Two mares stood in the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, below Rainbow Dash's favorite napping spot. Applejack had been planning on surprising her marefriend while she was asleep, but found her instead pacing on a cloud. She summoned her down with a smile.
"Get yer lazy flank down here," AJ called up.
Dash jumped, and guilty lowered herself. "Applejack!" she began. "I was just about to come looking for you. Listen, I have to tell you something.
"I'm sure you've heard about what's going on in Canterlot. The guards need all the help they can get. So, well...I'm leaving tomorrow. To join."
Silence reigned for a few seconds, the words ringing in Applejack's brain before they fully registered. She lowered her head, staring at the dirt path beneath her hooves, as though it could answer the questions running through her brain.
Rainbow Dash spoke up again, more enthusiastic this time. "You could come with! It would be just like it used to be; me and you, saving the world."
Applejack looked back up, tears welling in her eyes. "You know Ah can't do that, sugarcube. Ah got a farm to take care of. And you! You've got responsibilities, too! What gives you the right to just drop everythin' and go tearin' off to fight?"
Dash sighed. "Listen, AJ, it's my duty. I have to help the princesses. Just like always."
"Just like always?" the farm pony cried. "'Just like always' would be all six of us pullin' out our necklaces, goin' on a little journey, and bein' back in time for supper. This ain't what we always do. We've saved Equestria so many times already. Don't you think you can sit back, this one time? You've done your duty a thousand times over already!"
Rainbow Dash's pleading expression turned angry. "You can tell me not to do this all you want. It's not going to change anything. This is who I am, and you can't change it. If somepony needed you to be honest with them, I wouldn't tell you 'The hay with it. Go ahead, lie.' I can't just sit around when there's somepony out there that I promised to stick by."
The tears slid down AJ's face, tracing clean trails through the dust from the day's labor. She lifted her hoof, stroking her marefriend's face, pulling her into a hug. "Ah know, sugarcube," she whispered thickly. "Ah know. But... what if you don't come back? What are we supposed to do then? You're leavin' behind me, all your friends. You're leavin' Scootaloo behind. And Tank. What are we supposed to do when you're gone?"
Dash pulled back and gave a confident grin. "Shoot, this pony? I'm practically invincible! I'll be back before you know it, not a scratch on me."
But her words sounded fake, even to her own ears. What would happen if she didn't return? Tank would be stuck at Fluttershy's cottage again, waiting for a new master to find him. She had just started giving Scootaloo flying lessons; if her teacher never came back, how would she handle it? And Applejack...she had already dealt with the deaths of her parents. How could Dash make her live through the death of her best friend, too?
Applejack straightened up, drew a hoof across her face, and took a deep breath. "Alright, Rainbow," she said, her voice still shaking slightly. "This is somethin' you gotta do. Ah respect that. And... Ah want you to have this."
She pulled off her stetson and hung it gently on the pegasus' wing. They both stared at it for a second.
Dash swallowed. "Gee, Applejack. Are you sure you want me to have this? I mean, it was your dad's, and, well, I won't be able to wear it much, with my helmet on all the time."
The earth pony nodded. "Ah'm not much for sappy stuff, but Ah want you to have it. To remember me, Ah guess. Remember that you have somethin' to come home to, so you'd best take care of yourself and come back."
The two shared a short kiss, before Applejack pulled away, looking her marefriend sternly in the eyes. "Have you let anypony else know you're leaving?" she demanded.
"Heh, no, not exactly," Dash replied sheepishly, one hoof rubbing the back of her neck. "I figured I could tell you now, and you could tell everypony else after I left. I just... I don't know if I could handle saying goodbye to everyone."
Applejack smiled gently. "Ah understand, believe me. But don't you think they'd want to hear the news from you? Ah could go with you, if it'd make it easier."
Dash smiled back. "I'd like that." Then she turned and bolted down the path. "Let's go, then!"
That had all happened six months ago. Since then, Applejack had feverishly kept herself updated, checking every newspaper she found, turning on the radio and letting it play while she bucked all day. She and Dash had decided not to send each other letters; it would be too hard to keep up a correspondence when the guards were in a different place almost every day.
Applejack sat in her kitchen after a particularly long day of farm work, sipping a mug of warm cider. She put her back hooves up on the chair next to her and sighed contentedly. She had just started to flip through one of her granny's knitting magazines when a knock sounded at the door. She glanced at the clock. "Figures," she muttered to herself. "We extend Apple Bloom's curfew a few hours, and she forgets her key. Lucky for her Ah'm still up."
She trotted over to the door and opened it. "Now listen here, missy, if you keep this up--" Her lecture was cut short when she realized that it was not, in fact, her little sister at the door. Standing in front of her was a large, white pegasus in golden armor. Applejack's breath caught in her throat.
The guard cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Are you miss Applejack?" he inquired. She nodded numbly. "I was told to bring this to you."
He turned around and fished something out of his saddlebags. He presssed it into Applejack's hoof. She stood there in shock before looking at what she held.
It was her hat, dusty and worn as ever. The only things changed about the familiar old item were the spots of blood that stained the brim.
