The Time of Storms

Applejack, deliberately trailing a few uneasy paces behind Rainbow Dash as they bade good night to Twilight Sparkle and departed from her castle, was lost somewhere deep in the tangled mire of her thoughts; her heart had just about come to accept the fact that this was indeed her friend, but her head still had some ways to go in believing it fully. Nonetheless, she still felt the need to say something – anything – to make up for what had happened to her. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but the words just wouldn't come. What can I possibly say that will make things right? How do you apologise to somepony for robbing them of a quarter-century of their life? All that beautiful, brilliant potential – all of those hopes and dreams – now … dashed.

“You're gonna catch flies if you keep doing that,” Rainbow Dash said, drawing to a halt and turning to face Applejack, shaking each of her wings in turn to prepare them for the comparatively short trip from Ponyville to Cloudsdale. Twenty-five years ago, she would've been off like a shot, but these days they required a much more stringent set of warm-up exercises before engaging in any sort of prolonged flight. She didn't doubt that she still had a good few years of adventuring left in her old bones, but Rainbow Dash knew it was unlikely that she'd ever be turning out competitively for the Wonderbolts again. Strangely, she found herself regretting that prospect slightly less than she'd expected.

The euphoria of finally being back in her proper time had yet to fully wear off, though. There were so many new experiences to look forward to now: spending time with her closest friends again, going off on crazy, danger-filled adventures, waiting for the next Daring Do book, maybe even – if it was not too late to do so – finally finding a special somepony to spend her remaining years with. That last thing had never seemed terribly important to her when she was young enough to believe that she had all the time in the world to do it.

Now that she had her life back – no longer did she have to worry about stepping on eggshells, or even the wrong blade of grass, and risk making some catastrophic change to the timeline – and was once again the master of her own destiny, she could do anything that she wanted. It was a thought worth savouring. There would be some adjusting to do, of course, but she was thankful for the fact that she wasn't facing anything like the severe culture shock some pegasi had been forced to deal with when they were sent dozens or even hundreds of years out of their own time.

Perhaps in a day or two, or a couple of weeks from now, when things got as close to normal as they ever did around here, she'd have the time to be disappointed about all the things that she'd lost. Right now, though, Rainbow Dash was only focusing on the positives; they more than outweighed any negatives, and she was more than satisfied with that. Joining the Wonderbolts had been the dream of a young girl, but the adult had plenty more to live out before the end came.

Her biggest fear, and it had been growing inside her as each arduous day toward the present came and went, was whether or not Scootaloo would still accept her; her other friends would understand what had happened, but would she be able to?

“It's my fault that this-” Applejack pointed a hoof at Rainbow Dash but was unable to meet her expectant gaze “-happened to you.”

“No, it's not,” Rainbow Dash replied delicately, reluctantly pushing aside her thoughts of Scootaloo and gently brushing her hoof against Applejack's. “You didn't know about the storm. I'm the one who threw myself into the path of the lightning bolt. I chose to do it, nopony forced me. I would have done it for anypony, but you know what-” she grinned cheerfully “-I'm glad it was for you.”

Applejack returned the smile as best she could, but her conscience was not in the least bit salved by Rainbow Dash's words. “At least, if I'd been the one sent back in time, I would've had the opportunity to see my folks again. Even if it was at a distance.”

Casting her eyes in the direction of the heavens above, Rainbow Dash watched a shooting star streak by and let out a breath she didn't even realise that she was holding. If those mysterious celestial bodies had any answers for her, though, they were keeping them very much to themselves. “I think that's why I'm not as angry about what happened to me as I should be,” she said, briefly switching her attention to Applejack before resettling her focus on the skies. “Whenever I was able to sneak away from the castle, I'd go to Ponyville and Cloudsdale just to see what you guys were doing. Watching all of you grow up, facing your own challenges, becoming the ponies that you were destined to be, let me see a whole new side to you all, and I wouldn't trade that experience for all the coffee in Saddle Arabia. It was worth losing twenty-five years because it meant I got a gift few that ponies ever receive: the chance to get to know my friends all over again. I know we've often talked about the small things that we'd like to change in our pasts if we could, but having lived through it all with you, I wouldn't want to change a thing.”

Overcome with emotion, Applejack could think of nothing to add to that sentiment, so she instead settled for nuzzling against Rainbow Dash's neck and joining her in her stargazing.

“You should probably have this back,” Rainbow Dash said almost as an afterthought, offering Applejack her Stetson. It was battered and worn-through in more than one place, but still amazingly intact after twenty-five years in the company of a not-particularly-careful pegasus. “I did my best to keep it one piece, but it's been with me through more than one scrape. After it survived through the storm with me, I kinda started to see it as a good-luck token. As well as a piece of … home.”

Applejack's hoof reached out to take the hat; she made the slightest of contacts with its wide brim, then felt a subdued smile cross her muzzle and she pushed it back toward Rainbow Dash. “Keep it. You've had it a lot longer than I have, anyway.”