“Mornin’, Sugarcube,” Applejack called loudly as she entered her bedroom.

Rainbow stirred and groaned as she moved her left foreleg to pull the blanket over her head, the sunlight too much for her at the moment.

“C’mon, sleepy head. Time ta get up, Ah made ya some breakfast,” she said sliding the tray of food she had onto the dresser before turning and approaching the bed.

“AJ, I dunwana.”

“What? Can’t hear ya in them blankets.”

Rainbow lowered the covers from her head to repeat her protest of being awake. Applejack nipped rainbow in the ear with a soft bite getting surprised yelp in reply.

“AJ, what the hay? Ouch,” Rainbow said rubbing her left ear and turning her head to look at the orange mare. The frustration gone when she gazed into the deep emerald green pools that were Applejack’s eyes. She blinked and turned her head back to the pillow and sighed.

“AJ, I don’t want to adult today.”

“Well good news fer ya. Ah’m here ta take care’a you ‘til you can walk better. Ah brought ya breakfast in bed. Ah made a quiche and vegetables, apple juice, some oats and hay, and last but not least,” Applejack said turning back to the tray as she lined her body with the dresser and carefully dragged the tray onto her back again with her teeth, “a cupcake.”

Rainbow’s ears perked and she turned, craning her neck. “One, single, cupcake?”

“Well, Ah had Scootaloo go by Sugarcube corner and put in an order. I ate mine, her’s is waitin’ fer her when she gets home, and here’s yours. But,” she said slowly walking to the bed, “ya gotta eat yer food ta get it.”

Rainbow began the painful process of turning over, finally on her back she pulled the covers to her hips and exhaled a pained breath.

Applejack looked over to the medicine bottles, corked and ready to take. Rainbow followed her gaze and sighed.

“Fine, I’ll take ‘em. Just, watch me and make sure nothing funny happens,” Rainbow said reaching to them. With a groan she let it known she was in serious pain and trying to hide it.

“Rainbow,” Applejack said turning her approach to the sidetable, “Ah’ll get ‘em fer ya.”

A few minutes later Rainbow was smiling widely at the tray of food that was nearly empty before her.

“Mmm, AJ. Now, that was good. Ah forget sometimes how good ya cook,” Rainbow cleared her throat, “thank you. Now, about that cupcake?”

“Ya earned it, Rainbow. Here ya go.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow said as Applejack went to the dresser to fetch the final treat. “Hey, why aren’t you calling me some cutesy sappy name?”

“Because, Ah remember why I started and it wasn’t right,” she said flicking the cupcake onto her snout, trotting back as she showed off her balance skills somewhat.

“Ooo, gimme, gimme, gimme,” Rainbow giggled excitedly, bouncing her rear legs slightly. She gobbled her cupcake and the wrapper it was in, washing it down with the last of the juice before she burped. “What’d’ya mean it wasn’t right? What happened?” Rainbow asked as Applejack sat and looked at her.

“We had sex that first time in yer cloudhouse way back then. Ah made a few jokes ‘bout yer name. Like Dashalicious and the like.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, I remember now. I wasn’t liking the names back then, but they grew on me,” Rainbow said as she pushed the tray away from her.

“Honest, Dashing, Ah didn’t think we’d get this far,” she confessed, “Ah didn’t think we’d last more’n a few weeks, maybe. Just rollin’ in the hay ‘til we got fed up and moved on. But, Ah dunno, Sugar,” Applejack sighed.

“What? You’re calling me a few sappy names, the ones I really like,” Rainbow commented as she shuffled her wings slightly, the pain medicine doing its job.

“Ah started as teasin’ ya, like we do. But, that was before Ah really fell in love with ya. I know it was just about rollin’ around and getin’ our hooves wet, but now… Even a couple’a months ago; something just changed.

“Ah started callin’ ya new names ta try ta find one that worked. That fit you just right, but nothin’ really works. You’re too great for all’a the ones I try ta make up.”

Rainbow’s smile grew to a grin at Applejack’s words.

“Rainbow, yer too awesome ta make inta somethin’ as small as a little sappy name. You really are the greatest mare in Equestria, and Ah’m honored ta be the one ya chose to settle with.”

“Well,” Rainbow said patting the bed as she scooted slightly over for Applejack to climb up.

Applejack instead moved the tray to the floor before she climbed up.

“As I was saying, I didn’t really have much choice back then. Remember I got fired and all that, they took my cloud home. Honestly if I didn’t meet you I still woulda had that job and house,” Rainbow said placing her forelegs behind her head and leaning back.

Applejack felt her brow furrowing as Rainbow spoke.

“Yeah, I’d be livin’ up there in the sky, carefree and without a care in the world. But that was all I ever did,” Rainbow added before Applejack could get too mad, “I flew. I pranked. I slept. I was a total nothing; I was a bird, not a pegasus.

“When you first let your knee slip under my tail, my whole world changed in ways I never knew,” she said looking at Applejack who was starting to listen more intently, “honestly, the sex has always been amazing, but there was a time when I thought that’s all we were too.

“I looked at a few mares and stallions and wondered, but then I remembered all those years ago when I crashed into your farm and your freckles were the first thing I saw, or remember, about you.

“That’s why I couldn’t leave you at first. I didn’t wanna just leave you for another pony, or give you a reason to leave me. Now, don’t get me wrong, I thought it’d happen too. The sex was great, but that was all we had in private.

“Then, one night after I bent your horseshoes with my awesome skills,” she winked as Applejack smiled in remembrance of so many times she’d almost broken the mattress in the cellar thanks to Rainbow’s tongue and hot breath, “you went to sleep. I watched you for maybe half an hour.

Everything about you when you were sleeping was like watching the sunrise and set every time you took a breath, and I didn’t know what the feeling was then.

“Now I know it’s love, but it’s different now than it was then. Especially now. I had a dream last night that I was alone in this house and it scared me,” Rainbow said looking to Applejack again.

“Dashing, ya don’t hafta worry. Ah ain’t gonna leave ya,” Applejack reassured.

“Ah dunno. It was weird, and scary. There was this orange pony outside the window flying past as I looked out and I swear I could see smoke coming from Canterlot. I called to you or anypony but it was as quiet as a… thing that’s really quiet. A mouse, maybe?”

“Rainbow, ya said ya saw an orange pony? Was it a stallion?”

“Oh yeah, he was kinda cute but he was angry at something,” she said moving her forelegs to her lap and looking at them, “he had a pony with him, AJ. It was horrible, and ugly,” she said trembling slightly.

“Can ya remember anything else about the dream? What’d the other pony look like?”

Rainbow swallowed hard and closed her eyes. “I don’t know if it was colt of mare, but it was burned all over and its horn, it was a unicorn, its horn was broken or something. It had blood oozing out of its skin and… I-I don’t wanna remember any more, AJ.”

“It’s okay, Sugarplum. Don’t fret it,” Applejack said placing a hoof on Rainbow’s belly.

She looked at Rainbow as she placed her head back and rested it against the headboard with a content sigh. Inwardly she was scared, as scared as the last time she was attacked by timberwolves. Rainbow described the same dream that Scootaloo had had a couple nights prior.

To have one pony she loved having such nightmares was concerning, both was downright worrisome to the farm pony. If her family was in trouble, she had to help, it was her duty. But, how could she help in another’s dream? Maybe Luna wasn’t such a bad idea…

“AJ? Are you listening?”

Applejack was pulled from her worrying thoughts and looked at Rainbow’s smirk. “What’s that, now?”

“I asked if yer tryin’ to feel the baby? Cuz you’ve gotta wait a few months ‘fore that happens, Fritter.”

Applejack looked to where her hoof was resting. At first it was to comfort Rainbow, but she realized it was resting above Rainbow’s teats, where the baby was; their baby was right below her hoof.

The realization sent a wide grin to Applejack she didn’t even notice.

“Ah’m gonna be a Mama, with you, Rainbow Dash,” she said rolling to her side and looking at Rainbow’s belly.

Rainbow left the mare to look at her cyan belly as she looked out the window began to daydream about flying.

She gasped as she felt a pressure under her tail. She looked down quickly to see an orange foreleg between her legs.

With wide, excited eyes she looked over to see Applejack giving her a sultry look as she raised her hoof and brought it to her lips and licked it slowly.

Rainbow’s heartbeat quickened as she grinned.

“Finally, are you gonna do this makin’ love to me?”

Applejack snickered and nodded as she rolled on top of her and winked as she moved her knee up, getting a gasp and wince from Rainbow.

“Oh! Sugarplum, Ah’m sorry, Ah fergot about yer wings. Ya okay?”

Rainbow swallowed the pain and nodded, wrapping her forelegs around Applejack’s. “I’m fine, just-”

A loud knocking from the door pulled their attention to the door with a collective groan.

Next Chapter: Morning' Hun Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 19 Minutes