In the marketplace of Ponyville, Applejack stood attentively behind her family’s apple stand. It was still early in the morning, so the number of prospective customers was sparse. But still, there were a few ponies browsing the prospective stalls.

“Did you hear about what happened to the human?”

Applejack’s ear twitched. She turned her head ever so slightly, casting her eyes over to Roseluck’s flower stand, where she saw a unicorn mare with pink fur and a creme colored mane standing in front of the stand, conversing with the vendor.

“Oh I know! Poor thing, I heard he was struck by lightning. Apparently a crazy pegasus was trying to KILL him!” Applejack quickly returned her gaze to staring ahead in front of her, trying to look like she wasn’t eavesdropping.

“I heard it was an ASSASSINATION attempt! That it was orchestrated by a group of pony supremacists!” Applejack felt her jaw tighten and her teeth clench.

‘Dammit Rainbow…look what you’ve started,’ she thought to herself. ‘I should go over there and set them straight!’ She was about to march over to the stand when she paused, closing her eyes to think. ‘I could go over an’ tell em’ the truth. But that would mean outin’ Rainbow Dash. Then that’ll lead to a whole mess of problems.’ Applejack groaned to herself before returning to her stand. ‘I’ll have to tell Twilight about this. She’s gotta cooler head than me. She’ll know how to handle this.’

Tic…Tic…Tic….

Your eyes focus intently on the clock hanging on the wall. Two hours, fourteen minutes. Eight thousand and forty seconds is how long you’ve been laying motionless since waking up. You tried going back to sleep, and though you could feel a drowsiness compelling you back to the dream world, something stopped you from doing so. You could close your eyes and relax, but completing the final step of falling asleep eluded you. So you took to trying to pass the time in any way you could. You decided to count the seconds of the clock as the second hand made its rotational journey.

You had thought calling out for someone, either Twilight or Spike, but decided against it. You weren’t some small child calling out for their mother after waking up from a bad dream. You were an adult! Circumstance might have infantilized you physically, but you still had the mind and constitution of an adult. You could put up with a little boredom.

But boredom proved to be the last thing you needed to worry about as a smell fumed into your nostrils. The smell of urine.

Had you? No you….

Your cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

‘This can’t be happening!’ You thought to yourself. Of all the things that could happen to you, why this?

You opened your mouth to call out for help, but you hesitated. Images of infants crying in their cribs for their mothers flashed through your mind. Crying helpless infants waiting to have their diapers changed. Is that what your life was going to be like from now on? Having to have your friends clean and change you like a newborn? Could this get any worse?

‘Why couldn’t that lightning strike have just killed me?’ You clench your teeth tight as anxiety starts racing through you, making it feel as though there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room to go around.

Just a week ago, you were fine and dandy. Completely able bodied, living life to the fullest! But now…were you even alive anymore?

“Morning Anon!” Your head jerked to the side to see Spike walking down the stairs towards the main floor. How long had you been stuck in your head?

“How’d you sleep?” Asked the hatchling as he started making his way towards the kitchen.

“F-fine,” you answered. You knew you had to tell him about…your issue. But how could you, it-it was beyond embarrassing! Maybe you could just tell him you needed to talk to Twilight, she was obviously the more mature ad-

“What’s that smell?” He asked as his nose audibly sniffed the air. His nose wrinkled before a stunned look crossed his face and he turned to look at you.

“Get Twilight,” you muttered.

Rainbow Dash glided into the city of Cloudsdale. Memories of her childhood returned to her as she passed by familiar locations. The primary school where she had attended her first years of school. The cloud coliseum where she had observed countless Wonderbolts shows. The spot where she had raced her childhood bullies, stood up for Fluttershy and earned her cutie mark.

If she were to go back and tell her younger self about all the adventures she’d one day go on, how would she react? Would she say; ‘Of course I’d end up a national hero! I am awesome, of course!’

But if she were to tell herself that one day she’d end up paralyzing one of her friends? How would her younger self react then? Would she believe her older self? Would she deny that she could ever do something so terrible? Would she scoff at the warning, or would she make a genuine attempt to be less reckless? Would she be a more cautious pony? Would that be for the better? If she were that kind of pony, would she still be the element of Loyalty? Would she still have saved Equestria as many times as she had? After all it was her impulsiveness that led her to rush into danger to protect those she cared about. But it was also that impulsiveness that got her into trouble as well.

Before she knew it, Rainbow was gliding into Fluttershy’s parents neighborhood. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and floated down to the front door.

‘Fluttershy will understand, won’t she? We’ve been friends FOREVER! She’ll get that I didn’t mean any harm! She’ll help me fix this!’

Rainbow dash raised her hoof and knocked on the door. She waited in nervous anticipation. After a few moments she heard approaching hoof steps on the other side of the door.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Called a semi-masculine voice. Rainbow groaned to herself as she recognized the voice as belonging to Fluttershy’s brother.

‘Not him!’ Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She was not in the mood to deal with Fluttershy’s obnoxious younger brother, Zephyr Breeze. He would no doubt attempt to flirt with her as always. Rainbow steeled herself as the door opened to reveal the last pony she wanted to deal with right now.

“Well look who it is!” Said Zephyr Breeze in his usual boisterous mannerism. “Rain-Bow-Dash! Come to see me eh? Finally ready to admit I drive you hot and wild?”

Rainbow Dash resisted the urge to deck him in the schnoz. Instead she held her tongue and her hoof.

“I need to talk to Fluttershy, Zephyr,” she said as calmly as she could.

“Awe come on, you don’t need to make excuses! Why don’t the two of us head up to my room! My parent just bought me a new bedspread that I’ve been dying to try out! We can-“

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow nearly shouted through grit teeth. “NOW!” Zephyr Breeze’s eyes widened, and he immediately backed down.

“Yeah, yeah sure, I-I’ll get her,” he replied. “Hey Flutters? You’ve got a visitor!” Several tense moments passed before Fluttershy trotted down to the front door. A smile came to her face as she saw her friend.

“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash gulped nervously.

“Hey Shy, I need to talk to you about something.”

Author's Note

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