A short while later, as Celestia's sun began its descent behind the horizon, lighting the summer sky up with a beautiful tapestry of colors, Applejack stood in the street outside Sugarcube Corners, a grumpy expression on her face and a bottle of cider in her hoof. She was waiting with the rest of her friends and the majority of Ponyville for the appearance of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. She let out a huff of exasperation as she did her best to ignore the mingling crowd, choosing instead to keep her gaze on the skies for any sign of their pegasus friends while keeping half an eye on her youngest daughter, who was off tagging along with her Auntie Apple Bloom.

Pinkie's party had brought up no small measure of conflicting emotions within the farm pony. If she was being honest with herself (and she usually was), she was still angry at Rainbow Dash for the pain she had put Fluttershy through, even if that article had turned out to be a load of hogwash. On the other hoof, she was thrilled that they seemed to have reconciled, and according to a somewhat flustered Rarity, 'were thoroughly enjoying themselves.'

Another huff escaped her as she continued to scan the skies. A moment later, a bubbly voice called to her, diverting her attention from her self-imposed duties. "What's up, Applejack? Didja spring a leak?" She glanced back at Pinkie Pie, who was standing nearby, a tray of fresh cider balanced on her back and a bright smile on her face.

"Hey there, Pinkie," she said in a frustrated drawl. "When're the lovebirds getting here? Ah'm getting a might tired of waiting."

"Well, they were a little busy when I dropped off their invitation, so it might be a teeny-tiny bit longer," Pinkie replied brightly. "But don't worry, I'm sure Dashie won't miss out on such a super-special-funerrific party, especially since it's for her!"

"Speaking of which," Rarity interjected, "what is this promotion that you're referring to? Rainbow Dash certainly hasn't mentioned anything about any promotion that I've heard."

Pinkie giggled. "Well, I'm not gonna spoil the surprise, but it's gonna be a big one!" She suddenly shivered, her back twitching and her ears twisting, and she grinned widely. "Ooh, that's gonna be one doozy of a noise!" she said, much to the confusion of the others.

A moment later, a loud cry came from the direction of the edge of town, followed by the sight of a flock of birds taking off. Pinkie glanced off in the direction of the sound, a satisfied look on her face. "Well, should be any minute now before they show up!"

Twilight looked confused while Rarity looked slightly embarrassed, a pink tinge plain on her white cheeks. "What do you mean?" Twilight asked, scanning the sky herself. Rarity gently grabbed her ear with her magic, bending it down so she could whisper into it. Twilight immediately flushed pink as well and began fidgeting. "Oh!" she said hesitantly. "I-I get it now..."

Applejack let out a loud guffaw at her friend's embarrassment, which earned her a dirty look from both of them. "Sounds like they're still 'enjoying themselves,' eh, Rarity?" she said, nudging the blushing unicorn with her shoulder before taking a long pull from her cider.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response, Applejack," Rarity replied haughtily. "A lady never gossips about such things."

Pinkie looked over at her, confused. "But you were totally talking about it earlier. How else did I know I was going to walk in on them doing that when I went to give them their invitation?"

Applejack promptly sprayed Pinkie with the cider she had just been drinking as Rarity sputtered indignantly. "Y-y'all did what?" she asked, coughing.

Pinkie grinned, unconcerned about her impromptu cider shower. "I got to watch a little. Hey, look, here they come!"

The others, still trying to wrap their thoughts around what Pinkie had just said, found themselves following Pinkie's outstretched hoof into the sky. Two familiar pegasi were slowly making their way into town, both framed by the gorgeous colors of the sunset. The two of them were flying close together, circling around each other with an obvious joy and affection, touching every time one passed close enough to the other.

A wave went through the waiting crowd of ponies. One by one, all conversations slowly ceased as each pony noticed the approaching pegasi, hooves pointing into the sky towards them. As the two of them came in for a landing in the center of the group, a great cheer went up from the surrounding ponies. Rainbow Dash, relieved at the positive reception this time, smiled widely while waving at everypony. Fluttershy, however, was still unused to such attention, and huddled in close to Rainbow Dash, hiding behind her curtain of a mane, her butterfly clip glittering in the fading sunlight.

Pinkie Pie quickly dashed over to them, her tray of cider forgotten in midair, which Twilight quickly managed to grab with her magic before it crashed to the ground. Sweeping the two lovers up into a big hug, Pinkie squealed with joy. "Ohmigosh you're here this is so awesome now we can get the party started and you can tell everypony about your promotion and how you two are all happy and cute and lovey together again and I'm so happy happy happy you're here!"

Caught up in Pinkie's crushing grip, Fluttershy let out a faint squeak and Rainbow gasped. "P-Pinkie - need - air!" Rainbow managed to get out, causing the party pony to release them. They fell to the ground gasping for air while Pinkie bounced in place excitedly.

"Ugh..." Rainbow muttered, pushing herself up and helping Fluttershy to her hooves. "Pinkie, you gotta watch it with those hugs." Shaking her head and wrapping her wing around a shaky Fluttershy, she grinned around at the surrounding ponies before making her announcement. "Everypony, guess what? You're looking at the next Captain of the Wonderbolts! Spitfire was gonna make the announcement in a few weeks once I got back from my break, so you're the first to hear it!"

A brief silence greeted this announcement, followed by a great roar of approval. For a few minutes, Rainbow basked in the admiration, grinning like a mad fool at anypony that would look her way. After a time, she held up her hoof, motioning for silence, which she eventually got as the crowd quieted down. "There's something else I gotta say," she said as her heart began racing, and she felt beads of sweat pop out on her forehead. She was more nervous for this than for any of her shows, but she knew she had to say it ever since she and Fluttershy had talked in the cottage.

"Everypony..." she began, hesitating as she turned her gaze to Fluttershy, who in turn was giving her a confused, slightly fearful look. Rainbow cleared her suddenly dry throat, and pushed on. "Everypony, I know I've done some things the past couple of years I'm not very proud of. When I got here this morning, I... realized that I really messed up. Everypony seemed to hate me. My best friends were ready to beat me up. My wife was ready to..." she trailed off a moment as the memory of her arrival at the cottage struck her, and she took a deep breath while mastering herself. "Let's just say it wasn't good," she finished lamely, hanging her head.

"I just wanna say I'm sorry, everypony. But especially, I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I hurt you, and I promise you I'm gonna make it up to you, whatever it takes."

The silence lengthened as Rainbow continued to stare down at the ground. Finally, she felt a hoof under her chin, and her head was lifted up to see Fluttershy smiling down at her shyly. "Oh, Rainbow," she said softly, drawing her love into a hug and kissing her deeply. "We said for better or for worse, you silly thing," she whispered into Rainbow's ear as the crowd around them erupted into cheers once more. "I love you, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow nodded as she gripped her wife tightly while the party began to start around them. "I love you too, Flutters." The two of them felt rather than saw their friends surrounding them, offering well-wishes and congratulations much like they had long ago at their wedding, but like then, neither had eyes for anything but the other.

As that long summer day came to a close, they both felt a sense of closure on a portion of their lives together, and they grinned at each other. "Wanna start those flying lessons?" Rainbow teased playfully.

Fluttershy simply smiled before launching herself into the air. "You might have to catch me first," she teased, emboldened by the shocked look on Rainbow's face.

She quickly flew away, but not quick enough for one of the fastest fliers in Equestria. She felt a rush of air beneath her, and glanced down to see Rainbow flying on her back, a grin on her face. Rainbow darted up to her, wrapping her in a gentle hug as both their wings beat together, keeping them afloat.

"First lesson," Rainbow said as she tenderly kissed Fluttershy. "Flying with a partner."