Rainbow Dash blazed west across the sky at speeds that were utterly phenomenal, even for a pegasus of her talents. Rainbow Dash ripped eastward through the sky at a speed slightly higher even than her other self. Adjustments would need to be made for this to work correctly.

There had been no calculations. That wasn’t the way Dash did things. She had always hated those math problems with the two trains going opposite directions. She would simply FEEL the right thing to do, as she always did when performing her stunts.

Whether by instinct or skill or blind luck, the necessary corrections were made. In the tiniest fraction of a second during which they crossed paths, both speedsters simultaneously slipped through the sound barrier. Two Sonic Rainbooms exploded not across the sky, but upward into the atmosphere. Slipping back and forth across time, Rainbow Dash had gotten plenty of practice and no longer needed the assistance of gravity to reach super-sonic speeds. The brilliant rainbow halo could now expand outward at any angle she chose to fly at. For THIS trick, however, the angle was unimportant.

The incredible force that pulled in the wake of the explosion was being countered by an equally incredible force in the opposite direction. The effect was stunning. Everything caught nearby was thrust into the infinitesimally small space between the blasts and torn asunder. Every ray of light was ripped into its component colors, further enhancing the already awe inspiring display. It wasn’t just a pretty rainbow effect hanging in the air. It was as if a small part of reality itself had been converted into a rainbow. It was perfect. It was ART.

Rainbow Dash could not be blamed for not hearing the strange noise at the center of the spectacle. It was completely drowned out by the thunderous ‘boom’ portion of the trick. There probably wasn’t anypony who could have heard it, but it was there. Somewhere in the middle of it all, there was a faint tearing sound… almost like a piece of cloth being ripped in half.

---------------------------------------------------

“Really? Rainbow Dash and APPLEJACK? That’s almost as unlikely as Applejack and Rarity!”

“I know, I know. I wasn’t expecting it either. And it wasn’t… ISN’T exactly easy making sure everything works. But you won’t have to worry about any of this because apparently it never happened! You’ve gone quite a bit past the point where Dash should’ve shown up.” Twilight Sparkle frowned. “I still don’t understand what exactly this all means. You’re not from the same… gosh I don’t even have a word here… you’re not from the same point of origin as us. I have no idea where, or what, you’re from or how you got here. It makes enough sense to assume that whatever process brought you and your Ponyville here was off slightly and that’s how you ended up in the sky. I don’t think it’s possible, but the only explanation that makes sense as to why my Ponyville has moved is that I teleported it. My memory is hazy, but it seems to fit and it would explain why I was unconscious when you found me.”

“Far be it from me to tell you you’re wrong. If anything you have the intellectual advantage here from what sounds like quite a lot of deep study. Maybe casting all those time travel spells has been kind of like ‘training’ and your magic has been getting more powerful without you realizing it?”

“That can’t be the case. The spell was only really complicated to figure out. It’s really pretty easy to actually cast and doesn’t take much energy at all. Almost all the power behind it comes from Dash’s Rainbooms.”

“Do you think you could teach me?”

“As much as I know this is going to disappoint you, no I can’t. Until I get a solid grasp of what exactly is going on here, I think it would be best if nopony went backward or forward through time at any rate besides one second forward per second.”

---------------------------------------------------

Applejack pushed the bits into the bucket and thanked her latest customer. Sales today had been good. Not great, but nothing to complain about. She was happy enough, most of the time. She worked hard, but it felt good. She loved her family, and she was thankful for her wonderful friends. But any time she found a herself alone, her mood would sour. Something was wrong with her life, but she couldn’t put her hoof on what.

As she stood, thinking the same thoughts again, her smile started to fall. So did the town beneath her.

The dust cleared and the hardy earth pony stood. She coughed once and looked around. Whatever just happened, it had been a doozy. Was that Twilight running off down the street? Losing sight of her friend around a corner, Applejack took off after her. As athletic as she was, it was too difficult to follow a pony at full gallop through streets this full. The ever shifting crowd could present plenty of space for one pony to get through before crashing together and completely blocking the next. She lost sight of the lavender unicorn again just before rounding a corner to see… Ponyville?

That sure did look like Ponyville over there, but that didn’t make a lick of sense because Ponyville was right HERE. Without even realizing it, Applejack had begun to canter toward the other Ponyville. Somewhere between the two towns, she stopped when a familiar voice called out to her.

“AJ! Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Rainbow! No, I can’t rightly say ah’ve got any idea. There was some sorta crash an’ when ah got up ah saw Twilight gallopin’ off. Ah followed her for a bit, but ah lost sight of her. And then, well then ah saw THIS!” Applejack made a sweeping gesture with her front hooves, pointing toward the two towns.

Rainbow Dash landed softly next to Applejack and nuzzled her gently, eliciting a soft gasp and a light blush from the oblivious mare. “I’m sure everything’ll be fine. That egghead probably just invented some new crazy magic again, but this time it’s not gonna involve us.”

“Rainbow, ah’m not entirely sure what yer goin’ on about but…”

“It’s just a guess. Don’t worry about it.” She turned away and looked back, lowering her voice into the most seductive tone she could manage and lightly flicking her tail across the front of Applejack’s neck. “See you tonight.” She spread her wings and flew off.

Applejack’s mouth hung open slightly. That interaction had doubled her heart rate and brought an entirely uncomfortable amount of heat to her face. A few months ago she had realized how she felt about the other mare, and she had always hoped her friend would return her feelings, but… THAT was awfully sudden. Applejack was confused and aroused. Mostly confused.