Disclaimer: I don't own Hasbro, or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Somebody else does. Lucky bastard.

Chapter 3: Raindrops and Teardrops

Dusk had finally settled over Ponyville, the ponies and other minority species working to retire the terrene town underneath the tender glow that remained, while it remained. The unicorns and earth ponies worked together in the twilit tranquility, closing up shops for the night, and watering their many gardens before retiring to their homes and families. The pegasus ponies continued their work unabated, laboring together to smooth out the dark clouds into an ever-growing blanket over the denizens of the small city.

A number of ponies had chosen to glance toward the remnants of the sunset, and many of them had given a double-take in that direction, as a rainbow had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, brightening up the normally tranquil atmosphere in a striking display.

Rainbow Dash soared through the dimming skies of lavender and dark grey, tearing past the many pegasus ponies hovering to and fro. She had no destination, only the purpose of escaping the consuming ache of shame and depravity she could not help feeling as Applejack's furious countenance drifted through her mind.

"I thought ah could depend on you…"

Unconsciously she began picking up speed, the colors below blending into a dark, purple miasma. Withdrawing inside of herself, she desperately searched for the sense of thrill, for the rush of adrenaline that would overtake her, drowning out the worries of the world and emptying her mind of the despair that threatened to engulf her.

"And what've you got to show? NOTHIN'!"

Even with her wings beating at full force, the haze of pre-Sonic Rainboom cloud collection beginning to form, she felt so slow.

"…y'all are so WORTHLESS!"

Against her will, she began to see trace images being cast against the opaque shielding of gray in front of her, watching her memories unfold in agonizing slowness…

It had almost been a year since she had left the academy. Today was a clear and sunny day, perfect for venturing down to the world below. Sparing a glance toward the barely visible community in the clouds above her, the blue filly turned her attention down a long stretch of straight meadow ground sparsely populated with trees and flowers, while casually munching on an apple.

It was here where she had touched down to the earth for the first time so long ago, in all of its summer glory that bloomed into a picture-perfect replica of that special day. She had chosen this particular place many a day that she sought to fill the previously-studious hours of her young life, whether it be to run through a flying routine, to laze away the day with a nap in the swaying branches of a tree, or just to get away from the lonely clouds during school hours.

Today was special, however, as she had decided to dedicate her time to start practice on her soon-to-be second signature move….

She called it the Super Speed Strut, and it was one that required precision and… grace over speed, despite the catchy name, an ability the young teenager often found herself lacking. However, she had mastered the element of confidence…

And enough of that could make up for anything in her book.

A few wing-flutters to loosen up the tension, a crack of the back, and one twitch of the neck later, she settled her gaze on the grass ahead, donning her trademark smirk. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath… and brought her wings down hard, launching herself straight upwards. Ten seconds of furious flapping, and she was already halfway up to Cloudsdale, rising higher and higher…

So she folded her wings back in, stalled, and allowed herself to gently tip backwards, smiling as she felt the euphoria of weightlessness for all of a second, her colored mane flowing out in front of her face, before twisting and plummeting back down toward the earth.

She reached forward with both hooves, ignoring the light whistling noise that increased in volume as she gained speed, the land steadily growing in detail as she could make out the individual flowers in every bunch, the direction the leaves on the trees swayed in the wind…

A trail of ants marching in a line away from the apple core she carelessly tossed away moments ago.

With all of the strength in her wings, she brought them out, pulling out of her dive at a flawless ninety-degree angle. Waves of dust flowing behind her, she brought her hooves parallel to the speeding ground below, and began a graceful strut. The tension in her legs was almost too much to keep up with her velocity, but she pushed through it with every step, teeth clenching with every furiously gentle hoof-touch, the pain causing her eyes to squint.

Which caused a single rock to slip out of her pegasus-precision eyesight.

Her back right leg caught the object hard, tipping her balance forward and to the left. It was a phenomenon she could relate to very easily, that split-second where time seemed to stop long enough for her to realize… that it wasn't long enough. A stubbed hoof, a bump to the head, she'd experienced them more times that she would prefer to admit. But something told her within that paradoxical time frame that this was going to hurt.

A lot.

Instinctively she recalled the lesson from her old "Crash Course" class, the very same class she had received her endearing nicker-name from the three bozos that still found the time to heckle her whenever they were near. Quickly thanking Celestia in the back of her mind, she folded her wings in, tucked her legs under herself, and jerked her head down, attempting to bounce off the ground in a roll, and catch the air with her wings in hopes of slowing herself down with minimal damage.

But she overshot. Her body still lurched dangerously to the side, catching her shoulder, and sending her into a rapid corkscrew when she unfolded her wings out of panic. She spun through the air, unable to readjust her bearings, when her world was suddenly brought to a stand-still, a dull *crack!* echoing in the back of her consciousness.

And then she felt the pain.

Her vision danced with colored dots as she cried out in agony, her throat too taunt to scream the way her twinging body urged her to. She panted hoarsely as she lay sprawled on the ground, the fuzz of semi-consciousness surrounding her being in a medley of pain and delirium.

She couldn't tell how long it had been until she decided to try and stand up. It could have been a few minutes, a half an hour, or even half of the day. Laying on her side, she could see the sun shining above her at a slight angle, indicating sometime close to midday.

Not that she really cared at this point.

Summing up all of the willpower she could, Rainbow Dash began flexing her legs. A growing pain began building up inside of her right leg. Not good. Testing the tension in her front legs revealed them both to be fine. Inhaling deeply through her nose, she shut her eyes tightly, and started pushing herself up off of the ground. Numbness began spreading across her body starting from her spine, and unable to support her own weight she collapsed once again, yelping from the pain stemming from falling on top of her injured leg.

"Hey guys, look! It's Rainbow Crash!"

Oh no… not now. Please, not now!

Try as she might, she found herself unable to move from her prone position, and so she helplessly looked toward the source of the call. Three teenage pegasus ponies touched down in front of her, one with a chocolate coat and cream colored hair, one with a grey coat and black hair, and the last having a caramel-colored coat, with long brown hair that covered his eyes.

"Whoa, look at her wing." The chocolate-coated pegasus spoke up. "Looks pretty bad. What'd you do this time, Rainbow Crash?"

"Sh-shut up…" she croaked in a low voice, struggling to keep the tears of pain and shame back.

"Ha, she totally wrecked that tree, look!" The caramel-coated pony laughed, pointing at the indentation in the tree behind her. The other two joined in as Rainbow Dash struggled to get onto her feet, pushing past the pain with anger and righteous indignation.

"Yeah? Like you've never…heh… crashed before. I'm just the only pony… stallion enough to do it at full speed." she groaned, cracking a small grin. The chocolate-coated pegasus scoffed.

"Oh yeah? Well we're not the ones flying into trees and breaking our wings. Face it Rainbow Crash, you're just one big failure after another!" he sneered.

"…y'all are so WORTHLESS!"

Rainbow glared back at him, struggling to maintain her balance.

"Just shut up and wait… I'm g-gonna join the Wonderbolts someday… and I'll make you eat those words!" she yelled. The three bullies started laughing again.

"Yeah right, like you could ever make the team. They'd never let a pegasus in who couldn't even graduate from Flight School. Speaking of which…" the chocolate-coated pegasus reached into one of his saddle-bags, pulling out a piece of paper. "…you just missed graduation day. And guess what? We've got our diplomas!"

"So what? Who cares about some stupid piece of paper…" she trailed off, looking uncertain.

"Well maybe if you stayed in school, you'd have learned that every single one of the Wonderbolts graduated from Flight School!" he chuckled, seeing the dawning look of dirt-stained horror on Rainbow Dash's face. "Well too bad for you, we've got a better chance of getting into the Wonderbolts than you do! We actually graduated Flight School…"

"And what've you got to show? NOTHIN'!"

The three burst into laughter once again, Rainbow Dash collapsing on the spot in disbelief and humiliation as she helplessly watched the three take to the skies, calling back to her as they left her behind.

"Have fun walking all the way to Ponyville, Rainbow Crash!"

That day, they had left her behind. They had abandoned her in the middle of the field, leaving her to the lonely and excruciating half a day's walk back to the earth pony town. She recalled the bitterness she had felt, a wrench in her heart that hurt even more than when the Ponyville nurses had to reset her wing back into place later that evening.

That day, she had vowed to never let that happen to anypony.

She would be loyal to everypony who needed her to be.

'I'd never leave my friends hangin'.

And today, she had finally broken that credo. To the one pony who needed her the most, and who mattered the most to her.

Every flap of her wings that brought her farther away from her friends only served to worsen her feelings. She flew higher and higher, into the midst of the dark rain clouds, her vision becoming completely obstructed.

Maybe... if she didn't know where she was going, she would not be able to find her way back. She could never go back.

'WE DON'T NEED YOU HERE! AND I DON'T WANT YOU HERE NEITHER!'

She had to go faster, she needed to get away from it all…

*CRACK!*

Numbness spread throughout her being as her body suddenly went slack, the only sensation being the searing, white-hot pain in her right wing. Lightly scraping against what she hazily presumed to be a mountain side, she felt herself begin a slow spiral through the dark and misty sky, beginning to descend. She closed her eyes as she began losing feeling in her body…

And the last thing she saw was the old Stetson flying from above her, and plummeting down through the storm clouds.

"They don't need me here… and I don't want to be here, either."

Her legs ached, her lungs burned...

But the screaming in her heart kept her going.

Applejack raced across the windy fields of Ponyville, in the direction where the slowly-fading rainbow above her would surely lead her to Rainbow Dash. The sun had long since disappeared from view behind the dimming skies, the vitality of the world around her slowly fading into nightfall.

There was no time to rest, she had to hurry. The pegasus ponies were due to start the downpour any moment now, and through the rain and darkness she would have no hope of finding her friend.

…if she could still call herself the same.

'Why? Why'd I say those things to Rainbow?'

She had grown especially close to Rainbow Dash as the years had gone by, closer than any of her other four best friends. Sure, they had their quarrels same as any other two ponies, but everything would always work out for the better in the end, the bonds of friendship between the two growing stronger after each and every challenge thrown between them.

One day was all it had taken for her to throw it all away.

'What have I done?'

She had always admired Rainbow Dash as somepony who shared her values. Both were a headstrong set of mares. If they saw something they wanted, they went for it, and held no reservations about getting down and dirty in the process.

They were both hard workers, surely enough. The two had even been designated team leaders in last year's Winter Wrap-Up!

But most importantly, the two of them would always help out a friend in need. She would admit that it could be a chore to get her rainbow-maned friend to help her out with a previous commitment, but if it was important, she would come through in the end, honest-to-goodness.

Honest…

The word suddenly echoed throughout her mind, filling the void of inquiry and drowning out the sounds of the coming storm around her.

"Big Macintosh, Granny Smith! I'm home! I'm home!"

The sun was shining over the lush, autumn hills as a young and freckle-faced Applejack raced down the dirt path of the apple orchard, past the coloring trees and buckets of apples, calling out for the two ponies that ran the farm.

Surely enough, she could see them waiting beneath the vine-covered gate to the property, both smiling and looking so happy to see her. Overjoyed, she ran right up next to the two ponies she called family, who wordlessly nuzzled her with affection.

"Oh Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, I missed y'all so much…" Applejack whispered, returning their love in full.

"We missed you, little AJ." Big Macintosh replied in a quiet, deep voice. Applejack sunk deeper into the hug, leaning against her big brother's red body. After a moment Granny Smith pulled away, and started a slow walk toward the picnic area, motioning for the two to follow.

"Well get a move on, young lady! There's a lot to do before we can celebrate tonight." the old pony called back, smiling.

"Aww Granny Smith, y'all don't need to throw me a party. I'm jus' glad to be home for good." the orange filly replied, tilting her head. Big Macintosh walked up next to her.

"I dunno, AJ. I'd say this here –he pointed to her- is definitely something to celebrate." he stated. Applejack blushed, lightly jabbing her brother in the side.

"Aww, thanks Big Mac. But really, it's fine."

Big Macintosh made no motion to lower his hoof. Granny Smith's toothless smile widened.

"…why are y'all lookin' at me like that?" asked Applejack after a moment, shifting uncomfortably. Big Macintosh gave her a sly look.

"Well why don't you take a look yourself? Or haven't you noticed it yet?" he asked rhetorically.

"Wha-" But she stopped her sentence short when she noticed where her brother's hoof was pointing. Looking back, she finally saw it. Through all of the excitement of the day, she had failed to notice the three red apples that had made their grand appearance on her flank.

She gasped, looking back up to Big Macintosh, who was still smiling.

"Eyup."

Applejack let out a high-pitched "Yee-haw!", and wrapped her arms around Big Macintosh, laughing as she jumped up and down.

"Ah got my cutie mark! Ah got my cutie mark!"

Granny Smith let out a hoarse chuckle after a moment, watching the celebration. "Alright, settle down young lady. Like I said, there's work to be done, and we'll need the whole Apple Family to get everything ready before tonight."

Her eyes twinkling, Granny Smith walked up to the large apple tree in the center of the picnic area, right up next to the large, rusty triangle suspended from a limb. Taking the small steel rod in her mouth, she walked over and gave it to the orange filly. Applejack looked at her grandmother in confusion, before looking up again to the red pony next to her, who was giving her a warm look.

"You didn't forget what today is, did you? Every Apple knows what today is." he said slowly. Applejack gave him a look, before it dawned on her. She remembered marking off the days she had been at the Orange residence in Manehattan on the calendar next to her window, where she would watch the sun rise every morning… how did she miss it?

Today was the Apple Family reunion!

Big Mac pushed a tree stump under the triangle, propping it up, and then looked back at her.

"Get on up there, AJ. I reckon you're big enough to help out on the farm now, and this here's a good start."

Applejack eagerly jumped up onto the log, unable to contain her excitement to the point that she almost dropped the metal rod. Biting down through a grin, she turned to look at the old triangle hanging above her, so rusty and worn out with time.

Her thoughts drifted back to her relatives in Manehattan, how fancy and prim the sweet couple had been. Living with them, it seemed so long since she had seen anything that looked so down to earth. So… familiar.

She looked back towards her kin, both of which gave her reassuring smiles. In all of her young life, she had never felt as silly as she did that she had left these wonderful folks of hers.

And never so proud that she decided to come back home.

'I knew right then just who I was s'posed to be.'

*DING-A-LING-A-LING-A-LING-A-LING!*

"SOOOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!"

Family.

It was more than just being related.

Applejack sat at one of the picnic tables, surrounded by her aunts and uncles, her cousins and other distant relatives, none of which felt like strangers to her. The whole Apple Family right here, the family whom she had come to love so very much. One whole year, and she still felt like she knew them all as well as she knew herself.

She turned to watch the sunset beyond the horizon. She could see the faint outline of Manehattan in the distance, becoming a dark shadow of buildings as the sun drifted behind the large city. It was very surreal, having grown used to watching the sunrise from her room in Manehattan, the beautiful display taking place right above Ponyville. The Orange's apartment was suited on the east side of the building, and didn't have a window from which she would watch the setting sun, a sight she sorely missed.

Somehow, it felt right this way. As if her chapter in Manehattan had ended once and for all, and the morning sunrise would bring her bright future along with it, right here on the farm.

She stood up, politely excusing herself from the table, where she was greeted with a loud number of compliments and gestures from her sitting relatives. It didn't seem right to feel so quiet and philosophical with all of her kin around her, but she couldn't help it. She simply could not bring herself to mingle with the rest of them in this state.

She walked over towards the well, where some of her cousins had decided to play apple-catch. Watching the fillies and colts play with each other, tossing apples and calling out each other's names in such a familiar manner… she still felt so out of place.

'Maybe I just need some time alone. Why don't I go… visit my old room? Maybe that'll help clear my head.'

She stopped walking to the well, and about faced, starting towards the east end of the property when one of the colts called out to her from the game.

"Hey Applejack, where ya goin' coz? Don'tcha wanna play with us?" one of the young colts her age asked. Applejack glanced back towards the pony who addressed her.

"I would, but… I just need some time to myself, Braeburn. I'll be back, just gonna head to my room for a spell." she replied, trotting away from the picnic area at a slow pace.

"Okay, don't be too long!" he called out to her, running toward the other fillies and colts tossing apples to one another.

The young Applejack smiled, watching her cousin joining in with the apple-toss, before turning back to the dirt path heading to the hill behind the barn.

Oh how she relished the feeling of dirt beneath her hooves, and the welcoming smell of hay and apples! The wind was breezing by so naturally, untouched by skyscrapers and alleyways. No bright city lights to obstruct the birthing stars above her in their twilight splendor. Why, the hay bales and haystacks were all lined up along the path right where she remembered them before heading off to Manehattan!

Passing the last field of crops, she finally made it to the old brown house in the back of the property. She tread up the familiar wooden steps, her ears taking delight in each noise-shattering squeak that issued whenever she set her foot down, and even more so with the slow *crrreeeeeaaak!* that came from the old door when she opened it. There was no light inside, but she knew the layout of the building by heart.

Making her way through the darkness, she blindly trotted up the stairs into the loft, mentally counting each step. Reaching out for the door, she found it and pushed it open. She walked in, and mechanically reached up and to the right, turning on a gas lamp suspended to the wall with effortless ease.

The room, and all of her memories with it were instantly illuminated as the tiny flame above her brought the two to light before her. Nothing had changed since she had left, from her single-pony bed against the wall, the dresser on the side where she kept her work clothes, not even the log Big Macintosh had hauled up to her room for her last birthday, so she could practice apple-bucking when the season had passed.

But what really caught her eye was that the room was perfectly clean. Walking up to the bed, she could smell the fresh detergent in the sheets, dust free and looking cleaner than the day she left. The dresser had been dusted, oiled even, and the floor was perfectly swept.

Speaking of, she could feel a set of hooves vibrating through the floor, and her ears picked up the memorable creaking of the stairs that led to her room, when the clacking hoofsteps stopped behind her.

She didn't even have to turn around.

"Y'all knew that I… that I'd be comin' back this whole time, didn't you?"

"…Eyup."

Applejack turned to face her brother who stood in the doorway, lightly glowing red in the lamplight. Without a word spoken between them, she ran up and hugged him tight, fresh tears soaking into his orange mane.

"Oh Big Macintosh, it was awful, just awful! It weren't nothin' like I was expectin', all them high-class ponies judgin' me an' makin' me feel like such a fool! I tried so hard to change for them, because I was so afraid of lettin' my folks down!

The orange filly hugged the teenager tighter, her voice suddenly becoming quiet.

"I… I missed y'all so very much… Down here on the farm, bein' myself was good enough for all of you. I don't gotta pretend to be somepony I'm not, because the folks here in Ponyille love me for who I am… and that should have been good enough for me."

The red teenager said nothing as Applejack continued, her grip going slack.

"I love my Aunt n' Uncle Orange, I really do. They're such sweet folks, and they loved me like family. But no matter how much they taught me, no matter how hard I tried… I just wasn't good enough for them…"

"Now hold on a minute, little sis." Big Macintosh interrupted, pulling away, and looking into his little sister's watery eyes. "You've always been good enough for them, for 't go lettin' yourself think that there was something wrong with you in the first place, because there never was."

Big Macintosh smiled. "Granny Smith and I let you go to Manehattan because we wanted you to learn a valuable lesson, a lesson that you wouldn't have learned if we made you stay here on the farm."

"What lesson?" Applejack asked, frowning. Big Macintosh sat down on the floor next to her.

"Well, you've already told me most of what you've found out. What else did you learn?"

Applejack paused, looking down at the floor.

"Well… I learned that what I wanted was right here."

"And what's that?"

"I-I want to live with ponies who love me for who I am. I want… I want to be who I want to be, and not somepony else. Here on the farm, everything's so simple. We don't pretend to be better than each other, or more successful. We're always thinkin' about each other and what we can do to help out the family… and the good folks of Ponyville." Applejack paused, before continuing in an even quieter voice.

"I left… because I wanted to live a better life. Because I thought I could be better by actin' like some fancy pony. But I was lyin' to myself the whole walk there. Aunt Orange was right, all I was doin' was actin'."

"So what does that mean you have to do?"

"It means… It means I gotta be honest with myself before I can go about bein' honest with everypony else."

Big Macintosh beamed, and pulled the orange filly into a big hug. Both ponies sat there, enjoying the warm silence for a moment, before he spoke up again, his voice beginning to quaver.

"You've always been good enough for us, AJ, and you've always been good enough for them. And I reckon with what you've come to realize all by yourself, you just might be too good for them."

Applejack returned the hug in full, a rush of loving warmth rolling through her.

"Thanks, I s'pose… you always know just what t'say to me."

"…Eyup."

Applejack beamed at her older brother, the firelight dancing in her wide, sincere eyes. She felt much better than she had before, the sadness and self-disappointment melting away from her heart. She felt like herself again.

"Alright, Mac. Let's head back to the festivities." Applejack said, trotting past Big Macintosh and down the stairs, who in turn stood and followed behind her. "Cousin Braeburn's probably wonderin' why I'm not peltin' him with apples right now."

The two walked out through the open doorway in pleasant silence, and into the open world where dusk had fallen. Applejack leaped off of the porch, looking back to see that Big Macintosh had stopped in the entryway.

"Hang on, sis. I've got something for you." Big Macintosh said, walking back into the old house. The young filly huffed, turning to look back at the celebration. Somepony had lit a fire out in the fields, where she could see a large number of ponies sitting around in a large circle, doing who knows what.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a light whirling noise in the air behind her, and she felt something soft, but weighted land on her head, obstructing her eyesight.

"Good to see I haven't lost my touch at horseshoes. Not too many ponies to play against since you left, AJ."

Applejack reached a hoof to take off whatever had landed on her head, mumbling about older brothers and their need to show off at inappropriate times. She took it off and brought it level to her face, eyes slowly growing wide.

It was the most beautiful brown Stetson she had ever laid eyes on. It looked perfectly new, no creases or marks were visible. It smelled of sweet leather, and the material was just as sturdy, and not at all uncomfortable to the touch. The hat was a little big for her head, but she would grow into it in time.

As she silently examined her present, Big Macintosh started up behind her.

"Me and Granny Smith got this for your birthday right before you left. I noticed you eyeing it on our last trip to Ponyville before you left. We… weren't sure whether the Oranges would take kindly to you wearin' it around the house all the time, so we decided to save it for a different occasion."

Applejack didn't turn back, but instead sat on her haunches, holding the hat close.

"…you really did know I was coming back." she sighed.

"I figured you'd like it… it's uncanny, you look just like she did with it on."

Applejack blinked back a pair of tears. "Just like mom…" she whispered. Big Macintosh nodded.

"She was the most dependable of ponies… and I reckon she'd be proud to know that you're following in her hoofsteps, right behind her."

Applejack broke out into a wide smile at that. Standing up, she flipped the hat up into the air with an idle hoof, and let it land on her head, turning towards her brother with a wide grin.

"Thank you, Big Macintosh. I promise to always be honest about who I am, whether people like it or not, and I promise to be honest to my friends and kin. An' I'll do it by showing them just how much I appreciate them."

The side of the red teenager's mouth turned up slightly, and he walked up next to the proud-looking pony, who started walking down the hill in turn.

"Betcha I'll grow up to be just as pretty as mom, too."

"I'm sure you will. The hat really does look good on you, AJ.

"Thanks, Big Macintosh."

"Besides, I figure you'll be glad to have one, come your first applebuck season. You looked mighty sunburnt when you got home today. "

"Well, I s'pose we can't all have your gorgeous, red c'mplexion."

Three ponies sat under the stars later that evening, listening to the crickets chirping in blended harmony. The fire pit was reduced to a small pocket of glowing coals, the only source of light on the ground as far as the eyes could see. The silhouetted horizon stretched far out, blanketed by the twinkling sky above.

"So did y'all see that rainbow up in the sky this mornin'?"

"Not so loud, AJ. Granny Smith's asleep."

"Oh, sorry. So did'ja?"

"'Shore did. The most spectacular one I've ever seen."

"That rainbow pointed right to Ponyville from where I could see. It led me straight home this mornin'."

"You know, the pegasus ponies make the rainbows up there. But I ain't never seen one like that before, it just came outta nowhere. I reckon somepony might've had an accident, or was playing a prank."

Applejack looked up toward the night sky "Well whatever it was, I'm glad it happened."

. Big Macintosh looked at the young Applejack, who stood silhouetted against the starlight, proudly adjusting her new hat.

"Someday, I'm gonna find the pony who made the rainbow that led me home, and I'll thank her sure enough for leadin' me back home. That's a promise."

Running through the fields, the trees were getting thicker and thicker, until there was a large canopy of leaves above her. The orange pony galloped through the blinding wind, and through her memories.

It was after she had learned that her best friend had made that rainbow… that she had came to realize that her affections had begun to blossom into something more, something she later came to call love.

She had never approached Rainbow Dash about it, the rainbow or her feelings. And she began to wonder if it was too late for both.

Her gaze fell to the rushing ground below her hooves.

Laying on the ground a few yards ahead… was her Stetson.

Braking hard, she walked up to it, picking it up with a shaking hoof, looking frantically for the pony who would have dropped it. She saw nopony, her gaze then settling on the hat that caught the blowing wind, trying to escape her grasp.

She had vowed all those years ago on this very hat, that she would be honest with herself, and with her fellow ponies. Like her hat, it had become her identity, her life's doctrine.

Both of which she had lost today, because she hadn't been honest with Rainbow Dash.

Applejack lowered her head, fresh tears falling from her cheeks.

How could she expect Rainbow Dash to live up to her virtue… if she couldn't do the same?

Looking up to the sky, the rainbow trail had all but dulled out into the haze of cloud cover above her. Moments later, it disappeared completely, the world around her losing the last bit of color… of life.

Those two promises she made all those years ago weighed heavily upon her as she sprinted off again, running through the darkening groves, the splintering shards from those pledges tracing lines over her heavy heart. Blinking furiously as a large leaf raked across her eye, she galloped onward through the first drops of rain, hat between her teeth.

Rainbow Dash deserved to wear this hat more than she did. And she'd be damned if she wore it again before she reclaimed her virtue.

"I'll find you, Rainbow Dash." she whispered, her words lost to the rushing wind around her. "And when I do, I'm gonna show you just how much you mean to me…"

Raindrops.

Her world was dark, and full of them.

Cold and pitiless they cascaded around her, sliding down her limp frame and through her windswept hair. Soaking into her feathers, the icy chill dulled the throbbing in her wing enough that her thoughts drifted away from the pain. She listened to the sound of water beating through the leaves above her, offering no refuge from the chilling downpour.

Hesitantly, she opened her eyes.

Teardrops.

She could feel them now, sliding down her cheeks and mingling with the dirt where she lay below. She could see the muddy grass, and the root of the tree that had brought her descent to a numbing standstill. Tilting her head, she felt something small and light shifting below her.

Leaves.

They were spread out around her, dark and faded against the freezing wet ground. Unmoving, lifeless and stained with mud, some lying atop the small patches of grass around her, and some almost buried completely under the rising marshes.

All as soaked and lonely as herself.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes one last time, listening to the sounds of the storm around her, the silent *shluck* of somepony's hooves treading through mud, and the gentle whispering of her name, before giving way to the looming shadows in her mind.

Raindrops and teardrops falling around her.