A Spell of Time

by YoshiFawful64

Rating: everyone
Tags: Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Drama, Rainbow Dash
Length: 7062

Rainbow Dash discovers ways to use — and misuse — an ancient sorcery.

"This is a story about an old enchantment, and it's not one that I tell to a lot of ponies. That's partly because the magic in question would be really easy to exploit in the wrong hooves, and partly because, well… because I discovered that for myself, and I'm none too proud of the pony I was back then.

"In short, this is a story about one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made."

Entry for AppleDash Contest #5, Second Chances.

Published 2017-09-12 14:40:06 UTC
Last updated 2017-09-12 14:40:06 UTC

Chapter One

I suppress a yawn as I watch Twilight quiver with barely-contained excitement in the main room of the Golden Oak Library. By the look on her face, this is probably another one of her boring science lectures. Sure, she said it was important when she dragged me out of bed, but then, she said the same thing about the time she found a schoolbook that broke the Textbook Font Guidelines. Just to be nice to her, though, I try to look a little less uninterested than I actually am. Heck, maybe I'll even pay full attention this time.

…Nah.

"Soooooooooooo…," Twilight says, now practically hopping in place out of giddiness, "you remember when Pinkie, Spike, and I snuck into the Star Swirl the Bearded Wing of the Canterlot Archives earlier this week to look for a time spell, right?"

"'Snuck' is a bit of an exaggeration, considering they pretty much just let us walk in," Spike points out from beside her. "In fact, I'm pretty sure you could've just asked a patrol or two to come help us look for a spell and save us all the hassle, instead of pretending we're in a cheesy heist movie."

I snicker into my hoof as Twi's face reddens, but her excitement overrides her embarrassment, and she continues, "Well, anyway, Princess Celestia actually sent a response to my friendship letter!"

Huh. The Princess actually responded to a friendship letter? She doesn't do that a whole lot, right? I wonder what got her to do that. Whad'ya know, this might be interesting after all.

"She said that since I tried the time travel spell, she'd like me to look over another one of Star Swirl's time spells — and research it!"

Oh, never mind, spoke too soon.

"The notebook containing this particular spell was very newly discovered, which is why not much is known about its exact function, beside what Star Swirl himself wrote down — that's why it's such a big deal the Princess is entrusting this to me! But supposedly, it's a sort of enchantment that lets the user rewind time by up to one second, and give themselves an opportunity to alter and improve their own actions!"

Okay, Twi's definitely in full "Dump a Cartful of Info on Your Helpless Victim" Mode now; I'm not sure she's even pausing for a full second between sentences. Ah well, I've kinda gotten used to it by now. Heck, it's not actually as bad as I usually make it out to be. There's even something strangely nice about listening to somepony talk about something they're super-passionate about.

"Star Swirl named it 'Second Chance' — as it turns out, he had a terrible sense of humour. Like, really, the whole description for the spell is filled with awful wordplay like 'give yourself one second chance' and — no, sorry, I'm digressing. Back to the point; the way the enchantment works is by channeling the interdimensional matrix of mana and intertwining it with the temporal flow of events by…"

As Twilight starts babbling about all the nitty-gritty details of the spell, I kinda lose track of what she's saying, which is no surprise. Granted, this time, I actually recognize a buncha fancy sciency words from Daring Do, so I actually sort of get the general gist of it sometimes. …Yeesh, I pray to Celestia this isn't a sign Twilight's successfully converting me over to The Egghead Side.

"…and because utilizing the spell's effects properly requires good reflexes, thanks to the one-second limit, I thought my first test subject should be you, Rainbow!" Twi declares, pointing at me.

"Buh?"

"Mm-hmm," Twilight nods, as if I'd just said something clever and interesting, and continues, "You don't have to, of course, but it could help a lot in my research! Plus, who knows? It could prove useful to you! So will you help me? Please?" She does that thing where her eyes look like they get way bigger, and she grins wider than Pinkie Pie, and she kinda forgets that personal space is a thing.

"Uhhh… yeah, sure. Why not?"

Twi doesn't even wait for me to finish the sentence before she starts charging a spell. Flashes of weird blue and purple cloudy stuff circle her horn, occasionally making fancy patterns for just a moment before going back to a shapeless mass. About ten seconds after she started, she zaps me.

I feel a strange prickliness that spreads out from my chest. Once it reaches every last inch of my body, it peaks, then stops entirely.

"So? So? So? So?" Twilight asks. I notice Spike behind her, holding on to her tail to try and keep her frenzied hopping from colliding with my face. Thanks, Spike, for helping me not get a concussion. Twilight goes, "How-does-it-feel-what-is-it-like-can-you-reverse-time-canyoucanyoucanyoucanyouDOITRIGHTNOW!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, Twilight, slow down!" I say, backing away half a step.

Twilight seems to snap to her senses a little. "Sorry," she says sheepishly. "I may have gotten just a little… overexcited. But anyway, how do you feel?"

I think about it. The prickly feeling has passed already, but… "I still feel a little… weird. Dunno how to describe it. Tingly, I guess?"

"Interesting," Twi says, scribbling something on a clipboard that she just poofed out of nowhere with her magic. "And can you try to activate the time-reversal effect?"

"Lemme see." Well, here goes nothing… wait, how do I do this? Uhh… magic, go? Time, go back? Hocus pocus? Second Chance? Do the thing? …Eh, whatever. I give up. "Doesn't seem to be working, sorry," I say, shrugging.

Twilight's shoulders sag, and her ears droop. She sighs. "Oh well. It… it was a pretty complicated spell, even for me. I suppose I can't expect to get it right the first time."

"Hey, don't be that way," I say, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Maybe I just can't get it to work right. All this fancy unicorn magic stuff isn't exactly my thing, you know."

"Well, let's hope that's it." Twilight looks a bit less down-in-the-dumps now. "For the record, the enchantment's supposed to last for exactly sixty hours, if it's performed correctly. If you get it to work, you'll come tell me straight away, right?"

"Of course." I spread my wings and bend my knees, preparing to take off. "Well, if there's nothing else, then I'm off to do some practice flying. Wonderbolts tryouts are only a few months away, and I gotta be at my best for them!"

"Alright," Twilight says. "Good luck!"

"Good luck, Rainbow!" Spike says, waving as I take off and fly through the window into the clear blue sky.

Chapter Two

"Awwww yeah!"

I swoop through a thin cloud and turn it into vapour, tightly circle another a few times, and then sculpt a third into a lightning bolt shape, all in quick succession. Finally, I do a loop while corkscrewing the whole time (which is even harder than it looks, by the way. Not to brag or anything).

Just as I'm straightening out from the last twist, though, a sudden and strong gust of wind comes out of nowhere and catches me by surprise. I'm thrown off course, and before I can react, I'm hurtling toward the forest beneath, spiraling and disoriented. I desperately wrench my wings into a level position and manage to pull up, but only now that I'm not spinning around do I realize that I'm flying right into the trunk of a big tree. I'm so close to it and moving so fast, there's no way I can avoid slamming directly into it, so I put my forehooves in front of me to try and protect my face and brace for the impa–

Suddenly, following an instinct I didn't know I had, I tug at something in the back of my head. I start moving backwards, away from the tree, just as quickly as I'd been moving toward it. I feel all of my body parts moving automatically, reversing every movement I'd made over the last second. Then, for about another second, I'm suspended in the air, frozen in place, at just the moment when I started righting myself from the plummet.

Then time resumes, and I once again have to attempt to correct my momentum and avoid a hospital trip. I know, somehow, that this is the exact same situation I was just in, down to every tiny detail, except for one key difference — this time, I know the tree is there, and I'm prepared.

I pull up just like before, but this time, I angle my wings slightly differently, making me go just a little bit more to the right. Then, before my brain can even take in the sight of the tree in front of me, I barrel roll further to the right. With that, I just barely skirt the tree's closest branches, my back hooves brushing past a leaf or two.

With the tree behind me now, I slow myself down and come to a stop, hovering in place.

A minute later, my breathing returns to normal and my heart retuns from my throat to its usual place. Now that I can think about other things than "how can I not get a permanent tree bark pattern on my face", I realize something. The tingly feeling, which I'd gotten used to ignoring, has suddenly disappeared. I suppose I must've just used that Second Chance thingy Twilight cast on me. I guess it really did work after all. Cool.

I guess I should go tell Twi the spell worked. And also thank her for saving me from a trip to the hospital with a faceful of tree. I prepare to rocket off toward the library–

Actually, you know what? After that close call, I don't really feel like flying fast. Just this once, I think I'm gonna take a slow, leisurely glide back instead. Don't tell anypony.

Note to self: if you ever need to tell Twilight something that could interest her scientifically, run before she can ask you any questions.

By the time I finally get to leave the library, the tingling has returned. Twi said that probably tells me when I can use the spell again, since time apparently needs an hour or so to stabilize, or something. I'm tired from the interview (more like an interrogation, really), so I stretch and yawn, trying to return some energy to my body. It helps a little, but my legs are still a bit tense, so I decide to go for a jog.

As I canter through town, though, my mind wanders back to the spell, and I can't help but wonder if it actually has any real practical use. For one, having one second to react isn't much (even for me), so that cuts down a lot on its usefulness. Besides, how much can you really impact things with that little time, let alone in day-to-day life? Maybe that's why this spell never saw the light of day until now — Star Swirl just figured out that the whole thing was useless. I mean, sure, it saved me from getting to know a tree way too intimately, but that was a special case where I actually needed the extra reaction time.

A sudden movement in the corner of my eye makes me look to my right and see a big falling flowerpot, quickly heading for a light green unicorn mare's head. I don't have nearly enough time to react before it collides with her skull and she winces in pain — so I give myself more time.

Activating Second Chance again is easier than I would've thought. Now that I know what to reach for, it comes naturally to me.

Once I'm done rewinding, I immediately pounce up and to the right. I only have a moment to actually spot and catch the flowers before they hit the unicorn, but I manage to do it (although with a bit of fumbling).

The unicorn — Lyra, I think her name is? — tilts her head up at the movement and notices me, holding the flowerpot. "Whoa! Hey, did… did you just stop that bowl of petunias from hitting me?"

I nod.

"Well, that was a close one. Good thing you were here. Thanks a bunch!"

"No problem," I reply.

I flap up to the second-story window the flowers seem to have fallen from. There's a colt on the other side, looking panicked. Once he sees the flowers, though, he sighs in relief, and I pass them over to him.

"Hey, you know what?" Lyra says as I float back down. "Here." She tosses a few bits to me. "Buy yourself a snack of something."

I catch the coins. "Oh, um, thanks."

"It's the least I could do. Thanks again!" She gives me a quick wave, then heads off.

I look at the bits she gave me, and I find myself thinking about the spell again. It's true that I managed to use it effectively again, so maybe I underestimated its usefulness. Then again, that was another quick-reaction-thing, which was complete coincidence, so I guess my point still sta–

"Why didn't you tell me you have Pinkie Sense too, Dashie?" asks Pinkie Pie from right in front of me, where she probably just appeared out of thin air.

"Gah!" I jerk back, scattering the coins. "Pinkie, you gotta stop sneaking up on me like that!"

"Oops, sorry." She looks apologetic for a moment, but then her face goes stern. "But since when have you had Pinkie Sense? And why haven't you told me? This is serious business, you know!"

"I don't have Pinkie Sense!" I answer as I start picking up the bits. "That doesn't even make sense! Don't you call it Pinkie Sense because only you have it?"

"Okay, Rainbow Sense then."

"What? No! I don't have anything like that anyway!"

"Well, how'd you catch those flowers, then? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you just looked into the future!" she says, sing-songing the last sentence.

"I– no, no, that was different."

"Different how?"

"It… it just is, okay?"

I fly away before she can say anything else. That's not a conversation I wanna be stuck having. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Pinkie, and her Pinkie Sense has been helpful to us multiple times, but the idea that I have it makes me… uncomfortable in a way I can't describe. I shudder a little.

Now I'm alone with my thoughts again, I go back to sorting out my feelings towards Second Chance.

…Hmmmm…

…You know what? I'm still not convinced this thing's gonna have any real use to me. But so far, it's saved me and another pony from injury, plus earned me a few bits. If that's all that's gonna come out of this spell, then I'm willing to count that as a win.

There's a nice evening chill in the air, and I'm chatting with Rarity on a park bench. She's drinking tea, and I'm enjoying the tasty donut I got with the money from Lyra.

"…I did have a little nasty surprise when I came home yesterday, though," Rarity says, sipping from her cup. "About two dozen of my bolts of cloth had fallen over and made a huge mess on the floor. They were so badly intertwined that it took me about an hour to untangle and reorganize them all. The door to my studio was slightly ajar, so I think Opal must've gotten in and rolled around there."

I gulp down the rest of my donut and say, "Wasn't that Sweetie Belle?"

The moment the words leave my mouth, I know it was a mistake to say them. I'm suddenly reminded that Sweetie explicitly told me not to tell her sis. Speaking of Rarity, her eyes immediately turn fiery in anger, and she bellows, "WHAT?"

Okay, reverse, reverse, reverse!

One second is just enough to bring me mid-sentence, to just the moment before I accidentally said Sweetie Belle's name (thank Celestia!). Trying to jump back into the conversation at a moment's notice throws me off a bit, but I manage to finish, "…awful?"

"Indeed," Rarity replies, thankfully unaware anything's wrong. In fact, once I return to the Boutique today, I'll still have to make sure none of the fabric got cat hairs on it."

"Good, uh… good luck with that," I stumble. Deciding to cut the conversation short before I blurt out anything else, I say, "Hey, uh, I'm done eating now, and I still need to do some flight practice today, so…"

"Oh, alright," Rare replies. "Well, I had a wonderful talk. I'll see you again soon, I expect!" She waves at me.

I wave back, then take to the skies.

I'll admit, I never would've figured out that the spell could let me change the course of a conversation like that. I wonder if I could use that ability to my advantage…

In the distance, I spot Sweet Apple Acres, and a thought dawns on me. A grin creeps across my face. Oh, I think I'm definitely going to have a use for this spell after all. I resist the urge to cackle as I fly back home to plan things out.

Chapter Three

I may not like doing it, but I clamber out of bed early. I'm not sure how well my idea will work, so I want as many chances as I can get.

After I feed Tank and eat my own breakfast, I head out to Sweet Apple Acres. Soon enough, I find Applejack, already hard at work in the orchard. I swear I'll never understand where she get the energy to go applebucking at the crack of dawn. I kinda admire her for it, though.

I swoop down and land smoothly, striking a cool pose. "Hey, AJ."

She looks a bit surprised to see me, and says, "Howdy, Rainbow. How come you're awake already?"

"Eh, just woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep," I lie. Well, I guess it's technically not a lie. "Wanna chat a little?" I ask her, trying to sound as unsuspicious as possible.

"Well, I was needin' a break anyway," she says, wiping a little sweat off her brow. "Anything in particular on your mind?"

"Well, there is one thing…" I say.

AJ nods slowly, signalling me to continue.

"I… I want you to know…" I take a deep breath and steel myself, "…that I really, really love you." I do my best to pay attention to Applejack's expression in the short time I have. Then, quickly, I activate Second Chance.

…Okay, good, looks like I rewound far enough. Once time goes back to normal, I say, "–love your apple pies!"

"Aw, shucks, Rainbow, thanks!" AJ says, oblivious to my real confession. "That's mighty nice of you to say." Then her eyes narrow in a slightly exaggerated way, and she adds in a mock-serious tone, "Unless you're just sayin' that to try and get some for free."

I dramatically put one hoof on my chest and gasp. "Me? Try to get free desserts by flattering you? Well, I never!" I declare in my best Rarity impression. "How could you accuse me of such a thing?"

We both hold our poker faces for a moment before we burst into laughter.

After we catch our breaths, we chat for a little longer, and then I fly off again. It's too bad I didn't manage to get a read on AJ's reaction before I needed to rewind, but oh well. I'll just have to try again later, once the spell has recharged again.

An hour later, I intentionally let my flight practice take me closer to the Acres. I "happen" to spot Applejack, and so I swoop down to her again. "Oh, hi again, AJ."

"Hey there." She looks to me with her beautiful green eyes, and asks, "What brings ya here again?"

"Well, there's something else I forgot to say earlier," I claim.

"Go on."

"It's just that I have…" my nerves catch up to me again, but it's a little easier to ignore them this time. "…I have a huge crush on you."

This time, I try to wait a little bit longer so I have a better chance to gauge AJ's reaction, but I still can't make out anything beyond surprise — neither good nor bad. I rewind, getting ready to say that I have a great knock-knock joke I forgot to tell her. I prepare to try and make the change flow as smoothly as possible, and… oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, nononononono. I waited too long. I didn't get far back enough. I can't take my words back anymore, and now I'm stuck at the end of the word crush.

Think, Rainbow, think! And quickly! How do I fix this? How do I fix this, how do I fix this, howdoIfixthishowdoIfixthi–

"–sssshhhhhhing need to have some of your apple cider!" I feebly try to recover.

Applejack tilts her head at the way I stretched out the word crushing, but luckily, she doesn't question it (thank Celestia!). Instead, she looks a little amused and says, "Rainbow, you know we completely sold out last cider season."

I flounder a little to come up with a response, but then I narrow my eyes. "What about your secret stash?"

"Wha–" AJ chuckles a little. "Rainbow, we don't have a 'secret stash'. If we had any more cider, we'd'a sold it already. 'Sides, you know I can't give you special treatment even though you're a friend."

I keep my eyes narrowed for a moment longer, but then I drop the act. "Alright, alright. It was worth a shot."

Smirking, AJ playfully jabs, "Ya know, if you've got any other ways to try and mooch treats from us, ya might as well try 'em now and get done with it."

I snort. "I… I think I'm fresh out for now. But I can let you know if I come up with any more," I say matter-of-factually.

Applejack poorly tries to conceal another chuckle, then shoos me with a hoof. "Alright, git! Scram! Off with ya, you danged varmint!" she says, clearly trying to stop herself from laughing again.

I comply, flying away again.

Now I'm out of her eyesight and earshot, I allow myself a breath of relief. That was way too close. I'll need to be more careful with my timing on future attempts. Granted, that means I'll have less time to get a reaction, but that's better than AJ catching me blabbing out the way I feel about her. Besides, according to Twilight, Second Chance should last until tomorrow evening. That gives me plenty more opportunities — with that many chances, I'm bound to figure out whether or not I have a chance with her, right?

"I want you to date me!"

Rewind!

"–date this apple for me — is it still fresh?"

"You're pretty!"

Rewind!

"–pretty good at hay bale toss, but I've been training, and I want a rematch!"

"I'm attracted to you!"

Rewind!

"–tracting some attention from a bunch of stunt flying groups, and I just really needed to share my excitement with somepony!"

Okay, I'll admit it, I'm starting to get a little nervous. It's already evening, and I still haven't gotten any info out of Applejack — she looks surprised or shocked every time, but apart from that, I haven't a clue how she feels. Besides, I've only got two more lines prepared. Once I run out, I might have to focus on thinking up some more. That, or just improvise and hope I come up with something convincing to "correct" myself with after I reverse time.

Well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, I'll just have to go try my second-to-last line.

It takes me a while to find Applejack, but I eventually spot her in the park, seemingly going home from the town. I dive down silently, landing behind some nearby houses. I trot into the park, coming from the opposite direction as Applejack, doing my best to make it look like we bumped into each other by pure coincidence.

Applejack waves to me, but for some reason, she almost looks… worried? Maybe that's just my imagination, though, because she still seems perfectly chipper when she says, "Howdy again, Rainbow! We sure are running into each other a lot today, huh?"

"Yeah, we are," I respond. Shoot! I've been doing this too much, she may be getting suspicious! I might have to ease off. But no time to think about that now; I gotta use my chance while I can. "Oh, actually, I've got a question."

"…Yeah?" I really hope I'm imagining that awkward moment of hesitation before her reply.

"Do you wanna go out with me?"

Still no luck. Before I can make out any positive or negative emotions in AJ's face, I have to use Second Chance again. I'm honestly getting a little tired of failure after failure.

"…go play basketball with me next Monday?"

Applejack shakes her head. "Sorry, Rainbow, I've got a full workday then. Maybe some other day that week?"

"Well, I'm not sure how my schedule is, but I'll get back to you, yeah?"

"Sounds good to me," AJ says.

Well, if nothing else, at least I'll have that to look forward to. Playing sports with AJ is always fun. I turn to trot awa–

"Rainbow, wait."

I freeze in place. Applejack sounds uncomfortably… serious. Is she on to me?

"Rainbow, I'm starting to feel like it's not completely by chance that we keep having these talks. Like there's something you're not telling me."

Oh crud. She is. I brace myself for the worst…

…But when I turn to face her, she's not looking upset or accusing. Instead, she's concerned. "What is it, Rainbow? You… you know you can trust me with whatever's botherin' you, don't ya?"

I'm so thrown off I don't know how to respond — I just stand there, mouth half-open.

"…I'm sorry, Rainbow. I shouldn't pry into your personal business. But just remember that you can come talk to me anytime if there's anything weighin' on your mind, okay, Sugarcube?"

"I… Y-Yeah, I will," I manage to stammer out.

She looks like she wants to add something, but she only says, "Alright. See ya!"

And with that, she's off, and I'm left to mull over what just happened.

I'm not really sure how I feel about doing this anymore. In fact, for a while, I considered not even trying it again, but I eventually decided to go through with it. I've still got one line left, after all, and it's one I'm fairly confident in, too. If I still get nothing out of this, I'll just go home for the night. I'll figure out my emotions in the morning.

I touch down on the porch of the Apples' home and knock on the door.

I hear some scuffling from inside, then hoofsteps. The door opens to reveal Big McIntosh, who acknowledges me with a wordless nod of his head.

"Hey, sorry I'm disturbing you so late, but can I come in?" I ask.

"Eeyup," Big Mac says, and stands aside.

I trot in, and find the rest of the Apples around the kitchen table, getting ready to eat.

"Hey, AJ," I call, "can I talk to you in private for a moment?"

"Uh, sure."

Applejack gets up and leads me upstairs to her room.

I start by saying, "Okay, I'm sorry to bother to you again, but I swear this is the last time today."

"That's fine," AJ replies. "I meant it when I said you could come talk to me anytime."

"Okay." I open mouth to get into my final line, but then I see her face.

She looks serious, like she's preparing to talk about some heavy stuff. She looks reassuring, like she's ready to comfort me with whatever problems I may have. And she looks concerned again, like she's worried I'm dealing with something big, something I'm struggling to handle, something I desperately need her help with.

I… I…

…What am I doing?

Here Applejack is, always friendly and helpful, offering me her aid no matter what, and what do I do?

I trick her.

I dupe her.

I try to swindle information out of her for my own selfish needs.

All because I want to know if she'd date me.

…Oh, Celestia, I'm a horrible friend.

I lose my composure. Immediately, Applejack approaches me and hugs me tight. "There, there, Sugarcube. It's okay. Tell me what's wrong." Even now, when I'm just realizing how badly I've treated her, she's still in the dark. Still trying to support me as best she can.

That does it. I break into tears. "No, it's… it's not," I sob as I try to pull myself away from her. Despite my distress, I can't help but notice how comfortable Applejack's embrace is, how gentle her hooves are, how smooth her coat is. I… I don't deserve this. I don't deserve her.

I gently push Applejack away from me. She starts to say something, but I cut her off. "Wait." I take a few gulping breaths. "Before you say anything else… you deserve… need to know the truth."

I steady myself to the best of my current ability, and start talking.

It's hard at first, and I stammer a lot, but once I get started, the words almost flow out of my mouth by themselves. I tell Applejack everything. I tell her about Second Chance, what it does, and how I figured out different uses for it. I tell her how I thought to take advantage of it — of her — and how every time I've talked to her today, including this one, has been an attempt to spy into her head.

Throughout it all, I can't bear to look directly at her. Only once I'm done telling her everything that happened over the past two days do I finally tilt my head up to look at her face.

Applejack's friendliness and compassion are gone from eyes, and replaced by a stoic, stern stare. I quickly turn my gaze back to the floorboards.

"I… I'm sorry, Applejack," I say. "I… I never should've treated you like that. I know you're probably mad at me, and I don't blame you. It's just…" I fumble for words under her glare, feeling like I owe her an explanation. "It's just, I… when I was younger, I had this friend, Ocean Winds, that I had a crush on. When I confessed to her and she didn't return my feelings, things got really awkward between us. Then, eventually, we just… drifted apart. Then the opposite happened with Gilda, and for a while, I thought we managed to get past that, but… well, you saw what happened with her. I just… couldn't stand it if the same happened with you too, so I tried to make sure I knew how you'd respond before I said anything." I don't know what else to say, so I say nothing.

Applejack stays silent for a long while. In fact, she hasn't said a thing since I started my confession. I wonder if I should just… leave. Just fly away right now, and not have to hear her reaction.

"You said the spell lasts 'till tomorrow evening?" Applejack suddenly asks, her voice steady. Level. Controlled.

"I… y-yeah. You can check with Twilight if you wanna," I offer. I hate how fragile I sound.

"Then get out, and don't talk to me again until then," she says.

My heart plummets. "But AJ–"

"Just get out, Rainbow. Please."

"But I–"

"Darn it, Rainbow!" Applejack suddenly shouts, throwing her hat on the floor. "How can we talk honestly with this blasted spell hanging over us? How I can even trust you when you can just–"

I wince. Hard.

Applejack grimaces, then sighs. "No, sorry, that was too harsh." She puts a hoof on her forehead, a frustrated expression on her face. "Just… please leave, Rainbow. Please."

I hesitate for a moment–

"Just go!"

I stop dawdling. The window's the closest exit, so I open it and fly out. I don't have the guts to look back. I fly straight home, tears of guilt blown down my face by the air resistance. By the time I'm inside, they've dried into damp tracks on my cheeks.

I go check that Tank's still got enough food and water in his enclosure. I know I should make supper for myself, but right now, I'm too lethargic to care. Instead, I go straight to bed.

It takes me a long time to get a hold of sleep, and I toss and turn all night.

Chapter Four

Applejack's avoiding me. Not like it's a surprise or anything, but that doesn't make it hurt any less when we accidentally wind up in the same place, and she immediately leaves without a word. Without even sparing me a glance.

I haven't used Second Chance all day. I don't care if Twi's research goes nowhere because of it. I just can't even think about reversing time again without remembering how hurt — betrayed — Applejack looked when she chased me out of her home.

For the most part, I've tried to stay out of sight. Doing the absolute minimum that I have to do — kick a few clouds here, buy some food there, and so on. Other than that, I've been staying home, doing nothing much. I know I could always read some of the Daring Do books I still have left, but I don't want my current mood to ruin the experience. So instead, I just… wait for the day to end. For the spell to run out.

I never knew I could sit still for so long.

At last, just as the sun is setting, the tingling in the back of my head stops abruptly. Just to check, I try to activate Second Chance (not too thrilled about the idea, but I need to be sure). Thankfully, nothing happens.

I release a pent-up breath. I almost think I feel a little better now.

Now that that's over, I figure I might as well make myself supper. Just as I'm setting the table, though, I hear knocking. I go open the door, and immediately stop in place, dumbstruck.

Applejack is on the other side. She looks kinda serious, although she doesn't seem to be angry right now. I hope. Behind her, I see a familiar balloon moored on the edge of the cloud — Twilight must've cast the walk-on-clouds spell on AJ. "Hey, Rainbow. Can I come in?" she asks.

I snap out of my daze. "You, I– oh, yeah. Of course." I step aside to let her in, and close the door behind her.

"Before we get to anything else — the spell is over now, right?"

I nod. "Yeah, it just ended a couple minutes ago. Wait, how'd you know th–" I pause. "No, wait, don't tell me. Twilight knew the exact time, down to the second, didn't she?"

"That she did," Applejack confirms. Then she motions to the couch. "Mind if we sit down? This may take a while."

"Sure."

We sit for a moment in silence. Applejack seems to be searching for the right words to say, so I let her. My heart's pounding, but at the same time, I almost feel… calm. I guess there's not much to be nervous over when you already know what's gonna happen. I think this is the first time that losing a friend has been completely my fault, though. It hurts to think about that.

After some more contemplation, Applejack finally starts, "I've done a lot of thinkin' on everything that went down yesterday. And first off, to be absolutely clear…" she sighs. "I'm not okay with what you did. In fact, I'm not sure I ever will be."

"That's fine," I reply honestly. "I wouldn't expect you to."

Applejack doesn't seem to acknowledge my reply. Instead, she says, "However…"

I hold my breath, not wanting to get my hopes up.

"…I think you're better than that. You may be pretty selfish and inconsiderate sometimes, but I think you're getting better about it. Now, keep in mind that if you were nearly anypony else, I'd probably never wanna see your face again after that charade. But I think, hope, that I know you. 'Cause I think you've changed a lot since we first met. And I think that's because you really do want to be a better pony, and a better friend. Most of the time, anyway. So with all that in mind…" She takes a deep breath. "I think I'm willing to give you a second chance." The corner of her mouth turns up slightly. "Pun intended."

I struggle a little to get my gaping mouth back in working order. "I– AJ, you'd… you'd do that, even after all I did to trick and manipulate you?"

"Like I said, I think I have reason to believe that's not what you're usually like. In fact, I think that was you at your worst. That's why I think you deserve a chance. So…" AJ looks at me steadily in the eye. "Prove me right. Take me out tomorrow. Show me you're the pony I think you are."

"I…" I actually have a hard time fighting back tears. I don't think I can really put everything I'm feeling right now to words, so I keep it simple. "Thank you. I will."

"That said…" Applejack's voice becomes sharp, and her gaze hardens. "…if you ever try to hoodwink me like that again, even once…"

I gulp. "Understood."

AJ lets out a long breath, and for the first time today, she actually smiles a little. "Well, I think that's about all I wanted to say."

I feel like I can breathe a little easier too, now. "You didn't have to go to all the trouble of coming here, you know," I remark. "You could've just had me come meet you somewhere."

"Well, actually," AJ says, "I figured I'd like to have supper here with you. Then I could sleep in your guest room, and we could head out together tomorrow."

"Oh! Okay, that does sound ni–" I get an idea and halt mid-sentence, then throw on my best mock-suspicious glare. "Heeeey, hang on a second! You're not just trying to mooch free food off me, are you?"

"Curses! You've seen through my cunning plan!" Applejack responds without missing a beat.

"Ha-ha! You're no match for me, the Great Snack Detecti–!"

That's as far as I get before I collapse into laughter. Applejack soon joins in, and under the sound of our chortles, I can feel the tension between us melting away.

Epilogue

"…and what happens next?" Rainy Fields asks.

"Well, after that, there's not much to tell," I answer. "Me and AJ go on that date the next day and have a good time. We keep dating, eventually get married, and have you."

"And you didn't have any more big fallings out like that?"

"Nothin' as bad as that first one," Applejack says from beside me. "Sure, we've had our disagreements, but we haven't let anythin' get outta hoof too bad."

"But if you got together in such a bad way, then how come you didn't have any, like, super-huge mega-fights?" Rainy asks.

Well. Our beautiful daughter proves, once again, that she has definitely inherited both her moms' tactfulness (which, by the way, has made for some hilarious parent-teacher meetings). I ignore it for now, though.

"I grew up," I simply say. "I mean, I'll be the first to admit that back then, I could be… kind of a jerk sometimes. The Second Chance incident was probably the biggest example of that. But… I've gotten better since then, I think."

"Ya ain't the only one who's needed to do some maturin' over the years," Applejack admits. "Heck, I'd say I've had to learn just as much as you have."

"So what's the lesson?"

"Huh?"

"What's the lesson of the story?" Rainy asks. In that adorable tone that foals use when they want to tell you something they think is really important, she states, "Twilight says that every story has at least one lesson, and probably more."

"Of course she does," I mutter quietly enough that she can't hear me, but loud enough to get a snort out of AJ.

Well, at least it's not too hard to find a lesson here. When you manage to screw something up so colossally it threatens to completely ruin a great friendship (and in this case, potential romance), "don't do that" tends to be a pretty obvious piece of advice.

"Well, I guess the lesson is that you should be honest with the ponies you care about. I mean, it's not like you need to confess your deepest, darkest secrets to everypony you know, but ya know. Don't use an ancient spell to cheat information out of your friends instead of just talking to them upfront, especially when the latter woulda been a thousand times easier."

Applejack adds, "Also, since we just brought it up, I guess there's the part about how none of us are perfect. And that's just somethin' we gotta accept, and work on becoming better ponies. Like I said, we've both learned a lot together, and our other friends have helped a bunch too. We're still learning, too. Reckon we always will be."

"I guess it's good we have each other to learn with, huh?" I ask, turning towards AJ.

"You can bet your bottom bit it is, Sugarcube," she says, likewise turning to me.

I kiss my wife.

Next to us, Rainy makes some standard-issue "My Parents Are Making Out and That's Gross" gagging sounds.

I've made mistakes. Big ones, too. I doubt I'll stop making them anytime soon. But as long as I try to learn from them, pay attention to the ponies I love, and make the most out of my second chances…

Then I think I can at least avoid making the same mistakes again.

And that's gotta count for something.