The Bonds That Unite Us

by Charlie_K

Missing scene 2

2

"...Thanks Granny," Rainbow Dash replied and hugged the older mare around the neck, before looking back at the house. "I'm gonna get to going now, I'll be back in the morning. Right now I've gotta go see the others and make sure I didn't jeopardize my friendship with them after how I treated them earlier, afraid somepony might spill the beans. Meanwhile you should get back inside, they're your foals too and you deserve time with them as well. Them being gone all these years couldn't have been all that easy for you either."

Granny Smith just smiled at Rainbow Dash's words. Despite her age she was certainly wise. And while she didn't exactly agree with her on her belief about what was best in this situation she would at least respect it, that was the least she could do for her after everything she'd done for them.

She watched silently as her granddaughter took to the skies to head into town, before turning and heading back to the house. It was important for her grandfoals to have time with their parents, but they were still her foals and she'd missed them something fierce in the time they were gone.

---

"Gotta go find Twilight," Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She'd been particularly harsh to the purple unicorn when she found her talking with Applejack's parents and telling them about her. Before she could interrupt the bookworm had already divulged her status as the Element of Loyalty, which automatically included her in the exploits of defeating Nightmare Moon and Discord. She'd have to find her and apologize for earlier. "But first I really need to get cleaned up before I go see her."

She set down not far from the outskirts of Ponyville proper and took off her stetson and her vest to shake the dirt loose, before hanging them on a low tree branch and heading up to the sky. A bathtub would work better but when it doubt a cloud was the next best thing, and at this time of night there were always clouds to be found overhead that would blow in from the Everfree Forest.

After selecting one that looked promising she dove in headfirst and did several stationary barrel rolls, before soaring out and vigorously shaking herself dry. Not exactly a proper washing but at least now she looked a little more presentable. That had to be worth something...right?

"Who am I kidding? Twi' doesn't go in for appearances," she scolded herself as she swooped in to retrieve her hat and vest. That unicorn was always function over fashion or however Rarity put it. She could still remember the simple sunshine yellow dress made for her birthday and how she loved its no frills style.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the Golden Oaks Library quickly came into view with lights still on in the windows. Whether the library was still open for business or Twilight was just up and reading in her spare time she didn't know, but it likely wouldn't matter as she'd answer the door either way, she was good like that.

---

"Quantum elements of the inter-dimensional theory suggest that," Twilight mentally recited as she read. After a busy day there was absolutely nothing like a good book to help a pony relax and unwind. And what could be better than the academic theory of alternate dimensional realities and the hypothetical process by which they may be freely traveled?

However her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the front door. "Spike, could you get that please?" she called out so as to not lose her place. However all she was greeted with in response was the sound of snoring from a fast asleep dragon. She wasn't really surprised considering how hard he'd worked today, but she was annoyed as the knocking persisted and that meant she'd have to step away from her book. "Coming," she called as she got up from her cozy cushion and walked over to the door, enveloping the handle with her magic and pulling it open.

"Hey Twilight," Rainbow Dash greeted upon seeing the purple unicorn and gave a weak wave.

"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, not expecting to see her here at this time of night; or any other time considering the words had earlier in the day.

"Could I come inside?" she asked. She thought on it and quickly continued with "please?" figuring that if Twilight was still upset it might help.

"...Of course," Twilight replied after a long moment of silence and stepped aside, allowing the cyan pegasus to enter and give a muffled thanks in response. "What brings you here? The next Daring Do book isn't out yet," she explained.

"I'm not here for Daring Do, I'm here to apologize for earlier," Rainbow Dash began and sat herself down on the floor before continuing. "The thing is I know that I need to apologize but I don't know where to start. This one's kinda over my head in terms of screw ups."

"I don't exactly follow. What's so hard about apologizing in this case?" Twilight asked as she tilted her head in confusion.

"Because after earlier a simple "I'm sorry" isn't gonna cut it. What I did is gonna require a lot of explaining. But some stuff I'm not sure I can really say since it deals with Applejack and might be a violation of her trust," Rainbow Dash elaborated.

"Just tell me what you feel comfortable with," Twilight told her, figuring that it would give her a place to start. "Can you start with where you've been this past week?"

"Yeah I guess I could do that, no harm in sharing that information. This past week I've been way up north in a little town called New Manexico doing some work up there to help out a few ponies," Rainbow Dash explained.

"Really? Why?" Twilight asked. However it wasn't until she asked out loud and heard the question herself that she thought better of it. "Now that I'm saying you aren't the helping kind or anything, just...well I'm just having trouble understanding why you'd go so far outside of Ponyville for charity work for some strangers," she quickly elaborated.

"Yeah trust me if I'd walked into it I wouldn't believe it either. But I wasn't helping out strangers; at least not total strangers, I was..." she paused and sighed, "those two I was with are Applejack's parents. They've been alive this entire time and up there trying to help keep that town afloat because they've got friends and family up there."

"Really?" Twilight asked with surprise all over her face. Her friend's parents were still alive? Not that they'd ever been confirmed as dead, mainly it had just been assumed. But still to be met with such blatant proof it was easy to be caught off guard. "Well that makes sense why they were all the way down here to see Applejack, and why they were talking about how grateful they were that you went through so much trouble to help them out. I guess I should've suspected something."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Anyway I've been up there doing whatever I could to help get them to come back here and see Applejack and the others."

"Well that was very nice of you, Rainbow Dash, but that doesn't really explain earlier. How come you freaked out when I was telling them about you?" Twilight asked to move the conversation along.

"Because I..." she paused, weighing over just what to share with Twilight. With a sigh she continued, "I thought you'd end up telling them about me being Applejack's sister and I wasn't sure how they'd take that."

"What!?" Twilight exclaimed. Rainbow Dash was still going on about that even after so long? "Rainbow Dash it's been two years now. How can you still think somepony is going to object to you being a part of Applejack's family? And why would you still even care if somepony did object?"

For the life of her she couldn't understand the issue at all. For whatever reason Rainbow Dash seemed to harbor an unshakeable hesitancy about revealing her recent familial status to others. She would've sworn all the recent developments and advances she'd made would help shake loose that fear but apparently that wasn't the case. She'd asked multiple times before to try and get some elaboration on her friend's hesitancy but ultimately no concise answer was ever offered up. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if Rainbow Dash was secretly looking for rejection, but that thought never made any sense.

"Could we talk about that some other time? I came here to apologize for how I acted earlier, not to get involved in a discussion about myself," Rainbow Dash replied. Hearing no objection from Twilight otherwise she figured it was safe to continue. "I really am sorry for how I reacted earlier, Twilight, you were just trying to be nice to some strangers and I flipped out because I didn't want Applejack's parents to get distracted from the whole point of this trip with a bunch of useless irrelevancies."

Twilight wanted to point out Rainbow Dash's grammatical error and that "useless" and "irrelevancies" meant the same thing and served no purpose being used together. But at the moment she was more concerned by the deeper meaning behind her words.

"Irrelevancies? Rainbow Dash you're their daughter, neither that fact nor you yourself are irrelevancies in this matter," she pointed out. Rainbow Dash just shrugged in response and looked downward at the floor. Twilight sighed in annoyance and stepped closer still until she could place her hoof under the pegasi's chin and bring her gaze back to eye level. "Rainbow Dash you're not an irrelevancy. You're Applejack's sister, you're the Element of Loyalty and you're our friend. Those two are lucky to have you as a part of their family whether they know it or not."

Rainbow Dash at least looked like she was hearing Twilight's words. However it didn't look like she was paying them any mind. Twilight sighed again.

"Look Rainbow Dash, you've already apologized for earlier and I understand. I also forgive you for what you said and how you acted, I really do," Twilight told her, "right now though I want you to talk to me. I want to know why you're so ashamed of being a part of the Apple family. What exactly are you hiding?"

"Don't you dare say that, I'm not ashamed of my family!" Rainbow Dash protested and glared at Twilight for a moment before her eyes softened. "I'm not ashamed, far from it, I'm really very proud to be a part of it and I wouldn't give it up for anything."

"Then what is it? Please tell me, Rainbow Dash, we've been friends all these years and if you can't tell me then who can you tell?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash's right eye twitched. Twilight just had to go there. She must've been taking lessons from Applejack or something.

"Fine I'll tell you. But nopony else gets to know about this. This doesn't go any further than you, understand?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Of course. Pinkie Pie promise and all. Cross my heart and-" she began but was interrupted as Rainbow Dash raised her hoof.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask for something a little more substantial than that Twi'. Something like this is gonna require a spit swear," Rainbow Dash explained before hocking and spitting on her hoof.

Twilight frowned at the crude display and ritual Rainbow Dash was insisting upon. But if it would get her to the bottom of this long term mystery she was willing to indulge her. "Alright," she said before copying Rainbow Dash's display and engaged in a hoof bump.

"Alright. The truth is...I'm afraid. I was afraid when I decided to make the announcement to you, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy, and I was afraid at the prospect of my first Apple family reunion; so afraid I actually tried to skip it but Applejack wouldn't have any of that. I know that I shouldn't be afraid, especially not when it comes to my friends but I am. What if somepony objects and puts Applejack in a tough spot where she's gotta make a choice? What if one of her cousins or aunts doesn't want me to be a part of the family and tells them to get rid of me? I don't ever want her to be put in that kind of a position where she's gotta choose between family, it's a lose/lose situation no matter who you pick," Rainbow Dash explained.

Twilight sat and listened quietly as Rainbow Dash explained the situation. She couldn't believe her friend had been carrying such a burden by herself for so long. And she really couldn't imagine what it was like to be in a family where she'd actually need to worry about the possibility of one member trying to use family loyalty against another. And now that she thought on it more it made perfect sense. Being the Element of Loyalty it would have to be torture for Rainbow Dash to consider the possibility of herself being the source of a conflict of loyalty between two family members. It was no wonder she never wanted to talk about the issue or do anything to disturb it.

"Oh Rainbow Dash," Twilight said as she wrapped her forelegs around her to pull her into a hug, "I'm so sorry you've had to worry about this so much. I can't imagine how unbearable it must've been for you. You shouldn't have to worry about your family doing something so underhoofed, nopony should."

"See why I didn't wanna talk about this?" Rainbow Dash asked rhetorically. Fortunately Twilight seemed to catch on that it was a rhetorical question and remained silent, allowing her to go on. "I can't even talk to Applejack about this one. How do you tell the mare you've come to know and love as your own sister that you're afraid somepony in her family will demand they throw you out because they don't like you, and all without sounding insulting in the process?"

This one wasn't a rhetorical question. But even so Twilight had no answer to give if Rainbow Dash was seeking answers. Her silence however seemed to inspire the cyan pegasus to keep talking.

"Even if I could've brought the subject up at some point she probably would've just called me a "featherbrained idjit" and say nopony in her family is like that and dismiss my concerns out of hoof," Rainbow Dash added.

"Rainbow Dash I...I don't know what to say. I...I didn't know you were such a deep thinker. No offense," Twilight replied.

"None taken," Rainbow Dash replied as she slowly untangled herself from the hug in order to sit back down. "But that's enough about me complaining about myself. I came here for the purpose of apologizing for how I acted earlier. But I don't know how to properly apologize for what I did, for what I said. I was...I was horrible. I just don't have anything more to add beyond saying that I'm sorry."

"It's alright Rainbow Dash. Sometimes that's all that needs to be said, especially after that explanation you gave. Considering how much you were worrying you acted fairly reasonable when confronted with the possibility of your phobia being thrust upon you in such a manner," Twilight explained.

"Yeah...well..." she paused, "I did more work over the past week up in New Manexico than I would've done here in a month, I had a lot of motivation to make sure things went as smooth as possible. I helped knock down trees, pull up stumps, took on timberwolves, tracked down a missing foal, I gave up my afternoon naps in order to cram in as much work as I could. I even ate meat."

"Meat?" Twilight asked with a quizzical look on her face. Rainbow Dash nodded. "Meat as in what comes from living animals? As in meat meat?"

"Yeah I was like that at first too. They said I needed the extra protein to work up there and they weren't kidding about that," Rainbow Dash replied. "Just don't tell Fluttershy, I don't think she'd ever forgive me if she found out."

"...What was it like? The meat I mean."

"All things considered it wasn't bad. It was kinda tough but Apple Brandy stewed it so it was a lot easier to chew. It tasted really good. Only problem was it kept giving me indigestion every night," she explained.

"Fascinating! This might require further investigation," Twilight said as she rubbed her chin in thought.

"Yeah...well...maybe another time. Right now I've gotta see about finding a place to spend the night," Rainbow Dash stated in order to put an end to whatever the purple unicorn was thinking up right now.

"I'm confused. Why can't you stay at Sweet Apple Acres?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Apple Brandy and Timber Jack are currently there. If they catch me sleeping there it could spoil all my hard work. If I'm not there then my secret's safe as far as that goes. So for the night I've gotta sleep someplace else," Rainbow Dash explained.

Twilight wanted to point out the fallacies of her friend's logic and the shortcomings to her thought process. Simply because she wasn't there didn't mean that Applejack or anypony else present wouldn't reveal the facts at some point during whatever discussion they were having. But she thought better of it since it might get her friend worked up into an anxiety attack. If she wanted to maintain the belief that being out of sight meant being out of mind who was she to really point out how wrong she was?

She could've also pointed out that if Rainbow Dash was worried about giving her secret away then maybe she shouldn't be wearing her hat and vest around them, just like she had been doing back in Ponyville. But pointing out such a glaring lapse in judgement might wind up driving her into that anxiety attack. Best to leave it unmentioned for now.

"So do you have anyplace in mind?"

"Not really. I figured I'd think of that after I got done apologizing," Rainbow Dash replied and shrugged. "I guess I could sneak back to Sweet Apple Acres and sleep in the barn. Or I could try and make a cloud tent or something."

"What about your cloud house? Don't you still have it to go to?" Twilight asked.

"Not exactly. After I moved into Sweet Apple Acres I didn't expect to ever be going back there because it was so lonely. So for her last birthday I gave Scoots the keys and told her she gets to use it whenever she wants once she learns how to fly. I figured it'd be good motivation for her," she explained, "I don't really feel like asking for them back though. If I do chances are she's gonna ask and...well you get the idea."

Twilight nodded in understanding. Scootaloo was definitely too curious for her own good. And that did explain why the pegasus filly seemed to be practicing so hard to learn to fly properly anytime she saw her.

"You could always stay here for the night, Twilight offered, "the Golden Oaks Library is always open for a friend, plus I'd love to have another sleepover, it's been months since the last time."

She couldn't help but chuckle. Twilight just loved her sleepovers and slumber parties and whatever other term there was for the late night get together of friends, food and good times. Now that she thought about it Twilight seemed to be at her happiest outside of a book whenever it was a successful gathering for such. Sometimes she was as much a little filly at heart as the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Well if you don't mind putting me up for the night, I'd really appreciate that Twilight. Getting to sleep in a real bed again instead of a folding cot sounds really appealing right now," she replied and grinned.

"No problem Rainbow Dash it'll just take a few minutes to get the guest bed out and..." she paused as the words sunk in. "Did you say a folding cot?" she asked.

"Yeah. During my stay up in New Manexico Applejack's parents let me stay with them while I helped out since I didn't have enough bits to pay for a room elsewhere."

Twilight couldn't help but play everything over in her mind. From what Rainbow Dash had said Applejack's parents had allowed her to stay with them in their home, not only free of charge but they'd also fed her for a week. At least that's what it sounded like from her story. But if that were the case then she couldn't see why Rainbow Dash would still be afraid of revealing her family status to them, they sounded really nice to be taking in a pony they didn't even know all that well. Then again she'd had the opportunity to meet a good portion of Applejack's family and they all seemed very nice as far as she could tell.

"They sound really nice," Twilight commented as she turned her attention back to gathering what was necessary to set up the guest bed. "They'd probably accept you as part of the family without a second thought."

"Maybe..." Rainbow Dash muttered, still unconvinced.

Undeterred by Rainbow Dash's lack of being convinced Twilight continued. "You know, if you'd married into the Apple family you'd still be family to them. So it really wouldn't make much difference to them if you were Applejack's sister or...Big Macintosh's wife."

"Eww! Come on Twilight that's my brother you're talking about, that's gross!" Rainbow Dash protested as she made a disgusted face at the idea.

"Sorry Rainbow Dash, I'm just saying that one way or the other it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Family is family no matter how you slice it."

"That's a cheap pun Egghead," Rainbow Dash chuckled as did Twilight now that it was pointed out to her. It felt good to have something to laugh over again.

"Whether you believe it or not Rainbow Dash I'm sure Applejack's parents would love you as their daughter; especially after all the hard work you did to bring them back together," Twilight reassured her. She then turned her attention away from the bedding to her friend before speaking again. "And there's something else. I'm not saying that anything ever would happen and I'm certainly not wishing it to happen...but if something ever did occur and you did need to leave the Apple family for whatever reason, you'd be more than welcome in mine."

"Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked in confusion as the purple unicorn stepped closer.

"I'm serious Rainbow Dash. If you ever find yourself in need like that again I'll be there for you and so will my family. Me, my parents, Shining Armor and even Cadance," Twilight stated.

"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight nodded. "Thanks Twi' I appreciate that," she told her. She just hoped that it wouldn't be necessary to take the unicorn up on her offer. If she did...she'd rather not think on that right now, it was too depressing for this time of night. "You'd probably make a good sister."

"Well I'd hope so, seeing as I've already got a brother and a sister...or maybe it's two brothers and a sister if you count Spike as a member of the family," Twilight replied, Rainbow Dash chuckled more. "Oh well enough about that. If I don't get the guest bed made up we'll never get anywhere tonight."

Rainbow Dash was thankful for the break in the matter. She'd come here to apologize for acting like such a jerk earlier and the next thing she knew she was spilling her guts about her innermost fears, and then she was being invited to stay the night, and on top of it all she was being offered the option of becoming part of another family! Everything was just moving way too fast and there didn't seem to be any time to process it all. Not that she had anything against fast, it was what she was about. But living on Sweet Apple Acres had wound up teaching her the beauty of taking things at their own pace and just going slow. And right now the slow approach sounded pretty good.

"Anything else you need Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, snapping the pegasus out of her thoughts and bringing her back to where she was currently; in the library with a very friendly unicorn.

"Huh? Oh...no not really," Rainbow Dash replied. The bed was more than she'd shown up for, no sense in being greedy for anything.

"You sure? No s'mores or anything? I know it's not exactly a slumber party but we could still have some fun," Twilight suggested.

She wanted to say no and that it was alright, that she didn't need anything. But she was quickly realizing that this wasn't about her. Twilight had a look in her eyes that she had learned her friend got when she was fixated on a target, and that fixation would remain until the object of her desire had been achieved. Three guesses as to what that was.

"Alright Twi' one s'more, but no mane braiding this time."

Twilight nodded happily and practically did a Pinkie Pie bounce before hugging the pegasus in excitement. "Thanks Rainbow Dash! Oh this is gonna be so much fun!" she practically squealed, only to be silence as she felt something unexpected. Not only had Rainbow Dash returned the hug but she added to it with wrapping her wings around her midsection. Now she was confused. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Remember when you asked if there was anything else I need? Well...would you mind staying this way a little longer? It's been a trying day."

"...Of course," Twilight replied and didn't even bother to shrug. If her friend was in need of a hug who was she to refuse her?

"Thanks," she said and settled into the embrace, resting her head on her shoulder and closing her eyes.

She didn't know what tomorrow would bring with it, nopony did. There was no telling how her relationship with Applejack would be affected by her actions, or even if she still would have a relationship with her. All she could do right now was wait and hope for the best.

But as she sat there in Twilight's hug she knew that whatever happened, whatever may come to be, at least she wouldn't be alone for it.

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