"Isn't it brilliant?" Twilight's sparkling violet eyes shone as her marefriend looked away from the telescope.
Rainbow Dash looked at the beaming alicorn, and her mouth twitched, but not into a smile. Twilight flattened her ears. "You don't like it. It's too sappy and sentimental, isn't it?"
Rainbow grinned. "No, Twilight, it's nice." But even she could hear how unconvinced she sounded. Twilight's ears pressed even harder onto her head, and she turned away.
Rainbow sighed, and zipped around to face her marefriend, nuzzling the alicorn's chin up with her nose. "Look, Twilight, it was a really nice thought. But astronomy really isn't my thing."
And I don't want to need a star named after me in order to be remembered.
Twilight's lip wobbled. "It's a blue giant star. It reminded me of you, and I thought it would be nice to immortalize your name as a star."
"Blue giant? What are you trying to say?"
Twilight stammered, trying to explain, but Rainbow cut her off with a chuckle. "Heh, Twi, I'm just messing with you. I know I'm cyan, not just blue."
Twilight scratched the back of her head with a hoof. "Yes, well... anyway, I thought it was a nice idea. Since you spend so much time in the sky, I also thought having your name fixed there forever would be a good-"
Rainbow grimaced. "Getting sappy again, Twi."
The alicorn's tail flagged. "Sorry. I just wanted to get you a great present for our anniversary."
Rainbow's face dropped. "It's our anniversary?"
Twilight stared at her. Rainbow cracked up. "Just kidding! Here you are, egghead." Rainbow pulled a rectangular parcel out of her saddlebags, wrapped haphazardly in blue paper. Twilight eagerly tore it open, revealing exactly what she had expected... a book.
"Ooooh!" Twilight sang, turning it over in her magic to scan the back. "A signed, first edition, mint condition copy of To Kill A Phoenix by Hoofer Lee? You shouldn't have! This must have cost you a whole month's wages!"
"Eh, it was nothing," Rainbow said, flicking her ears back as she thought of the shady transaction for the book under the cover of thunderclouds. "It can't really compete with your present. You bought me a star!"
One blue star, newly christened 'Rainbow Dash'. That was how it had started.
After that, things had spiralled rapidly out of control. Twilight had bought up a whole constellation, the six stars closest to Rainbow Dash, and named them after the others, so that now Rainbow Dash was surrounded by her buddies Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Applejack and, the closest star to the blue giant, Twilight Sparkle.
Of course Rarity was pleased. She loved being able to tell everypony that there was a star named after her. Fluttershy, Spike and Pinkie had been flattered too, and pleased at the permanent record of their friendship which now existed in the sky, at least, Twilight told them, until Applejack, a red giant, exploded in two thousand years or so.
Applejack had been the least interested. She only ever needed to know the North Star from the others, so that she could navigate by it when it was needed. She then had to intervene when Twilight had offered to buy the North Star, a yellow supergiant, and name it after Apple Bloom.
"Nah, Twilight, that's OK. I don't ever wanna get lost on the way to the Apple Family Reunion and wind up looking for two Apple Blooms instead of just one."
Applejack had cracked a smile, however, when Rainbow had joked about the impending explosion of Applejack.
"Breaking news: the red giant, Applejack, has exploded, creating a supernova larger than its' pony namesake's leg muscles, and creating a black hole even bigger and more inescapable than her apple-printed bu-"
At this point, Applejack had tackled Rainbow to the ground and stuffed a hoof in her mouth, but she was laughing. Rainbow pushed the earth pony off and pounced back at her, and they rolled around in battle and laughter until Twilight interrupted with technical facts about supernovae and black holes, mostly correcting Rainbow's wording of 'exploded' since technically, stars imploded before exploding back outwards.
Rainbow hadn't been able to hold back her sigh as she listened to her marefriend reciting statistics and chemical elements related to star collapse. Twilight was a hugely adorable dork, but she just wasn't interested in the same things Rainbow was. If Twilight thought she was actually listening to this lecture, she didn't know her all that well. Rainbow glanced at Applejack, who was twiddling an orange hoof in her ear with her green eyes fixed on a point just beyond Twilight's shoulder. Applejack glanced back at her and grinned, shrugging her shoulders, then jerking her head towards Twilight, who was showing signs of reaching the end of her spiel. Rainbow snapped back to attention as Twilight concluded,
"And so, Applejack will most likely not form a black hole when it implodes, but a neutron star or pulsar. Those are fascinating, but I can tell you about those another day. Anyway, it's getting late. I should get back to the castle before Spike gets back from helping Rarity and can't get in."
Rainbow accepted Twilight's kiss on her cheek, and then the alicorn flew away into the rapidly darkening sky.
"So," Applejack said, sitting back on her haunches. "Do you wanna stick around and show me what Twilight's fussin' about, or do you have to get back to the castle for yer lecture on nutron stars or whatever she said?" She smirked.
Rainbow pulled a face. "Shut up."
"Excuse me, but ah put up with yer comparin' my flanks to a black hole. Don't be dishin' it out if ya can't take yer own servin'."
"You should dish it out more often, AJ. Clearly you've been taking too many servings."
"I dish it out like it is, unlike some po- Hey, wait a minute!"
Rainbow soared away, laughing, as Applejack hollered indignantly after her. The pegasus sniggered, skimming her hooves over the tops of the apple trees before spinning skyward. She paused to hover in the starlit sky, turning her gaze towards the little bunch of seven stars. Her excellent vision just about allowed her to make out the blue colour of her own namesake, as well as the red of Applejack. They were the two brightest stars in the group; the others were merely white pinpricks of light. Fluttershy appeared to twinkle slightly as Rainbow watched, but the others blazed on in the great black canvas of Luna's sky.
She drifted back down to where Applejack stood. The earth pony had calmed down, and was now looking up at the sky. "It's them seven over there, right?" she asked, pointing to the cluster with a hoof.
"Yeah," Rainbow said. "The twinkly one is Fluttershy, the small one in the middle is Spike, the bright one at the top is mine, and the one next to that is Twilight's. Yours is the other bright one below Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie and Rarity are those two middley ones next to yours."
"Huh."
Rainbow waited for the farm pony to say more, but she didn't for a while, just continuing to look up at the cluster of light. "Well, it sure was nice of Twilight to buy 'em for us," Applejack said eventually. "But I don't know. I don't think of stars as something which can be bought."
"I think Princess Luna wanted a new moonstone-studded moondial."
"Pfft... really?"
"Yeah. According to Rarity, stars are all the rage up in Canterlot at the moment. In fact..." Rainbow pointed out three more stars. "There's Fancy Pants, Hoity Toity, and Upper Crust."
"Nopony's bought the North Star though, right? I am not looking for Sapphire Shores when I get lost between here and Appaloosa."
"Actually, somepony did."
"Oh, Celestia. What's it called now, then?"
"'North Star'."
"What?"
"Exactly. Either somepony is a total idiot, or just thought they were hilarious. Some stallion in Fillydelphia paid a million bits to call the North Star 'North Star'."
"Where did ya hear that?"
"Twilight heard it from Princess Luna. Apparently Luna thought it was so funny she had to write to Twilight and tell her, especially since Twilight's been buying so many stars. Luna also wrote to say she loves her new moondial."
Applejack chuckled. "What's next, Celestia sellin' sunbeams?"
"You know Twilight would buy those too."
"It just feels wrong somehow," Applejack frowned. "Buying stars. They're free, in both senses of the word. Ya don't have to own 'em to appreciate 'em. And you don't see ponies walkin' around with stars in their bags or on leashes. When ponies buy stars, it feels like they're tryin' to claim 'em, like they're printing their names all over 'em. It was nice of Twi, and I know she thought she was giving us all a gift, but I feel more like she's tryin' to tie me to somethin' that should be free. And if ya tie two free things together... are they really free any more?"
Rainbow sat down. "I never really saw it that way. Also, whoa, that got deep. You been taking lessons from black holes?"
"Nah. I just have a lot of time to think out in the orchards nowadays. Ya don't fly over to chat as much as ya used to."
"I don't?" Thinking about it, Rainbow couldn't remember when she had last paused over the orchard to talk to Applejack.
"Well, ya do have a marefriend now. Twilight takes up a lot of your time with all her 'Let's Reform Starlight Glimmer' sessions."
"Pssh, tell me about it. Trying to teach that mare loyalty is like trying to teach Fluttershy to cheer all over again, except with way more shouting, crying, and shouting while crying. I wish we'd had more luck in tracking down Sunburst, or whatever his name is."
"At least she got ahold of being honest pretty quick. I only had to teach her about that twice. 'Course, she'll never be as honest as me, but she's gettin' there. And didn't Twilight say Moondancer knew Sunburst once?"
"Yeah. But he ditched her too, apparently, and she never saw him again."
"I'm seeing a pattern here."
"Me too." Rainbow gazed upwards. "I don't really get why he'd just ditch her like that, though. I mean, I could never just leave my friend without even saying goodbye."
"Well duh, yer the Element of Loyalty. Pretty sure Sunburst isn't."
"But seriously? No letters or anything? It just annoys me."
"Well, as much as it does, and me too, sugarcube, he's a free pony. If he didn't want to stay in touch with her, he was perfectly free to do so. Just like we're free to do whatever we want. Just like the stars are free. Or should be, anyway."
"Yeah." Rainbow looked down. "I should probably get going. Twilight will be waiting with her presentation about nugget stars, and then I have to bring in a storm with Thunderlane tomorrow morning. I'll try and fly over after lunch. The day after, I have to go to some boring awards ceremony at the unicorn school in Canterlot with Twilight." She gave a huff of annoyance. "I was hoping to spend that day practising my stunts."
Applejack smiled. "Well, if you fly over, I'll be in the south field."
Applejack stood up and trotted back towards the farmhouse. Rainbow took off again, glancing back at the cluster of seven stars before sweeping away towards the castle on the horizon.
If you tie two free things together... are they really free any more?
Author's Note
I have no idea what I'm doing. 
Constructive criticism, please!
"Ugh!" Rainbow collapsed on the soft grass of the orchard beside Applejack. "That was the longest speech Twilight has ever given. I never thought I'd get so sick of her voice that I had to jump out of the flying chariot on the way back so I didn't have to hear it any more, but I did."
"Uh huh. Her speech must have been really bad for ya to come straight here. I saw ya shoot down here from the chariot like she was gunna chase ya."
"Not bad, just long." Rainbow jumped to her hooves. "So how've you been, AJ?"
"Well, we're just takin' in the Red Delicious harvest. Nothin' much else goin' on."
"I love Red Delicious! Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, ya never flew over yesterday fer me to mention it," Applejack said quietly.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry... Twilight wanted to go flying. Turns out she only did it so that she could teach me all that stupid star stuff with diagrams and placards on the rooves."
Applejack snickered. "How do ya not notice?"
"I don't even realise I'm scanning the ground! Then I get to the end of the flight and she mentions neutron stars, like, offhoofedly, and the next thing I know I'm spouting off about how they result from the gravitational collapse of a giant star after a supernova, and how their high density means they have way stronger gravity-" Rainbow stuffed a feather in her mouth. "See?" she mumbled through her wing.
"Ya better start noticin', else you'll have one of them fancy PhDs before long."
"I know!" Rainbow groaned. "Twilight tried to convince me to start learning physics that way. I had to put my hoof down, even though she tried making those big sparkly purple eyes at me."
"Better be careful with that too. I know that's how Scootaloo got ya to take her to the Gala."
"That's not... what happened..."
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"Celestia damn it, nothing gets past you!" Rainbow kicked at the ground. "I'm giving her flying lessons every Thursday from now on, too."
"That's nice of ya, Rainbow. I think those three have been strugglin' to fill their time now they have their cutie marks. Apple Bloom was jigglin' about like a sheep on shearin' day yesterday, so we took her out to the south field and let her catch the apples for us."
"Yeah, Rarity mentioned that Sweetie Belle was putting way more work into her magic practice. She managed to completely unstitch a dress by accident or something."
"Speakin' of dresses, I hear Twilight's asked Rarity to make ya both matchin' ballgowns for that Hearth's Warming party or whutever it is next month?"
"Star patterned ones, yeah. I wonder where she got that idea from."
"I thought her old gala dress was star patterned. An' that Luna one Rarity made fer the boutique in Canterlot."
"It was. But you know Rarity, those dresses are 'so last ten minutes'! She's making us both new ones. Her and Twilight were chattering about it earlier. I think I agreed to silver and navy, and Twilight's will be white-gold and deep purple, and both with little sparkly 'stars' on. By the end I was just saying 'yeah okay' to everything. Not that Twi noticed." Rainbow looked bitterly at the ground and picked idly at it with a hoof.
Applejack put a hoof around Rainbow's shoulders. "Well, shoot. I'm sure ya'll both look just swell. I was going to see if I could get away with just wearing my last Gala dress again, but from what ya say, Rarity'll go on a fashion rampage if I do. She's already offered ta make Fluttershy a new dress fer it; she'll prob'ly get round to me by the by."
"I just hope Spitfire and Soarin' aren't there to see me dressed up like a disco ball."
"Ya don't need to worry about that. Ya already stick out like a sore hoof what with all yer colours. Maybe ya should let Rarity dye yer mane and tail like Twilight's, then ya can just look like a crazy princess stalker an' not like ya slipped and fell in a vat of rainbow taffy."
"Ha ha. You know that happened to the Crusaders once, right?"
"'Course I do, that's how I know what a pony who fell in a vat of rainbow taffy looks like. Took forever to get that gunk outta Apple Bloom's mane."
Rainbow sighed contentedly, sitting back on her haunches. Applejack plopped down next to her, and for a minute or so, they watched the orange sky become streaked with pink and purple as the sun began to slip further below the horizon. Rainbow sighed again, and Applejack glanced at her. "What are ya huffin' an' puffin' for?"
Rainbow gazed at the sunset for a few more seconds before tearing her gaze away and turning it on Applejack. "This is nice," she said simply.
Applejack frowned. "What?"
"I mean, just this. This moment, just sitting and watching the sunset with my best friend. I feel like I haven't stopped to watch the sunset in a while." The small smile slipped from the pegasus's face as she tried to remember when she had last taken the time, or even had the time, to watch the sun set.
Applejack didn't notice, as she was hung up on something else. "I'm yer best friend?"
Rainbow looked up and smiled again. "Sure! I have five best friends and a marefriend! Aren't I one of your best friends?"
Applejack's ears drooped a little, but only for a second before she grinned widely. "Sure ya are! Who else could I rely on to fly in during the Red Delicious harvest, say she'll help, buck one tree and then eat half of the harvest?"
Rainbow looked away, her cheeks tinged pink. "Sounds more like Pinkie Pie to me."
"Nah, she'd eat the whole harvest, or more likely turn up at the end, make the harvest into apple turnovers and then eat it all." Applejack sniggered and punched Rainbow playfully on the shoulder. "Say, ya hungry? Ya can have a few Red Delicious if ya'll promise to fly over an' see me tomorrow."
Rainbow's eyes lit up. "Really? Aw, yeah, thanks AJ!"
"Aw, shucks. Anythin' fer one of my six bestest pals. Now c'mon; I'll race ya to the barn. On hoof, though, ya hear?"
"You're on! Readysetgo!" The pegasus was gone in a flash, her hooves pounding across the grass as she bolted for the barn. Applejack gave a whinny of laughter as she reared up, kicking her forelegs, and then galloped away in pursuit.
Leaves started to fall around them as they thundered through the orchard; autumn was in full swing and winter was only just around the corner. Rainbow, just ahead, darted back and forth to stop Applejack drawing level with her, her tail nearly tickling the earth pony's nose. Before Applejack could lunge for it to pull the pegasus back, Rainbow hopped into the air, and a fraction of a second later Applejack's foreleg caught under a fallen branch. With a yelp of pain she tumbled forward, bowling into Rainbow, who shouted in alarm as they rolled across the grass.
When they came to a stop, Applejack was panting softly, and Rainbow was gasping in lungfuls of air, having been winded by an accidental hoof to the belly. Applejack, on top, grimaced as she pushed herself up onto her legs and a jolt of pain shot through the foreleg she had tripped on. She limped backwards, and Rainbow panted for a minute before getting up and shaking the leaves out of her mane. She started chuckling, then stopped abruptly as she saw Applejack gingerly testing out her foreleg, wincing as she tried to put her weight on it.
"You OK, AJ?" Rainbow asked, the concern heavy in her voice. Applejack smiled weakly, holding her leg up just above the ground.
"It's just a sprain," she said with a shake of her head. "I'll be right as rain in a few days. Nothin' an ice pack an' a bit of restin' it won't fix."
"But what about the harvest?" Rainbow said worriedly. "You won't be able to buck apples with a gammy front leg!"
"I'll be fine in a couple o' days," Applejack said. "An' Big Mac's perfectly capable o' finishin' off the harvest himself, especially when he's got Apple Bloom ta help him. It might take a couple days longer, but that's no big deal."
"I should have warned you about the stick." Rainbow flattened her ears guiltily. "I was just enjoying the race... and maybe feeling a little hungry."
Applejack chuckled, limping past the pegasus. "C'mon, then, greedy-guts. Let's go get ya some apples."
Rainbow trailed behind her, still feeling guilty. They reached the barn, and Applejack filled a sack with apples, then passed a couple to Rainbow. They crunched amicably at the sweet red fruit, but then Rainbow stopped. "I know!"
Applejack stopped and turned around. "Ya know... what, sugarcube?"
"I'll fly over tomorrow, and help with the harvest! I said I'd fly over anyway, and I can easily blow off weather duty. Cloudchaser, Flitter and Blossomforth can handle a few light showers without me, and I can help Big Mac and Applebloom bring in the harvest. Then the harvest won't be delayed!"
"That's mighty kind of ya, Rainbow, but-"
"Shh!" Rainbow put a hoof over Applejack's mouth. "I'm not arguing about this, AJ. Just let me do this for you. I owe you, for not telling you about the stick. And for comparing your butt to a black hole."
Applejack snorted with laughter. "OK. Ya promise ya'll be here, bright and early tomorrow mornin'?
"Early? I never-" Seeing Applejack's smirk and raised eyebrows, Rainbow relented. "Fine. But I better go get some sleep if I'm going to be up at nine."
"Seven."
"What?"
"Seven am, missy, an' not a second later. Do we have a deal?" Applejack spat on her injured hoof and held it out.
Rainbow hesitated, then sighed. "OK, deal." She spat on her hoof and slammed it against Applejack's, smiling sheepishly as Applejack winced. "Whoops. Sorry."
"I'll see ya tomorrow, then," Applejack said, closing the barn door as Rainbow hefted the sack onto her back. "Don't forget."
"Don't worry, I won't." Rainbow grinned, then spread her wings and flew away. Applejack watched her go with a grin, before limping back to the farmhouse. She glanced up for a moment at the seven stars as they started to become visible, then shook her head and continued on her way.
Author's Note
Happy New Year, everybody! 
