“So. This is a rock farm.” Rainbow Dash lay on her back, looking up at the cloudy afternoon sky. She glanced over at Applejack. “It's… not like I was expecting.”
“What were you expecting?” Applejack asked.
“I don't really know,” Rainbow admitted. “I mean, I get the whole rocks everywhere thing; but I dunno. It just seems so… flat. Flat and gray and kinda bleh.”
Applejack crossed her hooves behind her head. “There are some crystal caves a good ten minutes from here that are really something. Spiky, colorful, and plenty interesting.”
“I might take you up on that,” Rainbow said, looking back up at the sky. “Here, there’s nothing but Polder’s boulder-”
“Holder’s boulder,” Applejack corrected absentmindedly.
“Yeah, whatever. That. Big rock from a dragon’s nest…” Rainbow’s voice trailed off, and she looked over at Applejack again. “Doesn’t that sound kinda strange to you?”
“Maybe,” Applejack shrugged, “but after seeing what Maud and Pinkie can do, I don’t think I’d put anything past this family. Maybe he just really wanted that rock.”
Rainbow shrugged, conceding this point. “I could see that. Some pony just waltzing in, knocking out the dragon with one punch, taking the boulder for himself…” She frowned. “Why would a dragon even have a giant rock? It's not like he could eat it.” She paused. “Or maybe he did want to eat it.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Why, ‘cause he thought it was a giant gray ruby?” she asked sarcastically.
Rainbow shrugged. Her ears pricked up as a new idea occurred to her. “Maybe it's an egg.”
Applejack looked over at the rock far off in the distance. “Then that's one humdinger of an egg,” she said. “Don’t reckon I’d want to tangle with the dragon that laid that. Or the dragon what’d come out of it.”
Rainbow shrugged. “It’s cool. I’ll just hold off from any Sonic Rainbooms nearby and it won't hatch.”
Applejack cracked a smile. “I’m thinkin’ that’s for the best. If’n you did, Cloudy Quartz might have a heart attack from the shock, and I’d be against having a funeral so close to a wedding.”
Rainbow chuckled. “Yeah, no kidding. All that color, the loud noise, the excitement; I’m pretty sure I nearly made her faint when she saw me for the first time. Everything’s so gray here. I’m the brightest thing out here.”
Applejack nodded, a tiny smile playing at her lips. “You always brighten my day, sugarcube.”
Rainbow scowled playfully before continuing. “So yeah. No dying. That’d really put a damper on your relationship with… is she going to be your mother-in-law?”
Applejack scrunched her nose as she thought. “I think so? Never been one for keeping track, really. Doesn’t matter how you’re related, you’re family, and that’s what matters.”
“Yeah. I’m glad I get to show up to those family reunions now.” She grinned. “And now you and Pinkie really are related.”
“We never could figure that out,” Applejack shrugged. “On the bright side, Twilight figured out that we’d be, like, ninth cousins if we even were related, so there's that.”
Rainbow Dash shuddered. “Didn’t unicorns used to do that, in, like, the really olden days? You know, ‘keep it all in the family’?”
Applejack shrugged. “Never was one for history,” she confessed. “I could tell you about where the different kinds of apples originated, though?”
Rainbow settled back down and put her hooves behind her head. “Unless you’ve got samples in the form of cider, I’m not interested.”
Applejack chuckled. “You might get some apple pie later. Big Mac wanted to show off his cooking skills, so he baked enough pies for an army of ponies. Nearly drove Apple Bloom nuts on the trip here, smelling those pies and not being able to eat any of them.”
Rainbow quickly jumped in. “Enough for an army of ponies… or one Pinkie Pie.”
“Or one Pinkie Pie,” Applejack agreed with a slight chuckle. “She sure can pack it away.” She exhaled. “Honestly, I think he’s still scared.”
“Scared? Mac? Of what? Quartzy and… uh…”
“Igneous Rock Pie and Cloudy Quartz?” Applejack supplied.
“Yeah, them. Heh. Glad I'm not marrying into that family, can't even remember their names… What are they going to do, look disapprovingly at him and tell him ‘get thine hindquarters out of mine humble abode’?”
Applejack hit Rainbow Dash with her hat. “Be nice,” she scolded.
“Honestly, Limestone’s the one he needs to be afraid of,” Rainbow continued, only half-heartedly blocking the hit. “She’d probably bash his head in with a pickaxe if she thought he deserved it.”
Applejack rolled her eyes, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t done.
“Now, Maud, on the other hoof… Maud would be happy for them. As happy as she can get, anyway.” She sat up and swiped at her mane to put it in a rough approximation of Maud’s simple flat style. “I can just see her standing there, all like, ‘Macintosh. I see you have impregnated my sister. Congratulations. I hope it’s a rock-’”
Applejack swung wholeheartedly at her this time, and Rainbow did have to actively dodge her hat.
“Tell me I’m wrong!” Rainbow protested.
“You’re not- It’s-” Applejack gave up and merely swung her hat again.
Rainbow grinned from under her hooves, and when she deemed it safe, put them down again.
Applejack exhaled and slid her hat back on her head. “Actually, I think it’s more like he wants to show everypony that he can provide for Marble,” she said. “You know, keep her safe. I mean, Marble’s never left the rock farm. Not once in her life. Now she's gonna have to go and leave her home to follow him somewhere where she'll be surrounded by apples instead of rocks. Poor Marble, I bet she's scared spitless.”
“She's always scared spitless,” Rainbow said dismissively. “That's, like, her natural state.”
“Rainbow,” Applejack scolded.
“What?” Rainbow asked innocently.
Applejack exhaled, unable to think of a proper rejoinder.
Rainbow continued. “If they haven’t already figured out that she’ll be fine with Mac, they’re about as bright as a rock.” She paused. “One of the really dull, gray, not bright ones, I mean.”
Applejack cracked a smile against her will.
Rainbow grinned, pleased that she'd gotten a reaction. “She’ll be in Ponyville. Sure, there’s the odd timberwolf from the Everfree, and maybe the random storm or so; but Pinkie’s there, and Mac, well, he'll protect her. He's like a giant brick wall. Nothing’s getting past him.”
Applejack grinned. “Yeah, I bet that does help.”
Their conversation lapsed into a silence. Rainbow laid back down and looked up at the sky again. Together, they watched as the sun began to set, and the cloudy sky slowly shifted into a more varied array of grays.
“You ever wonder why Pinkie Pie was born pink?” Rainbow blurted.
Applejack cocked her head. “Can’t say I have,” she answered slowly. “Why?”
“Everything here's so gray and brown and gray; and then she’s… pink.” She glanced around, half expecting Pinkie Pie to pop out from under a rock with a (to her, anyway) perfectly valid and logical explanation.
Applejack thought for a moment. “I think families get the ponies they need,” she finally said. “I can't imagine life without Apple Bloom. We needed her, and so she was born. The Pies just needed a little color in their lives, and so Pinkie was born.” She cracked a smile. “I think we needed that color in all of our lives, really. Did you know the Cakes were fixin’ to move out of Ponyville before Pinkie showed up?”
“Huh. I’m glad they didn’t,” Rainbow said. “Have you tried their milkshakes? They’re delicious.”
“That they are.”
There was a silence. The sky grew darker and the air a bit colder, and Rainbow Dash subtly slid over a bit closer to Applejack. Applejack reciprocated, and now they were close but still not touching. Not yet, anyway.
Their little dance was slightly ruined when Rainbow’s stomach growled. Applejack hid her chuckle behind a hoof. “Hungry?”
“Always,” Rainbow said, accepting this as it came. “Wonder what’s for dinner?”
Applejack grinned. “I’d bet apples to acres it’s rock soup.”
Rainbow hesitated. She glanced at a nearby rock and briefly imagined herself trying to eat it. “Sounds… good,” she said, unsure of her words.
“It's an experience.”
Rainbow sat up. “I know that tone,” she said, her voice strained. “It's nasty, isn't it?”
Applejack pulled her hat down over her face and said nothing, but silent laughter rocked her body.
“Please tell me you brought actual food,” Rainbow whimpered.
“Now, Rainbow,” Applejack gently chided. “Different families have different traditions, and it's only right to try them out for yourself to understand where they're coming from.”
Rainbow stood up and stretched her wings. “Yeah? Well, I'm going to be coming from someplace with actual food. Try me. No, time me. I’ll be there and back with food in my belly before they know I’m gone.”
“No need to go anywhere, sugarcube,” Applejack said calmly. “The rock soup’s their tradition, but the baked goods are our tradition, and tonight, we’re mixing traditions while we're mixing families. New traditions. You get the best of both worlds.”
Rainbow relaxed. “That’s right. I forgot.”
The conversation lapsed. Rainbow Dash laid back down, rotating enough so she could rest her head on Applejack’s stomach. Applejack, who did not mind this contact in the slightest, gently reached up a hoof and ran it through her mane.
Rainbow’s shaking of silent laughter made her stop. “What?” she asked.
Rainbow shoved her hoof into her mouth for a moment, eventually managing to get her laughter under control. “So, if Mac and Marble do have a foal… would that mean we would start calling her Great-Granny Smith?”
Applejack snorted a laugh. “Doubt it,” she said.
“I might try it once. After dinner.”
“Why? So she could throw a dirty plate at you?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Better than having her throw a full plate at me.”
Applejack chuckled. “You and your strange logic.”
The wind blew once more, and Applejack flicked her tail over, letting it rest on Rainbow’s stomach.
“Speaking of dinner…”
Applejack snorted.
“I just had a thought of Iggy and Cloudy at an Apple Family Reunion.”
Applejack grinned. “Not taking it so well, I bet.”
Rainbow shook her head. “He's just staring blankly at a wall and she's all curled up on the ground, rocking back and forth.” She cracked a smile as a new thought occurred to her. “That'll make the reception fun.”
Applejack exhaled. “I trust Pinkie. I’m sure she’ll have something that’ll fit both families better’n an old hat.”
“She’ll probably have two parties, one for each side.” Rainbow lifted her head. “And I’m invited to your family’s, right?”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Yes, Rainbow. Significant others are always invited. You know that.”
“Because there will be cider there.”
“Yes, Rainbow,” said Applejack with a hint of long-suffering in her voice, “there will be cider there.”
Rainbow laid her head back down. “You know, we should bring Limestone. I bet Limestone likes cider. She just doesn't know it, yet. I bet you when she tries it, she’ll smile so big her whole face cracks. Just falls off, like that. Crash!” She mimed an explosion with her hooves, showing just how far the pieces of Limestone’s face would spread.
Applejack noticed that she had also shifted her hips during her little demonstration, bringing them a little closer together. She responded by gently brushing her hoof against Rainbow’s shoulder. “You think everypony likes cider.”
“Because everypony does,” Rainbow defended herself. “Not even Cranky Doodle Donkey doesn't like cider. Even Rarity drinks it.”
Applejack chuckled as she tousled Rainbow’s mane. “Yeah. I still say putting it in a teacup is a little over the top, though.”
“Nopony’s got time for that,” Rainbow confirmed. “Give it to me by the barrel.”
Applejack dropped her hoof and snorted. “I'd give it to you, just to watch you try and drink it,” she said.
“Don't tempt me,” Rainbow warned. “I’ll do it.”
They were closer, now. Rainbow rested her head on Applejack’s chest, and her hoof trailed across Applejack’s body to brush up against her cutie mark. Thoughts of cider were forgotten as the two began to breathe in unison.
“I bet it's our fault,” Rainbow said suddenly.
“Huh?”
“Macintosh and Marble.”
“Oh, it is,” Applejack confirmed. “He woke me up one night and told me he was going for it, and afore I could ask what in tarnation he was talking about, he'd bolted out the front door. Came back two days later, red as could be, asking me how to properly propose to a mare.”
Rainbow made a ‘hm’ sound. “No kidding?”
Applejack sighed, reminiscing. “Nope. Mac may be quiet, but when he makes up his mind to do something, ain't nothing can stand in his way.”
They were truly cuddling now, their bodies nearly together as one; the cool night and their conversation having slowly brought them together.
“Quiet isn't so bad,” Rainbow said suddenly. “You don’t need words. It’s cool to just be with somepony else, you know? Sitting in silence.”
“Huh,” Applejack said, with just a hint of sarcasm. “Wonder what that’s like.”
Rainbow nipped at her barrel. It wasn't a hard bite; it was more of a ‘you and I both know you deserve something for that comment but I'm enjoying your company too much to do anything about it’ bite. It wasn't painful so much as almost erotic; and Applejack responded by reaching down and resting her hoof on Rainbow's cutie mark. Rainbow exhaled deeply and rubbed her head against Applejack, trying to settle deeper into her embrace. Really, this was natural; this was where they were meant to be.
“Hey, you two!”
Unfortunately, Limestone Pie did not share their sentiment. Rainbow rolled over and groaned. She grabbed Applejack’s hat, putting it on and pulling it down over her eyes.
“Dinner’s ready!” Limestone yelled, banging her pickaxe against a rock in a crude imitation of a dinner triangle. “Stop mackin’ on each other and get your lazy tails over here!”
“Coming, mother!” Rainbow blurted before she could stop herself.
Applejack couldn't hold back a snort of laughter as she heard Limestone scowl. Never change, Rainbow.
Limestone looked particularly angry about something tonight. Judging by the glares she had sent Macintosh's way all night, she wanted to hate him. Perhaps it was because he was taking away her sister. Maybe it was because her chore list was about to increase substantially. Or maybe it was just because she was currently sick of Apples on their property.
Apples as in ponies, maybe; but not apples as in fruit. After all the pies Limestone had eaten (and Rainbow Dash had lost count after the fourth; maybe eating big was just something that ran in Pinkie’s family?) she seemed to be unable to do more than glower every so often at nothing in particular. It is really hard to hate someone who makes such nice things. If anything, she was more angry with herself for having eaten and enjoyed so many of the enemy’s treats.
Rainbow Dash, however, had had no such inhibitions nor mental blocks. She had made an honest attempt to eat the rock soup; and once she had been determined that to be a lost cause (she vaguely remembered picking up an old gym sweatshirt in her mouth once, and the taste of the rock soup wasn’t substantially different), she had elected instead to entertain herself by teasing the happy couple. She'd meet Mac's eyes and flick over to Marble and wink with her best lecherous smile, and he'd look down and blush and squirm in his chair; then she'd do the same to Marble, glancing over at Mac and giving her ‘the nod’, complete with tongue running across the front of her teeth. Her greatest accomplishment tonight was when she'd gotten Marble to blush, squeak, and hide her face all at once by holding up her spoon, waiting until Marble was watching, and then slowly and sensually extending her tongue and running it all along the underside.
That was when Applejack had finally noticed what she was doing and told her with a none-too-gentle elbow jab to the ribs that she needed to stop. But it was fun while it had lasted.
Now, however, came the Choosing Stone Ceremony. There was a cold formality to it; nopony (not even Pinkie!) spoke as they walked (or, in Rainbow’s case, hovered alongside near the back of the group) to where the stones were kept. Limestone intentionally walked between Macintosh and Marble, tail flicking, as if in challenge.
They soon arrived at the little rock sanctuary, where a grim-looking gray earth pony stood guard. He nodded once, and turned back around and disappeared into the shadows inside. He soon returned to the door, holding a bowl covered by a rough sackcloth. He placed it in some saddlebags, stepped outside, and closed the door behind him.
And then, to Rainbow’s surprise, everypony turned around and started heading back. “Are we going somewhere?” she asked.
“Back to the farmhouse, I reckon,” Applejack guessed.
Rainbow looked over, and Maud nodded to confirm. She looked back over at Applejack. “What, the stone can’t choose here?”
“It’s how it’s done, I guess,” Applejack shrugged.
“You’re kidding.” Rainbow slammed a hoof into her forehead. Behind her, she could hear Limestone sniggering.
Pinkie Pie bounced up behind her, jumping high enough on each bounce to reach Rainbow’s eye level. “Well, duh, we’ve got to go back,” she said, as if it were obvious. “That’s part of the tradition! You go back to the mare’s house for the casting because she’s the heart of the home, and the heart’s the most important part!”
Rainbow snorted, but didn’t argue that point (even if the logic seemed a little bit forced). Still… “At least it’s not the stallion’s house,” she grumbled. “If I’d’a had to go all the way back to Ponyville this slow, I’d probably tear my feathers out.”
“And we gotta be back there anyway for the party!” Pinkie cheered. “Regardless of the outcome, we’re partying Pie style tonight! Rock soup and poetry for everypony!”
Rainbow groaned and massaged her temple with a hoof. “I can hardly wait,” she deadpanned.
* * *
It was a long journey back, though it seemed to go a bit faster than the first trip. Even so, it was long enough that Maud let Apple Bloom ride on her back. Rainbow looked over at Applejack and grinned, but it was clear from her glare that she would not be getting a similar offer.
Eventually, they made it back to the Pies’ homestead. Throughout this whole journey, Rainbow Dash found her eyes being drawn to the little box the gray stallion carried, and she wondered what the choosing stone could be.
She was slightly underwhelmed by the answer. “It's a cube,” she said, not quite sure if her eyes were deceiving her. “No, it’s two cubes.”
Applejack squinted as the earth pony carefully uncovered what looked like two golden cubes. “Sure looks that way,” she agreed.
“So basically they're rolling gold dice? It looks like gold. Is that gold?”
Maud looked over at Applejack. “Applejack, I fear your girlfriend might be a fool.”
To Rainbow’s shock, Applejack snorted to cover a laugh. She turned and glared at her, demanding an explanation.
“It's called fool’s gold, Rainbow,” Applejack explained. “Too light to be real gold. Looks shiny, but you can't do much with it. It ain't soft like real gold.”
“Pyrite,” Maud added helpfully. “Most common of all sulfides. Naturally forms cubic structures. Usually, the crystals are intergrown; but these crystals were found-”
But Rainbow Dash had not walked all that way for a lecture on rocks. She waved them both down. “So let’s see if I’ve got this straight. They’re rolling dice, and it's basically sheer luck on if the other pony is ‘chosen’?”
Applejack considered this. “More or less, yeah.”
Rainbow scoffed. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
The pegasus dropped to the ground and pulled Applejack a few paces away. “How it's done is kinda dumb,” Rainbow whispered in Applejack's ear. “They're perfect for each other. You know it. They know it. Hay, I know it; and it took me two months before I figured out you were flirting with me. But now they're making it a chance game with a one in Celestia knows how many chance to-”
“Thirty-six.”
“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash jumped; she hadn't realized that Maud had stayed close enough to hear.
“Thirty-six,” she repeated, apparently unconcerned with what Rainbow had said about their tradition (or the fact that Rainbow was now hovering above her). “Six possibilities for her stone and six for his. Only one result is a successful match. One sixth times one sixth is one thirty-sixth.”
“O… k…” Rainbow said slowly, landing and taking the tiniest of steps away from Maud. Applejack shook her head.
They watched as the two ponies squared up, about a pace and a half apart, each holding a cube in their hooves.
The gray earth pony spoke, his voice low and scratchy. “By the power of the magic within them, the choosing stone will decree if these two ponies should love one another, and spend their lives together, to have and to hold, forever.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes.
“You will roll together, and the answer you seek will be found.”
The two ponies shared a look. Macintosh gave Marble a comforting nod, and she cracked a shaky smile from behind her mane.
“Roll!” he ordered.
Together, the two ponies tossed the cubes on the ground.
Rainbow blinked. All the faces looked identical to her; the ones facing up seemed to look just like the ones on the sides. Had she missed something?
But Pinkie Pie threw a hoofful of confetti and let out a shrieking cheer (causing Limestone to flinch and glare angrily at her). Maud stomped politely; her slow pace almost unnerving (especially when compared to Applejack’s triumphant stomping).
“That’s good, right?” Rainbow wondered aloud. Feeling left out, she quietly began stomping as well.
Igneous stepped up proudly. “Truly, fortune and favor have found this household tonight; and may fortune and favor come to the new household of Macintosh Apple and Marble!”
Rainbow squinted at the crystals. Now that she looked closer, she could see two ponyshoes, etched ever so thinly into the faces, crossed and forming a heart, on top of both cubes. She scowled.
Completely unused to being the center of attention, Marble tensed up before attempting a rapid retreat; but it didn't seem to work, though her hooves scrambled desperately for purchase against the wooden floor. It took her a few seconds to realize that the reason she couldn’t run away was because there was a large red stallion there in her path, and all she was doing was pushing against him. She quickly looked up, unsure how he'd react.
Macintosh, however, thought that she was just showing him a little affection, and he grinned proudly and moved to return the gesture. He placed a hoof over her shoulders and pulled her in even closer, providing her with warmth, protection, and affection. He gave her a gentle squeeze and an encouraging smile, and she visibly relaxed. Eyes closed, she exhaled gently and tried to burrow herself deeper into his chest before looking out at the ponies watching, and she smiled as Macintosh gently slid her mane out of the way of her eyes. With Macintosh around her, for the first time in her life, she felt somewhat comfortable with being the center of attention.
Rainbow stepped closer to Applejack, extending her wing just far enough to brush the tips of her feathers against her cutie mark. Applejack didn't flinch or even break her stomping, but she did shoot Rainbow Dash a knowing smile.
Unfortunately, the two had slightly different plans for tonight.
* * *
The door slowly creaked open, revealing a sliver of moonlight that was quickly blocked by a moving pony. Her eyes flicked around, but saw nopony stirring. She grinned, and slowly crept along the ground over to the bed currently occupied by an orange earth pony.
“Applejack!” she whispered.
Applejack stirred, but didn’t wake up.
“Applejack!” Rainbow reached up a hoof and nudged her.
Applejack began to wake up, inhaling and rubbing at her eyes. “Huh? What?”
“Get up.”
“It ain’t morning yet. It’s…” Applejack checked, but her internal clock wasn’t quite functioning properly this early in the morning, so she settled with a simpler, “really early.”
“Yeah, I know, but everypony’s asleep now, and there’s something I want to try.”
“What?”
“There’s something I want to try,” Rainbow repeated. “Come on!”
Applejack groaned and pulled the pillow over her head, mumbling something that vaguely sounded like 'morning'.
But Rainbow wasn’t going to give up that easily. She grabbed Applejack’s tail and tugged. “Come on,” she whispered. “Get up! I need you for this!”
Applejack opened one eye and glared accusingly. “This ain’t about your whole ‘wanting to do it outside’ thing, right?”
Rainbow dropped Applejack’s tail and scowled. “Pegasi have been riding each other on top of clouds for centuries. It’s normal,” she repeated as she had so many times before. “But no, not this time. There’s something else.”
Applejack entertained the notion of kicking Rainbow, but finally sighed. “Fine,” she grumbled, sliding her hindquarters off the bed, “but this better be good.”
“Oh, it’s good.” Rainbow insisted, pushing Applejack along with her head. “I promise.”
For some reason, Applejack doubted that; but Rainbow didn’t give her much chance to protest. She pushed Applejack through the kitchen and into the living room, finally stopping on top of the threadbare rug. Blearily, Applejack looked up just in time to see Rainbow press something into her hooves. Something small, and cubical, and distinctly golden.
Startled into alertness, she looked down and saw that she had indeed been given a choosing stone. She looked up at Rainbow. “Where did you get this?” she demanded.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “From Pinkie Pie’s mane. Where do you think I got ‘em?”
“You stole the choosing stones?”
“Borrowed,” Rainbow insisted firmly. “I borrowed them, and I’m going to give them back before anypony knows they’re gone.”
Applejack facehoofed. “You woke me up for this?”
“Come on, AJ,” Rainbow wheedled. “I gotta figure out if these are real or not.”
“Rainbow, this is ridiculous.”
“What’s so ridiculous? What, you think it’s just an earth pony thing?” She squinted at the cube. “These’ll work with pegasus magic, right? They should.”
“Rainbow…”
“What?”
“I guess; but… why?”
“Why?”
“Do you really wonder if we're supposed to be together?” Applejack asked.
Rainbow shook her head. “No. I know we're supposed to be together. Trust me. I know that.”
Applejack squinted. “So if you know that, and I know that, why are you all fired up about us rolling them?”
“Because I gotta know if this is just random chance or if these are actually magic artifacts. If it’s magic, and we throw it, it’ll show choosing side up, because you going out with me is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. If not, well, we’ll know it’s all a fluke. Hay, it’ll probably show choosing side up anyway.”
Applejack dragged a hoof down her face. “That’s… sweet, in a really, really roundabout sort of way. I think.”
“So you ready to roll it with me?”
“That’d make me an accomplice to Grand Theft Stone, though,” Applejack protested, though a little smile played at the edges of her lips.
Rainbow snorted dismissively. “Grand Theft Stone isn’t a thing.”
“It might be here.”
Rainbow paused. “True,” she conceded. “So roll with me so I can put them back.”
Applejack exhaled. “Fine,” she said, taking a few steps forward and rotating to face Rainbow. She scooted over and lined up across from Applejack. They faced each other, each holding one of the stones.
“Ready?” Rainbow asked.
“We'd need witnesses,” Applejack interrupted. “At least two.”
Rainbow shrugged. “So I'll be yours and you be mine.”
“That’s not exactly how that works, Sugarcube,” Applejack said.
“Just roll the stupid stone already,” Rainbow grumbled.
Applejack took a steadying breath and held up her stone, just as they had done yesterday. Rainbow held hers up, and at a silent nod from Applejack, the two threw their stones.
Rainbow was almost afraid to look, but look she did.
And sure enough, atop each of their cubes was that little insignia of ponyshoes crossed in the shape of a heart*.
Rainbow’s wings flared, and she did a little loop right there in their living room. “Yeah!” she cheered. She darted in and grabbed Applejack, and kissed her right on the cheek.
“Rainbow!” Applejack hissed, pushing her away. “Keep it down! You’re going to wake up-!”
“Too late!” a new voice broke in.
This little moment was interrupted by the appearance of Pinkie Pie. This wouldn't have been so bad, had she not been accompanied by a little storm of confetti and the harsh sound of a party streamer she carried in her mouth.
“-somepony,” Applejack finished flatly. “And that somepony just so happens to be Pinkie.”
“Congratulations! Or should I say congratulations again? I mean, you already knew you two were supposed to be together, and I always knew you two were supposed to be together no matter what; and now it’s so official! The choosing stone has chosen!” She grabbed both of them in a tight squeezing hug. “And now you’ve got to love each other forever and ever and-”
“Hey!” Limestone’s voice broke through Pinkie's cheering, quickly followed by a thrown pickaxe. “Keep it down! Ponies are trying to sleep around here!”
As Pinkie continued her breakneck pace of rambling congratulations, Rainbow looked up and grinned sheepishly at Applejack. Applejack glared, but her expression soon softened. She couldn’t stay mad at Rainbow Dash for long.
Though, if she were to be perfectly honest, Rainbow would definitely not be getting any on a cloud for a very, very, very long time.
Author's Note
*The alternate ending, of course, is that the stones don’t show the same face, and the screen turns grayish-sepia as they look at each other in horror as Adele’s Hello begins to play.
Furthermore, it is my headcanon that little Marble Pie actually has a really high alcohol tolerance, and their first night ended up with her carrying him across the threshold.
