Being a pegasus is awesome!
Rainbow Dash soared through the Ponyville skies, her feathers rippling in the gentle breeze. The warmth of the sun bore down on her back and no lingering storm clouds came into sight as she flew, which was definitely a good sign. After all, Ponyville had been scheduled to have a heavy rain shower the day before, and tons of the clouds had been scattered all over in order to carry it out. "Looks like the weatherponies on first shift did a pretty good job of clearing all of them," she commented out loud, smirking to herself. "Not as awesome a job as I would do if I was on first shift, though."
Chuckling at her little remark, she continued her morning flight, occasionally glancing down at the town below to confirm where she was. She watched ponies hurrying in and out of the various buildings, going about their usual business. Once, she even thought she saw the alabaster coat of Rarity emerging from the Ponyville Spa, which didn't come as a shock to her at all.
Then, she saw the trees.
Rows and rows of apple trees marked the famous orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, all sprawled across acres of fertile land. The apples themselves shone brightly from where they were, almost like they were waiting for somepony to come by and sink their teeth into them. As soon as Rainbow Dash saw them, she froze, treasured and painful memories alike flooding her mind. "Applejack..." she whispered. She could still remember vividly what had happened that fateful day... that fateful day when Applejack had announced out of nowhere that she was breaking up with Rainbow without even providing an explanation as to why; to this day, the conversation still haunted her dreams, never passing up the chance to remind her of her broken heart. Their friends had immediately noticed the sudden distance between them and even tried to help take Rainbow's mind off the whole ordeal once it became clear she was taking it the worst, but Rainbow refused to let go of the past. Things just weren't the same without Applejack around for her to nuzzle and whisper sweet nothings to... and it killed her inside.
Yeah... m-maybe I should fly back to town, Rainbow thought, and she was about to turn around and leave when suddenly, something orange flashed at the corner of her eye. Being the naturally curious pony she was, she glanced in its direction... and instantly regretted it. There, her former marefriend was, sweat glistening on her lean physique as she put her all into bucking the apple trees around the area, the apples breaking free from their so-called prisons and dropping down into baskets below. Rainbow couldn't help but admire her silky blond mane as it swung around in accordance with Applejack's movements, losing herself in how the sunlight caused it to almost glow.
"Hey! You there!" A loud shout snapped her out of her trance as she looked down to see a pale golden pony glaring daggers at her. "Oh! Err, Golden... Golden Harvest, right?" Rainbow guessed, sheepishly rubbing her head with a hoof. If she remembered correctly, this was one of Applejack's farmpony neighbors. "What's up?"
"What do you think you're doing up there?" Golden Harvest peered up at her suspiciously. "And why are you watching Applejack?"
"W-What? Watching Applejack? Nope, never done that!" Rainbow quickly turned away from where Applejack was, putting on a not-so-convincing smile. "What do you mean I'm watching her? I'm just up here chilling, you know? In the sky? Because that's what pegasi do?" She flew over to a nearby cloud and sat down, patting it with a hoof. "See? No watching here! I'm clean!"
"Right." With a snort and shake of her head, the golden mare trotted off, muttering something about "featherbrained pegasi" as she did so. Rainbow's gaze followed her until she disappeared into the distance, and she spun back to watch Applejack with a sigh of relief. To her disappointment, the orange farmpony was long gone, only baskets full of bright red apples indicating that she'd ever been there. Guess she went off somewhere to rest or something, she thought, disheartened, before deciding to just go home for the day. She unfurled her wings and took off, leaving Sweet Apple Acres behind.
What she failed to notice, however, was a pair of emerald green eyes watching her from behind an apple tree.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Rainbow Dash looked up from where she was reading the latest Daring Do novel on her living room couch, hearing the loud knocks on the door. "What the hay? I don't usually get visitors. Especially this late." She got up, flexing her wings, before walking over to the front door and opening it. "Hey-" Her words trailed off as she realized there was nopony there. "Seriously? You must be kidding me, right?" Shaking her head, she shut the door and made her way back to her couch, only to stop as she noticed the hastily scribbled note in tomorrow's box on her limited edition Wonderbolt-themed calendar.
Friends-only gathering @ Sugarcube Corner, everypony will b there
"Oh, it's that random gathering Pinkie told me about a few days ago," Rainbow muttered half-heartedly. "Looks like I have to show up, since everypony else will be there. Wait..." Her eyes widened as realization struck her. "Everypony will be there! Oh horsefeathers, I can't go if Applejack's there!"
Forcing herself to calm down and stop hyperventilating, she took a deep breath and started running a few scenarios through her head. "Okay, so either I go to the gathering and talk to Applejack face-to-face after so long, or I don't go and I don't have see her at all." She paused. "But what if Applejack doesn't go anyways because she knows that I might be there? That's a pretty big risk right there, but I guess I'll just have to take the risk and see what happens."
Sighing, she picked up her Daring Do book and stowed it away in a nearby bookshelf before trudging up the stairs to her room. "Man, tomorrow's going to be one hay of a day..."
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Rainbow Dash pushed open the door to Sugarcube Corner, the bells above signaling her entrance as they chimed their simple melody. She stepped past the threshold and into the crowded interior of Ponyville's resident confectionary, the occasional laughter and chatter filling her ears. Some of the ponies there turned to look at the newcomer, uttering quick greetings as they saw who it was, but most of them continued doing whatever they were doing the whole time they'd been there. Rainbow's attention, however, was not focused on those few ponies; instead, it was on the group of mares at the center table, exchanging hushed murmurs with each other that quickly ceased as soon as they saw her.
Oh no...
The very pony she dreaded seeing was lounging on a seat, her Stetson tilted in a way that concealed her entire face. She seemed to be sleeping, judging by her lack of movement, but Rainbow knew from experience that things were never that easy with Applejack. Gee. Guess I was wrong with AJ not showing up. She swallowed, not sure of what to do now that her foalish hopes were shattered.
"Dashie! You're here!" A familiar voice from behind did her work for her as she felt herself being enveloped in a gigantic bear hug, courtesy of the one and only Pinkie Pie. Rainbow was just about to tell her to stop hugging her so tightly when Pinkie released her vice-like grip on her own, allowing the pegasus to breathe normally again. "Now that you're here, we can finally start the party! Or gathering! Or parthering! Ooh, did I just make up a new word?" The pink mare giggled before nudging Rainbow in the direction of where everypony else was. "C'mon!"
"R-Right, okay..." Rainbow massaged her throat with a hoof before slowly trudging toward the table, one small hoofstep at a time. All her instincts screamed at her to just bolt the hay out of there and not be near Applejack at all, but she knew Pinkie wouldn't let her leave. Resigned to her fate, she sighed inwardly and crossed the rest of the distance in a few large strides, making sure to sit down in the seat farthest away from her former lover. Pinkie followed her, and after confirming she was properly seated, bounced over to her own seat at the other side of the table.
"So, yer finally here." The words were quiet, almost bordering on inaudible, but Rainbow still managed to hear them with just some difficulty. She tensed; she knew that voice, having heard it every single day for a whole year before. And just as she'd suspected, Applejack was slowly pushing up her Stetson with a hoof, revealing her face little by little.
"Took ya long enough, Dash."
Author's Note
Hello, and welcome to the first chapter of Past, Present, Future! I'm very excited about this story as a whole, mainly because it's my first venture into the Romance genre and the fact that I have a bunch of interesting things planned for our two lovers (or rather, former lovers).
Chapters will come out as they will; I don't like to impose schedules onto myself, as I usually end up not following them at all.
Stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy! 
