> Acceptance.
>  by repsol rave
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> "The unexpected is the most wonderfull"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a beautiful snowy day in Equestria. There wasn’t a single speck in the sky as Celestia’s sun hung low, ready to make way for Luna’s moon and with it the night, bathing the clouds and the horizon in a warm orange glow.
The location? A field outside of the small town of Ponyville. The snow here lay untouched but for the wind and a single trail of hoofprints, leading towards a small gravestone in the middle of the field.

The inscription on the gravestone displayed a single cloud with a lightning bolt striking underneath. The text read, “I am loyalty.”
In front of this gravestone sat a single pony. A small tear welling under here eye as the rose she held in her mouth fell in the snow covering the grave. Her signature cowpony hat no more on her head, but now on the gravestone. To be never touched by any living soul again, a token as memory of a so near but so distant past.

The story of this single mare is one of hope, friendship, love, and sorrow.
And this… 


…Is how it all began.


Acceptance, a christmas tale.
For the MLPForums Fanfiction contest MKII
Author: Jeroen Steeman (repsol rave)
Created in 2 days, sorry people. Couldn’t really check on spelling/grammar.




~~~A few months earlier~~~


“C’mon AJ, you know you gotta try harder then that!” 

“Aw snap, now ya got it comin’ fer ya!”
The voices could be heard through the vast fields of Sweet Apple Acre’s tree plantations, accompanied with the thumbs of hoofs on the dirt below. If you looked closely, you could see two dots coming closer and closer, a dust trail chasing after them as they gave it all to push faster then their opponent.

At the farm, there was a ribbon set up between two trees. A pink pony holding up a pencil in her mouth and a notepad in her hoof looked at the rapidly approaching dots, never even blinking.
As the dots progressed through the rows and rows of apple trees, they became shapes. They took the form of ponies, one a cyan blue, and one a soft orange. The latter just a bit ahead.

“I really thought you’d do better, Rainbow!” The Orange pony taunted her opponent.

“What? I’m just keeping up to you to make you feel less bad when I beat you!” 

The cyan pony pushed a bit harder and the two ended up nose to nose, then the orange one got ahead, then the cyan one. They crossed the finish in a flash, and a cloud of dust raised in the air as they both put their hoofs straight into the dirt to skid to a halt.

The blue pony came trotting to ‘judge Pinkie’ first, the orange one following closely behind. Bot ponies panting and dripping with sweat, it took a while for the blue one to finally get her breath and speak up.

“So? I win, right?”
“Weeeell, no.” Pinkie replied.

“So I won?” The orange mare asked., a hint of smugness in her voice as she puffed out her chest.

“Nope!” Pinkie said again. The two mares in front of her now looked at eachother expectantly
“It’s a tie!”

“What!” The two ponies gasped in perfect harmony. 

“Ugh, not again. C’mon AJ, we’ll have to figure out something new to finally settle that I indeed am the better mare.” Rainbow said as she stretched her wings, and started hovering a few feet above the ground.

“I can’t Rainbow. Ya know it’s hearts warmin’ eve soon, right? I still got to get some presents!”  Applejack said as she wiped some sweat from under her signature Stetson cowpony hat before placing it back on her head.
“we should finish this sometime else.”

Rainbow hung her head low as she sighed in annoyance, but ultimately complied.
“Okay, I guess we should. I’m gonna go do some weather stuff over at Cloudsdale now, see you later girls!” And with that, she shot off into the sky.

“I’m going to Sugarcube Corner now, see you around Applejack!” Pinkie said as she hugged Applejack tight, a little too tight, making for the poor mare to almost suffocate a pink furry death.
Luckily tough, she let go just in time for Applejack to catch her breath. She waved a quick goodbye before skipping in the direction of the town.

Applejack stood outside of her barn for a few more minutes, trying to get to a more normal breathing cycle. She knew she should go to town soon tough, for the weather pegasi had a pretty big snow storm planned for this afternoon. And a warning had been issued to not leave your house unless you absolutely needed.

She decided she couldn’t go to town like this tough, all messy and sweaty. Especially since she might just run into Rainbow again…
Eeyup, Applejack’s feelings for that one cyan mare went further than just friendship. Ever since Twilight joined, their bonds became so much tighter. And since then Applejack really got to know Rainbow, making for her to develop a pretty big crush on her.

She swiftly made for the shower as she always would after a long day’s work, and stood back outside of her home in about half an hour. As she made way to the town, she couldn’t help but hope she would meet Rainbow on the way. Maybe they could go shop for presents together…

After a few minutes of walking, she noticed the sky around her growing darker. As she looked at the clock hanging from the tower at the town’s hall, she noticed the snow storm was due just about 20 minutes from now. But if she picked up the pace, she was sure she’d make it in time. And if it really got too bad, she could just take shelter in one of the stores, right?

Humming happily, she trotted into the first store, getting some sweets for Applebloom and a few elite ingredients for Granny Smith’s famous baking. She paid the shop owner some bits, and left for the second store on her schedule.
This went on for a while as she got all she wanted for her family. She just turned away from the last store as she heard it’s door click shut. The store owner locking the place up for the upcoming storm.
With no choice left, she made way to Sweet Apple Acres again. The sky around her no longer grey, but now a fearsome black. She could see Cloudsdale’s weather team moving the cloud formation into position over the small town. The clouds looked like they held tons of snow, and Applejack didn’t feel much for walking through that!

She started to trot, then she picked up the pace a bit more, then she broke out in full gallop. The first flakes of snow already falling around her. Shivers going up her spine as the cold frozen droplets melted on her fur. The wind picked up, tossing her mane and threatening to blow her hat from her head. She had to actually hold her hat at this point to prevent it from flying away.
Now only limited to three legs, she had to decrease her pace a little. This however, made for the storm to catch up on her. It didn’t last long before she found herself struggling to stand up against the winds as she tried to move through the midst of the storm.

Blinding snow was everywhere, and with the wind pushing against her at full force the small snowflakes became sharp like razorblades. She felt the cutting sensation all over her body, as she didn’t wear anything besides her trusty Stetson. She didn’t want to look odd if she encountered Rainbow on the way.

She struggled through the nasty weather at a painstakingly slow pace. She couldn’t move any faster with the weight of her full saddlebags. She found herself getting tired, exhausted even. But she needed to push through, for her, for her family. 
But it was too much. She collapsed as a gruesome blow of wind and icy snow hit her right in her side. Panting heavily and shaking at an alarming rate, she threatened to lose her consciousness.

She blinked her eyes once. This was it, she was all alone, hanging on to the last bits of energy her body could give. She blinked again, this time it took a little longer. In the corner of her eye, a dot appeared. Blink. The dot came closer, it took the shape of a face. “R-Rainbow?”
She collapsed. Nothing but the dark, empty void of blackness. Right before the emptiness consumed her full consciousness, she could feel. She was held by something.
Then, nothing.

Warmth.
The sensation of a warm blanket, covering every inch of her body. Then, smell. She smelled fire, a nice warm fireplace, and the smell of wet pony?
Then her sense of hearing came back. She could hear muffled tones, concerned tones. The tones took the shape of voices, she could hear her sister, her brother, her beloved granny and… Rainbow?
The thought made the corners of her mouth twitch ever so slightly as a barely noticeable blush formed under the fur of her face.

“Hey! Everypony! She’s waking up!”

She tried opening her eyes. The light blinded her, even as the room was only lit by the fireplace and candles. Softly moaning as she moved a hoof to cover her eyes, she tried opening her eyes again.
This time, she could see faces. All the faces she loved and held so dear where looking at her. And every single one of the looked worried sick.

“Oh, sugarcube! Are ya allright?” Granny Smith spoke up, tears welling under her eyes. “Promisme me now, never ever do this again!”

Applejack tried to reply, but her throat was dry, and her voice was nowhere to be found. 

“Promise me!”
Applejack swallowed once, tough it didn’t help one bit. She could feel water raising in her own eyes too now. How could she have been so stupid? Look at what she caused… All over some stupid presents she might as well had gotten tomorrow.

She broke out in tears, sobbing into her blanket. “A-Ahm so sorry! Ah promise, I’ll never do anything like this again!” 
A tight hug surprised her, as she opened her eyes, she looked into a wet and messy rainbow mane.
Her heart now pounding in her chest, she slowly moved in to hug back. Sobbing on the shoulder of the one pony she loved.

After about ten minutes of this going on, the rest of the Apple family went either to bed, or was forced to bed by granny’s orders. When everybody left the living room Rainbow pulled out of the hug. She locked eyes with Applejack, who in turn was rubbing the tears from hers.

“AJ, what where you doing out there?” She said in the most soothing and calm voice in the world.

“Ah was gettin’ presents for hearts warmin’ eve. But when Ah got to head on back, it was already too late.” She looked down, feeling guilty for bringing her family in such a state of worry.

A soft blue hoof raised her chin again, and she looked straight into two beautiful magenta eyes again.
“Applejack, never do that again.” 

As Applejack looked into those deep eyes, her heart pounded in her throat. She didn’t say anything, but instead closed her eyes, and kissed Rainbow gently on her lips.
At first, rainbow reacted shocked, but she complied to Applejacks gesture as she kissed her back.
Applejack’s heart now fully in flames, she pulled Rainbow a bit tighter as she broke out of the kiss. She waited for Rainbow to open her eyes, when she did so, she nuzzled her gently.
“Ah love ya Rainbow.”

Rainbow kept silent first. Applejack’s nerves raising through the roof. What if she didn’t feel the same? What if she just ruined her friendship with rainbow forever? What if-

“I love you too AJ.”

Both mares didn’t say a word after that, as no voices where needed. Applejack felt a fire building in her belly as she kissed Rainbow again.
Both mares spend that night together in the living room of the farm. Keeping eachother warm as the storm outside continued to rage.


~~~A couple of days later.~~~


Applejack trotted through the snowy fields surrounding her farm. She hummed happily, a scarf tied around her neck and her Stetson keeping her warm from the cold temperatures of the outside world, as she made her way to a select couple of her signature trees.
Looking for any frost damage on her way to the trees, she noticed a all too familiar snoring sound coming from a tree a few rows to her right.

A smirk now plastered on her face, she trotted over to the tree and gaze it a firm but perfectly controlled buck. Making for a loud yelp and a rainbow colored blur to fall down from one of the branches.
“Mornin’  sugarcube.” Applejack said playfully as she placed a soft peck on rainbow’s muzzle.
Rainbow just looked annoyed, and surprisingly sleepy for the time of day.

“Was that really necessary?” She said as she looked at her love in an annoying expression.

“Well, these are still mah trees, and you’re still sleepin’ in ‘em. So Ah figured you might as well help me out a bit, see if ya really have such strong legs as you say.” Applejack winked at Rainbow, making for her expression to soften and blush a little.
“There’s this small perch of trees that need to be taken down. They’re sick and spread the disease around the other trees. And you’re gonna help me.”

The two trotted deeper into the acres. Chatting about their daily lifes, Applejack talking about the trees and the time of year ruining their roots, and Rainbow talking about her boss at the Cloudsdale weather department being just a total jerk for not letting her nap on site.

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at their destination. Applejack, at her sides her trusty saddlebags, got a rope out and swung it across the first tree. 
The thing looked, well, dead. Like something straight from the Everfree Forest. And just to think this was one of those beautifull apple trees once..

“Alright RD, Ahm gonna pull this rope right here, and Ah need you to fly up to the top of the tree and push down from there. Trust me, This’ll work!”

Rainbow sighed once before flying up to the top of the rotten tree. She had such a nice day so far, until AJ came and made her work… If she didn’t love her that much she would’ve just thought of something else to say and flew up to a random cloud to take a nap.

“Ya ready?” A rope-filled shout came from below.

“Ready!” Rainbow said as she found a good spot to put her shoulder against the tree.

“Okay, on the count of three!”

“One”

“Two”

“Tree!”

SNAP!

The tree snapped in half in a spectacular way. Pieces of damp, rotten wood flying everywhere as the entire top half of the tree came crashing down, Applejack right in it’s path.
She tried to jump away, but the enormous weight of the moist wood prove too heavy to dodge, and The last thing she heared before going out a second time in a week, was a distressed cry for help coming from above.

She awoke in a well lit white room. She recognized this as a hospital room. As she looked besides her she saw Rainbow, tears welling in her eyes as she looked down upon her beloved mare. She cried, not just sobbed, but really cried. This time it was Applejack’s turn to be the strong one as Rainbow crashed into her, hugging her tight as her tears dampened the cloth she wore in the hospital bed.

“Wh-What happened?” Applejack said as she gently stroke through Rainbow’s mane. It seemed messy again. Just like last time, had she been here all night?

“Y-You got crushed by a tree! The doctors say your lower back was crushed under the weight of the tree. Th-“ 
Rainbow stopped once, swallowing back another load of tears.
“They said you might, just, never walk again…”

Applejack just looked at the blank white wall. All emotions devoid from her body as her mind raced with terror. Walking was her life. She was an earth pony! She didn’t have any wings or fancy magic to get her somewhere! Without walking, she might as well just have died under that tree.

She was snapped out of her trance as a pony in a white lab coat entered the room. He introduced himself as a surgian. A neurologist to be precise. And that he, just might had found a solution.
But it came at a cost.

Turned out her lower central nervous system in her spine had been completely snapped apart. The doctor would be able to reattach it, but he needed some donor nerves for that. And they needed to be very precise and delicate nerves too. Something like… The ones in a pegasus’ wing.
And the ones form the best flyer of Equestria, would be the ones most likely to succeed in the operation.

Applejack didn’t like that one bit. She would never want Rainbow to give up her life, just for somepony insignificant as her. But she didn’t have a choice. Rainbow imidiately complied to the surgery and soon lay on a hospital bed besides her.

They where given a few minutes to talk to eachother, before they would be separated for the surgery. They didn’t speak much tough, they just lay there, looking at eachother while holding hooves. They knew this surgery was dangerous, and they also knew that the chance of Rainbow coming out 100% fine was 0. But Rainbow couldn’t see her mare so, dead. 

The time ticked by as the nerves began to grow. Ultimately Rainbow was pulled out for surgery first, As they rolled their beds apart from eachother their hooves slid away from them. The last words rainbow said before entering the surgical room would stay with Applejack forever.

“Don’t worry, beautiful. I am loyalty, and i will keep at your side.”

Then Applejack was pulled into the surgical chamber. After that, just dark.

Hours later, Applejack awoke. She could feel, feel the blankets covering her legs. She could feel the warm sensation of blood rushing through her spine. 
It worked! She could even move her hooves again!

As she looked at her right, she expected to see rainbow smiling at her. She was ready to hug the pony tight, joy spread over her face.
But when she rolled over in her bed, She was alone.

As she frantically looked around, all she could see was the doctor standing at the foot of her bed. Unmoving, unspeaking.

“No…”
Applejack whispered, tears now flowing through the fur of her cheecks. 
“No, you can’t do this! Not to me!” She cried, The doctor cringed.

“We, we did everything we could. I-I’m so sorry, the transplant was an success, but when we tried recovering Rainbow Dash, her status became unstable. She dropped into a downwards spiral.
We did everything we could to keep her alive, tough i-“
The doctor swallowed once before continueing, a single tear flowing from his eye.
“It wouldn’t work. It was the right thing to do. I-I’m so sorry.”

Applejack didn’t know what to do. She was so angry, so so very angry. Why did she agree to Rainbow doing this? Why didn’t she talk her out of it?
It was too late now. Her love. Her Rainbow. Gone, forever.
She broke out in full cry. Sobbing for hours. 
She didn’t sleep that night.

The burial ceremony was beatifull. The Wonderbolts did an overhead airshow in Rainbow’s colors as the casket was dropped into the soil. 
The location had been picked by Applejack. She knew this was the place Rainbow used to come to train. And she knew this was where she belonged. She gave up her second most belonging, and hung it at the gravestone. Never to be touched again. It belonged to Rainbow now.

Months later, Applejack still came down to the grave every evening. Laying a single rose on the soil, she used to talk to the grave sometimes. She’d tell how her day went, whet the market was like and how much she misses her.
She would then return to her home, wishing for it to be different. She pledged to always keep loving her, and sometimes, even if it was just for the slightest of moments, she thought she could feel Rainbow looking down to her.

It was on hearts warming’s eve, a year after the accident, that Applejack returned to the gravestone as usual. This time however, she carried a small box in her teeth. 
Within it, was a gem, shaped like loyalty, the element of harmony, Rainbow’s element. 
As she lay down in the snowy ground beneath her, she curled up and laid the gem to her chest.

She emidiately fell asleep, dreaming. Dreaming of Rainbow. Dreaming of the times they had together, and dreaming of how it would have been, to still have her.
As the night progressed, Applejack lay at the grave. Having the times of her life, as the cold slowly drained the life from her body.

The End