***
The thunderous clamor of hooves rattled in Applejack's ears as she quickened her pace. Crisp autumn wind whistled and bit, flinging confused leaves tumbling through the air when she passed.
Ahead, Rainbow Dash. Her multicolored tail fluttered wildly behind her.
Applejack closed in. At a small hill she made her move, leaping into the air above Rainbow's head.
"Just thought I'd drop in and see how first place feels!"
Rainbow, seeing her lead lost, redoubled her pace with ease. "If you want first, you'll have to actually work for it!" she jeered, pulling into the lead once again.
"Hah! If you think whippin' yore tail is 'work', you got another thing comin', sister!"
As the pair of ponies rounded a corner, Applejack reclaimed the lead with a well-timed slide. Just as quickly as she got it, she lost it once again as Rainbow sprinted down a straightaway.
Applejack, breathing heavily, took the opportunity to pace herself back slightly. Rainbow Dash's lead increased by several yards.
"You'll have to tell me how second place feels some time!" laughed Rainbow looking back, unaware of the impending hoof bridge.
A second later found Rainbow plunging headlong into the creek, while Applejack galloped overhead, hooting and hollering.
***
"Oh, horseapples 'n hayseed! I let you win, on account of me feeling bad for you after you fell in the creek!"
It was another successful Running of the Leaves for Ponyville. The earth lay littered with the fruits of the racing ponies' labors, coating every inch of the forest floor with a dense amber carpet. Applejack lay comfortably, puffing and smirking in a pile of leaves at the base of a maple tree.
Rainbow lay down beside her, making sure to position herself so as best to show off her first place medal.
"This one's gonna go right on my wall, where I can look at it every night and remember how I totally beat you."
Applejack shoved Rainbow teasingly. "Go ahead, it'll give ya something to remember me by."
"What's that supposed to mean? You going somewhere?"
Rainbow laughed, settling her hooves behind her head. Around the two ponies, wind breathed gently as a sigh, carrying sweet autumn scents through the air. Just above the distant mountains the sun's final rays poured over the treetops like freshly squeezed orange juice. As Rainbow inhaled deeply, her eyelids drooped and a content smile slid up her cheeks. Hooves down, this was one of her top ten favorite fall days of all time.
"Huh, gotta say this season makes me feel too much like Granny Smith sometimes," said Applejack, lowering her Stetson over her eyes to block the dwindling sunlight. "This time o' year makes me think of all kinds of years past, especially today. We've competed in every Running of the Leaves together for the past four years, but I remember each one like it was yesterday. It's almost like when the leaves fall they carry memories with 'em."
Rainbow sat up, raising her eyebrow at Applejack.
"You're right, AJ, you are sounding way too much like Granny Smith."
"By the way, last year I won, so don't you be forgettin' that."
Rainbow fixed Applejack with a special glare she reserved for only the best of rivals.
"That's one of four, don't you be forgetting that!"
A bright yellow maple leaf floated down, landing squarely on Rainbow's head. Laughing, Applejack reached over to brush it off.
"You'd never let me forget it anyway," she replied smugly. "But I still say we both won that first race together."
"You mean that time we had that Iron Pony Competition? Puh-leez," scoffed Rainbow with a flick of her hoof. "I'd definitely know if I won a race, and I never forget losing. Your memory must be a little fuzzy, 'cuz we both lost that race together. Even ask Twilight."
"Eh, see it how you want," chuckled Applejack. She shrugged, giving off that easy going country-pony air which she had nailed to a T. "We lost the Running of the Leaves, true, but had a much more important victory elsewhere, and that's a victory I'll never forget."
Rainbow rolled her eyes, looking out over the darkening forest. The sun had nearly set. Night was descending upon the earth, setting down deep, somber tones into the cool glades among the trees. She let out a deep sigh, then gave Applejack a playful nudge.
"Y'know, you can turn off the Granny Smith vibe at any time."
"Dagnabbit, it's these leaves, I tell ya!" laughed Applejack. "I swear each one is a different memory! See that one fallin'? Reminds me of that whopper of a leaf pile that Pinkie made two years ago. Remember that?"
Rainbow shook a few more leaves down as she doubled over in laughter. How could she possibly forget? Pinkie had made one of the largest leaf piles Equestria had ever known. Once Pinkie had jumped into it, both Rainbow Dash and Applejack outfitted with rescue ropes and safety harnesses were needed to get her out. For months after that, mothers would tell their naughty foals to go to bed, or else the Big Bad Leaf Pile would gobble them whole.
The sun finally took its rest behind the mountains, leaving a weary dusk to glaze over the countryside. The path back to town was criss-crossed with a meshwork of shadows mixed with orange leaves burning brightly like coals. The two friends walked side by side, Rainbow with her wing settled over Applejack's shoulders, Applejack with her hoof behind Rainbow's wing. Neither spoke, merely enjoying the company and the glorious evening together. When Applejack finally broke the silence it was like a glass had shattered in an empty room.
"We've shared some great memories, haven't we, Dash?"
Rainbow shrugged.
"Yeah, we sure have."
"I've got a memory I've been meaning to make with you for a while."
It took Rainbow a few seconds to recompose herself and wipe the confused look from her face.
"Um, okay. What do you mean?" She looked at Applejack and was shocked to find twinkling tears brimming in her eyes.
Suddenly Applejack veered from the path, pulling Rainbow with her.
"There's something I need to tell ya. Something I need to.....show ya." She led into the forest, suddenly picking up speed. Rainbow followed apace behind.
"What’s the matter? Where in Equestria are you taking us?"
"You'll see," choked Applejack, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Someday you might even remember it."
***
In the depths of the forest lay a hidden pond, calmly staring up into the endless sky. It sat in the midst of a clearing, enclosed by a gently sloping shore and slender willow boughs dipping down, just barely touching the water's surface. The water was incredibly still, so still it was like looking into a mirror.
Applejack emerged into the clearing. Rainbow Dash burst in a moment later. The pair stood still as stone at the banks of the pool, and neither one could help gasping.
Rainbow gazed around the glade, awestruck by the what she stood in the presence of. She could tell the pool was ancient. Something about the smell of the place and the way it sent a chill down her spine told her there was more to it than met her eye. The pool itself, reflecting the tiny stars which were just beginning to wink into existence in the purple sky, seemed to bear ageless knowledge in its unfathomable depths.
"AJ, what is this place?"
She gasped. Her own voice sounded strange and distant, even unwelcome in this sacred place.
"You don't need to talk as much here," replied Applejack softly, like she had just read Rainbow's mind. "Fewer words can make a bigger impact here. You begin to understand more when less is said."
This didn't make sense to Rainbow. But even if it didn't, she didn't want to talk as much as she usually did anyway. There was something different about this place that she couldn't put her hoof on. It took her longer than usual to find the words to say.
"A minute ago you were crying," she said, still taken aback by the distance in her voice.
"Thinkin' some sad thoughts is all," said Applejack. "Thinkin' about last time we were here."
Rainbow froze. "I've never been here before..." she began, but it didn't seem right to say. For some inexplicable reason she couldn't agree with the words coming out of her mouth. She pondered her words seriously for a moment, rubbing her forehead fervently. Maybe speaking aloud was actually useless here, or at least to a certain extent nullified, just as Applejack said.
The ponies stood side by side in silence before the unblemished waters of the pool, peering down into the night sky spreading out in a perfect reflection. A breeze whistled past.
Applejack shuddered, then spoke.
"What do you remember?"
"I..... remember when we found that waterfall in Everfree together. We didn't tell anypony about it," said Rainbow slowly. It was a memory that came unbidden to her mind. Her own voice still surprised her, but her discomfort seemed to have worn off slightly. It was as though the glade were a teacher of some kind, only allowing her to speak at certain times. It was like the glade was allowing her to speak now, even coaxing the words out of her.
"We found that waterfall," she continued, "then we hiked to the headwaters. It was way, way up in the mountains, so high that we walked through clouds instead of trees. We found the headwaters, sitting in that mountain basin. Then we watched as they splashed over the rim of the cliff, watching the sparkling blue water as it spread into the wind."
Rainbow looked off into the distance wistfully, remembering the day she and Applejack had made that wonderful secret discovery together. Why it had suddenly been called to mind was more than she could fathom. All the same, the glade wanted her to remember it for some reason. She wanted to remember it. Her eyes glazed over, she felt as though she were actually able to feel the icy mist from that waterfall.
She thought very hard, eyes wide with wonder and remembrance.
"It looked like.....like...."
"Like the sky had bled upon the earth. That's how you described it.”
“Yeah...”
“Do you remember what we did once we got there?”
“I do. The sun was setting, it was getting late. There was no way we’d get back to Ponyville that night.”
“Night came on quicker than we thought...”
“It was chilly, so you held me tightly…”
Rainbow turned to face Applejack with tears in her eyes.
"Applejack, what—what is this place?" she stuttered.
Applejack placed her forehooves over her knees, then gave sigh deeper than the ocean.
"A sad place, Rainbow. A very sad place."
A nightingale began warming up for her nightly solo in the boughs of a willow tree. The full moon rose in her silvery splendor, casting the spotlight for the nightingale’s tune. And the tune she sang was the most bittersweet melody that any bird had ever sung, that one autumn evening in the ancient glade, above the two ponies locked in a passionate and tearful kiss.
***
Dawn's earliest light flitted down in tiny rivulets of gold trickling through the maze of autumn leaves. The pegasus and earth pony lay together in the sacred glade, hoof-in-hoof as the morning light bathed them in amber cascades. Tiny sparks of fire peeped out from glistening dewdrops that had gathered around the pair during the night. The morning brought in a waking breeze from the forest, rich with good earthy scents and bright orange colors. Rainbow’s forgotten first place medal twirled in the breeze, glinting in the light as it hung from a burl in a nearby willow tree.
Applejack was stirred from her sleep when a pair of leaves alighted on her face. Her eyelids scrunched, she tried puffing them away. Unsuccessful in her attempt, she brushed them from her face and rose to her hooves. Then she went to the pool and had a little morning wash.
Soon Rainbow awoke as well and joined Applejack in the pond.
Before long splashes and laughter filled the air as the two ponies tumbled over each other in the pond. The two fell over each other, locking lips in a kiss before falling into the precious water.
They emerged from the pond, chests heaving, both giggling like fillies in a boutique. Then they returned to lay down in the patch of grass in the glade where they had made love the previous evening.
Once the two friends had settled down, they exchanged a few light kisses and spared some laughs at each other’s expense. As the morning wore on, there wasn’t much attempt at conversation. There didn’t need to be. The strange spell of the glade still hung over them, filling the air with silent words.
The day continued uneventfully in that secret hideaway among the willows. Applejack and Rainbow filled the hours with nothing but each other. All the while, the sun rolled over the sky.
Afternoon arrived much sooner than Applejack would have liked. Instead of looking to the sun to keep track of time, she eyed the stoic reflection in the ancient pool. The pool kept a vigilant watch throughout the day, carrying the reflection of the sun across itself like an incandescent skipping rock. Now the giant glowing disk was almost sitting in the very center of the pool. Sadly, she knew there was not much time left.
“Rainbow, I gotta ask you somethin’.”
“Ask away.”
Deep breath.
“Do you love me?”
Rainbow leaned in close, letting her kiss speak for itself.
“Does that answer your question?”
“Best answer I coulda asked for. I need to know something else, too.”
“Yeah?”
“How far would you go to keep this? To keep what we have here?”
All day long an invisible orchestra had been playing beautiful melodies in Rainbow’s head. Now it was like the flutist had just hit a sour note. She shook herself, then stammered.
“I-I don’t know. Anywhere? Everywhere?”
“What about the Wonderbolts? Would you take me over them?”
Rainbow coughed, then stared with eyes wide in a frozen stupor. Was Applejack trying to upset her? But it didn’t take long to find her heart and recompose herself.
“I’d take you over the Wonderbolts any day.”
“Yeah,” said Applejack sheepishly. “I figured you’d say that.”
“Then why did you ask?”
“Because you didn’t know you’d say that.”
“There’s no way in heck I’d leave you. Not for the Wonderbolts, not for anything.”
Applejack lifted her eyes to meet Rainbow’s. It took tremendous effort to face her sternly while tears grew in the corners of her eyes. For all her practice, she still couldn’t get this part right. Her heart still felt like a frail husk when she spoke.
“If the Wonderbolts knew about us, they’d never let you fly with ‘em.”
The shock hit Rainbow like a thunderclap. Applejack was right, the Wonderbolts by-laws regarding “filly-foolers” was abundantly clear in the strictly straight composition of their corps. Angry tears welled up from within her.
“That—that’s just a stupid rule they have.”
Applejack lowered her gaze and laughed shakily. “Heheh, it may be a stupid rule, but it’s part of Wonderbolts tradition.”
“But it doesn’t matter. I don’t care, because I have you.”
“Rainbow, I…..I could never let you abandon your dream for little ‘ol me.”
“Well, tough. I love you too darn much.”
Each word Rainbow spoke was like an icy nail plunged into Applejack’s heart. They dug deeper, past the old wounds, creating fresher and more painful wounds than before. And the tears in her eyes couldn’t stop her from seeing the sun had nearly reached the middle of the pond. With her remaining strength of will she stood to her hooves and carried herself to the water’s edge.
“C’mere and have a drink, Rainbow. All this talking’s got me mighty thirsty all of a sudden.”
Applejack stood like a statue as Rainbow approached. She watched the ripples spread across the pool as Rainbow drank. Then watched as she lifted her head from the water.
Suddenly all the color faded from her world. The bright fiery trees faded from view. The sparkling reflection of the sun vanished from the pool, leaving the Applejack abandoned in a twilight world.
But it wasn’t empty.
Rainbow Dash was there.
With every fiber of her being she felt Rainbow beside her. Her warm breath. The muffled splash of her hooves. Her brashly confident voice. Her soft, vibrant mane. Everything she was, right there at that moment, just like all the other moments before. Applejack kept that moment with her and cherished it.
Rainbow stroked Applejack’s cheek with her hoof.
“Just sayin’, AJ, you’re the love of my life.”
Applejack seized Rainbow’s hoof and wept openly.
“And I’ll never let you forget it, Rainbow.”
***
Applejack, utterly spent and heartbroken, stumbled away from the pool, carrying beside her a half-conscious, completely bewildered Rainbow Dash. She knew Rainbow probably wouldn’t be able to speak for another hour or so, but at least her memories of the past few hours would be shattered beyond repair. The pool always worked its magic with cruel efficiency.
Applejack saw Rainbow all the way to her house, then returned to Sweet Apple Acres.
She went up to a hillside in the East orchard and took a seat beneath her favorite apple tree. Above her head in the trunk of that tree was carved two initials: “A.J.” and “R.D.”. They didn’t have a mushy heart surrounding them or a “+” scrawled between, but it still made this tree Applejack’s favorite.
The sun hadn’t completely set over the horizon, but she couldn’t feel any warmth from it whatsoever. She buried her head in her hooves, shaking with tearless sobs. In a year’s time the pool’s magic would be replenished, but it didn’t seem to help anymore. Another year had come and gone, and she still didn’t have a solution.
"It’s like I’m just reliving the same nightmare over and over," she thought bitterly. It hurt so much each time she offered Rainbow that drink.
"Maybe," she thought, "stopping altogether would be less painful than depriving Rainbow of her dreams."
She choked, disgusted with herself for even thinking such a thing. If saving Rainbow meant losing herself, she’d do it a million times over. She was already well on her way to it.
"She must keep her dream. She can love me for a thousand lifetimes and never lose me once. I’ll love her one lifetime, but lose her a thousand. Small price to pay…."
***
