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Where Did I Come From?1,058 words
The Two Greatest Secret Agents There Ever Were6,524 words
From Fighters to Lovers333 words
Applejack's Turn427 words
A Journey With Great Reward4,975 words
Home Again488 words
Where She Came From, Part 13,117 words
Where She Came From, Part 22,714 words
Where She Came From, Part 32,349 words
How She Stayed There3,167 words
Epilogue95 words

Where She Came From, Part 1

Fillies and gentlecolts, on behalf of all of us, thank you for coming out tonight. This special event is in commemoration of Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash, who was grievously injured in the previous show, where she sacrificed her own air time to save captain Spitfire, who had been caught in a downdraft. Thanks to Rainbow Dash's bravery, Spitfire came out unscathed, and she will be flying again today. Doctors say that with physical therapy and time, our favorite cyan pegasus will fly again one day; but might never compete again. That being said, Captain Spitfire declined to retire Rainbow Dash’s uniform, saying that if there was even a sliver of a chance for her to come back, she would. I don’t know about you folks, but I sure hope I’m here to see that day. But that's enough talk from me. Put your hooves together and let’s hear it for your… Canterloooot… Wonderboooolts!

Two ponies walked down the road, both still with that after-show adrenaline rush that comes from just being in the same arena as the Wonderbolts. They had come, of course, not to fly, as neither currently could; but to celebrate Rainbow’s accomplishments.

And she had done quite a lot in her short career.

“Ah never knew just how good of a flier you were,” Applejack admitted. “That’s an awful lot of awards you earned and records Ah didn’t know you’d set.”

“Yeah, well,” Rainbow said, nonchalantly brushing imaginary dust off of her chest. “It’s a Rainbow Dash thing. I’m just that awesome.”

They walked along in silence for a while, both lost in thought.

“I'm just glad no one said it this time,” Rainbow said suddenly.

“Said what?”

“You know…” Rainbow said, her voice trailing off.

“Oh, yeah. You mean the whole ‘everything happens for a reason’ thing?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow said, looking bitterly at her wing. “That thing.”

“Ah still think it does,” Applejack said.

Rainbow jabbed at Applejack’s side, exactly where a foal would stand to nurse. “Oh, yeah? Even that?”

There was a sudden coldness between them, as if the air temperature had just dropped ten degrees, and Rainbow realized she had crossed a line that she should not have crossed. “I mean…” she stuttered, taking a step back, “I’m sorry I-”

“Don’t even go there,” Applejack growled, even as her face flushed at the wet feeling that slowly spread around the contact area. “That’s your fault, anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah. ‘Continuous stimulation of mammary tissue can induce lactation in non-pregnant mares’. I know, I know; I sat through Twilight’s lecture, too. Like I said, I'm sorry.” Rainbow looked down. “And I know I shouldn’t have gone there.”

Applejack whipped her tail around so it intertwined with Rainbow’s. “Ah know you didn't mean it.”

“It’s just… frustrating, you know? I didn’t mean to take it out on you. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love hanging out with you guys and helping on the farm and everything, and the food’s a nice bonus; but sometimes I still wish I could fly, you know?”

Applejack slowed to a stop. “Rainbow, hush.”

“I’m serious, though, Applejack. There’s only so much teaching I can do from on the gro-”

“No, seriously, Rainbow. Hush.”

Rainbow stopped and frowned at being shushed like that; but then her ear flicked, too. “Is that a… foal crying?” she asked.

“Ah think so.”

They looked at each other, and then sprinted towards the direction of the sound. It was louder towards an alleyway, and it seemed to echo a bit, like it was coming from inside a metal box.

No. No way.

Applejack flipped the lid open, pulled herself up on the lip, and gasped. Sure enough, there was a little earth pony filly in the dumpster, laying there amongst the trash bags and covered in a dirty blanket.

“Rainbow, go get help!” Applejack ordered as she climbed in.

Rainbow saluted and turned to fly off, only to collapse to the ground, howling in pain as her wing tensed and twitched. Before Applejack could respond, though, she had pushed herself to her hooves and begun to run as quickly as she could.

Applejack climbed out and held the filly close against her chest. She was shaking and crying, eyes clenched firmly shut, and Applejack could only offer a the little comfort a hug could give. She was a scrawny little foal. Her damp light-brown mane appeared abnormally thin, even for such a young pony. Her olive coat was matted with dirt, trash juices, and what appeared to be small burn marks, not unlike the ones on Uncle Chester's shirts from the pipes he smoked, and her ribs were clearly visible through her skin. Applejack wrapped as much of herself as she could around her, trying to calm her down and warm her up at the same time.

Rainbow quickly returned, with the paramedics quickly following behind. Two ponies pulled the cart while two more quickly hopped out of the back and sprinted over. The tan unicorn with a short blond mane took the filly and did a quick evaluation, and the red earth pony with a messy brown mane provided plenty of blankets to try and keep her warm.

“She's in serious trouble,” the unicorn muttered as he removed his stethoscope. “Her heartbeats are weak and coming way too fast.”

“And look at how she's sweating,” the red one added, tracing a hoof across her forehead. “That's not normal. We gotta transport, and now.”

“Can we come?”

Both looked briefly at each other. “Why not?” the earth pony answered. “You can both come.”

They quickly loaded into the cart, much to the chagrin of the two ponies pulling.

“Cinny, you lardflank, it was you who ate the last of the pizza, wasn't it?”

“Oh, shut up. You didn’t get puked on yesterday.”

“That's because I'm smart enough to turn the head, Cinny.”

The red one snorted. “I hate that nickname...”

But pizzas weighing them down or no, all of them were quickly bouncing down the road. The unicorn gave the filly to the earth pony as he checked some more vital signs.

“Why is she shaking? Don't you have another blanket?”

The unicorn stuck his minilight into his mouth, pulled open an eye to examine her pupil, and then shook his head. “It looks like withdrawal,” he said, causing the earth pony to emit a pained sigh.

“Withdrawal?” Applejack asked. “She's a foal! From what?”

The paramedic shrugged helplessly. “Whatever her mother was on. I really couldn’t say.”

“Can't you give her something for that?” Rainbow asked, pointing at the saddlebags full of medical supplies each wore.

The earth pony answered this one with a shake of his head. “I don't know what she's on, so I'd be pumping her body full of drugs she likely didn't need. And even if I did know, I wouldn't. Her little body wouldn't be able to take it, and prolly just go into shock and die.”

Surprised, Rainbow looked over to his partner, and the unicorn nodded to confirm it.

“So what can we do?” Applejack demanded.

The unicorn bit his lower lip, hating the answer he had to give. “Wait until it works its way out of her system. That's all we can do.”

Applejack was disappointed, but didn't say anything. Rainbow, however, had one more question.

“Can I hold her?”

He looked as though he were going to deny Rainbow's request, but something in her expression instead made him say, “Alright. Be sure to support her head.”

With Rainbow guarding the filly, the four ponies could only wait until they arrived at the hospital.

* * *

In the waiting room, Applejack stared at the pile of magazines while Rainbow paced. The doctors couldn't tell her anything; or wouldn't, one of the two, and all they could do was wait.

Then a doctor stepped out. “Excuse me, Applejack and Rainbow Dash? Could you come with me, please?”

Both mares hurried in, past the older royal guard who was serving as security, and into a small office. He then followed them inside, which definitely set a few hairs up on Applejack's neck.

The doctor pulled on his gloves and held up a caliper. “May I see your hooves, please?”

Applejack obliged, but Rainbow grimaced. “Can I not?” she asked, curling her hooves against her chest. “I just… my hooves, you know? Don't really like others touching them.”

“It's policy,” the doctor said firmly. “It'll go much smoother for you if you cooperate.”

Applejack cocked her head. “Policy?”

“Cooperate?” Rainbow asked suspiciously.

“Whenever we see evidence of abuse, we're required to check…”

“They beat that filly?” Applejack demanded.

The doctor pursed his lips. “There was sufficient evidence to suspect routine abuse,” he said.

Rainbow scrunched her nose up angrily and muttered some very choice words under her breath, but she too held out her hooves and tried valiantly not to wince as he touched them.

The doctor visibly relaxed as he wrote down their measurements. “They're clean,” he said.

The royal guard nodded and left.

“So what happened?” Rainbow demanded.

“Can we see her?” Applejack asked.

“To the second question, yes. As for your first question, I can't say for certain,” the doctor said as he led the way. “She's got some deep bruising on her body and burn marks, somewhat like small circles. We were testing your hooves against a recent bruise on her ribs.”

“Who could do that?” Applejack murmured.

Rainbow looked in at the young filly hooked up to all kinds of machines. “She's shivering,” she said accusingly.

“Effects of withdrawal,” the doctor said softly. “The stuff her mother was on is some nasty stuff.”

“Can't you do anything?” Rainbow demanded.

The doctor gave a shrug. “Everything I could do is contraindicated by the degree of addiction, as the amount required to counteract it would raise the level of resulting stress that would be placed on her nervous system to lethal levels.”

Rainbow cocked her head.

“No,” he translated.

Rainbow looked back and muttered some more angry words under her breath, including places he should shove his stethoscope and casting aspersions on his mother's ancestry.

Applejack turned to give an apologetic look, but the doctor looked bored, as though he had expected a reaction similar to this. Either that, or he had been cussed out too many times to give a hoof sliver. Either way, he didn't react. “Feel free to stay as long as you like,” he said as he left.

* * *

Applejack looked up at the clock and then back at Rainbow, who was still pressed up against the glass. “Rainbow, you can't help her by staying here,” she insisted.

“I don't care.”

“She'll still be here if we go and get dinner,” Applejack said softly, almost like she was trying to talk down a startled animal rather than talking with her marefriend. “You haven't eaten all day.”

“Not hungry.”

“Rainbow…”

“You're so worried about me, you go get me something to eat. I'm staying here,” Rainbow said staunchly.

Applejack snorted. There was a fine line between loyalty and stupidity, and Rainbow was doing a tap dance all over it.

But she hadn't seen that steely glint in Rainbow's eyes in a long time. This was really important to her, and, as much as she wanted to beat some sense into her, she knew deep down that what Rainbow needed right now was a little support.

And maybe a good meal.

Applejack grunted as she turned to leave. “Ah'll get you an oatburger,” she said. “No pickles?”

“Hate pickles,” Rainbow confirmed, not looking away from the little filly.

Applejack exhaled slowly and left.

* * *

It was late at night when Applejack returned. She hefted over Rainbow’s food, and she opened it mechanically and chewed it distractedly. Applejack had the impression that she could have given Rainbow a pickle and she still would have eaten it.

“She’s really shaking,” Applejack observed.

“Withdrawal,” Rainbow said. “It’s getting worse.”

“It’s not going to get much better,” another voice broke in. They looked around to see a nurse walking by. “You know, it'd make my job a ton easier if all these crack babies just died, you know?”

Without hesitation, Rainbow grabbed her mane with one hoof and slammed her head hard against the observation glass, sending spiderwebs of cracks across the outer pane. “You're about to become a patient in your own hospital,” she snarled, drawing the second hoof back.

“Rainbow!” Applejack scolded, grabbing for Rainbow’s shoulders to hold her back.

Rainbow released her head, but still glared daggers at her.

“I- I’ll be informing the doctor,” the nurse coughed as she fearfully retreated.

“You do that,” Rainbow challenged. She turned back to the window and continued watching.

Applejack gently rubbed underneath Rainbow’s wing, right where she liked being touched. “You didn’t have to-”

“Yes, I did,” Rainbow said.

Applejack said nothing, but she continued to rub under her wing.

* * *

Rainbow returned from the bathroom and resumed her vigil. She blinked as she realized that there was a small, pink foil balloon tied to the bassinet of her filly. She looked to her left, but saw an empty hallway. She looked to her right, and there was Pinkie Pie, who had most certainly not been there a few seconds previously, sitting and observing as well.

Rainbow smiled. “Thanks, Pinkie Pie.”

“It's her monthaversary of being here,” Pinkie said with a shrug. “I thought she might like some color.” She looked at the clean but drab walls of the hospital and visibly cringed. This was not a fun place.

“I bet she does,” Rainbow agreed.

They watched her shiver every once in a while. Her recovery had been slow but steady, and she had grown strong enough to be off all but the monitoring machines.

“What's going to happen to her, anyway?” Pinkie asked.

“I’m not sure, but I’ve heard some things. Apparently she’s going to be placed in the foster care system until somepony adopts her.” Rainbow shuddered. “That doesn’t quite sound comforting. Who knows who she’ll end up with?”

There was a small silence.

“Well, why don’t you adopt her?” Pinkie suggested. “You’re always here anyway. You’re the only one she really knows. You and Applejack.”

Stunned, Rainbow turned to look at Pinkie. “I couldn’t do that,” she said.

“Why not?”

“Uh, well, because… because…” Rainbow's voice trailed off as her mind drew a complete blank. She bit her lower lip. You know what? She could. She totally could.

* * *

“You can’t,” Twilight said bluntly.

“What?” Rainbow asked, wings flaring instinctively. She grunted in pain and retracted her left wing. “Why not?” she asked, just a bit more politely.

Twilight exhaled, steeling herself to deliver the bad news. “Under Equestrian law, couples who adopt need to be married.”

“I’m as good as married!” Rainbow protested.

Twilight grimaced. “While Ponyville does recognize common-law marriages, Cloudsdale does not; and technically, you’re still a citizen of Cloudsdale.”

“Can’t I just renounce my citizenship thingie then?” Rainbow asked.

“Not without losing your Wonderbolts pension and flyer's compensation,” Twilight said with a wince.

Rainbow threw her hooves into the air. “Well, aren’t you just little miss thermal current!” she spat. “It’s like you exist only to shoot down every easy answer!”

“I’m sorry, Rainbow,” Twilight said regretfully. “Maybe you shouldn’t ask questions if you don’t really want to know the answer.”

That wasn’t quite the right thing to say. Rainbow drew herself up indignantly. “Maybe it’s just that all the answers are stupid,” Rainbow snapped. “I’m going to make sure that filly gets the care she needs, no matter what.” She turned and stomped out the door and stretched out a wing to slam the door, only to hiss and retract it. Growling, she used a hoof and slammed the door behind her.

Twilight turned over to Spike. “If she does something ridiculous, do you think I have plausible deniability?” she asked.

Spike laughed. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. What do you think she's going to do, foalnap her from the hospital? Come on. She’s probably just going for a fly to clear her mind.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Twilight said. “That should work well. Flying high to think has been a commonly accepted practice for centuries. Recent studies have shown that physical exercise of any type does correlate positively with later test scores.”

“But doesn’t correlation not necessarily imply causation?” Spike asked.

Twilight glared, and Spike quickly made himself scarce with a excuse about leaving the trash on and needing to take out the oven.

But later that night at midnight, Twilight sat straight up in her bed as something suddenly occurred to her. She rolled over to the edge of her bed. “Spike!” she called.

Spike groaned and opened one eye groggily. “Whaaat?” he groaned.

“Rainbow still can’t fly!”

* * *

The next afternoon, Applejack trotted back into the farmhouse and poured herself a tall glass of apple juice. She chugged the whole thing and wiped her lips. As she put it back, she caught sight of Rainbow, leaning against a wall, looking surprisingly conspicuous.

“How’s it goin’?” Applejack asked.

“Fine,” Rainbow said quickly. “Totally fine. Completely fine. Nothing unfine here, nope.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes. Rainbow’s voice wasn’t normally that high-pitched. “Is that so?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s totally so.” Rainbow flashed what she hoped was a disarming smile, but it came across as more of a grimace.

And then there came the quiet but horrifyingly familiar sound of a tiny filly fussing, where she’s displeased but not quite at the crying stage yet. Applejack’s eyes widened. “You didn’t,” she breathed.

Rainbow grinned sheepishly. “Uh…”

Applejack burst past her and tore open the bedroom door. There on the bed lay the filly. She recognized Applejack, and visibly brightened as she reached for her.

But Applejack was not in a caring mood. She turned and glared more angrily than Rainbow had ever seen her glare before. “You foalnapped the filly?!”

Rainbow chuckled nervously, unable to meet Applejack’s eyes. “Uh… surprise?”

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