You let it go on for weeks.

Day after day, week after week, you let her have sex with you. You didn't do it against your own will; you never hated it or rejected it. You enjoyed it. You loved her company. Nopony really knew it except for Lilly, but you planned on telling the rest of your friends the truth.

But truth of what? She never really came out and said you were her coltfriend or that she was your marefriend; in the end, it seemed that the two of you were more of friends with benefits - but friends who wanted something more than just the benefits, but could never quite figure out how to just say it. A part of you wanted something more, but another part of you just wanted to wait.

As the weeks passed, sure enough, you started remembering things again, things you remembered from before the...incident. The Gabby Gums incident, your first trip to Appleoosa with your friends, that one wedding of an old friend of yours.

You remember the bride being a bitch, but you were glad to remember he divorced her a month later. You'll have to get in touch with him again.

Does he know?

Over several days, everything slowly started to come back to you. And over those same several days, you and Dash got together nearly every day and every night, satisfying each other whenever you could, pleasuring each other in ways you couldn't have imagined before.

With each day came a visit to the hospital for a checkup by Stable and Cobalt. They were more than pleased with the outcome. Twilight was thrilled.

Spike was glad his buddy was coming back. He smiled more, he was more active, he was generally more outgoing in recent days. You felt awful his change before had to do with you, but you were more than relieved he was coming around again.

Dash was glad the stallion she knew before was finally coming back home.

Everyone was finally glad.

Except you.

You started finding out what she was so afraid of.

You were standing in the middle of Ponyville. Surrounded by folks, there was a mix on everyone's face: Anger, confusion, fear, worry, sadness, even happiness to a point. There was no limit.

Rainbow Dash was looking at you.

She was screaming at you. Angry.

At you.

"They think you're nothing but trouble! And that's exactly what you are. You are nothing but a erratic piece of work who causes nothing but devastation everywhere you go. Every time you walk out your front door, you're either burning down a house or putting somepony in the hospital...And me? You really think I'd want to put up with that my whole life?"

She stopped and turned away from you, just for a second. You could feel your eyes watering; it wasn't something you could control, it was just so sudden. Why were you tearing up?

"Nobody deserves that torture."

You tried to speak. You couldn't, and she was able to continue without fault.

"So get this through your head. I don't love you. I don't like you. I can't bucking stand you. You are nothing but a worthless, pathetic little parasite destroying everything good that anypony has ever deserved in life. This town would be better off without your help."

You wanted to yell at her, scream for her to stop, but your mouth couldn't open. It was stuck just open by a centimeter, frozen.

No more.

"Equestria is better off without-"

With a gasp, you woke in your bed, covered in sweat, your face matted with wet and dry tears. You were breathing heavily, as if you were having a nightmare. But you weren't dying or burning or being chased by some freakish monster.

You were...

You...were...

What were you just dreaming about?

This was a common problem with you for weeks. You would have a dream that would force you awake and you would forget it in an instant, then spend the day trying to remember it before giving up. This would be just the same.

But you knew Rainbow was in it. Why would she be in a bad dream?

Did she hurt you? Or was she hurt? Or...

You shook it off. "I'll remember it later. Maybe."

With a flick of your wing, you moved the bedsheets away and gave a stretch and a yawn. Looking to your side, you noticed that Rainbow wasn't there as she had been last night. You suspected she was either making breakfast for the two of you and Lilly, or had gone off to feed Tank. Or maybe she was in the bathroom touching up a bit.

Not that she really was a fan of makeup, but...there was one night...

You walked over to the bathroom door and gave it a couple of knocks. "Dash? You in there?"

"Just a second!"

So she was.

You waited a few moments patiently, until the door opened, revealing a frazzled-maned Dash standing in the doorway.

With a grin, she spoke, "Morning."

"Hey," you say back to her with a tired, but genuine grin of your own. "Nice bed head."

"Better than last night?"

She had gotten much more witty over the past few weeks; Twilight only remarked it as her "getting back to her old self." You started to finally get a taste of what the mare used to be like before.

It was...nice.

Remarking her question, you stuck a tongue out at her and laughed, before asking her what she was doing in here.

"Just getting ready for another shower. Figure I'd freshen up before we head out."

"Is that so?" you asked. "Head out for what again?" You had the feeling you were forgetting something.

"Duh, Fluttershy's birthday's tomorrow. I thought I told you last night?"

With a sheepish grin, you apologized, citing your poor memory. It was hardly a joke on your condition, but rather on just that: poor memory.

Dash playfully rolled her eyes and booped your snout with a hoof. "You idiot."

"Sorry," you told her, feeling a bit more guilty, even if she was joking about.

"It's fine. I'll let it pass. We all forget things."

She gave you a wink. Also in recent weeks, she turned your condition into a bit of a joke. You didn't mind it at all, it was clever and even funny at times. You can't take something seriously forever.

"Oh, ha ha." you say before giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." Her face had that deviant look on it. The one you really enjoyed simply because of the message it gave off.

With a quick hop, the two of you were in the shower, and the waterworks began.

In a matter of minutes, the scenery went from washing each other innocently and splashing each other playfully, to you holding her against the wall as you filled her from behind, her moaning inconsistent phrases as you went.

As time heals all wounds, so did your stamina. Not only could you walk better and faster, you could fly faster, higher, swifter, and lift heavier things without needing to take that pill. It was wonders for Applejack and her family, who finally allowed you to help out even further on the farm.

And in terms of stamina...well...this.

"Harder..." she said quietly.

And harder you went, practically slamming her up against the wall: Loud enough so the two you of you could clearly hear it, but quiet enough as not to disturb Lilly. Or was Lilly at work?

After a few seconds, you heard Dash gasp and let out a shaky moan, panting hard immediately following. You knew she had come; you could feel it. You didn't last too long after that and came inside. She held you in place, citing its feeling. The two of you struggled to keep yourself standing steady, so you rested on the floor of the tub and let the water fall over the both of you...well, Dash mostly, considering she laid on top of you, not to mention it was a small tub. Nonetheless, whatever water didn't hit her, hit you.

She volunteered to wash you down below, and you were content with the offer. The feeling of her hooves lathering over your shaft and crotch were amazing. It became bubbly and covered in white foam, quickly washed off with the rush of the shower water.

You did the same for her, though you were a bit more frisky with it than she was. By the time her own crotch was lathered in soap to wash off, you had once again made her a drooling, shivering mess.

It made you know you always did a good job.

After the two of you had washed each other off and were actually clean, next came breakfast, with a set of eggs, hay strips, and some buttered toast to finish it off. For a short while, breakfast was filling and open with words, jokes, and laughter. It was just one of those regular days that the two of you shared before you went off to work at the farm or Dash went off to the factory.

Today was Sunday, however. That meant no work, no duties - just a day with your friend and nothing more.

But something was off. It wasn't the food or the music or the wind.

It was that dream you had last night. Or rather, it was the nightmare you had last night. Ever since that first night with Rainbow all those weeks ago, you hardly had any nightmares. They would come and go, and you would forget every single one. You started to paint some kind of picture, but it was still definitely blurry.

But this one...this one was somewhat different in comparison to the others. Rainbow was there. She was never there in any of the other dreams, but in this one, she was there, doing something. Was she talking to you? Yelling at you?

"Hey," you heard her say, and you looked up with a questioning hum. "You okay?"

You hesitated for a moment. You wanted to say you were okay, but just hesitating let her know you weren't. Well, you were, but at the same time, you...weren't. So you chose to answer.

"I had this...dream last night. It was like..."

"Like...?"

You slowly shrugged. "That's the thing. I don't know. All I know is that...well...you were there."

"I was?"

With a nod, you added, "I think we were in the middle of town. At night. I could remember the town hall was to my left and you were...right in front of me."

As you paused, you looked at Rainbow's face. It wasn't so much of a worrying stance as it was...was that guilt or were you checking it wrong? You had a history of checking things wrong, it seemed, if last week's "vampony" incident in town was any indication.

Hey, either everyone had everyone fooled, or that was an actual vampire.

"It was a nightmare, wasn't it?" she asked, curious and definitely a bit sad, but perhaps understanding. It was even more so when you nodded, even if you yourself weren't 100% sure.

"Well..." she added, "I'm sure it's nothing. Probably just some silly little nightmare. I get them all the time with Fluttershy, and they weren't even that bad."

You agreed with her to an extent. You were sure the nightmare was more than "just some silly little nightmare," but then again, you've been wrong before.

The rest of the breakfast was a tad more positive, with the two of you passing a few jokes back and forth and laughing them away. Once the dishes were rinsed off and put into the dishwasher, you made sure everything was turned off and headed on over to the couch with the mare. As she sat down, she turned to you and asked if you wanted to visit her house later.

"Uh, sure," you answer with a curious tone. "What's the occasion?"

"Well...I...kinda realized you've never exactly visited my place before. I mean, I come over to your house every single day, eat your food, and sleep in your bed, and I never thought of inviting you over to mine. Just something random I thought this morning, you know? Kinda like a 'return the favor' type of deal?"

She was right. You never really asked because you assumed it wasn't a big deal - not that she was treating it like one, anyway - but now that she mentioned it, you were somewhat interested.

"Is it far?"

"Nope. It's just over town."

"Like...near town or literally...over it?"

"Literally."

"Ooo."

You usually assumed her house, like Fluttershy's, would've been ground-based, rather than skybound. Interestingly enough, you've never visited a cloud home. You haven't even visited Cloudsdale before, as far as you can tell.

You were interested. Not bouncing-off-the-walls interested, but interested nonetheless.

"Aaaand if you want, you could join the Mile High Club with me."

Okay, maybe a bit more interested.

The flight on over to her home was relatively short, though that was likely because the two of you were flying at a decent pace. From up high, Ponyville looked like a child's playset, and the residents were mere ants crawling about. In the distance, Canterlot was visible and standing just as majestic as it had ever been, with the mountains around it glistening with the morning sunshine.

When the two of you arrived at Rainbow's home, initially it looked small from far away. But of course, context is everything. Her house up close over stood any Ponyville home by default. It was like a mansion in the sky!

Upon further inspection the closer the two of you were, you noticed that parts her home were in fact made with marble or stone, and you asked how something as fragile as a cloud could hold it together.

"Really, it's just unicorn magic. I don't exactly remember the whole lecture Twilight gave, but basically unicorns are the reason I have a home," she said with a grateful smirk.

Upon opening the door, she gestured you to go in first. You insisted she did, but wanted you to take in the "awesome glamour" first.

So you stepped inside, and immediately the feeling of stepping on clouds was gone, and the feeling of cold marble tickled your hooves.

"It's a bit chilly, don't you think?"

"Well, duh. We're like a thousand feet in the air. Of course it's gonna be chilly." She playfully stuck a tongue out at you. "C'mon, I'll give you the grand tour."

Rainbow spent the next ten or so minutes showing you around her home. It was more of a speedy tour, but you were able to see every room and appliance she had. Interestingly, the only big room in the entire house was the entrance or "lobby." But overall, the house itself was a condominium in the clouds.

"Cloudominium."

Of course.

The last room she showed you was the bedroom, as it was more or less the barest and "most boring" room in the house, according to her.

While most of the house was plastered with Wonderbolts memorabilia and fancy statues, the bedroom looked just as normal as yours, with some pictures hanging on the walls, a couple of dressers, and the bed with a couple of nightstands.

And the tortoise tank. You noticed that too.

"This is my pet Tank," she boasted. "He's a bit of a goof, but he's my goof."

She allowed you to give him a couple of pets, and interestingly, he leaned himself into your hoof, giving you a comforting smile.

"Hehe, looks like he recognizes you," she remarks. You knew he looked a tad bit familiar, but you had no memories of him prior to today. You figure it will come back anytime now.

Wouldn't it be nice if it was a spontaneous thing?

So long as it wasn't painful.

Rainbow flew over to her bed and laid down, beckoning you over to lay with her. Whether or not it was more than a "friendly" beckon, you came over and plopped yourself down next to the pegasus. She laughed at the casualness of it and started to kiss you for the first time in...well, twenty minutes.

She always loved it. You always loved it.

Didn't you?

After a few moments of tender smooching, the two of you pulled away to catch your breath.

"After this, what do you wanna do next?" she asked you in between breaths.

"Maybe," you started, "Maybe Munchy's? We've always passed that and it just looks interesting."

"Munchy's is great," she sparked. "The burgers blow every other place here out of the water, no doubt."

She kissed you again, shorter this time, before pulling away and getting up from the bed, remembering something.

"I gotta go check on something downstairs. I'll be back in a sec."

"Alright."

With a quick skip of her hooves and a wiggle of her rump, Dash was out the door.

You laughed to yourself. Ever since the two of you started...she's become different, more active and playful...more teasing. She's like Pinkie, only...

Without the sugar? More showing off? Not as peppy?

It was close enough. You didn't hate it, but it was definitely something interesting to look at.

In more ways than one.

Laying on your back, you stared to the ceiling. It wasn't marble like the floor and walls, but rather pure cloud. You were sure you could just go right through it if you tried. What would happen if it rained? Would it brush off the side of the house? Manual removal?

You then turned your attention to other parts of the room. Whether it'd be the pictures on the wall or Tank in his...tank, anything interested you.

That included the crumpled up paper in the trash that had your name written on it.

You weren't one to eavesdrop. You were sure you weren't like that before, and there was no reason to start now.

But...this was intriguing. Why was your name on a paper in the garbage?

You had to check it out. It couldn't hurt, could it?

Using your strength, you got up from the bed and snuck your way over to the bedroom. With a brief glimpse over to the tank, you could see Dash's pet look on with...was that concern?

You didn't know tortoises could do that.

"Don't worry, little guy," you try and comfort him, "Just being a weirdo."

You assumed he would've laughed - or rather, the tortoise equivalent of a laugh - but all he did was smile in a weak manner.

Again, no idea.

Reaching the trashcan, you slowly and carefully pick up the piece of paper at the top and start to unravel it. As soon as the entire thing was readable, you scrolled your eyes across the words.

He reminds me so much of him. I'm sick of him, but he's nothing like him. What he did to me...

It's like every stallion I meet always turns out like...ever since then...

I don't even know what to write at this point.

She then mentioned your name.

Every time I look at him, all I see is Grace.

It ended there.

You sat there, somewhat dumbfounded and confused. She's sick of you? Was?

Who is Grace?

You were curious. You wanted to know more. You felt bad digging through it, but...

There's at least one reason she threw this away.

You grabbed another piece of paper, flattened it, and read it. It was three days after the one you just read.

Every time I see him, I want to call him Grace. Does that make me a bad pony? It should, but I can't help it. I don't...

I don't hate his name. But just call him Grace...it's funny, in a way. It helps.

He tried to hang out with me and AJ today. We were both busy. He just smiled and walked off.

I laughed. It was just...creepy.

Another paper. The next day. She called you Grace this time. She wrote it like a joke. It was nothing more but talk about something you did when she was around.

That was when she insulted you. Moron.

Grace just nearly burned down AJ's farm! Over a bucking hay bale! That moron nearly cost her her home! Why isn't AJ more pissed? I'd be fuming! If I didn't know any better, I'd smack him!

I did?

You read on. Every new page you read, some in order and others not, were more and more bitter with each new entry. Every page marked your mistakes. None of them marked any accomplishment, funny moment, or even a sappy moment.

Every thing was of a moment that you fucked up, to put it even lightly.

Grace this.

Grace that.

You wanted it to stop. You wanted it to just end, and yet you kept on reading. You didn't know why. Maybe it was because she...was she?

Is she just playing you? Lying to you, using you? Is that what this whole thing was about? Is this what she was talking about? Was she hoping you'd never find this out so she could just do...this over and over?

Use your body?

No. No, she couldn't be like that. She isn't that kind of mare, and you believed that. You held onto that belief and tried to hold on as tightly as you could.

But as soon as you read the last, crumpled up page, you started to let it go.

This time, it was a party.

Grace. He... he...! That... he burned down a bucking house! He burned it down, nearly set the whole damned town on fire! With a single lamp! A LAMP!

I lost it. I told him off in front of everyone. Twilight, Pinkie, AJ, Lyra, I didn't care. Everyone saw it, and everyone heard it. Every word. Selfish, careless, arrogant, and...trouble. I didn't let up. I told him the world would be better off without him.

Dead.

They all said I went too far, but I didn't go far enough. He bucking deserved every bit of it. Buck him.

...

Wow. Just...wow.

You didn't think she hated you that much. Hated...

Hate.

What was it anymore? It was written months ago. Did she still believe it, somewhere deep in her mind? Did she hate you?

Does she still?

A feeling started to form in you. It was like a feeling of sadness, but you could sense frustration, anger even.

Betrayal.

Was that it? Did you feel betrayed? You had to have. She betrayed you, lied to you-

"You're gonna start remembering-"

This? This?!

You heard a sound at the door. Dash stood there, staring at you. You didn't notice she came back upstairs.

The way she looked at you. She could tell.

"I-I can ex-"

"Stop."

"Just let me-"

"Stop!"

You never yelled at her before.

She froze, her eyes frozen with tears. You saw her body shake, just slighty. She didn't know what to do.

For a moment, you didn't care. So quickly, you didn't.

"I can't talk to you right now."

She watched your face change as you made for the door. You wanted to leave.

As you passed by her, she said your real name. You wanted to mention this "Grace," to spite her, taunt her.

A part of you chose not to.

She touched your shoulder, but you pulled away.

"Don't. Just don't."

You looked at her, and her you. You both were hurt in your own way, but you didn't comfort her, even if she wanted to comfort you.

You went down to the front door, opened it up, and left her alone.

You never felt so alone.

I never felt so alone.

I didn't follow him. I didn't deserve to follow him.

The moment the door shut, it was quiet, only its noise echoing throughout the home for several moments. When it faded away, there was nothing; not a single chirp of a bird, not a single step of a hoof.

It was truly quiet.

I think it was the first time I ever really noticed quiet. For such a long time, I was surrounded by others talking around me, talking to me, the sounds of laughter and crying and all kinds of noise that just made the world feel alive.

And now that he was gone...nothing.

I wanted to follow him. I really did. But I was left with two choices, and that was to follow him and make it worse, or let him be and hopefully settle everything out.

And have him leave me.

My head was rushing with thoughts. My mind was still holding the belief that everything was fine: This was no big deal, everything was okay and would be okay if I just waited. I was still thinking he would just come back and forgive me, or ignore it and let the past be the past.

But it wasn't okay. I...

I...

I sat against the wall, just beside my bedroom door, staring at the wall opposite of me. I could feel my heart beating with this unrelenting force, like something was trying to claw its way out. It hurt. Or maybe I thought it hurt, and it was just...me.

Silence was all that filled the house. I could hear a ring in my ears if I listened close enough.

I could hear my heart beat.

Boom-boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom.

I sat down for a minute, just a minute, before I got back up and headed back into my room. There were papers, all over the place, scattered across the floor. I wasn't mad - why would I be mad?

Reaching down to the floor, I picked up every single one. I wanted to turn my head away, not read them. But with each paper I picked up, my eyes darted to each word I ever wrote on them.

There's only so much a mare can take before she loses her marbles. He's been pushing it a lot lately.

The first two sentences were all I could read before I picked up the next paper. The month of North Light.

Hearts and Hooves Day. A time of celebration, lovey-dovey stuff, cider, and a time to spend with friends.

Oh, yeah. I can tell this is his favorite day.

It was sarcastic. I hoped it was sarcastic.

I wanted it to be sarcastic. I never meant...

You're a bucking liar.

The next paper.

Grace-

No.

NO.

NONONONONO-

With a torrent of anger releasing all at once, I threw the papers into the air and slammed my hoof into the nightstand with all the strength I could muster, screaming 'BUCK' again and again. I couldn't remember how many times I just punched it over and over again, whack after loud, blistering whack. What did it ever do to me?

By the time it was over, my hoof was sore and bleeding. I couldn't stop it from shaking. It hurt. It hurt all over, not only to touch it, but to even move it around.

I broke my hoof. I don't know how many bones, but I knew that I broke it.

Maybe Kinny can...

Kinny.

Did she ever know what I said? What I did?

Would she hate me for it? Has she ever held a grudge against anypony, for any reason?

I ignored those thoughts and focused on my hoof. My shade of blue was turning purple around it, black and blue, as the damage started to show. I turned to the nightstand. There were several dents in its top where I struck it. They were nowhere close to big, but they still showed. The paint that made it white was partially chipped away in a spot. I hit it hard.

Then a sound to my left caught my attention. Tank had been watching me hurt myself over and over, and all he could do was try and hide under pebbles.

"Oh," I whispered to myself, a blank, but at the same time sad tone emitting from the phrase.

I didn't walk over to his tank, I hovered my way to it. With my uninjured hoof, I lifted tank out of his enclosure and held him carefully. He looked up to me with those old-man's beady eyes of his; he was worried.

"Tank, buddy, I'm sorry," I told him straight, my tone more sincere this time. The way he looked at me, it was like he wasn't sure if I was telling the truth or just lying to make him feel better.

But then there was that smile of his: It was one that seemed like a mixture of a real smile and nothing but a facade. I didn't want to ask him about it. Even if I did, it wasn't likely he could tell me with anything more than a nod or a shake of his head.

Instead, I just hugged him. I hugged him tightly and didn't let him go for what seemed like a long time, and he embraced it. I could tell when the poor thing was afraid, either for me or for himself or for anything or anyone he knew and loved.

"Momma's alright."

I laughed at myself. I cringed at the thought of calling myself 'momma' or 'mom' or even 'mommy.' Maybe it was because I'd never be gifted with children of my own, or maybe it was because it was just an awkward title to have myself.

And yet, here I was, telling my pet that I was his mother, and I was going to be okay.

Was I going to be okay?

I wanted to know the answer for that.

Don't.

I pushed it away and started to cry, the hardest I've cried since...

Since he died.

To think this day was going to be so... great.

And now the future...

What was my future? What was our future?

Author's Notes:

I know, I know, I'm a lazy cuck who takes too long to update stories. I blame writer's block. If it was a person, I'd give it the ol' President Garrison method.

Sometimes I hate making cringe author's notes, but hey, at least I'm not boring.

I started working on this chapter since I published the last chapter, and I was really going to finish this over a couple days and get it out of the way. That ended up becoming months. Whoops.

On the other hand, I've been doing other stuff, such as making music and writing for other stories. I finally finished this Code Lyoko fanfiction yesterday that I first started writing nearly 3 years ago. I've been really wanting to write more stuff this holiday break, but y'know, holidays and...and porn.

So, I really want to finish off this second act and post the whole thing over to Fanfiction.net, where it will be what you see here. THEN I plan to retcon the whole "methane explosion destroys Equestria" timeline that even I think is a bit dumb (cool if it was any other story, though!). THEN I will continue Act 3 with the retcon in mind, as to which Act 3 is the planned final act of this story, which I want to finish before 2018 is out - and if not 2018, then before 2019 is out. :P

As for the drama in this chapter, the intention that I was going for was to kind of show the mental reaction of Rainbow upon being exposed. Whether it's overdone or just right, let me know.

As for the filler, I'm also sorry about that. That will also be "retconned" - cut down and squeezed into other chapters.

When I first started this story two years ago, I was really enjoying it, but lately I started running out of steam. At the same time, I really enjoy it and want to finish it. Then again, that's what I get for working on twenty other stories at the same time over the past nearly six years.

So, once this story is done, and I finally slap the 'completed' tag on it, it will probably feel like one of the biggest nuts back cracks I've ever busted cracked.

Also sorry for this long ass author's note. If you managed to read this far, here, have a 🅱ookie, now go lie down and don't die.