,” Twilight continued, which only made me more jittery. “I mean, I know you’d never say it openly, but its pretty obvious to anypony who knows the two of you.”

It took all my willpower not to let the anxiety show on my face. If Twilight and the others already knew, then it stood to reason that even Rainbow knew, or at the very least suspected. A part of me wanted to just come clean, but it was just like she said - I had trouble saying it out loud.

Twilight gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “It’s okay, we all understand, and I promise you, none of us think any of less of you because of it.”

“Gosh, now I feel kinda silly thinking I could keep it from you and the others,” I admitted with great reluctance. I didn’t want to get Twilight involved, but trying to avoid the issue would only coax her to press the issue more.

She laughed; it wasn’t a laugh at my expense but rather a disarming, light-hearted chuckle that put me at ease. “Oh Applejack, there’s nothing wrong with admitting that Rainbow Dash is your best friend. It’s not like it’s a competition.”

Was that what she had been going on about? Were it not for some quick-thinking on my part, I would have blurted out a ‘what’ right away, and made it obvious that we were on separate pages. “Oh, well...you know, I didn’t want to make it seem like I was playing favourites,” I hastily replied.

“Like I said, we understand,” Twilight reassured me. “It’s not like we can all be your best friend; otherwise, it wouldn’t have any meaning. Well, unless you’re Pinkie Pie, in which case then everybody is your super-duper best friend forever.”

Still feeling a bit awkward about my near-confession, I steered the conversation in a new direction. Twilight was right about one thing - I wasn’t as fine as I insisted. “How did you do it, Twi? How’d you handle things when your brother joined the Royal Guard?” I knew it was unlikely that I was going to get some kind of solution in a single, succinctly-phrased sentence, but I needed to know the truth from somepony who had been down this road before.

Twilight sighed as she drew upon her own memories. From what she had told me before, Shining was the only friend she had growing up; his departure for the Royal Guard must have changed things for their relationship. The fact that, by Twilight’s own admission, she grew apart from Shining over the years left me worried about what her answer might be.

“It was....hard, at first,” Twilight answered after a few pensive moments. “I had a lot more time to mentally prepare for his departure, but that still didn’t make seeing him leave any easier. I kind of buried myself in my schoolwork after that.”

“How did the two of you stay close?”

“Well, it was easy since I was studying with Princess Celestia at the castle, and that’s where a lot of the guards are,” she continued to explain. “Occasionally, Princess Celestia would get Shining assigned to guard the hallways outside my room, but she only did it occasionally since she didn’t want the rest of the guards to think she was playing favourites with my brother.”

“Guess you kinda lucked out then, huh?” I said with a quiet sigh of resignation. To no surprise, Twilight’s situation had been a lot different, and ‘burying myself in work’ wasn’t going be the best solution for me. It was tempting, but the others would probably not appreciate it. “I just...I just don’t want her to go. Being a Guardpony ain’t like watching over the weather; it’s dangerous work! We’re talking rogue gryphons and wandering dragons and marauding minotaurs! What if those giant cockathingies attack Canterlot again?”

“They’re called cockatrices, and that was a once-in-a-millennium kind of event,” Twilight tried to reassure me. “Besides, Princess Celestia will be there to watch over her. You think she would let anything happen to the Element of Loyalty?”

“No...no, she wouldn’t,” I replied just as an idea came to mind. Princess Celestia was in charge of the Royal Guard, and after everything I have done to help protect Equestria, I figured that I was owed some kind of favour. It was a long-shot, to be sure, but maybe Celestia would understand and put a stop to Rainbow Dash’s crazy plan. “Hey, Twilight, could you do me a favour and just watch the oven for a bit? I just remembered there’s something I gotta do.”

“Sure, I can do that.” Lucky for me, Twilight was more than willing to help a friend in need without asking too many questions.

“Just take the things out of the oven when the egg timer goes off, and then put those two trays on the counter into the oven,” I explained as I pointed out the next batch of food ready for cooking. “Reset the egg timer for an hour, and I should be back well before it goes off. Got all that?”

As was her nature, Twilight had taken out some parchment and was making a checklist of my instructions. Where she got the pen and paper, I hadn’t the slightest clue, but I was in too much of a hurry to ask—I had an invitation to send out.

*******************

The atmosphere at the party was so upbeat that one could be forgiven for not realizing that this was not one of Pinkie Pie’s usual parties, but rather a farewell gathering to one of Ponyville’s most iconic pegasi. Granted, it was hard not to be in good spirits when you were at one of Pinkie’s Parties; it was against the rules, along with ‘no buckets of turnips allowed’ (apparently he and Pinkie weren't on speaking terms anymore).

As a longshot, I brought along a couple of barrels of cider with the hopes that it might make Rainbow a bit more reluctant to leave Ponyville. At this late hour of the day, I was one-step short of outright begging her to stay, but I hadn’t reached that level of desperation just yet.

I was arguably the most dour pony at the party. Between not getting any response from my message to Celestia and not once seeing Rainbow Dash during the day, I was feeling a bit neglected. It was her last day in Ponyville and Rainbow Dash didn’t think once to spend some time with me? Despite knowing full well that I shouldn’t, I couldn’t help but feel angry about it. I thought we were best friends! In fact, a small nagging voice in the back of my head was pondering the idea that she was avoiding me because of what happened back in the hotel. The idea that all of this was just an overreaction or means to avoid me sounded paranoid, but it wasn’t something I could just ignore.

Alas, confronting Rainbow Dash about her choices was close to impossible. Even though we were both at the party, so was almost everyone else in Equestria, and everybody wanted to have a moment to tell Rainbow Dash how awesome she was and how they were going to miss her. To no surprise, Rainbow Dash was lapping up every second of it like it was a fresh mug of cider.

And speaking of cider, guess who got stuck watching over the barrels during the party? I had intended on just leaving it as a ‘help yourself’ sort of night, but Twilight didn’t want any fillies getting the wrong idea. Since she asked for a ‘responsible adult’ to watch over the barrels, that pretty much left just me, and I was cursed with my usual inability to turn down a reasonable request. Thus, I spent the majority of the party off to the side, watching over the barrels of cider and pouring out mugs for everyone else. Soon I was watching over all of the beverages including Pinkie’s tutti-frutti sherbet sugar punch. It was strange to feel so alone in a building full of ponies, but that was the situation I was stuck in.

I didn’t complain about my predicament. The party mood just wasn’t working for me, so it was for the best that I kept off to the side where my dour mood wouldn’t infect others. Burying myself in work—just like what Twilight did. The only difference was I wasn’t waiting until after Rainbow left to get started on it; that was just like me to start work early.

I think I was on my third lap through the five stages of grief when Rarity stopped by to say hello.

“Is everything okay, Applejack?” Rarity asked, quick to pick up on my none-too-subtle mood. “You look more sullen than the time when you had to help your sister try to get a seamstress cutie mark.”

“What? No, I’m fine. Really!” Once again, my attempts at avoiding making my problems an issue had the opposite effect.

“Then why are you over here watching over a couple of barrels when you should be out there, spending time with your closest friend?” she asked as she gestured a hoof out towards Rainbow. The pegasus was, as she had been for the past few hours, surrounded by a swarm of party guests. Judging by the way that Dash was swooping in the air, she was telling them about how she saved the Wonderbolts with a sonic rainboom. She never did get tired of telling that one.

“Can’t. Twilight asked me to watch over the barrels, and I don’t trust anypony else my family’s cider.” I could’ve asked Rarity to watch the barrels for me for a little while, but I was at the point where I felt so insulted for having been snubbed by Rainbow Dash all day that I was torn between wanting to hug her and wanting to strangle her.

“Very well then, I shall simply have to bring her to you,” Rarity concluded. She trotted off before I could say anything to stop her. All of a sudden I felt an overwhelming urge to find the nearest window to fling myself out of. I was a tumbling cider barrel of mixed emotions and if confronted by Rainbow, I didn’t know what would come pouring out the spigot.

The brief flicker of hope I had was that Rainbow Dash would find a reason not to heed Rarity’s advice, or that a well-timed interruption on somepony else’s part would stop her, but that was a short-lived hope as I soon spotted the pair making their way over to me. Where was one of Pinkie Pie’s impromptu song and dances when you needed it? I had no choice but to try and keep my emotions in check.

“Hey AJ! Enjoying the party?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I’d rather be wrestling a cactus.”

“Having a blast,” I replied with a horribly insincere smile.

“Haven’t had much of a chance to see you all day,” she continued while Rarity shuffled off to leave us to our conversation. “Who knew finding a tortoise a place to stay would be so hard? And then I had to go to the weather factory to let my boss know I’d need a replacement. When I reached Ponyville, everyone had heard and I was getting stopped every five feet by another fan. Time sorta just flew by, you know?”

“Bet you were just lapping up all the attention from the townsfolk.”

“So where is Tank going to hunker down?”

“Scootaloo’s promised to look after him.” No surprise there; Scootaloo would’ve joined the Royal Guard right alongside Rainbow Dash if she weren’t still a filly. If Scootaloo went, then Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would be only a few steps behind her. That thought alone would be enough to drive me to drink, and I dreaded what would happen when those three inevitably attempted for a guardpony cutie mark. “Pretty much all that’s left is to catch my train tomorrow, which is first thing in the morning so I guess it’ll help get me used to the idea of waking up early. Can you believe ponies actually do that?”

“I wake up every morning at five,” I informed my friend.

“There’s a five in the morning?”

“Eyup.”

“Oh sweet Celestia, this is going to be harder than I thought,” Rainbow said with a disheartened groan.

I recognized that groan from every time I had ever asked for her help in the orchard. It was the sound she made when she really, really didn’t want to do something, but was going to go ahead with it anyways. It was a brief flicker of doubt, visible only to somepony who knew her as well as I did. What I saw was a crack in her otherwise ironclad shell of certainty, and an opportunity to drive a stake through it.

“Being a guardpony is a hay of a lot of hard work,” I said as I tried to keep the smile off my face. “It’s discipline, and training, and a lotta drills day after day. Then the actual guard duty with you standing one spot for hours at time, and if you so much as flinch, your commander is going to make you do even more work.”

Rainbow swallowed hard at the thought of being immobile under the penalty of hard labor. How she managed to sign up for the Royal Guard without knowing this already was beyond me, but foresight had never been her forte. I saw her eyes dart from side to side, her certainty shaking for just a second before she puffed her chest in defiance. “I can handle that,” she insisted. “It can’t be any worse than the kind of work you’ve made me do.”

“Yeah, but I’ve got cider,” I teased as I patted the nearby barrel. “They ain’t gonna let you drink while you’re training, and you certainly can’t have a cool, refreshing pint when you’re on duty.”

“No...cider?” Rainbow murmured in a half-stunned daze. Did she somehow not realize that point as well? The foolishness of this pegasus made me want to dunk her in one of the cider barrels and roll her down a hill.

“Could I interest you in a pint?” The saying went that the quickest way to a stallion’s heart was through his stomach, but a mare could be just as easily swayed. Rainbow held an almost hypnotic gaze as she watched me fill a mug with the golden amber brew. Her tongue began to slither across her lips in anticipation.

“I...I shouldn’t,” Rainbow murmured in a strange defiance. She loved my family’s cider, so why was she holding back? “I have a train to catch tomorrow; I don’t want to be late.”

The train, of course! If Rainbow drank too much, which she almost always did, then there would be no way she’d make it in time to catch an early morning train, and even if she did, she would be in such bad shape that no self-respecting Royal Guard would take her in.

“Come on, Rainbow, one drink won’t do you any harm,” I said as I held the enticing mug before her.

With an uncertain groan, the pegasus pondered her options while the strain of temptation weighed her down. “I guess one mug won’t hurt if I pace myself,” she finally answered.

“No problem, here you—oh my gosh, is that Spitfire over there?” It wasn’t, but my remark was enough to get Rainbow to turn about face in an attempt to spot the famed pegasus. That gave me enough time to spike the cider with a little something extra: a helping from Pinkie’s tutti-frutti sherbet sugar punch. The last time Rainbow had that stuff was at the Canterlot wedding and she still couldn’t remember what happened that night. A bit more of the sugar-ladened concoction, masked by the strength of my cider, should be more than enough to tip Rainbow over the edge. She’d lose all sense of judgement by the end of the mug, at which point it would be easier to coax her into another mug until she was tipsier than a ship in stormy weather.

Thankfully, I had with me a bunch of the ingredients to make Pinkie Pie’s special brew so it was easy to slip in the stuff that packed the punch without distorting the cider’s taste too much. A more careful pony would probably notice the change in taste, but I had a way of dealing with that.

“Sorry, I guess I was mistaken,” I apologized when Dash gave up trying to spot any Wonderbolts. “Here you go, buddy.”

“Thanks, AJ!”

Rainbow was just about to take a swig when I reached out and grabbed her hoof. “Hold on a second,” I insisted. “This is an important moment. We can’t have you just taking little sips like some nancy little filly.” I grabbed a second mug and topped it up for myself. “Why don’t you show me how a real guardpony drinks?” I challenged as I held my mug up to hers.

“Oh, I’ll show you all right!” Rainbow Dash responded exactly as I had predicted.

We both raised our mugs to our lips, but I held back just enough so I could watch Rainbow over the brim of my mug. The spiked brew teased at the very edges of her lips like waves on the beach. Just a little bit more...

“Princess Celestia!”

Twilight’s shout from the other side of the room brought the entire party grinding to a halt so fast I almost got whiplash. More importantly, Rainbow stopped what she was doing to see what the commotion was all about. She didn’t have to look very hard since Princess Celestia, strolling in through the front door, stood head and shoulders above the bowing masses.

“Please, everyone, there is no need for such formalities,” the Princess insisted as she gestured to everyone to rise back up. “And I believe this is a party, so please do not let my presence halt the festivities.”

“I beg your pardon, your Highness,” Twilight began as she tried to keep her surprise from impeding her manners, “but you never mentioned any visits in your last letter. Is something wrong?”

The last time that Celestia visited, Twilight had the whole town scrubbed from top to bottom, even the dirt roads had to be spotless. The fact that Celestia had dropped in while ponies were partying probably played on Twilight’s nerves like a cat with a ball of yarn. I, however, knew exactly what brought Celestia in and I felt a huge sense of relief.

“A little bird told me about what was happening,” Celestia explained with her usual grace and politeness. She never did seem to talk so much as words fluttered from her lips like a flock of butterflies. It had a way of putting everypony at ease, and given everything I have been going through over the past few hours, I really needed that sense of calm right now. “Is it true that Rainbow Dash wishes to join the Royal Guard?”

“Maybe you should speak with Rainbow yourself,” Twilight said as she motioned for Rainbow Dash to come hither.

Abandoning her drink on the counter, Rainbow flew over to the Princess and took a quick, polite bow. “That’s right, your Highness. You’re looking at your newest recruit!”

The Princess must’ve been impressed with Rainbow’s enthusiasm because she responded with a warm, hearty chuckle. “And I would honoured to have you counted among the ranks of the Royal Guard,” she said. “With your flying skills, and your embodiment of the Element of Loyalty, I have no doubt that there is a bright and shining future for you in the Royal Guard.”

“Awesome!”

Once again, Princess Celestia only chuckled at Rainbow’s general disregard for proper etiquette, not that I wouldn’t have done similar in her shoes. It seemed like even the Princess was happy for Rainbow’s decision. Why in Ponyville was I the only one in the whole dang party that’s upset about Rainbow leaving?

“Hey, do you wanna have a drink, Princess?” Rainbow offered as she orbited around her future boss.

“A drink? Oh, I shouldn’t.”

“Come on, Princess! Like you said, it’s a party!”

Rainbow’s encouragement on its own might not have been enough to sway the Princess, but a lot of expectant and curious eyes were upon her, with the exception of Twilight, who was giving Rainbow a ‘I want to set your mane on fire’ kind of stare.

“I suppose a small drink wouldn’t hurt,” Celestia agreed. I imagine she would have asked for tea or a soda or maybe even the sugar sherbet punch, but Rainbow flew back over to me, grabbed her own drink, and gave it over to the Princess.

Nothing good was going to come from Celestia drinking a cup full of Pinkie’s tutti-frutti sherbet sugar punch. If I was lucky, the Princess would take one sip and decline any more.

Slowly, the Princess brought the mug to her lips. She sniffed at the frothing concoction before taking a careful sip. When she smiled, I wasn’t sure whether to feel pride or dread. I don’t think I had ever seen the Princess drink anything other than tea, but when she took in that cider, her eyes lit up. Given her age, I hadn’t doubt that this was her first time sampling the old family recipe, but she was soon taking big, hearty swigs from the mug.

“Look at that, Twi, the Princess can drink like a champ!” Rainbow exclaimed to the chorus of cheers from the rest of the ponies.

“Well, I wasn’t always a Princess, remember?” Celestia reminded the young pegasus. It was hard for me to picture the Princess as anything other than the wise and regal leader that she was known to be, but once upon a time, she would’ve been a young mare just like Rainbow Dash or myself.

The two conversed for a while, and as the party returned to its former pacing, my ability to eavesdrop on them was drowned in a sea of idle chatter. After about a half-hour or so, Twilight ushered the Princess off to a more private and less rowdy part of Sugarcube Corner, and Rainbow Dash made her way back to me.

“Did you hear that, AJ?” Dash exclaimed. “The Princess is looking forward to having me as one of her Royal Guards. Even she wants a piece of my awesomeness!” Well, if Rainbow Dash had any lingering doubts about enlisting, the little pep talk with Princess Celestia had all but put them to rest. Either Celestia didn’t read my letter or she decided that she knew best. I should have known better than to think that Celestia could have just swooped in and fixed everything like a kind of magical miracle cure.

“Yeah, go figure,” I muttered. In a momentary lapse of focus, I let my bitterness slip out, and, sadly, Rainbow Dash picked up on it.

“Ooo, sounds like somepony’s got sour apples,” she teased before flicking my hat. “You’re just jealous because Celestia is looking forward to me. It’s not like the Element of Honesty makes for a good guard.”

That was a bit of a low blow, but Rainbow never was the type to pass up an opportunity to showboat. “Am I the only pony in this dang town that thinks you joining the Royal Guard is a royal mistake?”

“What do you mean a mistake? I can totally handle it!”

“Like hay you could,” I snapped back while rolling my eyes so hard they almost popped out. “You’d hate waking up early, you’d hate working hard, you’d hate taking orders, you’d hate standing still, and you would most certainly hate the very idea of being expected to always put someone else’s interests before your own!”

“What’s your problem, AJ?” Rainbow inquired as she attempted to deflect my criticism by focusing the conversation back on me. “Everyone else in town is happy for me. I thought you, of all ponies, would like the idea of me trying to be more responsible.”

She had me there. I should have been happy to see Rainbow Dash taking more responsibility like a mature pony, but I had trouble believing that responsibility had anything to do with her decision. “My problem is that you never think things through! You’ve already got responsibilities here in Ponyville,” I replied, “and you can barely keep up with those. Being a guard is about serving and protecting others, not making yourself look fancier on a resume!”

“It’s my life, AJ, I can make my own choices,” Rainbow reminded me.

It was a valid point, but it wasn’t one I hadn’t been prepared to meet. “But your choices affect the rest of us! Did you
even stop to think about what this will do to m—I mean, to us?”

Rainbow’s face just twisted in annoyance. For the life of me, I couldn’t say why I was so intent on arguing with Rainbow Dash. I guess I was just finally fed up with pretending to be supportive and giving her a piece of my mind.

“You’re just jealous!” Rainbow was falling back on her previous arguments, which was always a good sign that she was running out of ammunition.

However, before I could say anything further, the sudden arrival of a certain Princess took us both by surprise. “Oh, she’s definitely jealous, but not in the way that you expect,” Celestia said with a playful smirk. Judging by the crooked angle her crown sat and the fluster that crept through her pearly white fur, our shining Princess had been hit pretty hard by the tutti-frutti cider. Either she was a light-weight, or I had spiked that drink with more tutti-frutti sugar than I thought.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow inquired. I had a bad feeling about the whole situation, and I was willing to be bet the entire farm that Celestia suspected what my true motives were. The spiked cider must have already knocked out all of Celestia’s sense of judgment, which meant she was a loose cannon now.

“Come on, isn’t it obvious? Applejack is—”

I had to stop Celestia from finishing that sentence, and in order to do that, I did what could only be described as the single craziest that I had ever conceived of: I interrupted the Princess.

“Good heavens, Princess Celestia, are you drunk?” I said with feigned shock and alarm.

“I am not!” Celestia hastily defended. As she spoke, she swung her mug about, splashing Rainbow and I with the remnants. “Okay, maybe just a little, but it’s only because this drink of yours is simply marvelous, Applejack.”

“Why thank you, your Highness.” I wasn’t just grateful for the compliment, but also for switching the subject.

“I don’t suppose I could trouble you for another one?” A rhetorical question if there ever was one given that Celestia floated the mug into my hoof no sooner did she finish the sentence. While I was certain that Twilight would give me grief for aiding in Celestia’s fall into inebriation, I figured if anypony could use a break, it was the Princess. “And don’t forget to add the tutti-frutti sugar.”

I was so startled by the mentioning the tutti-frutti sugar that I spilt half the mug’s content in my jumbled attempt to keep from dropping it entirely. “Wh-what are you talking about?”

“I assume it was tutti-frutti sugar you added to give that cider so much kick,” Celestia answered. I realized then that I had underestimated the Princess’ ability to recognize what was in a drink. Not wanting to disappoint her, I filled out her order as instructed all while Rainbow Dash gave me a very scrutinizing glare.

Rainbow could be a bit oblivious at times, but she wasn’t so dense as to not put two-and-two together. “AJ, did you spike my drink?”

“She most certainly did,” Celestia said after having already taken a large swig from her mug. “If you had drank that mug, you would’ve been crashing into the walls within an hour.”

Having my not-so-nefarious plot revealed by a half-drunk Princess, I found myself really hating the fact that I had parked myself in a corner. “Err, I—I can explain!” I stammered in half-desperate attempt to defend myself.

“I can’t believe you would stoop this low, AJ!” Rainbow Dash shouted. She was beginning to raise her voice to the level where it was attracting the attention of those around us, not that either of us were paying much attention to our surroundings. “I know you had a problem with my joining, but now you’re trying to sabotage it?”

“She also asked me if I could annul your application,” Celestia chimed in.

“You asked Celestia to stop me?” In hindsight, asking Princess Celestia to get involved was a very bad move on my part, but I was rather desperate. “I had thought maybe Pinkie Pie or Twilight would be against this, but you, my best friend! What’s next? Are you going to blow up the train before I can board it? Are you going to get Twilight to teleport you back in time so you can stop me?”

“Well maybe I should if it’ll get you to stop this craziness,” I snapped back. A more reasonable pony might have tried to apologize, but I was not only too pig-headed stubborn to admit my mistakes, I wasn’t going to just sit back and let Rainbow yell at me.

“You’re calling me crazy?” Something I said must have ticked Rainbow off something fierce because she knocked the table that stood between the two of us, toppling over both barrels of cider and the punch bowl. If the other ponies in the party didn’t know we were arguing, they certainly did now; heck, even the ponies across the street knew by that point. “I’m not the one trying to ruin my best friend’s life!”

“Ruin your life? I’m trying to save it, dangit!” The knocked-over table didn’t intimidate me in the slightest as I stepped up to meet Rainbow’s ire. “You’re so blindly running off for your own glory, you haven’t even taken a second to consider what that decision would do to everyone, especially me! Did you even think for a second how I might feel about this?”

“I thought you’d be supportive like the rest of my friends, but I guess I was mistaken when I thought you were one!”

“I am your friend!” I was more than her friend, I was her best friend, or at least that’s what I had thought. Was I being too selfish? Was I being so unreasonable? For a brief moment, I wondered if perhaps I did not mean as much to her as she did to me. As I saw the way Rainbow stared me down, that possibility was about to become a reality.

“Well you certainly have a funny way of showing it,” Rainbow said as she took a menacing step closer. I was starting to feel more and more like a rat backed into a corner. “You have a funny way of showing it. None of my real friends are trying to ruin this for me!”

“I...I just don’t want you to leave.” Everyone’s eyes were fixed on me, judging me. It almost felt like the walls were closing in all around me. I was torn between bolting out the nearest door like a scared filly or standing my ground like a stubborn fool.

“Neither does Twilight, and you don’t see her spiking my drinks!”

“Well, you see it’s just that—”

“What is your problem, AJ?”

Rainbow Dash almost shouting in my face at this point. I was turning into a powder keg of emotions; I was scared that I was about to lose my best friend, angry that she would turn on me so quickly, and tired of all the half-truths and deceptions and frustrations that I had been feeling over the past few days.

“I’m in love with you!”

Yup, I just confessed my feelings in front of about four dozen ponies including my closest friends and a drunken Princess of Equestria. Out of all the scenarios I had envisioned for this moment, doing it in front of everybody had not been on the list. A very uncomfortable silence fell over the entire room with everypony staring at the Rainbow and I with a mixed look of surprise and confusion. I felt even worse now that I had just put Rainbow Dash into a very uncomfortable position, and that discomfort was written all across her flustering face. I knew I needed to say before the situation got worse.

“I love you, Rainbow Dash,” I said in a softer tone. No point in trying to deny things now that the cat was out of the bag. “Head over hooves, butterflies in the stomach, on my mind night and day, and all that other mushy stuff that I never thought in a million years I’d be falling for.” Despite the old saying that the truth would set you free, telling the truth felt like getting buried underneath a mountain of shame and guilt.

“AJ, I...I had no idea.”

“I was going to tell you back in Canterlot, but then you ran off with that Soarin’ fellow, and I figured there was no way I could compare to a guy like him,” I continued while fighting back a rising urge to weep. “Then when you said you were joining the guard, I thought maybe it was because of him, or maybe even because of me.” I hung my head in shame, not daring to make eye contact with Rainbow as I felt wholly undeserving of even that small of a gesture. I waited for the inevitable tirade against me, either from Rainbow or even one of the numerous onlookers who probably all thought I was a horrible pony for what I had done.

“He laughed at me,” Rainbow spoke after an agonizing silence.

“He...what?” Confusion didn’t even begin to describe what I now felt, and that feeling intensified when I glanced up and saw that Rainbow was slouched over in shame as well.

“Soarin’. It might have been because of all the drinking, but when I said I was going to be a Wonderbolt, he just laughed,” Rainbow explained as she moved to sit down beside me. “He said I was too reckless and undisciplined to make it in the Wonderbolts.”

“And so you enlisted in the Royal Guards to prove him wrong.” My assumption was confirmed by a silent nod.

“Actually, I think he might be right,” Rainbow added. Considering how she always went to great lengths to show how good she was, I knew how hard it had to be for her to sit down and humble herself. “I’ve always just expected I would have what it took to be a Wonderbolt, but I never really pushed myself to work at it. What if I fell short because I was always being lazy. I’d only ever have one shot, so I want to make sure that when the time comes, I am at my absolute best.” I felt a wing drape over my shoulder as my friend gave me a comforting smile. “I don’t want to leave you either, but I need to do this if I want to really impress the Wonderbolts.”

“I’m so sorry, Rainbow,” I whimpered as I rested my head against her shoulder. “I just got so scared when you said you were going to leave. The thought of you leaving before I ever got a chance to tell you how I felt just made me panic. I didn’t want to wind up like Spitfire.”

“Like Spitfire?”

I nodded and wiped a tear that was trying to bust free out of the corner of my eye. “Spitfire told me how she always regretted never telling Soarin’ how she felt. I didn’t want to grow up to be drunk and miserable like that.”

All of a sudden, Rainbow just laughed; more of a snicker, in fact.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

It took a second for her to calm down, but she just smirked back at me and said, “I’m not really Soarin’s type, if you know what I mean.”

I didn’t. “Come again?”

“He prefers ponies of a different persuasion.”

Once again, I shot her a blank stare.

“AJ, he plays for the other team.”

“Wait, when did sports get involved?”

“AJ, he’s gay.”

“Oh!” I said in a sudden realization. It took another second for the implications to actually sink in. “Oooohhhh. So you and he never actually—”

When Rainbow shook her head, I felt like I had just been smacked by the idiot hammer. I had just spent an entire day and a half fretting over a stallion who wouldn’t have touched Rainbow with a ten-foot pole. If the past several minutes had made me feel like the biggest fool in Equestria already, I now wanted to bury my head in the dirt.

“I’m such an idiot,” I groaned.

Despite my desire to shrink into an invisible speck, Rainbow Dash stayed close by and even reassured me with a mischievous grin. “Soooo...who’s a silly pony?”

I couldn’t help but snicker back, managing a faint smile. “I am.”

I felt her hoof tuck under my chin, guiding my gaze back up to hers. “And there’s no other pony I’d rather have than you,” she whispered to me before drawing me in close for a sweet and tender embrace. All my worries and shame seemed to melt away under the warmth of her lips. I think I even heard an ‘aww’ from the other ponies present, but I wasn’t paying much attention to them for obvious reasons. I may have still felt like a fool, but I felt like the luckiest fool in Equestria.

Even though I could hold onto those enticing lips forever, I eventually had to pull back and deal with the real world. “I guess it’d be too much to ask if you’d still consider staying here,” I said with a disappointed sigh.

“We’ll find a way to make this work, AJ,” Rainbow reassured me.

“Actually, if I may,” Princess Celestia’s voice suddenly cut as the inebriated ruler stepped towards us, “I have a proposal that might work out for both of you. The Royal Guard sometimes maintains postings in the towns and cities across Equestria. With Canterlot so close, there has never been a major need for Ponyville to have such an outpost. But with everything that has happened these past few months, with Discord and dragons and Changelings, we have been planning on opening such an outpost here. Such a position would require a guard of integrity, dependable, and self-reliance.”

After an emotionally draining day like today, I was hesitant to get my hopes up about anything. Rainbow, on the other hoof, looked to Celestia as if she had just handed down a miracle from heaven, which all things considered was not too far from the truth.

“If you are interested, Rainbow Dash, I can have your name added to the list of candidates,” Celestia continued. “However, I am having those position filled soon, so if you want to be considered a candidate, you will have to undertake a shorter, more intense training program.”

“Hey, if it means I get to stay in Ponyville, I say bring it on!” Rainbow declared in her usual response to any sort of challenge.

“Excellent,” Celestia said, looking quite pleased with herself, “because I have just the right pony in mind for the job.”

*******************

When morning broke, I was half-tempted to just roll over and ignore the sunlight that broke through my window. The bed was warm and soft, but the company in it was even more so. As I stirred awake, pulling back the covers so I could get a clear view of my alarm clock, I felt a hoof tugging at my side.

“C’mon, AJ, the apples can wait,” Rainbow murmured from beneath the sheets. Her pleas were very tempting, especially when her bedridden head poked out from under the covers. It was incredible what a few weeks could do to a couple of ponies. The time we had together was always short, but we always knew how to make the most of what little we had. “Just five more minutes, please?”

Five more minutes; it sounded so meagre in the grand scheme of things, but sharing that time with Dash made it feel like a lifetime. Yet I knew that even if I did want to forget my responsibilities and indulge in such dalliances, I was not the only one with a schedule to keep. I was just about to remind Rainbow of her own commitments when the sudden blare of whistle gave Rainbow such a fright that she fell out of bed in a half-panicked mess. Standing in the nearby doorway to my bedroom was a very displeased looking Soarin’ with a whistle around his neck. One would think after a dozen times, Rainbow would’ve gotten used to the wake-up calls.

“When I said I wanted you out in the field at zero-five-hundred hours, I did not mean five minutes past zero-five-hundred!” he shouted at Rainbow.

“Y-yes, Soarin’!” Rainbow stammered as she tried to simultaneously untangle herself from the bedding and properly address the pegasus.

“I’m sorry, what was that recruit?” the pegasus barked back.

The follow-up shout refocused Rainbow’s priorities. She immediately went rigid, whilst wrapped in linen, and snapped a crisp salute. “I mean, yes, Drill Sergeant, sir!”

One would think after a while, Rainbow would’ve learned to get up on time, but I suppose it was my fault for making it so hard to climb out of bed. I was usually more prompt in waking her up, but I overslept by a few minutes. As Rainbow continued her struggle against the entangled bedding, Soarin’ glanced over to me and gave me a polite nod.

“G’morning, Miss Applejack,” he said in a courteous tone that was a stark contrast to how he had been addressing Rainbow a second ago.

“Good morning,” I replied. “Don’t suppose you could bring Rainbow back in one piece today, hm?”

“I’ll try, but that all depends on her.” Soarin’ was an awfully good sport for taking on a one-on-one training job with Rainbow. Between the personal request from Princess Celestia and the unlimited supply of fresh apple pies, he had all the reason in the world to take on the task. “Okay, you worthless sack of feathers!” Soarin’ shouted as he fell back in drill sergeant mode. “I want a hundred laps around Ponyville, on your hooves! Let’s go!”

Another blare of the whistle encouraged Rainbow Dash into motion. She hurried for the door, pausing just for a second to cast a backwards glance to me before Soarin’ blasted his whistle once again.

“Come on you lazy pigeon, move out!” A third blare of the whistle echoed through my house, ensuring that everyone save for Granny Smith was awake. Following Rainbow out the door, Soarin’ began to sing, “I don’t know what I’ve been told, Celestia’s flank is shining gold!”

I chuckled to myself as I listened to their hoofsteps descend down the stairs and out the door. By the time I trotted over to the nearby window, I could see Rainbow and Soarin’ jogging off into the distance towards town. I had to admit, Rainbow was doing a pretty darn good job at training with the exception of not waking up on time almost every other day. I would have thought for certain that the alternating weeks of training between here and Canterlot would’ve worn Rainbow Dash down in a heartbeat, but she wasn’t just keeping pace with the other recruits, she was leaving them in the dust. Soarin’ told me that she was already the best of the new recruits, not that we would tell Rainbow out of fear of bolstering her ego further. It would be a while before things would settle down for the two of us, but as the saying went, ‘good things take time.’

END

Comments ( 56 )

hmm, wonder why its registered "unfinished"

Either way, i loved that. it was great, awesome, uniqe and many other loads of awesome!

got a good chance of winning i'd say :trixieshiftright:

finished or unfinished? :o

Holy crabapples, CommissarAJ. You certainly did not disappoint. :rainbowderp:

I've added this to my "Read Later" list, but rest assured it shall be read as soon as can be. I am a big fan of your work and AppleDash is my second favorite ship~

SHL

Impressive and good ^^

I had a feeling that Soarin was gay after what Spitfire said, but it still made me laugh when AJ couldn't take the hint. :rainbowlaugh: This was really good (although I'm not sure why its marked as unfinished). I do feel like it could have been stretched out a bit longer, though, as Dash goes from having no idea about AJ liking her to making out with her in the span of a few seconds. I suppose that it was a very heated moment, though, and I did something pretty similar in my own fic, so it'd be kinda hypocritical to complain. :derpytongue2:

So yeah, thanks for a fun read. :twilightsmile:

Huh. That cadence is a little odd if you say it out loud. "Celestia" is a little too long to be used in it.

Man, I couldn't stop grinning like an idiot. That was one good story :raritywink:

Not bad, not bad at all

:pinkiesmile::pinkiesmile::pinkiesmile::pinkiesmile: / 5

Pinkie Pie had a ‘welcome back’ party arranged for us back at Sugarcube Corner, but with only of the guests of honour present

Oops

Aww!
Sorry I don't have much more to say. It's a heck of a story, and I'm a sucker for earning a shot at a happy ending, especially where those two are concerned.

Never underestimate the fun of AppleDash!:pinkiehappy:
And so it comes to show that paranoia can be a most dreadful thing!:raritydespair:
A happy ending has been achieved for now.:twilightsmile:

Excellent work, dear Author!:pinkiehappy:

That is the greatest cadence in the history of marching. :yay:

Wow, I can really feel for AJ in this one. Secret feelings like that just tear you up inside, especially when you think somebody's gonna snipe them from you, or they move.

This certainly hit me in the feels. It was very beautifully written, minimal mistakes.
Definitely earned an upvote and special place in my RiL list:raritywink:

Keep up the good work:moustache:

Not bad.

Drunk Celestia is best Celestia. :trollestia:

One should not, however, presume sensibility when it came to Pinkie Pie.

:twilightangry2::flutterrage: You know what? No i wont waste my time yelling at you for writing that statement there about her. Even if its an insulting statement that could have been left out.:facehoof: I liked the story it just that one thing there pissed me off personal opinions about characters should be left out of the story. I know its AJ talking but i felt you were channeling yourself through AJ with how she acted same with Dash. Rainbow wouldn't want to join the guard not even to prove that jerk soarin wrong.

edit: oh look someone got butthurt over me saying the author is using AJ and Dash as a way to express their personal views even if it makes these characters obnoxious.

3053679 Jesus Christ, are you serious? :rainbowhuh:

3054006
Sorry look its how i interpreted it ok? I felt Dash was acting really obnoxious i mean she wouldn't join the guard no matter what not even to prove Soarin wrong i mean that guy is nothing compared to her. And I thought AJ sounded a tad bit cruel with that statement alright just don't lynch me over this.:fluttershyouch::fluttershbad:

3053679

Or maybe the author does not find passive-aggressive comments or baseless accusations to be appropriate comment material. Disagree with me over interpretations, fine, but do not accuse me of that which is untrue. I want the comment threads of my stories to remain civil and respectful.

Also, I really dislikes the word 'butthurt.'

3054416
:twilightoops: I really meant to cause no trouble honest. I just thought the characterizations seemed a bit harsh and Dash's determination is taken up to 11. I guess since this is the first story I've read written by you maybe i am just not used to how you write Dash and AJ. I personalty don't see Dash wanting to prove herself to Soarin in being wonderbolt material because she knows she is the best and Soarin doesn't see it. So her wanting to join the guard was OOC well for me it was anyway we can just agree to disagree. I really want no hard feelings. Sorry for the butthurt comment too.:fluttershbad:

I was laughing so hard from drunk Celestia to enjoy the seriousness of the situation.

Goddamnit that was very well done.:ajsmug:

Awh that was amazing :rainbowkiss::heart:


:moustache::trollestia:

Great job. Earned a watch with this one.
Something about this whole story just resonated with me.

Such an amazing story, Appledash is best couple.

Comment posted by LunaLovah2001 deleted Aug 16th, 2013

AWESOME!!! I loved it so much, Im giving you some pinkie pie's cause im going crazy right now

:pinkiehappy: :pinkiesad2: :pinkiecrazy: :pinkiegasp: :pinkiesmile: :pinkiehappy: :pinkiecrazy: :pinkiegasp: :pinkiesad2: :pinkiesmile:

Seriously, I loved everything about the story, and I agree, AJ and RD are the best couple EVER!!!

So sweet, but if you want to read the best appledash story than read http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7845445/1/A-Taste-of-an-Apple
:ajsmug: you know you want to...

3057720 Why not mention the fact you will damn the author to an eternity in Hell and cry your eyes out all the while?

3054080 But... It was good move on Dash's part. I don't think it's canon that the Wonderbolts are a military organisation. Rainbow Dash is lazy and reckless and doing that seemed like something she might to ensure she'd achieve her goals.

Granted, everything seemed too good to be true at the end of the story and it resolved itself far too quickly and conviniently.

ClubMan8
Thanks for the brilliant Idea!
:raritystarry:

3062382

Yeah, cause RD has never been known to become a bit blinded by self-interests, so long as you ignore the events of:
-Ticket Master
-Applebuck Season
-Dragonshy
-Fall Weather Friends
-Suited for Success
-Best Night Ever
-May the Best Pet Win
-Mysterious Mare Do Well (but everything about that episode felt OOC)
-Wonderbolts Academy
-etc.

Never saw RD as guardpony material myself, but you've got it sorted out well here. Soarin'll lick her into shape into no time.

Seems even the Elements slip from time to time. AJ was dishonest enough to make me think Discord was in attendance.

Worthy entry to the contest, in my view. Some bits and pieces may not have quite followed as they might in the show but its a fair take on a solid theme :)

“You don’t have to hide your feelings from my, Applejack,” she said with a sympathetic tone.

typo. "me"

(apparently Pinkie and him weren't on speaking terms anymore)

this being the subject of the phrase, it should be "he"

Anyway, this was definitely an enjoyable read, and certainly shows an interesting aspect and interpretation of Rainbow and Applejack's character.

I'm going to assume that in terms of "storyline time", this veered away from canon sometimes before Wonderbolt Academy?

That's it! I've read all the entries. :yay: Man, there are so many good ones, I'm kind of worried about my chances. :fluttercry:

Anyway, that's unimportant. Let's talk about your story. Though some of the elements you included are rather cliché (the gay guy misunderstanding / the "I LOVE YOU!" blurt), the story holds up well and the drama is perfectly executed. You did an excellent job of portraying AJ's internal conflict and I adore this story for that. I also loved the Drunklestia bit as that's always fun to read. You didn't mince words either. Everything was on point and that's fantastic.

Overall, the story was a fun and simple ride and I think you have a good chance at winning a prize. I wish you the best of luck, mate! Cheers!

Wow. This was such an amazing story. :raritystarry: :pinkiehappy: I adored it, and the way you write is stellar! Perfect job. :twilightsmile:

Huh. Well, that's certainly not how I expected this story to go...

This chapter felt weird. Rainbow Dash's announcement was just so abrupt. I guess that was the point, but it and the party and everything else that followed (drunk Celestia especially) seemed to come out of absolutely nowhere. I think the problem is that this chapter doesn't feel like a natural progression of the last chapter. It's almost like this could be an entirely different story, unattached to the other. And it's all very sudden and abrupt. Rainbow Dash and Applejack's confessions happened so quickly, and the entire conflict was resolved so quickly after that, it left my head spinning.

I absolutely loved the first half of this story. The second half is a bit disappointing. Maybe you didn't have as much time to work on the second? Though, the first half is just so good, I still really enjoyed this.

3180642

I didn't. I had about...maybe two weeks to the previous chapter's five. That's what you get when you're writing on a damn deadline - you cut out about a half-dozen scenes out of it in order to meet it.

I don't like it; I'm not at all happy with it. And sadly, I can't honestly see myself taking the time to fix it because I simply don't care about this project enough to devote time away from my more viable ones. I'm kind of torn between just trying to forget about it, and putting a torch to the damn thing so nobody else has to see the disaster it was left-over with...

Pretty interesting, the whole Rainbow Dash guard is something i havent read before. I enjoyed both chapters, the conflict and the reolution was pretty quick but still good. Thanks for writing this story.

I may be in a bit of a minority here, but I thought the second part was just fine when I read through it. Of course, then again, I'm not a writer, and I understand if you thought the last half needs serious work. However, I still enjoyed the entire thing nonetheless.

Keep up the good work! :D

this is a beautiful story and i loved :heart::heart::heart:
I cant wait to read more of your work :pinkiehappy:

~And a tear was shed~ ;D

“He prefers ponies of a different persuasion.”
Once again, I shot her a blank stare.
“AJ, he plays for the other team.”
“Wait, when did sports get involved?”
“AJ, he’s gay.”

:rainbowlaugh: Sweet Celestia, that's perfect! :trollestia:

This was great! I loved the ending and all the stress subsiding finally made me relax for once. Whoot! Go Appledash! 10/10

Awesome story , it definitely tugged at my heartstrings. I know how it feels to stand by and watch someone be with other people just because you are to afraid to speak up , so that definitely brought back some memories and made the story all the more emotional. It was hard to watch AJ fall deeper and deeper into her own depression but it made the ending all the more sweet. Fantastic job :ajsmug:

Also drunk pony is best pony no exceptions :derpytongue2:

So glad I finally got around to reading this.

Exalent storie loved it.

That, my friend... Was fucking beautiful:pinkiesad2:

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