Lost Years

Applejack stepped into the bedroom, letting out a deep breath. “Howdy, Dash,” she said, trying not to show how much she wanted to cry. She lowered herself onto the bed beside Rainbow, wincing as her hips protested.

“Hey, AJ,” Rainbow said, her voice nearly a whisper but her lips quirking upward in her familiar smirk that Applejack loved. “Whatcha thinking?”

Applejack forced a smile. “Just how much I love you,” she said, the hitch in her breath giving her away.

Rainbow’s eyes softened. “Oh, AJ, don’t do this to yourself,” she pleaded. Her frail hoof reached over, and Applejack covered it with her own, feeling Rainbow’s soft fur. “I mean, seriously, it’s surprising I’ve lasted so long, what with all the crazy stuff I got up to back in the day,” she tried to joke.

Applejack smiled weakly back, but at least it was a real one. “Well, you ain’t much better now, are you, sugarcube?”

Rainbow grinned. “You know it,” she said wickedly, before sombering a bit. “Come on, don’t distract me, here. I’m trying to be serious!”

“Sorry, Dash,” Applejack said quietly. “I don’t - you know I hate - I mean -” she sighed in frustration. “Sorry,” she repeated.

Rainbow just looked at her. “I know it’s hard for you,” she said. “I mean, it’s not like it’s easy for me to just sit around all day waiting to die, watching what it does to you. It’s awful. But that’s just what it is.” She patted Applejack’s hoof sadly. “We always knew I’d probably die first. But you’re so strong; you can’t let this be the thing that breaks you. You’ve still got at least another decade in you. Please don’t waste it.”

Applejack focused on holding her tears back, even though she knew Rainbow wouldn’t judge her for them. “When we lost Granny, and Rarity, and Fluttershy, and Sugar Belle, those were all horrible. But I always had you with me. We always got through it together. I don’t know what to do without that.” Applejack’s voice was wobbly, but she stubbornly didn’t let her tears fall.

Rainbow closed her eyes, and Applejack could tell she was getting tired. But she started speaking before she could say anything about it. “We’re a great team, aren’t we?” she chuckled. “But you’re not alone. You’ve got so many ponies left who love you. Let them help you. Talk to them. Please. Promise me.” Rainbow didn’t usually plead like this, but then, she wasn’t usually dying.

Applejack nodded. “I hear you, sugarcube,” she murmured. “I won’t try to do this alone. And I won’t break. I won’t. I promise,” she finally said.

Rainbow nodded, satisfied, her eyes sliding shut. “Good. Carry that stubbornness to your deathbed, AJ.”

“Promise,” AJ repeated, whispering, and brushed a kiss on Rainbow’s head, smoothing strands of faded colors. She sat there for a few minutes longer, watching Rainbow fall asleep, listening to her breathe, before she got up and slowly ambled through the door, closing it softly.

She clomped her way down the hallway into the living room. Her exhausted eyes met Big Mac’s, and he opened his hooves. She leaned into his chest and finally let herself cry.