TCC Side Story: Learning To Laugh Again Part 12

Learning To Laugh Again
A Cupcake Chronicles Side Story Series
by milesprower06

Part 12

The moments before sunrise were Rainbow's favorite part of the morning. The fog, the chirping birds; elements of both day and night made it surreal.

Rainbow stood at the guestroom window in the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse, reflecting on what had transpired through the night.

The changelings had scattered, and without a leader they would no longer be a threat. Chrysalis had been turned to stone in the ensuing blast. Royal guards acting as first responders arrived minutes after the chaos had drawn to a close. They took the frozen queen to a secure place. But things were not completely sound yet.

After everything had calmed down, Rainbow realized how awful she felt about her apparent selfishness. Applejack had accepted her submissive side, indulged in it, and help her develop it. Yet every single time she asked why, she ignored her, and made her go farther into her dominating mindset than she could handle. The subsequent insanity overnight was the only reason she had not apologized yet, and she had every intention to, but there was one thing that had to be taken care of first.

Rainbow looked at the sleeping Surprise in the guest bed. Her changeling skin still showed where the queen's attack had burned away her disguise. They brought her back to the Acres to give her a safe place to stay for the night. It had made her feel even worse; were it not for Applejack's quick thinking, she most likely would have bashed Surprise's face in back in the Everfree Forest.

Not too long after they had got her situated for the night, Twilight received a letter from Celestia, asking for an audience with all of them first thing in the morning up in Canterlot. Rainbow wasn't sure if Twilight had told Celestia about the revelation regarding Surprise, but she assumed so. Whether she was calling them up to congratulate them... Or determine if it was safe for Surprise to remain here, Rainbow didn't know. But they'd know for sure in an hour or two.

Surprise began to stir in bed, both the teal changeling eye and purple pegasus eye fluttering open. She smiled faintly at Rainbow, and then looked in the mirror.

“Part of me was hoping it was all a dream.” she said somberly.

“I'm sure Princess Celestia has something in mind. She wants to see us up in Canterlot shortly.”

As if on cue, there was a knock at the front door, rousing Winona and Applejack in the back bedroom. By the time Rainbow got to the guest bedroom door, Applejack was already in the hallway, yawning and going for the door.

The two of them opened the door, and were greeted by four royal guards.

“Good morning, mares. Princess Celestia sent us to escort you to the train platform and see you to the throne room in Canterlot Castle.”

Applejack nodded, seeing the 8-pony chariot waiting out by the front fence.

“We'll be ready shortly, sirs. Thank you.”

The three of them ate an apple a piece to tide their stomachs over until they could get a decent meal. By the time they were all on the chariot, the sun was inching above the horizon. It was a quick 10-minute ride to the Ponyville train station, where Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity were already waiting. Rainbow had to guess that the conductor had been instructed to wait for their arrival, as he was checking his watch along with his tapping hoof. They all boarded the train, without tickets, and found that they had a car to themselves, with guards on the other side of each door.

“This is all because of me, isn't it?” Surprise asked.

“I'm sure Princess Celestia wants to protect you until we can figure out what to do.” Twilight assued her.

The changeling didn't seem all that convinced.

“Surprise, you helped us last night. She has to realize that. Don't worry, darling. Everything is going to be fine.” Rarity encouraged.

But the worry among the entire group only got thicker as the train made the spiraling journey up the mountain to Canterlot, where another pair of chariots was waiting to take them directly to the castle. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy rode in one, while Applejack, Rainbow, and Surprise rode in the other. It was as quiet a ride to the castle as it was from Ponyville to Canterlot. They were dropped off at the drawbridge to the castle, and were lead immediately to the giant doors of the throne room. A guard went in to announce them. Moments later, the door opened again, and they were ushered inside, while the guards waited outside. The six of them walked down the red velvet carpet towards Celestia, who waited at the bottom of the stairs to the throne.

“So Ponyville had an unexpectedly exciting night.” Celestia asked, opening the conversation. Twilight nodded.

“I hear we have you to thank for that, please step forward.” she said, looking at Surprise, who was almost shaking as she stepped forward to the sun goddess.

“My child, why are you so afraid?”

“Y-your guards haven't left my side the entire way here. You're obviously wondering what to do with me.”

“It was for your protection. Surprise, you helped these five repel the changeling invasion last night. The Element of Laughter glowed around your neck. Why would you ever think you were here for punishment?”

Surprise now gazed towards the floor, more embarrassed than relieved.

“Your highness, maybe she's still a bit shocked from last night's discovery of herself.” Twilight offered.

Celestia nodded.

“Well, don't worry, Surprise. A couple of weeks ago, I gave Rainbow a very important task; find a new bearer for the Necklace of Laughter. It was a very daunting task, but I assured her that she would not go at it alone; that the Elements themselves would play a hand in it. That has proven to be true, wouldn't you say, Rainbow?”

Rainbow nodded immediately, giving Surprise a smile.

“In my eyes, Surprise has proven she is more than worthy to wield the Element of Laughter.”

“I merely wanted to meet and officially recognize the new Element of Laughter myself. I've always believed that you should never judge somepony by what they look like on the outside, and that holds true even here. You have proven that underneath the surface, you have a kind and joyful heart. It is what is in that heart that counts.”

Surprise managed a smile, even tearing up a bit.

“Thank you, your highness. Pinkie was right, these are the greatest friends I'll ever have in my life.”

“Indeed they are. So under the current circumstances, I believe I have a solution.”

With that, Celestia spread her wings, and her horn began to shine brilliantly. A glowing white aura surrounded Surprise as she was levitated off of the ground. The glow quickly intensified, and she found herself enveloped in an orb, which gave off brilliant waves of light before slowly coming back down to the ground, and melted away, revealing the pearl-white pegasus, fully healed from her injuries. Celestia smiled down at her, as she looked over her lack of burns.

“I have severed your connection to the changeling hive. They won't be able to use you again.”

Surprise, in tears, rushed forward and threw her hooves around Celestia's front legs, breaking down into sobs.

“Thank you... Thank you so much, Your Majesty.”

Celestia lowered her neck to nuzzle the overjoyed Surprise.

“You're quite welcome, my little pony. Now the six of you go and enjoy your victory. You've certainly earned it.”

Surprise ran back to her five waiting friends, and they shared a group hug before departing the throne room. This called for a celebration, and they headed out for the tastiest breakfast Canterlot could offer.

TWO WEEKS LATER

Applejack came in to the farmhouse from her afternoon chores. She couldn't seem to shake this feeling of sadness from over her today, with good reason; today was the last day of the Wonderbolts off-tour leave. Rainbow would be packing up to go tomorrow. It snuck up on her because Rainbow didn't seem to mention it at all after the changeling attack two weeks ago. She had just gone around the farm like she wasn't going to be gone for another eleven months.

After a refreshing glass of water, Applejack went to her bedroom, to see Rainbow sitting on the bed.

“Hey there, Rainbow.”

“Hey, Applejack. Can we... Can we talk?”

“Sure we can.” Applejack said, coming over to sit next to her on the bed, thinking she had been trying to figure out how to say her goodbyes. Rainbow cleared her throat before beginning to speak.

“I'm so sorry, AJ... About not being honest with you. I was so ashamed of where these feelings came from... I still am. But since you tried this BDSM thing with me last month in Las Pegasus, it was one of the greatest feelings ever. I fooled myself into thinking that I could keep my secret from the Element of Honesty. I do trust you... I trust you with every fiber of my being, and I'm ready to prove it. I'm ashamed of it but telling you won't change that. So if you still want to know, my secret is yours.”

Rainbow took Applejack's silent, loving stare as an affirming 'yes'. She took a deep breath.

“That night, in Sugar Cube Corner... I had control over absolutely nothing. Pinkie kept me so pumped full of adrenaline that I was keenly aware of every single thing she did to me. I had never felt so helpless... So completely at the mercy of somepony else. Then, when I was certain that the end was near, when I was ready to let go... You showed up. I don't remember nearly anything between the basement and the hospital, but what I do remember... Is you. You carried me all the way to the emergency room, you didn't leave until I was released, and you even gave me a place to stay. I wish I hadn't been so oblivious to your feelings for me back then. But recovering with you at the farm made me realize just how comfortable and safe I felt with you. Now, I'm not sure how that spilled over into my sexual desires and fantasies, but it didn't matter to me. I guess I wanted more than to be with you. I wanted to be made yours. I wanted no control whatsoever, so when it was finally over, I'd be helpless... My fate entirely in your hooves.”

Throughout explaining, Rainbow had kept her gaze on the bed and floor, and had still not made eye contact with Applejack, until nearly an entire minute had gone by, and the farmer brought the tip of her hoof to Rainbow's chin and brought her gaze to meet hers.

“Well, I can certainly see how that was hard for ya, but you feel better now, don't you, sweetheart?”

Rainbow smiled, answering, “Yeah... I guess that is a weight off my back.”

Applejack hugged Rainbow, the embrace being returned immediately by the pegasus.

“And it's not like we can pinpoint where every single one of our sexual fetishes come from, now can we? It's because of you asking for this that I discovered that nothing turns me on more than making you squirm and whine and beg. I'll be honest... It's gonna be mighty hard to wait until you get back from another tour, but I suppose that'll give me plenty of time to come up with new ways to help you know your place.”

Rainbow laughed.

“AJ, are you crazy? I'm not leaving.”

“What the huh?”

“No way. Now before you start on how being a Wonderbolt is my dream, let me explain. It was my dream. But dreams change. Going on tour with you at my side was one of the greatest experiences of my life. But I don't ever want to spend that long away from you. I wouldn't be able to handle it. Being a Wonderbolt was my dream. But now... You're my dream, AJ.”

Rainbow's words brought tears to Applejack's eyes. To mean that much to somepony...

“Are... Are you sure about this, sugarcube?” she asked. She just had to be sure. Rainbow smirked at the question.

“Well, I'd better be, because I sent in my resignation letter last week.”

Applejack laughed, giving Rainbow a friendly slug on the arm.

“You sly pony you.”

“So I don't suppose you'll ever wonder what it's like to be a sub?” Rainbow asked her.

“Well, I'd say let's cross that bridge when we get to it. We both got a lotta work to do on our current roles. I'm not the best dom in Equestria yet, because you still act up in every single session, so clearly I've got to do more to put you in your place.”

Rainbow gave her another smirk, letting her know that she welcomed the challenge.

“In fact,” Applejack began, getting off the bed and going over to the closet, to the box with th eheart on it. She opened it up, and reached down. “I've got something right here that will be a good reminder. I was waiting for the right time to give it to you.”

Her front hooves came out of the box with a much smaller box. She returned to the bed and offered it to Rainbow.

“So now that you're not leaving, now is a good a time as any.”

Rainbow tore the tape holding the flap in place, and opened the top of the small flat box. Looking inside, her heart skipped a beat, and she looked back at AJ with a surprised look, then back at the contents.

Inside was a red collar, large enough to be fastened around the neck of a pony. Hanging off of the front was a purple heart-shaped metal ID tag.

'SLUT'

Rainbow took it out of the box, the tag swinging and rotating on its hook. The other side was incribed with 'BELONGS TO AJ'.

“I... I don't know what to say...”

Applejack smiled, then, moving too fast for Rainbow to react, tackled the pegasus onto the bed and pinning her. As she strained under Applejack's weight, the dominating pony took the collar, slid it underneath, and fastened it firmly around Rainbow's neck. She fiddled with the tag, jingling it against the collar.

“Don't know what to say, huh? Well, you can start with telling me why it took a year for you to realize that I'm the pony of your dreams.”

Rainbow struggled to get AJ off of her.

“No way I'm telling you that.” Rainbow said, looking forward to what was to come. AJ smiled seductively. She had come to expect nothing less.

“Oh, we'll see about that...”

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A/N: And that's it, folks. If you'd like to see additional work of mine or to see where it goes from here, you'll have to come find me over on Fimfiction. I am officially done posting over here. Thanks for reading!