Change is the Only Constant
After some quick words with Apple Bloom, Rainbow and Applejack headed toward Ponyville for the second time that day. The letter was tucked safely in Applejack’s hat, and Rainbow flew next to her, glancing at the hat, then letting her eyes travel down to the determined and troubled face of the pony wearing it. Applejack walked like she was going to get answers, and it made Rainbow glad they were the same answers Rainbow wanted.
Rainbow was able to fly steady next to her, but only because shifting focus in the air was second nature to her. She looked at the castle in the distance, where Twilight might tell them anything, really. Everything but time travel had been ruled out, and now that was about to be ruled out. The thought crossed Rainbow’s mind that maybe she was a changeling and didn’t even know it, but the potion from earlier ruled that out too.
Her eyes darted to the hat again. It wasn’t a closed loop. She didn’t have to go back and lie to everypony, and her life wouldn’t end with this. And it wasn’t an open loop, so she hadn’t come from the past to displace the pony AJ loved. There should have been a sense of relief from that, but she couldn’t relax. If she didn’t know how this had happened, she didn’t know if something even worse was in store.
They got to the castle, and marched and flew right into the library. Twilight was laying on a pillow, reading a book, with a half-finished cup of tea next to her. She looked up and a gentle concern filled her face.
“Are you calmed down now?” she asked Rainbow as she got to her hooves.
Rainbow responded by snatching Applejack’s hat off of her head and flying over to Twilight as she yanked the letter out. “You have to read this!”
“So that’s a no…” Twilight sighed as her magic took the paper being shoved in her face.
“Well, she’s worked up for a reason,” Applejack said, walking over to take her hat back from Rainbow and setting it firmly back on her head. ”Dash is right, it ain’t a closed loop. It can’t be.”
Twilight frowned. “Not you too, AJ.”
Applejack nodded. “Well, yeah, if it comes down to it. I know Dash better than anypony, and I trust her. But it happens she’s right on this one, anyhow. Read that letter she gave ya. Dash wrote it way back when she joined the Wonderbolts.”
“It proves it’s not a closed loop,” Rainbow added, as Twilight’s eyes scanned the page.
“This doesn’t prove anything, Rainbow,” Twilight said as she finished. “It is more evidence to take into account, but so is that test earlier.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “If I’m supposed to know that AJ won’t read that until today, why wouldn’t I use it to tell myself to go back? Why would I admit to something I already admitted to?”
Twilight shrugged. “Maybe you go back and knew you wrote it that way.”
“Twilight, this is gettin’ a bit ridiculous.” Applejack shook her head, then motioned to Rainbow. “Dash can’t remember all our birthdays—”
“Hey, I know most of them!” Rainbow protested. “And Rarity’s is sometime in November, I remember that!”
“It’s in October,” Twilight corrected her.
“I was close.”
Applejack sighed. “The point bein’, there’s no way she’s gonna memorize a letter and go back and write it just the same. And if she’s writin’ it different, why wouldn’t she say what she wants to say?”
“Maybe by that time it is what she wants to say. Maybe she takes this letter back with her. Maybe when she goes back she gets—” Twilight stopped, then her brow furrowed and she looked off in the distance.
“What? What do I get?” Rainbow asked, her head tilted in confusion.
“New evidence…” Twilight muttered without looking at Rainbow or AJ. She turned to walk over to her desk and started rifling through a pile of papers. She found one at the bottom, and picked up her quill. “There was another option. Give me a minute here…”
Applejack and Rainbow watched Twilight in silence, not daring to utter a word that might distract her. The only sound was the scritching of Twilight’s quill, and her occasional mutters about which formula to use or if words Rainbow didn’t understand would affect other words Rainbow didn’t understand.
Finally, she said more audibly but still to herself, “But that only works if…” Then she turned to look at Rainbow over her shoulder, her eyes wide as if she’d seen a ghost. Rainbow shifted nervously.
Twilight seemed to force her face into a more neutral expression as she looked to Applejack. “AJ, when Rainbow crashed, what did it look like?”
Applejack blinked. “Like a pony fallin’ outta the sky? It looked like she crashed.”
“No, exactly what did it look like?” Twilight pressed. “Did the clouds run into her and knock her out of the air? Or was she trying to get out of the way, and she landed at the wrong angle?”
“I didn’t see what she was doin’ before, or how she got in the air, but the clouds rolled in and I looked up, and she kinda came outta them like a rag doll bucked from a bull.” Applejack frowned and swallowed with a glance at Rainbow.
Rainbow shivered just imagining it. There were a few important things a pony needed to do to stay safe in a crash. In an uncontrolled free fall like that, all she could have done was pray to Celestia.
Twilight was still focused on Applejack. “And she went down in the orchard? Nopony saw her hit the ground?”
Applejack shook her head. “Nope, just the treeline.”
“Did she hit any branches on the way down?”
“She didn’t break more than some twigs, I woulda seen it later, but she mighta knocked her head or somethin’,” Applejack said with a shrug.
Twilight grimaced, then she nodded. “Thanks.”
She turned back to her paper, then gathered it and several others in her magic and turned around. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, Rainbow. You were probably right. In light of new evidence, I don’t think it’s time travel at all. The confirmation of Zecora’s potion makes open-loop travel impossible, and the letter and Rainbow’s general refusal to cooperate makes closed-loop travel unlikely.”
Rainbow nodded, leaning forward. “We know that! So what is it?”
Twilight took a deep breath, then said, “Well, it turns out that having taken control of the zap apple magic and bent it to your will makes magical amnesia much more likely than time travel. Remember I said there was almost no way it could have reconstructed your brain from exactly fifteen years ago at random?”
“Is that something you said?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, you say a lot of stuff sometimes.”
Twilight leveled a stare. “Yes. It is something I said. But what I didn’t know when I did my initial calculations was that it wasn’t at random. It was a familiar magical resonance, in fact probably the last magical resonance that had directed the magic, since very few ponies are stupid enough to try to control the zap apple weather.”
Rainbow just stared at her as questions started to swirl through her brain like the zap apple storm she remembered all too clearly. Did this mean she was the pony in those pictures? Did it change anything if she still didn’t remember it? Could Twilight fix her? Did this mean that the zap apple weather had a copy of her brain stored, ready to slam it into anypony who ran into it? Could they get rid of that? Because she was pretty sure she didn’t want some random other pony running around with her thoughts and memories, especially the ones about how hot Applejack was…
She wasn’t really surprised when Applejack got it together first. “So… that’s it? She’s the same pony, she just don’t remember?”
“Well…” Twilight hesitated then gave a nervous laugh. “That’s an interesting question. She’s the same pony in that her mind belongs in that body. And it’s fair to say she’s the same pony we became friends with and you agreed to go out with, maybe more so than she was right before her crash. But going forward from the time of the first crash she’ll have different experiences this time, she’ll form different opinions from those experiences, and she’ll probably grow to be a different pony. Of course, if she’d gone into a coma she would be even less like herself than she’ll grow to be, but you’d consider her the same pony—”
“It’s complicated. Gotcha,” Applejack said with a nod.
“Can you fix it?” Rainbow asked. If Twilight could make her right again, she could leave questions about who she really was to the eggheads. If Twilight couldn’t fix it, she’d probably do that anyway. They could let her know when they figured it out, she wasn’t going anywhere.
Twilight looked at Rainbow and bit her lip. Then she shook her head sadly. “Nopony’s managed to cure magical amnesia when it’s only a few days or weeks missing, and something on this scale is unprecedented. I’d have to make the medical breakthrough of a lifetime before I could even start figuring it out.”
Rainbow nodded and sighed. There wasn’t much to say. Unless Twilight had made another mistake, it was time to accept that where she was now was what she had to work with. Applejack walked over next to her and offered a nuzzle, leaning against her as if she was trying to share the weight.
“I know how important those memories are,” Twilight said gently. “It’s practically your whole life, and even if you have plenty more in the future, the ones you lost are… well, irreplaceable. But…” She stopped, then almost whispered, “This is way better than the alternative.”
Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, I mean, it’s better than having to be somepony I’m not for the rest of my life, or messing with open loops.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Twilight shook her head. “You weren’t listening when I told you about magical amnesia the first time you came to me about this, were you?”
“Um…” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck, glancing around.
Twilight sighed. “It’s a spontaneous magical restoration of brain damage. It usually only smooths over the damaged portions, with a few weeks lost at most. Nopony has ever lost years before.”
“I’ve had plenty of concussions, I would’ve been fine.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Twilight, losing a few IQ points isn’t a big deal for most ponies.”
Applejack looked from Twilight to Rainbow with a worried expression. “Dash, maybe you oughta fire up some of what you got left.”
Twilight frowned. “Rainbow, I think you destroyed your brain in that crash. It could have been the magic of the storm, or tumbling through it, or a directed impact from a tree branch or the ground, but you suffered severe intracranial trauma without more than a few bruises on your body. However it happened, for your brain to be so damaged that it wouldn’t resist a total restructuring, you’d have to have almost no conscious functioning at all.”
“What’s that mean?” Applejack asked cautiously.
Twilight looked Applejack in the eye. “She should be dead, or at least in a vegetative state. Without the magical amnesia, she wouldn’t be with us in any form after that crash. It rewrote her brain from almost nothing into a pony who can still kiss her foals goodnight, or talk to you, or consider flying with the Wonderbolts again…”
Rainbow just stared at Twilight, her eyes slowly growing wide as she processed that. “…Wow.”
Applejack nuzzled her again, this time wrapping her in an almost crushing hug. Rainbow barely noticed her forelegs moving to hold Applejack, but a moment later she wasn’t sure she could let go if she wanted to.
The whole time, Rainbow had been treating it as a mistake. She had thought she should be in another time, but she was here, so something was wrong.
Now it was dawning on her that the mistake was that she was alive. She should be dead, but she was here. That was what was wrong. That mistake was amazing.
Rainbow nuzzled Applejack, smelling her mane. It smelled like sweat and an earthy musk; she’d been working all morning. She felt the weight of AJ’s body against hers, and her soft coat rubbing her own. She noticed the cool air of the crystal palace they were in, and the awesomely boring smell of lots and lots of books. She saw Twilight, watching them with a sad smile on her face, looking all friendly and smart and Twilight-y.
“I almost lost everything,” she whispered.
“You didn’t,” Applejack whispered back. “And what ya lost ain’t as important as what you’ve still got.”
Rainbow’s mind continued to take stock of everything good in her life. Her foals. Her friends. Tank. Parties, Daring Do books, her wings, the sky. She started to feel overwhelmed by how much stuff there was, and could be, and it was all because of one day, fifteen years ago, when she couldn’t wait to get laid.
Rainbow bit her lip and pulled away from Applejack’s hug. “Guys… I totally don’t deserve all of this. I mean, I messed up your zap apples, then I lied to you about it all this time, and instead of crashing and dying like I should have, it saved my life.”
“Don’t you ever say that, sugarcube,” Applejack said as she tried to look into Rainbow’s eyes.
Rainbow glanced away, avoiding her.
Applejack frowned for a moment, then she smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t forget, you’re the pony who saved it all, too.”
Rainbow furrowed her brow. “I did? What did I save it from?”
“From me,” Twilight said, giving her head a sad shake. “If I had sent you back in time, it would have made an open loop. Who knows how things would have turned out? It could have been really bad.”
Applejack ran a hoof down Rainbow’s mane. “But you know who you’re supposed to be, Rainbow Dash. And you held onto that, and you came through for us all.”
Rainbow blinked. Then a grin grew across her face. “Yeah! I guess I did! I totally won against Twilight!”
Twilight smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Of course the timeline wouldn’t have needed saving if you’d mentioned playing with the zap apple magic when I asked you for all of the details.”
“Hey, I wasn’t playing with zap apple magic, I was mastering zap apple magic,” Rainbow explained.
Applejack shot her a look. “You messed around with it for a darn fool reason, then ya broke it. If that’s masterin’ it, then Cider is probably masterin’ somethin’ right this minute.”
Rainbow looked between Applejack and Twilight. “Look, guys, I think the important thing here is that I saved my life and the world.”
“That it is,” Applejack said with a chuckle. She walked over and planted her muzzle against Rainbow’s in a deep kiss that lasted a long time, but only left Rainbow wanting more. As they parted, Applejack grinned and whispered, “My hero.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” Rainbow grinned.
Twilight giggled. “I’d love to have you guys stay for dinner, but I get the feeling you might want to go home and celebrate.”
Rainbow nodded and nuzzled Applejack. “Yeah… I think so.”
“And Celestia knows when the zap apples are comin’.” Applejack rolled her eyes and looked pointedly at Rainbow, but the look melted into a smile after another nuzzle.
“Well, good luck, both of you,” Twilight said as her friends started toward the door. “And I’ll set aside some books on recent history for you, Rainbow.”
“It might be a while, Twi,” Rainbow said over her shoulder. “I’ve still got a ton of Daring Do to catch up on.”
Twilight smiled and nodded. “I understand. Priorities.”
Applejack and Rainbow took the walk home slowly, Rainbow’s wing draped over Applejack’s back. From time to time, seemingly out of nowhere, Applejack leaned over to rub her cheek against Rainbow’s. It was late afternoon, almost dinner time, and Rainbow wanted nothing more than to curl up with Applejack and take a nap. Her body wasn’t even that tired; it was almost like her feelings were tired. That sort of made sense: she’d given them all a Wonderbolt-level workout that day.
But now, walking with Applejack, she finally felt calm. Even as the remnants of the day’s twists and turns played through her head, there was a distance to them, and Applejack was still standing there right next to her. As tired as she was, she felt more clear-headed than she had in a long time.
“Dash…” Applejack whispered after another nuzzle as they left the town behind them. She shook her head and looked down. “I can’t believe I almost lost ya.”
“I’m sorry,” Rainbow said softly. “I mean, I don’t know what I was thinking, but I wasn’t being safe. I know that’s hurt you these past two weeks, and it almost… Maybe I am the best flyer in Equestria, but I have to be there for you and the kids, and that means I need to think a little more.”
Applejack nodded. “I reckon that’s true. But it was a freak accident, and I know it. It ain’t like I’m gonna ask you not to fly around. It just… goes to show how fast things can turn.”
“I’m still here to help you turn.” Rainbow leaned over and gave her a nuzzle.
“Thank Celestia.” Applejack smiled. “We had a lot of path behind us, and I ain’t gonna say I won’t miss it… but if I had to start over, I’m darn lucky to have you to start again.”
“You think you’re lucky?” Rainbow said, watching the apple trees pass by as they moved toward the main gate of Sweet Apple Acres. “I almost didn’t get to start over. It’s weird, I’ve spent the past two weeks thinking about how much this sucked, and… now it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Applejack smiled sadly at her. “Well, to be fair there’s a lotta stuff that happened to ya that you don’t know happened to ya.”
Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, but even counting stuff like our wedding and the kids being born, not dying because of a freaky magic coincidence has gotta be up there. I mean, if I’d skipped that one, the others wouldn’t matter.”
“You got a point there,” Applejack agreed.
As they turned onto the path toward the farmhouse, they fell back into silence. Rainbow could see the house in the distance; she was glad they were almost home. She smiled, and looked over at Applejack.
Applejack was focused on the farmhouse, but she was smiling too. Rainbow knew she was probably even more glad to be getting close. She’d been through just as much today, and what she needed more than anything was for life to get back to normal, work and foals and Rainbow at her side. Rainbow understood that; she felt like she understood a lot more about AJ now than she ever had before. And the more she understood, the more she realized that Applejack was an awesome pony that Rainbow needed at her side.
“AJ…” Rainbow said, breaking the silence.
Applejack looked over at her with the same smile she had been directing at the farmhouse.
Rainbow gave her a nuzzle. “Thanks. I said before I couldn’t have done this without you, and what happened today… I really couldn’t have done it without you. I knew the kind of pony I should be, and that’s how I knew it was wrong, but… I also knew if I did that stuff, I’d lose all the respect you’ve ever had for me, and anything special we might be able to have. That’s what made me fight.”
Applejack stopped and turned to face her. Something seemed to shine in her eyes and through her smile as she looked at Rainbow like there was no other pony in the world.
“I have never been prouder of you, Rainbow Dash. You’re the pony I always thought you were, and then some.” She leaned in and kissed Rainbow’s cheek, then whispered in her ear, “And I reckon tonight, I’m gonna give you some mighty sweet dessert.”
Rainbow smirked. “I think I’ll take a raincheck.” She pointed behind Applejack, where storm clouds were gathering over part of the orchard. “You’re gonna be all worn out from the zap apple harvest.”
Applejack looked over her shoulder and gave a long sigh. “Dang it, I guess I am,” she grumbled, then turned back to Rainbow with a weary smile. “Ain’t that how it goes?”
Rainbow smiled at Applejack. “Yeah. And it’s awesome anyway.”
• • •
Two weeks later, Rainbow and Cider flew toward Canterlot, landing neatly in front of a restaurant by the Wonderbolts stadium. Cider was wearing her saddlebags and flight goggles—she had just finished flight camp and it seemed to have paid off. Rainbow had her own saddlebags with her, just in case things worked out like she hoped.
Rainbow grinned and offered her a hoofbump. “Looking good!”
Cider beamed and returned the bump with her little hoof.
They walked inside together. It was a family place; bright and cheery and not too expensive, but with good hayburgers and salads with lots of flower petals. It was the perfect place to grab dinner before taking the foals to a Wonderbolts show. Rainbow looked around and spotted Applejack, Leaf, and Sky at a table against the window.
“Hey, guys!” Rainbow called as she and Cider made their way over.
Applejack stood up and scooped Cider up in a hug. “There’s my little half-pint of cider! Oh sugarcube, I’ve missed ya.” She pulled away, smiling down at the filly. “Did ya have a good time at flight camp?”
Cider grinned and fluttered into the air. “It was awesome! I learned how to fly really fast, and there were other foals and we had contests and races and I can go through hoops better than anypony! I even got a trophy for it!”
Rainbow gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Way to go, champ. We’ll put it right in the case with ours.”
Avoiding the high chair where Sky was banging a spoon on the table, Rainbow took a seat next to AJ’s chair. AJ returned to her spot as Cider flew over and sat next to Leaf.
Cider went on, barely able to sit still. “Everypony there wanted to come to the farm and have some cider and zap apple jam and fritters and pie… I told them all about it, and a lot of them had never even been to a farm!” She looked around the table as if this news should shock everypony present. Then she smiled proudly. “So they’re all gonna ask their folks and I told them they better bring a lot of bits.”
Applejack furrowed her brow. “Sugarcube, you can have your friends over for treats without them buyin’ anything.”
“I know, but there were a lot of foals there, Mama. It’ll be really good for business!” Cider said with a grin so innocent that Rainbow had to snort back a laugh.
“Now where’d you get it in your head to worry ’bout business?” Applejack looked shocked.
“I wonder,” Rainbow muttered to AJ, smirking. “Looks like Sweet Apple Acres is gonna corner the Cloudsdale market.”
Cider shrugged, and then turned over her paper placemat and grabbed a crayon from a jar at the end of the table. “There’s just ponies up there who need apples and treats, and we’ve got the best ones in Equestria.”
Applejack chuckled and shook her head. “Well, I reckon I can’t argue with that.”
“Speaking of food, everypony know what they’re getting?” Rainbow asked, opening her own menu.
The conversation turned to what was going to be ordered, who was going to share what with Sky, and the various dessert options that Cider wasn’t having for dinner. A waitress came over and took their orders, and brought drinks to the table.
As they were waiting for dinner to arrive, Rainbow kept an eye on the door to the restaurant. A few ponies came and went, and finally the pony she was waiting for walked in.
Fleetfoot caught sight of them and flashed a smile as she walked over. Rainbow waved to her. The rest of the family looked up; AJ smiled and gave a nod, while Cider took note and went back to drawing on the back of her placemat.
Leaf looked at Rainbow, his head tilted. “What’s Fleetfoot doing here?”
Rainbow shrugged. “When I wrote about the tickets, I told her we’d be here. I said she should stop by if she had time before the show.”
“Hey, Rainbow Dash! Brought the whole family, huh?” Fleetfoot said as she got to the table.
“Yup!” She grinned. “Thanks for the VIP box.”
Fleetfoot shrugged. “No problem, the crowds would mob you. They probably will anyway as you’re getting in there.”
“Like that ain’t what she’s hopin’.” Applejack chuckled and shook her head.
“It’s not my fault if ponies love me, AJ,” Rainbow said with mock innocence. “I’m a very loveable pony.”
Applejack raised her eyebrows. “You’re somethin’ all right.”
“So I talked to the team about what you wrote, about your crash.” Fleetfoot frowned. “The whole team is glad you’re okay.”
Rainbow gave a sad smile and a shrug. “Any crash you walk away from, right? But tell them thanks.”
Fleetfoot nodded. “And I had a talk with Legal. If you’re still interested, it’s okay to take you on as long as you can handle the flying.” She chuckled a little. “Actually, some of them seemed to think brain damage was a requirement for being a Wonderbolt.”
Rainbow looked at Applejack and raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t say it.” Applejack smirked. Then her face softened. “Sugarcube, you know it’s up to you. We’re all behind ya, no matter what.”
“I…” Rainbow started. She hesitated, then took a deep breath and went on. “I’ve been thinking about it. What if I did some guest flying, to keep my hoof in, then when Sky is a little older I come back for a season or two?” She smiled at AJ, then looked back to Fleetfoot. “I’m still getting stuff straight at home, and I don’t wanna come back until I can really focus.”
Applejack smiled at her. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
Fleetfoot nodded. “We can see how that works out, sure.”
Rainbow grinned and relaxed. “And I’m gonna be a pain in the tail about safety. I think I’ve used up all the luck I had.”
“You can keep us one hundred percent by the book. Some of the rookies we’ve got can probably use the example.” Fleetfoot rolled her eyes. “You know how kids are, they think they’re invincible.”
Looking around the table, Rainbow smiled. “They don’t know what they’ve got to lose yet.” Her eyes landed on Leaf, and she took a breath and turned back to Fleetfoot. “So, how’s the flight choreography these days? Got any new tricks?”
“Mom!” Leaf said, his eyes growing wide.
Rainbow looked at him and cocked her head. “What? I was just asking her about the routines.”
Leaf frowned and crossed his forelegs across his chest. “Yeah, right.”
“Leaf…” Applejack said in a warning tone.
“Um, should I go?” Fleetfoot asked, looking between Rainbow and Leaf.
“No. Wait here just a minute. Leaf, come here.” Rainbow stood up and grabbed her saddlebags, and nodded for Leaf to follow her.
They walked to the back of the restaurant, and Rainbow stopped in an empty corner by the swinging kitchen door. Leaf glared at her.
“Do you think I don’t know what you’re doing?” he said in a low voice.
Rainbow looked him in the eye. “I promised I wouldn’t tell anypony. I didn’t tell anypony. But I’m giving you an opening—”
“I don’t need an opening!” Leaf insisted. “They’re not ready.”
“They’re never gonna be ready, Leaf,” Rainbow said, her face dead serious. His head drooped, but she went on. “You’re never gonna design a trick that’s awesome enough for you. But that doesn’t matter.”
Rainbow put a hoof under his chin and lifted his head to look her in the eye again. “What matters is that everything you do, you give it your all. You show the Wonderbolts the best trick you can design, and do the best job you can do. Never settle for less than that. But you can’t wait for everything to be awesome, or you’re going to miss how awesome good stuff can be.”
“But I’m still getting better,” he said softly.
Rainbow smiled. “Of course you are. That’s no excuse for not giving it your all right now.” She reached into her saddlebag and handed him the book that was inside. “Here’s your notebook, Leaf. Go be awesome.”
Leaf looked at the notebook, then over at Fleetfoot. Then he looked at Rainbow and swallowed. She just nodded back to the table where Fleetfoot stood. Finally, Leaf started to walk over, and Rainbow followed him.
“Um… Fleetfoot?” he said once he was next to her, as Rainbow sat down and nudged Applejack to watch.
Fleetfoot looked down at him and raised her eyebrows. “What’s up, Leaf?”
“I… I’m kind of interested in flight choreography, and I designed some tricks and routines… would you take a look at them?” He offered her the notebook like she might bite his hoof off.
Fleetfoot took it, then looked to Rainbow with a raised eyebrow.
Rainbow smiled and nodded. “You wanna see these.”
“Okay… sure.” Fleetfoot shrugged and opened the book.
At first Leaf winced as Fleetfoot flipped through the pages, nodding occasionally and raising her eyebrows at something here or there. But as she got to the more recent tricks she was nodding more often, and Rainbow saw her wings twitching as she followed along in her head. Leaf’s expression changed to one of pure anticipation, watching her every move.
She turned another page and gave a low whistle, then looked down at Leaf. “You know there’s some really good stuff here, right?”
Leaf seemed frozen for a few seconds before he answered, “…Yeah.”
Fleetfoot looked back at the book and raised an eyebrow. “Looks like you’ve got the velocity and angles worked out and everything. Do you do any group routines?”
“There are a few in there…” Leaf’s ears drooped slightly. “They’re not my best, I just started messing around with that.”
“Still learning?” She gave him a considering look.
He looked down and nodded.
“That’s great. A pony should always be pushing their limits.” Fleetfoot grinned and snapped the notebook shut. “Leaf, I think you oughta come and talk to our choreographer. How about if I set something up for your mom to bring you by during a rehearsal?”
“I… uh…” Leaf gaped as he looked over at Rainbow.
Rainbow just raised her eyebrows. “It’s up to you.”
Leaf turned back to Fleetfoot in a daze and nodded. “Yeah.” He seemed to wake up as soon as he said it, and a grin spread across his face. “Yeah! That would be awesome!”
“Cool… cool. Mind if I show him this?” Fleetfoot motioned with the notebook. She saw him hesitate and grinned. “Don’t worry, your mom would send us to Tartarus if we tried to steal anything.”
“You know it.” Rainbow nodded firmly.
“Sure!” Leaf said, still grinning. “I mean, if you wanna use anything, just ask. I—I made them for the best flyers to fly.”
“Great! I’ll be in touch.” Fleetfoot tucked the book under her foreleg and took off hovering. “And I’ll see you guys later. Enjoy the show!”
Rainbow and Applejack waved as she flew off toward the door. Leaf just stood there, beaming, looking like he might explode from happiness and excitement. Rainbow looked at him and grinned. He didn’t even notice the glow, but Rainbow felt AJ pat her urgently.
“Leaf…” Rainbow said. He looked at her with the same amazed grin. She almost laughed as she just said, “Your flank, Leaf.”
He looked back and his eyes went wide as he spotted the red apple with dark green leaves spread behind it like wings. “My cutie mark! Mom, I got my cutie mark!”
“Congratulations, sugarcube,” Applejack said, standing up and walking over to hug him and nuzzle his cheek.
Rainbow couldn’t stop grinning. Her vision was getting blurry and she had to reach up and wipe her eyes as Leaf tried to hug Applejack and look at his cutie mark at the same time. They broke the hug, freeing Leaf to stare at it again.
“Ya big softie,” Applejack whispered to Rainbow as she sat back down.
Rainbow rolled her eyes a little, then looked back at the colt. “Leaf, that was awesome. I’m really proud of you.”
Leaf rushed over and threw his forelegs around her, hugging her tight. He looked up at her like she had just raised the sun. “Thanks, Mom. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Rainbow hugged him back tight. “Sure you could have. I just did what a mom’s supposed to do.” As she let Leaf go, keeping a foreleg wrapped around him, she grinned at Applejack. “It just so happens I’m awesome at it.”
Applejack chuckled, leaning over to kiss Rainbow on the cheek. “You sure are, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow wasn’t sure if she’d ever been happier than that moment. She’d probably never be sure of that. But surrounded by the ponies who needed her, and took care of her, and loved her, she was as close as she could imagine to being totally happy.
She was counting it as a win.
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I know I've been bad about responding to comments here, I've been really busy making sure I had everything finished and in the best shape possible by the deadline. But as I'm getting ready to post the final chapter a little early, I wanted to take a minute and thank all of you guys for commenting along the way. I loved hearing your theories and finding out which parts you liked, and I appreciate the nitpicks and corrections.
I hope you enjoyed the fic, because you guys helped make it fun for me. Thank you.
(And I'll try to get back to any substantial comments that are still relevant this evening, along with anyone I've missed because FiMfiction won't let me check who I tagged until I post this.)
The different types of heartbreak endured by RD and AJ and the processes through which they overcame their heartache perfectly reflected their characters
. The Twilight twist and subsequent reframing were both unpredictable and plausible, and the ending, … I can barely type for the tears! Thank you for this amazing journey, bookplayer! The ultimate
bookplayershipping fic indeed!!!I LOVE THIS STORY!
One final nitpick:
think you're missing the first letter of the alphabet
And here I was hoping the zap apples would cure her amnesia/send her back in time. But you made an even more heartwarming ending without giving us that.
... I know the amnesia is part of the whole theme of appreciating family and what you have, but could you say that Rainbow gradually regains her memory, just so I can sleep better at night?
Okay. It's done. I ought to leave a comment.
Hi, books.
I've read 14 of your stories now, and I've looked at a couple others as well. "Dubious Enchantment" and "A Guide to Magic" were both very fun. I've also enjoyed a lot of your shipping stories—the shorter message ones like "Tunnel of Love" and "Good Ponies Don't, Do They"; and the longer ones like "The Homesteading" and "Best Young Flyer".
For me, though, up until now, my favorite has always been "Maiden's Day". I thought you did a lot of great worldbuilding there, and I really liked the evolving characterizations on Rainbow and Applejack. I still don't know if I ship AppleDash, but that was the first story to make me really invest in the idea of them as a couple. "Maiden's Day" has its flaws, but it's always been one of my favorite stories on this site. It's engaging, it takes the reader to a lot of new places, and it never runs aground on the shoals of boredom.
"Lost Time" is uniformly better. It doesn't have as much worldbuilding, but it gives us three wonderful new characters instead—as well as providing new perspectives on old favorites. It does a better job with description than most of your earlier efforts, and that's also a pleasure to read. Beyond that, I think your prose has been getting smoother and smoother, and I think it shows here (and has been showing for almost a year, since you came out with "Dubious Enchantment"). The thing I really love here, though—more than anything else—are all the interlocking pieces.
I knew this story was going to involve time displacement straight-up, because of the original brainstorming. Way back in Chapter 1, there's so much great foreshadowing of Rainbow's eventual predicament in her conversation with Applejack. When I saw you go back to exactly those ideas in another conversation with them during the denouement, I loved it. But going through the editing process with you at the end made me see just how many hints about the ending you'd dropped all the way through the story, too—and while I didn't get a Keyser Söze feeling out of it, I was really impressed as I thought back about all the times you'd brought up the risks inherent in flying, or how firmly you established the possibility of magical amnesia and how skillfully you kept me from ever taking it seriously before the end. So many of these elements slipped under my conscious radar, even reading closely. Others might disagree—I'm hoping few will—but for me, I feel like you struck a very good balance between revealing too much and revealing too little, and I think you paid it off admirably well in the end.
Thank you for giving me, for giving all of us, such a wonderful story.
(Also thank you for being my friend, but whatever.)
I guess this slipped under my radar, but I'm so glad I got to read it in one sitting! I can't put into words how heartwarming this story is!
Did not see that coming, and it looks like none of the ponies in question did either.
A satisfying end to a great story, but like all stories it will continue on in our hearts after we put down the pages.
The ending bit with Dash and Leaf made me smile.
I'm going to assume that Dash got her "dessert" after the zap apples were brought in, because after all was said and done both of them deserved a bit of that.
*nods solemnly*
I'm having this weird thing right now where I want this resolution to hurt, but it just doesn't? Like we've spent 60,000 words or whatever on how actually great Rainbow's life still gets to be despite it all so it's sort of okay.
I had started to type something about how I thought this fic could've benefited from being longer, but I've realized that isn't what's not sitting right with me. I think I just subconsciously wanted there to be one last big fit of drama before we got this resolution and denouement. And because of the stuff I mentioned in my last comment--that I just wasn't able to identify with the time travel angst--I wasn't really affected by what was supposed to be that exact last big fit of drama. So I'm left feeling like we've won without paying for it and after such a rollercoaster earlier in the fic I think I'm feeling disappointed. I'm not totally sure, it's a bunch of confusing emotions.
No matter what, though, there are still some absolutely phenomenal scenes in this story, and Leaf, Cider, and Sky are incredibly lovable characters. I think I'm just settling down on being so-so on the second half and utterly in love with the first half.
Thank you for writing this, Bookplayer! At its heights, Lost Time has really touched my emotions and it means a lot to me.
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Weeell... I can answer that two ways.
First: Sure! This is a story based on the future of characters someone else invented, your future for these characters is just as valid as my own right now.
Second: If I were to write a sequel, which I have no plans for doing at this point, it would cover Rainbow regaining at least some of her memories, maybe some of the strongest ones. But it would be tagged Drama, and be in a similar vein. Rainbow had a lot of happy memories with her family, but not all memories are happy ones, and how this Rainbow would react to remembering some of those is, as they say, another story.
lol the little NOOOOO i had when i saw that this was the end xD but this is the best ending ever!
6838482
I can see how the ending might have fell flat for you. The story really had a main plot, which was the time travel, and a subplot of Rainbow rebuilding their family. What I'm getting from you is that, to you, the subplot was the strongest part and the most fun (and from what I've seen of your comments on other fics by me and fics by bats, that makes perfect sense with which stories you tend to love.) But the subplot was effectivly wrapped up in For the First Time: the last burst of drama would have been Rainbow worrying about being the pony in the picture (and even that wasn't much of one after the near-divorce.) After that, except for being briefly tested by the closed loop thing, AJ and Dash are pretty much solid and all that's left to wrap up for the climax is the time travel plot.
I'm sorry I couldn't sell you on the time travel stuff, but I'm really, really glad the romance and family stuff paid off for you. I worried a lot abut both sides of the fic, but I have to say I worried more about my writing on the family stuff. Time travel makes for complicated plotting, but selling what amounts to three developing relationships is harder as a writer. So I'm proud I was able to pull that off. And I was always happy to see your comments for that reason, so thank you very much for that.
(And you were 100% right when you said that time travel ruins everything. Seriously, fuck time travel.
)
6838390
I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for reading!
No question. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if AJ got a second wind after she got to bed that night.
6838323
I'm glad you got around to it and enjoyed it!
6838142
Thank you for all of the nitpicks! I think they've all been fixed. And I'm glad you liked the story so much!
Oh my, what an awesome twist ending. The best part of it is how much ostensibly insignificant information was foreshadowed throughout the story to make the reveal not feel like a deus ex machina. I was certainly worried about how the story was going to end - it didn't really feel like there could be a truly happy ending if time travel was the answer. It's really great to see the knots in the story all being tied up, since that is far from the norm when reading stories involving time travel.
This has been a really satisfying read, from Rainbow Dash's confusion to Applejack's heartache to Leaf, Cider and Sky's adorableness and especially the way Rainbow and Applejack came together to rebuild their lives and their relationship.
Best of luck in the contest, bookplayer!
I haven't read ponyfic in... at least a year. Might be two now. I still log in to FIMFic daily, to see what my friends are up to (you are all my friends -- FYI). I still track stories that look interesting, in case I ever find the time/inclination to come back to ponyfic, and have been tracking this one since the day you uploaded the first chapter. Tonight was the end of a long, stressful day on top of a longer, stressfuller week, and the usual diversions weren't doing it -- and lucky me, you uploaded the last chapter, so I sat down to read.
Two hours later, I am profoundly glad I did. On the edge of my seat the whole time, tearing up in places, feeling ... feelings throughout. Simply wonderful.
Thank you.
Wow. This was... wow! I loved this! Such a great ride, with a very well-done twist ending! And I'm grinning from ear to ear at how it was all resolved, too. I said way back when that I hoped that this story ended happily, and I wasn't disappointed!
My only conceivable complaint was that sometimes, the ponies didn't really sound like they should. It's kind of hard to explain. It's just... sometimes I couldn't hear Applejack's country accent in there. Though Twilight with all of her adorkable science stuff was still really nice. And seeing as how Applejack could have changed over the course of 15 years, I don't really have a problem with the way she speaks.
Overall, I give this story a 9.5/10. Amazing ride, fantastic conclusion. Going into my re-reading list for damn sure.
That was quite a ride, BP. I'm sorry I couldn't start it out when you started publishing, but I would've driven myself mad waiting. You're just too good of a writer for me not to have been on the edge of my seat for the entire week and a half.
I'm glad I waited until it was finished, and that I stayed (mostly) away from the comments.
I do have one question, though... and it's super spoilery... so... actually gonna send this in a PM, because shame on you spoilery spoilers.
Why am i crying, it was a happy ending.
Why tears, why do you flow.
Darn you, 6839511! I want to know your question, too!
Oh well. I'll just go ask bookplayer and see if she'll tell me.
Is it obvious that I'm just trolling her story comments now, so I can geek out whenever someone else finishes? I love this story.
6838529
6838205
That also makes me sleep better at night, wooh
This was really worth reading
I totally want to see some art of that cutie mark. Heh.
Nice ending. Wasn't expecting the twist, but as others have said, it was nicely foreshadowed now that I look back on the rest of the story. Taken in full, I'd rate this one well. Good work.
The premise of this story is one of its major strengths. Because most shipping stories focus on pairings not cannon to the show, these stories almost inevitably focus on the beginning parts of a relationship. However, sending Rainbow Dash fifteen years into the future enables the story to tackle issues specific to married life, setting it apart from other shipping stories. Furthermore, by plopping a 21-year-old Rainbow Dash into the life of a 36-year-old mother, the story really helps to dramatize the process of growing into her role as a wife/mother, essentially forcing Dash through fifteen years worth of emotional growth over the course of the story. More so than the shipping component, the story is about Rainbow Dash's personal growth and her discovery of what's really important to her.
The characterizations in this story are also wonderful. I love how Applejack’s and Rainbow Dash’s character traits are at the same time their greatest strengths and their greatest weaknesses. Rainbow Dash’s impulsiveness both precipitates the entire crisis by driving her to mess with the Zap Apple weather and provides the spark that rekindles her relationship with AJ. AJ’s tendency to cry on the inside gives Rainbow Dash the stability she needs to adjust to her new life while at the same time allowing Rainbow Dash to ignore AJ’s needs, leading to the deterioration of their relationship. The story does an excellent job of showing how their personalities complement each other, making their marriage believable. That solving the relationship problems between AJ and Dash depends on Rainbow Dash’s growth and maturation really helps unite a lot of the themes and ideas of the story.
All together, this is a really well planned and well executed story that touches on a lot of deeper themes absent from many other ship fics.
6853324
Yes!
I'm so glad I read this and at the same time regretting it because I cannot stop thinking about this story and probably won't for some time. The story affected me more than I thought it would. Thank you/I hate you for writing this.
Wonderful story! I know it's retreading similar ground to prior comments but the strength of AJ and RD's characterization totally ties this whole yarn together - its awesome. This really deserves more exposure!
I know you indicated you had no plans to write a followup, but you can count me in as quietly hoping for one. Thanks for a rad read.
A fitting end to a top-notch story. Would very much be up for a sequel, should that ever happen.
This is probably going to be among the best stories I read this year, hit every note perfectly. The twist regarding what was going on was really good. Loved it.
6790328
I'd say it needs neither of those tags. It's got a flavour of both early on, sure, but the overall theme of the story is about taking said Sad Darkness and beating it over the head with love and friendship.
So I could praise this story by saying how great the character development is, or how natural the writing seems, but I think there's a better way for me to express how much I've been enjoying this story. I went to be thinking about it; wondering how RD and AJ are going to fix the situation, or if it'll be fixed at all. I woke up in the morning thinking, "Man, I feel so bad for RD and AJ." At lunch I wondered how their kids will be effected by all of this. This story has me immersed, even when I'm not reading it. I'm only half way through the story, and I'm thinking about it while doing stuff in my life. That is the sign of a good story.
Good work.
Ok this was amazing. I love this story. Way more than I should. Please tell me there will be more of this in a part 2 or something. I wanna see AJ and RD fall in love all over again!
A story that dares to challenge both the journey and the destination to remind us all of the beauty of simply looking to those at our side.
Okay, so after mulling this over and then forgetting to actually write up my follow-up for almost two weeks...
In the end, I'd guess you were right after all. The twists and turns, especially the last one right at the end, all said 'Dark' was the way out...but in the end, looking at the story as a whole, it really doesn't fit. The kids are too cute, the ending's too warm and hopeful. Maybe if there was a ratings system like for movies, it'd be prudent to add 'darker themes' as a warning, but that's neither here nor there.
I'm usually not much for RomDrams but man this was beautiful
Congrats on the contest, you earned it!
Congrats on winning
I've always imagined this as a duet for Luna and Celestia, but I think it does just as well as a theme for this story:
They moved the moon
(I feel so strange)
While I looked down
(Everything I depended on)
When I looked away
(Has been rearranged)
They changed the stars around
(I was counting on you...)
Listen: Rainbow Dash has come unstuck in time...
This is great. Only complaint I could have is it would be nice if there was some sequels. Just the nice soft happy stuff would even do. Like getting to see them more happy together after the harvest. I had almost expected something to happen that would have helped restore some or all of the lost memories, which would have been nice also.
Maybe a sequel for how they feel for each other the first time.
This was refreshing after reading so many chapters of that just essay story thanks
Edit: so yeah it's just only slightly bittersweet due to what she did lose, but this is so very important that it applies to life basically
“I almost lost everything,” she whispered. “You didn’t,” Applejack whispered back. “And what ya’ lost ain’t as important as what you’ve still got.”
It's about time I got around to this.
Wow. I loved it, every chapter, every word. Your writing seemed flawless, like it usually does, and I am... I'm impressed. I was captured throughout the whole story, unable to put it down. I think I've never read that fast before, too. As others pointed out already - the idea was original, the whole premise something I've never seen before and your execution, the characterization, well... there's a reason I'm hyped every single time the name 'bookplayer' shows up in my feed.
What surprised me the most were Sky, Cider and Leaf. Usually, most writers have a really hard time to make me care about an OC. (Or remember his/her name, for that matter. They usually go by 'oh, yeah, that unicorn-mare' or something along those lines.) And you, you just... you didn't only manage to breathe life into them, you made me care. Not for one, not for two, but for three foals. You gave them distinct personalities, you gave them purpose, you just... wow. I love them dearly, all three of them. In that regard, you're a little bit like Rainbow Dash - you pulled off what I deemed impossible before and managed to make it look easy as pie.
I thank you wholeheartedly for this wonderful tale!
Thank you!
7249997
They call Dash "Mom" (Leaf) and "Mommy" (Cider) and AJ "Ma" (Leaf) and "Mama" (Cider.) (Cider is still little, and will probably change over to Mom and Ma soon.)
Sort of the way you might call one grandmother "Granny" and the other "Grandma."
7183437 ditto everything here.
Well, saying I’ve loved this fic it’s kind of an understanding. I’ve readed three times in different moments since you published it. The reason I haven’t commented before is because I always wanted to make you a better review of it, alas, as it has passed so much time and I hadn’t did that at least I wanted to say how much I appreciated it.
I loved all the AJ and RD dynamic but I think that almost even more I loved the interaction between RD and his childs. I think I read the same fic that you mentioned in a comment, and I too was enthusiastic with the concept of a Rainbow Dash offspring who couldn’t fly, and I think your execution of the concept was great.
I think (though I may be wrong, I haven’t read ALL your fics… yet) that this is the first time you work with so many characters, that also are OCs and with a male character (Leaf), I’m right? I found pretty impressive how well you work with them.
Overall, I think this is, like, the culmination of a long list of shipping fics, not in that it should be the last, certainly I hope not, even a sequel would be well received (though I admit that the fic stands alone pretty well) but in the meaning that it seems as your more mature story, when you have put more of what you’ve been learning about romance along this years. That’s my humble appreciation of course.
Although, I had to admit that I’m thinking it as a romance fic because the whole “time travel” didn’t really get so much to me, rather than as a good way to establish the romance premise. I may have been biased though, considering that both “Appledash in an already existing relationship” and “Rainbow Dash and Applejack being parents”, are like my two favourite things ever...
I know this isn't a story about time loops, but that explanation left me a little @_o
Believe it or not, this story makes me glad I didn't get married when I had the chance (even though I still miss her sometimes), because I absolutely do not have what it takes to make a marriage work.
But this is absolutely fantastic. I can see why this got so many votes in the nominating process. :D
So, after seeing this story get spotlighted as a Correct the Record winner last week, I decided to give it a go. Needless to say, I was blown away. I tend to prefer my romance stories with some sort of side plot or unique twist that drives the characters beyond the base relationship. Not only did you include one for Lost Time, but you executed it masterfully. The whole emotional crux of the story is Dash's growth into her new role, and you made it believable as well as engaging. I am proud to add this to my favorite romance folder, and will now be perusing your backlog more thoroughly for additional goodies.
It's not that unusual for a story to make me cry. There's a lot of extremely talented writers on this site, and everyone likes jerking at the heart strings. But this story had me crying at least once a chapter, often more. The characterisation was perfect, but that almost goes without saying. The emotions you poured into every scene, though, were just astonishing. This isn't just a good story, it's the kind of story that is going to change the way I see the world. I suddenly feel ready to take on challenges in my life that seemed insurmountable. I only hope I have half the courage Rainbow and Applejack do here.
Well, I finally got to the end of this. Yay happy tears. Twas a good Appledash, twas. And I would write more words but I reckon I'll get to say them in person instead in about 72 hours. Or less.
Oh, Bookplayer.
I read this whole thing earlier tonight; I enjoyed it. Wrote a review, even, which shall appear Soon (TM).
I reviewed this story as part of Read It Later Reviews #82.
My review (at long last) can be found here.
PS. The inside of my chimney was sooty D:
This was an interesting experience. It didn't feel as... urgent as most of the fics I usually read, because that didn't really seem to be the nature of it. It was sort of a question that you had about what exactly happened, along with Rainbow figuring out her life at that point. It was interesting.
Part of me really wanted it to be a closed loop, but this is a great lesson about how life doesn't always work out perfectly, and you can just be happy with what you've got.
), we have a privilege being able to comment on here and know the author will probably read it.
And as fun as this was to read in hardcover(but not signed
This was an amazing story that I am going to love going back to in the future. Thank you.